I have heard, in such
a way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and
the government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in
spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who
gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military
success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support
you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it
has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit
which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their
commander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I
shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor
Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army
while such a spirit prevails in it; and now beware of rashness. Beware
of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give
us victories."
Perhaps the most remarkable thing in this letter is the evidence it
gives how completely the genius of President Lincoln had by this, the
middle of his presidential term, risen to the full height of his great
national duties and responsibilities. From beginning to end it speaks
the language and breathes the spirit of the great ruler, secure in
popular confidence and official authority, equal to the great
emergencies that successively rose before him.
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