Lieutenant Wise turned to the firm of Cooper and Hewitt, which speedily completed the beds by mid-February and sent them westward in boxcars plainly labeled “U. S. GRANT, CAIRO. NOT TO BE SWITCHED UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH.” A similar feat was accomplished by a Cincinnati foundry. Lincoln supervised all these efforts closely. Despite his best endeavors, however, the mortar flotilla was not ready in time for Foote and Grant’s campaign. Happy as he was with the news from Tennessee, Lincoln was “[m]ad about mortars.” He remarked that “he must take these army matters into his own hands. The Navy have built their ships and mortars for N[ew] O[rleans] and are ready to go. Gen. McC[lellan] & [General James W.] Ripley & all are to blame.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
(echo:: @ ⌗)