Rise to Greatness (69 page)

Porter put this delusion: quoted in Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 203.

McClellan’s flatterers: cf. Samuel Barlow to McClellan, June 17, 1862.

“I regret my great inferiority”: McClellan to Stanton, June 25, 1862.

A week of brutal fighting: Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 217.

“It was not war”: quoted in Rafuse,
McClellan’s War,
p. 229.

watched the final charge:
Eye of the Storm,
July 1, 1862.

“Had I (20,000)”: McClellan to Stanton, June 28, 1862; also Bates,
Lincoln in the Telegraph Office,
pp. 108–9.

“They will never forgive”: quoted in Foote,
The Civil War,
Vol. 1, p. 493.

“Some enterprising newsgatherer”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, June 29, 1862.

“The evident panic”: Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln: A History,
Vol. 5, p. 443.

“Save your Army”:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 289–91.

“On the whole”: ibid., pp. 292–93.

the proper strategy: ibid., p. 284n.

recruiting offices: ibid., pp. 291–92.

“a general panic”: ibid.

“Your good mother”: ibid., p. 288.

“maintain this contest”: ibid., pp. 291–92.

issued a call for 300,000: ibid., pp. 295–97.

“We still have strength enough”: ibid., p. 298.

“He would look out of the window”: Bates,
Lincoln in the Telegraph Office,
pp. 138–41.

8: JULY

“he is not missed”:
Eye of the Storm,
July 1, 1862.

signalmen waved flags: ibid., July 4, 1862.

“Attacked by … superior forces”: Sears,
George B. McClellan,
pp. 224–25.

“a masterpiece of strategy”:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 308.

“inconsolable as I could be”:
RW,
pp. 136–37.

Judged calmly and soberly: Ethan Rafuse makes a strong case for Harrison’s Landing as an ideal base for fresh operations in
McClellan’s War,
for example on p. 231.

three officers from the peninsula: French diary, July 7, 1862.

“so little real faith”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, July 6 and 13, 1862.

pessimistic dispatch: McClellan to Lorenzo Thomas, July 1, 1862; McClellan to Lincoln, July 4, 1862.

“how long we have … been expecting”: French diary, July 4, 1862.

“Blondin walked across a tightrope”: “Conversation with Hon. T. Lyle Dickey (of Chicago Ill) Washington Oct 20, 1876” in
An Oral History of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 49; see also
http://www.tourniagara.com/history/daredevils/jean-francois-gravelet/
.

“put Richmond off”:
RW,
pp. 198–99.

pretzel of diplomatic contortions:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 308.

John McClernand: Browning diary, July 16, 1862.

“even a thousand fresh men”: McClellan to John Dix, July 1, 1862; McClellan to Lincoln, July 2, 1862.

A scant nine months: McClellan,
Report of Major-General George B. McClellan upon the Organization of the Army of the Potomac, and Its Campaigns in Virginia and Maryland, July 26, 1861, to November 7, 1862,
p. 4.

“impossible to re-inforce”:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 298.

“Allow me to reason”: ibid., p. 301.

Two messages … an hour apart: McClellan to Lincoln, July 4, 1862 [noon]; McClellan to Lincoln, July 4, 1862, 1
P.M.

thirty-six hours later: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 6, 1862.

Pressing his case: Browning diary, July 14, 1862; Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 226.

“borrow and send Bob”:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 309.

Upriver at Harrison’s Landing: Rafuse,
McClellan’s War,
p. 233; McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 8, 1862.

Lincoln wanted to know:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 309–12.

“present state of Military affairs”: McClellan to Lincoln, June 20, 1862.

“the character of a War”: McClellan to Lincoln, July 7, 1862.

“A declaration of radical views”: ibid.

Lincoln’s own constitutional duty: The Constitution of the United States of America, Article II, Section 2.

“the Pres[ident]’s manner”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 9 and 10, 1862.

“came home in better spirits”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, July 13, 1862.

information Lincoln drew:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 309–12.

“big levy of new troops”: ibid., pp. 302–3.

Johnson’s answer: ibid., p. 303n.

a depressing telegram: ibid., p. 313.

Lincoln cajoled the … governors: ibid., p. 304.

“If I am right”: ibid., p. 322.

the general grudgingly replied: McClellan to Lincoln, July 15, 1862.

When Charles Sumner suggested: Sumner to John Bright, Aug. 5, 1862.

worst possible result: Seward to Adams, July 5, 1862.

to talk the border states:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 317–19.

“The pressure … is increasing”: ibid.

closed with a flourish: ibid.

the offer was refused: ibid., p. 319n.

Lincoln tried to answer: ibid., p. 324.

“it would be unjust”: Gideon Welles, “The History of Emancipation,”
The Galaxy
14, no. 6 (1872), pp. 842–43, available online at
http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofemancip00well#page/n1/mode/2up
.

Lincoln stunned his colleagues: Welles diary, July 13, 1862.

“He saw no escape”: Welles, “The History of Emancipation,” p. 843.

stripping … their war-making resources: ibid.

“He dwelt earnestly”: ibid.

Seward seemed “startled”: Welles,
Lincoln and Seward. Remarks upon the Memorial Address of Chas. Francis Adams, on the Late William H. Seward, with Incidents and Comments Illustrative of the Measure and Policy of the Administration of Abraham Lincoln. And Views as to the Relative Positions of the Late President and Secretary of State,
p. 210.

“ought to be vetoed”: Browning diary, July 14, 1862.

“He looked weary”: ibid., July 15, 1862.

William Lindsay … boasted: Crook,
Diplomacy During the American Civil War,
pp. 82–84.

“de facto independence”: Anonymous,
The History of The Times: The Tradition Established, 1841–1884,
p. 380.

a “possible emergency”: Adams to Seward, July 17, 1862.

“The Thirty Years’ War”: Crook,
The North, the South, and the Powers, 1861–1865,
pp. 216–17.

“a war of the world”: Seward to Adams, July 28, 1862.

Napoleon … was thinking: Owsley,
King Cotton Diplomacy,
pp. 310–13; Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 6, pp. 76–79.

“back-kitchen way”: quoted in Guelzo,
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation,
p. 115.

Lincoln’s complaint:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 328–31.

“act to destroy slavery”: Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 6, p. 101.

As a precaution:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 328–31.

“greatest friend of the … Railroad”: Bain,
Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad,
p. 218.

“thorough and universal education”:
RW,
p. 244.

“what I have always regretted”: ibid., p. 160.

“Our session has been busy”: Sumner to John Bright, Aug. 5, 1862.

“I am heartily glad”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, July 13 and 18, 1862.

“condemned European firelocks”: Stoddard,
Lincoln’s Third Secretary,
pp. 137–40.

top-secret chemical experiments:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 354 and 385.

nightmares of generations … unborn: Henig and Niderost,
Civil War Firsts: The Legacies of America’s Bloodiest Conflict,
pp. 76–83.

Gilbert & Bennett: A brief history of the firm that claims to have invented a mass-produced woven wire window screen can be found online at
http://historyofredding.net/HGgilbertbennett.htm
.

“The gas lights”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, July 20, 1862.

“The drives and walks”: Mary Lincoln to Mrs. Charles Eames, July 26, 1862.

Bob … wanted to join the army: Randall,
Lincoln’s Sons,
p. 145.

critics weren’t shy: ibid., p. 144.

“We have lost one son”: ibid., p. 145.

“a passion of tears”: Randall,
Mary Lincoln,
pp. 264–65.

“I scarcely ever had ten minutes”: ibid., p. 144.

His first visitor was … Gurowski: Chase diary, July 21, 1862.

“loved to talk”: Van Deusen,
William Henry Seward,
pp. 258–59.

“struck me as a novelty”: Chase diary, June 21, 1862.

Chase had serious doubts: ibid.

responded with violence: Guelzo,
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation,
pp. 124–25.

trouble selling bonds: Chase diary, July 22, 1862.

first known reading of the Emancipation Proclamation: ibid.

“all the slaves, without exception”: Guelzo
, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation,
p. 121.

Lincoln did not respond: Welles, “The History of Emancipation,” p. 844.

“more quietly accomplished”: Chase diary, July 22, 1862.

“death knell” of slavery: Carpenter,
The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 72–73.

“last
shriek
”: Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 6, pp. 127–30.

“wisdom … struck me”: Carpenter,
The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln,
p. 22.

“[Lincoln] would relieve me”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 27, 1862.

“I know nothing”: McClellan to Samuel Barlow, July 30, 1862.

“I have done my best”: McClellan to Hill Carter, July 11, 1862.

“psalm singing yankees”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 22, 1862.

“I call it flat Treason”: quoted in Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 241.

“rather large military family”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 29 and 31, 1862.

Mary Ellen … encouraged him: Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 236.

“slap in the face”: McClellan to Samuel Barlow, July 23, 1862; Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 240.

“If by magic”: Browning diary, July 25, 1862.

To mitigate the danger:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 308.

in no way his fault: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 31, 1862.

“I have come to you from the West”:
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
Vol. 2, p. 530n.

“paltry young man”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, July 22, 1862.

“The temper of the North”: Dahlgren diary, June 21, 1862.

arming black troops: Chase diary, July 25, 1862.

“I shall not surrender”:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 342–43.

“This class of men”: ibid., pp. 344–46.

“enemies must understand”: ibid., pp. 350–51.