by the great victories of Stonewall Jackson in the valley. He made himself famous by his victories in Virginia; he defeated Banks, captured all his commissary stores and ordnance.

CHAPTER XV.

Congress now held that the constitution was played out; that there should be no other power but the will of "the powers that be," at Washington! General Halleck was appointed commander-in-chief of the army of the United States; he was only a mere Lawyer, who had no experience in military affairs. Lincoln's cabinet had no men of military experience.— Greeley's Am. Conf. vol. 1, 501. He was not competent to drill a company of soldiers, but he was a strong supporter of Lincoln's policy. If any one wanted promotion in the army it was necessary to coincide with "Lincoln's policy;" any democratic general who was firm enough to oppose "Lincoln's policy," was sacrificed. Such was the case with Buell, McClellan, Porter, Rosecrans and Shields. General Shields, the Sarsfield of America, was the only man who whipped Stonewall Jackson: he was an old veteran, who won immortal fame on the battle fields of Mexico, and in the war in Florida under General Jackson, fighting against the Indians. But he was not a Lincoln man-that was enough! The Republicans claimed that the constitution was played out; indeed military governors were appointed for North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, July 21, 1862. John S. Phelps was appointed military governor of Arkansas. A Bill was passed confiscating rebel property, July 17, 1862. Another act was passed to suppress insurrection and to punish treason and rebellion. At this session the Writ of Habeas Corpus was suspended. A bill was introduced for the employment of Negro soldiers. Indeed very little was done at this session of Congress but legislating against slavery; passing tariff laws; and increasing the war power of the President. July 1, 1862, Congress passed a revenue law which greatly added to the power and patronage of the party by creating an army of officials. On May 20, 1862, an act was passed increasing the powers of the secretary of war. May 21, 1862, an act was passed for the education of colored children of the district of Columbia. This act caused great excitement at the north; for it could not be called a military necessity. For it was not pretended that it helped to put down the rebellion. It was evident that Congress had now assumed unlimited powers-not controlled by the constitution or the traditions of the founders and fathers of the constitution.

June 5, 1862, an act was passed to appoint a minister to Hayti. This was the first time that the Federal government had recognized the government of that island. This caused great displeasure North and South. In the North all unconstitutional acts weakened the power of the authorities of Washington: while at the South it drove thousands of union men into the confederate ranks.

June 7, 1862, an act was passed for collecting taxes in the rebel states. June 19, 1862 an act was passed for abolishing slavery in the territories. This was the old bone of contention. For this question had agitated the country for years. It was the great issue in 1860.

Feb. 25th, 1862, an act was passed for issuing notes and for the funding of the public debt.

An act was passed March 6th, 1862, requiring an oath of allegiance and to support the constitution of the United States to be administered to the masters of American vessels.

May 15, 1862, Congress passed an act for the establishment of the department of agriculture. The Radicals intoxicated with power, became wild and reckless. They were not restrained by the constitution of the United States nor the welfare of their common country; they were ready to sacrifice all patriotism and the welfare of their country on the altar of party politics. Every thing was sacrificed for the Chicago platform. For some time, they had been, with great ingenuity, construing the constitution by implication and intendment, but now they openly declared that the constitution was "played out." They fell back on the law of nations and the laws of war. They even said that they would trample under foot the constitution! They said that they wanted a strong government. Indeed, all the old arguments of the Federalists were resounded in the ears of the people. "Have we a government or not," was the cry! The Republicans, as already stated, were determined to defeat McClellan for fear that if he should take Richmond he would become so popular that he would be made President. That the democratic party would get into power; that the Republicans would lose for ever their darling object of abolishing slavery everywhere. McClellan had to delay for many causes. He had to discipline his army, which, when he took command, he found in a demoralized state. He would be able to move sooner only for the intermeddling of the authorities at Washington, who wanted to thwart all his movements for party purposes, although when the war broke out they pledged themselves to the democrats that all parties should be merged in the patriots. That there should be but one party and that that party should crush out rebellion and maintain the constitution and the Union. But this was all a delusion and a snare to gull patriotic democrats to enlist. This delay of McClellan gave an opportunity to the confederates to recruit their forces and to fortify their position.

Although the Confederates had lost many strongholds, that they held from Vicksburg to Richmond, Stonewall Jackson held the valley, and Lee was formidable at Richmond, with an army for offensive operation; besides the Confederates had a large Trans-Mississippi army and many strongholds on the coast. Charleston and Sumter were well fortified and well garrisoned. McClellan's plan was to send an army to Charleston; an other to Texas and another force to sail up the Mississippi from New Orleans to form a junction with an army which was to move down the Mississippi from Cairo; another army was to move through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia to the sea; while his own army was to move on Richmond by way of the James. See report of Gen. McClellan to the Secretary of war. This was an admirable plan and the one after several blunders, which was adopted by Grant. But these plans were marred by the authorities at Washington, for they wanted to defeat him. He had to disclose his plans to the Washington officials, who had now assumed the complete control of the movements of the army. These plans were made known through the Northern press. The Confederates profited by this information; as they were apprised of all McClellan's movements. Lincoln ordered McClellan to advance on the 22d of Sep., 1862. His army was divided into five army corps and a mountain department, under Fremont, in western Virginia. The President virtually assumed the duties and responsibilities of the Commander-in-chief. McClellan called a Council of war. All but four generals pronounced the movement unwise. But the President overruled their decision and ordered McClellan to move at once. By this act Lincoln

and his Secretary of war took the grave responsibility of breaking up the well matured plans of General McClellan and his officers, disregarding the counsels of these officers, whom he had put at the head of military affairs, who ought to know more about the movements of an army than mere civilians and political generals who could not drill a company-who were from their education unfit to judge of military matters, as well as officers learned in the science and arts of war. For McClellan had experience in military matters from his education, as well as from his experience in the Mexican war, and his knowledge of European warfare, as he was one of the officers detailed by the United States to inspect the mode of warfare practiced by the French, English, Russians, and Turks at the siege of Sebastopol, while Lincoln, Stanton, and Halleck had no experience excepting what Lincoln had in the Black Hawk war among the western savages.

McClellan was defeated in consequence of the blunder of Stanton in not sending McDowell to McClellan to close up his right wing. By this blunder Stonewall Jackson got into his rear and McClellan was forced to fall back on his gunboats. Had McClellan had his own way of conducting the war he could have taken Richmond and could have crushed the rebellion. But the Radicals did not want the war over, for they were making vast fortunes by it, and as we have said before, they did not want to see the Democrats get into power. For they would sooner see the south out of the union than see McClellan President of the United States. Greeley blamed McClellan for favoring war with England, on the Trent affair.—Greeley Am. Conf. vol. 1, 628. Lincoln took ten thousand men from McClellan's command and sent them to Fremont in the mountains of Virginia where they were not wanted.-Youth's History of the Civil War, pp. 193-4-5. Lincoln feared for his own safety at Washington. McClellan frequently wrote to him and Stanton for reinforcements. He told them that he would have to fight a superior force. Lincoln and Stanton, who were lawyers without military education or experience, assumed to fight the battles of the country from their desks.-See McClellan's report to the Secretary of war. They failed to send the desired reinforcements. Jackson slipped from Banks and Fremont and got by McDowell into McClellan's Lee called on the available troops of Virginia commanded by Stonewall Jackson, Jeff Davis, Longstreet, Magruder, Hill and Ewell.—Greeley, vol. 2. pp. 132 to 154.

rear.

Immediately after McClellan's defeat on the Potomac, caused by the blunder of the traitor and villain Stanton in not reinforcing him, the Presi dent called out 600,000 men. Why did not the President call out 600,000 men before the defeat at Richmond? The people now began to realize the effects of the war; real estates depreciated 50 per cent and all the necessaries of life rose one hundred per cent. The people now awoke as from a dream to behold the huge dimensions of the war which was brought on by the Radicals and Fire-eaters! The opposition to the administration increased, for it was soon found that 600,000 men could not be raised by volunteering, so Congress passed an act giving additional bounties. Towns, cities and counties gave bounties. Congress passed an act for drafting if the states should fail to fill up their quotas. Now the Radicals said that they would not sustain the war if the Union was restored with slavery! Greeley and the governor of Massachusetts told the President that if he would issue a proclamation for the emancipation of the slaves, "that in such an event the roads from Boston to Washington would be black with union soldiers. This made the war one for the abolition of slavery!

In order to put down all opposition, and to trample free speech under foot and to inaugurate a reign of terror, the Radicals put the country North

and South under martial-law. It was made penal to discourage enlistments and persons were prevented from leaving the country without a passport. The Provost Marshals reigned as petty despots and in some instances persons were forced into the ranks of the army or drugged and then forced. Secretary Seward had, some time previous, issued his order for the purpose of preventing persons from leaving the United States without a passport. In short, the administration became despotic; in a few months the United States Government which before Lincoln's election was the freest and best in the world, now became the most despotic in the world-no person was safe-private snspicion and party malice consigned thousands to prison, in the free states alone without charge or trial!

After the battle of Richmond, Pope superseded McClellan. Pope arrested citizens for refusing to take an oath of allegiance. He banished thousands from their homes for refusing to take an oath unauthorized by the Constitution on mere frivolous complaints-even on mere suspicion. In 1862, the Republicans were elated by means of the victories of the Union Army, and now that the war spirit was on the increase at the north, they could drown all opposition by the cry of "rebel sympathizers." The war Democrats in the army, having become accustomed to look upon every person south outside of the union picket lines, as an enemy, were willing that anything might be done to put down the rebellion-so that they could go home to their families and friends. They gradually began to abate their love for their southern brethren. They did not forget the Charleston Convention nor the defeat of Douglas-for the Southerners by running three candidates helped to elect Lincoln. Many Democrats in the army now became indifferent to the rights of the South, and did not care if the "peculiar institution was abolished-moreover military commands, by general orders from the war department, were allowed to forage in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, so from taking the property of "rebels" in one instance they did not object to see the Negro set free.

The word abolitionists, which a few years before, was considered by democrats as something infamous, was now treated with indifference. This was what the Republicans wanted. This was what Seward, Greeley, and Lincoln wanted. Having prepared the minds of the army for the ultimate abolition of slavery, strong party lines were now drawn in Congress. The democratic party still claiming that the object of the war should be the suppression of the rebellion and the maintenance of the constitution and the union. Meantime the Republicans threw off all disguise and set themselves to work to free the slaves in the southern states, while the war extermination was at fever heat. As early as March 13, 1862, Congress passed an act prohibiting the employment of union troops in returning fugitives from labor to their owners. This was a violation of the old fugitive slave law, which the Republican party never intended should be enforced, for they had time and again mobbed those who claimed their fugitive slaves. Even before the war, they went so far as to break jails and take those fugitives from the custody of the United States authorities.See act 1862.

The object of this act was to prepare the minds of the Democrats in the army to sanction the abolition of slavery.

On the 22d September, 1862, Lincoln issued his first emancipation proclamation which was not to go into effect until January 1st. 1863. For he did not know what the people would think of it at the fall elections. Indeed, Lincoln's policy was cordemned at the fall elections: Seymour was elected governor of New York. The tyranny of the administration was

condemned, and New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana repudiated the unconstitutional acts of the administration by electing Democrats!

The defeat of the Radicals was sorely felt-Seward, Blair and Smith were in favor of withdrawing the emancipation proclamation, but Chase said that the abolitionists, who had control of Congress, would not prosecute the war if the Union was reconstructed with slavery. That they would sooner let the Union slide. He said that he had a letter from Sumner, Wade, Wilson, Fessenden, and Lovejoy to that effect. That the issue was war for the abolition of slavery!

This caused a bitter feeling at the north and the Republicans backed up the policy with the sword. Lincoln now traded off fat offices, both civil and military, to all who supported his policy: several leading apostate Democrats joined Lincoln for offices and army contracts. The age of corruption and tyranny now assumed gigantic proportions. The administration had recourse to the old Hamiltonian principles of bribery and corruption and the hideous system of spies and informers. The Republicans copied every thing that was wicked from England. The people who were now smarting under hard times and taxation-having to pay one hundred per cent more for clothing and other necessaries of life than before the war-were indignant at the weakness and failure of the administration in putting down the Rebellion by this policy. They saw that the army was controlled by the administration, composed of men who were ignorant of all military affairs; as well as the mere 66 'paper officers" greedy, ignorant, and inefficient who were to lead thousands of Union soldiers to be butchered! The administration and Congress had their favorites and political friends in positions where they filled their pockets as speculators and contractors.

Lincoln, knowing that colonization was even popular with the Whigs and many Democrats, offered colonization as a step towards universal emancipation-it was indeed, a great stroke of policy.

An extract from President Lincoln's message December 1st, 1862, on the subject of the colonization of free Africans: "Applications have been made to me by many free Americans of African descent to favor their emigration with a view to such colonization as was contemplated in recent acts of Congress. Several of the Spanish American Republics have protested against the sending of such colonies to their respective territories. Under these circumstances, I have declined to move any such colony to any state, without first obtaining the consent of its government. Liberia and Hayti are, as yet, the only countries to which colonies of African descent from here could go with certainty of being received and adopted as citizens; and I regret to say such persons contemplating colonization do not seem so willing to emigrate to those countries as to some others, nor so willing as I think their interests demand." He held the following opinion on the currency, which shows how much the Radical party has drifted from the principles held by Mr. Lincoln, in 1862.

"A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period compatible with due regard to all interests concerned, should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the value of currency are always injurious."

He then referred to his emancipation proclamation of 22d September, 1862, and of the resolution for "compensated emancipation."

"The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace, insure the increase of population, and proportionally the wealth of the country. With these, we should pay all that emancipation would cost, together with our other debt, easier than we should pay one other debt, without it."