1862

The New Orleans Plum. Punch, Volume 42, May 24, 1862, p. 207

Inspired by the familiar Mother Goose rhyme "Little Jack Horner," this cartoon presents Lincoln as a self-satisfied little boy inordinately proud of his modest accomplishments. Seemingly boxed into a corner, he has somehow managed to avoid disaster. Posted on the wall behind him is a bill for the mounting expenses of the war (noted in sterling rather than dollars!). Above this, a map of the Southern states includes the name "Corinth," an important Mississippi rail center near which the bloody two-day Battle of Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing) had been fought in April. Though pressed almost to the breaking point, Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant had narrowly triumphed.

Northern inability to put a quick end to the rebellion had nearly forced Lincoln to admit failure ("eat humble pie") and consider a negotiated peace. But on April 25, a series of Union victories in the West was capped by the dramatic capture of New Orleans. The fall of the South's greatest seaport and most populous city to a squadron of Union warships under the command of David G. (later Admiral) Farragut renewed the government's confidence in its long-range military strategy. The taking of New Orleans represented one portion of a Federal pincers movement intended to seize control of the entire Mississippi River and thus split the Confederacy in two.