Abraham Lincoln and Men of War-Times: Some Personal Recollections of War and Politics during the Lincoln Administration

ALL great wars produce great victors, and they are crowned with crowned with the greenest laurels of the people for whose cause they have achieved success. These chieftains live in history and their memory is gratefully cherished long after they have passed away; but every great war has also its unrewarded heroes, whose merits are often equal to, sometimes even greater than, those who attained the highest measure of distinction. In war and politics nothing is successful but success, and the unsuccessful military commander and the unsuccessful politician are forgotten, whatever may be their personal merits, while those who win victories win the applause of the world. Accident, fortuitous circumstance, and personal or political influence aid largely in winning promotion in both peace and war, and a lost battle, however bravely and skillfully fought, often deposes a commander, while a victory won, even in spite of the absence of the elements of greatness, may make a name immortal. The rewarded heroes of our late civil war are well known to the country and to the world, but that great conflict left unrewarded heroes whose names and merits should be crystallized in the history of the Republic. Prominent among these are General George G. Meade, General George H. Thomas, General Fitz John Porter, General G. K. Warren, and General D. C. Buell.

The country has never done justice to General Meade

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