Rise to Greatness (77 page)

Williams, Kenneth P.
Lincoln Finds a General: A Military History of the Civil War.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.

Williams, T. Harry.
Lincoln and His Generals.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952.

Wilson, Douglas L.
Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860–1865.
Edited by Michael Burlingame. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000.

Woodworth, Steven E., and Kenneth J. Winkle.
Atlas of the Civil War.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In 1968, when I was in second or third grade, my parents joined the Book-of-the-Month Club and allowed me to choose a few of the promotional books they received for a penny. I chose Bruce Catton’s magnificent three-volume history of the Army of the Potomac—books far, far beyond my capacity to read or comprehend at the time. But when I look at them on my shelf today, they remind me how enduring my interest has been in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. My desire to indulge this fascination was the motivation behind this book.

Although this was a labor of love, at many points along the way the emphasis was on “labor.” I would never have finished without the generous support of my patrons at
Time
magazine (Rick Stengel, John Huey, Nancy Gibbs, and Michael Duffy) and, earlier, at
The Washington Post
(Don Graham, Leonard Downie, and Phil Bennett).

It is widely said that books no longer get edited, but it is my great fortune to know that this is not always true. At Henry Holt, George Hodgman helped me launch this project. Then John Sterling—perhaps the world’s most patient man—passed his careful eye over every sentence. Even then, Jolanta Benal dug into the pages and found so much that we missed. At every stage, my publisher’s devotion to this project was a gift and an honor. Thanks, Esther Newberg, for matching me with them.

I further imposed on a number of others to read the manuscript, and all of them came through with sharp-eyed advice. They made this book better than it would have been otherwise: Joel Achenbach, Trent Jones, Kate Masur, Bob Richardson, Tom Shroder, John Stauffer, Mike Stradinger, and Gene Weingarten. Where imperfections remain, the fault is mine.

The helpful staff of the Library of Congress not only guided me through that incomparable resource, they also provided me with an office where I wrote one failed opening after another.

A number of historians listened to my ideas and offered encouragement. Some may not remember ever crossing my path, and none can be blamed for anything here. But I am mindful of their kindness: David Blight, Gabor Borritt, Diane Burke, Orville Burton, Jonathan Earle, Adam Green, Mark Grimsley, Harold Holzer, Michael Musick, and Thomas Schwartz.

As always, I have been borne up by my friends, whose support took many forms. They gave me quiet havens to work, listened patiently to my droning lectures, bolstered my confidence, covered for my absences as a parent. This book took so long, and there were so many that I can’t name them all, but my thanks to: Henry Allen, Kevin Baker, Beverly and Bucky Brooks, Carl Cannon, Peter Carlson, Doug and Madelyn Dalgleish, Annie Dillard, Gus and Elinor Eisemann, Tom Frail, Michael Grunwald, Lisa and Randy Hendricks, Roscoe Hill, Brad and Colleen Honnold, Tony Horwitz, Steve Jennings, Steve Kraske, Josh and Tess Lewis, Larka and Hatch McCray, Eileen Mackevich, Scott and Cindy Padon, John Pancake, Jason Pottenger, Adam Sachs, Maralee Schwartz, Al Simmons, Peter Slevin, Jim and Christy Somerville, Mit Spears and Kyle Gibson, Carrie and Tom Wagstaff, the Scribblers (Rick Atkinson, David Maraniss, and Rafe Sagalyn), the Von Drehles and the Balls, the guys in the book club, John Goldberg, who caught the cancer, and Dan Holmes, who killed it.

To Sally Jenkins: “thank you” falls so far short.

To Karen and the kids:
we
did it.

INDEX

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

abolitionists

British

Adams, Charles Francis

Agriculture Department

Alabama

Alabama
(Confederate cruiser)

Albert, Prince Consort of England

Alexandria, Virginia

American Colonization Society

American Red Cross

Andrew, John

Antietam, Battle of (Sharpsburg)

Appalachian mountains

Appler, Jesse

Ariel
(steamer)

Arkansas

Arkansas
(Confederate ironclad)

Arlington (Lee estate)

arms smuggling

arms supplies

Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Ohio

Army of the Potomac.
See also
McClellan, George B.;
and specific battles, campaigns, and commanders

Antietam’s impact on

corps commanders and

desertions and

Emancipation Proclamation and

failure of, to aid Pope

failures of, in summer

McClellan advance toward Richmond and

McClellan in Maryland with

mutiny threat and

Peninsula retreat and

position of, in 1863

recruitment and 216

reorganization of

Seven Days’ impact on

size of

strength of, at Fredericksburg

troops on leave

Army of the Tennessee

Army of Virginia

reorganized under Halleck and Pope

Pope pushes south

Aspinwall, William

Atlantic Monthly

Baker, Edward

Ball’s Bluff, Battle of

Baltimore American

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore riots

Banks, Nathaniel

Barlow, Samuel

Barnard, William

Barton, Clara

Bates, Edward

“Battle Hymn of the Republic” (Howe)

Beauregard, P.G.T.

Belmont, Battle of

Benjamin, Judah

Bennett, James Gordon

Benton, Thomas Hart

Berkeley Plantation

Bierce, Ambrose

Blair, Francis, Sr.

Blair, Montgomery

Blondin (Jean-François Gravelet)

Bloss, John

Boonsboro, Maryland

border states

Confederate drive into

Emancipation Proclamation and

Bragg, Braxton

Bright, John

British Liberal Party

British Parliament

British Royal Navy

Brooks, Noah

Brown, Charles Farrar

Brown, John

Browning, Eliza

Browning, Orville Hickman

Lincoln’s friendship with

Seward resignation and

Supreme Court and

Buchanan, Franklin

Buchanan, James

Buckingham, Catharinus

Buckner, Simon Bolivar

Buell, Don Carlos

fired

foraging and

Kentucky and

Shiloh and

Bullitt, Cuthbert

Bull Run.
See
Manassas

Bunch, Robert

Bureau of Ordnance

Burnside, Ambrose

fired

replaces McClellan

Butler, Benjamin Franklin

Butler, Picayune

cabinet

appointments to

Emancipation Proclamation and

McClellan firing and

Seward resignation crisis and

Cairo, Illinois

California

California, University of, at Berkeley

Cameron, Simon

Campbell, Quinton

Canada

Cannon, LaGrand

Carroll, W. C.

Carter, Robert “King”

Casey, Silas

Catton, Bruce

Chancellorsville, Battle of

Chandler, Zachariah

Channing, William Ellery

Charleston, South Carolina

Chase, Kate

Chase, Salmon

ambitions of

cabinet discord and

cotton and

Emancipation Proclamation and

McClellan and

Norfolk campaign and

paper money and

Seward resignation crisis and

Seward rivalry and

slavery and

taxes and

Treasury bonds and

Union rallies and

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chesapeake Bay

Chestnut, Mary Boykin

Chicago Tribune

Chickahominy River

Chickasaw Bluffs, Battle of

Chilton, R. H.

Chiriqui colony

Churchill, Winston

Civil War

1862 as key year of

break out of

Britain and

casualties and

Fredericksburg and outcome of

hard war–soft war debate and

novice armies and

outlook for, at beginning of 1863

prosperity after

public pessimism and

Shiloh as turning point in

slavery as cause of

two separate nations vs.

Clarksville, Tennessee, ironworks

Clay, Cassius Marcellus

Clay, Henry

Cobden, Richard

Colchester, Charles J.

Collamer, Jacob

colonization

Columbus, Kentucky (“Gibraltar of the West”)

Confederate Army.
See also specific battles
,
campaigns, and officers

border states and

draft and

erosion of, by 1863

hard-war policy and

Lee takes command of

Lincoln’s relatives and

Manassas as stronghold of

military strategy of

multiple campaigns vs.

Shiloh and determination of

size and strength of

slavery and

western supply lines and

Confederate Army of Northern Virginia

Confederate Congress

Confederate States of America

1862 as key year of

loyal slave states and

Europe and

economic disadvantages of