“I wonder if they will accept the reality of their defeat?” Lincoln said quietl
y, speaking to himself.
“Their soldiers fought bravely and well. It is not them that we must fear. But the politicians, it appears that they will not let this matter rest.”
“We must have peace. Not peace at any price — but a lasting and just peace. The Council of Berlin starts next week, and our ambassadors are already there. They have had sympathetic talks with the French and Germans. The British delegates will arrive soon. With Lord Palmerston at their head. There must be peace.” Lincoln said it more in hope, than with any positive feeling.
“There must be peace now,” Sherman agreed. “But we must be prepared for war. Only the strength of our navy and army will keep the enemy at bay.”
“Speak politely — but make sure that the rifle hanging over the mantelpiece is loaded. That’s what an old rail-splitter might say.”
“Truer words were never spoken, Mr. President. Never truer.”
SPRING — 1863
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Abraham Lincoln President of the United States
Hannibal Hamlin Vice-President
William H. Seward Secretary of State
Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War
Gideon Welles Secretary of the Navy
Salmon P. Chase Secretary of the Treasury
Gustavus Fox Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Edward Bates Attorney General
Judah P. Benjamin Secretary for the South
John Nicolay First Secretary to President Lincoln
John Hay Secretary to President Lincoln
William Parker Parrott Gunsmith
John Ericsson Inventor of USS Monitor
Frederick Douglass of the Freedmen’s Bureau
UNITED STATES ARMY
General William Tecumseh Sherman
General Ulysses S. Grant
General Ramsay Head of Ordnance Department
General Robert E. Lee
General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
General James Longstreet