Russell, in the _Gazette_, coolly ignoring its prophecy of three weeks
earlier, now spoke as if he had always foreseen the fall of Atlanta:
"General Sherman has fully justified his reputation as an
able and daring soldier; and the final operations by which he
won Atlanta are not the least remarkable of the series which
carried him from Chattanooga ... into the heart of
Georgia[1227]."
But neither of these political-military "expert" journals would
acknowledge any benefit accruing to Lincoln from Sherman's success. Not
so, however, Lyons, who kept his chief much better informed than he
would have been if credulous of the British press. Lyons, who for some
time had been increasingly in bad health, had sought escape from the
summer heat of Washington in a visit to Montreal. He now wrote correctly
interpreting a great change in Northern attitude and a renewed
determination to persevere in the war until reunion was secured.
Lincoln, he thought, was likely to be re-elected:
"The reaction produced by the fall of Atlanta may be taken as
an indication of what the real feelings of the people in the
Northern States are. The vast majority of them ardently
desire to reconquer the lost territory. It is only at moments
when they despair of doing this that they listen to plans for
recovering the territory by negotiation.
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