From McClellan, Lincoln
endured much condescension of a kind perilously near
impertinence. To Stanton, Lincoln's patience seemed a mystery;
to McClellan--a vain man, full of himself--the President who
would merely smile at this bullyragging on the part of one of his
subordinates seemed indeed a spiritless creature. Meanwhile
Lincoln, apparently devoid of sensibility, was seeking during the
anxious months of 1862, in one case, merely how to keep his
petulant Secretary in harness; in the other, how to quicken his
tortoise of a general.
Stanton made at least one great blunder. Though he had been
three months in office, and McClellan was still inactive, there
were already several successes to the credit of the Union arms.
The Monitor and Virginia (Merrimac) had fought their famous duel,
and Grant had taken Fort Donelson. The latter success broke
through the long gloom of the North and caused, as Holmes wrote,
"a delirium of excitement." Stanton rashly concluded that he now
had the game in his hands, and that a sufficient number of men
had volunteered. This civilian Secretary of War, who had still
much to learn of military matters, issued an order putting a stop
to recruiting. Shortly afterwards great disaster befell the
Union arms.
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