interfere with any Presidential election, except to give protection against violence and intimidation.

The McClellan ticket in Tennessee was withdrawn, and still the peace party continued to charge the President with interfering in the elections, notwithstanding he had publicly refused to do so.

The President's call for five hundred thousand men in July, which, if not raised by the 5th of September, would be drafted, was made a subject of public clamor and vituperation by the disloyal element, and even the friends of the President urged him to delay the call till after the election, as it might defeat and jeopardize the success of the Union elections. His reply was that the soldiers were needed to reinforce the armies then in the field, and that it was his duty to call for them, regardless of the consequences to himself—another instance in which the President sacrificed all personal and political considerations for the public good.

The result of the State elections gave hope and promise of success to the Union party in the approaching Presidential election. The signal failure of the Chicago Peace Convention to rally to the support of its nominees, the loyal Democrats, gave assurance of Mr. Lincoln's triumph, and the success of the Union party, and the success of our armies in the field indicated that the days of the rebel Confederacy were nearly numbered. The Presidential canvass had been conducted by the disloyal element with a bitterness and malignity against the President rarely, if ever, equaled; but the President was too deeply enthroned in the hearts of the people for their calumny to be effective. The country was so thoroughly committed to the prosecution of the war and the policy of the President for the restoration of the Union, that all attempts to destroy the faith of the people in the President, were abortive. The day of election finally came, and the results were as had been anticipated. Every State but three gave majorities for the Union candidate. Two slave States-Delaware and Kentucky-and the State of New Jersey gave their votes for McClellan. Mr. Lincoln's majority on the popular vote was 411,428, and 212 of the 233 in the Electoral College. The election was conducted with a solemnity and dignity unusual and unprecedented in the history of the country. Loyal citizens felt that the questions involved were above all party considerations, and that upon the issue was the weal or woe, the restoration or final dissolution of our National unity. The heavy burden that had been carried by the President for the past four years had been lifted from his shoulders by the people. With that solemn oath always in mind, to preserve, protect and defend the constitution, with the interests of humanity, the future of his country, and the destiny of a race, he had, weary and worn, labored in and out of season for the consummation of these great

objects, and, with a heart full of sympathy and charity toward his enemies, and with devotion to humanity, he had striven to do his duty. And now well might the President feel that relief from the responsibility that had nearly worn away his life. His policy for the National authority, and for the 'unity of the Republic, his Emancipation Proclamation, his plan for the reconstruction of the rebel States, had now been indorsed, and received the approval of the American people by a majority unparalleled in the history of the Nation. To a large number of his fellow-citizens who called upon him to offer their congratulations, he said: "I am thankful to God for this approval of the people, but, while deeply gratified for this mark of their confidence in me, if I know my own heart, my gratitude is free from any taint of personal triumph, I do not impugn the motives of anyone opposed to me. It is no pleasure for me to triumph over anyone. But I give thanks to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by free government and the rights of humanity. This election has demonstrated that a people's Government can sustain a National election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now, it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows, also, how strong and sound we are. It also shows to the extent yet known, that we have more men now than we had when the war began. Gold is good in its place, but living, brave and patriotic men are better than gold." To a friend he said: "Being only mortal after all, I should have been a little mortified if I had been beaten in this canvass before the people, out that sting would have been compensated by the thought that the people had notified me that all my official responsibilities were soon to be lifted from my shoulders." The result of the election, giving joy, hope and assurance of ultimate success to the Union cause, demolished the last expectation and hope of the rebel Confederacy. The result showed conclusively that there would be no change in the course and policy of the Government for the suppression of the rebellion. Events were now rapidly culminating, giving the rebel leaders no hope that their final defeat and overthrow could long be averted, and still, with that indomitable persistence peculiar to all Americans, in what they believe is right, there was no giving way until the last struggle was made and the unavoidable overthrow should come. Amidst the cares of office and the excitements incident to the satisfactory results and congratulations following the election, the President found time to write and forward the following touching, sympathetic letter to a widow lady: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, November 21, 1864. "DEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons, who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine, which should attempt

to be given you from a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolations that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours very sincerely and respectfully, ABRAHAM LINCOLN."

"To MRS. BIXBY, Boston, Mass."

CHAPTER XLV.

MOVEMENTS OF GENERALS GRANT AND SHERMAN.

Experience had taught the administration and the American people some useful lessons relative to the rebellion, and the means and forces necessary to subdue it, in the military operations during the past three years. The idea of the Southern people that they were superior in bravery and valor to the Yankees, and that notion of the Northern citizens that two or three Union victories would bring the rebels into submission and terms, had long since been discarded. That principle of military tactics fully established that armies operating on an interior line in their own country, with their base of supplies in their rear and always at command, are equal to double their numbers of equal valor operating on an exterior line of operations, had been fully demonstrated by experience. The action of the Union armies after having given battle successfully, and then failing to follow up their successes with immediate and repeated attacks, in many instances, had often proven but little less than a defeat.

With the experience of three years of the Government to subdue and put down the rebellion, at this period these facts became vividly apparent to the administration: That if the rebellion was put down it must be done speedily; that it must be done by military force, by rapid and repeated attacks, until the rebel armies were entirely defeated. And to effect this, the Union armies must be largely in excess of numbers to the rebel forces. The military operations of 1864 were organized with these objects in view. It was a time in which all the energies and resources of the Government were brought into requisition. It was intended that such results and success should follow, that the people would be satisfied that the end of the rebellion was at hand, and that peace would follow, and the National authority would soon be estabblished over all the rebellious States. To the grand armies organizing under Generals Grant and Sherman was the principal interest manifested by the people, and their movements became the focus of absorbing interest. Still,

there were operations of troops under other officers which should be noted. An attempt was made early in February, by a portion of the Union troops under General Gillmore in Florida, to assist the Union element in that State to reorganize under the National Government, but the attempt proved a failure at that time. General Sherman, from Vicksburg, and General Smith, from Memphis, with a heavy force of cavalry were successful in destroying railroads and supplies, and cutting off communications in the enemy's interior. General Kilpatrick made his famous raid and dash on Richmond, blowing up the locks of the Kanawha canal, destroying railroads and telegraph communications, and dashing within the defenses of the rebel capital. In March, General Bank's expedition up Red river proved a failure. In the capture of Fort Pillow in April by the rebel forces, occurred an outrage unparalleled in the history of the war. The garrison, after the surrender, composed of some three hundred colored soldiers, women and children, were butchered, and their white officers met the same fate; and this butchery was approved by the Southern papers. No historic event of modern times has a parallel `of like atrocity and barbarity.

In April, General Sherman had collected his forces at Chattanooga, while directly in his front was General Johnson, with the rebel army, awaiting the movement of the Union forces. General Meade, with the Army of the Potomac, was on the banks of the Rapidan, with General Lee immediately in front. It was now apparent that the last great struggle was near at hand. The Confederacy had, by conscription and all the appliances of their absolute Government, collected in every available man for the great, and as they had reason to believe, their final effort for success. General Grant's appointment as Commander-in-Chief of the Union armies met the approval of the loyal citizens. He had visited the Army of the West, and in consultation with General Sherman, all the plans of the campaign had been perfected, when he returned to Washington and assumed the general direction and movement of all the armies in the field. The administration had made every exertion to place all the men and material desired at his disposal. The confidence of the President in General Grant was fully expressed in a letter to him, in which the President said: "The particulars of your plans I neither know or seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints nor constraints upon you." General Grant said, in response to Mr. Lincoln's letter: "From my first entrance into the volunteer service of my country to the present day, I never have had cause of complaint. Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command of all the armies, and in view of the great responsibility and importance of success, I have been astonished at the readiness with which everything asked for has been yielded, without even an explanation being asked.” With the