Prologue: In Jackson’s Time
xi “unsurpassed for richness and variety, elegance and abundance.”: New-Hampshire Patriot, April 26, 1830.
xi occupied by the president of the United States.: Parton, James. The Life of Andrew Jackson. New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1888, 282.
xii stay at the dinner while others walked out.: Benton, Thomas Hart. Thirty Years’ View, Volumes I–III (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1854), 148.
xii an exploded bomb!” as one biographer put it.: Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 284.
xii emanated will forever sustain it.”: Van Buren, Martin. The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1920), 417.
xiii upon the first tree I can reach.”: This encounter with the congressman appears in Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 284–85.
xiii the staple question of his daily visitors.”: Nicolay, John, and Hay, John. Abraham Lincoln: A History, Volumes I–X (New York: The Century Company, 1914), 3:247.
xiv and maintain the existing government.”: Ibid., 3:248.
Chapter 1: I Met Nullification at Its Threshold
1 faded along with his view of the coast.: Van Buren, Autobiography, 446–47.
1 by 200 votes out of 30,000 cast.: Bancroft, George. Martin Van Buren to the End of His Public Career (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1889), 20.
1 along with six slaves his mother had inherited.: Sibley, Joel. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002), 2.
2 administrations of Jefferson and Madison.”: Ibid., 9.
2 his employer’s office to earn his place.: Ibid., 4.
2 a name for himself defending small landholders.: Bancroft, Van Buren, 9.
2 competing ideological and ethnic factions.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 22.
2 first true statewide political machine.: Ibid., 25.
2 concurrently with his state senate seat).: Bancroft, Van Buren, Chapter 2, passim; 49.
2 Van Buren a member of the US Senate.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 35.
2 led by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.: Ibid., 41.
3 offered him an early endorsement in 1826.: Ibid., 48.
3 popularity,” he believed they could unseat Adams.: Martin Van Buren to Thomas Ritchie, January 13, 1827, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
3 in the building of new party operations.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 49.
3 to winning a landslide across the country.: Ibid., 54.
4 disparaging the character of the government.”: Van Buren, Autobiography, 339.
4 cabinet wives in ostracizing the Eatons.: Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (New York: Random House, 2008), 71.
4 caused the president “daily anguish.”: Van Buren, Autobiography, 339.
4 joined Van Buren in supporting Margaret.: Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 302.
4 are becoming very jealous of each other.”: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 69.
4 mounting upon the shoulders of Mrs. Eaton.”: Meacham, American Lion, 124–25.
4 by the British and Russian ministers.: Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 289.
5 say as much for Mr. Calhoun.”: Ibid., 295; Jackson to Judge Overton, December 31, 1829.
5 humiliation of his friend by his enemies.”: Van Buren, Autobiography, 403.
5 England would allow him a face-saving departure.: Ibid., 405.
5 the truth as I spread it before him.”: Ibid.
5 who had failed to follow in kind.: Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 345.
6 warm a reception as ever a conqueror had.”: Letter from Churchill Cambreleng to Van Buren, January 27, 1832, reprinted in Van Buren, Autobiography, 454.
6 experiencing the excesses of party spirit.”: Van Buren, Autobiography, 456.
6 had come after two days of fiery debate.: Remini, Robert. Henry Clay, Statesman for the Union (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991). 384.
6 he predicted, “and elected a Vice President.”: Byrd, Robert. The Senate 1789–1989 (Washington DC: 1991), 121.
6 Calhoun is greatly injured.”: Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. The Letters and Times of the Tylers, Volumes I–III (Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson, 1884), 1:438–39.
6 and to select his running mate.: Van Buren, Autobiography, 503.
7 declining to yield to their wishes.”: Ibid., 510
7 and establishing an independent nation.: Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 457–58.
7 with which he had been entrusted.”: Ibid., 461.
7 and even sell cargo to satisfy the duty.: Ibid.
8 smashing his pipe to splinters on the table.: The story of Dale’s visit to the White House can be found in Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 462.
8 the pages in order for them to dry.: Ibid., 466.
8 Palmetto State had gone over to the nullifiers.: Somit, Albert. “Jackson as Administrator.” Public Administration Review, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer, 1948), 195–96.
8 preserved at all hazards and at any price.”: Jackson’s proclamation, issued December 12, 1830.
9 to obtain a mastery over his passions.”:Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:531.
9 my nose must be there already.”: Ibid., 1:546.
9 request to use the military in South Carolina.: Ibid., 1:453.
9 lose his seat in opposition if necessary.: Ibid., 1:441.
10 politically speaking, elsewhere than to my state.: Senate Journal, February 6, 1833
10 grow out of this measure, you are alone responsible.”: Ibid.
10 in his reappointment by a wide margin.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:454.
10 whether this tact would resolve the crisis.: Remini, Clay, 418.
10 tariff existed simply to fund the government.: Ibid., 425
10 hands on the floor, congratulating one another.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:596.
11 in Washington on the 26th of February, 1833.”: Van Buren, Autobiography, 554.
11 vice president, over friends and enemies alike.: Ibid., 566.
11 shall be troubled with them again shortly.”: Both Jackson’s letter and Buchanan’s response can be found in Buchanan, James. The Works of James Buchanan, Volumes I–XI (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1911), 2:328.
Chapter 2: The Freshmen
12 to backbreaking labor in western New York.: Smith, Elbert. The Presidencies of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1988), 43.
12 and could then fix it in my memory.”: Rayback, Robert. Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President (Buffalo: Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, 1959), 6.
12 personal library of more than four thousand volumes.: Ibid., 43.
13 I enjoyed the reading very much.”: Autobiographical statement in the Millard Fillmore Papers. Severance, Frank, ed. The Papers of Millard Fillmore, Volumes I–II (Buffalo: Buffalo Historical Society, 1907).
13 whom he persuaded to take on Fillmore as a law clerk.: Rayback, Fillmore, 7.
13 a sturdy home, one that stands to this day.: Millard Fillmore Papers, autobiographical statement (“Fillmore Autobiography”).
14 that abolished imprisonment for debt.: Rayback, Fillmore, 35, 39.
14 become the best known of its citizens.: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:485.
14 destruction by the British had been complete.”: Rayback, Fillmore, 11.
14 Abigail were frequent guests and hosts.: Ibid., 43, 47.
14 had started, only wetter, colder, and more fatigued.: Nichols, Roy. Franklin Pierce: Young Hickory of the Granite Hills (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1969), 9.
14 the most important friendship of his life.: Ibid., 19.
14 provide him a salary while studying law.: Ibid., 28.
15 New Hampshire’s governor after two previous defeats.: Ibid., 32.
15 helped create the New Hampshire Democratic Party.: Ibid., 34.
15 committee to overhaul control of the local schools.: Ibid., 44.
15 New Hampshire’s legislative body of 230 to serve as speaker.: Ibid., 54.
15 and beckons us on—to find what? Disappointment.”: Ibid., 55.
15 giving an advantage to Pierce’s party.: Wallner, Peter. Franklin Pierce, Volumes I–II (Concord: Plaidswede Publishing, 2007), 1:45.
15 and check the course of our ambition.”: Ibid., 1:45.
15 for Washington and the next session of Congress.: Ibid., 1:52.
15 with 25 Anti-Masons and 9 Nullifiers.: Party Divisions in the House of Representatives; www.House.gov.
16 to be so constantly pressed with engagements.”: Wallner, Pierce, 150.
16 later be known as “The Panic Session” of Congress.: Remini, Clay, 447.
16 new revenues were placed in various state banks.: Ibid., 444.
16 the deposit question seems to be interminable.”: Wallner, Pierce, 1:49.
16 opposite sides of numerous votes on the bank.: House Journal, February 18, 1835.
16 his own pocket as easily as in the state banks.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:485.
16 whether the separation of powers would be preserved.: Scarry, Robert. Millard Fillmore (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2001), 48; Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:487.
16 another pinch of your aromatic Maccoboy [tobacco].”: Remini, Clay, 452–53.
17 a new era of political parties was born.: Ibid., 461.
17 as he was tackled to the ground.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:508.
17 as much fearlessness as one could possibly have done.”: Ibid., 1:509.
17 taken you for a young man of twenty-five.”: Ibid., 1:510.
17 attempt to assassinate the president.”: Scarry, Fillmore, 50.
17 was such that Fillmore chose not to run again.: Millard Fillmore Papers, Millard Fillmore autobiographical statement.
17 printed, read, or referred to a committee.: Wallner, Pierce, 1:62–63.
18 and denounced abolitionists on the House floor.: Ibid., 1: Chapter 4 passim.
18 to disturb occasionally the quiet of a village.”: Nichols, Young Hickory, 83.
18 with nine years of spirited debate to follow.: Wallner, Pierce, 1:63.
18 realigned Jackson with his base of support in Virginia.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:522.
18 my walking papers from the legislature,” Tyler wrote.: Ibid., 1:531.
18 not to let the legislature drive him from the Senate.: Ibid., 1:528.
18 Perserverando, and all difficulties will vanish.”: Ibid., 1:514.
18 and Socrates was poisoned.”: Ibid., 1:547.
18 offered a judgeship to go away quietly, he declined.: Ibid., 1:524.
18 attained or held at the sacrifice of honor.”: Ibid., 1:536.
Chapter 3: The Setting Sun
19 be nominated by the Democratic Party as his successor.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 101.
19 this against badly divided opposition.: Ibid., 107.
19 the rising was eclipsed by the setting sun.”: Benton, Thirty Years’ View, 1:735.
20 special session of Congress, the first in twenty-four years.: Niven, John. Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics (Newtown, CT: American Political Biography Press, 2000), 412, 414–16, 422.
20 essentially making the government its own banker.: Ibid., 417–18.
20 it extorted the respect of his enemies.”: Buchanan, Works, 3:324.
20 too small for him to mount” on his behalf.: Rayback, Fillmore, 100.
20 Clay supporters looking to be mollified.: Chitwood, Oliver. John Tyler: Champion of the
Old South (Newtown, CT: American Political Biography Press, 1990), 167.
21 an increase from 1.5 million to 2.5 million voters.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 153–54.
21 coonskin-cap-wearing, hard-cider-drinking yeoman farmer.: Niven, Romantic Age, 461.
21 log cabin was in reality a mansion in Indiana.: Millard Fillmore Papers, 1:403.
21 financial crisis, and advocating federal public works.: Niven, Romantic Age 461.
21 47 percent nationally while losing his home state to Harrison.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren 153–54.
Chapter 4: . . . And Tyler, Too
22 he took the oath of office at Brown’s Indian Queen.: Chitwood, Tyler, 202–3.
22 the same shall devolve on the Vice President.”: United States Constitution, Article II, s. 1.
22 special election was required to complete Harrison’s term.: John Tyler, Tenth Vice President, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Tyler.htm.
23 otherwise, your resignations will be accepted.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 270.
23 spirited fight from former president John Quincy Adams.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:13.
23 and now Tyler was very much in Clay’s way.: Chitwood, Tyler, 211.
23 he thought “will be in the nature of a regency.”: Remini, Clay, 580.
23 May 31, in response to a call by President Harrison.: Chitwood, Tyler, 211.
24 empowered to set up branches in states that agreed.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:15.
24 voices were raised and Clay would not yield.: Remini, Clay, 583.
24 at this end of it as I shall think proper.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:33.
24 obsessive desire to fashion a third national bank.”: Remini, Clay, 581
24 “earnestly recommended” Tyler sign it into law.: Chitwood, Tyler, 224.
24 “he has found one of old Jackson’s pens.”: Remini, Clay, 590.
25 himself burned in effigy: Chitwood, Tyler, 228–29.
25 banks to discount notes without state concurrence.: Remini, Clay, 591.
25 not with the Whigs, but with the Democrats.: Remini, Clay, 594.
25 that Henry Clay is a doomed man.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 273.
25 fallen out with Jackson for the same reasons as himself.: Ibid., 280.
25 kicked Tyler out of the Whig Party.: Ibid., 249.
25 both of these are applicants for office.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:225.
26 you shall have the best train on the road.”: Lamon, Ward Hill. Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847–1865 (Washington, DC: Published by his daughter, Dorothy Lamon Teillard), 133.
26 returned to New Hampshire and his family.: Wallner, Pierce, 1: 154.
26 sore from laughter for days afterward.: Arnold, Isaac Newton. The Life of Abraham Lincoln (Chicago: Jansen, McClurg, & Co., 1885), 74.
26 hungry to be somebody.”: DeRose, Chris. Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America’s Greatest President (New York: Simon and Schuster/Threshold, 2013), 63.
27 he backed a successful bankruptcy bill.: Scarry, Fillmore, 72.
27 feasibility of this revolutionary new technology.: Ibid., 74.
27 to the cargo of American versus foreign ships.: Ibid., 76.
27 emotion, in the words of one reporter.: Ibid., 76–77.
27 deficit had become a surplus of five million dollars.: Ibid., 78.
27 quiet enjoyments of my own family and fireside.”: Ibid., 78.
27 the lawful representatives of the state.: Chitwood, Tyler, 326.
28 and to pardon the leaders of the convention.: Ibid., 337–38.
28 Connecticut militia to defend the state government.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:196.
28 amended the constitution to increase voting rights.: Chitwood, Tyler, 328.
28 to the Republic, giving them official recognition.: Niven, Romantic Age, 445.
28 Mexico, who refused to acknowledge that Texas was independent, threatened war: Ibid., 445.
28 been burned by Van Buren’s snubbing of Texas’s overtures.: Merry, Robert. A Nation of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 63, 73.
29 a toast, causing him to miss the demonstration.: Written recollection of John J. Hardin, in his papers, Chicago Historical Society, March 1, 1844; Chitwood, Tyler, 398.
29 she collapsed in the arms of John Tyler.: Chitwood, Tyler, 401.
29 that he hoped to be their nominee in 1844.: Ibid., 284.
29 maybe even war backed by a European power.: Remini, Clay, 639.
29 had been traversing back to the presidency.: Niven, Romantic Age, 531–32.
29 a treaty of annexation was sent to the Senate.: Chitwood, Tyler, 352.
29 by the lopsided margin of 16–35.: Ibid., 355.
29 went on a month-long honeymoon in July.: Ibid., 405.
30 remaining six did not commit to any candidate.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 167.
30 he was forced to withdraw after nine ballots.: Ibid., 177, 179.
30 he would be bound to support the nominee.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:317.
30 met in Baltimore and nominated him for another term.: Ibid., 2:315.
30 country which would forbid my doing so.”: Ibid., 2:318–21.
31 remained to achieve was for Texas to give her assent.: Ibid., 2:363.
31 People’s eyes were filled with tears.: Ibid., 2:367.
31 and fell, and trembled, and rose again.”: Ibid., 2:369.
31 status after his expulsion from the Whigs.: Chitwood, Tyler, 410.
31 sixty to ninety slaves living in twenty cabins on the property.: Crapol, Edward. John Tyler, the Accidental President (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012), 249, 253.
31 and an assortment of other necessities.: Chitwood, Tyler, 409.
31 actions properly vindicated,” his son remembered.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:463.
32 visit him, a courtesy due even a stranger.: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture. “Edmund Ruffin’s Visit to Sherwood Forest.” William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (January 1906), 198. 32. as faithfully as he had all of his other offices.: Ibid., 198.
32 a solemn obligation to continue his duty.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:465.
32 that I would not accede to their wishes.”: Curtis, George Ticknor. Life of James Buchanan (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1883), 1:549.
Chapter 5: War in Mexico!
33 with her children, sharpening their debating skills.: Autobiographical account by James Buchanan printed in Curtis, Buchanan, 1:2–3.
34 refrain from shenanigans if he could only be readmitted.: Curtis, Buchanan, 1:4–5.
34 to humble our pride and self-sufficiency.”: Ibid., 1:6.
34 a British invasion of the city that never materialized.: Ibid., 1:8
34 argued for his acquittal before the Senate.: Ibid., 1:16–17.
35 expected reconciliation could come to pass: Ibid., 1:17.
35 was infinitely dearer to me than life.”: Ibid., 1:18–19.
35 would experience to having a child of his own.: Ibid., 1:531.
35 December of 1821, during the presidency of James Monroe.: Ibid., 1:22–23.
35 efforts helped Old Hickory win Pennsylvania.: Ibid., 1:94.
35 being talked about for the vice presidency.: Ibid., 1:126.
35 he was confirmed by the Senate a month later.: Ibid., 1:135.
36 attempt to see his ailing mother one final time.: Ibid., 1:217.
36 as Van Buren’s attorney general five years later.: Ibid., 1:452.
36 an open field and a fair start.”: Ibid., 1:519.
36 had been made under the circumstances.: Ibid., 1:524.
36 that Van Buren would have lost to Clay.: Ibid., 1:525.
36 withdraw from the treaty after a one-year notice.: Merry, Vast Designs, 168.
36 the United States did not find a way to bring them in.: Ibid., 164.
37 to revisit the question when Congress convened in December.: Quaife, Milton, ed. The Diary of James K. Polk During His Presidency, Volumes I–IV (Chicago: McClurg, 1910), September 29, 1845.
37 stormy deep nearly a quarter of a century.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 1:561.
37 to back his Supreme Court claim, unsuccessfully.: Polk Diary, January 22, 23, 26, 1846.
37 in administering the government without his aid.”: Ibid., January 31, 1846.
38 were arrested or placed in slavery.: Merry, Vast Designs, 183–84.
38 a technicality to send him back to Washington.: Ibid., 210.
38 to protect Texas from Mexican aggression.: Ibid., 240.
38 drafted by Buchanan and sent to Congress.: Polk Diary, April 25, 1846.
38 the president in his message to Congress.: Ibid., May 9, 1846.
39 which is about to divide the American people.”: Remini, Clay, 181; Potter, David. The Impending Crisis: America Before the Civil War (New York: Harper and Row, 1976), 20–23.
39 North, but a serious insult to the South.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:477.
40 elevated as his rival for the nomination.: Meigs, Montgomery. The Life of Thomas Hart Benton (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1904), 365.
40 made him the most popular man in America.: DeRose, Congressman Lincoln, 63.
40 resolved that Jane would not deny him this.: Wallner, Pierce 1:138.
40 head while killing the horse next to him.: Ibid., 1:140.
40 together accomplished exactly that within three hours.: Ibid., 1:141.
41 marched toward their final destination.: Ibid., 1:143.
41 the field while attempting to find his men.: Ibid., 1:146.
41 some of the bloodiest fighting of the war ensued.: Ibid., 1:148.
41 a strategic outpost for the defense of the capital.: Ibid., 1:150.
41 while the rest of the army triumphantly entered Mexico City.: Ibid., 1:152.
41 in 1847, had more power than the governor.: Scarry, Fillmore, 92; Rayback, Fillmore, 169.
42 the largest margin of any Whig in state history,: Rayback, Fillmore, 170.
42 as the party took control of the House of Representatives.: Nevin, Romantic Age, 576.
Chapter 6: The 30th Congress
43 reducing the number Winthrop needed for a majority.: DeRose, Lincoln, 93–94.
43 who were eager to bring the war to a conclusion.: Ibid., 97.
43 more painful than all his mental perplexity!”: Ibid., 98.
44 he now finds himself he knows not where.”: Ibid., 135.
44 a subsequent attempt to reverse it failed 105–95.: Ibid., 123.
44 Hidalgo, and sent it to a furious president.: Ibid., 117.
45 for a party and a country divided over slavery.: Ibid., 120.
45 one of whom is sure to be elected, if he is not.”: Basler, Roy, ed. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1953), 1:463–64.
45 thoroughly refuting the Democratic arguments.: Nevin, Romantic Age, 570.
45 had resulted in the Barnburners walking out.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 192–93.
45 each claiming to be the official Democratic meeting.: Ibid., 195.
45 unlikely event that he was placed for re-nomination.: Nevin, Romantic Age, 578–79.
46 presumably go through Fillmore rather than them.: Rayback, Fillmore, 185–86.
46 and none of the conspirators will succeed.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:460.
47 one issue, slavery extending into the territories.”: Niven, Romantic Age, 582, 587.
47 “the most fallen man I have ever known.”: Ibid., 586–89.
47 member to interrupt, shouting, “We give it up!”: DeRose, Lincoln, 192.
48 few lessons in deportment,” he would remember.: Ibid., 203.
48 Kinderhook and could only spoil the election.”: Ibid. 205.
48 respects to Millard Fillmore at Delevan House in Albany.: Scarry, Fillmore, 93.
48 anybody can be elected but himself.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:462.
48 Julia, he noted, was a Taylor supporter.: Chitwood, Tyler, 428.
48 the North, helping tip the election to Taylor.: Silbey, Martin Van Buren, 201.
49 we are at a crisis of some importance.”: DeRose, Lincoln, 240.
50 against only one member who wanted it vetoed.: Ibid., 239–40.
50 my duties as President of the U. States.”: DeRose, Congressman Lincoln, 39–40.
Chapter 7: A Final Settlement
51 to save the Whig party, if possible.: Holt, Michael. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003).
51 refusal of northern states to surrender fugitive slaves.: Nevins, Allan. Ordeal of the Union, Volumes I–VIII (New York: Scribner’s, 1947), 1:257.
52 slave trade; and a stronger fugitive slave law.: Ibid., 1:266.
52 for the North to cease agitating the slavery issue.: Ibid., 1:282–83.
52 “It is too ultra, and his ultimata impracticable.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:481.
52 product of decades of opposition to slavery.: Nevins, Ordeal, 1:289–90.
53 document provided the surest protection for slavery.: Ibid., 1:300.
53 its head to put down any rebellion in the South.: Nevins, Ordeal, 1:308.
53 I deemed it for the interests of the country.”: Rayback, Fillmore, 237.
53 from the White House—the president was deathly sick.: Scarry, Fillmore, 135.
53 responsibility that would now devolve on him.: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:491.
53 resignations; Fillmore accepted them all.: Rayback, Fillmore, 242.
53 fulfilled the role of secretary of state for Harrison and Tyler.: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:492.
54 stepped Stephen Douglas of Illinois.: Scarry, Fillmore, 170.
54 dispatching 750 additional troops to the region.: Ibid., 171.
54 regardless of all consequences to himself.”: Millard Fillmore to an autograph seeker, October 20, 1859, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
55 a federal crime to interfere with a slave capture.: Scarry, Fillmore, 172–73.
55 contributing his own money to the project.: Ibid., 172.
55 him and sending him on his way to Canada.: Nevins, Ordeal, 1:388–89.
55 to the governor, the legislature, or anyone else.: Rayback, Fillmore, 276.
56 published in half of all known languages.: Nevins, Ordeal, 1:404.
56 which is overrunning with sorrow and with tears.”: Wallace, Warden William. The Pen and Pencil (Cincinnati: publisher unknown), 1:216–17.
57 for me in view of all the circumstances.”: Wallner, Pierce, 1:192.
57 government. She fainted at the news.: Ibid., 1:202.
57 thirty-fifth ballot, was the nominee on the forty-ninth.: Ibid., 1:200–201.
57 predicting Pierce’s election “as next to certain.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:497.
57 support north and south for another bid.: Rayback, Fillmore, 338.
57 throughout the South nominated him for re-election.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:28.
57 a deathbed endorsement from Henry Clay.: Rayback, Fillmore, 350.
58 help the Whigs win the upcoming state elections.: Ibid., 348; Holt, Rise and Fall, 17280 (digital version).
58 Scott prevailed on the fifty-third ballot.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:28–29; Holt, Rise and Fall, 17293.
58 had a fair trial and have been fairly defeated.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:498.
58 without which no man is fit to be President.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:42.
58 ranks! How preposterous!”: Ibid., 2:44.
59 Free Soil dalliance, endorsed Pierce in a letter.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:32.
59 Electoral College, and carrying twenty-seven states to Scott’s four.: Ibid., 2:36.
59 Harriet was headed to dinner at Robert Tyler’s.: Buchanan, Works, 8:501.
59 and reminding her to mind her social etiquette.: Ibid., 8:504.
60 of which removed the top part of his head.: Litchfield (CT) Republican, January 13, 1853.
Chapter 8: A Hell of a Storm
61 go into seclusion and perhaps poverty.”: New York Herald, September 16, 1873.
61 his inaugural address without notes, a first.: Nevins, Ordeal, 44.
61 wore a black veil on her infrequent excursions.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:14.
62 the position of minister to England.: Buchanan, Works, 8:504.
62 any other Department of the Government,” Buchanan thought.: Ibid., 8:507–8.
62 really permit him to handle these on his own?: Wallner, Pierce, 2, Chapter 2 passim.
63 minister as though nothing had ever happened.: Buchanan, Works, 8:510.
63 that he had succeeded in fending him off.: Ibid., 9:6.
63 Philadelphia, where Pierce was scheduled to appear.: Ibid., 9:11.
64 by some, and with gratification by all.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:505.
64 the last barrier to significant settlement.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:123; 2:91.
65 though I know it will raise a hell of a storm.”: Wallner, Pierce, 2:93–94.
65 an organization of these lands that outlawed slavery.: Ibid., 2:97.
65 be “directly involved” in securing passage of the bill.: Ibid., 2:98.
65 These agitations cannot end in good.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:509.
65 something found in the bedrock of the revolution.: Ibid., 2:510
66 bitter feeling in Congress,” wrote one reporter.: St. Louis Missouri Republican, February 8, 1854; Nevins, 2:121.
66 at 5:00 a.m., 37–14, to pass the Kansas-Nebraska Act.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:102.
66 the eighty-nine Democrats in the state House were eliminated.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:147.
66 Every single northern Whig opposed the bill, 45 in all.: Ibid., 2:157.
66 and the judge ordered him returned to Virginia.: Ibid., 2:150–52.
66 “had converted to abolitionism in twenty years.”: Ibid., 2:154.
67 “aroused him as he had never been before.”: Lincoln autobiographical statement, June 1860.
67 “Oh Lincoln,” said Dickey, “go to sleep!”: Whipple, Wayne. The Story Life of Lincoln (Philadelphia: John C. Winston, 1908), 237.
67 “arguing against the extension of a bad thing.”: CW, 2:248–83.
67 there would be more than eight thousand.: Etcheson, Nicole. Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War Era (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004), 29.
68 office, stores, hotel, and boarding houses.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:314.
68 at Fort Leavenworth on October 7.: Ibid., 2:312.
68 had between fifteen hundred and two thousand adult males.: Ibid., 2:313.
68 concentrated in and around the town of Lawrence.: Whipple, Story Life, 238.
68 additional $1 million from the Massachusetts legislature.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 36.
68 discounted fares over rail and steam.: Ibid., 37.
68 1,114 were legal.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:313.
68 of being in favor of any other candidate.”: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 53.
68 a dollar a day, and liquor” to vote in Kansas.: Ibid., 32.
68 Reeder allowed the results to stand.: Ibid., 54.
68 who opposed Catholicism and immigration.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:414.
69 the pro-slavery faction had won all but three seats.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 56.
69 earlier had recorded just 2,905 legal voters.: Ibid., 59.
69 sold at a fake slave auction for a dollar.: Ibid., 58.
69 the legislature and of the actual fraud.: Ibid., 61.
69 territory where he intended to have new elections.: Ibid., 61.
69 issued vetoes but found himself overridden.: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:387.
69 seats to the candidates who had originally won.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 62.
69 legislature to convene on property that he owned.: Ibid., 67.
69 re-election there after his support for Kansas-Nebraska.: Ibid., 69.
70 the election scheduled by the legislature.: Ibid., 73.
70 Topeka to establish their own government.: Ibid., 74.
70 claimed self-defense and hastened to Missouri.: Ibid., 79.
70 arrested Branson in bed for “disturbing the peace.”: Ibid., 80.
70 his custody and taking him to Lawrence.: Ibid., 80.
70 Shannon, who called up the territorial militia.: Ibid., 81.
70 Lawrence swelled with a similar number of defenders.: Ibid., 83.
70 outside the town seemed unlikely to disband.: Ibid., 88.
71 your support my chances would be reasonably good.”: CW, 2:290.
71 and it would be a close fought thing.: Ibid., 2:296–97.
71 with the pro-slavery element boycotting the election.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 75.
71 elections were held for state officers.: Ibid., 89.
71 murdered me like cowards,” he told them as he lay dying.: Ibid., 91.
71 “available forces of the United States.”: Franklin Pierce Special Message to Congress, January 24, 1856, accessed online at the American Presidency Project, www.presidency. ucsb.edu.
72 crowned monarch on the surface of the globe.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 1:445.
72 which helped them fall back to sleep.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:523.
72 the longest election for Speaker in history.: History.House.Gov, http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/36895?ret=True
72 Giddings said. “I am satisfied.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 2:416; Julian, George. The Life of Joshua R. Giddings (Chicago: McClurg, 1892), 326.
73 had been frustrated yet again.: CW, 2:305–6.
73 up and down the eastern seaboard.: Rayback, Fillmore, 380.
73 certainty with which it marches to victory.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:513.
73 he returned to the United States to campaign.: Rayback, Fillmore, 395.
74 the sheriff suffered the same result.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 101.
74 by the pro-slavery forces.: Ibid.
74 his status as a front-runner for president.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:169.
74 to indict the entire free state government.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 102.
74 governor was arrested on his way out of town.: Ibid., 104.
74 burned, including that of the governor.: Ibid., 104–5.
75 by the Massachusetts legislature despite his absence.: The attack and fallout are described in Nevins, Ordeal, 444–47.
75 by “moaning, as if a person was dying.”: Howard Report, 1193.
Chapter 9: The Final Election of the Old America
77 puts Lincoln on the track for the Presidency.”: Whipple, Story Life, 250–53.
77 opinion my friends will succeed in Cincinnati.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:526.
77 but badly trailed Buchanan.”: Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention (Cincinnati: Enquirer Company Steam Printing Establishment, 1856).
77 to abandon and disgust all reflecting men.”: Ibid., 2:527.
77 helplessly on the waves of doubt and debt.”: Ibid., 2:527.
78 who aspires to be Vice President of the United States.”: Whipple, Story Life, 254–55.
78 bequeathed to us, a priceless inheritance.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:19–22.
78 he must “command you to disburse.”: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 116.
79 evacuating the town, which was burned and looted.: John Brown to his wife, September 7, 1856; H. J. Strickler to Thomas Stinson, September 2, 1856. Available through Territorial Kansas Online, www.territorialkansasonline.org
79 The Herald of Freedom. How do you like it?”: Bridgman, Edward Payson, and Parsons, Luke Fisher. With John Brown in Kansas (Madison, WI: J.N. Davidson, 1915).
79 not suspend fratricidal strife?”: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 131.
79 who worked in his fields as they left.: Ibid., 133.
79 and bequeathed to us as a priceless inheritance.”: Buchanan, Works, 10:96.
80 (carrying Maryland) and 43 percent in the South.: Rayback, Fillmore, 413.
80 the constitutional convention at Lecompton.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 141.
80 No polling place was established at Lawrence.: Ibid., 142.
81 that ‘all men are created equal.’”: CW 2:383–85.
81 satisfied no one and disgusted all.”: Boulard, Gary. The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2006), 250.
81 will speak a single honest word about him.”: Ibid., 364.
81 the president of the United States as a guest.: Ibid., 144.
81 presidential life that I can scarcely endure it.”: Ibid., 156.
81 motives which have prompted your official action.”: Ibid., 375.
81 four anxious years and never failed me.”: Ibid., 380.
81 Brooks’s funeral was held in the House.: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:69.
82 and insult upon the pale tenants of the grave.”: Richmond Whig, February 3, 1857.
82 “What is there to do but drink?”: Oxford Dictionary of American Quotes, 542.
82 Was this how Americans treated their ex-presidents?: Mackay, Charles. Through the Long Day (London: W.H. Allen, 1887), 156–60.
Chapter 10: General Jackson Is Dead!
83 removed by their owner to Missouri.: Howard, Robert Lorenzo. American State Trials, Volume IX (St. Louis: Thomas Law Book Company, 1919), 13:249–50.
84 no power to regulate slavery in the territories.: Ibid., 253–55.
84 slavery issue once and for all.: Buchanan, Works, 10:106–8.
84 where his three predecessors had failed.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 143.
84 with only an estimated 10 percent turnout.: Ibid., 147.
84 His protecting gaurdianship and care.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 1:34.
85 done before them, summering at Lake Geneva, Switzerland.: Nichols, Young Hickory, 508.
85 manage the affairs of state with no greater effect.: Ibid., 509.
85 nowhere to be found, “is quite notable.”: Wallner, Pierce, 2:320.
85 (corresponding exactly to the Cincinnati Directory).: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:174; National Intelligencer, November 5, 1857.
85 who had allegedly come and gone.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 153.
85 that the choice was unacceptable.: Ibid., 156.
85 though now the mother of six children.”: “Edmund Ruffin’s Visit to Sherwood Forest,” William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 3 (January 1906), 194.
86 because of his former place and power.”: Ibid., 196–97.
86 expediency of a separation of the Union,” Ruffin wrote in his diary.: Ibid., 195.
86 document, not just the slavery components.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 157.
86 and who had signed off on the measure.: Ibid., 158.
86 and I intend to prevent their doing either.”: Nevins, Allan. “Stephen A. Douglas: His Weaknesses and His Greatness.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. 42,No. 4 (Dec. 1949)
87 remind you that General Jackson is dead.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:256.
87 accusing the president of malfeasance.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 160.
87 and leave the future to take care of itself.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:13–14.
87 and the Lecompton Constitution and to start afresh.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 161.
87 winning 6,226 to 569 in an election boycotted by free staters.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:202.
87 138 supported it without slavery and 24 with slavery.: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:269.
87 famous actor, Horace Greeley, and James Buchanan.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 164.
88 disappearance of polling books shortly after the election.: Ibid., 165.
88 three hundred forged ballots buried like treasure.: Kansas State Historical Society. Retrieved online. www.kshs.org/kansapedia/cool-things-calhoun-s-candlebox/10180
88 delegates to a new constitutional convention.: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 165.
88 one vote in Congress and not a thousand outside.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:275.
88 March 23, sustaining the administration 33–25.: Ibid., 3:279.
88 southern senators of either party voted “yes.”: Etcheson, Bleeding Kansas, 174.
88 vote on the constitution, carried 120–112.: Ibid., 176.
88 the tactic prevented an embarrassing defeat.: Ibid., 180.
88 a fair election, the Lecompton Constitution was crushed, 11,812–1,926.: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:301.
88 anti-Douglas delegates to the national presidential convention.: Milton, George Fort. “Stephen A. Douglas’ Efforts for Peace.” Journal of Southern History, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Aug. 1935), 269
Chapter 11: The First and Only Choice of the Republicans of Illinois
90 choice of the Republicans of Illinois for the United States Senate.”: Whipple, Story Life, 258.
90 instructing their delegates to the state meeting accordingly.: Guelzo, Allen. Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008), 54.
90 578 delegates and fifteen hundred spectators at the State Capitol.: Ibid., 55.
91 old as well as new—north as well as south.”: CW, 2:461–69.
91 both ambitious; I, perhaps, quite as much so as he.: Ibid., 2:382–83.
91 pressures forced Douglas as a young man to head west.: Guelzo, Debates, 3.
91 “On my way to Congress, Mother,” he wrote at age twenty.: Ibid., 4.
91 sworn into the US Senate at thirty-three.: Ibid., 6.
92 trampled by the dark horse, Franklin Pierce.: CW 2:382–83.
92 a member of the lower house of Congress.”: Ibid., 2:459.
92 not unknown, even, in foreign lands.”: Ibid., 2:382–83.
92 He was intensely jealous of him.”: Lamon, Lincoln, Chapter XIV.
92 stalwarts from top patronage jobs in Illinois.: Guelzo, Debates, Chapter 2 passim.
93 and if I beat him my victory will be hardly won.”: Ibid., 75.
93 speaking after him as a pathetic ploy.: Ibid., 91.
93 the same audiences during the present canvass?”: CW, 2:522.
93 districts where neither candidate had yet spoken.: Guelzo, Debates, 92.
93 accounts widely reprinted throughout the country.: Donald, David Herbert. Lincoln (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 214.
93 Ten thousand people attended the first debate in Ottawa.: Ibid., 215.
93 between slave and free, as they had always done.: Guelzo, Debates, 120.
93 and prevent people who did not want it from disapproving it.: Ibid., 122–23.
94 as well as the position of many Democrats.: Donald, Lincoln, 218–19.
94 the Democrats, with 47 percent of the vote, won 53 percent.: Ibid., 228.
94 have met the enemy in Pennsylvania and we are theirs.”: Buchanan, Works, 10:229.
95 and anti-Lecompton Democrats took twenty-nine of thirty-three seats.: Nevins, Ordeal, 3:400–401.
95 become too plain for the people to stand them.”: CW, 3:337, 3:339–40, 3:341, 3:346.
96 Lincoln “disappeared into the darkness.”: Whipple, Story Life, 312–13.
Chapter 12: A Startling Tide of Reckless Fanaticism
97 Great Lakes to celebrate the opening of a new route.: Invitation to Millard Fillmore, August 9, 1859, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
97 Nearly half our number have already.”: Julia Harris to Millard Fillmore, August 24, 1859, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
97 and we will follow it and strike it boldly.”: John McGanley? to Millard Fillmore, September 9, 1859, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
98 delighted that I have no responsibility.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, October 1859, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
98 along with their slaves, brought to Harper’s Ferry.: Nevins, Ordeals, 4:79.
98 putting Colonel Robert E. Lee in command.: Ibid., 4:80–81.
98 Tennessee and Alabama, would never happen.: Ibid., 4:73.
98 Brown was beaten unconscious.: Ibid., 4:82–83.
99 with John Tyler chosen as commander.: Chitwood, Tyler, 430.
99 expedition by the abolitionists of the north.”: Buchanan, James. Mr. Buchanan’s Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion (New York: D. Appleton, 1866), 63.
99 Brown “a man of lawless . . . disposition.”: Cole, Donald. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System (Fort Washington, PA: Eastern National, 2004), 424.
99 “foolish and criminal invasion of Virginia.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, March 5, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
99 was the mechanism for opposing slavery.: CW, 3:496.
100 as old John Brown has been dealt with.”: Ibid., 3:501–2.
100 four thousand miles and delivered twenty-three speeches.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:240; Donald, Lincoln, 235.
100 It was an instant bestseller.: Donald, Lincoln, 237
100 or sage was about to pass from Earth to Heaven.”: Franklin Pierce to a gathering in Binghamton, December 17, 1859, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
101 to the peace and durability of this Union.”: Franklin Pierce to a Union gathering in Massachusetts, December 7, 1859, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
101 in favor of freedom.”: Franklin Pierce to a Union gathering in Massachusetts, December 7, 1859, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
102 country to sustain and defend it.”: Millard Fillmore to a public meeting, December 16, 1859.
102 anything better said or in better time.”: Two letters addressed to Fillmore dated December 21, 1859, December 25, 1859, and February 1, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
103 that it will eventually destroy this government.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, March 5, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
103 dare to do our duty as we understand it.”: CW, 3:550.
103 “the greatest man since St. Paul.”: Donald, 239.
103 and Connecticut, eleven different cities in twelve days.: The Lincoln Log, February and March 1860.
103 a good work and made many warm friends.”: New York Tribune, March 12, 1860.
Chapter 13: Five against Lincoln
104 ‘personal liberty’ have been placed upon our statute-books.”: Franklin Pierce to Jefferson Davis, January 6, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
104 a sentiment shared by many in Mississippi.: Boulard, Expatriation, 1256.
105 would not support the Republican nominee.: Daily Confederation (Montgomery, AL), June 6, 1860.
105 or whoever else the Republicans put forward.: Correspondence dated May 18, 1860, Millard Fillmore Papers.
105 at Chicago which I can support.”: J. M. Randolph to Millard Fillmore, May 15, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
105 My voice is for war!”: This article from the summer of 1860 is found in the Papers of Millard Fillmore.
105 and vote for him with alacrity.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:557.
105 of at least three candidates.”: Ibid., 2:546.
105 should there be a Democratic deadlock.: Chitwood, Tyler, 431.
105 “the whole south would rally with a shout.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 3:546–47, 553; Chitwood, 432.
106 abide by decisions of the Supreme Court.: Buchanan, Eve of the Rebellion, 66.
106 that night and then forty-five the following day.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:222.
106 more than 152½, needing 202.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:288.
106 “filled me with apprehension and regret.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:558.
106 concerned about the expansion of slavery.: Donald, Lincoln, 247.
106 from reaching any sort of agreement.: Ibid., 248.
107 you must excuse me until I inform her.”: Whipple, Story Life, 325–26.
107 and no one can tell what is to be our future.”: Thomas Seymour to Franklin Pierce, May 19, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
107 seem to be unconscious of the necessity.”: Jefferson Davis to Franklin Pierce, June 13, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
108 nomination could be the sure harbinger of victory.”: Franklin Pierce to Caleb Cushing, June 7, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
108 Only South Carolina boycotted.: Glasgow Weekly Times, May 17, 1860; Nevins, Ordeal, 4:267.
108 withdrawn substituted slates of pro-Douglas delegates.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:275.
108 along with Maryland, California, and Oregon.: Ibid., 4:276.
108 they nominated Vice President John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky for president.: Ibid., 4:271.
108 has no coherence, no strength, no organization.”: The Constitution (Atlanta, GA), July 4, 1860.
108 Douglas Repealers and Squatter sovereigntyites.”: Salem (MA) Register, August 20, 1860.
109 but this cannot even be hoped for.”: Franklin Pierce to Benjamin Hallett, June 8, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
109 Constitution which our fathers made and bequeathed to us.”: Nevins, “Stephen A. Douglas,” 408.
109 “if his were the only vote in the state.”: Wisconsin Patriot, June 9, 1860.
109 cool evening twilight, at Washington Heights.”: Letter to the Editor of the New York Herald, July 17, 1860.
109 seemed to be coalescing around Lincoln.: New York Tribune, July 17, 1860.
110 already “at work to form such a coalition.”: Columbian Register, July 21, 1860, reprinting a New York Tribune story.
110 back into the White House on his way to bed.: Buchanan, Works, 10:457–64.
111 as a mere politician without heart.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:559.
111 the great republic has seen its last days.”: Ibid., 2:560.
111 He never expects to see Washington again.”: Baltimore Sun, August 24, 1860.
111 a poor president, make a first rate Virginia Road-master?”: New York Daily Tribune, September 15, 1860.
112 not without difficulty understand what was said.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, October 18, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
112 ‘open sesame’ to the hopes of the other candidates.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:560.
112 House of Representatives after an Electoral College deadlock.: Tyler to John Cook, October 3, 1860; New York Times, June 8, 1862.
112 “and that all others were subordinate.”: Tyler, Letter and Times, 2:562.
112 retrieve our fortunes and defeat sectionalism.”: Franklin Pierce to James Campbell, October 17, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
112 ‘Hair Splitter’ than the ‘Rail Splitter.’”: Merritt to Franklin Pierce, August 24, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
113 against all sectionalism, and sectional candidates.”: Millard Fillmore to a public meeting in Baltimore, October 30, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
113 crowded courthouse square to the courthouse to vote.: Burlingame, Michael, ed. With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), November 6, 1860.
113 and re-read several times with deliberation.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:346.
113 great hall of the statehouse across the street.”: Ibid., 3:346.
113 and traced out the laborious path of future duties.”: Ibid., 3:346–47.
114 prevailed with 169 electors, a majority of 35.: Nevins, Ordeals, 4:313.
114 I see that my poor opinions have due weight.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:563.
114 endorsement of resistance” to the fugitive slave act.: Unaddressed and unsent correspondence, November 23, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
114 and there was to be war.”: Georgia Encyclopedia online, www.georgiaencyclopedia .org/history-archaeology/woodrow-wilson-georgia.
114 labor states, of that I entertain no doubt.”: Correspondence of Franklin Pierce dated November 28, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
115 any demonstration of coercion in the Bay of Charleston.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:5.
115 would only embolden the secessionists.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:342–43.
115 The meeting broke up with no conclusion.: Descriptions of the cabinet meetings on November 9 and 10 can be found in Ibid., 4:342–44.
Chapter 14: The Gathering Storm
116 not the advocate of one region over another.: Nevins, Ordeals, 4:346.
116 while bristling at accusations of inconsistency.: Buchanan, Works, 11:55.
117 operations which they have in hand.”: New York Daily Tribune, December 11, 1860.
117 negotiations for a peaceful settlement continued.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:349.
117 to offer him the position as secretary of state.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:349.
117 to Edward Bates his appointment as attorney general.: Whipple, Story Life, 247.
117 state of Ohio also weighed in his favor.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:354.
117 and convince the Democrats through Blair.”: Ibid., 3:373.
117 shrieks of locality would have to be heeded.”: Hertz, Emanuel. Lincoln Talks: An Oral Biography (New York: Viking Press, 1939), 198.
117 replaced by Attorney General Jeremiah Black.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:358.
117 in response to complaints from South Carolina.: Ibid., 4:366.
118 Buchanan to rescind the order the following day.: Ibid., 4:375.
118 Republican ticket hold you in the highest respect.”: Correspondence to Millard Fillmore, November 23, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
118 the people,” inviting Fillmore to head the delegation.: V. W. Kingsley to Millard Fillmore, December 8, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
118 the most humble has no right to shrink.”: Millard Fillmore to V. W. Kingsley, December 10, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
118 are endeavoring to bring about such an adjustment.”: Robert Mallory to Millard Fillmore, December 13, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
118 I do not yet despair of the Union.”: Stephen Douglas to Millard Fillmore, December 29, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
118 “Lincoln’s election has been announced.”: John Campbell to Franklin Pierce, December 19, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
119 fails, may God in his mercy guide us.”: Franklin Pierce to John Campbell, December 24, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
119 world has not witnessed for a thousand years.”: Franklin Pierce to Colonel J. H. George, December 22, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
119 though “not a decisive one.”: John Campbell to Franklin Pierce, December 29, 1860, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
119 the minds of the people on present questions.”: J. E. Preston to Millard Fillmore, December 14, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
119 rather hear, wrote Rufus Pollard of Ringgold, Georgia.: Rufus Pollard to Millard Fillmore, December 17, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
120 had “a work to do, and a destiny to fill.”: Alfred Feunbush to Millard Fillmore, January 21, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
120 that a conference of border states might find a solution.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:577.
120 and organization of a military force.: New York Times, December 1, 1860.
121 bridegroom, wedding-cake, or wedding breakfast.”: The account of the wedding and Buchanan’s discovery can be found in Pryor, Sarah, Reminiscences of Peace and War ((New York: Macmillan, 1905), 110–12.
121 decisions regarding the forts until negotiations were held.: Trescot’s version of this story is found in Crawford, Samuel Wylie. The Genesis of the Civil War: the Story of Sumter, 1860–1861 (New York: Charles L. Webster, 1887), 81–86.
122 permitted South Carolina, they argued, to walk away.: Confederate States of America—Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union, December 24, 1860.
122 happily averted danger from the Union.”: Buchanan, Eve of the Rebellion, 106.
123 placed in a more trying and responsible position.”: Ibid., 109.
123 to recover stolen federal property attracted little support.: Ibid., 157.
123 have made himself justly liable to impeachment.”: Ibid., 161.
123 stupid of political fools, an old bully, and an old Betty. . . . ”: Boston Courier, December 31, 1860.
123 the signal for united action with all the slave states.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:578.
123 incident widely reported throughout the North.: Daily Ohio Statesman
124 the marked ability he then displayed.”: This story was widely reprinted. For one example, see the Fremont Journal, December 28, 1860.
124 against my orders. It is against my policy.”: The meeting at the White House and subsequent cabinet meeting are described in Rhodes, John Ford. History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the Restoration of Home Rule at the South in 1877, Volume III (New York: Macmillan, 1907). 225–26.
124 and the command of the harbor lost.”: Rhodes, History, 224.
125 He would resign two days later.: Rhodes, History, 225–26.
125 my friend—not so bad as that!”: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:370.
125 alone held $500,000 in public property.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:373.
125 the commissioners, and furiously went about it.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:378.
125 against the city of Charleston.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:390.
125 and reinforcements must be sent.”: Ibid., 2:445–46.
Chapter 15: The Tug Has to Come
126 religious services and sermons.: New York Herald, January 5, 1861.
126 who had himself replaced Howell Cobb.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:380.
126 William Seward of New York, among others.: Ibid., 4:390.
127 no future policymakers could reach.: Ibid., 4:391.
127 little atom which is to be sacrificed.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:423.
127 was all the North would have to yield.: Buchanan, Eve of the Rebellion, 136.
128 Douglas, the answer was “yes.”: Ibid., 137.
128 discuss but to act on this great question.”: John Law to Martin Van Buren, January 7, 1861.
128 a peaceful solution could still be achieved.: John Law to Martin Van Buren, March 31, 1861, references Van Buren’s sentiment from his reply, which is missing.
128 relations between the different sections restored.”: Van Buren to Crittenden, December 24, 1860.
128 to be made the basis of a settlement.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, January 17, 1860.
128 codifying the Dred Scott plurality decision.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:643.
129 opportunity to secure in advance” a resolution.: Resolutions of Martin Van Buren, in the Martin Van Buren Papers.
129 and better now than at any time hereafter.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:426; CW, 4:149–50.
129 no future amendments could outlaw slavery.: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:409–10.
130 members will hesitate for a moment.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:434–35.
130 abolition, or a dissolution of the Union.”: A Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of the State of Mississippi from the Federal Union.
130 have seen its approach and am prepared.”: Franklin Pierce to Jane Pierce, January 1861.
131 any practical form of adjustment.”: Millard Fillmore correspondence dated January 17, 1860, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
131 and to have shown to you our children.”: Jefferson Davis to Franklin Pierce, January 20, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
131 the victory will at least be doubtful.”: Speeches of the Honorable Jefferson Davis, 55.
131 and alarming condition of our country.”: Franklin Pierce to John Campbell, January 7, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
132 to speak to the people of Alabama and Georgia.: George Miller to Franklin Pierce, January 13, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
132 convention of the border states without delay.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:579.
132 then endorsed the Crittenden Compromise.: Ibid., 2:580–81.
133 John Tyler was headed back to the White House.: Ibid., 2:582.
133 the high-ceilinged East Room below.: Seale, William. The President’s House (Washington, DC: White House Historical Association, 2008), 1:338.
133 which hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson.”: Ibid., 1:339.
133 resolutions of the Virginia General Assembly.: The story of Tyler’s activities of the 24th and 25th of January can be found in Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:588–89.
134 for Pensacola, the troops for Fort Pickens.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:591.
135 and would be more effective than yours.”: Amos Lawrence to Franklin Pierce, January 27, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
135 occasion worthy of your direct intervention?”: John O’Sullivan to Franklin Pierce, February 7, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
135 they were left to lie on the table.: Letters and Times, 2:591; Buchanan, Works, 11:116.
136 of a renewed and more harmonious confederacy.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:591.
136 united abilities of himself and Mr. James Buchanan.”: New York Tribune, February 8, 1861.
136 “I shall then hope to see more of you.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:121.
Chapter 16: The Last Winter of Peace
138 “our people ought to prepare for the worst.”: E. G. Spaulding to Millard Fillmore, February 2, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
138 sandbank before they would adopt these propositions.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 4:431.
138 all but 11 gave Tyler one of their votes.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:618–19.
138 “in favor of remaining in the Union.”: Buchanan, Eve of the Rebellion, 163.
138 which could revolutionize Virginians in a single day.: New York Herald, February 6, 1861.
139 it could not be through any one else.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:596.
139 all the discordant elements together.”: Ibid., 2:597.
139 are among his warmest friends.”: Ibid.
140 “more enduring than the monumental alabaster.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:598.
140 which I hope will eventually bring them back.”: William Latham to Franklin Pierce, February 6, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
141 they represent must rest the responsibility.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:139–41.
141 reinforce the garrison in case I deemed it necessary.”: Ibid., 11:141–43.
141 more clearly to pursue the path of duty.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 447; Chitwood cites a letter written in 1883 as his source, which does not necessarily place this conversation at a specific meeting between the two. However, it is consistent with what we know of their discussion and I believe it happened at this encounter.
Chapter 17: That All Will Yet Be Well
142 indeed we have not.”: Herndon, William, and Jesse Weik. Herndon’s Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life (New York: Da Capo, republished 2008), 390.
143 I bid you an affectionate farewell.”: CW, 4:190.
144 duty to Mr. B,” reported the Salem Register.: Salem (MA) Register, February 18, 1861.
144 emphatically his respect for you.”: Correspondence to Millard Fillmore dated February 10 and 12, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
144 At 4:00 p.m.: New York Times, February 18, 1861.
144 “a hearty grip of the hand” with Millard Fillmore.: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 18, 1861.
144 encircled the president in a “whirlpool.”: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 20, 1861.
145 whether he can continue on the journey”: Nicolay to Therena Bates, February 17, 1861.
145 a crowd similar to that at the depot.: Ibid.
145 of the countenance of ‘honest old Abe.’”: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 20, 1861.
145 promising WE WILL PRAY FOR YOU.: Ibid.
145 the weather “cold and blustering.”: New York Times, February 17, 1861.
145 despair of seeing the Union again restored.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, February 26, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
145 who have assembled to witness the parade.”: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:495.
146 history more busy nor more brilliant.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:367.
146 a few minutes with him in general conversation.: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1861.
146 Douglas, and Breckinridge all paid their respects.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:317.
146 many hours of the night were occupied.”: Ibid., 3:318.
146 mischief did he get through Baltimore?”: Poore, Benjamin Perley. Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis (Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, 1886), 62.
146 with all the respect due to his position.”: Ibid., 64
146 with his “most wonderful memory.”: Ibid.
146 “I was a friend of your father.”: Ibid., 65.
146 condition of the country or the national troubles.”: Ibid., 65.
147 a Confederate commissioner arrived in Washington.: Buchanan, Works, 11:143.
147 provided at the time of statehood.: Chitwood, Tyler, 443.
147 the work of the conference entirely.: Ibid., 444.
147 termination of the action of the Peace Congress.”: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 28, 1861.
147 guns were fired in Washington in celebration.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:232.
147 realized “they cannot pass the Senate.”: Daily Picayune, February 28, 1861.
147 not nearly enough for a constitutional amendment.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:443.
147 work met a similar fate in the House.: Ibid., 2:444.
147 John Tyler who does not want them in.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 446.
148 neither ears nor hearts to understand.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 446.
148 and boldly in the exercise of state sovereignty.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:616.
148 He called for its rejection.: Richmond Times Dispatch, March 1, 1861.
148 Inaugural suggests a coercive policy.”: Albany Journal, March 2, 1861.
148 purpose altogether that he was called forth.”: Milwaukee Daily Journal of March 6, 1861, quoting the Cincinnati Gazette.
148 take his seat in the Virginia secession convention.: Virginia Secession Convention, March 1, 1861.
148 Sumter, the fort could not be sustained.: Buchanan, Works, 11:156.
148 on the morning of March 4 matched the mood.: Riddle, Albert Gallatin, Recollections of War Times (New York: Putnam’s Sons, 1895), 13.
148 a time of extraordinary difficulty and trial.”: Daily Evening Bulletin (San Francisco, CA), March 4, 1861.
149 Buchanan and Lincoln rode side by side.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:326.
149 predecessors who have occupied it.”: Holzer, Harold. Lincoln President-Elect (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009), 450.
149 “had not heard a word of it.”: Burlingame, Michael. At Lincoln’s Side: John Hay’s Civil War Correspondence and Other Writings (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006), 119.
149 Lincoln he seemed little more than half a man.”: Riddle, Recollections, 13; Whipple, Story Life, 384–86.
149 his overshadowing, unshapely successor.”: Riddle, Recollections, 14.
149 clear voice,” Lincoln delivered his address.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:327.
150 Lincoln changed it to “generally.”: Ibid., 3:330, footnote 4.
150 heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.”: Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address.
150 with deliberation pronounced the oath.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:344.
151 happiness and the national peace and prosperity.”: Ibid., 3:344.
151 abandoned” within “a few weeks at most.”: Ibid., 3:377.
151 “It is lightning work, necessarily.”: Stoddard, William, Inside the White House in War Times (New York: Ogilve, 1895), 29.
151 obscene ravings of utter insanity.”: Ibid., 31.
151 Confederate forces and forts with their men.”: Ibid., 33.
151 annoyance enough to make almost anybody sick.”: Nicolay to Bates, March 20, 1861.
151 on every hand as to who could be trusted.”: Welles, Gideon. Diary of Gideon Welles: Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson (New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1911) 1:5.
151 especially no one from Virginia.: Ibid., 1:5.
151 thick with treason,” Welles remembered.: Ibid., 1:10.
151 additional resources would make such relief possible.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:379
152 and his men safely from South Carolina.: Ibid., 3:382.
Chapter 18: Home Again
153 had come to escort him home.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:506.
153 playing the song “Home Again.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:160.
154 return to bless us and our posterity!”: Ibid., 11:161.
154 Buchanan entered his house, a private citizen.: Curtis, Buchanan, 2:510.
154 me as to what is going on in Washington.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:165.
154 himself and perhaps restore the Union.”: Ibid., 11:171–73.
154 reinforcements on the request of Major Anderson.”: Ibid., 11:174.
155 during its whole term, was irresistible.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:668.
155 most felicitous among the orators I have known.”: Ibid., 3:130.
155 if necessary, to lead the van.”: Ibid., 2:659.
155 in 1856 turn traitor to the government.”: Millard Fillmore to John P. Kennedy, March 22, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
155 “and Maryland will be close at her heels.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:166.
155 but that history will do you justice.”: Ibid., 11:167.
155 Your record will brighten in proportion.”: Ibid., 11:168.
155 was invited to make his case to the cabinet.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:384.
156 distance of thirteen hundred yards, especially at night.”: Ibid., 3:385.
156 and Blair agreed, but the rest said “no.”: Ibid.
156 deflate the already demoralized North.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:388.
156 by history, as treason to the country.”: Welles, Diary, 1:14.
156 Major Anderson, and that he would reinforce Sumter.”: Ibid.
156 Anderson would be forced to abandon the fort.: Fox’s official report, Nicolay and Hay, History, 3:389.
157 could he trust? Lincoln cancelled the order.: Welles, Diary, 1:17–18.
157 the Department could command,” Welles wrote.: Ibid., 1:21.
157 provisioning the fort and reinforcing it.”: Ibid., 1:22.
157 in the dead of night to find the president.: Ibid., 1:23–24.
157 when I sometimes thought otherwise.”: Ibid., 1:24–25.
158 orders had come directly from the president.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:6.
158 Welles wrote, “I cordially assented.”: Welles, Diary, 1:23–24.
158 secede, but adhere to the Union.”: Welles, Diary, 1:39.
158 former president of the United States, John Tyler.: Virginia Secession Convention, April 4, 1861.
159 the world that he had begun civil war.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:44.
159 congressional colleague who was in Washington.: Report of the Committee on Reconstruction, 114.
160 have prevented all that was about to happen.: Ibid., 115.
160 back in the old Union in less than ten days.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:45.
160 as you may determine to reduce it.”: Ibid., 4:45–46.
Chapter 19: Breakfast at Fort Sumter
161 and another such demand made that day.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:46.
161 of a Bedouin on the sands of the desert.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:179.
161 fired on Sumter for the next thirty-three hours.: McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 273.
161 Davis will be in possession of Washington.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:180
162 the life of the only person to die at Fort Sumter.: Whipple, Story Life, 395–97.
162 and God knows where it may end.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:181.
162 and it ought to be sustained at all hazards.”: Ibid.
162 Sumter was taken to consolidate Republicans.: Chitwood, Tyler, 455.
162 float over their ramparts in place of their own?”: Ibid.
162 realize that they are so, even as I write them.”: Nicolay to Bates, April 14, 1861.
163 in combat, and both were over seventy.”: McPherson, Battle Cry, 313.
163 seven hundred thousand soldiers by the early days of 1862.: Ibid., 322.
163 1861, they had achieved 60 percent of their goal.: Ibid., 318.
163 cannot live through the case without them.”: Lamon, Lincoln, 137.
164 if you will fight for the country.”: Whipple, Story Life, 411.
164 available on the eastern seaboard.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 313.
164 by 1865 it was reduced to one out of every two.: Ibid., 380.
164 the same in the previous four years.: Ibid., 382.
165 constituted authorities and defend the government.”: Fillmore’s speech can be found in The Millard Fillmore Papers, edited by Frank Severance, 2:62–63.
165 impressive, dwarfing that of much larger cities.: Nevins, Ordeal, 5:88.
165 supported him,” read one anonymous editorial.: Newspaper editorial by “Amanuensis,” Papers of Millard Fillmore.
166 the second Washington (Father) to your country.”: J. Smithon to Millard Fillmore, April 18, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
166 and families, they will not” be conquered.: Anonymous letter to Millard Fillmore, April 18, 1861.
166 “Another day may decide our course.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:640.
166 ratification of the Constitution of the United States.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:91.
166 appeared, changing the total to 103–46.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 279.
167 high privilege of being participators in it.”: Jones, J. B. A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, Volumes I–II (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1866), 1:22–23.
167 household—trying times are before us.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:641–42.
167 All are well at Sherwood Forest.”: Ibid., 2:643.
167 sent to Washington to seize the capital.”: Ibid., 2:659.
168 representing him were hung from trees.: Crapol, Accidental President, 269–70.
168 except John Tyler, sustain the Union and oppose secession.”: Liberator (Boston, MA), May 10, 1861; Philadelphia Inquirer May 13, 1861; New Hampshire Sentinel, May 9, 1861.
168 their muskets as they stepped on the platform.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:113.
168 an occasional shot from a pistol or gun.”: Ibid., 4:113.
168 that prevailed” in the days after the riot.: Buchanan, Works, 11:190–91.
169 unable to communicate with the outside world.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 285.
169 city is doomed to the scene of battle and carnage.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:190–91.
169 “The White House is turned into barracks.”: Inside Lincoln’s White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay, April 18, 1861.
169 the enemy, but in the midst of traitors.”: Nicolay to Bates, April 29, 1861.
169 behind with three weeks food and water.: Poore, Reminiscences, 80.
169 for troops. “Why don’t they come?”: Donald, Lincoln, 298.
169 What is your duty and mine?”: Sidney Webster to Franklin Pierce, April 19, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
170 be upheld by all hands and all hearts.”: New York Times, April 23, 1861.
170 patriotic address delivered the other day at Concord!”: Carleton Chase to Franklin Pierce, April 22, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
171 old ship of our Union, safely through the peril.”: Albert Tracy to Franklin Pierce, April 30, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
171 “We cannot subjugate the Southern states, if we would.”: Franklin Pierce to Carleton Chase, May 6, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
171 retract—no line of action to change.”: Wallner, Pierce, 2:337.
Chapter 20: The Meeting That Never Was
173 efforts to save it from destruction.”: This letter can be found in the papers of all five former presidents. April 17, 1861.
174 and Mr. Buchanan and advise me of the result?”: Pierce to Van Buren, April 16, 1861, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
175 contains, if it be in my power to do so.”: Martin Van Buren to Franklin Pierce, April 20, 1861, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
175 Mr. Pierce and me there immediately.”: Telegraph from James Ingersoll to Millard Fillmore, April 24, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
175 government, however differently they were intended.”: Martin Van Buren to Charles J. Ingersoll, April 27, 1861, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
176 nothing without your concurrence and approbation.”: James Ingersoll to Millard Fillmore, April 29, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
176 is quite as likely to do harm as good.”: Millard Fillmore to E. Merriam, April 25, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
176 faintly audible, like the music of a dream.”: Wisconsin Patriot, August 18, 1862.
176 that the proposed meeting could do no good.”: James Ingersoll to Millard Fillmore, May 2, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
176 immediate settlement of our national difficulties.”: New York Times, June 16, 1861, reprints the Danbury Times account of a visit of two people to Van Buren, whom he told about his meeting with Pierce.
176 as bold and united a front as the south.”: Millard Fillmore to James Ingersoll, April 30, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
176 becoming more and more intense.”: Niven, Romantic Age, 610–11.
177 the Constitution which had been forced upon it.”: Martin Van Buren to John Halberton, November 28, 1861, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
177 will fully sustain the Government in such policy.”: Collier, 200.
178 evils impending over my country will permit.”: New York Times, May 19, 1861, reprinting from the Intelligencer, a letter dated May 6, 1861.
178 of a Presidential oath?” asked the Liberator.: Liberator, June 7, 1861.
178 avoid thrusting his name before the people.”: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 21, 1861.
178 to the White House, with other regiments to follow.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:156.
178 had worked fast to repair the railway.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 286.
178 because of age, could not participate in combat.: Millard Fillmore autobiographical statement, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
178 and escorted troops headed to the war.: Millard Fillmore Papers 1:xxxii, introduction and editing by Frank Severance.
179 and taking in the occasional target practice.: Regimental Colonel to Millard Fillmore, May 25, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
179 of the General Regulations for the Militia of the State.”: Millard Fillmore correspondence dated May 28, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
179 “large portly grandfathers with gray beards.”: Rayback, Fillmore, 425; Buffalo Morning Express, September 9, 1862
179 and looking like an emperor,” wrote one reporter.: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, May 4, 1861, reprinted in Severance’s Papers of Millard Fillmore, 1:xxxii.
179 with much eminent dignity and renown.”: Washington Hunt to Millard Fillmore, September 18, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
179 now filled with anxiety on their way to the war.: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, May 4, 1861, reprinted in Severance’s Papers of Millard Fillmore, 1:xxxii.
179 “carried the state into rebellion single-handed.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:250.
179 crushed their secessionist opponents by 65,114.: Ibid., 4:250.
180 secession was already accomplished.: Nevins, Ordeal, 5:105.
180 his advice on how to vote.: Chitwood, Tyler, 457.
180 or shall we tamely submit to arbitrary power?”: Ibid., 457–58.
180 25 percent of the vote, losing 128,884–32,134.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 280.
180 but to deal with it where it finds it.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:311.
180 possession of the bridges leading into the city.: Ibid., 4:312
180 including three and a half million slaves.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:253.
180 mountains, rivers, and other natural defenses.: Johnson, Robert Underwood, ed. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Volumes I–IV (New York: The Century Company, 1887), 1:222.
Chapter 21: The Border States
181 white populations of roughly 2.6 million.: Gineapp, William. “Abraham Lincoln and the Border States,” Journal of Abraham Lincoln Association, Vol. 13, No. 1 (1992) 13.
181 while in Delaware, 3,815 to 12,224.: Ibid., 23.
181 Union headquarters and rebel headquarters.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:209.
181 would need to fight his own state government.: Ibid., 4:212.
181 constellation of the Confederate States of America.”: Ibid., 4:210.
182 burning the telegraph and bridges on their retreat.: Ibid., 4:213, 219.
182 to open recruiting offices just outside of the state.: Donald, Lincoln, 300.
182 and then he will think it a damned poor joke.”: Burlingame, At Lincoln’s Side, May 6, 1861.
182 or invasion the public safety may require it.”: Constitution, Article I, Section 9.
182 occurs, are authorized to suspend the writ.”: CW, 4:348.
183 before the commandant, General George Cadwallader.: Howard, American State Trials, 9:880.
183 damaged railroad and telegraph wires.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 287.
183 United States Court room in Baltimore’s Masonic Hall.: Taney, Roger. The Merryman Habeas Corpus Case, Baltimore: The United States Government a Military Despotism (Jackson, MS.: J. L. Power, 1861).
183 to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.: Howard, American State Trials, 9:880.
183 bring him before the court at noon the next day.: Taney, Roger. The Proceedings in the case of John Merryman (Baltimore: Lucas Brothers, 1861), 4.
184 ‘that there was no answer to my card.’”: Ibid.
184 by compelling obedience to the civil process.”: Ibid., 5.
184 and hate sweep every thing before us.”: Roger Taney to Franklin Pierce, June 12, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
185 arouse him from his slumbers at midnight.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:663.
185 as was intended in this case, by the rebellion.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:177.
185 with soldiers, and a camp of one hundred thousand amassed.: Nevins, Ordeal, 5:187.
185 “the everywhere-ness of uniforms and muskets.”: Nicolay to Bates, April 29, 1861.
185 are filled with soldiers as also the public squares.”: Francis Blair to Martin Van Buren, May 31, 1861, Papers of Martin Van Buren.
185 “constantly on the march through the city.”: Poore, Reminiscences, 94.
185 under the dome; the Seventh New York in the House.: Nevins, Ordeal, 5:86.
185 for the army, the crypt a storage space for flour.: Ibid., 5:189.
186 patient by the desk and franked for every body.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, April 20, 1861.
186 Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:652.
186 stood defiantly confronting each other.”: BL, 1:171.
186 could pin down Confederate general Joseph Johnston and his men.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:323–24.
186 and power to protect and maintain itself.”: Nicolay Memorandum, May 7, 1861.
187 believed it possible to survive them.”: Nicolay correspondence to Bates and memorandum dated July 3, 1861.
187 that if young enough he would join and fight.: Richmond Dispatch, July 9, 1861; Chitwood, Tyler, 461.
187 There is no rest for the wicked.”: Wisconsin Daily Patriot, November 27, 1861.
Chapter 22: Twilight at Wheatland, Dawn at Manassas
188 would have responded the same as Lincoln.: Buchanan, Works, 11:186.
188 and children are all engaged in warlike pursuits.”: Ibid., 11:187.
189 “shutting doors and hasty footfalls.”: Philadelphia Inquirer, June 17, 1861.
189 “To be sick, while the whole world is alive.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:191–93.
190 you a cheerful welcome,” he explained.: Ibid., 11:194–95.
190 “been dead as any antediluvian.”: Ibid., 11:195–97.
190 immediately move to York or Lancaster.”: Ibid., 11:198–203.
190 depend upon myself with God’s assistance.”: Ibid., 11:226.
190 was committed to driving them out of it.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:331.
191 went back to bed for the sixth time.: Hertz, Lincoln Talks, 377–78.
192 sentiments and it was frightful to hear him then.”: Whipple, Story Life, 497.
192 “to be a little patient.”: Annals of War by Leading Participants North and South (Philadelphia: Times Publishing Company, 1879), 73.
192 break up us with some unexpected quarter.”: Franklin Pierce to John Thomson, July 20, 1861, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
192 and his army’s departure by eight days.: BL, 1:175.
192 to witness a Fourth of July procession.”: Poore, Reminiscences, 84.
192 swelling his ranks by nine thousand soldiers.: BL, 1:181–83.
192 Some regiments were in plain clothes.: BL, 1:167 Editorial note; BL, 1:176.
193 seeking to turn the Confederate left flank.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 340.
193 “powder, smoke, and dust.”: BL, 1:235.
193 features of the fight,” according to one general.: Ibid., 1:189.
193 no matter when it may overtake me.”: Ibid., 1:238.
193 began to walk, and finally to run away.: Ibid., 1:191–92.
193 at this juncture,” she answered.: Helm, Katherine. Mary, Wife of Lincoln (New York: Harper Brothers, 1918),179.
193 taking notes, planning his next move.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:355.
194 to the health of Confederate generals.: Chitwood, Tyler, 461.
194 of the Confederate forces could be offered.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:213–14.
194 with their business very badly.”: Correspondence to Millard Fillmore, July 23, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
194 twenty-five officers and 362 enlisted, with 1,519 wounded.: BL, 1:193 Editorial note.
194 which before was but a political assertion.”: Ibid., 1:219.
194 be invaded for eight more months.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 347.
194 placed their banners upon its public buildings.”: McCullough, Hugh. Men and Measures of a Half Century (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888), 161.
195 to grant under any conceivable circumstances.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:216.
195 patriotic volunteers who are already in the field.”: Ibid., 11:222–23.
195 “‘Old Buck’ Sound at the Core!”: Hartford Daily Courant, October 8, 1861.
195 I cannot but think you ought to have made it.” Buchanan, Works, 11:226.
195 and to all others who have asked to be informed of them.”: Martin Van Buren to John Halberton, November 1861.
196 find arms to put into their hands.”: CW, 5:20.
196 recruits into a professional fighting force.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 349.
196 and placed in charge of the Army of the Potomac.: McClellan, George, McClellan’s Own Story (New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1887), 2–3.
196 greatest results with the weakest instruments.”: Nevins, Ordeal, 5:272–73.
Chapter 23: To Lose Kentucky Is Nearly the Same as to Lose the Whole Game
198 his order to conform to the Confiscation Act.: CW, 4:506.
198 and the job on our hands is too large for us.”: Lincoln to Orville Browning, September 22, 1861, CW, 4:532.
198 Confederate coinage, weights, and measures.: Journal of the Confederate Congress, 1:492.
198 secretary of war and the commander of the navy.: Chitwood, Tyler, 459.
198 you are elected, sir! You are elected!”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:665.
199 such names as James Buchanan and Frank Pierce?”: Springfield Weekly Republican, November 30, 1861.
199 must respectfully advise against it.”: Millard Fillmore to James Sill, September 16, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
199 neighbors will understand him better.”: CW, 4:505.
199 and cherished purpose to visit the Great West.”: Wallner, Pierce, 2:340.
200 likely to be forced to defend St. Louis.: Nicolay Memorandum, October 2, 1861.
200 are ready to meet them at any moment.”: Isaac Newton to Millard Fillmore, October 14, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
200 cast a gloom over the people of this place.”: Isaac Newton to Millard Fillmore, October 23, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
200 Union commanders, and he was not alone.: Isaac Newton to Millard Fillmore, October 26, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
200 failed, and that he ought to be removed.”: Nicolay to Lincoln, October 21, 1861.
200 the men and artillery as his opponents.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 365.
201 soon be called upon to save my country?”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 4:445.
201 or will not see the true state of affairs.”: McClellan to his wife, Whipple, Story Life, 440.
201 more than a well meaning baboon” and an “idiot.”: Donald, Lincoln, 319.
201 points of etiquette and personal dignity.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, November 13, 1861.
201 hold McClellan’s horse if he will only bring us success.”: Whipple, Story Life, 461.
201 smaller vessels” across thirty-five hundred miles of coast.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 369.
201 Key West and Hampton Roads, the navy required another.: Ibid., 369–70.
201 Both forts surrendered four hours later.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 371.
202 wait patiently and anxiously for his first blow.”: Millard Fillmore to Isaac Newton, October 26, 1861, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
Chapter 24: Capture on the High Seas
203 relations between England and your country.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:218–19.
204 were about to intersect once again.: Monaghan, Jay. Diplomat in Carpet Slippers (Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1945), 166.
204 at Fort Warren, Massachusetts, with prisoners aboard.: Annals, 794–800, eyewitness account of R. M. Hunter.
205 aware of the potential unwanted consequences.: Bates, David. Lincoln and the Telegraph Office (New York: The Century Company, 1907), 98–99.
205 broadside from the English journals,” he wrote.: Buchanan, Works, 11:231–32.
205 transport his troops or his despatches.”: Ibid., 11:234.
205 apologize for the act as a violation of our doctrines.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:26–27.
205 in Britain as a consequence of the Trent affair.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 390.
205 Additional ships were sent to American waters.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:27.
205 would purposely insult the country.: Ibid., 5:28.
206 beyond question the master-mind of the cabinet.”: Whipple, Story Life, 431.
206 would-be emissaries in solitary confinement.: Bates, Lincoln and the Telegraph Office, 98.
207 will then hold her responsible for the consequences.”: Millard Fillmore to Abraham Lincoln, December 16, 1861.
207 to grant his nephew a commission in the army.: CW, 5:33.
207 close the embassy and withdraw from Washington.: Donald, Lincoln, 323.
207 chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, was included.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:35.
207 dearest interest, probably the existence, of the nation.”: Beale, Howard. The Diary of Edward Bates (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1933).
207 and a pleasant dinner with his housekeeper.: Buchanan, Works, 11:241–42.
207 “we ought to have done it gracefully and without pettifogging.”: Ibid., 11:244, 246.
208 the subject of the defense of our city and frontier.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:398.
208 and necessary to defend the city against attack.: Ibid.
Chapter 25: The Bottom Is Out of the Tub
209 Will try to hope for the best.”: Millard Fillmore to Dorothea Dix, January 23, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore..
209 and on the Continent, that I fear for the blockade.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:248.
210 withdraw his own letter, allowing Cameron to resign.: Donald, Lincoln, 326,
210 restore the Union which your heart can desire.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:256.
210 to produce great and, we trust, happy results.”: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, January 24, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
210 but unquestioning obedience would satisfy.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:140.
211 who knew that they had less than a third of the Union’s men).: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:152.
211 “and will adjourn this council.”: Meigs, Benten, 292–93; Donald, Lincoln, 330.
211 the keen intelligence of his questions.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:156.
211 mandated that this occur on or before February 22.: CW, 5:115.
211 and sent for the General to come to him.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln's White House, March 1862.
211 reveal his plans to the administration.: Nevins, Ordeal, 6:41.
212 “I shall gladly yield my plan to yours.”: CW, 5:118–19.
212 or accept his judgment. He chose the last.: Nevins, Ordeal, 6:42.
212 “I really believe she knows me,” he delighted.: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:671.
213 “Perhaps, it is best.”: Chitwood, Tyler, 465.
213 were made to bury him next to James Monroe.: Richmond Examiner, January 20, 1862.
213 marched to the tune of “a solemn dirge.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:682; Crapol, Accidental President, 268.
213 a last glimpse of the departed statesman.”: Richmond Examiner, January 22, 1862.
213 a ripple to the rushing current of events.”: Albany Evening Journal, January 22, 1862.
213 which he devoted the last ill-spent hours of his life.”: New York Herald, January 22, 1862.
214 through in this great struggle in our country.”: Isaac Newton to Millard Fillmore, February 9, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
214 and the necessary accoutrements to accompany the same.”: Public announcement, February 10, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
214 read the first president’s famous Farewell Address.: Buffalo Morning Express, February 19, 1862.
214 on my part, will be faithful to you.”: Annals, 80.
214 he is the target for fanatical malevolence.”: John Pendleton Kennedy to Millard Fillmore, March 5, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
214 “the best man to lead our armies to victory.”: Fillmore to John Pendleton Kennedy, March 7, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
215 well-fortified structure protected by fifteen thousand troops.: BL, 1:406.
215 answer for his actions in the previous administration.: Ibid., 1:426.
215 to move immediately upon your works.”: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:199.
215 come to blows in our discussions over Fort Sumter.”: Nicolay journal entry, February 17, 1862.
216 when the heart hath bled.’”: Franklin Pierce to Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
Chapter 26: Greenbacks and Ironclads
217 but such as I have give I thee.’”: Hertz, Lincoln Talks, 224.
217 making it a legal tender,” Buchanan wrote.: Buchanan, Works, 11:233.
218 ‘From which end would you pay, Chase?’”: Hertz, Lincoln Talks, 223.
218 was an instrument of God to destroy slavery.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:202.
218 and with the best judgment I can bring to it.”: Lincoln to Bancroft, November 18, 1861; Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:203.
218 $400 per slave, for a total of $719,200.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:206.
218 Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri, and the District of Columbia.: Ibid., 5:210.
218 that he did not want to delay the message.: Sumner, Charles. Memoir and Letters (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1877), 4:64.
219 institution in some satisfactory way,” Lincoln said.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:216.
219 the Congress, and run the Minnesota aground.”: Bates, Telegraph, 116.
219 a drowned body floats up to the surface.”: Atlantic Monthly, June 2, 1862.
219 force the government to give up the capital.: This seemed to be the view in cabinet; Whipple, Story Life, 450.
219 to read the danger and find the remedy.”: Bates, Telegraph, 116.
219 McClellan sat silently.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:226.
219 it also had five times as many guns.: Ibid., 5:228.
220 shells bounced off the sides of each ship.: Ibid., 5:228.
220 nine barges, whose contents were saved.: Ibid., 5:184.
220 McClellan left nineteen thousand.: Ibid., 5:186.
Chapter 27: Any Explanations Which You May Offer Would Be Acceptable
222 pronounce your letter perfect,” one friend replied.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:344.
223 as a simple act of justice been placed before me.”: Franklin Pierce to William Seward, January 7, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
223 contemptible knavery of this political mountebank.”: Correspondence to Franklin Pierce, January 15, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
223 suffer any breach of the Constitution to pass unnoticed.”: Correspondence from Franklin Pierce, January 16, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
223 now felt it necessary to correct the record.: Nichols, Young Hickory, 520.
223 the entire correspondence to be published.: Franklin Pierce to Milton Latham, March 24, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
224 who authorized the publication of the letter.: Franklin Pierce to Milton Latham, March 25, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
224 “dignified and manly” response, and condemning the administration.: For one example see A. O. Brewster to Franklin Pierce, April 4, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
224 as he [Seward] winced under your hands.”: Belle Dunne to Franklin Pierce, April 4, 1862, Papers of Franklin Pierce.
224 to an Ex-President of the United States.”: Pittsfield Sun, April 10, 1862.
Chapter 28: West and East
225 welcome they would not receive from man.: BL, 2:189.
226 “would drink hot blood” before laying eyes on Richmond.: Ibid., 2:189–91.
226 preparing for an all-out assault.: Nevins, Ordeal, 6:81.
226 in the direction of Pittsburg Landing.: Grant, Ulysses. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant Volumes I–II (New York: Charles L. Webster, 1885), 1:277.
226 fell into their hands,” Grant remembered.: Ibid., 1:280.
226 giving each side a small measure of protection.: Ibid.
226 “sometimes at several points at once.”: BL, 1:484.
226 into their camp, every fifteen minutes until sunlight.: Ibid., 1:485.
226 torrential rain may have done anyway.: Grant, Memoirs, 1:287.
226 Grant returned outside to the rain.: Ibid.
227 without a foot touching the ground.”: BL, 1:479.
227 dead was Lincoln’s brother-in-law, Samuel Todd.: Grant, Memoirs, 1:302.
227 than he has for some time.”: Isaac Newton to Millard Fillmore, May 2, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
227 But you must act,” Lincoln concluded.: CW, 5:184–85.
228 and to do what he thought best.: Bates, Telegraph, 103–4.
228 the crucial port of New Orleans, fell to the Union navy.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 5:255.
228 subsequent Confederate attempt to retake Louisiana.: Lincoln Log, August 20, 1862; Washington Star, August 20, 1862.
228 battle against thirteen thousand Confederates.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 427.
228 protection of Julia Tyler and her children.: Chitwood, Tyler, 466.
228 and Presidents Jefferson, Monroe, and Tyler.: BL, 2:199.
228 to join McClellan before Richmond.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 460.
228 four desperate battles, and winning them all.”: BL, 2:297.
229 Let me hear from you instantly.”: CW, 5:235–36.
229 watching each other in front of Richmond.”: BL, 2:271.
229 after General Johnston was wounded.: Ibid., 2:272; History.com, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jeb-stuart-rides-around-the-union-army.
229 of the wounded” could be heard in the Union camp.: BL, 2:331.
229 contemplated no such thing.: Ibid., 2:362.
229 before relaying the message to Secretary of War Stanton.: Bates, Telegraph, 109.
230 in the advance, was masterly in retreat.”: BL, 2:395.
230 as close to Richmond for three years.: Whipple, Story Life, 462.
230 when all is unraveled McClellan will be justified.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:273.
230 or Congress or the country forsakes me.”: Lincoln to Seward, June 28, 1862, CW 5:292–93.
231 and stick to your purpose.”: Lincoln to Campbell, June 28, 1862, CW, 5:288.
231 a call for three hundred thousand volunteers.: CW, 5:296–97.
Chapter 29: The Very Vortex of Hell
232 studying carefully each sentence.”: Bates, Telegraph, 138–42.
232 expect to see a large and interested audience.”: Undated article in the Papers of Millard Fillmore.
233 the dead, reflects honor upon the living.”: Papers of Millard Fillmore, 69–84.
233 than any other necessary result of war.”: Article from January 20, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
233 our woe has proceeded from their foolishness.”: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, January 13, 1862.
233 plantation slaves of the south for regulated freedom.”: Editorial of The World, New York, February 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
234 Lincoln’s project in the telegraph office.: Baltimore Sun, July 14, 1862.
234 to agree with Lincoln. Welles concurred.: Welles, Diary, 1:70–71.
234 this game leaving any available card unplayed.”: Lincoln to Reverdy Johnson, CW 5:342–43.
234 of military news since his indisposition.”: New York Daily Tribune, July 29, 1862.
234 utmost confidence in that of Mr. Lincoln.”: Western Reserve Chronicle (Warren, OH), July 30, 1862.
235 to have been . . . ‘there is but one Reliance.’”: New York Daily Tribune, July 29, 1862.
235 Another Statesman has departed for the Silent land.”: Albany Evening Journal, July 24, 1862.
235 fullness of years and with a fame undimmed.”: Milwaukee Morning Sentinel, July 26, 1862.
235 and for peace and good will among his fellow citizens.”: CW, 5:340–41.
235 with an eye on the election returns.”: Niven, Romantic Age, 612.
236 and our sacred honor?”: New York Tribune, July, 29, 1862.
236 the moment he heard I was engaged.”: BL, 2:456.
236 to General John Tyler by General Winfield Scott.’”: San Francisco Bulletin, August 26, 1862.
237 remained to attend Washington College).: New York Daily Tribune, September 4, 1862; Boston Semi-Weekly Courier, September 11, 1862.
237 she was easily able to sell upon her arrival.: Jones, Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, 2:9, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the war of Rebellion, series I,volume 9, 270.
237 minor engagements with Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.: BL, 2:462.
237 none of the promised reinforcements would arrive.: BL, 2:461.
237 seemed to think him a little crazy,” Hay recalled.: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, September 1, 1862.
237 will be able to hold his men.”: Ibid., September 5, 1862.
237 straggled into Washington “in large numbers.”: Welles, Diary, September 1, 1862.
237 this was the very vortex of Hell.”: Kennedy Francis. The Civil War Battlefield Guide (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1998), 2448.
238 “I hope I mistake them.”: Welles, Diary, September 7, 1862.
238 their common fame and the welfare of the country.”: Undated entry, mid-September, Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s Whitehouse, 1862.
238 Yet the contest proceeds.”: CW, 5:403–4.
Chapter 30: Destroy the Rebel Army, If Possible
239 the Potomac singing, “Maryland, My Maryland.”: McPherson, Battle Cry, 535.
239 the planned movement of his army.: BL, 2:603.
240 12,500 troops at Harper’s Ferry.: CWB, 2503.
240 McClellan could bring seventy-five thousand to the fight.: Ibid., 2573.
240 like the unbroken roll of a thunder storm.”: BL, 2:682.
240 the ground strewn with prostrate forms.”: Ibid., 2:684.
240 the broad, green leaves were sprinkled and stained with blood.”: Ibid.
240 died or were injured in the first four hours.: CWB, 2587.
240 bridge to the south, hitting Lee to the right.: Ibid., 2596.
240 carnage at Antietam would have to do.: Randall, James. Lincoln the President, Volumes I–IV (Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith, 1965), 2:159.
241 McClellan refused to give battle again.: CWB, 2604.
241 believed that Lee had 120,000 men.: BL, 2:658.
241 first day, two-thirds of Lee’s entire force.: Ibid., 2:685.
241 Destroy the rebel army, if possible.”: Correspondence of September 20, 1862, between Lincoln and McClellan can be found in CW 5:426 and footnote.
241 “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” as they left.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 545.
241 Things would have to change a different way.: Whipple, Story Life, 465–69.
242 his cabinet laughed along, Stanton excepted.: Donald, David Herbert, ed. Inside Lincoln’s Cabinet (New York: Longmans, Green, 1954), September 22, 1862.
242 “a little paper of much significance.”: Whipple, Story Life, 481–82.
242 and I am going to fulfill that promise.”: Donald, September 22, 1862.
242 read his proclamation to the cabinet.: Welles, Diary, September 22, 1862.
242 shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”: Whipple, Story Life, 482.
243 novel sensation of appropriating that horrible name.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, , September 24, 1862.
243 being within the entrenchments of Richmond.”: Lincoln to McClellan, October 13, 1862, CW, 5:461.
243 done since the battle of Antietam that fatigue anything?”: Lincoln to McClellan, October 26, 1862, CW, 5:474
243 “Twenty Years Ago…”: Lamon, Lincoln, 150.
Chapter 31: A Continuation of War by Other Means
245 It never rains but it pours.”: Nicolay to Bates, October 16, 1862.
246 administration’s “criminal” acts against civil liberties.: McCabe, James Dabney. The Life and Public Services of Horatio Seymour (New York: United States Publishing Company, 1868), 40.
246 306,649, to 295,897 for the Republican.: Ibid., 42.
246 in the late election, was given for Governor Seymour.”: Charles Davies to Millard Fillmore, November 8, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
246 and oppose all those who violate it.”: Millard Fillmore to Ephraim Hutchins, February 9, 1863.
246 the US Senate from all three states in 1863.: Heidler, David, and Jeanne Heidler. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History (New York: W.W. Norton, 2000), 640.
247 with Burnside to assume his place.: CWB, 3100.
247 find some one whom I don’t understand.”: BL, 3:70.
247 from there to the capital of the Confederacy.: CWB, 3105.
247 the creative backlash of their holders.: Salem Register, August 10, 1863.
247 perfidious close of his inglorious public career.”: New York Tribune, September 12, 1862.
247 wait for peace to publicly make his case.: Buchanan, Works, 11:258–59.
248 war in my time; and this they well knew.”: Ibid., 11:260–61.
248 sustaining it one day after Scott requested it.: Ibid., 11:279–93.
248 dragged him deeper in the slough of shame.”: Reprinted in the Richmond Examiner, November 8, 1862.
248 Is there no one to protect him against his own folly?”: Albany Evening Journal, November 26, 1862.
249 nor would they ever be, receptive to his defenses.: Buchanan, Works, 11:317.
Chapter 32: A Storm of Lead
250 and “solid shot rained like hail.”: CWB, 3116; BL, 3:73.
250 marched into Fredericksburg the next day.: CWB, 3127.
250 twenty days had been preparing their welcome.: BL, 3:73.
250 Jackson “grimly awaited the onslaught.”: Ibid., 3:76.
250 Behind this wall Longstreet placed twenty-five hundred men.: Ibid., 3:78.
251 and heavily fortified position began.: Ibid., 3:126.
251 piled as high as three bodies deep in some places.: Ibid., 3:80–82.
251 dying of cold, freezing the bodies to the ground.: Ibid., 3:101.
251 southernmost instances in history of the northern lights.: Donald Pfanz, “The Union Army Retreats,” http://fredericksburg.com/CivilWar/Battle/0915CW.
251 and back across the Rappahannock.: BL, 3:82.
252 “Where are my 15,000 sons—murdered at Fredericksburg?”: Whipple, Story Life, 494.
252 suffers more than I do, I pity him!”: Ibid., 499.
Chapter 33: If My Name Ever Goes into History, It Will Be for This Act
253 only junction connecting every part of the Confederacy.: Grant, Memoirs, 1:351.
253 “the nail head that holds the South’s two halves together.”: National Park Service article on Vicksburg, www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm.
253 but to go forward to a decisive victory.”: Grant, Memoirs, 1:370.
254 he said, “That will do!”: Whipple, Story Life, 491.
254 Of thee I sing!”: New York Times, January 9, 1863; Camp Diary of Thomas Wentworth, January 1, 1863.
255 “My heart is sick of the contemplation.”: Franklin Pierce to Colonel George, January 2, 1863.
256 and fast” against these and all unconstitutional measures.: Franklin Pierce to Millard Fillmore, October 3, 1862. In the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art, to whom I am indebted for their speedy production of a copy of this letter.
256 carried through the midst of a civil war.”: Springfield Republican, September 24, 1862.
256 have his damned black heart cut out.”: Lincoln Log, August 13, 1863; Lincoln to Holt, August 13, 1863, CW, 6:385.
256 fight for the Union, Lincoln asked that he be restored.: Lincoln to Hunter, April 30, 1863, CW 6:191–92.
257 a war of invasion in the most efficient manner.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:331–32.
257 sleepless vigilance, go forward, and give us victories.”: Lincoln to Hooker, January 26, 1863, CW 6:78–79.
257 defense of the Union,” praising his “esprit de corps.”: Correspondence of the Union Continentals to Millard Fillmore, December 6, 1862, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
257 and I am not in the way of earning more.”: Millard Fillmore to E. D. Morgan, February 16, 1863.
258 remainder of my days in peace up north.”: March 19, 1863, letter printed in the Commercial Advertiser.
258 banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once.”: Lincoln to Johnson, March 26, 1863, CW, 6:149–50.
258 any military success to speak of before the election.”: Hartford Courant, January 31, 1863.
259 by the administration in its prosecution of the war.”: New York Times, March 12, 1863.
Chapter 34: We Are Ruined
260 on any Civil War battlefield, 130,000 to sixty thousand,: CWB, 4169–75.
260 believed his chances of ending the war were 90 percent.: BL, 3:174–75.
260 attacking Hooker’s superior numbers.: Ibid., 3:175.
260 highest ground for miles at Zoan Church.: Kennedy, The Civil War Battlefield Guide, digital edition, 4180.
261 woods,” a quarter of a mile in front of Union lines.: BL, 3:179–80.
261 fire sent them back into the woods.: Ibid., 3:181.
261 twice in his left arm and through his right hand.: Ibid., 3:211.
261 Jackson’s attack, his last, had all but sealed its outcome.: Ibid., 3:213.
261 What will the people say?”: Hertz, Lincoln Talks, 209.
262 Oh, what will the country say?”: Whipple, Story Life, 510.
262 instructions urging Hooker to renew the fight again.: Ibid., 512.
262 have an opportunity to show his innocence.”: Millard Fillmore to Abraham Lincoln, May 16, 1863, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
262 President Fillmore, who writes the within letter.”: CW, 6:222.
262 with execution or exile as possible punishments.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 596.
262 to weaken the government’s war effort.: Donald, Lincoln, 420.
262 the Rebels with whom he sympathizes.”: Welles, Diary, May 19, 1863.
263 glad to correct, on reasonably satisfactory evidence.”: CW, 6:261.
263 nominated Vallandigham for governor.: Donald, Lincoln,421.
Chapter 35: The Brave Men, Living and Dead
264 the accomplishment of this one object.”: Grant, Memoirs, 1:401.
264 average of 180 miles to reunite at this place.: Ibid., 1:446–47.
264 including from his longtime friend and sponsor.: Ibid., 1:452.
264 Lincoln would stick by his general.: Lamon, Lincoln, 185.
265 his life was “tranquil and monotonous,”: Buchanan, Works, 11:333.
265 “to the privations inseparable from old age.”: Ibid., 11:337.
265 to be found from the War Department.: Welles, Diary, June 15, 1863.
265 her Uncle Edward’s and not to come home.: Buchanan, Works, 11:338.
265 within eleven miles of us,” Buchanan wrote in horror.: Ibid., 11:338.
265 though he was not sure for what.: BL, 3:243.
266 the extreme right was thirty miles away in Maryland.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 7:234.
266 The first reinforcements came around noon.: BL, 3:284.
266 final resting place of the town’s founders.: Ibid., 3:338.
266 or they are going to whip me.”: Ibid., 3:339–40.
266 Union lines by the light of a full moon.: Ibid., 3:291.
267 and the two forces met at the summit.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 7:254.
267 scattered “like a herd of wild cattle.”: BL, 3:315.
267 curved south along Culp’s Hill.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 7:255; BL, 3:342.
267 whom had to stand due to a lack of seats.: BL, 3:313.
267 if Lee did, he would defeat him.: Ibid., 3:314.
268 other than those indicated above.”: Grant, Memoirs, 1:465.
268 next movement in the struggle for Gettysburg.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 7:261.
268 responded for the next hour.: Ibid.
268 “vomited their iron hail upon each other.”: BL, 3:327.
268 who could make that attack successfully.”: Ibid., 3:342.
268 “My heart was heavy when I left Pickett.”: Ibid., 3:343.
269 “high water mark of the Confederacy” had receded.: Kennedy, CWB, 4435.
269 where tomorrow would bring a new battle or a retreat.: Nicolay and Hay, History, 7:272.
Chapter 36: The Fourth of July
270 had resorted to eating rats and tree bark.: Grant, Memoirs, 1:472.
270 fighting for the same cause,” Grant noted.: Ibid., 1:477.
270 promise not to take up arms against the Union.: Ibid., 1:476.
270 and 172 cannon were taken.: Ibid., 1:479.
271 celebrate the Fourth of July until after World War II.: Baltimore Sun reprinted story from the Dallas Morning News, July 4, 1997; Time, July 9, 1945.
271 Democratic Mass Convention which meets in this city [Concord] on July 4.”: New York Herald, July 3, 1863.
271 and perhaps in all of New England.: Sun (Baltimore, MD), July 7, 1863.
271 THE CONSTITUTION AS IT IS; THE UNION AS IT WAS.: New Hampshire Patriot, July 8, 1863.
272 to the sacred shrines of the Holy Land.”: Miller, Marion Mills, ed. Great Debate in American History (New York: Current Literature Publishing Company, 1913), 325–26.
272 5th New Hampshire regiment had been killed at Gettysburg.: Nichols, 523.
272 compared with such a copperhead as Franklin Pierce.”: Hartford Courant, July 9, 1863.
272 occupied Concord, N.H., on the 4th of July.”: Vermont Phoenix, July 23, 1863.
273 being reminded that it ever had such a president.”: Boston Daily Advertiser, July 7, 1863; Constitution, July 15, 1863.
273 he concluded, “I will now take the music.”: Response to a serenade, July 7, 1863, CW, 6:319–20
273 intercepting the retreating rebel army.: Welles, Diary, July 7, 1863.
273 Man-in-the-Moon as any part of Lee’s Army.”: Lincoln to Lorenzo Thomas, July 8, 1863, CW 6:321–22.
274 across the lawn to telegraph the news to General Meade.: Welles, Diary, July 7, 1863.
274 other late successes, have ended the war.”: Lincoln to Meade (unsigned and unsent), July 14, 1863, CW 6:327–28.
274 The whole country is our soil.”: Burlingame, Inside Linoln’s White House, July 14, 1863.
274 without criticism for what was not done.”: Lincoln to Oliver Howard, 6:341.
274 “from a soldier to a soldier’s friend.”: New York Herald, July 27, 1863; Martin, David G., The Vicksburg Campaign (New York: Da Capo, 1990); Sun, July 28, 1863.
275 myself in his opinions on the subject of southern rights.”: Albany Journal, August 21, 1863.
275 was “a great ado,” in the words of one newspaper.: Columbian Register, September 26, 1863.
275 than Franklin Pierce gives him in this letter.”: New York Daily Tribune, September 19, 1863.
275 there “as in the days of my power.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:346.
275 living in a separate confederacy from them.”: Ibid., 11:344; Philadelphia Daily Age, August 18, 1863.
276 recruiting drive for black soldiers and regiments.: Donald, Lincoln, 430–31.
276 shall have the same pay as white soldiers.”: Whipple, Story Life, 514.
276 against their prisoners should that not be the case.: CW, 6:401–10.
276 one hundred thousand blacks were serving the Union cause in uniform.: Donald, Lincoln, 471.
277 scenes through which we are now passing.”: Lincoln to Banks, August 5, 1863, CW, 6:364–65.
Chapter 37: A New Birth of Freedom
278 aspired to the Presidency of the United States.”: Reprinted in the Daily Evening Bulletin, October 17, 1863.
279 and I was going to his house.’”: Hertz, Lincoln Talks, 269.
279 displaying “a good deal of emotion.”: Welles, Diary, October 14, 1863.
279 and made to stand on a barrel for two hours.: J. H. Moore to Millard Fillmore, October 23, 1863, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
279 saying he was pledged to Lincoln.: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, October 17, 1863.
279 as the head of the Treasury Department.”: Ibid., October 18, 1863.
280 can spare time for personal contention.”: Lincoln to Cutts, October 26, 1863, CW, 6:538.
280 murderer in the very place where he would be assassinated.: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, November 9, 1863.
280 there won’t be any fun till I get there.’”: Lamon, Lincoln, 133.
281 and the people are disappointed.”: Ibid., 173.
281 through crowded and cheering streets.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, November 19, 1863
281 aims of the war from Union to Equality and Union.”: Donald, Lincoln, 465–66.
Chapter 38: Our Old Home
283 customers were very much fans of Hawthorne.: Boulard, Expatriation, 2380.
283 cut out the dedication before reading.: “Our Old Home,” Introduction, Eldritch Press Edition, www.eldritchpress.org/nh/ooh.html#pref.
283 graveside at the Old North Church in Concord.: Nichols, Young Hickory, 524.
283 hoping that he had made her happy.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:355.
283 Hawthorne’s coat to shield him from the bitter cold.”: Ibid., 2:354.
284 having resumed its former role in the Union.: CW, 7:54–56.
284 Tell him from me God Bless him.”: Burlingame, Inside Linoln's White House, December 9, 1863
284 The crowd cheered in agreement.: Courant (Boston, MA) February 17, 1863.
284 formed to modernize the Army Medical Bureau.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 323.
284 voluntary association in the history of the United States.: Ibid., 480.
284 and the event netted an incredible $25,000.: Rayback, Fillmore, 427.
285 amongst the bitterest opponents of the war.”: Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, February 23, 1864.
285 the favor of sympathy with rebellion and slavery.”: Correspondence to Millard Fillmore from Lewistown, March 5, 1864, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
286 still more ghastly name of James Buchanan.”: New York Daily Tribune, March 1, 1864.
286 however, carried, “to much laughter.”: Farmer’s Cabinet, March 10, 1864.
286 they were willing to return to the Union.: Renda, Lex. Running on the Record: Civil War Era Politics in New Hampshire (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1997), 120.
286 nominee for governor, was for “perpetual war.”: Ibid., 121.
286 features with hypocritical smiles in New Hampshire.”: Ibid., 119.
287 at Fredericksburg, and were now in Virginia.: NPS Soldiers and Sailors Database, www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-regiments-detail.htm?regiment_id=UNH0013RI.
287 country’s cause on many a bloody field.”: Farmer’s Cabinet, February 25, 1864.
287 Democrats would send Pierce to the Senate.: Renda, Running, 122.
287 and “skedaddled” by train after voting.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:356.
288 New Hampshire Union ticket had prevailed by three thousand votes.: Nicolay Memorandum, March 8, 1864.
288 The spirit of liberty dwells among my people.”: Papers of Abraham Lincoln, March 9, 1864.
288 worthy of a better fate.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:358.
288 their bark is upon the breakers.”: Hartford Courant, March 12, 1864.
288 “cast among the rubbish.”: Daily Evening Bulletin, May 11, 1864.
289 generous, brave heart beat no more.”: Wallner, Pierce, 2:357.
289 the final honor of bearing his friend to the grave.: Nichols, Young Hickory, 525.
Chapter 39: Those Not Skinning Can Hold a Leg
290 relations towards each other as . . . when the war began.”: Grant, Memoirs, 2:125.
290 towards a common center.”: Grant to Sherman, April 4, 1864; Ibid., 2:130.
290 provisioned by railroads in their interior lines.: BL, 4:250.
291 enjoying the blessings of peace.”: Millard Fillmore to Mary McClellan, March 24, 1864.
291 say is, the fault is not with you.”: Lincoln to Grant, April 30, 1864, CW, 7:324–25 and footnote.
292 just as well by advancing as standing still.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:143.
292 can hold a leg.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, 180.
292 amassing north of the Rapidan.: BL, 4:118.
292 which reduced Lee’s numerical disadvantage.: Ibid., 4:154.
292 the sound of the firing.”: Ibid., 4:122.
292 died from fire alone.: Ibid., 4:162.
292 no man’s land were burned or suffocated.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:201.
292 strewing the Wilderness with human wrecks.”: BL, 4:125.
292 withdrew on the evening of May 6.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:202.
292 “Our cat has the longest tail.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, May 9, 1864.
293 and perhaps to bring him out into the open.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:211.
293 “fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”: Ibid., 2:226.
293 forcing Lee into the defenses around Richmond.: BL, 4:248–49.
293 ambulances trapped by washed-out roads.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:237.
293 this is now the hope of our country.”: Whipple, Story Life, 574.
293 were with him about four hundred men.”: Bates, Telegraph, 194–95.
293 expertly, leaving nothing behind, delaying Sherman.: BL, 4:252.
Chapter 40: Not Unworthy to Remain in My Present Position
294 the temerity” to advance and fight Lee’s forces again.: BL, 4:230.
294 which they clipped to their uniforms.: McPherson, Batlte Cry, 735.
294 period of time throughout the war.”: BL, 4:217.
295 or wounded to seventeen hundred for the Confederates.: Ibid., 4:249.
295 are brought daily to Washington by hundreds.”: Welles, Diary, June 11, 1864.
295 to compensate for the heavy loss we sustained.”: Grant, Memoirs, 2:276.
295 from the south—Grant opted for the latter.: Ibid., 2:278.
295 thought, he rose and left the room.: Bates, Telegraph, 268.
296 give it legal form, and practical effect.”: Lincoln’s reply to notifying committee, June 9, 1864, CW, 7:380–81.
296 swap horses when crossing streams.”: Lincoln’s reply to New York Union League, June 9, 1864, CW, 7:383–84.
296 have not placed it beyond hope.”: Franklin Pierce correspondence, June 14, 1864.
297 grant her the pass she had been seeking to return.: Philadelphia Inquirer, August 19, 1864; New York Daily Tribune, August 18, 1864; New York Herald, August 18, 1864.
297 and live to take his bride back to Buffalo.: Worcester Daily Spy, January 15, 1903.
297 Pontoon bridges were laid down.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:292–93.
297 since Grant set forth from Washington.: McPherson, Battle Cry, 742.
297 as he is of anything in the world.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, June 23, 1864.
297 inspired confidence in the general and army.”: Welles, Diary, June 24, 1864.
297 sooner he could have seized the capital.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:306.
298 “riddled to pieces with musketry.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, July 13, 1864.
298 an expensive lesson for the Confederates.: BL, 4:253.
298 “because soldiers, like other mortals, must have food.”: Ibid., 4:254.
298 of interest in Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce.: One representative article can be found in the Daily Constitutional Union DC, August 3, 1864.
298 “The Constitution as it is and the Union as it was.”: George Read Riddle to Millard Fillmore, July 2, 1864, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
298 “beyond the Constitution . . . the sole object.”: Millard Fillmore to George Read Riddle, July 5, 1864, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
299 insisted that the letter be kept private.: Millard Fillmore to A. B. Norton, August 10, 1864, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
299 and give peace to our bleeding country.”: Millard Fillmore to J. T. Stuart, August 10, 1864, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
299 confess I am far from being prepared.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:370.
299 and chew and choke as much as possible.”: Bates, Telegraph, 128.
299 re-electing Mr. Lincoln ‘unless something is done.’”: Nicolay to Bates, August 21, 1864.
299 sign the back of a memorandum, sight unseen.: Memorandum, August 23, 1864, CW, 7:514–15.
300 too high a price at the expense of the Union.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:373.
300 to preemptively surrender the war than to lose the race.: Nicolay to Bates, August 28, 1864.
300 “depends the salvation of our country.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:433.
300 make a first class Copperhead.”: Albany Evening Journal, October 5, 1864.
301 among the rebels in justification of their course.”: Albany Journal, October 8, 1864; October 17, 1864.
301 and bands of music in the north.”: Grant, Memoirs, 2:176.
301 “The elections carried him off.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, October 12, 1864.
301 for returning reason and patriotism?”: Franklin Pierce to Millard Fillmore, November 2, 1864.
302 “She is more anxious than I.”: Burlingame, Inside Lincoln’s White House, November 8, 1864.
303 before my own conscience.”: Ibid., November 11, 1864.
Chapter 41: The Last Full Measure
304 and decisive utterances of the national will.”: Marquis de Chambrun, “Personal Recollections of Mr. Lincoln,” Scribner’s, January 1893.
304 He ought to desire nothing more.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:377.
305 greatness of the President, in this age of little men.”: Nicolay to Bates, December 4, 1864.
305 He wrote a pass and handed it to me.”: Welles, Diary, December 24, 1864.
305 your Christmas gift, the capture of Savannah.”: Lincoln to Sherman, December 26, 1864.
305 fame than any single act of my life.”: BL, 4:257.
305 slavery to the lame duck Congress that had rejected it.: Lincoln’s Fourth Annual Message, December 4, 1864.
306 urged Congress to enact the mandate of the people.: Donald, Lincoln, 553.
306 lobbying members personally for passage.: Ibid., 554.
306 necessary for passage was limited to members present.: Burlingame, Michael. Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), unedited edition hosted online by Knox College, 3877.
306 was perhaps the worst news possible.: Ibid., 3881.
306 commissioners in the city, or likely to be in it.”: CW, 8:248.
306 pass that Lincoln issued the day before.: Ibid.
306 by the narrow margin of 118–59.: Burlingame, Life, 3882.
306 “loud and long applause” upon passage.: Nicolay to Bates, February 4, 1865.
306 his own great work, the Emancipation Proclamation.”: Arnold, Life, 1:366; Burlingame, Life, 3883.
306 the national government which was irresistible.”: BL, 4:259
307 and who was so reluctantly dragged into their support.”: Buchanan, Works, 11:380.
307 through which men and horses plodded wearily.”: Poore, Reminiscences, 157.
307 obscured by rain clouds, burst forth in splendor.”: Whipple, Story Life, 617.
307 and with all nations.”: CW, 8:332–33.
307 He “slept no more that night.”: Lamon, Lincoln, 116–17.
307 streets of Richmond,” wrote one Confederate captain.: BL, 4:725.
308 thereafter announced that evening services would be cancelled.: St. Paul’s Church, “Who We Are.” www.stpauls-episcopal.org/index.php/who/history_architecture.
308 would find Lee had escaped him.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:424.
308 and one foot out of bed for many weeks.”: BL, 4:708.
308 he could force them to surrender before long.: Grant, Memoirs, 2:454.
308 the ghostly streets of Petersburg to his commander.: Cooking, William. “Lincoln’s Last Day,” Harper’s Magazine, Volume 115, 41–42.
308 that you intended to do something like this.”: Grant, Memoirs, 2:459.
308 had the honor to be the first to enter.: NPS Soldiers and Sailors Database.
308 have put out our hands and touched them.”: Crook, 520.
309 when he is ready for whatever may come.”: Ibid., 521.
309 and attempted to kiss his feet.: Donald, Lincoln, 576.
309 been deprived of it for so many years.”: Whipple, Story Life, 627.
309 with a serious, dreamy expression.”: BL, 4:728.
309 very success the end of a terrible responsibility.”: Chambrun, Marquis de. “Personal Recollections of Mr. Lincoln,” January 1893, 28
310 there in peace and tranquility.”: Ibid., 85.
310 Appomattox Courthouse and accepted his surrender.: Crook, 522.
310 great purpose of his life had been achieved.”: Whipple, Story Life, 637.
311 “more cheerful and happy than I had ever seen him.”: Whipple, Story Life, 639.
311 day the war has come to a close.”: Lamon, Lincoln, 120.
311 his law practice and time on the circuit.: Whipple, Story Life, 643.
311 “torchlight processions” and music.: Chambrun, “Recollections,” 37.
311 though I would rather stay.”: Hollister, James. The Life of Schuyler Colfax (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1886), 253.
Epilogue: Do Not Despair of the Republic
312 deepest regrets and sorrows with yours.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:361.
312 exhibition as the enquiry suggests.”: Nichols, Young Hickory, 526.
312 responded with “three cheers” for Pierce.: Wallner, Pierce, 2:361.
313 atoned for remained between him and God.: Boulard, Expatriation, 3376, 3386, 3408, 3431.
313 where he was looking.: New York Daily Tribune, April 19, 1865.
313 and the Union has not been broken.”: Tyler, Letters and Times, 2:685.
313 —for which I had toiled for years.”: Ibid., 2:686.
314 heart,” an impression that never changed.: Buchanan, Works, 11:384–85.
314 whom he had “known . . . for many years.”: Ibid., 11:382–83.
314 rebellion,” quipped the Lowell Daily Citizen.: Lowell Daily Citizen, November 27, 1865.
314 of the hero of the last sensational murder.”: Philadelphia Inquirer, July 15, 1865.
314 Fillmore was simply out of town.: Raybeck, Fillmore, 430.
315 house your house during your time in the city.”: Millard Fillmore to Mary Lincoln, April 21, 1865, Papers of Millard Fillmore.
315 and will not be able to travel for some weeks.”: Robert Lincoln to Millard Fillmore, April 25, 1865.
316 succeed the storm if we do our own duty.”: Millard Fillmore Papers, 2:106–8.
316 itself remains greater yet than they.”: Chambrun, “Recollections,” 38.