On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1, ordering all land and sea forces to advance on February 22, 1862. This bold move sent a message to his commanders that the president was tired of excuses and delays in seizing the offensive against Confederate forces.
The unusual order was the product of a number of factors. Lincoln had a new secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, who replaced thecorrupt Simon Cameron. The president had also been brushing up on his readingsabout military strategy. Lincoln felt that if enough force were brought to bear on the Confederates simultaneously, they would break.
This was a simple plan that ignored a host of other factors, but Lincoln felt that if the Confederates “…weakened one to strengthen another,” the Union could step in and “seize and hold the one weakened.” The primary reason for the order, however, was General George McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac in the East. McClellan had a deep contempt forthe presidentthat had become increasingly apparent since Lincoln appointedhim in July 1861. McClellan had shown great reluctance to reveal his plans to the president, andexhibited no signs of moving his army in the near future.
Lincoln wanted to convey a sense of urgency to all the military leaders, and it worked in the West. Union armies in Tennessee began to move, and General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, respectively. McClellan, however, did not respond. Lincoln’s order called for strict accountability for each commander who did not follow the order, but the president had to handle McClellan carefully. Becausethe generalhad the backing of many Democrats andhad whipped the Army of the Potomac into fine fighting shape over the winter, Lincoln had to give McClellan a chance to command in the field.
Lincoln has not been given enough credit for his military skills. He shrewdly assessed the Confederate military and civil leaders and knew that they were well aware of the fact that dragging on the war while inflicting maximum Union casualties and expense was the only way to win the war – the Confederacy simply did not have the military strength to defeat the Union, except through something akin to a battlefield miracle (which Lee nearly produced on a number of occasions). The Confederate naval effort illustrates this policy perfectly and in a sense was highly successful – Southern commerce destroyers like the CSS Alabama destroyed the Northern merchant fleet and it did not recover until World War I.
Lincoln knew that the way to win was and always has been to carry the fight to the enemy. Defense, while sometimes necessary, will eventually end in defeat. I hope Trump knows that.
Lincoln had the hand that he was dealt, the “democrats” of that time were similar to those of today. Power was their only goal, always gum up the works and blame on the other party. McClellan was a buffoon that cared of appearance only. Lincoln took the army back and the chaos of war followed. The problem is that war can never be sanitized, it is a brutal, hellish business, collateral damage is not abnormal, it is what is called breaking the will of the enemy. Grant and Sherman understood that more than anything, along with Truman using the bomb in WW2. History always repeats itself, the weapons we have now just make it more perilous!
Phuqd said:
“Lincoln had the hand that he was dealt, the “democrats” of that time were similar to those of today. ”
What the hell do you mean he had the hand he was dealt,he started the damn war.Lincoln was a big corporate lawyer who was a tool of Northern big businessmen who wanted to dominate the South.Slavery was the excuse that they used to get the useful idiots to support their aggression.
Kinda like today where big business is pushing for freedom in Syria,Libya,Ukraine,you name the country.
Great points Tampa. If you haven’t read this already you’ll love it:
Lincoln was our 1st dictator. There’s been and will be others until we wise up.
Wars are won by the most powerful side, not the most righteous one. Lincoln was the 1st to embrace an all powerful central government and the the concept of total war to keep it supreme. Perhaps that is why Hitler was such a fan, praising Lincoln in Mein Kampf. Lincoln was the 1st leader in western civilization to bring the terrible destruction of trained armies to war against civilians. Sherman (yanked from an insane asylum) in his “glorious march to the sea” to “make Georgia howl” turned his soldiers into a marauding gang of arsonists, looters and rapists against a nearly defenseless population. Because the South had the millstone of the terrible institution of slavery to bear, Sherman’s march has been seen as a necessary evil. Perhaps so but at a terrible price. There is a direct line from our “Civil War” (a misnomer) to World War 1 where civilian deaths far outnumbered soldier deaths for the 1st time to World War 2 where civilian deaths increased by a multiple. Now imagine the human carnage of the next “glorious cause” if it’s one where thermonuclear weapons are used. Or EMP devises.
Let’s hope violence begets violence no longer applies.
I’m with you, CCRider
Sage, Lee was an ok General whose reputation greatly exceeded his skills. Specifically, he never fully adapted his strategy and tactics to the increased range of minie ball rifles and the devastating defensive power of canister shot. Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg, which basically sank the South, was a tragic example of this.
Stonewall Jackson was the South’s military genius — he developed a number of alternative plans to destroy union armies, invade the North and win the war with bold moves. Lee and Jeff Davis turned a blind eye and deaf ear to Jackson, who too soon was wounded and died as a result of friendly fire.
It’s hard to gauge whether things might have turned out any better if the South had won the Civil War…perhaps we will have opportunities in the future for history to rhyme with a different outcome!