t proceeded peacefully.

Meanwhile, the loyal millions of the North, longing for victory in the
field, found their prayers answered. Gettysburg and Vicksburg had
pierced the spirit of the South, Cumberland Gap had liberated East
Tennessee, Fort Smith and Little Rock supplied a firm footing for the
army beyond the Mississippi, and the surrender of Port Hudson
permitted Federal gunboats to pass unvexed to the sea. The rift in the
war cloud had, indeed, let in a flood of sunlight, and, while it
lasted, gave fresh courage and larger faith.

CHAPTER VI

SEYMOUR REBUKED

1863

The victories of Vicksburg and Gettysburg turned the Republican Union
convention, held at Syracuse on September 2, into a meeting of
rejoicing. Weed did not attend, but the Conservatives, led by Henry J.
Raymond and Edwin D. Morgan, boldly talked of its control. Ward Hunt
became temporary chairman. Hunt was a lawyer whom politics did not
attract. Since his unsuccessful effort to become a United States
senator in 1857 he had turned aside from his profession only when
necessary to strengthen the cause of the Union. At such times he shone
as the representative of a wise patriotism. He did not belong in the
class of attractive platform speakers, nor possess the weaknesses of
blind followers of party chieftains. His power rested upon the
strength of his character as a well-poised student of affairs. What he
believed came forcefully from a mind that formed its own judgments,
and whether his words gave discomfort to the little souls that
governed caucuses, or to the great journalists that sought to force
their own policies, he was in no wise disturbed.

Upon taking the chair Hunt began his remarks in the tone of one who
felt more than he desired to express, but as the mention of Gettysburg
and Vicksburg revealed the unbounded enthusiasm of the men before him,
the optimism that characterised the people's belief in the summer of
1863 quickly took possession of him, and he coupled with the
declaration that the rebel armies were nearly destroyed, the opinion
that peace was near at hand. For the moment the party seemed solidly
united. But when the echoes of long continued cheering had subsided
the bitterness of faction flashed out with increased intensity. To the
Radicals, Raymond's suggestion of Edwin D. Morgan for permanent
chairman was as gall and wormwood, and his talk of an entire new
ticket most alarming. However, George Opdyke and Horace Gree