Secretary
of State was invariably present some little time before the Cabinet
assembled, and from his former position as the chief executive of the
largest State in the Union as well as from his recent place as a
Senator, and from his admitted experience and familiarity with affairs,
assumed, and was allowed, as was proper, to take the lead in
consultations and also to give tone and direction to the manner and mode
of proceedings. The President, if he did not actually wish, readily
acquiesced in, this. Mr. Lincoln, having never had experience in
administering the Government, State or National, deferred to the
suggestions and course of those who had. Mr. Seward was not slow in
taking upon himself to prescribe action and to do most of the talking,
without much regard to the modest chief, but often to the disgust of his
associates, particularly Mr. Bates, who was himself always courteous and
respectful, and to the annoyance of Mr. Chase, who had had, like Mr.
Seward, experience as a chief magistrate. Discussions were desultory and
without order or system; but in the summing-up and conclusions the
President, who was a patient listener and learner, concentrated results,
and often determined questions adverse to the Secretary of State,
regarding him and his opinions, as he did those of his other advisers,
for what they were worth and generally no more."

It was perhaps natural, in a country so long free from wars as ours had
been, that the Civil War should be regarded as a sort of political
affair to be directed from Washington rather than by commanders in the
field. For the first year or so the feeling was quite general that
military affairs should be directed by Congress, acting through its
Committee on the Conduct of the War, and by the Secretary of War, who
complained bitterly that he was not allowed to assume control of
military movements and that his plans were thwarted by McClellan (whom
he especially hated). The President himself did not escape this
condemnation. The feeling at this time is expressed in a sentence in
Stanton's complaint, reflected through Chase, that "the President takes
counsel of none but army officers in army matters." Chase declared to
Welles, according to the latter, that the Treasury as well as other
departments "ought to be informed of the particulars of every movement."
The generals engaged in planning the campaigns and fighting the battles
of the war, and their commander-in-chief the Presiden