Vallandigham.--General McClellan accepts, but evades the
Platform.--General Fremont withdraws.--Success of the Union Army.
--Mr. Lincoln's Popularity.--General McClellan steadily loses
Ground.--Sheridan's Brilliant Victories.--General McClellan receives
the Votes of only Three States.--Governor Seymour defeated in New
York.

The Presidential election of 1864 was approaching, with marked
political fluctuations and varying personal prospects. The tide
of public feeling ebbed or flowed with the disasters or the victories
of the war. The brilliant military triumphs of the summer of 1863
had quelled political opposition, and brought overwhelming success
to the Republican party. This period of heroic achievement and
popular enthusiasm was followed in the winter of 1863-64 by a
dormant campaign, a constant waste, and an occasional reverse which
produced a corresponding measure of doubt and despondency. The
war had been prolonged beyond the expectation of the country; the
loss of blood and of treasure had been prodigious; the rebels still
flaunted their flag along the Tennessee and the Rappahannock; the
public debt was growing to enormous proportions; new levies of
troops were necessary; the end could not yet be seen; and all these
trials and sacrifices and uncertainties had their natural effect
upon the temper of the public and upon the fortunes of the war.

The preliminary movements connected with the Presidential canvass
began in this period of doubt. The prevailing judgment of the
Union-Republican party, with full trust in the President's sagacity
and clear recognition of the injurious construction that would be
put upon a change, pointed unmistakably to the renomination of Mr.
Lincoln. But this predominant sentiment encountered some vigorous
opposition. A part of the hostility was due to a sincere though
mistaken impatience with Mr. Lincoln's slow and conservative methods,
and a part was due to political resentments and ambitions. The
more radical element of the party was not content with the President's
cautious and moderate policy, but insisted that he should proceed
to extreme measures or give way to some bolder leader who would
meet this demand. Other individuals had been aggrieved by personal
disappointments, and the spirit of faction could not be altogether
extinguished even amid the agonies of war. There were civil as
well as military offices to be filled, and the selection among
candidates put forward