499. Influence of McClellan’s Defeat.—McClellan’s defeat greatly depressed the North and cheered the South; but Lincoln showed his spirit by issuing a circular letter to the governors of the loyal states, in which he declared that his purpose was to fight the war through to the restoration of the Union, and expressed the belief that the cause would best be promoted if a call for new troops were first suggested by the governors. The governors accordingly, on July 2, in a circular letter, asked the President to call for “men enough to speedily crush the rebellion.” Lincoln called for three hundred thousand volunteers, and so hearty was the response, that the number furished was over four hundred and twenty-one thousand.

500. Attitude of Congress.—Congress, also, showed that there could be no thought of abandoning the contest, but, on the contrary, promptly authorized the President to take possession of all the railroads and telegraph lines whenever the public service should seem to require it. Faith in the future was furthermore proved by the enactment of many laws of a far-reaching nature. Besides other important measures, Congress provided for the construction of a railroad to the Pacific Ocean, established the Department of Agriculture, and voted the “Morrill Grant,” which gave to each state as many times thirty thousand acres of land as it had members of Congress, for the support of colleges in which agriculture and the mechanical arts should be especially taught. The Morrill Act was the foundation of most of the agricultural colleges and many of the state universities in the country, and thus was of great educational importance.

501. The Question of Slavery.—In the course of the summer there was a general demand on the part of radical Republicans that, either by act of Congress or by proclamation of the President, slavery should be abolished. Lincoln held the opinion that slavery could not be interfered with by Congress, but only by an amendment of the Constitution or as a war measure by the President, as commander in chief of the army. Frémont had, as we have seen (§ [470]), declared the slaves free in Missouri, and Hunter had done the same in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; but the President had promptly annulled both these orders, with the declaration that he could not allow any general to free the slaves and throw the responsibility of the act upon the President. Lincoln’s course provoked much opposition on the part of radical opponents of slavery, and their dissatisfaction was strongly expressed, August 20, in an editorial of Horace Greeley’s in the Tribune, entitled “The Prayer of Twenty Millions.” Lincoln’s clear and pungent answer[[223]] served to satisfy public opinion, but there is now evidence that he was thinking seriously of the matter of emancipation. On the 13th of July, he had said to Seward and Welles that “something must be done in the line of a new policy,” that he had “about come to the conclusion that it was a military necessity, absolutely essential for the salvation of the nation, that we must free the slaves, or be . . . ourselves subdued.” Following this line of thought, on the 22d of August, he surprised all the members of his Cabinet, excepting Seward and Welles, by presenting a proclamation which he proposed to issue. The proposal met with general favor, but Seward questioned the expediency of issuing it at that juncture. In view of recent reverses, he thought it would be regarded as “our last shriek on the retreat.” Seward’s objection struck the President with force, and he put the proclamation aside to await a victory.

502. Dangers from Great Britain.—The ill feeling of Great Britain, which showed itself at the beginning of the war, and was intensified by the Trent affair, in November, 1861, was still further increased by the reverses of McClellan. It was apparent that a majority of the British upper and middle classes favored the South, that leading statesmen regarded the defeat of the Union cause as inevitable, and that the most delicate tact of diplomacy would be needed to prevent a formal recognition of the Confederacy. In March, 1862, the Florida, a vessel built and equipped for service with the Confederates, sailed from Liverpool. Though seized at Nassau, she was acquitted by what the British Chief Justice afterward called “a miscarriage of justice,” and set free. In June attention was called to a far more serious matter. The American Minister at London, Charles Francis Adams, and Mr. Dudley, the American Consul at Liverpool, became aware that another war steamer, far more powerful than the Florida, was being fitted out for the Confederate service. Adams at once called the attention of Lord Russell, the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the fact, and asked that the ship be detained, unless it should be found, on investigation, that its purpose was not hostile to the United States. The British government was bound by international usage either to arrest the vessel or make the investigation requested. They undertook the latter course, but the process was so slow, and the work on the ship was so rapid, that just before an arrest was to be made, the vessel escaped and put to sea. This was the famous Alabama, which, with the Florida and the Georgia, very nearly cleared the ocean of American commerce.

THE WAR IN THE EAST CONTINUED.

Major General H. W. Halleck.
[By courtesy of G. P. Putnam’s Sons.]

503. Pope and Halleck.—Nearly a month before the end of McClellan’s Peninsula campaign, the President summoned General John Pope from the West, where he had been successful as commander of the Army of the Mississippi. The remnants of the forces of McDowell, Banks, and Frémont were consolidated by Pope into a new organization, known as the Army of Virginia, and pushed forward to the Rapidan River. McClellan, on reaching Harrison’s Landing (§ [498]), had written the President that his “army had been saved,” but that it was completely exhausted, and needed a reënforcement of one hundred thousand men. This surprising statement, prompted by McClellan’s standing belief that Lee’s forces greatly outnumbered the Federal army, induced Lincoln to visit the camp at once. After a long conference with McClellan, Lincoln decided, on July 11, to appoint Major General Henry W. Halleck[[224]] general in chief of all the armies of the United States. Halleck had commended himself to the country by successfully directing affairs in the West. Lee, anticipating the course of Halleck, whom he had formerly known well, immediately detached Jackson from his army before Richmond, and sent him to confront Pope. Halleck visited McClellan on July 24, and, immediately afterward, in order ultimately to reënforce Pope,[[225]] ordered that the Army of the Potomac be withdrawn, and be transferred by way of Fortress Monroe to the Potomac near Fredericksburg. The McClellan campaign was thus admitted to have been a failure. Lee, now freed from danger in the vicinity of Richmond, hastened to reënforce Jackson by sending to the Rapidan Longstreet’s corps, which arrived on the 15th of August. A little later, Lee followed and took command of the entire force.

General John Pope.
[By courtesy of G. P. Putnam’s Sons.]