State of the Union | Page 8

were assaulted, bridges were
burned, and railroads torn up within her limits, and we were many days
at one time without the ability to bring a single regiment over her soil
to the capital. Now her bridges and railroads are repaired and open to
the Government; she already gives seven regiments to the cause of the
Union, and none to the enemy; and her people, at a regular election,
have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger aggregate
vote than they ever before gave to any candidate or any question.
Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now decidedly and, I think,

unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union. Missouri is
comparatively quiet, and, I believe, can not again be overrun by the
insurrectionists. These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and
Missouri, neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have
now an aggregate of not less than 40,000 in the field for the Union,
while of their citizens certainly not more than a third of that number,
and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms
against us. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closes
on the Union people of western Virginia, leaving them masters of their
own country.
An insurgent force of about 1,500, for months dominating the narrow
peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac and
Northampton, and known as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with
some contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms, and the
people there have renewed their allegiance to and accepted the
protection of the old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of
the Potomac or east of the Chesapeake.
Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on the
southern coast of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island (near Savannah),
and Ship Island; and we likewise have some general accounts of
popular movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and
Tennessee.
These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing
steadily and certainly southward.
Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott has retired from
the head of the Army. During his long life the nation has not been
unmindful of his merit; yet on calling to mind how faithfully, ably, and
brilliantly he has served the country, from a time far back in our history,
when few of the now living had been born, and thenceforward
continually, I can not but think we are still his debtors. I submit,
therefore, for your consideration what further mark of recognition is
due to him, and to ourselves as a grateful people.
With the retirement of General Scott came the Executive duty of
appointing in his stead a General in Chief of the Army. It is a fortunate
circumstance that neither in council nor country was there, so far as I
know, any difference of opinion as to the proper person to be selected.
The retiring chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor of

General McClellan for the position, and in this the nation seemed to
give a unanimous concurrence. The designation of General McClellan
is therefore in considerable degree the selection of the country as well
as of the Executive, and hence there is better reason to hope there will
be given him the confidence and cordial support thus by fair
implication promised, and without which he can not with so full
efficiency serve the country.
It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and
the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better
directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at
variance and cross-purposes with each other.
And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can
have none but a common end in view and can differ only as to the
choice of means. In a storm at sea no one on board can wish the ship to
sink, and yet not unfrequently all go down together because too many
will direct and no single mind can be allowed to control.
It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclusively,
a war upon the first principle of popular government--the rights of the
people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave and
maturely considered public documents, as well as in the general tone of
the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of the
existing right of suffrage and the denial to the people of all right to
participate in the selection of public officers except the legislative
boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large control of
the people in government is the source of all political evil. Monarchy
itself is sometimes hinted at as