campaign of 1848, and who had served
with distinction for four years in Congress, proved acceptable to a
few Radicals and several Conservatives.[873] Henry J. Raymond, also
pressed by the opponents of Morgan, attracted a substantial following,
while David Dudley Field, Ward Hunt, and Henry R. Selden controlled
two or three votes each. Nevertheless, a successful combination could
not be established, and on the second formal ballot Morgan received a
large majority. The remark of Assemblyman Truman, on a motion to make
the nomination unanimous, evidenced the bitterness of the contest. "I
believe we are rewarding a man," he said, "who placed the knife at the
throat of the Union ticket last fall and slaughtered it."[874]

[Footnote 873: Sedgwick, assailed by damaging charges growing out of
his chairmanship of the Naval Committee, failed to be renominated for
Congress in 1864 after a most bitter contest in which 130 ballots were
taken.]

[Footnote 874: New York _Journal of Commerce_, February 3, 1863.

"Informal ballot: Morgan, 25; King, 16; Dickinson, 15; Sedgwick, 11;
Field, 7; Raymond, 6; Hunt, 4; Selden, 1; blank, 1. Whole number, 86.
Necessary to a choice, 44.

"First formal ballot: Morgan, 39; King, 16; Dickinson, 11; Raymond, 8;
Sedgwick, 7; Field, 5.

"Second formal ballot: Morgan, 50; Dickinson, 13; King, 11; Raymond,
9; Field, 2; Sedgwick, 1."--_Ibid._, February 3.]

The Democrats presented Erastus Corning of Albany, then a member of
Congress. Like Morgan, Corning was wealthy. Like Morgan, too, he had a
predilection for politics, having served as alderman, state senator,
mayor, and congressman. He belonged to a class of business men whose
experience and ability, when turned to public affairs, prove of
decided value to their State and country. "We should be glad," said
the _Tribune_, "to see more men of Mr. Corning's social and business
position brought forward for Congress and the Legislature."[875] The
first ballot, in joint convention, gave Morgan 86 to 70 for Corning,
Speaker Callicot voting for John A. Dix, and one fiery Radical for
Daniel S. Dickinson. Thus did Thurlow Weed score another victory.
Greeley was willing to make any combination. Raymond, Sedgwick, Ward
Hunt, and even David Dudley Field would quickly have appealed to him.
The deft hand of Weed, however, if not the money of Morgan, prevented
combinations until the Governor, as a second choice, controlled the
election.[876] This success resulte