text: troop movements, petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B.Taney to issue a writ of habeas corpus.In June, in Ex parte Merryman, Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court, issued the writ, believing that Article I, section 9 of the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend it.But Lincoln persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas.Union military strategy Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy.He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority.He expanded his war powers, imposed a blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended habeas corpus, and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers.Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions.Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict.It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle, such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions.Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery.The Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery.On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates.The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery.In August 1861, General John C.Frémont, the 1856 Republican presidential nominee, without consulting Washington, issued a martial edict freeing slaves of the rebels.Lincoln canceled the illegal proclamation as politically motivated and lacking military necessity.