But Under
Circumstances So Little Ordinary As Those Of 186l-62, While
Washington Was Surrounded By Hundreds Of Thousands Of Soldiers,
Congress Was Absolutely Impotent.
Mr. Seward could snap his fingers
at Congress, and he did so.
He could not snap his fingers at the
army; but then he could go with the army, could keep the army on his
side by remaining on the same side with the army; and this as it
seemed he resolved to do. It must be understood that Mr. Seward was
not Prime Minister. The President of the United States has no Prime
Minister - or hitherto has had none. The Minister for Foreign
Affairs has usually stood highest in the cabinet, and Mr. Seward, as
holding that position, was not inclined to lessen its authority. He
was gradually assuming for that position the prerogatives of a
Premier, and men were beginning to talk of Mr. Seward's ministry.
It may easily be understood that at such a time the powers of
Congress would be undefined, and that ambitious members of Congress
would rise and assert on the floor, with that peculiar voice of
indignation so common in parliamentary debate, "that they had got to
learn," etc. etc. etc. It seemed to me that the lesson which they
had yet to learn was then in the process of being taught to them.
They were anxious to be told all about the mischance at Ball's
Bluff, but nobody would tell them anything about it. They wanted to
know something of that blockade on the Potomac; but such knowledge
was not good for them. "Pack them up in boxes, and send them home,"
one military gentleman said to me. And I began to think that
something of the kind would be done, if they made themselves
troublesome. I quote here the manner in which their questions,
respecting the affair at Ball's Bluff, were answered by the
Secretary of war. "The Speaker laid before the House a letter from
the Secretary of War, in which he says that he has the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of the resolution adopted on the 6th
instant, to the effect that the answer of the Department to the
resolution, passed on the second day of the session, is not
responsive and satisfactory to the House, and requesting a farther
answer. The Secretary has now to state that measures have been
taken to ascertain who is responsible for the disastrous movement at
Ball's Bluff, but that it is not compatible with the public interest
to make known those measures at the present time."
In truth the days are evil for any Congress of debaters, when a
great army is in camp on every side of them. The people had called
for the army, and there it was. It was of younger birth than
Congress, and had thrown its elder brother considerably out of favor
as has been done before by many a new-born baby. If Congress could
amuse itself with a few set speeches, and a field day or two, such
as those afforded by Mr. Sumner, it might all be very well - provided
that such speeches did not attack the army. Over and beyond this,
let them vote the supplies and have done with it. Was it probable
that General McClellan should have time to answer questions about
Ball's Bluff - and he with such a job of work on his hands? Congress
could of course vote what committees of military inquiry it might
please, and might ask questions without end; but we all know to what
such questions lead, when the questioner has no power to force an
answer by a penalty. If it might be possible to maintain the
semblance of respect for Congress, without too much embarrassment to
military secretaries, such semblance should be maintained; but if
Congress chose to make itself really disagreeable, then no semblance
could be kept up any longer. That, as far as I could judge, was the
position of Congress in the early months of 1862; and that, under
existing circumstances, was perhaps the only possible position that
it could fill.
All this to me was very melancholy. The streets of Washington were
always full of soldiers. Mounted sentries stood at the corners of
all the streets with drawn sabers - shivering in the cold and
besmeared with mud. A military law came out that civilians might
not ride quickly through the street. Military riders galloped over
one at every turn, splashing about through the mud, and reminding
one not unfrequently of John Gilpin. Why they always went so fast,
destroying their horses' feet on the rough stones, I could never
learn. But I, as a civilian, given as Englishmen are to trotting,
and furnished for the time with a nimble trotter, found myself
harried from time to time by muddy men with sabers, who would dash
after me, rattling their trappings, and bid me go at a slower pace.
There is a building in Washington, built by private munificence and
devoted, according to an inscription which it bears, "To the Arts."
It has been turned into an army clothing establishment. The streets
of Washington, night and day, were thronged with army wagons. All
through the city military huts and military tents were to be seen,
pitched out among the mud and in the desert places. Then there was
the chosen locality of the teamsters and their mules and horses - a
wonderful world in itself; and all within the city! Here horses and
mules lived - or died - sub dio, with no slightest apology for a
stable over them, eating their provender from off the wagons to
which they were fastened. Here, there, and everywhere large houses
were occupied as the headquarters of some officer, or the bureau of
some military official. At Washington and round Washington the army
was everything. While this was so, is it to be conceived that
Congress should ask questions about military matters with success?
All this, as I say, filled me with sorrow.
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