Confederate Government during those months was at least equal to
its chief obligation: it supplied and recruited the armies. With
Grant checked at Cold Harbor, in June, and Sherman still unable
to pierce the western line, the hopes of the Confederates were
high.

In the North there was corresponding gloom. This was the moment
when all Northern opponents of the war drew together in their
last attempt to shatter the Lincoln Government and make peace
with the Confederacy. The value to the Southern cause of this
Northern movement for peace at any price was keenly appreciated
at Richmond. Trusted agents of the Confederacy were even then in
Canada working deftly to influence Northern sentiment. The
negotiations with those Northern secret societies which
befriended the South belong properly in the story of Northern
politics and the presidential election of 1864. They were
skillfully conducted chiefly by Jacob Thompson and C. C. Clay.
The reports of these agents throughout the spring and summer were
all hopeful and told of "many intelligent men from the United
States" who sought them out in Canada for political
consultations. They discussed "our true friends from the Chicago
(Democratic) convention" and even gave names of those who, they
were assured, would have seats in McClellan's Cabinet. They were
really not well informed upon Northern affairs, and even after
the tide had turned against the Democrats in September, they were
still priding themselves on their diplomatic achievement, still
confident they had helped organize a great political power, had
"given a stronger impetus to the peace party of the North than
all other causes combined, and had greatly reduced the strength
of the war party."