As
Abraham Lincoln lay dying of an assassin's bullet, Secretary of
War Stanton was quoted as saying "There lies the most perfect
ruler of men that the world has ever seen."
What
made Lincoln such a great leader? He succeeded in curing himself
of the critical spirit we've talked about this morning.
Lincoln
had suffered through inept and bungling generals for the first
three years of the war. McClellen, Pope, Burnside, and Hooker...
but in the summer of 1863, it seemed that the Union under General
Meade would finally be able to crush the confederacy. Lee had
stumbled badly at Gettysburg and needed to flee back across the
Potomac to regroup and survive. But the Potomac was swollen and
crossing was impossible. Sensing victory at hand, Lincoln sent
both a telegraph and a special messenger to Meade specifically
instructing him not to hold a war council but to attack immediately.
What did Meade do? He held his war council and delayed. Because
of that delay Lee had the time to move his troops across the river
to safety.
Lincoln
was crushed. In anger he composed this letter:
"My
dear General,
I
do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune
involved in Lee's escape. He was within our easy grasp, and to
have closed upon him would, in connection with our other late
successes, have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged
indefinitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday,
how can you possibly do so south of the river, when you can take
with you very few - no more than 2/3's of the force you then had
in hand? It would be unreasonable to expect and I do no expect
that you can now effect much. Your golden opportunity is gone,
and I am distressed immeasurably because of it."
What
do you suppose Meade did when he read that letter?... He never
did. Lincoln never sent the letter. It was found later amongst
Lincoln's papers following his death. Why didn't he send it? Because
he had come to grips with a critical spirit and determined to
defeat it.
