Civil War--Uprising of the Nation--The President's First Call for Troops--Response of the Loyal North--The Riots in Baltimore--Loyalty of Stephen A. Douglas--Douglas's Death--Blockade of Southern Ports--Additional War Measures--Lincoln Defines the Policy of the Government--His Conciliatory Course--His Desire to Save Kentucky--The President's First Message to Congress--Gathering of Troops in Washington--Reviews and Parades--Disaster at Bull Run--The President Visits the Army--Good Advice to an Angry Officer--A Peculiar Cabinet Meeting--Dark Days for Lincoln--A "Black Mood" in the White House--Lincoln's Unfaltering Courage--Relief in Story-Telling--A Pretty Good Land Title--"Measuring up" with Charles Sumner--General Scott "Unable as a Politician"--A Good Drawing-Plaster--The New York Millionaires who Wanted a Gunboat--A Good Bridge-Builder--A Sick Lot of Office-Seekers CHAPTER XVII Lincoln's Wise Statesmanship--The Mason and Slidell Affair--Complications with England--Lincoln's "Little Story" on the Trent Affair--Building of the "Monitor"--Lincoln's Part in the Enterprise--The President's First Annual Message--Discussion of the Labor Question--A President's Reception in War Time--A Great Affliction--Death in the White House--Chapters from the Secret Service--A Morning Call on the President--Goldwin Smith's Impressions of Lincoln--Other Notable Tributes CHAPTER XVIII Lincoln and His Cabinet--An Odd Assortment of Officials--Misconceptions of Rights and Duties--Frictions and Misunderstandings--The Early Cabinet Meetings--Informal Conversational Affairs--Queer Attitude toward the War--Regarded as a Political Affair--Proximity to Washington a Hindrance to Military Success--Disturbances in the Cabinet--A Senate Committee Demands Seward's Removal from the Cabinet--Lincoln's Mastery of the Situation--Harmony Restored--Stanton becomes War Secretary--Sketch of a Remarkable Man--Next to Lincoln, the Master-Mind of the Cabinet--Lincoln the Dominant Power CHAPTER XIX Lincoln's Personal Attention to the Military Problems of the War--Efforts to Push forward the War--Disheartening Delays--Lincoln's Worry and Perplexity Brightening Prospects--Union Victories in North Carolina and Tennessee--Proclamation by the President--Lincoln Wants to See for Himself--Visits Fortress Monroe--Witnesses an Attack on the Rebel Ram "Merrimac"--The Capture of Norfolk--Lincoln's Account of the Affair--Letter to McClellan--Lincoln and the Union Soldiers--His Tender Solicitude for the Boys in Blue--Soldiers Always Welcome at the White House--Pardoning Condemned Soldiers--Letter to a Bereaved Mother--The Case of Cyrus Pringle--Lincoln's Love of Soldiers' Humor--Visiting the Soldiers in Trenches and Hospitals--Lincoln at "The Soldiers' Rest"