Part Eight: This Fiery Trial Summary and Analysis

McClellan's inactivity was a huge problem. The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was formed to keep an eye on the war effort. Lincoln finally had to take matters into his own hands and order the Army of the Potomac into action, which convinced McClellan to keep Washington in the loop about his plans. Lincoln's boys Willie and Tad were refuges for him and helped his depression, but both boys became ill and Willie died on February 20, spinning Mary into wild grief. Lincoln did all he could to help her, but while she wanted to get rid of anything that reminded her of Willie, he took solace in his keepsakes. Lincoln thought more about God than ever before after Willie's death, and saw himself as "an instrument of Providence" (p. 293) put...