On October 3, 1862, photographer Alexander Gardner made this remarkable group portrait outside Army of the Potomac headquarters near the Antietam battlefield in Maryland. President Abraham Lincoln stands among senior officers and civilian associates, including Major General John A. McClernand and Ward Hill Lamon—Lincoln’s close friend and personal bodyguard—who is seated near the left side of the frame.
The photograph was made during Lincoln’s October 1–4 visit to the army, little more than two weeks after the Battle of Antietam had checked General Robert E. Lee’s first campaign into the North. Lincoln came not only to review troops and visit the battlefield, but also to press Major General George B. McClellan to pursue Lee’s retreating Confederate army. McClellan’s cautious generalship and failure to exploit the Union advantage had become a source of deep frustration for the administration.
Seen in the context of autumn 1862, Gardner’s image evokes the extraordinary military and political pressures confronting Lincoln. Antietam had already given him the opportunity to issue the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, transforming the Union war effort by making emancipation a central war aim. Yet the strategic opportunity at Antietam remained incomplete: McClellan did not destroy Lee’s army or mount the aggressive follow-up Lincoln demanded. The president removed McClellan from command of the Army of the Potomac the following month.
Image credit: Alexander Gardner, “Group of President Lincoln, and suite, at headquarters Army of Potomac, previous to reviewing the troops and the battle-field of Antietam, 3d Oct., 1862,” October 3, 1862. Courtesy of the Library of Congress; public domain.
