e White House on April 19, 1865. After his funeral a long procession carried the President to the Capital Building. On the 21st a funeral train brought Lincoln to his final resting-place in Springfield, Illinois. A GREAT COMMANDER WHO HANDLED SLAVERY WELL In the Civil War, Lincoln was a great commander. For most of the war he had trouble finding a good commander to run a campaign in the East. So, Lincoln was forced to almost single handedly head the Union campaign in the East. Early in the war, Lincoln could rely on the good strategic advice of his general in chief, Winfield Scott. Scott had proposed the “Anaconda Plan.” In his plan, Scott wanted to blockade the Southern coast and take control of the Mississippi squeezing the Confederacy and isolating them completely. Lincoln agreed with his plan but wanted to go further. He wanted the Union to take more of an offensive. So, he tightened the blockade and called for more troops. In this sense Lincoln was ruthless. Later, towards the end of the war, Lincoln, with the help of General Grant devised the plan that crushed the rebellion. Today, when we think of Lincoln, the fact that he was a good commander doesn’t stand out in our minds. However, after carefully looking over his bold, decisive actions in the Civil War I realized that he was indeed a great commander. Lincoln handled slavery very well. Even though he was morally against slavery he was careful in dealing with it. His handling of slavery suits Roosevelt’s saying, “Walk softly and carry a big stick.” In the election of 1860 ...
