As the Civil War progressed, Abraham Lincoln faced many difficulties and problems as president during this time of crisis. The question we now ask is whether Abraham Lincoln was essential to Union victory; was he the only person who could have led the Union to victory at this time?
After winning the election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president of the United States of America in January of 1861. By his inauguration, he was already facing a civil war, with seven states already seceded from the Union. Throughout the war he made many hard decisions, but most (if not all of them) worked out in the end. Some of these decisions included how to fund the war, how much to trust his general's leadership and tactics, what to do with the slaves who were escaping to the Union lines, and what were the terms of surrender for the south.
I think that Lincoln was necessary for Union victory. He made choices throughout the war that were instrumental to Union victory which almost any other political figure at the time would not have made.
One of the first problems Lincoln faced was near the start of the war. He had to decide how to fund the war, which like all wars was quite costly. Jefferson Davis (the leader of the South) tried burning cotton to try and drive up it’s price in Europe, but that only resulted in Europe looking elsewhere for cotton, not buying the higher priced cotton from the Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln decided to sell the grain produced by the North to Europe at the highest price they would buy at, which provided needed funds for the war effort. Lincoln also enacted the first national income tax, which lasted for 10 years before it was repealed, but was enacted again later with the passing of the 16th Amendment, allowing the government to tax people in the United States regardless of census results and state populations. It enabled
Throughout the war, Lincoln was faced with the issue of how much to trust the Union general’s tactics and experience. In the summer of 1862, Lincoln wanted to attack Richmond right away, but General McClellan thought that the army should wait for reinforcements. Lincoln decided to wait, which allowed Lee to attack and drive the Union army back over seven days, referred to as the Seven Days Battles. While this choice was not the best, throughout the war Lincoln showed the makings of a good politician by making decisions based on the viewpoints of people involved and personal judgment. One example of this decision making is when he decided to fire General McClellan after McClellan failed to pursue General Lee following the battle of Antietam. General McClellan had received information about Lee's strategies, but waited before pursuing Lee and waiting before attacking Lee, giving Lee time to prepare his small army to fight off the Union army, causing an almost certain Union victory to be changed into a military stalemate during the bloodiest day in the whole Civil War.
As the Union armies advanced further into the south, they were met with slaves fleeing to the Union lines. These slaves were being used to further the southern war effort before they escaped to the northern army camps. In 1861, General Benjamin Butler wrote a letter to his army superiors talking about the slaves assisting the southern war effort and fleeing to Union lines.
“In the enemy's hands these negroes, when able-bodied, are of great importance to the enemy’s attacks on us. Without them the batteries could not have been built for many weeks. As a military question it would seem to be a measure of necessity to deprive their masters of their services.”
Benjamin Butler saw slave labor’s usefulness to the south and thought about taking that help away by giving a larger incentive for slaves from the south to leave their work and join the Union lines. Technically, Union camps that held slaves that had escaped from the south were still bound by the fugitive slave law to return them to their southern owners, an obligation that did not make military sense. The military reasons for freeing southern slaves along with Lincoln’s anti-slavery private beliefs were the main reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued on January 1, 1863.
The Emancipation Proclamation was Lincoln’s most famous choice during the Civil War. It freed slaves in territories still in rebellion (most of the Confederate States of America), which Lincoln technically didn’t have the authority to do because the Confederate States of America had seceded and didn’t recognize his authority over them. In effect, this meant that the slaves in the Confederate States would flee to Union lines and be freed, while the Union would not be required to give them back to their owners in the south. While freeing the slaves slowed the southern war effort, it also was hoped to increase the war effort. Lincoln mentioned this possible use for the freed slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation.
“And I further declare and make known, that such [freed] persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States...”
You can see that many military leaders were hoping for black manpower, and they got their wish. The most famous black regiment in the Civil War was the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. At the attack on Fort Wagner, their most famous battle, 600 men of the 1,007 black soldiers and 37 white officers that left Boston on May 28, 1863, charged over the walls of Fort Wagner. The Union generals, however, had miscalculated the confederate force inside the fort and 281 soldiers (including Colonel Shaw) were killed. They did inflict a lot of damage, in fact enough to cause the confederate army to abandon Fort Wagner soon after.
As the war came to a close, Lincoln was faced with the problem of what the terms of surrender for the south would be. Many close advisors argued for harsh surrender terms because the south had caused so many deaths and tried to abandon the United States of America, but Lincoln was looking ahead and chose to give generous terms as a start to reconstruction and to get the south to not rebel again. This worked out for the better, as Lee surrendered to these terms and then the other armies of the south also began surrendering.
Other people argue that Lincoln could have been replaced and the Union could have still won. Someone else could have kept the war going to its conclusion, freed slaves, and gave the south generous terms of surrender. I disagree. Most of the political figures at that time would not have done any one of those things, much less all three. In the middle of the war, many people wanted to end the war and let the Confederate States stay a different country. Lincoln kept the war going to the end to preserve the Union, while others would have been inclined ended the war right then and there. And Lincoln freed southern slaves, while almost anyone at the time would be against freeing the slaves. With the high casualty rates throughout the war and the number of relatives killed in the fighting, almost no one else would give the south such generous terms of surrender, but Lincoln chose what was best for the country as a whole above any personal motives.
I find it amazing that Lincoln could navigate this tumultuous war and emerge as a full United States again. Lincoln had a big job from day one, but he managed to keep up popular support for the war and for himself through the election in the middle of the war. If he had lost the Election of 1864 to George McClellan, George McClellan promised to bring the war to a speedy end, most likely not preserving the Union or ending slavery after the war. Lincoln timed the release of the Emancipation Proclamation until right after a major win in the war (the Battle of Antietam) so the Union moral was high. He put the needs of the nation above anyone’s personal wishes when he gave generous term of surrender to the south despite the deaths caused by this conflict. He truly was the only man at the time that could make the war turn out the way it did.
Ellen Terrell. History of the US Income Tax. https://www.loc.gov/rr/business/hottopic/irs_history.html
History.com. The 54th Massachusetts Infantry. http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/the-54th-massachusetts-infantry
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