By November, most pundits believed that President Abraham Lincoln and his Republican party would win the upcoming elections. But the Republicans were not taking any chances. Lincoln was running for reelection on a “National Union” party ticket that included both Republicans and some War Democrats in a united front. Lincoln’s running mate was Andrew Johnson, the Democratic war governor of Tennessee who had been the only southern U.S. senator not to leave Congress when his state seceded.
Lincoln’s opponent was George B. McClellan, the popular former general-in-chief whom Lincoln had fired. McClellan had alienated political allies by repudiating his own party’s platform that called for peace at any cost, including southern independence and continuation of slavery.
The Republican-dominated National Unionists played up the recent military victories as reasons to reelect Lincoln. At a Cincinnati theater, prominent actor James E. Murdoch recited T. Buchanan Read’s latest poem celebrating Major-General Philip Sheridan’s victory at Cedar Creek. Titled “Sheridan’s Ride,” it caused a sensation, and Republicans quickly used the poem to fuel their campaigns:
“Up from the South, at break of day
“Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay…
“But there is a road from Winchester town
“A good, broad highway leading down…
“Still sprang from these swift hoofs, thundering south
“The dust like smoke from the cannon’s mouth
“Or the trail of a comet, sweeping faster and faster
“Foreboding to traitors the doom of disaster…”
Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton urged General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant not to provoke a major battle at Richmond or Petersburg out of fear that a military defeat could cost Lincoln the election. Similarly, it was suggested that Major-General William T. Sherman wait until after the election to begin his march from Atlanta to the Atlantic coast.
Every effort was made to furlough soldiers so they could go home and vote. For states allowing absentee voting, election officials were sent to the armies to collect the soldiers’ ballots. Lincoln was confident that the troops would vote for him, even though most who had served under McClellan still revered him.
Two days before the election, Major-General John A. Dix, commanding the military department that included New York, announced that Confederate agents from Canada were planning to burn New York City on Election Day. That same day, the U.S. State Department issued a communiqué: “Information has been received from the British provinces to the effect that there is a conspiracy on foot to set fire to the principal cities in the Northern States on the day of the Presidential election.”
New York Governor Horatio Seymour, an administration opponent, tried to calm fears by stating, “There is no reason to doubt that the coming election will be conducted with the usual quiet and order.” Nevertheless, administration officials dispatched Major-General Benjamin F. Butler and 7,000 Federal troops to New York City and the harbor forts to supervise the election process. The supposed terrorist threat and military presence may have served as a not-so-subtle persuasion for undecided voters to back the National Unionists.
Even without potential panic in New York, Lincoln’s reelection seemed assured before Election Day. On November 7, James Russell Lowell published “The Next General Election” in the influential North American Review. He supported Lincoln and denounced Democrat attempts to reconcile with southerners. He called Lincoln “a long-headed and long-purposed man” who had “shown from the first the considerate wisdom of a practical statesman.” This did much to sway the undecideds.
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