511. Change of British Policy.—About the middle of October, 1862, the danger that Great Britain might recognize the Southern Confederacy was averted. On the 7th of October, at a banquet at Newcastle, Gladstone, then Chancellor of the Exchequer declared, “Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the South have made an army; they are making, it appears, a navy; and they have made, which is more important than either, a nation.” When the applause which followed this utterance had subsided, he continued, “We may anticipate, with certainty, the success of the Southern states so far as their separation from the North is concerned.” This speech, of which these sentences were the keynote, created a great sensation, and was immediately interpreted as a purpose on the part of the government to recognize the Confederacy. The American Minister, seeing clearly that the drift was unmistakably toward recognition, wrote to his government for instructions in such a dire contingency. Then President Lincoln sent a masterly letter which changed the whole situation. His instructions to Mr. Adams in case the British Ministry should approach him, directly or indirectly, on any matter of our internal affairs, were as follows: “You will answer that you are forbidden to debate, to hear, or in any way receive, entertain, or transmit any communication of the kind. If the British government, either alone, or in combination with any other government, should acknowledge the insurgents, you will immediately suspend the exercise of your functions, and give notice of that suspension to Earl Russell, and to this department.” The letter also contained these resolute words: “We meet and confront the danger of a war with Great Britain. We have approached the contemplation of that crisis with a caution which great reluctance has inspired. But I trust that you will also have perceived that the crisis has not appalled us.” Adams hesitated to present this letter to Earl Russell, but made its contents known to Russell’s friend, William E. Forster, and gave his consent that Forster should in turn make them known to Russell. It was probably at this juncture that the Queen, if the “credible report” is true, said to Russell, “My lord, no step must be taken which will involve us in war with the United States.” On October 23, Russell informed Adams that the policy of neutrality was not to be changed.
512. Suspension of Habeas Corpus.—In the summer of 1862, the Northern opponents of the war took every advantage of the military disasters to denounce the course of the government, to discourage enlistments, to demand a cessation of hostilities, and, in many ingenious ways, to thwart the success of the Union cause. After the disasters in the Peninsula and at Manassas, the clamors were so great and the difficulties of conviction for treason so many that, on the 24th of September, President Lincoln issued an order suspending the writ of habeas corpus throughout the country. This act was of doubtful constitutionality, and shows, better than any other one thing, the almost desperate straits into which the government was driven. The suspension of the writ enabled the military authorities to seize and imprison without trial any persons who might be accused of treasonable acts, or even of disloyal speech. Large numbers were arrested and thrown into prison.[[230]]
513. The Elections in 1862.—The disasters in the field and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus had a marked effect on the fall elections. In every one of the Northern states the Republican majority was greatly reduced, and in six of them[[231]] that had cast their votes for Lincoln in 1860, the Democrats were victorious. The House of Representatives barely escaped being Democratic. It was almost a vote of “want of confidence” in the President. An analysis of the vote showed that many of the people regarded the Emancipation Proclamation as a surrender of Lincoln to the radical Republicans. It seems certain that more votes were lost than gained in consequence of the Proclamation. But the President, though disappointed, never for a moment swerved from his purpose, as his message to Congress in December, 1862, plainly showed.
References.—Grant, Memoirs, Vol. I., 242-284. Rhodes, History, Vol. III., 404-639, for the period from the appointment of Lee to the capture of New Orleans; the same, Vol. IV., from the beginning of McClellan’s campaign at Yorktown till Lincoln’s reëlection, is at all points full, painstaking, and valuable. Schouler’s History of the United States, Vol. VI., covers the whole period and is valuable on all points of the Civil War. Allan, Army of Northern Virginia; Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I., 388-443, 611-692, Vol. II., 135, 189-319; Dodge, Bird’s-Eye View of Our Civil War, chaps. vi., x.–xiii.; Dabney, Life of Stonewall Jackson; Maclay, History of the United States Navy, Vol. II., 282-324, for Monitor and Merrimac, and 364-497, for the capture of New Orleans; Old South Leaflets, III. No. 3, for contest of Monitor and Merrimac. The biographies of Lincoln by Tarbell and by Nicolay and Hay may be constantly consulted with profit.
| [207] | Born in Ohio, 1814; died, 1869. Built up an important business as a lawyer in Pennsylvania and Ohio before the war; became Attorney-General in Buchanan’s Cabinet in 1860; succeeded Cameron in Lincoln’s Cabinet, 1862; ruled his Department with great vigor; had noteworthy controversies with McClellan and Sherman; strenuously opposed Johnson’s reconstruction policy; was nominated by Grant for Justice of the Supreme Court, but died before taking his seat. |
| [208] | Born in Ohio, 1822; died, 1885. Graduated at West Point, 1843; fought gallantly in the Mexican War; resigned in 1854, and engaged in business with indifferent success till 1861; was appointed colonel, and given command at Cairo in 1861; took Fort Donelson, thus gaining the first brilliant victory for the Union arms, February, 1862; defeated Confederates at Pittsburg Landing, April, 1862; took Corinth and surrounding region in the summer of 1862; opened the Mississippi River by capture of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863; was placed in command of Western armies, September, 1863: took Chattanooga in November, 1863; succeeded Halleck in command of all the armies in the spring of 1864; fought a series of great battles against Lee, in Virginia; took Petersburg and Richmond and compelled surrender of Lee’s army, April 9, 1865; was unanimously nominated for President in 1868; served two terms; traveled around the world and was everywhere received with the greatest honor; wrote his Personal Memoirs with remarkable skill when suffering intensely from the disease which caused his death. |
| [209] | Born in Kentucky, 1803; died, 1862. Graduated at West Point, 1826; served in Black Hawk War, in Texas before annexation, and in the Mexican War; was paymaster and colonel in the United States army; in charge of the Department of the Pacific when the Civil War broke out; resigned, and was appointed general in the Confederate service and intrusted with the command in the West; concentrated his forces at Corinth, and planned a surprise for Grant at Shiloh; fought a desperate battle, but lost his life near the close of the first day’s conflict, while leading a charge. |
| [210] | The Union army present for duty, according to the official records, numbered 44,805; the Confederate array, 40,335. The Union loss was 13,647; the Confederate, 10,609. See Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I., pp. 538-539. |