He would therefore
be obliged to fall back upon the safe and slow plan of merely covering
the reconstruction of the railroad, which would be tedious and make it
impossible to seize Winchester.
"What does this mean?" asked the President, in amazement.
"It means," said the Secretary of War, "that it is a damned fizzle. It
means that he doesn't intend to do anything."
The President's indignation was intense; and when, a little later,
General Marcy, McClellan's father-in-law and chief of staff, came in,
Lincoln's criticism of the affair was in sharper language than was his
usual habit.
"Why, in the name of common sense," said he, excitedly, "couldn't the
general have known whether canal-boats would go through that lock before
he spent a million dollars getting them there? I am almost despairing at
these results. Everything seems to fail. The impression is daily gaining
ground that the general does not intend to do anything. By a failure
like this we lose all the prestige gained by the capture of Fort
Donelson."
The prediction of the Secretary of War proved correct. That same night,
McClellan revoked Hooker's authority to cross the lower Potomac and
demolish the rebel batteries about the Occoquan River. It was doubtless
this Harper's Ferry incident which finally convinced the President that
he could no longer leave McClellan intrusted with the sole and
unrestricted exercise of military affairs.
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