Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-314) and index.

The quest for a strategy, 1861 -- The bottom is out of the tub -- You must act -- A question of legs -- Destroy the rebel army, if possible -- The promise must now be kept -- Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point -- The heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion -- If it takes three years more -- No peace without victory.

Evaluates Lincoln's talents as a commander in chief in spite of limited military experience, tracing the ways in which he worked with, or against, his senior commanders to defeat the Confederacy and reshape the presidential role.