Free Upon the Altar of the Nation by Harry S. Stout

purpose of the war, as declared by General McClellan, for the sole great object of the restoration of the unity of the nation, the preservation of the Constitution, and the supremacy of the laws ... let them remember, also, that all our labors to rebuild the old fabric will fail, unless out of the “brotherly dissimilitudes” of section and interest, we evoke the spirit of fraternity, which has its true similitude in the perfect spirit of Christian fellowship! 12
    Though eloquent in his compassion, Cox left unsaid the underlying reality that his “spirit of fraternity” and “Christian fellowship” was a whites-only fraternity, and its “fabric” woven with the racist thread of white supremacy.
     
    Meanwhile, Lincoln fretted that a lack of convincing victories would cost him the 1864 election to McClellan. Yet his party remained overwhelmingly supportive of the war, not only in the army, but among the rank and file. The exception was John C. Frémont, the disgruntled general who was deprived of a high command by his humiliation in Missouri. Frémont tried to create a third party composed of Republican abolitionists and radical German Americans with a platform that was nearly the mirror opposite of Cox’s. Cox branded Lincoln with the icon “nigger lover”; Frémont accused Lincoln of being a rebel lover, unwilling to extract the last measure of blood revenge. Frémont intended to be God’s self-proclaimed enforcer, with radical congressmen as his henchmen. The tragedy of the Civil War’s legacy would be the triumph of both: white supremacy and vengeful reconstruction.
    But in 1864, Frémont attracted little support. Frémont’s strongest supporter, the radical anti-Lincoln abolitionist Wendell Phillips, represented an alliance sure to win more enemies than friends. Few Republicans or Democrats expressed much interest. At the nominating convention on May 31 in Cleveland, the “Radical Democratic Party” denounced Lincoln’s softness on abolition and reconstruction. They further advocated that Congress, not the executive, set plans for reconstruction that included the confiscation of rebel land for redistribution. But they garnered little national support. 13
    For Martha LeBaron Goddard, an admirer of Wendell Phillips, the prospects did not look good: “I was dreadfully disappointed in the Cleveland convention, for I had hopes that the opposition to Lincoln might accomplish something. Now I despair—Fremont is my man, but his party looks forlornly weak to me, so far as I know anything about it; and I suppose we and the poor negroes must suffer another 4 years of Abe’s slowness and feel guilty and mean explaining and apologising for every decent thing he has done.” 14 If Lincoln failed to impress Goddard, the generals were a different story: “This last month of fighting has told upon the Worcester soldiers, and some of our best and bravest soldiers have fallen.... Grant and Lee are by far the most interesting men in the country to me now.” 15
    Abijah Marvin, an abolitionist minister, also evidenced concern over a war fought for war’s sake. Citing earlier American barbarities in the Seminole War and Mexican War, he wondered if the present war was any different: “When I picture to myself two armies composed of such profane men rushing into deadly conflict, the idea of humanity seems to be withdrawn, and to my mind’s eye, two armies of incarnate fiends are venting the rage of hell itself. O what a terrible necessity is war!” 16
    In the Confederacy President Davis continued to do battle with the Carolinas and Georgia over his policy of centralization and conscription, but the army seemed in good spirits. 17 Longstreet’s corps returned to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ready to help “Marse Lee” beat off a Union attack. And General P. G. T. Beauregard was reassigned from Charleston to lead the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, with responsibility for defending Richmond and