LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to Gen. George S. McClellan, Executive Mansion, 9 January 1862. 1 page, 8vo, neatly backed, discoloration to lower blank portion . LINCOLN PRODS MCCLELLAN TO FACE THE MUSIC ON CAPITOL HILL Lincoln twists the arm of his recalcitrant general. He writes "My dear Sir: I think you better go before the Congressional Committee the earliest moment your health will permit--today if possible." The "Congressional Committee" was the notorious Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, formed by Senator Zachariah Chandler in December 1861 after the debacle of Ball's Bluff. Senator Benjamin Wade served as chair. The Committee, dominated by Radical Republicans, sat throughout the war and took hundreds of hours of testimony from Union officers not just about their battlefield blunders but about their political loyalties as well. Later in the war they also probed allegations of atrocities, the treatment of prisoners of war, and corruption in government contracts and procurement. Not surprisingly, Generals resented appearing before it. In this case, McClellan stuck to his bed, nursing a serious bout of typhoid fever. While his top general languished, Lincoln worried about the stagnation of the Union war effort. His top generals were bickering and failing to coordinate their actions. There seemed scant progress on any front. The day before Lincoln penned this note to McClellan he had the Library of Congress send over Henry Halleck's textbook, Elements of Military Art and Science . It looked like he might have to be his own general in chief. The next day, 10 January, he made his famous, plaintive comment to Montgomery Meigs, "The people are impatient; Chase has no money and he tells me he can raise no money; the General of the Army has typhoid fever. The bottom is out of the tub. What shall I do?" (Williams, Lincoln and the Generals , 55). Meigs not so subtly hinted at getting a new top general. A few hours later Lincoln invited Generals McDowell and Franklin to the White House, along with Seward and Chase, where they had their own discussion about the conduct of the war, and the possibilities for future operations. When McClellan got wind of it (through his friend Chase), he bounded out of his sick bed to meet with Lincoln on the 12th. McClellan and Lincoln met again on the 13th and the general pledged to take action and for the moment saved his job. But Lincoln also made a crucial Cabinet move on the 13th, one that stopped up "the tub" and also, ironically, spelled the eventual doom of McClellan's career: he replaced the corrupt and inefficient Simon Cameron with the firebrand and inveterate McClellan critic, Edwin M. Stanton. The Joint Committee would soon tire of "Little Mac" as well, with Sen. Chandler making an impassioned call for his dismissal in August 1862. Provenance : Lewis A. Bamberger
LINCOLN, Abraham. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") to Gen. George S. McClellan, Executive Mansion, 9 January 1862. 1 page, 8vo, neatly backed, discoloration to lower blank portion . LINCOLN PRODS MCCLELLAN TO FACE THE MUSIC ON CAPITOL HILL Lincoln twists the arm of his recalcitrant general. He writes "My dear Sir: I think you better go before the Congressional Committee the earliest moment your health will permit--today if possible." The "Congressional Committee" was the notorious Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, formed by Senator Zachariah Chandler in December 1861 after the debacle of Ball's Bluff. Senator Benjamin Wade served as chair. The Committee, dominated by Radical Republicans, sat throughout the war and took hundreds of hours of testimony from Union officers not just about their battlefield blunders but about their political loyalties as well. Later in the war they also probed allegations of atrocities, the treatment of prisoners of war, and corruption in government contracts and procurement. Not surprisingly, Generals resented appearing before it. In this case, McClellan stuck to his bed, nursing a serious bout of typhoid fever. While his top general languished, Lincoln worried about the stagnation of the Union war effort. His top generals were bickering and failing to coordinate their actions. There seemed scant progress on any front. The day before Lincoln penned this note to McClellan he had the Library of Congress send over Henry Halleck's textbook, Elements of Military Art and Science . It looked like he might have to be his own general in chief. The next day, 10 January, he made his famous, plaintive comment to Montgomery Meigs, "The people are impatient; Chase has no money and he tells me he can raise no money; the General of the Army has typhoid fever. The bottom is out of the tub. What shall I do?" (Williams, Lincoln and the Generals , 55). Meigs not so subtly hinted at getting a new top general. A few hours later Lincoln invited Generals McDowell and Franklin to the White House, along with Seward and Chase, where they had their own discussion about the conduct of the war, and the possibilities for future operations. When McClellan got wind of it (through his friend Chase), he bounded out of his sick bed to meet with Lincoln on the 12th. McClellan and Lincoln met again on the 13th and the general pledged to take action and for the moment saved his job. But Lincoln also made a crucial Cabinet move on the 13th, one that stopped up "the tub" and also, ironically, spelled the eventual doom of McClellan's career: he replaced the corrupt and inefficient Simon Cameron with the firebrand and inveterate McClellan critic, Edwin M. Stanton. The Joint Committee would soon tire of "Little Mac" as well, with Sen. Chandler making an impassioned call for his dismissal in August 1862. Provenance : Lewis A. Bamberger
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