The loss of the battle of Bull Run was a bitter disappointment to
him. He saw that the North was not to have the easy victory it
anticipated; and to him personally it brought a great and added
care that never left him during the war. Up to that time the
North had stood by him as one man in its eager resolve to put
down the rebellion. From this time on, though quite as
determined, there was division and disagreement among the people
as to how this could best be done. Parties formed themselves for
or against this or that general, or in favor of this or that
method and no other of carrying on the war. In other words, the
President and his "administration"--the cabinet and other
officers under him--became, from this time on, the target of
criticism for all the failures of the Union armies, and for all
the accidents and mistakes and unforeseen delays of war. The
self-control that Mr. Lincoln had learned in the hard school of
his boyhood, and practised during all the long struggle of his
young manhood, had been severe and bitter training, but nothing
else could have prepared him for the great disappointments and
trials of the crowning years of his life. He had learned to
endure patiently, to reason calmly, never to be unduly sure of
his own opinion; but, having taken counsel of the best advice at
his command, to continue in the path that he felt to be right,
regardless of criticism or unjust abuse.
Pages:
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135