for war with England as an essential means to prevent the
independence of the South before the first of April."

[Footnote 22: Cassius M. Clay, Minister to St.
Petersburg during the Civil War, has been from
first to last one of Miss Carroll's warm
supporters. He says, "Be that as it may, your case
stands out unique, for you towered above all our
generals in military genius, and it would be a
shame upon our country if you were not honored with
the gratitude of all and solid pecuniary reward."
(See p. 132 of batch of memorials.)]

* * * * *

SEWARD TO DAYTON.

_Jan. 27, 1862._

* * * "You see our army and our fleet are at Cairo. You see another
army and another fleet are behind Columbus, which alone is relied upon
to close the Mississippi against us on the north. Though you may not
see it, another army and another fleet are actually on their way to
New Orleans."

* * * * *

At this time of intense anxiety it was suggested to Miss Carroll by
the War Department that she should go West and endeavor to form an
opinion as to the probable result of the proposed descent of the
Mississippi by the gunboats, upon the success of which the continuance
of the Union depended. Accordingly she went to St. Louis, and
remaining for a month or more at the Everett House, in that city, by
means of maps and charts procured from the Mercantile Library she made
careful study of the topography of the proposed line of advance. She
became convinced that this intended expedition would result in
disaster, and that the Tennessee river, not the Mississippi, would be
the true pathway to success.

Again we will turn to Miss Carroll's able account in the Congressional
Records of the military position at that time.

"It became evident, in the autumn of 1861, that if the unity of the
United States could be maintained by military force, the decisive blow
upon the Confederate power must be delivered within sixty or ninety
days. To that period the tide of battle had been steadily against the
Union, and the military operations had not met the expectations of the
country. Nothing is more certain than that this rebel power was able
to resist all the power of the Union upon any of the line