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was eager to show the little group his army’s accomplishments in having rebuilt bridges and repaired telegraph lines, creating a direct link between Washington and Fredericksburg. The general was particularly proud of a new trestle bridge that spanned a creek and deep ravine at a height of a hundred feet. Though “there was nothing but a single plank for us to walk on,” Dahlgren recalled, Lincoln impulsively said: “Let us walk over.” So the president, followed by McDowell, and then poor Stanton, understandably fearful of heights, and finally Dahlgren, began the hazardous journey. “About half-way,” Dahlgren wrote, “the Secretary said he was dizzy and feared he would fall. So he stopped, unable to proceed. I managed to step by him, and took his hand, thus leading him over, when in fact my own head was somewhat confused by the giddy height.”

After breakfast, the president and McDowell mounted horses and spent the day inspecting the troops. Enduring a hot sun without the protection of a hat, Lincoln reviewed “one division after another, all in fine order, the men cheering tremendously.” After a simple meal, the presidential party returned to Aquia Creek, departing for Washington sometime after 10 p.m. Lincoln “was in good spirits,” according to Dahlgren. Once again, he read poetry aloud, and they all retired to their makeshift beds. Before falling asleep, Stanton confided to Dahlgren that “he did not think much of McDowell!”

Troublesome news reached Washington the following day that General Stonewall Jackson had been sent to attack Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley, hoping to prevent McDowell from moving south. The goal was realized. After Jackson attacked Front Royal, forcing General Banks to hastily retreat north to Winchester, the president telegraphed McClellan: “I have been compelled to suspend Gen. McDowell’s movement to join you.” He followed up with a telegram explaining that with Jackson chasing Banks farther and farther north, Washington was again endangered. “Stripped bare, as we are here, it will be all we can do to prevent [the enemy] crossing the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry, or above…. If McDowell’s force was now beyond our reach, we should be utterly helpless.” Moreover, while Jackson and his forces made their way north, Lincoln reasoned, Richmond must be vulnerable. “I think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job and come to the defence of Washington. Let me hear from you instantly.”

McClellan replied at 5 p.m.: “Independently of it the time is very near when I shall attack Richmond.” He then haughtily informed his wife that he had “just finished [his] reply to his Excellency,” and complained, “it is perfectly sickening to deal with such people & you may rest assured that I will lose as little time as possible in breaking off all connection with them—I get more sick of them every day—for every day brings with it only additional proofs of their hypocrisy, knavery & folly.”

James McPherson concludes that “Lincoln’s diversion of McDowell’s corps to chase Jackson was probably a strategic error—perhaps even the colossal blunder that McClellan considered it.” For as soon as Jackson had managed to divert the Union forces bound for Richmond, he turned back southward to join in the defense of the Confederate capital. Still, McPherson adds, “even if McDowell’s corps had joined McClellan as planned, the latter’s previous record offered little reason to believe that he would have moved with speed and boldness to capture Richmond.”

In the end, though McClellan had advanced to a position only four miles from Richmond by the end of May, he still refused to take the initiative, and his troops were surprised by a Confederate attack at Fair Oaks. Though the battle was inconclusive and the rebels suffered heavier losses than the Union, McClellan was so devastated by the toll of nearly five thousand Union dead and wounded that he lost whatever momentum he had created. “McClellan keeps sending word that he will attack Richmond very soon,—but every day brings some new excuse,” reported Christopher