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6. Abraham Lincoln & George B. McClellan
Library of Congress [1]
Shortly after the engagement at Antietam, President Lincoln and his aides, including Alan Pinkerton, the head of the nation's new secret service visited General George B. McClellan at his encampment on October 3, 1862. Convinced that McClellan has a case of the "slows," Lincoln's urged McClellan to press on the attack against the Confederacy.[2] The photographis is interesting for its depiction of "working" military camp life. No effort was made to "dress up" for the president's visit. Particularly notable is the use of the American flag as a table covering—a use of the flag that a contempary viewer might find strange—and the Star and Bars (perhaps a trophy from Antietam) apparently tossed on the ground.
[1] Gardner, Alexander. 1862. [Antietam, Md. President Lincoln and Gen. George B. McClellan in the general's tent; another view]. In Selected Civil War Photographs from the Library of Congress, 1861-1865. [Online] Available HTTP: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwphome.html; [cwpb 01131 01131]; [October 6, 2004].
[2] Faragher et al, Out of Many, p. 305.
