Authors: David Von Drehle
“The City seems to be entirely full”: ibid., March 8, 1862.
McClellan exploded: McClellan,
McClellan’s Own Story,
p. 196.
“the undying hate”: McClellan to Halleck, March 3, 1862.
“just pitch in”: Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 160.
“fight should have been at Manassas”: Browning diary, June 18, 1862.
“a house submerged”: quoted in Greene and Massignani,
Ironclads at War: The Origin and Development of the Armored Warship, 1854–1891,
p. 61.
the Confederate ship
Virginia:
Gene A. Smith, “CSS Virginia,” in Heidler and Heidler, eds.,
Encyclopedia of the Civil War,
pp. 2034–36.
this was the day: cf. John T. Wood, “The First Fight of Iron-Clads,” in
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
Vol. 1, pp. 692–711.
“Since I sent in my message”: Nicolay diary, March 9, 1862.
“One thought she would go”: ibid.
“thin and wasted”: Dahlgren diary, March 9, 1862.
“a caged lion”: Nicolay diary, March 9, 1862; Welles diary, pp. 61–67.
an utterly original design: Gene A. Smith, “Monitor,” in Heidler and Heidler, eds.,
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War,
pp. 1346–47.
“incredulity and contempt”: Welles diary, pp. 61–67.
“like a pygmy”: Wood, “The First Fight of Iron-Clads,” p. 701.
“a thousand years of battle and breeze”: Ibid., p. 692. For further details of the battle, see also S. D. Greene, “In the ‘Monitor’ Turret,” in
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
Vol. 1, pp. 719–29.
“snapping my thumb”: Wood, “The First Fight of Iron-Clads,” p. 701.
“Iron will be King”: L. M. Powell to Gustavus V. Fox, April 4, 1862, in
Confidential Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861–1865,
Vol. 2, p. 287.
good news … followed by even more: Nicolay diary, March 9, 1862.
“most excited and impressive”: Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 5, p. 226.
emancipation was already started: cf.
RW,
p. 123.
panel of border state congressmen: Guelzo,
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation,
pp. 105–6.
“touched the hem”:
RW,
p. 356.
“good faith” answer: ibid., pp. 121–22.
“sink or swim with you”: Bates diary, March 15, 1862.
Why … block the Potomac again?: Welles diary, pp. 61–67.
“Great ignorance”: Bates diary, March 11, 1862.
“Stanton is exceedingly industrious”:
Lincoln Observed: The Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks,
p. 47.
his experience of the Stanton style: William F. Roelofson to Thomas Ewing, Sr., Aug. 14, 1862, Ewing Family Papers, Box 14, No. 5100, Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
main telegraph moved: Bates,
Lincoln in the Telegraph Office: Recollections of the United States Military Telegraph Corps During the Civil War,
pp. 132–37.
“Let him wait”: quoted in Burlingame,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 2, p. 197.
President’s Special War Order No. 3: Hay diary, pp. 35–36.
“Forget it”: Goodwin,
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,
pp. 429–30.
“prompt, full, and frequent reports”:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 155.
“end of the rebellion”:
New York Times,
March 12, 1862.
“a fool’s errand”: Bates diary, March 13, 1862.
McClellan … was delighted: Rafuse,
McClellan’s War,
p. 193.
“the brightest passage of my life”: McClellan to Samuel Barlow, March 16, 1862.
“showed me my weakness”: quoted in Goodwin,
Team of Rivals,
pp. 422–23.
“distressed and pale”: French diary, March 23, 1862.
“Tad and I have fixed”: Randall,
Lincoln’s Sons,
pp. 133–34;
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 154.
“depression of spirits”: Boyden,
Echoes from Hospital and White House,
pp. 58–62.
Mary pressed a picture: ibid.
“stand firm”:
ibid.
The emperor wanted to talk: Dayton to Seward, March 25 and 26, 1862.
“France would have nothing to do with it”: ibid., March 31, 1862.
“The period of inaction has passed”: “To the Army of the Potomac,” in
The Civil War Papers of George B. McClellan,
p. 211.
“Numerous steam-tugs”: Warren Lee Goss, “Campaigning to No Purpose,” in
Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,
Vol. 2, p. 159.
“stride of a giant”: quoted in Sears,
George B. McClellan,
pp. 168–69.
To accomplish this: McClellan to Stanton, March 19, 1862.
“We began to fear”:
RW,
p. 148.
“a tool of Jeff Davis”: Ellen Ewing Sherman to Thomas Ewing, Jr., March 20, 1862, Ewing Family Papers, Box 67; Stanton to Thomas Ewing, Sr., April 2, 1862, Ewing Family Papers, Box 67, Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
meeting with Orville Browning: Browning diary, April 2, 1862.
McClellan’s long relationship with … Davis: ibid.
“The government seems doomed”: Stanton to Thomas Ewing, Sr., April 2, 1862, Ewing Family Papers, Box 67, Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
“raw men timid”: Sherman,
Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman,
p. 249.
“the task is so gigantic”: Sherman to Thomas Ewing, Jr., April 4, 1862.
5: APRIL
“Albert Sidney Johnston”: P. Roland Charles, “Albert Sidney Johnston,” in Heidler and Heidler, eds.,
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War,
pp. 1081–83.
“the great strategic position”: Grant,
Memoirs and Selected Letters,
p. 222.
Johnston decided to strike: Davis,
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government,
Vol. 2, p. 50.
“wild birds in great numbers”: Wheeler,
Voices of the Civil War,
pp. 88–89.
believing that the Confederates were dispirited: Grant,
Memoirs and Selected Letters,
p. 223.
“the first great modern battle”: Foote,
The Civil War,
Vol. 1, p. 338.
“I think I have seen enough”: Wheeler,
Voices of the Civil War,
p. 89.
“perhaps a dozen officers arrested”: Grant to Jesse R. Grant, April 26, 1862.
Prentiss and his troops repulsed: Hattaway and Jones,
How the North Won,
p. 168.
valuable hours of daylight: Wheeler,
Voices of the Civil War,
pp. 95–96.
“Lick ’em tomorrow”: Smith,
Grant,
pp. 200–201.
more casualties in two days at Shiloh: Foote,
The Civil War,
Vol. 1, p. 351.
begin shooting the stragglers: ibid., p. 344.
the “jealousy of Gen. Buell”: cf. Sherman to John Sherman, May 12, 1862: “Grant had been expecting Buell a whole week before he arrived.” Also Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 5, p. 318.
Carroll struck preemptively: Catton,
Grant Moves South,
pp. 251–52.
A line had been crossed: cf. Smith,
Grant,
p. 204 and 204n.
“stepping on dead bodies”: Grant,
Memoirs and Selected Letters,
pp. 238–39.
“like shooting into a flock of sheep”: quoted in McDonough,
Shiloh, in Hell Before Night,
p. 156.
“valley of death”: Ambrose Bierce, “What I Saw of Shiloh,” in
Civil War Stories,
pp. 13–14.
“break the heart of the rebellion”: Bates diary, April 9, 1862.
“the horrid nature of this war”: Sherman to Ellen Ewing Sherman, April 11, 1862.
“except by complete conquest”: Grant,
Memoirs and Selected Letters,
p. 246.
“breaks up the rebel cause”: McClellan to Lincoln, April 20, 1862.
McClellan was “astonished”: McClellan to Louis M. Goldsborough, April 5, 1862.
“In my deliberate judgment”: McClellan to Lincoln, April 5, 1862.
“the most infamous thing”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, April 6, 1862.
Nothing was turning out: Rafuse,
McClellan’s War,
pp. 203–5; McClellan to Ambrose Burnside, May 21, 1862.
Lincoln scolded:
CW,
Vol. 5, p. 182.
“do it himself”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, April 8, 1862.
“I need all the aid”: McClellan to Lincoln, April 6, 1862.
“Do you really think”:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 184–85.
the moment … was slipping away: Sears,
George B. McClellan,
p. 179.
Porter went floating away:
Eye of the Storm: A Civil War Odyssey Written and Illustrated by Private Robert Knox Sneden,
April 12, 1862.
“You can imagine”: McClellan to Mary Ellen McClellan, April 11, 1862.
defrauding the government: Browning diary, March 3, 1862.
“dress in costly materials”: quoted in Randall,
Mary Lincoln,
pp. 346–47.
“Mrs. L is awfully
Western
”: quoted in Seale,
The President’s House,
Vol. 1, p. 363.
“She wanted what she wanted”: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
p. 49.
three hundred pairs of kid gloves: Browning diary, July 3, 1873.
Following his disturbing meeting: Michael Burlingame, “Honest Abe, Dishonest Mary,” Historical Bulletin Number 50, Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin, 1994, pp. 15–20.
White House stationery budget: Miers,
Lincoln Day by Day,
Vol. 3, April 4, 1862.
“kiss mine”: quoted in Goodwin,
Team of Rivals,
p. 401.
“The devil is abroad”: ibid.
Reverend Francis L. Vinton: Mary Lincoln to Francis L. Vinton, April 13, 1862; Morgan Dix, “Memorial Sermon,” in
Francis L. Vinton, Priest and Doctor,
pp. 13–43.
“good enough for tabby”: Burlingame,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. 2, p. 261.
“‘When shall I awake’”:
RW,
p. 330.
story of a mysterious letter: Boyden,
Echoes from Hospital and White House,
pp. 67–70.
a beautiful Friday: Taft diary, April 4, 1862.
went for a ride:
New York Times,
April 5, 1862.
“in wild excitement”: Taft diary, April 9, 1862.
a national day of thanksgiving:
CW,
Vol. 5, pp. 185–86.
a double game: Crook,
Diplomacy During the American Civil War,
pp. 64–65.
hive of Confederate sympathizers: Seward to Adams, May 2, 1862.
formal protest … blind eye: Adams to Russell, March 25, 1862; Russell to Adams, March 27, 1862.
“change of policy”: Adams to Seward, April 11, 1862.
A wild rumor: Bates diary, April 11, 1862.
a long memorandum for Adams: Seward to Adams, April 14, 1862.
The two men had a long talk: Adams to Seward, April 25, 1862.
“The North fights for supremacy”: Dayton to Seward, May 26, 1862, with attachment from
Le Constitutionnel,
May 23, 1862.