Team of Rivals_ The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Doris Kearns Goodwin [285]
By day, they went ashore and wandered through the seaboard towns now in possession of the Union armies. “Virginia is sad to look upon,” Seward wrote to his wife, “not merely the rebellion, but society itself, is falling into ruin. Slaves are deserting the homes intrusted to them by their masters, who have gone into the Southern armies or are fleeing before ours. There is universal stagnation, and sullenness prevails everywhere.” Like Lincoln, Seward was always sensitive to the devastation of war. Despite his satisfaction at the recent Union successes that had subdued this part of Virginia, he was disquieted by the bleakness he encountered. “We saw war, not in its holiday garb,” he told Fanny, “but in its stern and fearful aspect. We saw the desolation that follows, and the terror that precedes its march.”
The steamer reached McClellan’s camp at about 3 p.m. on May 13. Approaching the shore, Fred Seward was amazed to find that “a clearing in the woods” had been “suddenly transformed into a great city of a hundred thousand people, by the advent of McClellan’s Army and its supporting fleet.” McClellan escorted the party ashore, where they reviewed thousands of his troops and discussed the general’s plans.
Though McClellan considered such visits “a nuisance,” he convinced his official guests that, if properly reinforced, he would soon prevail in a decisive fight “this side of Richmond,” which would be “one of the great historic battles of the world.” McClellan’s high-spirited, well-disciplined troops and the gigantic size of the operation were impressive to all. “At night,” Fred Seward observed, “the long lines of lights on the shore, the shipping and bustle in the river made it almost impossible to believe we were not in the harbor of Philadelphia or New York.”
After the meeting with McClellan, Seward advised Lincoln by telegraph that McDowell’s forces should be sent to the York River to reinforce McClellan “as soon as possible.” Lincoln and Stanton agreed. McDowell was ordered to move his entire force from the vicinity of Washington to the peninsula. For weeks, McClellan’s Democratic supporters had publicly criticized the president and secretary of war for retaining McDowell’s force out of irrational fear for Washington. Yet now that McClellan stood to have his demands met, he told Lincoln that he wouldn’t receive McDowell’s men unless it was clear that he would have absolute authority over them. McClellan considered McDowell a radical on the issue of slavery and despised him personally, calling him an “animal” in a letter to his wife. Lincoln assured McClellan by telegraph that he was in command.
The day after Lincoln ordered McDowell to prepare for the move south, he made an impromptu visit, accompanied by Stanton and Dahlgren, to McDowell’s headquarters at Fredericksburg. The trip was arranged so suddenly that Captain Dahlgren had no chance to bring food or beds aboard the steamboat that was to carry them to Aquia Landing. Despite the makeshift accomodations, Lincoln relaxed at once, reading aloud from the works of a contemporary poet, Fitz-Greene Halleck, then considered “the American Byron.” Lincoln chose that night to read Marco Bozzaris, a lengthy poem celebrating the death of a Greek hero in the war against Turkey. Lincoln was drawn to the poet’s vision of a lasting greatness, of deeds that would resound throughout history. Because of such achievements in life, both Greece, in which “there is no prouder grave,” and the mother “who gave thee birth,” can speak “of thy doom without a sigh”:
For thou art Freedom’s now, and Fame’s;
One of the few, the immortal names,
That were not born to die.
When Lincoln and his party reached Aquia Creek shortly after dawn, they were driven to McDowell’s camp in what Dahlgren described as “a common baggage car, with camp-stools for the party.” McDowell