emancipation. He had even prepared a draft of such a document. But when others urged it upon him he almost invariably argued against it. He seemed to hesitate. But, as he subsequently admitted, when Maryland was invaded by the rebel forces, and the national capital was put in jeopardy, he made a solemn vow to God that, if the invader should be expelled, he would thereupon issue the long-deferred proclamation. The battle of South Mountain was fought September 14th, the battle of Antietam on the 17th of the month. The rebels, whipped and routed, retreated across the Potomac. Maryland and Pennsylvania were saved. On September 22, 1862, the President issued his immortal Proclamation.

Bonfires, illuminations, salvos of artillery, and public meetings manifested the people's joy over what was declared to be the downfall of slavery. The "house divided against itself" would no longer exist so divided. In many towns and cities thanksgiving services were held, resolutions of approval and congratulation were adopted, and the President was assured, by every possible form of words, of the hearty co-operation of the nation in the work yet remaining to be done. From this time forward, the war took on a new aspect. It was a war for the re-establishment of the Union the Union without slavery.

In the final issue of the Proclamation, New Year's Day, 1863, Lincoln said:

"WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of

our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.'

"Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

"Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes. of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann,

and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

"And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

CHAPTER XIX

A DIFFICULT MILITARY SITUATION

WHILE

HILE the steps that led up to the Emancipation Proclamation were being taken, Lincoln was greatly troubled by the difficulties and dangers of the military situation. The eyes of the people, for the most part, were turned towards Washington. The operations around the national capital were, for various reasons, more interesting than were those of greater real importance in other parts of the country. In that direction, it seemed, nothing was done but to make elaborate and extensive preparations.

General McClellan was now in the zenith of his fame and popularity. He was yet young, barely turned thirty-six, but he had already made himself a favorite with the Army and the people. In fact, in the very beginning of the war, he achieved military successes in western Virginia, and won a name for himself before other men had a chance to distinguish themselves. Fresh from his victories, McClellan, in the summer of 1861, assumed command of the Army of the Potomac. He found it a fine body of men, fifty thousand in number, rapidly increasing with the new levies; for Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief, had strained his authority to the utmost to make that army a large and aggressive force one of which McClellan could say in the following March: "The Army of the Potomac is now

a real army-magnificent in material, admirable in discipline, excellently equipped and armed. Your commanders are all that I could wish." Yet nothing was done.

Even the brilliant and highly important victories in the West failed, however, to arouse in McClellan any answer to the cry, On to Richmond." It was not until March, 1862, that this perfect army was transferred to the Peninsula, and was ready to advance. April and May slipped away without any results, and June, in fights and manœuvres even now not readily understood.

On the 9th of April, the President had written McClellan :

"I suppose the whole force which had gone forward to you is with you by this time, and if so, I think that it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By delay, the enemy will relatively gain upon you- that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone; and once more let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this.

The country will not fail to note-and it is now noting -that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. I beg to assure you I have never written

in

greater kindness, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most anxious judgment I consistently can. But you must act."

Still nothing was done, and, on the 25th of May, Lincoln telegraphed to McClellan: "I think the time. is near at hand when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job, and come to the defence of Washington."