Republicans, convinced Lincoln had
mismanaged the war and could not be
re-elected, were decamping to the
Radical Democracy Party or
“Copperheads.” This new party
convened in late May in Cleveland,
Ohio, and nominated the ever-popular
soldier politician, John C. Frémont, for
president. Republicans still loyal to
Lincoln felt they
could not win
unless they joined
with “War
Democrats,” who
were crossing the
party line to
disassociate themselves from the
Copperheads. The result was called the
National Union Party, and it convened
in Baltimore during early June. Lincoln
was renominated, but Vice President
Hannibal Hamlin, a Radical Republican,Lincoln Prevails
Since 1864 was an election year, President Abraham Lincoln needed to swing the balance of the war
permanently in the Union’s favor or face defeat at the polls. With the political parties splintering
over the war, Lincoln sought salvation in a new general, Ulysses S. Grant.
GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR 1864was dropped from the ticket. He was
replaced by Andrew Johnson, military
governor of Tennessee and a leading
War Democrat. The National Unionists
hoped the new ticket would underscore
the national character of the war.Esteem for McClellan
Meanwhile, Lincoln sensed that defeat
was imminent. Grant’s strategy was
failing. The death toll at the Wilderness,
Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor had
staggered the nation—and still Lee held
Grant at bay at Petersburg. General
Jubal Early, with but 10,000 Rebels,
had threatened to walk into the White
House. Widespread discouragement
was starting to swell the ranks of
the Copperheads. General George B.
McClellan, fired by Lincoln in 1862,
was riding high in public estimation; as
the fatalities mounted he looked everO
n the evening of March 8, 1864,
at a glittering White House
reception, Abraham Lincoln had
his first good look at its guest of honor,
General Ulysses S. Grant. The short,
slightly stooping figure was disappointing
in appearance, except for his blue eyes,
which to one army officer always
suggested a man determined to drive
his head through
a brick wall. It was
an expression that
Lincoln welcomed.
Grant won
battles. That was
why Lincoln had
now appointed him general-in-chief
of all Union armies. Together they
planned how to win the war that year.
Grant advocated coordinated advances:
south to Mobile; southeast to Atlanta,
to cut off General Robert E. Lee’s
supplies; and a three-pronged advance
on Lee himself—in his front, up through
the Shenandoah Valley, and to his rear
via a landing south of Richmond.Lincoln’s future in the balance
Much depended on the success of
Grant’s plans. Lincoln was facing a
re-election battle, and his party had
split over his policies. Hard-line RadicalBEFORE
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th U.S.
President in November 1860. He won his
votes entirely in the North, not being on
the ballot in ten Southern states.FINDING A GENERAL
On November 5, 1862, Lincoln dismissed
General George McClellan ❮❮ 64–67 as
commander of the Army of the Potomac.
Dissatisfied with many of his replacements,
Lincoln’s eye had finally fallen on Ulysses S.
Grant ❮❮ 196–97 of Vicksburg fame.THE GREAT TASK REMAINING
On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the
Emancipation Proclamation ❮❮ 160–61,
freeing slaves in ten Confederate states.
Despite growing casualty lists and rising
antiwar sentiment in the North, he was
steadfastly dedicated to the war, which he
declared in his Gettysburg Address ❮❮
228–29 as “the great task remaining before us.”Lincoln campaign button
Due to the constraints of war, the 1864 electoral
campaign produced fewer embossed copper tokens,
framed cartes de visite (card portraits), and brass
pins than did the 1860 race.COPPERHEADS Those Northerners
opposed to war with the Confederacy,
named for a poisonous snake. They were
most numerous in the Ohio River states,
with traditional ties to the South.