Part 21

Dinner was hastily served, when the servants were cleared from the dining-hall, and Governor Curtin stated the facts to the dining guests, and insisted that Lincoln’s programme should be changed. Every one present promptly responded in approval, and the only silent man at the table was Lincoln. I sat near enough to him to watch and study his face, and there was not a sign of agitation upon it, and when he was called upon to give his views, it was at once made evident to all that he thought much more of commanding the respect and honor of the nation than of preserving his life. His answer was substantially, and I think exactly, in these words: “I cannot consent. What would the nation think of its President stealing into its capital like a thief in the night?” His voice was clear and distinct, and his cool and earnest manner made his expression painfully pathetic.

Fortunately, among the guests was the late Colonel Thomas A. Scott, and when Governor Curtin declared that the question was not one for Lincoln to decide, Colonel Scott at once proposed to take charge of the new programme, and send Lincoln back to Philadelphia on a special train in time to make the eleven o’clock from Broad and Prime Streets to Washington that night. Scott was a master alike in keenness of perception and swiftness of execution. He at once directed the Governor to take Lincoln down to the front of the hotel, where there were multitudes awaiting to cheer them, and loudly call a carriage to take them to the Executive Mansion, as that would be the natural place for them to go. They entered the carriage, drove up along the river front toward the Executive Mansion, and then made a detour to reach the depot in thirty minutes, as instructed by Colonel Scott. I accompanied Colonel Scott to the depot, when he first cleared one track of his line to Philadelphia, forbidding anything to enter upon it until released, and with his own hands cut all of the few telegraph wires which then came into Harrisburg. A locomotive and a car were in readiness at the time appointed a square below the depot, where Lincoln and Curtin arrived with Colonel Lamon, and Lincoln and Lamon entered the car for their journey. When I shook hands with Lincoln and wished him God’s protection on his journey, he was as cool and deliberate as ever in his life.

Every precaution had been taken to prevent the knowledge of a change in Lincoln’s programme being known to any who might possibly communicate by telegraph, and when the wires were all cut we felt assured that unless Lincoln should be accidentally detected in Philadelphia, none would know of his journey until he arrived at Washington. But one person in Philadelphia was advised of the movement, and he was Superintendent Kenney, of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, still prominently connected with its service, who was instructed by Colonel Scott to meet Lincoln at the Pennsylvania depot and conduct him to the Broad and Prime station. Beyond Superintendent Kenney, no one outside of the few in Harrisburg who had arranged and started Lincoln on his journey had any knowledge of the change in his route.

He was received by Superintendent Kenney in a carriage, taken to the Broad and Prime station, where a section of a sleeping car had been engaged for him, entered it without attracting attention, and at six o’clock the next morning he was in Washington. We had a sleepless and a terribly long and anxious night at Harrisburg, but about six o’clock Colonel Scott reunited the wires in his railroad station, and received the despatch: “Plums delivered Nuts safely,” which announced the safe arrival of the President.

THE LINCOLN-McCLELLAN CONTEST

1864

The average intelligent student of our Civil War a generation after the conflict ended, with Lincoln’s achievements in the grateful remembrance of every patriot, would naturally assume that Lincoln’s re-election to the Presidency in 1864 was never in any measure doubtful; but in fact three months after his renomination in Baltimore his defeat by General McClellan was generally apprehended by his friends and frankly conceded by Lincoln himself. On the 23d of August, 1864, he wrote the following with his signature appended:

“This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to co-operate with the President-elect so as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration, as he will have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterward.”

This paper he sealed and delivered to Secretary Welles with notice not to open it until after the election.

There was very earnest opposition to Lincoln’s renomination by men of eminent ability and influential leadership in the Republican party. Chase, Wade, Henry Winter Davis, and Horace Greeley were bitterly opposed to accepting him as the Republican candidate for the second contest, as they believed that he could not be elected. In addition to these, Sumner was not heartily for him; Stevens was earnestly opposed to the President because he had not pressed confiscation and other punishments against the South, and the extreme radical wing of the Republican party was aggressive in its hostility. Lincoln’s strength was with the people, and they overwhelmed the leaders who sought his overthrow.

The only exhibition of weakness I ever saw in Lincoln was exhibited during what might be called the contest for his renomination. There was, in point of fact, no contest at all, as after all the efforts of the opposing leaders had been exhausted the Republican people rallied to his support and asserted their mastery. He was painfully impressed with the apprehension that he might be defeated in the convention, and on a number of occasions I heard him discuss the question with a degree of interest that was painful. Even after a majority of all the delegates to the convention had been positively instructed for him, and certainly two-thirds of the remainder were publicly pledged to his support, he could not dismiss the fears of his possible defeat.

I visited him several times within a month of the convention, in obedience to his telegrams, when he discussed only the political dangers which beset him. He told me that his name would go into history darkly shadowed by a fraternal war that he would be held responsible for inaugurating if he were unable to continue in office to conquer the Rebellion and restore the Union.

Lincoln was human, as are all men, and a more anxious candidate I have never known. The last time I conferred with him on the subject was within two weeks of the meeting of the convention, and I could hardly treat with respect his anxiety about his renomination. He had given close study to the election of delegates, and I called his attention to the fact that a decided majority were positively instructed for him, and that he certainly knew that a majority of the others could not be diverted from him. He had to admit that there seemed to be no plausible reason for doubting the result, but, with a merry twinkle of the eye, he said:

“Well, McClure, I don’t quite forget that I was nominated by a convention that was two-thirds for the other fellow.”

I had to admit that he had been nominated by a convention that was two-thirds for Seward, but no such conditions could arise as presented themselves in the Seward fight to swerve the convention from its purpose.

So anxious was he about the situation that he made the very unreasonable request of me to become a delegate-at-large from Pennsylvania when I had already been unanimously elected a delegate from my Congressional district. I vainly attempted to convince him that it mattered not whether I was a delegate-at-large or a district delegate, as my power to serve him would be just the same; but he persisted in urging me to go before the State convention with the ungracious request to elect me a delegate-at-large—a position that was sought as one of honor—when I was already a member of the delegation from my district.

The only possible explanation I could conceive was that, as Cameron was certain to be a delegate-at-large, he desired me to be one with Cameron, and thus have both the Cameron and Curtin wings of the party equally represented at the head of the delegation. Fortunately, political conditions enabled me to carry out his wish, and Cameron and I were elected on the 1st ballot by a nearly unanimous vote.

I never suspected Lincoln’s purpose in asking me to change my position as a delegate until three days before the meeting of the convention, when I went to Washington in obedience to his summons. He then asked me to vote for the nomination of Andrew Johnson for Vice-President. He had Cameron already committed to the nomination of Johnson as a War Democrat to succeed Hamlin, but he gave me no intimation of Cameron’s position. I was favorable to the renomination of Hamlin, but after hearing Mr. Lincoln’s reasons for the request he made I would have voted for Johnson in obedience to a sense of public duty, although Lincoln was not wrong in assuming that I was likely to vote for any candidate for Vice-President he specially desired. He was not opposed to Hamlin, but he knew that the success of the party depended upon bringing into the Republican fold a large body of War Democrats who had never become Republicans, such as Judge Holt, General Dix, General Butler, and Governor Johnson, and he wished to nationalize the Republican party.

But the conclusive reason why he desired the nomination of Johnson was that it would most effectually prevent the recognition of the Confederacy by England and France. That was the great peril in the last year of the war, and Lincoln believed that in no way could the success of the Government in the suppression of the Rebellion be so clearly presented to the world as by taking Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, who had filled every important position within the gift of his State, and elect him to the Vice-Presidency from a reorganized rebellious State in the heart of the Confederacy. It is needless to say that, notwithstanding my prejudice against Johnson, I agreed to support him; but Lincoln’s caution prevented him from giving me any intimation as to the attitude of Cameron, who was equally pledged to Lincoln in the Johnson cause. Cameron and I met at the convention in Baltimore on June 7 without either knowing the position of the other, and as our political relations were not of the confidential order, although our personal intercourse was always pleasant, it required some diplomacy for us to reach an understanding. Cameron had been committed to Hamlin, with whom he had served in the Senate, and was somewhat embarrassed, and he suggested that while he was friendly to Hamlin he did not believe that he could be nominated, to which I agreed. He then proposed that we should line up the two factions of the State in the delegation and cast a unanimous vote for Hamlin when the State was first called, and change it to a unanimous vote for Johnson when the roll-call ended, to which I readily assented; and with some effort we had a harmonious delegation on that line with the exception of Thaddeus Stevens, who sat beside me when I cast my vote for Johnson, and who with a grim smile said to me: “Can’t you find a candidate for Vice-President without going down into a d——d rebel province?” The vote of the State was, however, recorded unanimously for Johnson, and it was the like efforts of Lincoln in his very quiet and earnest way that made Andrew Johnson Vice-President and President.

The Republican National Convention met in Baltimore on the 7th of June, 1864, and the venerable Rev. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, was temporary president and Ex-Governor William Dennison, of Ohio, permanent president. Every State outside of the Southern Confederacy, and some that were partially inside of it, were fully represented. There was no contest for President, as the nomination of Lincoln was conceded. He received the unanimous vote of every State on 1st ballot with the exception of the Missouri delegation, that was instructed for Grant, and that was promptly changed to Lincoln to make the vote unanimous. There was a considerable undercurrent in the convention that was not friendly to Lincoln, but so powerless that no attempt was made to assert it.

The important contest of the convention was for Vice-President. Until a short time before the meeting it was generally expected that Vice-President Hamlin would be renominated with President Lincoln; but when the delegates came together, opposition to Hamlin was developed and unexpectedly to many of the members, and it soon became evident that a powerful organization had been quietly crystallized to nominate Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, then Military Governor of that State. The 1st ballot gave Andrew Johnson 200 and 150 for Hamlin and 108 for Dickinson, with 61 votes scattered; but before the ballot closed Pennsylvania led off by changing from Hamlin and giving a unanimous vote for Johnson. Stevens was opposed to the change, but finding himself alone in the delegation, he permitted his vote to be recorded with the majority. Other changes were made, and the 1st and only ballot was finally announced as 494 for Johnson, 17 for Dickinson, and 9 for Hamlin. The following platform was prepared and reported to the convention by Henry J. Raymond, of New York, and unanimously adopted:

1. _Resolved_, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union, and the permanent authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.

2. _Resolved_, That we approve the determination of the Government of the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that we call upon the Government to maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their country and its free institutions.

3. _Resolved_, That as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of this rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic; and that, while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a deathblow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States.

4. _Resolved_, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy who have perilled their lives in defence of their country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of the country; and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance.

5. _Resolved_, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we approve and endorse, as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve, especially, the proclamation of emancipation and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other constitutional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete effect.

6. _Resolved_, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially endorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.

7. _Resolved_, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war; and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in time of war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress.

8. _Resolved_, That foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power to this nation—the asylum of the oppressed of all nations—should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.

9. _Resolved_, That we are in favor of a speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast.

10. _Resolved_, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation; and that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency.

11. _Resolved_, That we approve the position taken by the Government, that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force or to supplant by fraud the institutions of any republican Government on the western continent; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of their own country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new foot-holds for monarchical governments, sustained by foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States.

The sixth resolution, read in the light of the present, would seem to be a very harmless and proper expression on general principles, but every member of the convention voted for it, well understanding that it meant a demand from the supreme authority of the party that Montgomery Blair should retire from the position of Postmaster-General. He was not in harmony with the policy of the administration, but Lincoln hesitated to remove him, as their personal relations were always pleasant. Some weeks after the convention had adjourned the more earnest opponents of Postmaster-General Blair were disappointed that Lincoln did not remove him, and several of them called upon Lincoln to explain why he had not obeyed the command of the party. Lincoln answered that he fully recognized the right of the Republican party, through its highest tribunal, to instruct him as to members of the Cabinet, but he added, with a significant twinkle of the eye, that those resolutions related to the next administration and not to the present. Soon thereafter, however, Mr. Blair resigned, and Governor Dennison, of Ohio, succeeded him.

The Democratic convention met in Chicago on August 29, and Horatio Seymour was permanent president. It was on the 23d of the same month that Lincoln had written the paper before referred to, expressing his settled belief that he would be defeated. Grant had been hammering away between the Wilderness and the James with appalling sacrifice of life and without visible substantial results. Sherman had been fighting his way toward Atlanta, and had never won anything approaching a victory over Johnson. Thus the summer was well-nigh ended without the inspiration of victory, and the long, fearful strain and sacrifice suffered by the people made many patriotic hearts inclined to accept peace on any reasonable terms.

The Democratic convention thus met just when the country was most profoundly impressed with the terrible sacrifices of war and the apprehension that the military power of the Confederacy could not be conquered. It was this condition that made the Democrats commit the fatal blunder of declaring in their national platform, “As the sense of the American people that, after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, under the pretence of a military necessity of a war power higher than the Constitution,” considerations of humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand “that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate convention of all the States.” Had the election been held at that time, McClellan would have been elected, but the delegates from the Democratic convention when on their way home after their fatal deliverance against the war met the people at every city and village cheering to the echo over the capture of Atlanta, and by night they found almost a continuous line of torches displayed by crowds cheering themselves hoarse over the great victory that was the beginning of the end of the war.

It was universally accepted by the Democrats before the Chicago convention met that General George B. McClellan would be their candidate. He had been in retirement at Orange, N. J., after he had been removed from the command of the Army of the Potomac in the fall of 1862, and his friends were very enthusiastic in his support. It was believed that he had sufficient flavor of the soldier to hold war Democrats, and he was known to be in very positive antagonism with the whole political and war policy of the President. He was a man of blameless character and altogether the strongest candidate upon whom the Democrats could unite. The 1st and only ballot for President in the convention gave 174 votes to McClellan, with 38 for Thomas H. Seymour, of Connecticut, 12 for Horatio Seymour, of New York, with 1/2 vote for Charles O’Conor, of New York, and 1-1/2 votes blank. Changes were made before the ballot closed, giving McClellan 202-1/2 votes to 28-1/2 for Thomas H. Seymour, and the nomination of McClellan was made unanimous with great enthusiasm.

There was only one ballot for Vice-President, as follows:

James Guthrie, Ky. 65-1/2 Geo. H. Pendleton, Ohio 55-1/2 Lazarus W. Powell, Ky. 32-1/2 George W. Cass, Pa. 26 Daniel W. Voorhees, Ind. 13 J. H. Caton 16 Augustus C. Dodge, Iowa 9 John S. Phelps, Mo. 8

Very soon after the 2d ballot began Mr. Guthrie’s name was withdrawn, followed by the withdrawal of other candidates, and Mr. Pendleton was nominated unanimously. The following platform was adopted with little opposition:

_Resolved_, That in the future, as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution as the only solid foundation of our strength, security, and happiness as a people, and as a framework of Government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern.