Twenty Years of Congress Volume I Part 37

Ten States were unrepresented.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

CALIFORNIA.--Cornelius Cole, William Higby, Thomas B. Shannon.

CONNECTICUT.--Augustus Brandegee, Henry C. Deming, _James E.

English_, John H. Hubbard.

DELAWARE.--Nathaniel B. Smithers.

ILLINOIS.--_James C. Allen; William J. Allen_; Isaac N. Arnold; _John R. Eden_; John F. Farnsworth; _Charles M. Harris_; Ebon C.

Ingersoll, elected in place of Owen Lovejoy, deceased; _Anthony L.

Knapp_; Owen Lovejoy, died March 25, 1864; _William R. Morrison; Jesse O. Norton; James C. Robinson; Lewis W. Ross; John T. Stuart_; Elihu B. Washburne.

INDIANA.--Schuyler Colfax, _James A. Cravens_, Ebenezer Dumont, _Joseph K. Edgerton, Henry W. Harrington, William S. Holman_, George W. Julian, _John Law, James F. McDowell_, G.o.dlove S. Orth, _Daniel W. Voorhees_.

IOWA.--William B. Allison, Joseph B. Grinnell, Asahel W. Hubbard, John A. Ka.s.son, Hiram Price, James F. Wilson.

KANSAS.--A. Carter Wilder.

KENTUCKY.--Lucien Anderson, Brutus J. Clay, Henry Grider, Aaron Harding, Robert Mallory, William H. Randall, Green Clay Smith, _William H. Wadsworth_, George H. Yeaman.

MAINE.--James G. Blaine, Sidney Perham, Frederick A. Pike, John H.

Rice, _Lorenzo D. M. Sweat_.

MARYLAND.--John A. J. Creswell, Henry Winter Davis, _Benjamin G.

Harris_, Francis Thomas, Edwin H. Webster.

Ma.s.sACHUSETTS.--John R. Alley, Oakes Ames, John D. Baldwin, George S. Boutwell, Henry L. Dawes, Thomas D. Eliot, Daniel W. Gooch, Samuel Hooper, Alexander H. Rice, William B. Washburn.

MICHIGAN.--Augustus C. Baldwin, Fernando C. Beaman, John F. Driggs, Fracis W. Kellogg, John W. Longyear, Charles Upson.

MINNESOTA.--Ignatius Donnelly, William Windom.

MISSOURI.--Francis P. Blair, Jr., seat successfully contested by Samuel Knox; Henry T. Blow, Semp.r.o.nius H. Boyd; _William A. Hall; Austin A. King_; Samuel Knox, seated in place of Mr. Blair, June 15, 1864; Benjamin Loan; Joseph W. McClurg; James S. Rollins, _John G. Scott_.

NEVADA.--Henry G. Worthington, seated Dec. 21, 1864.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.--_Daniel Marcy_, James W. Patterson, Edward H.

Rollins.

NEW JERSEY.--_George Middleton, Nehemiah Perry, Andrew J. Rogers_, John F. Starr, _William G. Steele_.

NEW YORK.--_James Brooks; John W. Chanler_; Ambrose W. Clark; Freeman Clarke; Thomas T. Davis; Reuben E. Fenton, resigned Dec.

10, 1864; Augustus Frank; _John Ganson_; John A. Griswold; _Anson Herrick_; Giles W. Hotchkiss; Calvin T. Hulburd; _Martin Kalbfleisch_; Orlando Kellogg; _Francis Kernan_; De Witt C. Littlejohn; James M.

Marvin; Samuel F. Miller; Daniel Morris; _Homer A. Nelson; Moses F. Odell_; Theodore M. Pomeroy; _John V. L. Pruyn; William Radford; Henry G. Stebbins_, resigned 1864; _John B. Steele; Dwight Townsend_, elected in place of Mr. Stebbins; Robert B. Van Valkenburgh; _Elijah Ward; Charles H. Winfield; Benjamin Wood; Fernando Wood_.

OHIO.--James M. Ashley, _George Bliss, Samuel S. c.o.x_, Ephraim B.

Eckley, _William E. Finck_, James A. Garfield, _Wells A. Hutchins, William Johnson, Francis C. LeBlond, Alexander Long, John F.

McKinney, James R. Morris, Warren P. n.o.ble, John O'Neill, George H. Pendleton_, Robert C. Schenck, Rufus P. Spaulding, _Chilton A.

White, Joseph W. White_.

OREGON.--John R. McBride.

PENNSYLVANIA.--_Sydenham E. Ancona, Joseph Baily_, John M. Broomall, _Alexander H. Coffroth, John L. Dawson, Charles Denison, James T.

Hale, Philip Johnson_, William D. Kelley, _Jesse Lazear, Archibald McAllister, William H. Miller_, James K. Moorhead, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Charles O'Neill, _Samuel J. Randall_, Glenni W.

Scofield, Thaddeus Stevens, _John D. Stiles, Myer Strouse_, M.

Russell Thayer, Henry W. Tracy, Thomas Williams.

RHODE ISLAND.--Nathan F. Dixon, Thomas A. Jenckes.

VERMONT.--Portus Baxter, Justin S. Morrill, Fred. E. Woodbridge.

WEST VIRGINIA.--Jacob B. Blair, William G. Brown, Killian V. Whaley.

WISCONSIN.--_James T. Brown_, Amasa Cobb, _Charles A. Eldridge_, Walter D. McIndoe, Ithamar C. Sloan, _Ezra Wheeler_.

TERRITORIAL DELEGATES.

ARIZONA.--Charles D. Poston.

COLORADO.--Hiram P. Bennett.

DAKOTA.--William Jayne, _John B. S. Todd_.

IDAHO.--William H. Wallace.

MONTANA.--_Samuel McLean_, seated June 6, 1865.

NEBRASKA.--Samuel G. Daily.

NEVADA.--Gordon N. Mott.

NEW MEXICO.--Francisco Perea.

UTAH.--John F. Kenney.

WASHINGTON.--_George E. Cole_.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

Presidential Election of 1864.--Preliminary Movements.--General Sentiment favors Mr. Lincoln.--Some Opposition to his Renomination.

--Secretary Chase a Candidate.--The "Pomeroy Circular."--Mr. Chase withdraws.--Republican National Convention.--Baltimore, June 7.-- Fremont and Cochrane nominated.--Speech of Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge.

--Mr. Lincoln renominated.--Candidates for Vice-President.--Andrew Johnson of Tennessee nominated.--Democratic National Convention.-- Chicago, August 29.--Military Situation discouraging.--Character of the Convention.--Peace Party prevails.--Speeches of Belmont, Bigler, Hunt, Long, Seymour.--Nomination of General McClellan for President.--George H. Pendleton for Vice-President.--Platform.-- Suits Vallandigham.--General McClellan accepts, but evades the Platform.--General Fremont withdraws.--Success of the Union Army.

--Mr. Lincoln's Popularity.--General McClellan steadily loses Ground.--Sheridan's Brilliant Victories.--General McClellan receives the Votes of only Three States.--Governor Seymour defeated in New York.

The Presidential election of 1864 was approaching, with marked political fluctuations and varying personal prospects. The tide of public feeling ebbed or flowed with the disasters or the victories of the war. The brilliant military triumphs of the summer of 1863 had quelled political opposition, and brought overwhelming success to the Republican party. This period of heroic achievement and popular enthusiasm was followed in the winter of 1863-64 by a dormant campaign, a constant waste, and an occasional reverse which produced a corresponding measure of doubt and despondency. The war had been prolonged beyond the expectation of the country; the loss of blood and of treasure had been prodigious; the rebels still flaunted their flag along the Tennessee and the Rappahannock; the public debt was growing to enormous proportions; new levies of troops were necessary; the end could not yet be seen; and all these trials and sacrifices and uncertainties had their natural effect upon the temper of the public and upon the fortunes of the war.

The preliminary movements connected with the Presidential canva.s.s began in this period of doubt. The prevailing judgment of the Union-Republican party, with full trust in the President's sagacity and clear recognition of the injurious construction that would be put upon a change, pointed unmistakably to the renomination of Mr.

Lincoln. But this predominant sentiment encountered some vigorous opposition. A part of the hostility was due to a sincere though mistaken impatience with Mr. Lincoln's slow and conservative methods, and a part was due to political resentments and ambitions. The more radical element of the party was not content with the President's cautious and moderate policy, but insisted that he should proceed to extreme measures or give way to some bolder leader who would meet this demand. Other individuals had been aggrieved by personal disappointments, and the spirit of faction could not be altogether extinguished even amid the agonies of war. There were civil as well as military offices to be filled, and the selection among candidates put forward in various interests could not be made without leaving a sense of discomfiture in many b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

These various elements of discontent and opposition cl.u.s.tered about Secretary Chase, and found in him their natural leader. He was the head of the radical forces in the Cabinet, as Mr. Seward was the exponent of the conservative policy. He had been one of the earliest and most zealous chiefs of the Free-soil party, and ranked among the brightest stars in that small galaxy of anti-slavery senators who bore so memorable a part in the Congressional struggles before the war. He was justly distinguished as a political leader and an able and a versatile statesman. For the part he was now desired and expected to play he had a decided inclination and not a few advantages. Keenly ambitious, he was justified by his talents, however mistaken his time and his methods, in aspiring to the highest place. His sympathies were well understood. By his unconcealed views and his direct expressions he had encouraged the movement against Mr. Lincoln. A year in advance of the Presidential election he had announced his conviction that no President should be re-elected, and had added the opinion that a man of different qualities from those of Mr. Lincoln would be needed for the next four years.

MR. CHASE A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.

Apart from the influence of his known att.i.tude and of his recognized leadership, the opponents of Mr. Lincoln were naturally attracted to Mr. Chase by the fact that he was at the head of the department which was most potential in the distribution of patronage. If the purpose was not avowed, the inference was suggested that no man could do more to help himself. There had been sharp contention over the important Treasury offices in New York, in which Mr. Chase appeared on the one side and the rival influences in the Administration on the other, and this contest was interpreted as a part of the political and Presidential struggle. Mr. Chase having consented to the use of his name as a candidate, his friends began active work on his behalf. Early in the winter of 1863-64 what was known as the "Pomeroy circular" was sent out, ostensibly as a confidential paper, but promptly finding its way into print. It derived its name from the Kansas senator who was prominent in the advocacy of Mr. Chase's nomination. The circular represented that Mr. Lincoln's re-election was impossible; that his "manifest tendency toward compromises and temporary expedients of policy" rendered it undesirable; that Mr. Chase united more of the qualities needed in a President for the next four years than were combined in any other available candidate; and that steps should be taken at once to effect a general organization to promote his nomination.

But the effort met with small response. It aroused no popular sympathy. Its chief effect indeed was to call forth the always constant if sometimes latent attachment of the people to Mr. Lincoln, and to develop an irresistible desire for his re-election. A few days after the issue of the "Pomeroy circular" the Republican members of the Ohio Legislature pa.s.sed a resolution in favor of Mr. Lincoln's renomination, and Mr. Chase availed himself of this unmistakable action in his own State to withdraw his name as a candidate. The signal failure of the movement however did not entirely arrest the effort to prevent Mr. Lincoln's renomination.

Restless spirits still persisted in an opposition as dest.i.tute of valid reason as it was abortive in result. With the view of promptly settling the disturbing question of candidates and presenting an undivided front to the common foe, the Republican National Convention had been called to meet on the 7th of June. The selection of this early date, though inspired by the most patriotic motives, was made an additional pretext for factious warfare. An address was issued inviting the "radical men of the nation" to meet at Cleveland on the 31st of May, with the undisguised design of menacing and constraining the Republican Convention. This call pa.s.sionately denounced Mr. Lincoln by implication as prost.i.tuting his position to perpetuate his own power; it virulently a.s.sailed the Baltimore Convention, though not yet held, as resting wholly on patronage; it challenged the rightful t.i.tle of that authoritative tribunal of the party, and declared for the principle of one term. There had been no election of delegates to this Cleveland a.s.semblage, and it possessed no representative character. It was simply a ma.s.s convention, and numbered about a hundred and fifty persons claiming to come from fifteen different States.

The platform adopted by the Convention was brief, and in some directions extreme. It demanded that the rebellion be suppressed without compromise, and that the right of _habeas corpus_ and the privilege of asylum be held inviolate; declared for the Monroe doctrine and for const.i.tutional amendments prohibiting the re- establishment of Slavery and providing for the election of President for one term only and by direct vote of the people; and finally advocated the confiscation of the lands of rebels and their distribution among the soldiers and actual settlers. General Fremont was selected as the candidate for President, and General John Cochrane of New York for Vice-President. General Fremont hurried forward his letter of acceptance, which was dated only four days after his nomination and three days before the Baltimore Convention. It repudiated the proposed confiscation, but approved the remainder of the platform. It was chiefly devoted to a vehement attack upon Mr. Lincoln's Administration, which was charged with incapacity and with infidelity to the principles it was pledged to maintain. General Fremont further hinted that if the Baltimore Convention would select some candidate other than Mr. Lincoln he would retire from the contest, but plainly declared that if the President were renominated there would be no alternative but to organize every element of opposition against him.

Three days before the Baltimore Convention, a ma.s.s meeting was held in New York to give public voice to the grat.i.tude of the country to General Grant and his command, for their patriotic and successful services. While this was the avowed object of the demonstration, there was a suspicion that it had a political design and that its real purpose was to present General Grant as a Presidential candidate.

If such were the intent, it was effectually frustrated both by the emphatic refusal of General Grant to countenance the use of his name, and by the admirable and impressive letter of Mr. Lincoln.

Paying a warm tribute to the heroic commander of the army, the President said appealingly, "He and his brave soldiers are now in the midst of their great trial, and I trust that at your meeting you will so shape your good words that they may turn to men and guns, moving to his and their support." This patriotic singleness of thought for the country's safety defeated and scattered all more political plans, and the hearts of the people turned more and more to Mr. Lincoln. He had been steadily growing in the esteem of his countrymen. The patience, wisdom, and fidelity with which he had guided the government during its unprecedented trials and dangers had won the profound respect and affection of the people. Besides this deepening sentiment of personal devotion and confidence, there was a wide conviction that, in his own expressive phrase, "it is not wise to swap horses while crossing the stream."

REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION.

Under these circ.u.mstances the Union-Republican National Convention met in Baltimore. The feeling with which it convened was one of patriotic and exultant confidence. The doubts prevailing a few months before had been dissipated. The accession of General Grant to the command of all our armies, and the forward movement both in the East and in the West, inspired faith in the speedy and complete triumph of the Union cause. Many eminent men were included in the roll of delegates to the Convention. Not less than five of the leading War Governors were chosen to partic.i.p.ate in its councils.

Vermont sent Solomon Foot who had stood faithful in the Senate during the struggles before the war. Ma.s.sachusetts had commissioned her eloquent Governor John A. Andrew; the delegation from New York embraced Henry J. Raymond; Daniel S. d.i.c.kinson, who was to be prominently named for Vice-President; and Lyman Tremain who, like d.i.c.kinson, was one of the able war Democrats that had joined the Republican party. New Jersey and Ohio each sent two ex-governors --Marcus L. Ward and William A. Newell from the former, and William Dennison and David Tod from the latter. Simon Cameron, Thaddeus Stevens, and Ex-Speaker Grow of Pennsylvania; Governor Blair and Omer D. Conger of Michigan; Angus Cameron of Wisconsin and George W. McCrary of Iowa were among the other delegates who have since been identified with public affairs and have occupied positions of responsibility.

In calling the Convention to order Governor Morgan of New York made a brief speech advocating a const.i.tutional amendment abolishing slavery. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge of Kentucky was chosen temporary chairman. The appearance on the platform of this venerable and venerated divine was in itself an event of great interest. By birth and a.s.sociation he was connected with the aristocratic cla.s.s which furnished the pillars of the Confederacy; he belonged to a family conspicuously identified with the rebellion; yet among his own order he was the strongest and st.u.r.diest champion of the Union cause south of the Ohio. His pointed eloquence was equaled by his indomitable courage. The aggressive qualities of his staunch Scotch ancestry shone in his own resolute and unyielding character, and he was distinguished both in Church and in State as an able and uncompromising controversialist. His years and his history inspired a general feeling of reverence; and as he was conducted to the chair of the Convention, his tall figure, strong face, and patriarchal beard imparted to him something of personal majesty. His speech well ill.u.s.trated his rugged attributes of character. It was sharp, sinewy, and defiant. At the beginning he hurled out the declaration that "the nation shall not be destroyed;" and referring to the plea which treated the Const.i.tution as the sacred shield of the system that was waging war on the Union and which insisted that it must remain untouched, he proclaimed that "we shall change the Const.i.tution if it suits us to do so." He solemnly affirmed "that the only enduring, the only imperishable cement of all free inst.i.tutions has been the blood of traitors." He alluded to the fact that he had lived amid the surroundings of slavery, and had been among those who sustained and upheld the system; but, recognizing that it was this inst.i.tution which had lifted the sword against the Union, he aroused the enthusiasm of his vast audience by his unhesitating declaration that we must "use all power to exterminate and extinguish it." Next to the official platform itself, the speech of Dr. Breckinridge was the most inspiring utterance of the Convention.

When the question of calling the roll of the Southern States and of receiving their delegates was reached, Thaddeus Stevens objected on the ground that such an act might be regarded as recognizing the right of States in rebellion to partic.i.p.ate in the Electoral College. The Convention decided however to call the roll of all the States, and to refer the question of admitting their delegates to the Committee on Credentials. Ex-Governor Dennison of Ohio was elected permanent president. Preston King of New York from the Committee on Credentials reported in favor of admitting the Radical Union delegation from Missouri, and excluding the Conservative Union or Blair delegation. It was proposed to amend by admitting both delegations to seats; but the recognition of the Radical Union delegation was urged on the ground not only that they were regularly elected, but that it was the duty of the Convention to strengthen the advanced Union sentiment of the South, and that their admission would be the practical adhesion of the national party to the broad anti-slavery policy which was essential to the salvation of the country. This view prevailed by a vote of 440 to 4. The admission of the delegations from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana was a question of no less interest. It involved the effect of the rebellion upon the relation of the rebelling States to the Union.

Could they have a voice in public affairs without specific measures of restoration, or were the acts of secession a nullity without influence upon their legal status? The committee reported in favor of admitting the delegations from these States, without the right to vote. The chairman, Mr. King, was the only member who dissented, and he moved to amend by admitting them on the same footing as all the other delegates. The question was first taken on Tennessee, and the amendment was carried by a vote of 310 to 153--a decision which had an important bearing on the subsequent nomination for Vice-President. The delegates from Arkansas and Louisiana were given the right to vote by 307 to 167. The Territories of Colorado, Nebraska, and Nevada were soon to enter the Union as States, and their delegates were allowed to vote. The remaining Territories and the States of Virginia and Florida were admitted without the right to vote.

THE PLATFORM AND THE CANDIDATE.

With the completion of the organization the Committee on Resolutions made their report through Mr. Henry J. Raymond. The platform upon which it had unanimously agreed was a trenchant and powerful declaration of policy. Its tone was elevated, its expression was direct and unequivocal. It pledged every effort to aid the Government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion against its authority; it approved "the determination of the government not to compromise with rebels nor to offer them any terms of peace except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Const.i.tution and laws of the United States;" and it called upon the government to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the Rebellion. It resolved that "as slavery was the cause and now const.i.tutes the strength of this Rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of Republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic;" and it declared for "such an amendment to the Const.i.tution as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or jurisdiction of the United States." The heroism of the soldiers and sailors of the Republic was gratefully acknowledged. The wisdom, patriotism, and fidelity of President Lincoln, and his measures for the defense of the nation were approved. A general expression that harmony should prevail in the national councils was interpreted as contemplating a possible reconstruction of the Cabinet. Declarations for the encouragement of foreign immigration by a liberal policy, for the speedy construction of a Pacific railroad, for the inviolability of the National faith, and for the re-a.s.sertion of the Monroe doctrine, completed a platform which in all its parts was pervaded by the most vigorous spirit. Its commanding feature was its explicit demand for the abolition of slavery. The President's Proclamation of Emanc.i.p.ation had been issued more than a year before, but this was the first National a.s.semblage with power to make it the fixed policy of a party. The Baltimore platform, which was adopted by acclamation, made this the paramount issue, and from that hour Freedom and the Union were inseparably a.s.sociated.

The nomination for President being in order, there was a strife for the honor of naming Mr. Lincoln. General Simon Cameron offered a resolution declaring Abraham Lincoln the choice of the Union party for President, and Hannibal Hamlin its candidate for Vice- President. To this proposition the immediate objection was made that it might be open to the misconstruction of not permitting a free vote, and that it complicated the selection for the first place with a contest over the second. After some discussion General Cameron withdrew his resolution, and on a general demand, in order to remove all ground for the charge that the nomination was forced, the roll of the Convention was called. Abraham Lincoln was named by 497 delegates,--all of the Convention except the 22 from Missouri, who under instructions voted for General Grant. Amid great enthusiasm Mr. Lincoln's nomination was then declared to be unanimous.