CHAPTER XIX

Lincoln’s Personal Attention to the Military Problems of the War—­Efforts to Push forward the War—­Disheartening Delays—­Lincoln’s Worry and Perplexity—­Brightening Prospects—­Union Victories in North Carolina and Tennessee—­Proclamation by the President—­Lincoln Wants to See for Himself—­Visits Fortress Monroe—­Witnesses an Attack on the Rebel Ram “Merrimac”—­The Capture of Norfolk—­Lincoln’s Account of the Affair—­Letter to McClellan—­Lincoln and the Union Soldiers—­His Tender Solicitude for the Boys in Blue—­Soldiers Always Welcome at the White House—­Pardoning Condemned Soldiers—­Letter to a Bereaved Mother—­The Case of Cyrus Pringle—­Lincoln’s Love of Soldiers’ Humor—­Visiting the Soldiers in Trenches and Hospitals—­Lincoln at “The Soldiers’ Rest.”

Early in 1862 Lincoln began giving more of his personal attention to military affairs.  He was dissatisfied with the slow movements and small achievements of our armies, and sought to infuse new zeal and energy into the Union commanders.  He also began a careful study of the great military problems pressing for solution; and he seemed resolved to assume the full responsibilities of his position, not only as the civil head of the Government but as the commander-in-chief of the armies and navies of the United States.  In this he was influenced by no desire for personal control of the commanders in the field or interference with their plans; he always preferred to leave them the fullest liberty of action.  But he felt that the situation demanded a single head, ready and able to take full responsibility for the most important steps; and, true to himself and his habits of a lifetime, he neither sought responsibility nor flinched from it.

The leading officers of the Union army were mostly young and inexperienced men, and none of them had as yet demonstrated the capacity of a great commander.  At best it was a process of experiment, to see what generals and what strategic movements were most likely to succeed.  In order to be able to judge correctly of measures and men, Lincoln undertook to familiarize himself with the practical details of military affairs and operations.  Here was developed a new and unsuspected phase of his character.  The plain country lawyer, unversed in the art of war, was suddenly transformed into the great civil ruler and military chieftain.  “He was already,” says Mr. A.G.  Riddle, “one of the wariest, coolest, and most skilful managers of men. A born strategist, he was now rapidly mastering the great outline ideas of the art of war.”  “The elements of selfishness and ferocity which are not unusual with first-class military chiefs,” said General Keyes, a prominent officer of the Union army, “were wholly foreign to Lincoln’s nature.  Nevertheless, there was not one of his most trusted warlike counselors in the beginning of the war who equaled him in military sagacity.”  His reliance, in the new