THE

CHAPTER XIX.

DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN.

HE Army of the Potomac was at Warrenton. Its new commander, General Burnside, had rendered excellent service in North Carolina. He reluctantly accepted the command conferred upon him by President Lincoln. He doubted his ability to handle so large a body of troops. The country demanded aggressive action. He must plan a campaign. The advantages which existed after Antietam had been lost. The Confederate army was behind the Rapidan, at Gordonsville. A new movement must be planned. General Halleck advised Burnside to make a direct attack upon the Confederate army. Burnside thought it would be better to march south-east to Fredericksburg, and cross the Rappahannock at that point. It would necessitate the reopening of the railroad from Aquia Creek to Fredericksburg. Pontoons would be needed. They could be taken down the Potomac and up the Rappahannock by steamer. Burnside would conceal his intentions by making a demonstration towards Gordonsville with a portion of the army while the boats were on their way. At the right moment he would make a quick march to Fredericksburg. Halleck would see that the pontoons were there at the appointed time. The plan was approved by the President.

Day was dawning on November 15th when the troops under General Sumner folded their blankets and moved eastward from Warrenton. They reached the Falmouth hills opposite Fredericksburg. The Confederate regiment of cavalry and four companies of infantry holding the place saw with amazement the hills across the Rappahannock swarming with Union soldiers. The pontoons had not arrived. Colonel Brooks, commanding a brigade, saw a steer come down the southern bank and wade across the stream. He sent word to Sumner, who despatched a messenger to Burnside, asking permission to cross the river and seize Fredericksburg. He had 40,000 men. Burnside hastened to Falmouth, but thought the risk too great, as the pontoons were not

there. Two days passed, and Lee's army was upon the hills behind the city. Through want of co-operation or inefficiency at Washington the well-laid plan had miscarried. Burnside was confronted by the army of Lee, intrenched upon frowning hills. The country was demanding a battle. He must make a movement. He decided to cross the Rappahannock, capture the town, and then attack Lee in the intrenchments. It was done, resulting in failure, the loss of 12,000 men, and the withdrawal of the troops to Falmouth.

1862.

No language can adequately describe the emotions of the President upon hearing of the terrible slaughter and the disastrous results. Day by day the lines deepened upon his brow.

The elections held in November had resulted in the choice of a large number of Democratic members of Congress, and the election of Horatio Seymour as Governor of New York. Mr. Seymour was a Democrat, opposed to the war, and Mr. Lincoln could no longer turn to the chief of that great State for support. He had good reason to look with apprehension into the future. But in his message to Congress, upon its reassembling for its last session, there was no swerving from his conviction of what was right, or what ought to be done to maintain the Union. There is dignity, grandeur, and touching pathos in his closing sentences:

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I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed to the Congress of the nation by the chief magistrate of the nation. Nor do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor that many of you have more experience than I in the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust that in view of the great responsibility resting upon me you will perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to display. The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disinthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.

"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We-even we here-hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free-honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. Other means may succeed, this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just-a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."

Mr. Lincoln was carrying burdens which were not apparent to the public. The country was holding him responsible for all the failures.

The War Department was a part of the Administration. Why such inefficiency at Washington? Why were not the pontoons at Fredericksburg at the appointed time? Why did not the President bring about harmony among the members of the Cabinet? Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase differed widely in their views as to what ought to be done. They had both been aspirants for the Presidency. Mr. Lincoln, with great magnanimity, had invited them to aid him in the administration. They were strong men, who not only criticised each other, but the President.

"It is painful," wrote Mr. Chase to Senator Sherman, "to hear complaints of remissness, delays, disorder, and dangers, and feel that there must be ground for such complaints, and know at the same time that one has no power to remedy the evils complained of, and yet be thought to have." (1)

Mr. Chase said the Administration had made many mistakes and blunders. He also felt that the influence of the Secretary of State over Mr. Lincoln was not what it should be.

"I do not doubt," he said to Mr. Thurlow Weed, "Mr. Seward's fidelity to his ideas of progress, amelioration, and freedom; but he adheres too tenaciously to men who have proved themselves unworthy and dangerous, such as McClellan. His influence encourages the irresolution and inaction of the President in regard to men and measures." (')

Mr. Seward offended a large number of Senators by a despatch written to Mr. Adams, Minister to England, in which he criticised the policy of that minister. The Senators learned of the interview between Mr. Chase and Mr. Weed, which made them still more dissatisfied with Mr. Seward. They met in conference and voted to demand his dismissal, but subsequently thought it would be more respectful to request a reconstruction of the Cabinet.

The janitor at the White House was accustomed to see delegations and committees ascend the stairs leading to the President's room, but

not often had he seen nine Senators entering the chamber in a Dec. 19. body. They were men whom the President greatly respected -Sumner, (') Fessenden, Collamer, Pomeroy, Howard, Harris, Wade, Grimes, Trumbull. They had no charge to make of any particular wrong done by Mr. Seward, but thought he was not heartily supporting the measures of the President.

"I would like to see you again this evening," said the President. The Senators departed, and a little later each member of the Cabinet, in response to a request from the President, entered. They were

informed of the interview with the Senators. He desired them to know all that was being done. Once more-in the evening-the Senators met the President, together with the members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward. We never shall know all that was said. A frank and free discussion was carried on till late in the night.

"Do you, gentlemen," said the President, "still think Mr. Seward ought to be excused from serving as Secretary of State?"

"Yes," said Sumner, Trumbull, Grimes, and Pomeroy.

"No," responded Senator Harris.

On December 20th Secretary Seward and Secretary Chase sent their resignations to the President, but he declined to accept them; he needed their great services and had confidence in them.

Christmas was not, as in former years, full of joy and gladness, but sorrow, to those whose loved ones were buried where they fell on the battlefields. Gloom and despondency were settling upon the Army of the Potomac. The leading generals were quarrelling. Burnside demanded the peremptory removal of those whom he believed had failed to do their duty-among them General Hooker. His subordinate commanders were denouncing him for the useless slaughter at Fredericksburg. There was want of unity in the Cabinet. Senators and members of Congress were criticising the Administration. The Republican members were divided in opinion. The Committee on the Conduct of the War was bringing to light many scandals. The men who opposed the war were becoming arrogant and aggressive. The Democratic Party was in power in many of the States, determined to thwart the President. Leading officers in the army said that "the army and the Government needed a dictator." The time was near at hand when the final edict of emancipation would be issued. More bitterly than ever was it denounced as unconstitutional, unrighteous, and wicked by those who did not want to see slavery abolished. Is it a wonder that under these circumstances the sadness deepened upon the countenance of the President, or that he experienced unspeakable anguish as he thought of the slaughter at Fredericksburg and looked into the darkness of the future?

Many slaves had left their masters and made their way to Washington. The Government was obliged to establish a "contraband camp," where they were cared for. On the last day of December the hands of the clock stole on to the midnight hour, when, according to the edict of Abraham Lincoln, they were to be free. The thousands kneeled and began to sing:

"Oh, go down, Moses,

Way down to Egypt's land;

Tell King Pharaoh

To let my people go.

Oh, Pharaoh said he would not cross

'Let my people go.'

But Pharaoh and his hosts were lost

Let my people go."

The song ceased. The church bell slowly tolled the hour. There