Team of Rivals

by Goodwin, Doris Kearns

  “not to let…doing anything”: EBL to SPL, April 12, 1862, Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, p. 127 (quote); FPB to GBM, April 12, 1862, reel 20, Papers of George B. McClellan, Sr., Manuscript Division, Library of Congress [hereafter McClellan Papers, DLC].

  Washington gossip…to support McClellan: CS to John Andrew, April 27, 1862, in The Selected Letters of Charles Sumner, Vol. II, ed. Beverly Wilson Palmer (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990), p. 112.

  “preservers of slavery”: Entry for February 1862, in Gurowski, Diary from March 4, 1861 to November 12, 1862, p. 157.

  Monty Blair privately…“mortifying to Frank”: MB to FPB, March 12, 1862, box 7, folder 6, Blair-Lee Papers, NjP-SC.

  “urged by Chase”…felt it intensely: EBL to SPL, March 11, [1862], in Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, p. 109.

  Frank Blair had delivered…of Blair’s address: Smith, The Francis Preston Blair Family in Politics, Vol. II, pp. 87–89; Williams, Lincoln and the Radicals, pp. 105–09.

  The New York Tribune…“of the President”: MB to John C. Frémont, August 24, 1861, quoted in NYTrib, March 4, 1862.

  “Brother just took…think of it again”: EBL to SPL, March 6, 1862, in Wartime Washington, ed. Laas, pp. 105–06.

  A grateful Monty Blair…“very well of it”: MB to FPB, March 12, 1862, box 7, folder 6, Blair-Lee Papers, NjP-SC.

  approving Frémont’s appointment…“opinion and action”: NYT, March 13, 1862.

  Seward appreciated…at large: Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, pp. 50–51.

  “Somebody must be…the S. of S.”: WHS to TW, April 25, 1862, quoted in ibid., p. 88.

  “The President…and practical”: WHS to TW, April 1, 1862, quoted in ibid., p. 81.

  Count Gurowski despaired…“strategy?”: Entry for February 1862, in Gurowski, Diary from March 4, 1861 to November 12, 1862, pp. 156, 226–27, 171 (quote).

  by the middle of March…him of command: Allan Nevins, The War for the Union. Vol. II: War Becomes Revolution, 1862–1863 (1960; New York: Konecky & Konecky, undated reprint), p. 44.

  Seward scorned…northern Virginia!: WHS, paraphrased in letter from Sam Ward to S. L. M. Barlow, March 27, 1862, in ibid.

  While acknowledging…“‘stationary’ engine”: Carpenter, Six Months at the White House, p. 255.

  he confided to Browning…“orders to move”: Entry for April 2, 1862, in Browning, The Diary of Orville Hickman Browning, Vol. I, pp. 537–38.

  twenty-four hours before…to Fort Monroe: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, p. xi; Sears, George B. McClellan, p. 168.

  presented a sight…“seldom seen”: Entry for March 16, 1862, in French, Witness to the Young Republic, p. 391.

  “I will bring you…ofhis heart”: GBM to the Soldiers of the Army of the Potomac, March 14, 1862, quoted in NYT, March 16, 1862.

  “information…defend the Capital”: EMS to Heman Dyer, May 18, 1862, reel 3, Stanton Papers, DLC.

  “explicit order…entirely secure”: AL to GBM, April 9, 1862, in CW, V, p. 184.

  Stanton referred…“wrath of his friends”: EMS to Heman Dyer, May 18, 1862, reel 3, Stanton Papers, DLC.

  McClellan advanced…constructing earthworks: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 36–62; Todd Anthony Rosa, “Peninsula Campaign,” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 1483.

  “You now have…as you can”: AL to GBM, April 6, 1862, in CW, V, p. 182.

  “he had better come & do it himself”: GBM to MEM, April 8, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 234.

  “the enemy…strong batteries”: GBM and EMS paraphrased in entry of April 9, 1862, in The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866, p. 249.

  “It is indispensable…But you must act”: AL to GBM, April 9, 1862, in CW, V, p. 185.

  “Do not misunderstand…batteries built”: GBM to AL, April 23, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  “the more decisive the results will be”: GBM to MEM, April 19, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 243.

  “compelled to change…delay of victory”: GBM to EMS, [c. April 27, 1862], in ibid., pp. 248–49.

  Joe Johnston…damage to the rebel army: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 68, 62; GBM to EMS, May 4, 1862, in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 254.

  the long delay…a counteroffensive: McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 455.

  the spring social season…“over the ground”: NR, April 4, 1862.

  Mary remained in mourning…on the lawn: Commissioner B. B. French to Colonel John Harris, Commandant U.S. Marine Corps, June 12, 1862, p. 134, Vol. 14, Letters Sent by the Commissioner of Public Buildings, Vols. 12, 14 (July 2, 1855–June 9, 1865), reel 7, Records of the District of Columbia Commissioners and of the Offices Concerned with Public Buildings, 1791–1867 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M371), Records of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, RG 42, DNA.

  “more of a…in order to watch her”: Mrs. Daniel Chester (Mary) French, Memories of a Sculptor’s Wife (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1928), pp. 147–48.

  “I a simple…her perfection”: Fanny Garrison Villard, quoted in Phelps, Kate Chase, Dominant Daughter, p. 279.

  Kate’s daily schedule, breakfasts and parties: Ross, Proud Kate, p. 78; Phelps, Kate Chase, Dominant Daughter, p. 112.

  “stop at Van Zant’s…and agreeable occasion”: KCS to Jay Cooke, quoted in Ross, Proud Kate, p. 94.

  “Cabinet calling…and Mrs. Stanton”: “Miriam,” February 19, 1862, Iowa State Register, Des Moines, quoted in Mrs. John A. Kasson, “An Iowa Woman in Washington, D.C., 1861–1865,” Iowa Journal of History 52 (January 1954), pp. 66–67.

  While Kate hosted…lively, entertaining conversation: Phelps, Kate Chase, Dominant Daughter, pp. 111–12.

  “Diplomats and statesmen…the Bourbons”: Washington Post, August 1, 1899.

  the Chase home…a forum: Ross, Proud Kate, pp. 78, 93.

  “parlor politics”: For more on Washington women using entertaining for political purposes see Catherine Allgor, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government (Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 2000).

  a “rival court”: Belden and Belden, So Fell the Angels, p. 33.

  the proclamation of General David Hunter: General Orders No. 11, May 9, 1862, quoted in AL, “Proclamation Revoking General Hunter’s Order of Military Emancipation of May 9, 1862,” May 19, 1862, in CW, V, p. 222.

  “It seems to me…your Administration”: SPC to AL, May 16, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  “No commanding general…consulting me”: AL to SPC, [May 17, 1862], in CW, V, p. 219.

  “dissatisfaction…believe would follow”: AL, “Appeal to Border State Representatives to Favor Compensated Emancipation,” July 12, 1862, in ibid., p. 318.

  “among the more advanced…pusillanimity”: Carl Schurz to AL, May 19, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  “all the more warmly…of Hunter’s proclamation”: SPC to Horace Greeley, May 21, 1862, reel 20, Chase Papers.

  Rumors began to surface: NYT, May 20, 1862.

  “The cabin”…his “inexhaustible stock”: Viele, “A Trip with Lincoln, Chase, and Stanton,” Scribners Monthly (1878), pp. 813–14.

  “called up by…behind his back”: Entry for April 19, 1862, in Madeline Vinton Dahlgren, Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, Rear-Admiral United States Navy (Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1882), p. 364 n2.

  “muscular power…in vain to imitate him”: Viele, “A Trip with Lincoln, Chase, and Stanton,” Scribners Monthly (1878), pp. 815–16.

  pored over maps…around Virginia: Ibid., p. 815; William E. Baringer, “On Enemy Soil: President Lincoln’s Norfolk Campaign,” Abraham Lincoln Quarterly 7 (March 1952), p. 6.

  Union forces at Fort Monroe: “Map of Hampton Roads and Adjacent Shore,” in John Taylor Wood, “The First Fight of Iron-Clads,” in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I, Part 2, p. 699. The m
ouths of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers all converge at Hampton Roads.

  Merrimac…devastating engagements: Gene A. Smith, “Monitor versus Virginia (8 March 1862),” in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 1348. Although the Confederates had rechristened the ironclad the CSS Virginia, the vessel continued to be known by its previous name, the Merrimac.

  “It is a disgrace…cannot cope”: Montgomery C. Meigs, quoted in Gorham, Life and Public Services of Edwin M. Stanton, Vol. I, p. 371.

  An emergency cabinet meeting…“presence”: Niven, Gideon Welles, p. 403.

  Monitor…“cheese box on a raft”: Entry for October 10, 1862, in French, Witness to the Young Republic, p. 412.

  “a pigmy to a giant”: NYT, March 14, 1862 (quote); NYT, March 11, 1862.

  When Stanton learned…“with diamonds”: NYT, March 16, 1862.

  “The ringing of those plates”: Herman Melville, “A Utilitarian View of the Monitor’s Fight,” in The Works of Herman Melville, Vol. XVI (London: Constable & Co., 1924), pp. 44, 45.

  huddled over maps…Navy Yard vulnerable: Baringer, “On Enemy Soil,” ALQ 7 (1952), p. 8; Shelby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol. I: Fort Sumter to Perryville (New York: Random House, 1958; New York: Vintage Books, 1986), p. 414.

  Lincoln and his little group…“Treasury to follow”: SPC to Janet Chase Hoyt, May 7, 1862, reel 20, Chase Papers.

  one leg permanently damaged: Wolcott, “Edwin M. Stanton,” p. 131.

  Goldsborough approved…across the water: Foote, The Civil War, Vol. I, p. 414.

  “a smoke curled…turned back”: SPC to Janet Chase Hoyt, May 8, 1862, quoted in Warden, Private Life and Public Services, p. 428.

  each personally surveyed…delay the attack: SPC to Janet Chase Hoyt, May 11, 1862, reel 20, Chase Papers; Baringer, “On Enemy Soil,” ALQ (1952), pp. 15–18.

  Chase, accompanying…of the region: SPC to Janet Chase Hoyt, May 11, 1862, reel 20, Chase Papers.

  “The night was very…of mere appearances”: Carpenter, Six Months at the White House, pp. 104–05.

  reporters noted…bouts of vertigo: Philadelphia Inquirer, May 13, 1862.

  “one of the strangest…military history”: Foote, The Civil War, Vol. I, p. 413.

  “So has ended…now virtually ours”: SPC to Janet Chase Hoyt, May 11, 1862, reel 20, Chase Papers.

  “Norfolk…my movements”: GBM to MEM, May 10, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 262.

  Welles invited…“field glasses and maps”: FWS to FAS, undated letter, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, p. 89.

  enjoyed an easy camaraderie…with one another: Mary Jane Welles to Edgar T. Welles, May 19, 1862, typescript, reel 34, Welles Papers.

  Seward…composed a humorous poem: Entry for May 19, 1862, in Dahlgren, Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, p. 368.

  “Virginia is sad…everywhere”: WHS to FAS, May 19, 1862, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, p. 94.

  “We saw war…precedes its march”: WHS to FAS, undated letter, quoted in ibid., p. 93.

  The steamer reached McClellan’s camp…“its supporting fleet”: FWS to FAS, undated letter, quoted in ibid., p. 89.

  “a nuisance”: GBM to MEM, May 15, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 267.

  he convinced…“this side of Richmond”: WHS to AL, May 14, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  “one of the great…of the world”: GBM to MEM, May 22, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 274.

  “At night…or New York”: FWS to FAS, undated letter, quoted in Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, p. 89.

  Seward advised Lincoln…“as soon as possible”: WHS to AL, May 14, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  McDowell was ordered: AL to Irvin McDowell, [May 17, 1862], in CW, V, pp. 219–20.

  McClellan stood…“animal”: GBM to MEM, [June 9, 1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 293.

  an impromptu visit…Marco Bozzaris: Entry for May 22, [1862], in Dahlgren, Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, pp. 368, 368 n1; John W. M. Hallock, The American Byron: Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene Halleck (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000), pp. 96–98; Fitz-Greene Halleck, “Marco Bozzaris,” in Yale Book of American Verse, ed. Thomas R. Lounsbury (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1912), pp. 12–13.

  “a common baggage…think much of McDowell!”: Entry for May 23, 1862, in Dahlgren, Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, pp. 369–70.

  General Stonewall Jackson had been sent: McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, pp. 455–57.

  “I have been compelled…to join you”: AL to GBM, May 24, 1862, in CW, V, p. 232.

  “Stripped bare…from you instantly”: AL to GBM, May 25, 1862, in ibid., pp. 236–37.

  “Independently…shall attack Richmond”: GBM to AL, May 25, 1862, Lincoln Papers.

  “just finished…knavery & folly”: GBM to MEM, May 25, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 275.

  “Lincoln’s diversion…to capture Richmond”: McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 460.

  Confederate attack at Fair Oaks: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 111–45, 147, 149; Sears, George B. McClellan, p. 196.

  “McClellan keeps sending…has not stirred”: Christopher Wolcott to Pamphila Stanton Wolcott, June 11, 1862, in Wolcott, “Edwin M. Stanton,” p. 156 (first quote); Wolcott to Wolcott, June 22, 1862, ibid., p. 157a (second quote).

  bridges to be built: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, p. 158.

  “if I cannot fully…for the results”: GBM to EMS, June 16, 1862, reel 3, Stanton Papers, DLC.

  “utmost prudence…all know it”: GBM to MEM, June 22, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, p. 305.

  allowed General Lee to take the initiative: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, p. 151.

  the Seven Days Battles: For a detailed description of the Seven Days Battles, see Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 181–336.

  Federals dead, wounded, and missing: Ibid., pp. 344–45.

  “vastly superior…where it belongs”: GBM to EMS, June 25, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, pp. 309–10.

  “pains me…if I would”: AL to GBM, June 26, 1862, in CW, V, p. 286.

  neither McClellan nor Lincoln was able to sleep: Entry for July 5, 1862, in Dahlgren, Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, p. 375; Sears, George B. McClellan, p. 209.

  Gaines’ Mill…McClellan to retreat: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 213–50; Sears, George B. McClellan, p. 212.

  “I now know…sacrifice this army”: GBM to EMS, June 28, 1862, OR, Ser. 1, Vol. XI, p. 61.

  When the supervisor of telegrams…it to Stanton: Bates, Lincoln in the Telegraph Office, pp. 109–10.

  McClellan’s troops remained a strong: McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 468.

  Malvern Hill: Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, pp. 308–36.

  “He was simply out-generaled”: Christopher Wolcott to Pamphila Stanton Wolcott, July 2, 1862, in Wolcott, “Edwin M. Stanton,” p. 157a.

  he continued to retreat: McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 470; Sears, To the Gates of Richmond, p. 338.

  CHAPTER 17: “WE ARE IN THE DEPTHS”

  “We are in the…gloomy thinking”: Entry for July 14, 1862, Diary of George Templeton Strong, Vol. III, p. 241.

  manifesting an anxiety…“more momentous”: Iowa State Register, Des Moines, July 16, 1862.

  “the gloomiest…so low”: Entry for July 4, 1862, in Gurowski, Diary from March 4, 1861 to November 12, 1862, p. 235.

  “the past has been…the war began”: JGN to TB, July 13, 1862, container 2, Nicolay Papers.

  “It is a startling…sustain a spirit”: WHS to FS, August 2, 1862, in Seward, Seward at Washington…1861–1872, pp. 120–21.

  “Since the rebellion…taken Richmond”: SPC to Richard C. Parsons, July 20, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  “The house seemed…you were gone”: SPC to KCS, Jun
e 24, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  many long letters: SPC to KCS, June 24, 25, 29, and 30, July 1, 2 and 4, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  “a mark of love and…on many points”: SPC to KCS, July 6, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  “All your letters…very good”: SPC to KCS, July 4, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  concealed her unhappiness…“So with us it came”: William Sprague to KCS, May 27, 1866, Sprague Papers.

  “My confidence…and so will I”: SPC to KCS, July 6, 1862, reel 21, Chase Papers.

  to visit the McDowells’…“will alarm you”: Mrs. McDowell, quoted in Phelps, Kate Chase, Dominant Daughter, p. 121.

  “The first necessity…of no more”: NYT, July 7, 1862.

  “Journals of all…instant removal”: NYT, July 10, 1862.

  “So you want…unaffected wonder”: GBM to MEM, [July] 13, [1862], in Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan, pp. 354–55.

  “the proof…hypocrite & villain”: GBM to MEM, July 22, [1862], in ibid., p. 368.

  “there had been…opposition to McClellan”: SPL to EBL, July 6, 1862, box 230, folder 7, Blair-Lee Papers, NjP-SC.

  John Astor…“by a signal victory”: Entry for July 11, 1862, Diary of George Templeton Strong, Vol. III, p. 239.

  “If we could help…any other way”: Frederick Law Olmsted to “My Dear Doctor,” July 13, 1862, reel 2, Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

  “very fierce crusade…the art of war”: NYT, July 10, 1862.

  Mary Ellet Cabell…“tears to his eyes”: Mary Ellet Cabell, quoted in Flower, Edwin McMasters Stanton, p. 164.

  “the baby was dying”…on July 10: Christopher Wolcott to Pamphila Stanton Wolcott, July 6, 1862, in Wolcott, “Edwin M. Stanton,” p. 157b (quote); Gideon Welles, “The History of Emancipation,” Galaxy 14 (December 1872), p. 842.

  his own health began to suffer: Benjamin, “Recollections of Secretary Edwin M. Stanton,” Century (1887), p. 759.

  “He unflinchingly…out of it”: Whitman, Specimen Days (1902 edn.), p. 36.

  “Allow me to assure…all your life”: AL to Quintin Campbell, June 28, 1862, in CW, V, p. 288.

  Stanton…shutting down recruiting offices: Thomas and Hyman, Stanton, p. 201; Sears, George B. McClellan, p. 180.