Lincoln smiled.
'One thing at a time, Gideon. First, all our efforts must be to win this war. Second, to block the French if they should be so foolish as to join in. And, Mr. Seward, the English?'
'Still the same, as I said before. The sticking point is still slavery. That, and frankly, if I were the English, I'd love nothing more than to see the French make that sort of foolish mistake. We keep the war out of European waters, bloody the French noses here in ours, and it weakens Napoleon at no cost to the English. I say, let them come, and the English will stand back. Besides, they don't want to risk Canada, or some of their holdings in the Caribbean, which we would most certainly move on if they should try to challenge us. No, the English will stand clear, unless the campaign of the next month presents them with a foregone conclusion.'
Lincoln nodded approvingly.
'Insightful as always, thank you.'
Again the windowpanes rattled and all looked up.
'I still don't like our loss of Port Hudson,' Stanton grumbled.
Lincoln nodded. Word had just arrived this morning of that reversal on the Mississippi. Such setbacks were to be expected with the concentration of forces here in the East.
'What good will it do them?' he replied. 'They can't ship supplies across the Mississippi. Our navy will continue to patrol the river.'
'Still, to have taken that ground and then lost it.'
Lincoln, feeling exasperated, lowered his head, not letting the outburst come.
He had learned that as well in recent weeks. To concentrate solely on what was of the moment, and what would win this campaign and, from that, the war. Grant had impressed that upon him. Hundreds of thousands of troops had been used up these last two years in scattered operations that in the long term might bring results, but as of this moment were nothing but wasted efforts. So what if Port Hudson fell back into enemy hands? The statement had already been made that, so willing, the Union could take the entire Mississippi basin and do it again. A thrust by a desperate force might for the moment look fancy in the newspapers, but better for the Confederacy if those ten thousand men involved were here, in front of Washington, or at least moving to contain Sherman, who continued to sweep through Tennessee, bent on linking up with Rosecrans.
As for this defense of Washington, the panic of the previous month had faded. Food moved freely up the Potomac, as did troops. Gideon's brown-water navy moved up and down the river at will. There had been some concern that Lee might try to cut down to the east, to place Alexandria under bombardment, but again it was Gideon who pointed out that half a dozen Columbiads could do little, and to move his forces in that direction would place him twenty miles farther away from Baltimore, from Sickles, and from Grant.
Heintzelman had also been in a bit of a panic over that threat Lincoln had said nothing, but his patience was indeed wearing thin with the man. His last dispatch to Grant had expressed that, and he sensed that when the time came, Grant would address that problem as well.
The Cabinet started to talk among themselves again, used now to his silent lapses, filling the space until he bestirred himself again.
Finally he looked up.
'Gentlemen, I think that is all for today. If Lee should launch an all-out assault, I will call for you to discuss the situation, but I seriously doubt that will happen now. Yet again I must caution you. Calmness, gentlemen, calmness at all times. Remember, how we act is observed by others. If we should appear rattled, it would spread like a flash throughout the city, and we do not want that Regardless of what the newspapers say, what Congress says, what anyone says, it is our example at this moment that will set the mood for this city. Go about your business as usual.'
The group stood up to take their leave. Lincoln made eye contact with Stanton and nodded for him to stay. The secretary of war came over to the chair by Lincoln's side and sat down as the others left, several of them looking back, curious as to what might transpire.
Lincoln smiled, trying to set him at ease.
'I'll come straight to the point, Edwin. I feel you do not like our General Grant and his plans.'
The secretary of war ruffled slightly.
'Honestly, Mr. President, I don't He is taking a risk here.'
'Edwin, it has always been you who told me war is risk.'
'Yes, sir. But to risk the capital? Twenty thousand more men in this city would secure it beyond all doubt.'
'I do not want Washington secure beyond all doubt,' Lincoln replied calmly.
'Sir?'
'Just that'
'I don't follow you.'
'Ever watch a cat in the barn, sitting on a beam, waiting for a mouse?'
'No, sir,' Edwin replied coolly. Obviously he was not one to appreciate Lincoln's homespun examples.
'He only sits there because he thinks he can get the mouse. If there were no mouse, he would not stay.' 'Sir?'
'We're the mouse, Edwin. If Lee did not feel that he had some hope of taking this city, he would not be here. That is what we want. Heaven forbid if after all this, come autumn, Lee withdraws back into Virginia. He will escape, having savaged the Army of the Potomac. He might even detach Longstreet or Hood to regain the situation in Tennessee. And then we face another long, hard campaign next spring. Given the reversal at Union Mills, if we face a protracted campaign next year, I daresay that you, I, the whole kit and caboodle, will be out come next November. Our political opponents, both North and South, see that now.
'In the South they are hoping for a victory by the end of autumn. They thought they might have had it on that terrible night of July 4, but we stayed the course. Grant and that railroad man Haupt have worked a miracle across the last five weeks. Now we must continue to stay the course. We have shown Lee that even if he defeats an army, it does not mean he has won the war.
'The days of single great victories deciding wars are forever over. War now is the will of nations, of ordinary people. Granted, few in the North fully endorse our efforts. Many would rather walk away, but as long as we can hold but a quarter of the populace to our side, as long as we can hold four hundred thousand patriots in our ranks, we can prevail. But that means risk as well, and I'm willing to gamble Washington for that chance.'
'Has Grant shared his thoughts with you?' Stanton replied sharply.
'Not fully. He was willing to, but I told him I trusted his judgment.
'As long as he holds the trust I've given him, I will leave him to do his job unless he obviously fails. Our job at the moment is to take the heat. If some senators want to run off, half-cocked, crying about defeat, let them. And let us hope that come next election, after we have won, their cries are remembered.'
'If there is a next election.'
Lincoln raised a quizzical eyebrow.
'There is the smell of Napoleonism around Grant,' Stanton said sharply. 'He keeps his own counsel. He has followers in the ranks that are too worshipful. I prefer to know what he is doing.'
'Edwin. Say that about McClellan or even Hooker, and I might have listened. But not Grant. He is as common as prairie dirt. The same as me.'
Lincoln chuckled softly at the analogy, and Stanton did not reply.
'I will ask you a direct question, Edwin, and will only ask it once.'
'Sir?' There was a slight nervous tone to his voice.
'Will you support me, and will you support Grant to the utmost in the weeks to come? The crisis is upon us. In the next six weeks we shall either win or lose this war. There can be no half measures. General Lee is a formidable foe. He might not follow at all the path we assume. He rarely does. If Lee should at least hold even in the coming battles, or even escape back into Virginia, there to present a strong front yet again, I fear that the defeat at Union Mills, and what Seward has told us about France, might collapse our political base once and for all. It might prove to be impossible to sustain the fight come next spring, and the bitter harvest of death that more fighting will create. So, my friend, will you support me?'
Edwin sighed.
'Of course, sir.'
