I took this off the "Philadelphia in the Civil War" Forum. Pretty interesting read:

Date:    Fri, 11 May 2007 01:08:23 -0400
From:    Jonathan White <jww@UMD.EDU>
Subject: Sidney George Fisher on the election of 1864

I am presently writing a chapter of my dissertation on the election of 1864,so here is a little from Fisher on the subject.  I'll send out one final entry after this one.

October 26, 1864   The election of Lincoln will be a great blow to the rebels. They count largely on the success of McClellan & are virtually in league with his party. Should he be elected, they would expect peace on their own terms, and they declare that nothing short of separation would satisfy them. They are mistaken, however, in this as they have been in all other calculations. The great majority of the northern people of both parties are determined to restore the Union, the larger portion of the Democrats believing that it can be restored & the war stopped by making concessions to the southern people, by universal amnesty & by maintaining slavery or rather by refusing to destroy it. All that the leaders of that party care for is power, and, when they got it, they would be forced to continue the war should the South refuse still to return to the Union. But
the success of the Democrats would be a great gain to the South. Some efforts for peace would be made, our troops would be discouraged, the rebel hopes revived, perhaps there would be an armistice which would give them time to recover strength & invite European intervention in their favor, if they still determined on independence and if, hopeless of success, they
agreed upon reconstruction, they could have it almost on their own terms, slavery & the right of secession included. It is impossible to say what disaster the success of McClellan would bring. What would the army say, which is almost unanimous against him & for the war, at degrading terms of peace now that victory is assured and almost within their grasp? And would the northern people consent that the immense sacrifices of the war should be made in vain? Two things are necessary for a permanent & satisfactory peace--the utter destruction of the military power of the rebels & the actual emancipation of all the slaves.  

--Last edited by Bill on 2007-05-12 00:46:51 --