Team Of Rivals Part 56

The crowd stirred uneasily, and the men on the dais tried with varying success to conceal their dismay. "Stanton looked like a petrified man," Noah Brooks observed. "All this is in wretched bad taste," Speed whispered to Welles. "The man is certainly deranged." Welles whispered to Stanton that "Johnson is either drunk or crazy." Dennison, the new postmaster general, "was red and white by turns," while Justice Samuel Nelson's jaw "dropped clean down in blank horror." Seward and Lincoln alone appeared unruffled. Seward remained as "serene as summer," charitably suggesting to Welles that Johnson's performance was a by-product of "emotion on returning and revisiting the Senate." Lincoln listened in silence, "patiently waiting" for the harangue to end, his eyes shut so that no one could discern his discomfort. "You need not be scared," he said a few days later; Johnson had "made a bad slip" but was not "a drunkard."

When Johnson finished at last, the audience proceeded outside to the east front of the Capitol for the inaugural ceremony. As the president appeared on the platform, observed Noah Brooks, "the sun, which had been obscured all day, burst forth in its unclouded meridian splendor and flooded the spectacle with glory and light." It seemed to many, including the superst.i.tious Lincoln, an auspicious omen, as did the appearance of the newly completed Capitol dome, topped with the statue of Freedom.

If the spirited crowd expected a speech exalting recent Union victories, they were disappointed. In keeping with his lifelong tendency to consider all sides of a troubled situation, Lincoln urged a more sympathetic understanding of the nation's alienated citizens in the South. There were no unbridgeable differences, he insisted: "Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same G.o.d; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just G.o.d's a.s.sistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes."

In his Springfield speech a decade earlier, Lincoln had maintained that he could not condemn the South for an inability to end slavery when he himself knew of no easy solution. Now the president suggested that G.o.d had given "to both North and South, this terrible war" as punishment for their shared sin of slavery. Speaking with "the eloquence of the prophets," he continued, "Fondly do we hope-fervently do we pray-that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pa.s.s away. Yet, if G.o.d wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.'"

Drawing upon the rare wisdom of a temperament that consistently displayed uncommon magnanimity toward those who opposed him, he then issued his historic plea to his fellow countrymen: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as G.o.d gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

More than any of his other speeches, the Second Inaugural fused spiritual faith with politics. While Lincoln might have questioned the higher force that shaped human ends, "as he became involved in matters of the gravest importance," his friend Leonard Swett observed, "a feeling of religious reverence, and belief in G.o.d-his justice and overruling power-increased upon him." If his devotion were determined by his lack of "faith in ceremonials and forms," or by his failure "to observe the Sabath very scrupulously," Swett added, "he would fall far short of the standard." However, if he were judged "by the higher rule of purity of conduct, of honesty of motive, of unyielding fidelity to the right," or by his powerful belief "in the great laws of truth, the rigid discharge of duty, his accountability to G.o.d," then he was undoubtedly "full of natural religion," for "he believed in G.o.d as much as the most approved Church member."

His address completed, the president turned to Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who administered the oath of office. The crowd cheered loudly, the artillery fired a round of salutes, the band played, and the peaceful ceremony drew to a close.

That evening the gates of the White House were opened for a public reception attended by "the largest crowd that has been here yet," according to Nicolay. The president was reported to be "in excellent spirits" as he tirelessly shook the hands of the more than five thousand people who came to show their respect and affection. "It was a grand ovation of the People to their President," Commissioner French observed, and Mary vowed "to remain till morning, rather than have the door closed on a single visitor." French estimated that Lincoln shook hands "at the rate of 100 every 4 minutes."

Frederick Dougla.s.s would always remember the events of that evening. "On reaching the door, two policemen stationed there took me rudely by the arm and ordered me to stand back, for their directions were to admit no persons of my color." Dougla.s.s a.s.sured the officers "there must be some mistake, for no such order could have emanated from President Lincoln; and that if he knew I was at the door he would desire my admission." His a.s.sumption was later confirmed when he discovered there were "no orders from Mr. Lincoln, or from any one else. They were simply complying with an old custom." The impa.s.se continued for a few moments, until Dougla.s.s recognized a gentleman going in and asked him to tell the president that he was unable to gain entry. Minutes later, the word came back to admit Dougla.s.s. "I walked into the s.p.a.cious East Room, amid a scene of elegance such as in this country I had never before witnessed."

Dougla.s.s had no difficulty spotting Lincoln, who stood "like a mountain pine high above the others," he recalled, "in his grand simplicity, and home-like beauty. Recognizing me, even before I reached him, he exclaimed, so that all around could hear him, 'Here comes my friend Dougla.s.s.' Taking me by the hand, he said, 'I am glad to see you. I saw you in the crowd to-day, listening to my inaugural address; how did you like it?'" Dougla.s.s was embarra.s.sed to detain the president in conversation when there were "thousands waiting to shake hands," but Lincoln insisted. "You must stop a little, Dougla.s.s; there is no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you think of it?"

For a moment these two remarkable men stood together amid the sea of faces. Lincoln knew that Dougla.s.s would speak his mind, just as he always had. "Mr. Lincoln," Dougla.s.s said finally, "that was a sacred effort." Lincoln's face lit up with delight. "I am glad you liked it!" he replied.

A few days later, Lincoln provided his own a.s.sessment to Thurlow Weed, predicting that the address would "wear as well as-perhaps better than-any thing" he had written, though he did not believe it would be "immediately popular. Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them." Just as Lincoln surmised, the speech drew criticism from several quarters. The Democratic New York World faulted Lincoln for his "subst.i.tution of religion for statesmanship," while the Tribune charged that the stern biblical overtones would impede any chance for peace.

Many others, however, recognized the historic weight of the address. "That rail-splitting lawyer is one of the wonders of the day," Charles Francis Adams, Jr., wrote to his father in London. "The inaugural strikes me in its grand simplicity and directness as being for all time the historical keynote of this war." The London Spectator, previously critical of Lincoln, agreed with young Adams, judging the address as "by far the n.o.blest which any American President has yet uttered to an American Congress."

Praise for the speech mingled with praise for Lincoln himself. The Spectator suggested that it was "divine inspiration, or providence" that brought the Republican Convention in 1860 to choose Lincoln the "village lawyer" over Seward. Congressman Isaac Arnold overheard a conversation between a celebrated minister and an unidentified New York statesman, whom one historian suggests was likely William Henry Seward himself. "The President's inaugural is the finest state paper in all history," the minister declared. "Yes," the New Yorker answered, "and as Washington's name grows brighter with time, so it will be with Lincoln's. A century from to-day that inaugural will be read as one of the most sublime utterances ever spoken by man. Washington is the great man of the era of the Revolution. So will Lincoln be of this, but Lincoln will reach the higher position in history."

Perhaps the most surprising contemporaneous evaluation of Lincoln's leadership appeared in the extreme secessionist paper the Charleston Mercury. "He has called around him in counsel," the Mercury marveled, "the ablest and most earnest men of his country. Where he has lacked in individual ability, learning, experience or statesmanship, he has sought it, and found it.... Force, energy, brains, earnestness, he has collected around him in every department." Were he not a "blackguard" and "an unscrupulous knave in the end," the Mercury concluded, "he would undoubtedly command our respect as a ruler.... We turn our eyes to Richmond, and the contrast is appalling, sickening to the heart."

The editors of the Mercury would have been even more astonished if they had an inkling of the truth recognized by those closer to Lincoln: his political genius was not simply his ability to gather the best men of the country around him, but to impress upon them his own purpose, perception, and resolution at every juncture. With respect to Lincoln's cabinet, Charles Dana observed, "it was always plain that he was the master and they were the subordinates. They constantly had to yield to his will, and if he ever yielded to them it was because they convinced him that the course they advised was judicious and appropriate."

CHAPTER 26

THE FINAL WEEKS

AS LINCOLN BEGAN his second term, "he was in mind, body, and nerves a very different man," John Hay observed, "from the one who had taken the oath in 1861. He continued always the same kindly, genial, and cordial spirit he had been at first; but the boisterous laughter became less frequent year by year; the eye grew veiled by constant meditation on momentous subjects; the air of reserve and detachment from his surroundings increased."

Four years of relentless strain had touched Lincoln's spirit and his countenance. The aged, wearied face in the life-mask cast by Clark Mills in the spring of 1865 barely resembled the mold Leonard Volk had taken five years earlier. In 1860, noted John Hay, "the large mobile mouth is ready to speak, to shout, or laugh; the bold, curved nose is broad and substantial, with spreading nostrils; it is a face full of life, of energy, of vivid aspiration." The second life-mask, with its lined brow and cavernous cheeks, has "a look as of one on whom sorrow and care had done their worst...the whole expression is of unspeakable sadness and all-sufficing strength."

That inner strength had sustained Lincoln all his life. But his four years as president had immeasurably enhanced his self-confidence. Despite the appalling pressures he had faced from his very first day in office, he had never lost faith in himself. In fact, he was the one who had sustained the spirits of those around him time and again, gently guiding his colleagues with good humor, energy, and steady purpose. He had learned from early mistakes, transcended the jealousy of rivals, and his insight into men and events had deepened with each pa.s.sing year. Though "a tired spot" remained within that no rest or relaxation could restore, he was ready for the arduous tasks of the next four years.

Settling into his daily routine after the inauguration, Lincoln was determined to avoid the thousands of office seekers who again descended "like Egyptian locusts" upon Washington. "The bare thought of going through again what I did the first year here, would crush me," he confessed. In the first months of his presidency, he had been disparaged for allowing office seekers to accost him at all hours, consuming his energy and disrupting his concentration. Nicolay and Hay had tried to get him to be more methodical, to close his door to outsiders for longer periods, but at the time he had insisted that "they don't want much; they get but little, and I must see them." Experience had finally taught him that he must set priorities and concentrate on the vital questions of war and Reconstruction confronting his administration. "I think now that I will not remove a single man, except for delinquency," he told New Hampshire senator Clark. "To remove a man is very easy," he commented to another visitor, "but when I go to fill his place, there are twenty applicants, and of these I must make nineteen enemies."

With two cla.s.ses of office seekers, however, he was prepared to take a personal interest-artists and disabled veterans. He expressed to Seward his hope that consul positions could be offered to "facilitate artists a little [in] their profession," mentioning in particular a poet and a sculptor he wished to help. To General Scott, who was working with the Sanitary Commission to find government jobs for disabled veterans, Lincoln emphasized that the Commission should "at all times be ready to recognize the paramount claims of the soldiers of the nation, in the disposition of public trusts."

With his cabinet, he was satisfied. The only change he made after the inauguration was to replace treasury secretary William Pitt Fessenden with the banker Hugh McCulloch. When he had a.s.sumed the post the previous summer, Fessenden had been a.s.sured that he could leave once the finances of the country were in good shape. By the spring of 1865, the Treasury was stable, and when Maine reelected him to the Senate for a term to begin on March 4, Fessenden felt free to resign.

Lincoln was sorry to lose his brilliant, hardworking secretary. Fessenden, too, "parted from the President with regret." During his tenure at the Treasury, his initial critical att.i.tude toward Lincoln had been transformed into warm admiration. "I desire gratefully to acknowledge the kindness and consideration with which you have invariably treated me," he wrote to the president, "and to a.s.sure you that in retiring I carry with me great and increased respect for your personal character and for the ability which has marked your administration." Noting that the "prolonged struggle for national life" was finally nearing a successful conclusion, he went on, "no one can claim to have so largely contributed as the chosen chief magistrate of this great people."

Hugh McCulloch was entirely familiar with Treasury operations, having served as comptroller of the currency. When Lincoln first approached him, however, he was nervous about accepting the position. "I should be glad to comply with your wishes," he told Lincoln, "if I did not distrust my ability to do what will be required of the Secretary of the Treasury." Lincoln cheerfully replied, "I will be responsible for that, and so I reckon we will consider the matter settled." McCulloch would remain at his post for four years and was "never sorry" that he had acceded to Lincoln's wishes. The only other cabinet change Lincoln antic.i.p.ated was in the Department of the Interior, where, in several months' time, he intended to replace Usher with Senator James Harlan of Iowa.

The time had also come for John Nicolay and John Hay to move on. The two secretaries had served Lincoln exceptionally well, introducing a systematic order into the president's vast correspondence and drafting replies to the great majority of letters he received. In their small offices on the second floor of the White House, they had served as gatekeepers, tactfully holding back the crush of senators, congressmen, generals, diplomats, and office seekers endeavoring to gain access to the president. John Hay was particularly adept at keeping the throngs entertained. "No one could be in his presence, even for a few moments," Hay's college roommate recalled, "without falling under the spell which his conversation and companionship invariably cast upon all who came within his influence."

Lincoln had increased their responsibilities with each pa.s.sing year. In 1864, Nicolay functioned as the "unofficial manager of Lincoln's reelection campaign" and was dispatched as his personal emissary to ease tensions in Missouri and New York. Hay was chosen to accompany Greeley to Canada, to carry sensitive messages back and forth to Capitol Hill, and to enroll Confederate voters under Lincoln's plan for the reconstruction of Florida.

More essential to Lincoln than the duties they so faithfully discharged was the camaraderie the young a.s.sistants provided him. They were part of his family, like sons during the troubled days and nights of his first term. They would listen spellbound when he recited Shakespeare or told another tale from his endless store. Throughout their years in the White House, they offered Lincoln conversation, undivided loyalty, and love. They were awake late at night when he could not sleep, up early in the morning to share the latest news, offering the lonely president round-the-clock companionship.

At the outset, Hay had been dumbfounded by the haphazard administrative style of the man he nicknamed "the Ancient" or "the Tyc.o.o.n." Something of an intellectual sn.o.b, the young college graduate had betrayed early on a hint of condescension toward his self-taught boss. Proximity to the president soon altered his opinion. He had come to believe by 1863 that "the hand of G.o.d" had put the prairie lawyer in the White House. If the "patent leather kid glove set" did not yet appreciate this giant of a man, it was because they "know no more of him than an owl does of a comet, blazing into his blinking eyes."

By the spring of 1865, Nicolay, soon to marry Therena Bates, was contemplating the purchase of a newspaper in Washington or Baltimore, while Hay wanted time for his studies and his active social life, too long constrained by fourteen-hour workdays. While they would both miss Lincoln, they were glad to escape the constant struggles with Mary-the "h.e.l.lcat," as they irreverently called her-who still resented their claims on her husband's attention. Indeed, soon after Lincoln's reelection, Mary had enlisted the help of Dr. Anson Henry in an effort to replace Nicolay with the journalist Noah Brooks. Nicolay had apparently tried to talk with Lincoln about his problems with Mary, but the president had refused any such discussion.

Seward found worthy alternatives for both Nicolay and Hay. When the consulate in Paris opened up in March, he recommended Nicolay for the job. The president agreed, understanding the significance of the opportunity for his loyal a.s.sistant. "So important an appointment has rarely been conferred on one so young," the National Republican commented when the Senate confirmed Nicolay without a dissenting vote. Nicolay was thrilled. The position paid five thousand dollars a year, allowing him to start married life on solid ground.

Once Nicolay was confirmed, Seward turned his attentions to Hay, with whom he had become especially close over the years. Many nights Hay had wandered over to Seward's house, where he was certain to find a good meal, vivid conversation, and a warm welcome. Moreover, in watching Seward and Lincoln together, Hay had recognized that the secretary of state had been the first cabinet member to recognize Lincoln's "personal preeminence."

In mid-March, Seward arranged for Hay to receive an appointment as secretary of the legation in Paris. "It was entirely unsolicited and unexpected," Hay told his brother Charles. "It is a pleasant and honorable way of leaving my present post which I should have left in any event very soon." He had thought of returning to Warsaw, Illinois, but Paris, France, was far more exciting. Hay planned to stay at the White House for another month or so, until arrangements were completed for Noah Brooks to a.s.sume his duties. Then he and Nicolay would sail for Europe to begin their new adventures. "It will be exceedingly pleasant," Nicolay said, "for both of us, to be there at the same time."

Spring seemed to revive the spirits of Mary Lincoln, who invariably sank into depression each February, with the anniversary of Willie's death. "We are having charming weather," she wrote to her friend Abram Wakeman on March 20. "We went to the Opera on Sat.u.r.day eve; Mr Sumner accompanied us-we had a very gay little time. Mr S when he throws off his heavy manner, as he often does, can make himself very very agreeable. Last evening, he again joined our little coterie & tomorrow eve,-we all go again to hear 'Robin Adair,' sung in 'La Dame Blanche' by Habelmann. This is always the pleasant time to me in W. springtime, some few of the most pleasant Senators families remain until June, & all ceremony, with each other is laid aside." A few days later, she wrote a note to Sumner, telling him that she would be sending along a copy of Louis Napoleon's ma.n.u.script on Julius Caesar, which she had just received from the State Department and knew he would want to read. "In the coming summer," she promised, "I shall peruse it myself, for I have so sadly neglected the little French, I fancied so familiar to me."

Like his mother, Tad Lincoln possessed "an emotional temperament much like an April day, sunning all over with laughter one moment, the next crying as though [his] heart would break." The painter Francis Carpenter recounted an incident when photographers from Brady's studio set up their equipment in an unoccupied room that Tad had turned into a little theater. Taking "great offence at the occupation of his room without his consent," Tad locked the door and hid the key, preventing the photographers from retrieving their chemicals and supplies. Carpenter pleaded with Tad to unlock the door, but he refused. Finally, the president had to intervene. He left his office and returned a few minutes later with the key. Though Tad "was violently excited when I went to him," Lincoln told Carpenter, "I said, 'Tad, do you know you are making your father a great deal of trouble?' He burst into tears, instantly giving me up the key."

Most of the time, however, Tad was "so full of life and vigor," recalled John Hay, "so bubbling over with health and high spirits, that he kept the house alive with his pranks and his fantastic enterprises." From dawn to dusk, "you could hear his shrill pipe resounding through the dreary corridors of the Executive residence...and when the President laid down his weary pen toward midnight, he generally found his infant goblin asleep under his table or roasting his curly head by the open fire-place; and the tall chief would pick up the child and trudge off to bed with the drowsy little burden on his shoulder, stooping under the doors and dodging the chandeliers."

Though Tad never developed a love of books, and "felt he could not waste time in learning to spell," he had a clever, intuitive mind and was a good judge of character. "He treated flatterers and office-seekers with a curious coolness and contempt," marveled Hay, "but he often espoused the cause of some poor widow or tattered soldier, whom he found waiting in the ante-rooms." His enterprising nature and natural shrewdness would augur well for him once his schooling was completed. With all his heart, Lincoln loved his "little sprite."

IN LATE MARCH, Lincoln, Mary, and Tad journeyed to City Point to visit General Grant. For Lincoln, the eighteen-day sojourn was his longest break from Washington in four years. Grant had issued the invitation at the suggestion of his wife, Julia, who had been struck by constant newspaper reports of "the exhausted appearance of the President." Grant worried at first about the propriety of issuing an invitation when the president could visit without waiting "to be asked," but on March 20, he wrote a note to Lincoln: "Can you not visit City Point for a day or two? I would like very much to see you and I think the rest would do you good."

Delighted with the idea, Lincoln asked the Navy Department to make arrangements for a ship to carry him south. a.s.sistant Secretary Fox was not happy to be a.s.signed the task, for he believed "the President was incurring great risk in making the journey." To minimize danger, he ordered John Barnes, commander of the Bat, a fast-moving gunboat, to report to the Washington Navy Yard at once. Work immediately commenced on the interior of the armed ship to make alterations necessary "to insure the personal comfort of the President as long as he desired to make the Bat his home." To discuss the meals and amenities Lincoln might require, Fox brought Barnes to the White House. Lincoln told Barnes "he wanted no luxuries but only plain, simple food and ordinary comfort-that what was good for me would be good enough for him." Barnes returned to the Navy Yard to supervise the changes.

The next morning, Lincoln summoned Barnes back to the White House. Embarra.s.sed at the thought that workers had stayed up all night to make alterations that might now require additional work, Lincoln explained apologetically that "Mrs. Lincoln had decided that she would accompany him to City Point, and could the Bat accommodate her and her maid servant." Barnes was, "in sailor's phrase, taken 'all aback,'" knowing that the austere gunboat "was in no respect adapted to the private life of womankind, nor could she be made so." He returned to the Navy Yard, where "the alterations to the Bat were stopped and the steamer River Queen was chartered." The change of plans was particularly upsetting to Fox, who "expressed great regret that the determination of Mrs. Lincoln to accompany the President" had forced the shift to "an unarmed, fragile, river-boat, so easily a.s.sailed and so vulnerable." He directed Barnes to follow Lincoln's steamer in the Bat, but still could not shake his anxiety. Though aware of the danger, Lincoln remained relaxed and cheerful, talking about the problems of accommodating womenfolk at sea "in very funny terms."

The presidential party, which included army captain Charles B. Penrose, Tad and Mary Lincoln, Mary's maid, and Lincoln's bodyguard, W. H. Crook, departed from the a.r.s.enal Wharf at Sixth Street at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 23. Stanton had been laid up for several days, but against Ellen's advice, he took a carriage to see Lincoln off, arriving minutes after the River Queen's departure. Anxious about the president's safety, Stanton panicked an hour later when "a hurricane swept over the city." The "terrific squalls of winds, accompanied by thunder and lightning, did considerable damage here," the Herald's Washington correspondent reported. "The roof of a factory on Sixth street was blown off into the street and fell upon a hack, crushing the horses and its driver." In some neighborhoods, trees were felled and houses destroyed, "while down the river the steamboats and sailing craft were dashed about with great violence." Leaving his bed once again, Stanton went to the War Department and telegraphed Lincoln at 8:45 p.m. "I hope you have reached Point Lookout safely notwithstanding the furious gale that came on soon after you started.... Please let me hear from you at Point Lookout."

Lincoln, meanwhile, was enjoying himself immensely. While Tad raced around the ship, investigating every nook and befriending members of the crew, Lincoln remained on deck, watching "the city until he could see it no more." Once inside, he listened with relish to the adventures of the River Queen's captain, who had chased blockade runners early in the war. "It was nearly midnight when he went to bed," Crook recalled.

Crook, who shared a stateroom with Tad, was "startled out of a sound sleep" by Mary Lincoln. "It is growing colder," she explained, "and I came in to see if my little boy has covers enough on him." Later that night, Crook was awakened by the steamer pa.s.sing through rough waters, which felt as if it were "slowly climbing up one side of a hill and then rushing down the other." The next morning, still feeling seasick, Crook noted that the turbulent pa.s.sage had apparently not disturbed Lincoln. On the contrary, the president looked rested, claimed to be "feeling splendidly," and did "full justice to the delicious fish" served at breakfast.

Mary would nostalgically recall her husband's fine humor during this last trip to City Point. "Feeling so encouraged" the war "was near its close," and relieved from the daily burdens of his office, "he freely gave vent to his cheerfulness," to such an extent that "he was almost boyish, in his mirth & reminded me, of his original nature, what I had always remembered of him, in our own home-free from care, surrounded by those he loved so well."

Crook recalled that "it was after dark on the 24th" when the River Queen reached City Point. He would long remember the beauty of the scene that stretched before him, "the many-colored lights of the boats in the harbor and the lights of the town straggling up the high bluffs of the sh.o.r.e, crowned by the lights from Grant's headquarters at the top."

Newly minted captain Robert Lincoln escorted General and Mrs. Grant to call on the president shortly after he arrived. "Our gracious President met us at the gangplank," Julia Grant recalled, "greeted the General most heartily, and, giving me his arm, conducted us to where Mrs. Lincoln was awaiting." Leaving the two women together, the men went into the president's room for a short consultation, "at the end of which," reported Crook, "Mr. Lincoln appeared particularly happy," rea.s.sured by Grant's estimation that the conflict was nearing an end. After the Grants left, Lincoln and Mary, appearing "in very good spirits," talked late into the night.

While the Lincolns were breakfasting the next day on the lower deck, Robert came by to report that the review planned for that morning would have to be postponed. Rebels had initiated an attack on Fort Stedman, only eight miles away. With Grant and Sherman closing in upon him, Lee had decided to abandon Petersburg and move his army south to North Carolina, hoping to join General Joseph Johnston and prevent Sherman from joining Grant. Abandoning Petersburg meant losing Richmond, but it was the only way to save his army. The attack on Fort Stedman, intended to open an escape route, took the Federals by surprise. Nonetheless, within hours, Grant's men succeeded in retaking the fort and restoring the original line.