“1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History” by Charles Bracelen Flood

Whether it is the idea of civil war - one nation fighting with itself - or the resolute character of a man like Abraham Lincoln serving as the biggest draw in my interest to the period of the country’s history, I never find myself fully sure. Pursuing the goal of a united country meant differences existed; and if differences were true, as differences in terrain and climate stirred differences in the people, dissolution of any proposed union floated in the air as an ever foreboding reality.

A leader of steadfast, unwavering beliefs, the president Abraham Lincoln proved himself to be, was what the country needed to remain whole.  The question remained whether the people would permit him the time to see the war to its conclusion.

The year 1864 was the year tantamount to this country’s future.  Following stalemated war through 1861-1863, the question of union or no union remained yet unanswered.  If the “United States of America” ceased to exist, would the ‘land of the free’ follow suit?

Here lay the two central traits occupying the storyline of this book: the Civil War and the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.  How is the war being executed following three years of stalemate?  The Union forces engage; the Confederates throw them off.  The year 1864 brings into the picture Ulysses S. Grant as Lincoln’s long sought after commanding general.  When the end of the war fails to arrive instantaneously with the promotion of Grant, the question then turns to the approaching election.  The war would end if Lincoln loses his bid for a second presidential term; for the Democratic Party adopted a peace platform that would bring about its immediate cessation.  They would open talks with the Confederacy, which meant an end to the Union (the Confederacy would exist as a separate country) and a continuation of slavery.  Thus the stakes were high.

“1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History” is a chronicling of the year as events played themselves out.  Author Charles Bracelen Flood focuses primarily upon the war and the election, while also throwing in plenty of filler material of unrelated events transpiring over the year.  The country still found itself with more to deal with than just the war, which meant Lincoln carried more on his plate than how to rejoin the union back into a single whole.

Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, for example, became more than a simple ‘thorn in his side’.  While widely acknowledged as the best for the job of supplying much needed funds to finance the war, Chase’s desire to be president himself, coupled with his association with the Radical Republicans of Lincoln’s own party.  He submitted his resignation multiple times, with Lincoln finally accepting it when it was no longer possible to disregard Mr. Chase’s activities, only to appoint him as a replacement on the Supreme Court to long-serving Chief Justice Roger Taney when that contentious figure passed away.

Other activities included meeting with people seeking an audience. Often people stayed overnight within the bottom floor of the White House. Some were women begging pardons for family members sentenced to be executed for desertion from the military.  One was a woman seeking her pay for the time she served as a soldier in the disguise of a man.  Another was a soldier needing a seat on a train so as to return home and vote – for Lincoln’s rival in the election, his former general George McClellan!

Brief little snippets like these pepper the pages, while lengthier tales to the exploits of characters known and unknown relay the story of the war and the election.  My personal favorite is the tale of Henry Wing, a cub reporter imbedded with the retinue of General Grant.

With Grant advancing his troops farther into Virginia, and no communication emerging from the battlefield to reach Washington, Wing took on the dangerous trek through Confederate lines, disguising himself as a Confederate sympathizer at one point, concocting a story he carried a message meant for General Lee, rather than the actual private message from Grant to Lincoln he delivered. When he is identified as a Union man, he masterfully eludes capture, reaching Union territory and a telegraph station to wire his news from the battlefield.

When he refuses to give up his information to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Stanton threatens to have him shot as a spy. Lincoln is informed of this, steps in and saves Wing’s life, and receives him in Washington to learn the news all are eager to receive.

The private message Wing delivers to Lincoln, from General Grant, so pleases him, he arranges for soldiers to accompany Wing back to a location in Confederate territory to retrieve his horse, Charger.  The horse, still tied to where Wing tied him, had to be abandoned for escape via the rail.

This story rang out with the excitement of a tale so unbelievably remarkable; I initially wondered how much of it could actually be true.  It sounded like something a Hollywood scriptwriter would make up to envision some grand and daring tale of thrills and chills in the 1860s. I consider myself fortunate discovering a book, a short book, written by one Henry Ebenezer Wing, published in 1911, retelling this amazing story.

It would be one easy task for me to continue in my review of this book, noting one story after the next documented within these pages.  Flood has clearly done his research in documenting the business of the presidency Abraham Lincoln dealt with on a daily basis. Continued commerce between North and South; the transcontinental railroad to encourage settlement further west; the annual report to Congress on the state of the Union – delivered not by Mr. Lincoln himself, but rather by a courier in written form – these further tales and many more could fill this review alone.  However, what would remain the point?  To do so would be to rewrite the book itself.

Read this book and hear of General Philip Sheridan’s ride to reform his crumbling troops’ lines and inspire his men following a surprise Confederate nighttime attack.  Learn of Confederate attacks from agents operating out of Canada.  Read of General B.F. Butler’s sagacious efforts preventing a spike on the price of gold, just prior to the election, intent on damaging Lincoln’s chance.

A mere taste of what these pages hold…

No great narrative overrides the book with a compelling page-turner carrying a reader from one page to the next.  It never reads in any linear form one can identify through beginning, middle, and end.  Yet a prominent place is where I would find for it upon my own shelf, as this book serves as an excellent resource to that pivotal time in our nation’s history.