The President read to the Cabinet his letter to the Missouri
radicals, and also a letter to General Schofield. Both exhibit tact,
shrewdness, and good sense, on a difficult and troublesome subject. There is no
cause for dissension among the friends of the Administration in Missouri, and
the President does not commit himself to either faction in this controversy,
but, like some of us, has little respect for the wild vagaries of the radical
portion.
The President also read a confidential dispatch to General Meade,
urging him not to lose the opportunity to bring on a battle, assuring him that
all the honors of a victory should be exclusively his (Meade's), while in case
of a defeat he (the President) would take the entire responsibility. This is
tasking Meade beyond his ability. If the President could tell him how and when
to fight, his orders would be faithfully carried out, but the President is
overtasking Meade's capability and powers. Where is Halleck, General-in-Chief,
who should, if he has the capacity, attend to these things, and if he has not
should be got out of the way.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 471-2
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