yet be well. To His care commending
you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an
affectionate farewell."

I was not present at the first inauguration of President Lincoln,
but I visited Washington many times during the years that he was
President, and, knowing him as well as I did, and having known both
Nicolay and Hay, his secretaries, in Springfield, I naturally spent
much time around the executive offices. I had many conversations
with him during the early years of the war. He had no military
education, but he soon demonstrated that he was in fact the real
commander-in-chief. He liked General McClellan, and stuck to him
until McClellan had demonstrated his absolute inefficiency for
command. McClellan was a great organizer. He made the Army of
the Potomac the most perfect fighting machine, I might almost say,
that was ever known in military history. But there he stopped.
He could organize, but he could not and did not, despite the urging
and the anxiety of Mr. Lincoln, push forward his army to victory.
I knew something of Mr. Lincoln's anxiety at the failure of McClellan
to inaugurate an aggressive campaign.

The late O. M. Hatch of Illinois told me of a rather interesting
incident which occurred on one occasion when the President,
accompanied by Mr. Hatch, visited McClellan's army a few days prior
to the battle of Antietam in September, 1862. They spent the night
in a tent, and, rising very early, at the President's suggestion
they took a walk before sunrise about the great camp, inspecting
the field, the artillery, the quarters, and all the appurtenances
of the army. Lincoln was in a pensive mood, and scarcely a word
was spoken. Finally, just as the sun was rising, they reached a
commanding point; the President stopped, placed his left hand upon
Mr. Hatch's shoulder, and slowly waving his right in the direction
of the great city of tents, seriously inquired: "Mr. Hatch, what
is all this before us?"

"Why, Mr. President," was the surprised reply, "this is General
McClellan's army."

"No, Mr. Hatch, no," returned Lincoln soberly, "this is General
McClellan's body-guard."

It will be understood what these utterances signified: they
expressed perfectly the prevailing belief that McClellan had failed
to appreciate the purpose for which that magnificent fighting
machine had been created.

I think I am justified in saying that after the earlier contests
of the war had proven that