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I saw James McPherson give a lecture last night on Lincoln and Union Military Strategy. He did a terrific job. Here are my notes from the lecture:
McPherson covered Lincoln's oversight of all five areas of concern:
Policy, which are the war aims--the political goals of the war.
National Strategy, which is mobilizing the country's resources to achieve the political goals.
Military Strategy, which are the plans to employ the armed forces to achieve the political goals.
Operations, which are the organiztion, logistics, and movements of the forces to carry out the military strategy.
Tactics, which are the formations and fighting in battle.
Under policy, Lincoln set the policy at the outset that the Union war aim would be to preserve the Union. Under national strategy, he was involved in such actions as raising an army and navy, preventing foreign intervention, mobilizing the population, and enlisting the economic power of the nation to win the war.
McPherson talked about Lincoln's appointing political generals as one example of his involvement in the military. We've all heard of Butler, Banks, and McClernand as examples of poor political generals, but we have to remember there were some good ones too, such as John A. Logan and Francis Blair. McPherson's assessment was that overall, this had a positive effect on the war because it mobilized the constituencies of these politicians to support the war. Included in this are what McPherson called "ethnic generals," such as Franz Sigel and Alexander Schimmelfenning.
Early in the war, Lincoln saw the necessity of keeping the border slave states loyal and keeping antiabolitionist Democrats in the fold as well, so he kept a tight reign on antislavery actions such as Frémont's proclamation in Missouri.
As the war continued, the thrust shifted away from conciliation when the evidence of confederate dependence on slavery mounted. Lincoln concluded bolder steps were required and that he needed to strike against slavery, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation. Emancipation then became a crucial part of national strategy, and in the lsttwo years of the war emancipation evolved from a means to victory to an end in itself.
Lincoln took a more hands-on approach to military strategy because of poor performance by his generals. Procrastination by McClellan and Buell caused Lincoln to act as his own general-in-chief.
Lincoln felt the war could be won only by fighting the enemy, not by occupying places.
Lincoln had urged Halleck and Buell to cooperate together against the confederates, but they made excuses as to why they couldn't, which disappointed Lincoln.
Lincoln felt that most Union commanders were slowed down by their own baggage, and Lincoln urged his commanders to use more speed. This inserted him directly into military operations.
Lincoln saw that the Union could concentrate in time by attacking the confederates on several fronts simultaneously in order to overcome the confederates' ability to concentrate in space by using interior lines. Not until Grant would Lincoln have a general-in-chief who would see things the way Lincoln did.
Lincoln was even involved in tactics at times. During the Peninsula Campaign, Lincoln saw that Norfolk could be captured and he ordered Gen. Tom Wolf to attack, with Lincoln personally reconnoitering the best landing spot for the troops.
I saw James McPherson give a lecture last night on Lincoln and Union Military Strategy. He did a terrific job.
Wow...did you kiss his ring?.......
__________________ POWER & MONEY
"Your New-York bankers and merchants are shrewd people, but I never gave them credit for so much sagacity as when they took the Government Loan. It was not merely patriotism, it was a high stroke of policy. It has saved the Government, and what they will regard as equally important, saved them from a great financial disaster."
At the time, and from the record, Lincoln seemed to be nothing but a middlin' to fair court house politician of the most common variety. But, as we know, with a very short learning curve Lincon seemed to grasp the realities of the war and despite a few missteps, he rapidly mastered all those areas to a greater extent than anyone else during the war up to and including Grant.
Did McPherson have any insights into the source of Lincoln's ability to master those varying Areas?
At the time, and from the record, Lincoln seemed to be nothing but a middlin' to fair court house politician of the most common variety. But, as we know, with a very short learning curve Lincon seemed to grasp the realities of the war and despite a few missteps, he rapidly mastered all those areas to a greater extent than anyone else during the war up to and including Grant.
Did McPherson have any insights into the source of Lincoln's ability to master those varying Areas?
McPherson made the point that Lincoln had plenty of experience learning things on his own. He had taught himself Euclidean Geometry, for instance. He developed the ability to learn what he needed to know. He read books on military strategy and asked questions of the generals around the War Department. McPherson said that by 1862, when Halleck tried to snow him by referring to works of military strategy, Lincoln had read those same works and saw through Halleck's feeble excuses for not cooperating with Buell.
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
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