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A Day ofJubilation He was almost boyish in his mirth. . . . The Friday, I never saw him so supremely cheerful-his manner was even playful. May Todd Lincoln William T. Howell had waited nearly five weeks for his official appointment as Indian agent for Michigan. Lincoln appointed Howell on March 10, and he was confirmed by the Senate one day later. It was now April 14, and the appointment languishedsomewhere in the president's office.Lincoln sat down at his desk and penned a message to his commissioner of Indian affairs,William P. Dole: "Please do not send off the Commission of W.T. Howell, as Indian agent in Michigan, until the return of Mr. Harlan, and hearing from me again. Yours truly, A. Lincoln."' Lincoln decided to delay Howell's appointment out of deference to his new secretary of the interior,James Harlan. Harlan had been nominated and confirmed as the new secretary on March 9, the day before Lincoln signed Howell's commission, and Lincoln wanted to give Harlan the opportunity to approve the appointment. It was little things like this that earned the president the respect of his cabinet members. Twoweeks later, following Lincoln's death, Harlan withdrew the appointment and substituted Richard M. Smith for the position in his stead.' Had Howell's appointment gone through, his loyalty would be to a dead president. Smith, on the other hand, would now be indebted to Harlan. Despite such mundane business there was a feeling of excitement everywhere , especially in the White House. April 14 was a day of jubilation. Lee's once powerful armywas disbanded and the man who had brought about its demise was in town to visit with the president and attend a cabinet meeting for the first time. Ulysses S. Grant was the man of the hour, and a jubilant Lincoln wanted to show him off. Grant had not been popular with everyone at the time of his appointment as general of the armies. Lincoln thought differently.This general was different from all of the other generals rolled into one-he was a fighter. Under pressure from certain politicians to remove Grant, Lincoln tersely replied, "I can't spare this man. He fights!" On another occasion he mused, "He has the grit of a bulldog! Once let him A Day of Jubilation 93 get his teeth in, and nothing can shake him off."' Lincoln had been beset by a succession of generals who lacked the necessary combative spirit to carry the attack.~VcClellan, Lincoln once said, "had the slows." Grant urasdifferent . He was just what Lincoln had needed. When Grant took command of the Union army he assumed responsibility for a battlefront reaching from the Atlantic coastline to the Rio Grande in Texas. His army consisted of twenty-one army corps of nearly 750,000 men operating in eighteen departments. It required administrative shlls beyond any ever required before. The political landscape was covered with land mines that waited for the new commander's unsuspecting foot. Whatever Grant's shortcomings may have been, reluctance to fight was not one of them. Also on Lincoln's desk this morning was a letter from James H. Van Alen.+According to Lincoln's secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, ITan.Men had written to Lincoln urging him to "guard his life" and "not expose it to assassination as he had by going to Richmond."' Lincoln replied in a letter dated April 14, '',My dear Sir: I intend to adopt the advice of my friends and use due precaution."' But as Lincoln knew, no amount of precaution could stop a determined killer. Putting Van Alen's letter aside, Lincoln could not help but smile,for today was a happy day, a day of revelry.His oldest son, Robert, was home on leave and would join the family for breakfast. Lincoln, although a spare eater, was looking forward to breakfast this particular Good Friday. Robert had returned only the evening before from Grant's headquarters where he served as assistant adjutant general of volunteers . On graduating from Harvard University, Robert was intent on joining the Union army along with many of his fellow graduates. Mary Lincoln, when she heard of Robert's intentions, objected strenuously and appealed to her husband to persuade Robert not to volunteer. She could not bear another loss. Lincoln, caught between his son and his wife, compromised. He wrote a letter to Grant requesting his help. The most powerful man in the country was ashng...

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