Fessenden of Maine: Civil War Senator by Charles A. Jellison (review)

Meade, and Grant were competent commanders, while McDowen,.., Pope, Buruside ,andHooker were"essentially unsuccess[ul andunsatisfactory.' It isunlikely thattherewill bemuchdisagreement withthisortheotherconclusions reached by Hassler unless it be hisunenthusiastic appraisal of Grant.Stillit is a book that should be of interest especially to thoseCivil War novices whobecome cordused overtherapidturnover in thecommand d theArmyd thePotomac. This raises, .a question which the author chose not to tackle. Why did the Army ofthePotomac have oor,mediocre, or,at best, merely competent commanders? P Thiswould have beenanappropriate subject fordiscussion. Thoiagh theauthor hasmadeaneffortto beunbiased, hehasnotbeenable to hidehispartialityfor McClellan. Professor Hassler hadpreviously writtena sympathetic biography d McClellan andthishasledhimtogloss overhisshortcomings andfailures. Forinstance, he concedes thatMcClellan showed "obtuseness anda lackof tactin dealing withLineoh"whenheshould havesaidthat he wasinexcusably rudeandinsubordinate. His admission thatat the Battleof Antietam on September 17, 1862,"McClellan wouldhavedonebetterto have exercised a greater degree ofpersonal control oftheaction . . ."canonlybedescribed asa gross understatement. Hassler's choice ofsecondary sources leaves something tobedesired. ,Inthe Bibliography hestates thattheFreeman Cleaves biography of Meadeis much better" than theone byPennypacker. ,Yethecites Pennypacker •requently, Cleaves not at all. Kenneth P. Wfiliams Lincoln Finds a General offers interesting andoftennovelcommentary on thecommanders of the Armyof the Potomac, yetthis work isnot ev, enintheBibliography. And toputany reliance whatsoever in AbnerDoubleday s Chancellorsville andGettysburg, astheauthor does, issimply confidence misplaced. Despite these flaws, thisisa readable, scholarly work,a useful addition tothe greatmass d CivilWarliterature. JOHN A. CARP•--NTER Washington andJefferson College Washington, Pa. Fessenden of Maine: Civil War Senator. By CI•mL•.SA. JI•-LLISON. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press [Toronto: Burns & MacEacheru Ltd.].1962.Pp.x, 294,inus.$6.95. AMONGTHE HOSTOF NAMESremembered from the Civil War William Pitt Fessenden 's isnotveryprominent. YetFessenden wasthecounterpart in Congress of Lincoln in the presidency or Grantin thearmy.Senator fromMainesince 1854,a power in theRepublican party,thechairman oftheSenate finance committee , Secretary of theTreasury from1864to 1865,Fessenden wasoneof the commanding figures in Congress during thewaryears. Laterheserved aschairmanof theinfluential iointcommittee onreconstruction andwrotemuchof the report whichprepared thewayforcongressional policies in thisfield.He ended hi• career in C-on•rress bystanding asoneofthelittlegroup ofseven Hepublican senators whofrustrated theimpeachment ofPresident Johnson in 1868. Mr. Jellison hasfaithfully recounted thiscareer, beingconscious of itsimportance andthelightit sheds onNorthern politics during theCivilWar.Hisjustification for a new bio a h of Fessenden is the fact that it is now over rift grpy , y years since theappearance oftheauthorized lifebytheSenator sson. Using the newevidence thathasbeenunearthed in theinterval, thebookprovides a clear 56 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW account of Northernfinancing duringthe war and a usefultreatment of the estrangement that occurred betweenFessenden and the RadicalRepublican leaders such as Wade and Sumner. The biography revealstwo importantqualities whichFessenden possessed. Oneis the surprising capacity of a conservative Portland lawyer,rearedin the rock-ribbed politics of Maine,to grapple with the complex financial problems of an industrial na.tion at war. A reformof the federalgovernment's taxation stem toinstitute the personal income tax for.the first time inAmerican history, e issuance of the despised but essential le al-tender notes,the disposal to a g widepublicof short-term government bonds-these .achievements led Fessenden intouncharted seas of publicfinance. He emerges asa resourceful andsensible financier whodeserves credit, along withSalmon P.Chase, forthesuccess ofthis branch of the Northern war effort. The other attributeis Fessenden's old-fashioned courage, or "graceunder ressure," as Hemin a defined it This uali is briefl mentioned in ohn p gwy . q ty y J F. Kennedy's manual onthe subject but thereis a far moreabsorbing account in ellison's bio a h The chater on Fessenden and the impeachment proJ grPY. P ,, eeedings, in whichhe actedas"captain of theobstructives, is thebestin the book.We seea tiredoldmandefying hisparty,hisstate, andmost ofhisfriends to shielda wronged president. Fessenden's conduct in thishighdramaamply redeems manyof hislimitations. Thepublicman,hehadsaid,in a contest betweena sense of du andthe desire for popularapprobation, is "sustained by thereflectran thattimemaydoh•mlust•ce.These words musthavebeenamong hisfewconsolations inthelonely days of1868. D. M. L. Farm Carleton University Patriotic Gore:Studies in the Literature ol • theAmerican CivilWar. By Ei)•ttmm Wrtso•. New York: OxfordUniversity Press[Toronto:OxfordUniversity Press]. 1962.Pp.xxxii, 816.$8.50. •-•s •,troc¾ VOLV•t•. is a rambling excursion alongthe byways of nineteenthcentury American literature, conducted by an eminent criticwhoviewshis subject witha curious blendof sympathy andrepugnance. Themajor writers of the Civil War era receive scant attention...