enure of the
Secretaryship of War was one means to that end.

The restless alarm of the country at large expressed itself in such
extravagant words as these which Senator Grimes wrote to Senator
Fessenden: "We are going to destruction as fast as imbecility,
corruption, and the wheels of time can carry us." So dissatisfied,
indeed, was Congress with the conduct of the war that it appointed a
committee of investigation. During December, 1861, and January, 1862,
the committee was summoning generals before it, questioning them,
listening to all manner of views, accomplishing nothing, but rendering
more and more feverish an atmosphere already surcharged with anxiety.
On the floors of Congress debate raged as to who was responsible for
the military inaction--for the country's "unpreparedness," we should say
today--and as to whether Cameron was honest. Eventually the House in a
vote of censure condemned the Secretary of War.

Long before this happened, however, Lincoln had interfered and very
characteristically removed the cause of trouble, while taking upon
himself the responsibility for the situation, by nominating Cameron
minister to Russia, and by praising him for his "ability, patriotism,
and fidelity to the public trust." Though the President had not
sufficient hold upon the House to prevent the vote of censure, his
influence was strong in the Senate, and the new appointment of Cameron
was promptly confirmed.

There was in Washington at this time that grim man who had served
briefly as Attorney-General in the Cabinet of Buchanan--Edwin M.
Stanton. He despised the President and expressed his opinion in such
words as "the painful imbecility of Lincoln." The two had one personal
recollection in common: long before, in a single case, at Cincinnati,
the awkward Lincoln had been called in as associate counsel to serve the
convenience of Stanton, who was already a lawyer of national repute.
To his less-known associate Stanton showed a brutal rudeness that was
characteristic. It would have been hard in 1861 to find another man more
difficult to get on with. Headstrong, irascible, rude, he had a sharp
tongue which he delighted in using; but he was known to be inflexibly
honest, and was supposed to have great executive ability. He was also
a friend of McClellan, and if anybody could rouse that tortoise-like
general, Stanton might be supposed to be the man. He had been a valiant
Democrat, and Democratic support was needed by the