he puts one of the finest commanders in charge of his army, general mcclelland. one day he says if general mcclelland is not going to use the army, i would like to borrow it. he is so frustrated, he can't stand himself. generals achieve a certain measure of victory, all this they have to do is cross the darn river, and they stop and have coffee and let the sun set. and lincoln will write letters like, general, i don't think you understand what you've just done. he's in the white house, he's absolutely not in control of events. this is what drives him to haunt the white house at night. this is what causes him to walk around in a tortured state. about two years into the war, you can tell he's wrestling theologically. lincoln believes in a god, he believes in god's ruling work in the earth even though he's still wrestling with his belief that human efforts determine human history. and he often wrote out his wrestling of soul on pieces of paper, and thank god this one was kept by his secretaries. many were lost. but it's come to be known as the meditation on the divi