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averted by the bravery of our soldiers and by the skill of their general. When Banks and Porter had completed their withdrawal from the Red river, Steele had also made secure his possession of Little Rock, having gallantly fought his way backward in the face of the Rebel forces of Marmaduke and Price.

Another invasion of Kentucky, by the Rebel Morgan, was commenced on the 7th of June. After plundering Lexing ton, and proceeding as far as the Lexington and Covington Railroad at Cynthiana, which place was taken, the brief campaign was brought to an inglorious termination, by the capture or dispersion of nearly his entire force, as a result of the prompt measures taken by General Burbridge. By the 17th of June, this menacing raid was over, and pursuit of the raiders at an end, with little damage to the invaded district, and with the humiliating discomfiture of Morgan.

During the period over which the events of this chapter extend, there was a formidable naval expedition fitted out, which ere long put to sea, under the command of Admiral Farragut, and was subsequently heard of in connection with movements against Mobile. The blockading squadron was faithfully performing its work, with a success that left little to desire, save in regard to the port of Wilmington, where, from the nature of the coast, and the strong defenses commanding the entrance to Cape Fear river, the profitable contraband traffic with Nassau, and other ports, was still stealthily carried on to an extent that afforded substantial aid to the rebellion. The Government was earnestly considering by what means this deficiency in a blockade, otherwise unusually thorough and stringent, might best be remedied. The fruits of these deliberations were to appear at no distant day. Occasional attempts of guerrilla parties to obstruct the navigation of the Mississippi served to show at once the high estimate placed upon the possession of the great "inland sea,” and the impotence of such efforts as could be spared, despite former boasts, for the interruption of transportation thereon.

A memorable naval victory was gained off the French port of Cherbourg, on the 19th of June, by which a pest of the

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seas, the Rebel piratical vessel Alabama, was defeated and sunk by the United States ship Kearsarge, under the command of Commodore John A. Winslow. The Rebel commanderSemmes-escaped in the yacht of an Englishman, to the embrace of English friends. The enthusiasm with which the destruction of his vessel was received in America and by her friends everywhere, was scarcely excelled by the sympathy displayed by British blockade-runners and republic-haters for the ingloriously defeated champion of Rebel piracy. To unfriendly eyes in Europe, assuredly, the success of our Government in the subjugation of treason seemed as remote as in the beginning, and the rebellion still in the ruddy glow of health and the robustness of insuperable vigor.

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CHAPTER III.

Mr. Lincoln's Administration in issue before the People.-Disadvantages of the Hour.-Opposition in Official Quarters, and on the Union side in Congress.-The "Radical” Movement.--Recapitulation of the Administration Policy in regard to Virginia and Missouri.-Mr. Lincoln's Method with the Insurrectionary States.Gen. Fremont's Military Administration in Missouri.-His Removal.-Personality of the Missouri Feud.-How Mr. Lincoln Regarded it. His Letter to Gen. Schofield.-His Reply to the Demands of the "Radical" Committee.-The Situation in Louisiana.-Military Governorship in Tennessee.-State Reorganization in Arkansas.Factious Opposition.-Uprising of the People for Mr. Lincoln.—The Baltimore Convention.-The Nominations.-Responses of Mr. Lincoln.-Address of the Methodist General Conference.-The President's Reply.

As the time approached at which nominations were to be made for the offices of President and Vice-President for the ensuing Presidential term, it naturally happened that the public acts and personal character of Abraham Lincoln came to receive more particular consideration among the people in all parts of the nation, and also in the countries of Europe, than at any previous period during his administration. His policy was freely discussed, his conduct of affairs, domestic and foreign, was canvassed with the unrestricted freedom which accords with the genius of republican institutions; and it soon became evident that the coming election, whatever its other results, was at least to determine the popular verdict upon Mr. Lincoln's management of affairs thus far, and upon his fitness for completing the work in progress. The brief summary of the events of the war heretofore given has failed clearly to present the exact position of the great struggle, if it is not manifest to the reader that the moment when the preliminary decision was to be had, by representatives of the dom

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inant party, "fresh from the people," in national convention, was not so specially favorable as to insure an indorsement of the President from a merely temporary bias or caprice.

President Lincoln himself was not deceived, however gratified he might have been with such successes as had been first gained, as to the desperation with which the military campaigns of this season were to be contested. His customary moderation of tone, and his habitual confidence in the cause, appear in the following speech in response to a serenade, on the night of May 9th, after the Wilderness battles:

FELLOW-CITIZENS: I am very much obliged to you for the compliment of this call, though I apprehend it is owing more to the good news received to-day from the army than to a desire to see me. I am, indeed, very grateful to the brave men who have been struggling with the enemy in the field, to their noble commanders who have directed them, and especially to our Maker. Our commanders are following up their victories resolutely and successfully. I think, without knowing the particulars of the plans of Gen. Grant, that what has been accomplished is of more importance than at first appears. I believe I know (and am especially grateful to know), that Gen. Grant has not been jostled in his purposes; that he has made all his points; and to-day he is on his line, as he purposed before he moved his armies. I will volunteer to say that I am very glad at what has happened; but there is a great deal still to be done. While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for the events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to Almighty God, who gives us victory.

There is enough yet before us requiring all loyal men and patriots to perform their share of the labor and follow the example of the modest General at the head of our armies, and sink all personal considerations for the sake of the country. I commend you to keep yourselves in the same tranquil mood that is characteristic of that brave and loyal man. I have said more than I expected when I came before you; repeating my thanks for this call, I bid you good bye. [Cheers.]

A month later, the public heart was less exultant. The war had dragged wearily on, to a great extent disappointing the popular hope. The "short, sharp, decisive" battles once promised were found to be partly too real, partly illusive. An almost unlimited vista of bloodshed and devastation still opened

before the eye directed to the future. The past had its palpa ble triumphs, but the spirit of the rebellion was apparently still as rampant as ever. Nor, as will have been observed from the two preceding chapters, had the grand coöperative campaigns, from which early and decisive results had been too sanguinely anticipated, culminated in any conclusive triumphs, even far on into midsummer. There were, then, it may be undoubtingly said, few adventitious circumstances to conduce to a prejudiced judgment in Mr. Lincoln's favor.

It may, indeed, be affirmed that there was a vantage-ground in the possession of the chief executive power and its patronage; but never, probably, were officers of the Government so closely and exclusively occupied with their immediate duties, or so little attentive to any supposed interest in the succession. Scarcely any one of them certainly took an active part in any organized efforts to influence the Presidential nomination, except in behalf of other candidates. Thus, whatever personal adherents were gained by the possession of the Presidential office, must have been more than counterbalanced by the inevitable alienations resulting from the disappointment of expectants, and by the adverse efforts of many in place.

Mr. Lincoln had, further, the disadvantage of an active and perhaps increasing party in Congress, from whom he might at least have expected a partisan support, who manifested on all occasions a zealous personal opposition. To such an extent was this opposition carried, in fact, now upon one ground and now upon another, that it was even doubtful whether, in the Spring of 1864, a majority of either branch of Congress could be relied on for the support of distinctively Administration measures. A "Radical" movement was organized, with its central club in Washington and an extensive correspondence throughout the country, with the earnest purpose of bringing forward a leading member of the Cabinet as the next Presidential candidate. Whatever thorough organization and energetic political management could do to bring forward a new man, under the "Radical" party cry, was done. And after the refusal of the Secretary of the Treasury to allow a further use of his name as a rallying point, there was still a resolute remnant who joined their

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