After Confederate victories early in the Civil War, some members of Congress wanted greater involvement in military policy and strategy. In December 1861 Senator Zachariah Chandler of Michigan introduced a resolution to investigate two particular Union defeats. Congress passed an amended resolution creating a Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War with a broader mission. The committee, chaired by Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio, extensively investigated many aspects of the Union effort. The committee’s published reports of its fact-finding were its greatest achievement.

We are not here a moment too soon. . . . If Wade & I fail in our mission the end is at hand

Senator Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, Letter to Letitia Grace Douglass Chandler, October 27, 1861