Is it not strange that among a population so numerous, and so intelligent and enterprising as ours, the war has not yet produced one great General. McClellan is the best among them, unless it may be Rosecrans. During the French Revolution there sprang up, often from the ranks, Generals of the first order, possessing dash and strategy, and capable of conducting a war of invasion in the most efficient manner.
I sometimes hear of Lady Ousley, through Miss Lane. I rejoice that her daughter is so well married, and shall ever hear of her health and prosperity with the greatest satisfaction. When you write, please to remember me to her in the kindest terms. Remember me, also, kindly to Sir William.
Miss Lane feels the death of her brother very sensibly.
It would require much ingenuity to reconcile the apparently conflicting statements of M. Mercier and Mr. Seward. These will not, I think, lead to any serious consequences. The difficulty here arises from the modern practice of publishing indiscriminately diplomatic correspondence.
Please to remember me most kindly to the Judge, and believe me ever to be
Respectfully and affectionately your friend,
James Buchanan.
[MR. BUCHANAN TO NAHUM CAPEN.]
Wheatland, February 23, 1863.
My Dear Sir:—