Taking the blame
The failures of Lincoln's generals took a heavy toll on the morale and lives of soldiers, who wished for their own Lee, Jackson, or even a Napoleon to lead them. The front-line soldiers were not alone in questioning the competencies of the generals. Reading his letters and proclamations to these leaders, Lincoln asked questions and recommended actions that the leaders sometimes seemed to ignore (Abraham Lincoln Association, 1989).
Continued military failures contributed to the media attacks on Lincoln that were vicious even by today's standards. An anti-war movement opened a new battlefront within the Union, with Copperheads plotting Lincoln's ouster and demanding peace at any cost. Public sentiment started to reflect the images portrayed by the media and Lincoln's enemies at home, especially as emerging photography technology started showing brutal images of war.
