History
major port of Mobile. His cry of “Damn
the torpedoes” became a Northern
rallying point.
In relentless fashion, Sherman tried
to pierce the defenses of besieged
Atlanta, first on one side, then
another. Finally, on September 3, his
piercing attack was successful and
Atlanta was captured. No doubt, this
capture, well publicized in Northern
newspapers, was the most prominent
of the three.
Soon after, Union cavalry general
Sheridan recaptured the Shenandoah
Valley in Virginia. Besides its strategic
and moral value, this area deprived
Lee’s army of a prime source of food
and supplies.
In those days, polling was still in
its infancy. Lincoln could not yet
appreciate how these three victories
had convinced many Northerners that
victory was indeed possible. As it
turned out, they resulted in a
significant victory for Lincoln and the
Republicans. Only three states, New
Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky voted
for McClellan. This meant that the
But, after Lincoln’s assassination,
Andrew Johnson as President created
a firestorm with Congress. He
restored virtually complete political
power to former slave owners and
seemingly encouraged campaigns of
terror to keep newly freed Blacks
from voting.
Republicans had even carried slave
states Maryland and Missouri. Despite
McClellan’s supposed popularity among
Union troops, they overwhelmingly
supported Lincoln by 78%.
Some historians have said that
Lincoln would have been justified in
postponing the 1864 Presidential
election. But he said later that this
would have effectively given a victory
to forces seeking to end the Union.
There seems some parallel to Winston
Churchill’s decision to hold an election
in early 1945, even though World War
II was not yet over. Churchill’s
arguments were probably similar
to Lincoln’s. The difference was, in
Lincoln’s case, the incumbent won.
As an aside, Johnson, at Lincoln’s
second inauguration, had taken strong
medicine for a cold. Its high alcoholic
content left him intoxicated when he
tried to stumble through his speech.
This painful episode probably made it
emotionally easier when Congress
eventually tried to impeach him and
remove him from Presidential office.
The motion failed by only one vote.
Later, when Grant became President,
he took some action against former
slave owners in their campaigns of
terror against Blacks. But he did not
take a complete campaign, such that,
by 1877, despite Constitutional
amendments, most Blacks had been
disenfranchised in the former
Confederate states. This was followed
by Jim Crow segregation laws, almost
institutionalized lynching, and general
Historical revisionists always ask,
“What if?”—what if different courses
of action had been followed? Could
the Republicans have won by keeping
Hamlin on the ticket? Both Lincoln
(and, arguably, Secretary of State
Seward) wanted to try to placate the
Confederates. This meant keeping
some power in the hands of former
slave owners