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Illustrated With Thirty-two Plates
Illustrated With Thirty-two Plates
INCOLN in caricature is a phase of the career of the great war President that has thus far lacked adequate treatment. Yet he was the most bitterly assailed and savagely cartooned public man of his time, and one has only to search the newspapers and periodicals of that period to find striking confirmation of this fact. The attitude of Great Britain toward the Union and its President was then one of cynical and scarcely veiled hostility, and nowhere were the sentiments of the English government an
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P late Number One—This cartoon, "Lincoln à la Blondin," which appeared in Harper's Weekly , on August 25, 1860, seems to have been suggested by Blondin's crossing of Niagara on a tight rope with a man on his back—an event then fresh in the public mind. It also recalls an interesting phase of Lincoln's first campaign for the Presidency, which had its origin in a characteristic incident of the candidate's earlier years. It was in March, 1830, that Lincoln, at that time a youth of twenty-one, remov
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P late Number Two—This cartoon, "The Inside Track," published in Vanity Fair , on March 2, 1861, has for its motive the popular doubt and incertitude attending the make-up of the Cabinet and the policy of the new Administration toward the South. The President-elect is shown, with a doubtful expression on his face, flanked on either side by Thurlow Weed, who is drawn to represent a western river gambler of the period, and William H. Seward, while Horace Greeley, their sworn political foe, thrusts
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P late Number Three—This cartoon, "The Flight of Abraham," published in Harper's Weekly , on March 9, 1861, holds up to ridicule Lincoln's memorable secret journey from Harrisburg to Washington, but its point-of-view is a mistaken one. Lincoln's advisers had good grounds for believing that there existed a plot to murder him during his passage through Baltimore, and every consideration forbade needless risk. The trip across Maryland was, therefore, made suddenly and in private, but there was no a
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P late Number Four—This cartoon "Winding Off the Tangled Skein," published in Harper's Weekly , on March 30, 1861, recalls the days of doubt and waiting which preceded the firing on Sumter and the first call for troops....
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P late Number Five—This cartoon, "The Spirit of '76," published in Vanity Fair , on May 4, 1861, breathes the spirit which prompted the great uprising of the North when the truth was brought home to its people that a war between the sections was not to be avoided. It shows the President watering a flower bed with the "Spirit of '76," and remarking to Columbia, who watches his work: "Ain't there a nice crop! There's the hardy Bunker Hill flower, the Seventh Regiment pink, the firebug tulip. That
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P late Number Six—This cartoon, "The Situation," published in Harper's Weekly , on July 13, 1861, reminds one that the advocates of compromise were numerous and noisy until well toward the close of the war. Here Lincoln is depicted as a constable in the act of arresting Davis. "I've got you now, Jeff," are his words as he lays hold of his prisoner. "Guess you have," is the reply of Davis. "Well, now let us compromise."...
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P late Number Seven—This cartoon, "Got the Right Weapon at Last," published in Harper's Weekly , on October 19, 1861, has for its subject the first of the national loans which assured a successful prosecution of the greatest war in history. Jay Cooke, who still lives, was the agent through whose patriotic and sagacious efforts most of these loans found takers, and he it was to whom Grant, in the closing days of the war, sent this message: "Tell him for me that it is to him more than to any other
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P late Number Eight—This cartoon, without title, published in Vanity Fair , on November 16, 1861, has for its subject the Union's relations with foreign powers. It depicts the President, guarding with sword and cannon a pond filled with trout (the Confederacy) in which three boys—England, France and Spain—are anxious to cast their lines. "Boys, I reckon I wouldn't," is his significant comment....
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P late Number Nine—This cartoon, "Up a Tree—Colonel Bull and the Yankee Coon," was published in Punch on January 11, 1862. The artist, whose point-of-view is one of contemptuous ridicule, inspired by the Mason and Slidell incident, and having in mind Davy Crockett's familiar story of Colonel Scott and the coon, depicts that animal with the head of Lincoln, crouched on the limb of a friendly tree, and gazing furtively down on John Bull, armed with a blunderbuss and about to fire, whereat the foll
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P late Number Ten—This cartoon, "Sinbad Lincoln and the Old Man of the Sea," published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper , on May 3, 1862, shows the President as Sinbad carrying on his shoulders the Old Man of the Sea—Gideon Welles, whose course as Secretary of the Navy was then the cause of much ill-natured comment. We had no navy when the war began, and Welles had to create one. His way of doing it provoked much opposition, but he had always the confidence of the President, and so good a
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P late Number Eleven—This cartoon, "The New Orleans Plum," published in Punch on May 24, 1862, deals with the capture of that city, and with it the mouth of the Mississippi—one of the first decisive victories of the war. The artist, borrowing from the old nursery tale, showed Lincoln seated in a corner and plucking a plum from the generous pudding in his lap. Possibly for fear that his design might not be perfectly clear to the British mind, the artist appended to it the legend: "Big Lincoln Hor
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P late Number Twelve—This cartoon, "The Latest from America," published in Punch on July 26, 1862, aims to make light of the war news sent out from New York at that time. The President is represented as a bartender, standing behind a bar on which are bottles inscribed "Bunkum," "Bosh" and "Brag," and shifting a concoction labelled "The New York Press" from the glass of Victory to that of Defeat....
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P late Number Thirteen—This cartoon, "The Overdue Bill," published in Punch , on September 27, 1862, has for its motive the Union's crying need of men and money. The President is shown seated at a desk, with hands, as usual, thrust into his pockets, glancing discomfitedly at a paper inscribed "I promise to subdue the South in ninety days—A. Lincoln," held out to him by a Confederate soldier, who says "Your ninety days' promissory note isn't taken up yet, sirree!" It would have been more fitting
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P late Number Fourteen—This cartoon, "What will He do with Them?" published in Vanity Fair , on October 4, 1862, heralds the forthcoming Emancipation Proclamation, the President being pictured as a vagrom bird-peddler, whom an absence of customers impels to the remark: "Darn these here black-birds. If nobody won't buy'em I'll have to open the cages and let'em fly." This design recalls an historic Cabinet meeting held on the Saturday following the battle of Antietam, which cut short Lee's invasio
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P late Number Fifteen—This cartoon, "Lincoln's Last Warning," published in Harper's Weekly , on October 11, 1862, also deals with the subject of emancipation. The President is depicted about to apply the axe to the tree of slavery, and saying to Davis, who is crouching in its branches: "If you don't come down, I'll cut the tree from under you."...
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P late Number Sixteen—This cartoon, "Keep on the Track," published in Vanity Fair , on November 22, 1862, has to do with the result of the congressional elections of that year. Here the President is made to do duty as a locomotive engineer and to remark to his fireman (Secretary Seward), who is staggering under a load of fagots, each inscribed "Democratic Majority:" "I've got the right fuel now and I guess I can keep her steady. Chuck in more, William."...
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P late Number Seventeen—This cartoon, without title, published in Harper's Weekly , on January 3, 1863, was prompted by the fearful Union slaughter at Fredericksburg. Columbia confronts the President and demands an accounting for the thousands slain in that conflict. "This reminds me of a little joke," Lincoln is made to say. "Go," is the angry rejoinder, "tell your joke at Springfield." Which calls to mind a story told the writer by the late Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania. It was after the bat
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P late Number Eighteen—This cartoon, published in Harper's Weekly , on January 10, 1863, also reflects the resentment provoked by the Fredericksburg fiasco, for which General Halleck and Secretary Stanton were at first held responsible in the popular mind. Lincoln is shown holding these officials over the side of the Ship of State. "Universal Advice to Abraham—Drop'Em," was the significant legend appended to this cartoon....
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P late Number Nineteen—This cartoon, "Scene from the American Tempest," published in Punch , on January 24, 1863, was prompted by the final Proclamation of Emancipation, issued on the first day of that year. The President, clad in the uniform of a Union soldier, hands a copy of his proclamation to a grinning negro, who points to a glowering Confederate in his rear and says: "You beat him'nough, Massa! Berry little time, I'll beat him too."...
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P late Number Twenty—This cartoon, without title, was published in Harper's Weekly , on May 16, 1863. It deals with the underlying cause of England's unfriendly attitude toward the Union—the sudden shutting off of the supply of raw material for her cotton mills. Lincoln leans on a cannon and confronts John Bull in plaintive mood. "Hi want my cotton bought at fi'pence a pound," pleads the Briton. "Don't know anything about it, my dear sir," is the curt reply. "Your friends the rebels are burning
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P late Number Twenty-one—This cartoon, "Right at last," was published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper , on June 13, 1863. Grant was still hammering at the defences of Vicksburg, with the outcome of his campaign in doubt, and the people of the North impatient and distrustful. The editor of the Tribune was especially earnest and insistent in the demand that his work should be given into other hands. The President, who holds in his hand a broom bearing Grant's name, is made to say: "Greeley
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P late Number Twenty-two—This cartoon, without title, was published in Vanity Fair , on July 4, 1863. When Lee invaded Pennsylvania to meet defeat at Gettysburg, the President called upon the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, for 120,000 men, for temporary use, and they were promptly supplied him. The design under review, in happy keeping with the day upon which it was issued, showed Lincoln holding aloft a flag and calling for volunteers, who are flocking to him from
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P late Number Twenty-three—This cartoon, "Rowdy Notions of Emancipation," published in Punch , on August 8, 1863, has for its subject the lamentable draft riots in New York City. A gang of rioters are shown beating one negro and another lies prostrate on the ground, while President Lincoln stands at one side, dismayed but apparently unwilling to put an end to the foul work going on at his elbow. Here Punch's artist is once more needlessly and manifestly unjust, for if any one deserved censure fo
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P late Number Twenty-four—This cartoon, "Extremes Meet," was published in Punch , on October 24, 1868. The Polish insurrection was then in progress, and the American President and the Russian Czar are depicted triumphantly clasping hands in the foreground of an impressive picture of rapine and desolation. The result sought by the artist is made clear in the appended dialogue: Abe —Imperial son of Nicholas the Great, We air in the same fix, I calculate, You with your Poles, with Southern rebels,
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P late Number Twenty-five—This cartoon, "Drawing Things to a Head," published in Harper's Weekly , on November 28, 1863, shows how the friendship of Russia was regarded in the loyal States. Lincoln, ensconced in a snug apothecary shop, watched from the opposite side of the street by John Bull and Napoleon, is made to say to Secretary Seward, who is presented as an errand boy with a basket of Russian salve on his arm: "Mild applications of Russian salve for our friends over the way, and heavy dos
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P late Number Twenty-six—This cartoon, "This Reminds Me of a Little Joke," published in Harper's Weekly , on September 17, 1864, recalls the extraordinary Presidential campaign of that year. There was, during the opening months of 1864, a determined and more or less noisy opposition to the renomination of Lincoln. This came from two sources—the radical abolitionists, who chafed at what they called the President's half-hearted policy in regard to slavery, and another element, which, while support
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P late Number Twenty-seven—This cartoon, "The American Brothers; or, How Will They Get Out of It," was published in Punch on November 5, 1864. It has, in the light of after events, a touch of humor not intended by the artist. When it was drawn, the belief was generally prevalent in England that Lincoln's defeat at the coming election was a foregone conclusion. Thus, this cartoon pictures Lincoln and Davis bound to adjacent benches by ropes, significantly labelled "Debts," but it was still wet fr
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P late Number Twenty-eight—This cartoon, "Long Abraham Lincoln a Little Longer," published in Harper's Weekly , on November 26, 1864, tells its own story and bears witness to the joyful relief with which the people of the North greeted the re-election of Lincoln. Very like the foregoing in spirit and treatment (and for that reason not reproduced in this place) is a cartoon published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on December 3, 1864. It bears title, "Jeff Davis' November Nightmare," and
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P late Number Twenty-nine—This cartoon, "The Federal Phoenix," was published in Punch , on December 3, 1864. Its character is explained in its title, and it shows one of those fabled birds, on which the artist has placed the head of Lincoln, rising from a pyre, the fuel for which is furnished by commerce, credit, the Constitution, a free press, habeas corpus and State rights. How it impressed the public for whom it was intended can only be conjectured, but to the eyes of an American, a generatio
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P late Number Thirty—This-cartoon, "The Threatening Notice," published in Punch , on February 26, 1865, represents Lincoln remonstrating with the American eagle in the dress of Uncle Sam over the Senate's proposed abrogation of Canadian treaties. "Now, Uncle Sam," the President is reported as saying, "you're in a darned hurry to serve this notice on John Bull. Now, it's my duty as your attorney, to tell you that you may drive him to go over to that cuss, Davis." But John Bull was not to be drive
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P late Number Thirty-one—This cartoon, "From Our Special War Correspondent," was published in Harper's Weekly , on April 15, 1865. Lincoln, who had lately made his last visit to the front, was represented, with a drumhead for a table, writing from City Point, Virginia: "All seems well with us." These words, in the light of after events, are not without a touch of pathos. When the journal in which they appeared reached its readers, Booth's bullet had done its work and Lincoln had become the gentl
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P late Number Thirty-two—This cartoon, "Britannia Sympathizes with Columbia," published in Punch , on May 6,1865, testifies to the world-wide grief which attended the death of the great war President, and shows how strong had become his hold upon all men who love brave deeds and honest lives. Britons had not hesitated to criticise and upbraid him living, but dead they were quick to recognize him as the noblest, knightliest figure of an age rich above all things else in the number and grandeur of
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