Investigating the President: Abraham Lincoln and the Joint Committee on the War
As if Abraham Lincoln didn't have enough problems as President, what with the Confederate states seceding, the Civil War, a shortage of good generals, a hostile press, the death of a child and a wife with a mental illness, Lincoln also had to deal with some powerful critics in Congress and in his own party. When the war wasn't the easy victory that many predicted, a group of Senators and Representatives formed the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War to second guess the president and to add to his irritations.
The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a United States Congressional investigating committee created to handle issues concerning the Civil War. It was established on December 9, 1861, following the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff. The mover behind the creation of the committee was Senator Zachariah T. Chandler of Michigan, a radical Republican and a rival to Senator Charles Sumner for the leadership of that group. The committee's purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate States, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing the emancipation of slaves. It called for the use of African-American soldiers, and the appointment of generals known to be aggressive in their tactics. It was chaired by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, perhaps Lincoln's harshest critics among the radical Republicans. Another member was Tennessee Senator (and future Vice-President and President) Andrew Johnson.
The committee often found itself questioning the loyalty of Union officers, in a war that pitted neighbor against neighbor. Since Union forces had performed mostly badly against their Confederate counterparts early in the war, particularly in the Eastern Theater battles that were most often reported in Washington newspapers, the committee was quick to accused unsuccessful Union officers of being traitors after losing a battle or for being slow to engage or pursue the enemy. The committee proved to be an unnecessary distraction for career military officers, especially those who were not known Republicans.
The committee held 272 meetings and received testimony, in Washington and other locations, often from military officers. Though the committee met and held hearings in secrecy, the testimony and its related exhibits were published from time to time. One of the most notable committee hearings followed the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, when Union Major General Daniel Sickles, a former Representative, accused Major General George G. Meade of mismanaging the battle, planning to retreat from Gettysburg before his victory there, and failing to pursue and defeat Robert E. Lee's army as it retreated. It was seen as a self-serving effort on the part of Sickles to deflect criticism of his own mistakes in the battle.
Abraham Lincoln once testified before the committee, not in response to a summons or subpoena, but of his own volition. His testimony concerned his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, whom some in Congress accused of being a Confederate spy. Mary came from a prominent Kentucky family of slave owners. When the war broke out, many in the Todd family went to fight on the side of the Confederacy, including her brother in law, General Benjamin Hardin Helm, husband of Mary's sister Emilie Todd Helm. Lincoln had offered Benjamin Helm a commission in the Union army, but Helm turned it down and went to fight for the south. Helm was killed at the Battle of Chattanooga. Several other members of the Todd family also died in uniform as Confederate soldiers.
It was not uncommon for families to have soldiers fighting on both sides of the conflict, but the joint committee launched an official investigation of the first lady. It was alleged by some members that she was passing official secrets to her family members who were fighting on the side of the south. The committee began to draw up charges against Mrs. Lincoln. The President got word of this and one day, when the committee was in session, he decided to pay them a surprise visit. According to historian John Boertlien, Lincoln read the following statement to the committee:
"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, appear of my own volition before this committee of the Senate to say that I, of my own knowledge, know that it is untrue that any of my family holds treasonable communication with the enemy."
Apparently the word of the President was all the evidence that the committee needed to drop the investigation.
After the end of the war, the committee ceased to exist. Its final reports were published shortly thereafter. Radical Republicans used the committee to attempt to intimidate Lincoln to adopting their agenda. The committee was also critical of military science, and graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point. They preferred political generals.
Over eighty years later, Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman criticized the committee's methods, calling it an example of what not to do, when he led the Truman Committee, which investigated military appropriations during World War II. Truman stated that he did not want to second-guess war strategy. His committee succeeded in demonstrating government waste and inefficiency to assist the war effort.
The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was a United States Congressional investigating committee created to handle issues concerning the Civil War. It was established on December 9, 1861, following the embarrassing Union defeat at the Battle of Ball's Bluff. The mover behind the creation of the committee was Senator Zachariah T. Chandler of Michigan, a radical Republican and a rival to Senator Charles Sumner for the leadership of that group. The committee's purpose was to investigate such matters as illicit trade with the Confederate States, medical treatment of wounded soldiers, military contracts, and the causes of Union battle losses. The Committee was also involved in supporting the war effort through various means, including endorsing the emancipation of slaves. It called for the use of African-American soldiers, and the appointment of generals known to be aggressive in their tactics. It was chaired by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, perhaps Lincoln's harshest critics among the radical Republicans. Another member was Tennessee Senator (and future Vice-President and President) Andrew Johnson.
The committee often found itself questioning the loyalty of Union officers, in a war that pitted neighbor against neighbor. Since Union forces had performed mostly badly against their Confederate counterparts early in the war, particularly in the Eastern Theater battles that were most often reported in Washington newspapers, the committee was quick to accused unsuccessful Union officers of being traitors after losing a battle or for being slow to engage or pursue the enemy. The committee proved to be an unnecessary distraction for career military officers, especially those who were not known Republicans.
The committee held 272 meetings and received testimony, in Washington and other locations, often from military officers. Though the committee met and held hearings in secrecy, the testimony and its related exhibits were published from time to time. One of the most notable committee hearings followed the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, when Union Major General Daniel Sickles, a former Representative, accused Major General George G. Meade of mismanaging the battle, planning to retreat from Gettysburg before his victory there, and failing to pursue and defeat Robert E. Lee's army as it retreated. It was seen as a self-serving effort on the part of Sickles to deflect criticism of his own mistakes in the battle.
Abraham Lincoln once testified before the committee, not in response to a summons or subpoena, but of his own volition. His testimony concerned his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, whom some in Congress accused of being a Confederate spy. Mary came from a prominent Kentucky family of slave owners. When the war broke out, many in the Todd family went to fight on the side of the Confederacy, including her brother in law, General Benjamin Hardin Helm, husband of Mary's sister Emilie Todd Helm. Lincoln had offered Benjamin Helm a commission in the Union army, but Helm turned it down and went to fight for the south. Helm was killed at the Battle of Chattanooga. Several other members of the Todd family also died in uniform as Confederate soldiers.
It was not uncommon for families to have soldiers fighting on both sides of the conflict, but the joint committee launched an official investigation of the first lady. It was alleged by some members that she was passing official secrets to her family members who were fighting on the side of the south. The committee began to draw up charges against Mrs. Lincoln. The President got word of this and one day, when the committee was in session, he decided to pay them a surprise visit. According to historian John Boertlien, Lincoln read the following statement to the committee:
"I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, appear of my own volition before this committee of the Senate to say that I, of my own knowledge, know that it is untrue that any of my family holds treasonable communication with the enemy."
Apparently the word of the President was all the evidence that the committee needed to drop the investigation.
After the end of the war, the committee ceased to exist. Its final reports were published shortly thereafter. Radical Republicans used the committee to attempt to intimidate Lincoln to adopting their agenda. The committee was also critical of military science, and graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point. They preferred political generals.
Over eighty years later, Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman criticized the committee's methods, calling it an example of what not to do, when he led the Truman Committee, which investigated military appropriations during World War II. Truman stated that he did not want to second-guess war strategy. His committee succeeded in demonstrating government waste and inefficiency to assist the war effort.