Clellan, when he thought his services were of value CHAP. X. he employed him and gave him his full support and confidence, after what would have seemed to most people his unpardonable conduct towards Pope and himself, so in this crisis, believing that Hooker possessed in a great degree the confidence of the country and the soldiers, and that he had the capacity and the energy to lead the army to success, he again took the full responsibility upon himself, and the next day informed General Burnside of his determination. Burnside replied that he was willing to accept that as the best solution of the problem; that no one would be happier than himself if General Hooker could lead that army to victory. He then again tendered his resignation, which the President refused to receive, but gave him leave of absence for thirty days, after which he placed him in command of the Department of the Ohio.

committee of the War.

Report

on Conduct

Part I.,

p. 721.

Jan. 26,

Vol. XXI., p. 1005.

Ibid.

Burnside took leave of the army in a manly and chivalrous order commending the "brave and skillful general" who was to succeed him to that "cor- 1863. W. R. dial support and coöperation" which- it must be admitted - he had himself hardly received. As Generals Sumner and Franklin were both of higher rank than Hooker they were relieved from service in the Army of the Potomac and soon afterwards assigned to other commands, the one in the West, the other on the Southern coast. Franklin's undoubted talents never again had an opportunity for exercise in a field worthy of them; his subsequent career suffered from the severe judgment passed upon him by the Committee on the Conduct of the War, and from the controversies which grew out of it. Sumner never assumed his new com

1863.

CHAP. X. mand. He died at Syracuse, New York, on the 21st of March, universally respected and beloved by all who were able to appreciate his noble qualities, his valor, and his patriotism. He was the finest type the army possessed of the old-fashioned soldier: the quick eye, the strong arm, the unquestioning spirit of loyal obedience; the simple heart that knew not a pulse of fear or of hesitation; that beat only for his friends, his flag, and his God.

CHAPTER XI

FINANCIAL MEASURES

HE wisdom displayed by Mr. Lincoln in choos- CHAP. XI. ing his Cabinet, not from among his personal adherents, but from among the most eminent representatives of the Republicans of the country, shone out more and more clearly as the war went on, and its enormous exigencies tested the utmost powers of each member of the Government. A great orator and statesman has said that in this respect Mr. Lincoln showed at the outset that nature had fitted him for a ruler, and accident only had hid his earlier life in obscurity. Evarts says:

Mr.

I cannot hesitate to think that the presence of Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase in the great offices of State and Treasury, and their faithful concurrence in the public service and the public repute of the President's conduct of the Government, gave to the people all the benefits which might have justly been expected from the election of either to be himself the head of the Government, and much else besides. I know of no warrant in the qualities of human nature to have hoped that either of these great political leaders would have made as good a minister under the Administration of the other as President, as both of them did under the Administration of Mr. Lincoln. I see nothing in Mr. Lincoln's great delivered qualities and great authority with this people which could have commensurately served our need in any place, in the conduct of affairs, except at their head.

W. M. Evarts, Eulogy on

at Dartmouth College.

CHAP. XI.

We do not question that posterity will confirm this sober and impartial judgment of one of the most intelligent of contemporary observers. Lincoln, Chase, and Seward were, by a long interval, the first three Republicans of their time, and each, by what would almost appear a special favor of Providence, was placed in a position where he could be of most unquestioned service to the country. Had either of the three, except Lincoln, been President, the nation must have lost the inestimable services of the other two. We have already dwelt at some length upon the responsibility which devolved during these years upon the Secretary of State, and upon the unfailing courage, sagacity, and industry with which he met it. Before recounting an incident which threatened for a time to deprive the President of the powerful assistance of his two great subordinates, it will be necessary to review, in a manner however brief and inadequate, some of the main points in the Administration of the finances during the war.

The Republican party came to power at a time when its adversaries had reduced the credit of the country to a point which now appears difficult to believe. Even before the election of Mr. Lincoln, Howell Cobb, the Secretary of the Treasury, found it difficult to obtain the small sums necessary to meet the ordinary expenses of the Government, and early in the session of Congress which began in December, 1860, after the election of Mr. Lincoln, amid the gathering gloom of imminent civil war, Congress authorized the issue of ten millions of Treasury notes, payable in one year, to be issued at the best rate obtainable by the Secretary of the Treasury.