By Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
By Nathaniel Wright Stephenson
Authority for all important statements of facts in the following pages may be found in the notes; the condensed references are expanded in the bibliography. A few controversial matters are discussed in the notes.
I am very grateful to Mr. William Roscoe Thayer for enabling me to use the manuscript diary of John Hay. Miss Helen Nicolay has graciously confirmed some of the implications of the official biography. Lincoln's only surviving secretary, Colonel W. O. Stoddard, has given considerate aid. The curious incident of Lincoln as counsel in an action to recover slaves was mentioned to me by Professor Henry Johnson, through whose good offices it was confirmed and amplified by Judge John H. Marshall. Mr. Henry W. Raymond has been very tolerant of a stranger's inquiries with regard to his distinguished father. A futile attempt to discover documentary remains of the Republican National Committee of 1864 has made it possible, through the courtesy of Mr. Clarence B. Miller, at least to assert that there is nothing of importance in possession of the present Committee. A search for new light on Chandler drew forth generous assistance from Professor Ulrich B. Phillips, Mr. Floyd B. Streeter and Mr. G. B. Krum. The latter caused to be examined, for this particular purpose, the Blair manuscripts in the Burton Historical Collection. Much illumination arose out of a systematic resurvey of the Congressional Globe, for the war period, in which I had the stimulating companionship of Professor John L. Hill, reinforced by many conversations with Professor Dixon Ryan Fox and Professor David Saville Muzzey. At the heart of the matter is the resolute criticism of Mrs. Stephenson and of a long enduring friend, President Harrison Randolph. The temper of the historical fraternity is such that any worker in any field is always under a host of incidental obligations. There is especial propriety in my acknowledging the kindness of Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor James A. Woodburn, Professor Herman V. Ames, Professor St. George L. Sioussat and Professor Allen Johnson.
CONTENTS
I. THE CHILD OF THE FOREST
II. THE MYSTERIOUS YOUTH
III. A VILLAGE LEADER
IV. REVELATIONS
V. PROSPERITY
VI. UNSATISFYING RECOGNITION
VII. THE SECOND START
VIII. A RETURN TO POLITICS
IX. THE LITERARY STATESMAN
X. THE DARK HORSE
XI. SECESSION
XII. THE CRISIS
XIII. ECLIPSE
XIV. THE STRANGE NEW MAN
XV. PRESIDENT AND PREMIER
XVI. "ON TO RICHMOND!"
XVII. DEFINING THE ISSUE
XVIII. THE JACOBIN CLUB
XIX. THE JACOBINS BECOME INQUISITORS
XX. IS CONGRESS THE PRESIDENT'S MASTER?
XXI. THE STRUGGLE TO CONTROL THE ARMY
XXII. LINCOLN EMERGES
XXIII. THE MYSTICAL STATESMAN
XXIV. GAMBLING IN GENERALS
XXV. A WAR BEHIND THE SCENES
XXVI. THE DICTATOR, THE MARPLOT AND THE LITTLE MEN
XXVII. THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE
XXVIII. APPARENT ASCENDENCY
XXIX. CATASTROPHE
XXX. THE PRESIDENT VERSUS THE VINDICTIVES
XXXI. A MENACING PAUSE
XXXII. THE AUGUST CONSPIRACY
XXXIII. THE RALLY TO THE PRESIDENT
XXXIV. "FATHER ABRAHAM"
XXXV. THE MASTER OF THE MOMENT
XXXVI. PREPARING A DIFFERENT WAR
XXXVII. FATE INTERPOSES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NOTES
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author and publisher make grateful acknowledgement to Ginn and
Company, Boston, for the photograph of St. Gaudens' Statue; to The
Century Company of New York for the Earliest Portrait of Lincoln, which
is from an engraving by Johnson after a daguerreotype in the possession
of the Honorable Robert T. Lincoln; and for Lincoln and Tad, which is
from the famous photograph by Brady; to The Macmillan Company of New
York for the portrait of Mrs. Lincoln and also for The Review of the
Army of the Potomac, both of which were originally reproduced in Ida M.
Tarbell's Life of Abraham Lincoln. For the rare and interesting portrait
entitled The Last Phase of Lincoln acknowledgment is made to Robert
Bruce, Esquire, Clinton, Oneida County, New York. This photograph was
taken by Alexander Gardner, April 9, 1865, the glass plate of which is
now in Mr. Bruce's collection.