McClellan had insisted on plenty of time in which to drill the new three-year recruits who were pouring into Washington.He did not propose to repeat the experience of General McDowell.
On the other hand,Chandler was bent on forcing him into action.He,Wade and Trumbull combined,attempting to bring things to pass in a way to suit themselves and their faction.
To these men and their followers,clever young Hay gave the apt name of "The Jacobin Club."They began their campaign by their second visit to the army.
Wade was their chief spokesman.He urged McClellan to advance at once;to risk an unsuccessful battle rather than continue to stand still;the country wanted something done;a defeat could easily be repaired by the swarming recruits.[12]
This callous attitude got no response from the Commanding General.The three Senators turned upon Lincoln."This evening,"writes Hay in his diary on October twenty-sixth,"the Jacobin Club represented by Trumbull,Chandler and Wade,came out to worry the Administration into a battle.The agitation of the summer is to be renewed.The President defended McClellan's deliberateness.The next night "we went over to Seward's and found Chandler and Wade there."They repeated their reckless talk;a battle must be fought;defeat would be no worse than delay;"and a great deal more trash."But Lincoln was not to be moved.He and Hay called upon McClellan.The President deprecated this new manifestation of popular impatience,but said it was a reality and should be taken into account."At the same time,General,"said he,"you must not fight until you are ready."[13]
At this moment of extreme tension occurred the famous incident of the seizure of the Confederate envoys,Mason and Slidell,who were passengers on the British merchant ship,the Trent.
These men had run the blockade which had now drawn its strangling line along the whole coast of the Confederacy;they had boarded the Trent at Havana,and under the law of nations were safe from capture.But Captain Wilkes of the United States Navy,more zealous than discreet,overhauled the Trent and took off the two Confederates.Every thoughtless Northerner went wild with joy.At last the government had done something.Even the Secretary of the Navy so far forgot himself as to telegraph to Wilkes "Congratulate you on the great public service you have rendered in the capture of the rebel emissaries."[14]Chandler promptly applauded the seizure and when it was suggested that perhaps the envoys should be released he at once arrayed himself in opposition.[15]With the truculent Jacobins ready to close battle should the government do its duty,with the country still echoing to cheers for Fremont and hisses for the President,with nothing to his credit in the way of military success,Lincoln faced a crisis.
He was carried through the crisis by two strong men.Sumner,head and front of Abolitionism but also a great lawyer,came at once to his assistance.And what could a thinking Abolitionist say after that!Seward skilfully saved the face of the government by his management of the negotiation.The envoys were released and sent to England.
It was the only thing to do,but Chandler and all his sort had opposed it.The Abolition fury against the government was at fever heat.Wendell Phillips in a speech at New York denounced the Administration as having no definite purpose in the war,and was interrupted by frantic cheers for Fremont.McClellan,patiently drilling his army,was,in the eyes of the Jacobins,doing nothing.Congress had assembled.There was every sign that troubled waters lay just ahead.
