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Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln
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Complete Works oj
Abraham Lyincoln Etching by C. B. Hall
Complete Works of
Abraham Lincoln
Edited by JOHN G. NICOLAY and JOHN HAY
With an Introduction by
John Wesley Hill, and Special Articles
by Other Eminent Persons
New and Enlarged Edition
VOLUME VIII
Lincoln Memorial University
Copyright, 1S94, by JOHN G. NICOLAY and JOHN HAY
The Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln1
1
"^HAT God rules in the affairs of men is as certain as any truth of physical sci- ence. On the great moving power which is from the beginning hangs the world of the senses and the world of thought and ac- tion. Eternal wisdom marshals the great pro- cession of the nations, working in patient con- tinuity through the ages, never halting and never abrupt, encompassing all events in its oversight, and ever effecting its will, though mortals may slumber in apathy or oppose with madness. Kings are lifted up or thrown down, nations come and go, republics flourish and wither, dynasties pass away like a tale that is told; but nothing is by chance, though men, in their ignorance of causes, may think so. The deeds of time are governed, as well as judged, by the decrees of eternity. The caprice of fleet- ing existences bends to the immovable omnipo-
1 Memorial address delivered at the request of both Houses of Congress of the United States at a joint session on the anni- versary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, February 12, 1866.
vi The Life and Character
tence, which plants its foot on all the centuries and has neither change of purpose nor repose. Sometimes, like a messenger through the thick darkness of night, it steps along mysterious ways; but when the hour strikes for a people, or for mankind, to pass into a new form of be- ing, unseen hands draw the bolts from the gates of futurity; an all-subduing influence prepares the minds of men for the coming revolution; those who plan resistance find themselves in con- flict with the will of Providence rather than with human devices; and all hearts and all un- derstandings, most of all the opinions and in- fluences of the unwilling, are wonderfully at- tracted and compelled to bear forward the change, which becomes more an obedience to the law of universal nature than submission to the arbitrament of man.
In the fulness of time a republic rose up in the wilderness of America. Thousands of years had passed away before this child of the ages could be born. From whatever there was of good in the systems of former centuries she drew her nourishment; the wrecks of the past were her warnings. With the deepest sentiment of faith fixed in her inmost nature, she disenthrall- ed religion from bondage to temporal power, that her worship might be worship only in spirit and in truth. The wisdom which had
of Abraham Lincoln vii
passed from India through Greece, with what Greece had added of her own; the jurisprudence of Rome; the mediaeval municipalities; the Teutonic method of representation; the political experience of England; the benignant wisdom of the expositors of the law of nature and of nations in France and Holland, all shed on her their selectest influence. She washed the gold of political wisdom from the sands wherever it was found; she cleft it from the rocks; she gleaned it from among ruins. Out of all the discoveries of statesmen and sages, out of all the experience of past human life, she compiled a perennial political philosophy, the primordial principles of national ethics. The wise men of Europe sought the best government in a mix- ture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy; America went behind these names to extract from them the vital elements of social forms, and blend them harmoniously in the free com- monwealth, which comes nearest to the illustra- tion of the natural equality of all men. She intrusted the guardianship of established rights to law, the movements of reform to the spirit of the people, and drew her force from the happy reconciliation of both.
Republics had heretofore been limited to small cantons, or cities and their dependencies ; America, doing that of which the like had not
viii The Life and Character
before been known upon the earth, or believed by kings and statesmen to be possible, extended her republic across a continent. Under her auspices the vine of liberty took deep root and filled the land; the hills were covered with its shadow, its boughs were like the goodly cedars, and reached unto both oceans. The fame of this only daughter of freedom went out into all the lands of the earth ; from her the human race drew hope.
Neither hereditary monarchy nor hereditary aristocracy planted itself on our soil; the only hereditary condition that fastened itself upon us was servitude. Nature works in sincerity, and is ever true to its law. The bee hives honey; the viper distils poison; the vine stores its juices, and so do the poppy and the upas. In like manner every thought and every action ripens its seed, each according to its kind. In the in- dividual man, and still more in a nation, a just idea gives life, and progress, and glory; a false conception portends disaster, shame, and death. A hundred and twenty years ago a West Jersey Quaker wrote : " This trade of importing slaves is dark gloominess hanging over the land; the consequences will be grievous to posterity." At the north the growth of slavery was arrested by natural causes ; in the region nearest the tropics it throve rankly, and worked itself into the or-
of Abraham Lincoln ix
ganism of the rising States. Virginia stood between the two, with soil, and climate, and re- sources demanding free labor, yet capable of the profitable employment of the slave. She was the land of great statesmen, and they saw the danger of her being whelmed under the rising flood in time to struggle against the delusions of avarice and pride. Ninety-four years ago the legislature of Virginia addressed the British king, saying that the trade in slaves was "of great inhumanity," was opposed to the "security and happiness" of their constituents, "would in time have the most destructive influence," and "endanger their very existence." And the king answered them that, "upon pain of his highest displeasure, the importation of slaves should not be in any respect obstructed." "Pharisaical Britain," wrote Franklin in behalf of Virginia, "to pride thyself in setting free a single slave that happened to land on thy coasts, while thy laws continue a traffic whereby so many hun- dreds of thousands are dragged into a slavery that is entailed on their posterity." "A serious view of this subject," said Patrick Henry in 1773, "gives a gloomy prospect to future times." In the same year George Mason wrote to the legis- lature of Virginia: "The laws of impartial Providence may avenge our injustice upon our posterity." Conforming his conduct to his con-
x The Life and Character
victions, Jefferson, in Virginia, and in the Con- tinental Congress, with the approval of Ed- mund Pendleton, branded the slave-trade as piracy; and he fixed in the Declaration of In- dependence, as the corner-stone of America: "All men are created equal, with an unalienable right to liberty." On the first organization of temporary governments for the continental do- main, Jefferson, but for the default of New Jer- sey, would, in 1784, have consecrated every part of that territory to freedom. In the formation of the national Constitution, Virginia, opposed by a part of New England, vainly struggled to abolish the slave-trade at once and forever; and when the ordinance of 1787 was introduced by Nathan Dane without the clause prohibiting slavery, it was through the favorable disposition of Virginia and the South that the clause of Jefferson was restored, and the whole north- western territory — all the territory that then be- longed to the nation — was reserved for the labor of freemen.
The hope prevailed in Virginia that the aboli- tion of the slave-trade would bring with it the gradual abolition of slavery; but the expecta- tion was doomed to disappointment. In sup- porting incipient measures for emancipation, Jefferson encountered difficulties greater than he could overcome, and, after vain wrestlings,
of Abraham Lincoln xi
the words that broke from him, " I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever," were words of despair. It was the desire of Washington's heart that Virginia should remove slavery by a public act; and as the prospects of a general emancipation grew more and more dim, he in utter hopelessness of the action of the State, did all that he could by bequeathing freedom to his own slaves. Good and true men had, from the days of 1776, suggested the colonizing of the negro in the home of his ancestors; but the idea of colonization was thought to increase the difficulty of emancipation, and, in spite of strong support, while it accomplished much good for Africa, it proved impracticable as a remedy at home. Madison, who in early life disliked slavery so much that he wished "to depend as little as possible on the labor of slaves;" Madison, who held that where slavery exists "the republican theory becomes fallacious;" Madison, who in the last years of his life would not consent to the annexation of Texas, lest his countrymen should fill it with slaves; Madi- son, who said, "slavery is the greatest evil under which the nation labors — a portentous evil — an evil, moral, political, and economical — a sad blot on our free country" — went mournfully into old age with the cheerless words: "No satis-
xii The Life and Character
factory plan has yet been devised for taking out the stain."
The men of the Revolution passed away; a new generation sprang up, impatient that an institution to which they clung should be con- demned as inhuman, unwise, and unjust. In the throes of discontent at the self-reproach of their fathers, and blinded by the lustre of wealth to be acquired by the culture of a new staple, they devised the theory that slavery, which they would not abolish, was not evil, but good. They turned on the friends of colonization, and confidently demanded: "Why take black men from a civilized and Christian country, where their labor is a source of immense gain, and a power to control the markets of the world, and send them to a land of ignorance, idolatry, and indolence, which was the home of their fore- fathers, but not theirs? Slavery is a blessing. Were they not in their ancestral land naked, scarcely lifted above brutes, ignorant of the course of the sun, controlled by nature? And in their new abode have they not been taught to know the difference of the seasons, to plough, and plant, and reap, to drive oxen, to tame the horse, to exchange their scanty dialect for the richest of all the languages among men, and the stupid adoration of follies for the purest re- ligion? And since slavery is good for the
of Abraham Lincoln xiii
blacks, it is good for their masters, bringing opulence and the opportunity of educating a race. The slavery of the black is good in itself; he shall serve the white man forever." And nature, which better understood the quality of fleeting interest and passion, laughed as it caught the echo, "man" and "forever!"
A regular development of pretensions follow- ed the new declaration with logical consistency. Under the old declaration every one of the States had retained, each for itself, the right of manumitting all slaves by an ordinary act of legislation; now the power of the people over servitude through their legislatures was cur- tailed, and the privileged class was swift in im- posing legal and constitutional obstructions on the people themselves. The power of emanci- pation was narrowed or taken away. The slave might not be disquieted by education. There remained an unconfessed consciousness that the system of bondage was wrong, and a restless memory that it was at variance with the true American tradition; its safety was therefore to be secured by political organization. The gen- eration that made the Constitution took care for the predominance of freedom in Congress by the ordinance of Jefferson ; the new school aspir- ed to secure for slavery an equality of votes in the Senate, and, while it hinted at an organic
xiv The Life and Character
act that should concede to the collective South a veto power on national legislation, it assumed that each State separately had the right to re- vise and nullify laws of the United States, ac- cording to the discretion of its judgment.
The new theory hung as a bias on the foreign relations of the country; there could be no recognition of Hayti, nor even of the American colony of Liberia; and the world was given to understand that the establishment of free labor in Cuba would be a reason for wresting that island from Spain. Territories were annexed — Louisiana, Florida, Texas, half of Mexico; slavery must have its share in them all, and it accepted for a time a dividing line between the unquestioned domain of free labor and that in which involuntary labor was to be tolerated. A few years passed away, and the new school, strong and arrogant, demanded and received an apology for applying the Jefferson proviso to Oregon.
The application of that proviso was inter- rupted for three administrations, but justice moved steadily onward. In the news that the men of California had chosen freedom, Calhoun heard the knell of parting slavery, and on his death-bed he counselled secession. Washing- ton, and Jefferson, and Madison had died despairing of the abolition of slavery; Calhoun
of Abraham Lincoln xv
died in despair at the growth of freedom. His system rushed irresistibly to its natural develop- ment. The death-struggle for California was followed by a short truce; but the new school of politicians, who said that slavery was not evil, but good, soon sought to recover the ground they had lost, and, confident of securing Kan- sas, they demanded that the established line in the Territories between freedom and slavery should be blotted out. The country, believing in the strength and enterprise and expansive energy of freedom, made answer, though re- luctantly: "Be it so; let there be no strife be- tween brethren; let freedom and slavery compete for the Territories on equal terms, in a fair field, under an impartial administra- tion;" and on this theory, if on any, the con- test might have been left to the decision of time. The South started back in appallment from its victory, for it knew that a fair competition foreboded its defeat. But where could it now find an ally to save it from its own mistake? What I have next to say is spoken with no emo- tion but regret. Our meeting to-day is, as it were, at the grave, in the presence of eternity, and the truth must be uttered in soberness and sincerity. In a great republic, as was observed more than two thousand years ago, any attempt to overturn the state owes is strength to aid from
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some branch of the government. The Chief Justice of the United States, without any neces- sity or occasion, volunteered to come to the rescue of the theory of slavery; and from hi: court there lay no appeal but to the bar of humanity and history. Against the Constitu- tion, against the memory of the nation, against a previous decision, against a series of enact- ments, he decided that the slave is property; that slave property is entitled to no less protec- tion than any other property; that the Constitu- tion upholds it in every Terriory against any act of a local legislature, and even against Con- gress itself; or, as the President for that term tersely promulgated the saying, "Kansas is as much a slave State as South Carolina or Geor- gia; slavery, by virtue of the Constitution, exists in every Territory." The municipal character of slavery being thus taken away, and slave property decreed to be "sacred," the authority of the courts was invoked to intro- duce it by the comity of law into the State where slavery had been abolished, and in one of the courts of the United States a judge pronounced the African slave-trade legitimate, and numer- ous and powerful advocates demanded its restoration.
Moreover, the Chief Justice, in his elaborate opinion, announced what had never been heard
of Abraham Lincoln xvii
from any magistrate of Greece or Rome; what was unknown to civil law, and canon law, and feudal law, and common law, and constitu- tional law; unknown to Jay, to Rutledge, Ells- worth, and Marshall — that there are "slave races." The spirit of evil is intensely logical. Having the authority of this decision, five States swiftly followed the earlier example of a sixth, and opened the way for reducing the free negro to bondage; the migrating free negro became a slave if he but entered within the jurisdiction of a seventh ; and an eighth, from its extent, and soil, and mineral resources, destined to incalcula- ble greatness, closed its eyes on its coming pros- perity, and enacted, as by Taney's dictum it had the right to do, that every free black man who would live within its limits must accept the con- dition of slavery for himself and his posterity.
Only one step more remained to be taken. Jefferson and the leading statesmen of his day held fast to the idea that the enslavement of the African was socially, morally, and politically wrong. The new school was founded exactly upon the opposite idea ; and they resolved, first, to distract the democratic party, for which the Supreme Court had now furnished the means, and then to establish a new government, with negro slavery for its corner-stone, as socially, morally, and politically right.
xviii The Life and Character
As the Presidential election drew on, one of the great traditional parties did not make its appearance; the other reeled as it sought to preserve its old position, and the candidate who most nearly represented its best opinion, driven by patriotic zeal, roamed the country from end to end to speak for union, eager, at least, to con- front its enemies, yet not having hope that it would find its deliverance through him. The storm rose to a whirlwind; who should allay its wrath? The most experienced statesmen of the country had failed; there was no hope from those who were great after the flesh: could relief come from one whose wisdom was like the wisdom of little children?
The choice of America fell on a man born west of the Alleghanies, in the cabin of poor people of Hardin county, Kentucky — Abra- ham Lincoln.
His mother could read, but not write; his father could do neither; but his parents sent him, with an old spelling-book, to school, and he learned in his childhood to do both.
When eight years old he floated down the Ohio with his father on a raft, which bore the family and all their possessions to the shore of Indiana; and, child as he was, he gave help as they toiled through dense forests to the interior of Spencer county. There, in the land of free
of Abraham Lincoln xix
labor, he grew up in a log-cabin, with the sol- emn solitude for his teacher in his meditative hours. Of Asiatic literature he knew only the Bible; of Greek, Latin, and mediaeval, no more than the translation of /Esop's Fables ; of Eng- lish, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The traditions of George Fox and William Penn passed to him dimly along the lines of two cen- turies through his ancestors, who were Quakers.
Otherwise his education was altogether Amer- ican. The Declaration of Independence was his compendium of political wisdom, the Life of Washington his constant study, and some- thing of Jefferson and Madison reached him through Henry Clay, whom he honored from boyhood. For the rest, from day to day, he lived the life of the American people, walked in its light, reasoned with its reason, thought with its power of thought, felt the beatings of its mighty heart, and so was in every way a child of nature, a child of the West, a child of Amer- ica.
At nineteen, feeling impulses of ambition to get on in the world, he engaged himself to go down the Mississippi in a flatboat, receiving ten dollars a month for his wages, and afterwards he made the trip once more. At twenty-one he drove his father's cattle, as the family migrated to Illinois, and split rails to fence in the new
xx The Life and Character
homestead in the wild. At twenty-three he was a captain of volunteers in the Black Hawk war. He kept a store. He learned something of sur- veying, but of English literature he added to Bunyan nothing but Shakespeare's plays. At twenty-five he was elected to the legislature of Illinois, where he served eight years. At twenty-seven he was admitted to the bar. In 1837 he chose his home at Springfield, the beau- tiful centre of the richest land in the State. In 1847 he was a member of the national con- gress, where he voted about forty times in favor of the principle of the Jefferson pro- viso. In 1849 he sought eagerly, but unsuc- cessfully, the place of Commissioner of the Land Office, and he refused an appointment that would have transferred his residence to Oregon. In 1854 he gave his influence to elect from Illinois, to the American Senate, a Demo- crat, who would certainly do justice to Kansas. In 1858, as the rival of Douglas, he went before the people of the mighty Prairie State, saying, "This Union cannot permanently endure half slave and half free; the Union will not be dis- solved, but the house will cease to be divided;" and now, in 1861, with no experience whatever as an executive officer, while States were madly flying from their orbit, and wise men knew not where to find counsel, this descendant of Quak-
of Abraham Lincoln xxi
ers, this pupil of Bunyan, this offspring of the great West, was elected President of America.
He measured the difficulty of the duty that devolved upon him, and was resolved to fulfil it. As on the eleventh of February, 1861, he left Springfield, which for a quarter of a cen- tury had been his happy home, to the crowd of his friends and neighbors, whom he was never more to meet, he spoke a solemn farewell: "I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty has devolved upon me, greater than that which has devolved upon any other man since Washington. He never would have succeeded, except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. On the same Al- mighty Being I place my reliance. Pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which suc- cess is certain." To the men of Indiana he said: "I am but an accidental, temporary instru- ment; it is your business to rise up and preserve the Union and liberty." At the capital of Ohio he said: "Without a name, without a reason why I should have a name, there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father of his country." At various places in New York, especially at Albany, before the leg- islature, which tendered him the united sup- port of the great Empire State, he said: "While
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The Life and Character
I hold myself the humblest of all the individ- uals who have ever been elevated to the Pres- idency, I have a more difficult task to perform than any of them. I bring a true heart to the work. I must rely upon the people of the whole country for support, and with their sus- taining aid even I, humble as I am, cannot fail to carry the ship of state safely through the storm." To the assembly of New Jersey, at Trenton, he explained: "I shall take the ground I deem most just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country, in good temper, certainly with no malice to any section. I am devoted to peace, but it may be nec- essary to put the foot down firmly." In the old Independence Hall, of Philadelphia, he said: "I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence, which gave lib- erty, not alone to the people of this country, but to the world in all future time. If the country cannot be saved without giving up that prin- ciple, I would rather be assassinated on the spot than surrender it. I have said nothing but what I am willing to live and die by."
Travelling in the dead of night to escape as- sassination, Lincoln arrived at Washington nine days before his inauguration. The outgoing President, at the opening of the session of Con-
of Abraham Lincoln xxiii
gress, had still kept as the majority of his ad- visers men engaged in treason; had declared that in case of even an "imaginary" apprehen- sion of danger from notions of freedom among the slaves, "disunion would become inevitable." Lincoln and others had questioned the opinion of Taney; such impugning he ascribed to the "factious temper of the times." The favorite doctrine of the majority of the Democratic party on the power of a territorial legislature over slavery he condemned as an attack on "the sacred rights of property." The State legislatures, he insisted, must repeal what he called "their un- constitutional and obnoxious enactments," and which, if such were "null and void," or "it would be impossible for any human power to save the Union." Nay! if these unimportant acts were not repealed, "the injured States would be justi- fied in revolutionary resistance to the govern- ment of the Union." He maintained that no State might secede at its sovereign will and pleasure; that the Union was meant for perpe- tuity, and that Congress might attempt to pre- serve it but only by conciliation; that "the sword was not placed in their hands to preserve it by force;" that "the last desperate remedy of a despairing people" would be "an explana- tory amendment recognizing the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States." The
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American Union he called "a confederacy" of States, and he thought it a duty to make the ap- peal for the amendment "before any of these States should separate themselves from the Union." The views of the Lieutenant General, containing some patriotic advice, "conceded the right of secession," pronounced a quadruple rupture of the Union "a smaller evil than the reuniting of the fragments by the sword," and "eschewed the idea of invading a seceded State." After changes in the Cabinet, the President informed Congress that "matters were still worse;" that "the South suffered serious griev- ances," which should be redressed "in peace." The day after this message the flag of the Union was fired upon from Fort Morris, and the in- sult was not revenged or noticed. Senators in Congress telegraphed to their constituents to seize the national forts, and they were not ar- rested. The finances of the country were griev- ously embarrassed. Its little army was not within reach; the part of it in Texas, with all its stores, was made over by its commander to reb- els. One State after another voted in conven- tion to secede. A peace congress, so called, met at the request of Virginia to concert the terms of a capitulation which should secure permis- sion for the continuance of the Union. Con- gress, in both branches, sought to devise concil-
of Abraham Lincoln xxv
iatory expedients ; the Territories of the country were organized in a manner not to conflict with any pretensions of the South, or any decision of the Supreme Court; and, nevertheless, the rep- resentatives of the rebellion formed at Montgom- ery a provisional government, and pursued their relentless purpose with such success that the Lieutenant General feared the city of Washing- ton might find itself "included in a foreign country," and proposed, among the options for the consideration of Lincoln, to bid the way- ward States "depart in peace." The great re- public appeared to have its emblem in the vast unfinished Capitol, at that moment surrounded by masses of stone and prostrate columns never yet lifted into their places, seemingly the monu- ment of high but delusive aspirations, the con- fused wreck of inchoate magnificence, sadder than any ruin of Egyptian Thebes or Athens.
The fourth of March came. With instinc- tive wisdom the new President, speaking to the people on taking the oath of office, put aside every question that divided the country, and gained a right to universal support by planting himself on the single idea of Union. The Union he declared to be unbroken and perpetual, and he announced his determination to fulfill "the sim- ple duty of taking care that the laws be faith- fully executed in all the States." Seven days
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later, the convention of Confederate States unan- imously adopted a constitution of their own, and the new government was authoritatively an- nounced to be founded on the idea that the negro race is a slave race; that slavery is its natural and normal condition. The issue was made up, whether the great republic was to maintain its providential place in the history of mankind, or a rebellion founded on negro slavery gain a recognition of its principle throughout the civi- lized world. To the disaffected Lincoln had said, "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors." To fire the passions of the southern portion of the people, the con- federate government chose to become aggres- sors, and, on the morning of the twelfth of April, began the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and compelled its evacuation.
It is the glory of the late President that he had perfect faith in the perpetuity of the Union. Supported in advance by Douglas, who spoke as with the voice of a million, he instantly called a meeting of Congress and summoned the people to come up and repossess the forts, places, and property which had been seized from the Union The men of the north were trained in schools; industrious and frugal ; many of them delicately bred, their minds teeming with ideas and fertile in plans of enterprise ; given to the culture of the
of Abraham Lincoln xxvii
arts; eager in the pursuit of wealth, yet employ- ing wealth less for ostentation than for develop- ing the resources of their country; seeking hap- piness in the calm of domestic life; and such lovers of peace, that for generations they had been reputed unwarlike. Now, at the cry of their country in its distress, they rose up with un- appeasable patriotism; not hirelings — the purest and of the best blood in the land. Sons of a pi- ous ancestry with a clear perception of duty, un- clouded faith and fixed resolve to succeed, they thronged around the President, to support the wronged, the beautiful flag of the nation. The halls of theological seminaries sent forth their young men, whose lips were touched with elo- quence, whose hearts kindled with devotion, to serve in the ranks, and make their way to com- mand only as they learned the art of war. Striplings in the colleges, as well the most gentle and the most studious, those of sweetest temper and loveliest character and brightest gen- ius, passed from their classes to the camp. The lumbermen from the forests, the mechanics from their benches, where they had been trained, by the exercise of political rights, to share the life and hope of the republic, to feel their responsi- bility to their forefathers, their posterity and mankind, went to the front, resolved that their dignity, as a constituent part of this republic,
xxviii The Life and Character
should not be impaired. Farmers and sons of farmers left the land but half ploughed, the grain but half planted, and, taking up the musket, learned to face without fear the pres- ence of peril and the coming of death in the shocks of war, while their hearts were still at- tracted to their herds and fields, and all the ten- der affections of home. Whatever there was of truth and faith and public love in the common heart, broke out with one expression. The mighty winds blew from every quarter, to fan the flame of the sacred and unquenchable fire.
For a time the war was thought to be confined to our own domestic affairs, but it was soon seen that it involved the destinies of mankind; its principles and causes shook the politics of Eu- rope to the centre, and from Lisbon to Pekin divided the governments of the world.
There was a kingdom whose people had in an eminent degree attained to freedom of in- dustry and the security of person and property. Its middle class rose to greatness. Out of that class sprang the noblest poets and philosophers, whose words built up the intellect of its people; skillful navigators, to find out for its merchants the many paths of the oceans; discoverers in natural science, whose inventions guided its in- dustry to wealth, till it equalled any nation of the world in letters, and excelled all in trade and
of Abraham Lincoln xxix
commerce. But its government was become a government of land, and not of men; every blade of grass was represented, but only a small minority of its people. In the transition from the feudal forms the heads of the social organi- zation freed themselves from the military serv- ices which were the conditions of their tenure, and, throwing the burden on the industrial classes, kept all the soil to themselves. Vast estates that had been managed by monasteries as endowments for religion and charity were im- propriated to swell the wealth of courtiers and favorites ; and the commons, where the poor man once had his right of pasture, were taken away, and, under forms of law, enclosed distributively within the domains of the adjacent landholders. Although no law forbade any inhabitant from purchasing land, the costliness of the transfer constituted a prohibition; so that it was the rule of the country that the plough should not be in the hands of its owner. The church was rested on a contradiction; claiming to be an em- bodiment of absolute truth, it was a creature of the statute-book.
The progress of time increased the terrible contrast between wealth and poverty. In their years of strength the laboring people, cut off from all share in governing the state, derived a scant support from the severest toil, and had no
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hope for old age but in public charity or death. A grasping ambition had dotted the world with military posts, kept watch over our borders on the northeast, at the Bermudas, in the West In- dies, appropriated the gates of the Pacific, of the Southern and of the Indian ocean, hovered on our northwest at Vancouver, held the whole of the newest continent, and the entrances to the old Mediterranean and Red Sea, and garrisoned forts all the way from Madras to China. That aristocracy had gazed with terror on the growth of a commonwealth where freeholders existed by the million, and religion was not in bondage to the state, and now they could not repress their joy at its perils. They had not one word of sympathy for the kind-hearted poor man's son whom America had chosen for her chief; they jeered at his large hands, and long feet, and un- gainly stature; and the British secretary of state for foreign affairs made haste to send word through the palaces of Europe that the great republic was in its agony; that the republic was no more; that a headstone was all that re- mained due by the law of nations to "the late Union." But it is written, "Let the dead bury their dead;" they may not bury the living. Let the dead bury their dead; let a bill of reform remove the worn-out government of a class, and infuse new life into the British constitu-
of Abraham Lincoln xxxi
tion by confiding rightful power to the people. But while the vitality of America is inde- structible, the British government hurried to do what never before had been done by Christian powers ; what was in direct conflict with its own exposition of public law in the time of our strug- gle for independence. Though the insurgent States had not a ship in an open harbor, it in- vested them with all the rights of a belligerent, even on the ocean ; and this, too, when the rebel- lion was not only directed against the gentlest and most beneficent government on earth, with- out a shadow of justifiable cause, but when the rebellion was directed against human nature itself for the perpetual enslavement of a race. And the effect of this recognition was, that acts in themselves piratical found shelter in British courts of law. The resources of British capital- ists, their workshops, their armories, their pri- vate arsenals, their ship-yards, were in league with the insurgents, and every British harbor in the wide world became a safe port for British ships*, manned by British sailors, and armed with British guns, to prey on our peaceful com- merce; even on our ships coming from British ports, freighted with British products, or that had carried gifts of grain to the English poor. The prime minister, in the House of Commons, sustained by cheers, scoffed at the thought that
xxxii The Life and Character
their laws could be amended at our request, so as to preserve real neutrality; and to remon- strances, now owned to have been just, their sec- retary of state answered that they could not change their laws ad infinitum.
The people of America then wished, as they always have wished, as they still wish, friendly relations with England, and no man in Eng- land or America can desire it more strongly than I. This country has always yearned for good relations with England. Thrice only in all its history has that yearning been fairly met: in the days of Hampden and Cromwell, again in the first ministry of the elder Pitt, and once again in the ministry of Shelburne. Not that there have not at all times been just men among the peers of Britain — like Halifax in the days of James the Second, or a Granville, an Argyll, or a Houghton in ours; and we cannot be indifferent to a country that produces statesmen like Cob- den and Bright; but the best bower anchor of peace was the working class of England, who suffered most from our civil war, but who, while they broke their diminished bread in sorrow, al- ways encouraged us to persevere.
The act of recognizing the rebel belligerents was concerted with France — France, so beloved in America, on which she had conferred the greatest benefits that one people ever conferred
of Abraham Lincoln xxxiii
on another; France, which stands foremost on the continent of Europe for the solidity of her culture, as well as for the bravery and generous impulses of her sons; France, which for cen- turies had been moving steadily in her own way towards intellectual and political freedom. The policy regarding further colonization of America by European powers, known com- monly as the doctrine of Monroe, had its origin in France, and if it takes any man's name, should bear the name of Turgot. It was adopted by Louis the Sixteenth, in the cabinet of which Vergennes was the most important member. It is emphatically the policy of France, to which, with transient deviations, the Bourbons, the First Napoleon, the House of Orleans have ad- hered.
The late President was perpetually harassed by rumors that the Emperor Napoleon the Third desired formally to recognize the States in rebellion as an independent power, and that England held him back by her reluctance, or France by her traditions of freedom, or he him- self by his own better judgment and clear per- ception of events. But the republic of Mexico, on our borders, was, like ourselves, distracted by a rebellion, and from a similar cause. The monarchy of England had fastened upon us slavery which did not disappear with independ-
xxxiv The Life and Character
ence; in like manner, the ecclesiastical policy established by the Spanish council of the In- dies, in the days of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second, retained its vigor in the Mexican republic. The fifty years of civil war under which she had languished was due to the big- oted system which was the legacy of monarchy, just as here the inheritance of slavery kept alive political strife, and culminated in civil war. As with us there could be no quiet but through the end of slavery, so in Mexico there could be no prosperity until the crushing tyranny of in- tolerance should cease. The party of slavery in the United States sent their emissaries to Europe to solicit aid; and so did the party of the church in Mexico, as organized by the old Spanish council of the Indies, but with a different result. Just as the Republican party had made an end of the rebellion, and was establishing the best government ever known in that region, and giv- ing promise to the nation of order, peace, and prosperity, word was brought us, in the moment of our deepest affliction, that the French Em- peror, moved by a desire to erect in North America a buttress for imperialism, would trans- form the republic of Mexico into a secundo- geniture for the house of Hapsburg. America might complain; she could not then interpose, and delay seemed justifiable. It was seen that
of Abraham Lincoln xxxv
Mexico could not, with all its wealth of land, compete in cereal products with our north- west, nor in tropical products with Cuba, nor could it, under a disputed dynasty, attract capi- tal, or create public works, or develop mines, or borrow money; so that the imperial system of Mexico, which was forced at once to recog- nize the wisdom of the policy of the republic by adopting it, could prove only an unremu- nerating drain on the French treasury for the support of an Austrian adventurer.
Meantime a new series of momentous ques- tions grows up, and forces itself on the consider- ation of the thoughtful. Republicanism has learned how to introduce into its constitution every element of order, as well as every element of freedom; but thus far the continuity of its government has seemed to depend on the con- tinuity of elections. It is now to be considered how perpetuity is to be secured against foreign occupation. The successor of Charles the First of England dated his reign from the death of his father; the Bourbons, coming back after a long series of revolutions, claimed that the Louis who became king was the eighteenth of that name. The present Emperor of the French, disdaining a title from election alone, - calls himself Napoleon the Third. Shall a re- public have less power of continuance when in-
xxxvi The Life and Character
vading armies prevent a peaceful resort to the ballot-box? What force shall it attach to in- tervening legislation? What validity to debts contracted for its overthrow? These momen- tous questions are, by the invasion of Mexico, thrown up for solution. A free state once truly constituted should be as undying as its people; the republic of Mexico must rise again.
It was the condition of affairs in Mexico that involved the Pope of Rome in our difficulties so far that he alone among sovereigns recognized the chief of the Confederate States as a presi- dent, and his supporters as a people; and in let- ters to two great prelates of the Catholic church in the United States gave counsels for peace at a time when peace meant the victory of secession. Yet events move as they are ordered. The blessing of the Pope of Rome on the head of Duke Maximilian could not revive in the nine- teenth century the ecclesiastical policy of the sixteenth, and the result is only a new proof that there can be no prosperity in the state without religious freedom.
When it came home to the consciousness of the Americans that the war which they were waging was a war for the liberty of all the nations of the world, for freedom itself, they thanked God for giving them strength to en- dure the severity of the trial to which He put
of Abraham Lincoln xxxvii
their sincerity, and nerved themselves for their war; and at one time every fifth of their able- bodied men was in service. In one single month one hundred and sixty-five thousand men were recruited into service. Once, within four weeks, Ohio organized and placed in the field forty-two regiments of infantry — nearly thirty- six thousand men; and Ohio was like other States in the east and in the west. The well- mounted cavalry numbered eighty-four thou- sand; of horses and mules there were bought, from first to last, two-thirds of a million. In the movements of troops science came in aid of patriotism, so that, to choose a single instance out of many, an army twenty-three thousand strong, with its artillery, trains, baggage, and animals, were moved by rail from the Potomac to the Tennessee, twelve hundred miles, in seven days. On the long marches, wonders of mili- tary construction bridged the rivers, and wher- ever an army halted, ample supplies awaited them at their ever-changing base. The vile thought that life is the greatest of blessings did not rise up. In six hundred and twenty-five bat- tles and severe skirmishes blood flowed like water. It streamed over grassy plains ; it stained the rocks ; the undergrowth of the forests was red with it; and the armies marched on with majes- tic courage from one conflict to another, know-
xxxviii The Life and Character
ing that they were fighting for God and liberty. The organization of the medical department met its infinitely multiplied duties with exact- ness and despatch. At the news of a battle, the best surgeons of our cities hastened to the field, to offer the untiring aid of the greatest experi- ence and skill. The gentlest and most refined of women left homes of luxury and ease to build hospital tents near the armies, and serve as nurses to the sick and dying. Beside the large supply of religious teachers by the public, the congregations spared to their brothers in the field the ablest ministers. The Christian Com- mission, which expanded more than six and a quarter millions, sent nearly five thousand clergymen, chosen out of the best, to keep un- soiled the religious character of the men, and made gifts of clothes and food and medicine. The organization of private charity assumed un- heard-of dimensions. The Sanitary Commis- sion, which had seven thousand societies, distrib- uted, under the direction of an unpaid board, spontaneous contributions to the amount of fif- teen millions in supplies or money — a million and a half in money from California alone — and dotted the scene of war, from Paducah to Port Royal, from Belle Plain, Virginia, to Browns- ville, Texas, with homes and lodges.
The country had for its allies the river Mis-
of Abraham Lincoln xxxix
sissippi, which would not be divided, and the range of mountains which carried the strong- hold of the free through Western Virginia and Kentucky and Tennessee to the highlands of Alabama. But it invoked the still higher power of immortal justice. In ancient Greece, where servitude was the universal cus'tom, it was held that if a child were to strike its par- ent, the slave should defend the parent, and by that act recover his freedom. After vain resist- ance, Lincoln, who had tried to solve the ques- tion by gradual emancipation, by colonization, and by compensation, at last saw that slavery must be abolished, or the republic must die; and on the first day of January, 1863, he wrote lib- erty on the banners of the armies. When this proclamation, which struck the fetters from three millions of slaves, reached Europe, Lord Rus- sell, a countryman of Milton and Wilberforce, eagerly put himself forward to speak of it in the name of mankind, saying: "It is of a very strange nature;" "a measure of war of a very questionable kind;" an act "of vengeance on the slave owner," that does no more than "profess to emancipate slaves where the United States authorities cannot make emancipation a reality."- Now there was no part of the country embraced in the proclamation where the United States could not and did not make emancipation a re-
xl The Life and Character
ality. Those who saw Lincoln most frequently had never before heard him speak with bitter- ness of any human being, but he did not conceal how keenly he felt that he had been wronged by Lord Russell. And he wrote, in reply to other cavils: "The emancipation policy and the use of colored troops were the greatest blows yet dealt to the rebellion ; the job was a great na- tional one, and let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it. I hope peace will come soon, and come to stay; then will there be some black men who can remember that they have helped mankind to this great consummation."
The proclamation accomplished its end, for, during the war, our armies came into military possession of every State in rebellion. Then, too, was called forth the new power that comes from the simultaneous diffusion of thought and feeling among the nations of mankind. The mysterious sympathy of the millions throughout the world was given spontaneously. The best writers of Europe waked the conscience of the thoughtful, till the intelligent moral sentiment of the Old World was drawn to the side of the unlettered statesman of the west. Russia, whose emperor had just accomplished one of the grandest acts in the course of time, by raising twenty millions of bondmen into freeholders, and thus assuring the growth and culture of a
of Abraham Lincoln xli
Russian people, remained our unwavering friend. From the oldest abode of civilization, which gave the first example of an imperial government with equality among the people, Prince Kung, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, remembered the saying of Confucius, that we should not do to others what we would not that others should do to us, and, in the name of his emperor, read a lesson to European dip- lomats by closing the ports of China against the war-ships and privateers of "the seditious."
The war continued, with all the peoples of the world for anxious spectators. Its cares weighed heavily on Lincoln, and his face was ploughed with the furrows of thought and sadness. With malice towards none, free from the spirit of revenge, victory made him importunate for peace, and his enemies never doubted his word, or despaired of his abounding clemency. He longed to utter pardon as the word for all, but not unless the freedom of the negro should be assured. The grand battles of Fort Donelson, Chattanooga, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Gettys- burg, the Wilderness, of Virginia, Winchester^ Nashville, the capture of New Orleans, Vicks- burg, Mobile, Fort Fisher, the march from At- lanta, and the capture of Savannah and Charles- ton, all foretold the issue. Still more, the self- regeneration of Missouri, the heart of the con-
xlii The Life and Character
tinent; of Maryland, whose sons never heard the midnight bells chime so sweetly as when they rang out to earth and heaven that, by the voice of her own people, she took her place among the free; of Tennessee, which passed through fire and blood, through sorrows and the shadow of death, to work out her own deliver- ance, and by the faithfulness of her own sons to renew her youth like the eagle — proved that vic- tory was deserved, and would be worth all that it cost. If words of mercy, uttered as they were by Lincoln on the waters of Virginia, were de- fiantly repelled, the armies of the country, mov- ing with one will, went as the arrow to its mark, and, without a feeling of revenge, struck a death- blow at rebellion.
Where, in the history of nations, had a Chief Magistrate possessed more sources of consola- tion and joy than Lincoln? His countrymen had shown their love by choosing him to a second term of service. The raging war that had di- vided the country had lulled, and private grief was hushed by the grandeur of the result. The nation had its new birth of freedom, soon to be secured forever by an amendment of the Con- stitution. His persistent gentleness had con- quered for him a kindlier feeling on the part of the South. His scoffers among the grandees of Europe began to do him honor. The labor-
of Abraham Lincoln xliii
ing classes everywhere saw in his advancement their own. All peoples sent him their benedic- tions. And at this moment of the height of his fame, to which his humility and modesty added charms, he fell by the hand of the assassin, and the only triumph awarded him was the march to the grave.
This is no time to say that human glory is but dust and ashes ; that we mortals are no more than shadows in pursuit of shadows. How mean a thing were man if there were not that within him which is higher than himself; if he could not master the illusions of sense, and discern the connexions of events by a superior light which comes from God! He so shares the divine im- pulses that he has power to subject interested passions to love of country, and personal ambi- tion to the ennoblement of his kind. Not in vain has Lincoln lived, for he has helped to make this republic an example of justice, with no caste but the caste of humanity. The heroes who led our armies and ships into battle and fell in the service — Lyon, McPherson, Reynolds, Sedgwick, Wadsworth, Foote, Ward, with their compeers — did not die in vain; they and the myriads of nameless martyrs, and he, the chief martyr, gave up their lives willingly "that gov- ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
xliv The Life and Character
The assassination of Lincoln, who was so free from malice, has, by some mysterious influ- ence, struck the country with solemn awe, and hushed, instead of exciting, the passion for re- venge. It seems as if the just had died for the unjust. When I think of the friends I have lost in this war — and every one who hears me has, like myself, lost some of those whom he most loved — there is no consolation to be derived from victims on the scaffold, or from anything but the established union of the regenerated nation.
In his character Lincoln was through and through an American. He is the first native of the region west of the Alleghanies to attain to the highest station ; and how happy it is that the man who was brought forward as the natural outgrowth and first fruits of that region should have been of unblemished purity in private life, a good son, a kind husband, a most affectionate father, and, as a man, so gentle to all. As to integrity, Douglas, his rival, said of him. "Lin- coln is the honestest man I ever knew."
The habits of his mind were those of medita- tion and inward thought, rather than of action. He delighted to express his opinions by an apothegm, illustrate them by a parable, or drive them home by a story. He was skilful in an- alysis, discerned with precision the central idea
of Abraham Lincoln xlv
on which a question turned, and knew how to disengage it and present it by itself in a few homely, strong old English words that would be intelligible to all. He excelled in logical statement more than in executive ability. He reasoned clearly, his reflective judgment was good, and his purposes were fixed ; but, like the Hamlet of his only poet, his will was tardy in action, and, for this reason, and not from humil- ity or tenderness of feeling, he sometimes de- plored that the duty which devolved on him had not fallen to the lot of another.
Lincoln gained a name by discussing ques- tions which, of all others, most easily lead to fanaticism; but he was never carried away by enthusiastic zeal, never indulged in extravagant language, never hurried to support extreme measures, never allowed himself to be controlled by sudden impulses. During the progress of the election at which he was chosen President he expressed no opinion that went beyond the Jef- ferson proviso of 1784. Like Jefferson and La- fayette, he had faith in the intuitions of the people, and read those intuitions with rare sagacity. He knew how to bide time, and was less apt to run ahead of public thought than to lag behind. He never sought to electrify the community by taking an advanced position with a banner of opinion, but rather studied to move
xlvi The Life and Character
forward compactly, exposing no detachment in front or rear; so that the course of his adminis- tration might have been explained as the cal- culating policy of a shrewd and watchful politician, had there not been seen behind it a fixedness of principle which from the first determined his purpose, and grew more intense with every year, consuming his life by its energy. Yet his sensibilities were not acute; he had no vividness of imagination to picture to his mind the horrors of the battle-field or the sufferings in hospitals; his conscience was more tender than his feelings.
Lincoln was one of the most unassuming of men. In time of success, he gave credit for it to those whom he employed, to the people, and to the Providence of God. He did not know what ostentation is; when he became President he was rather saddened than elated, and his conduct and manners showed more than ever his belief that all men are born equal. He was no respecter of persons, and neither rank, nor reputation, nor services overawed him. In judging of character he failed in discrimina- tion, and his appointments were sometimes bad; but he readily deferred to public opinion, and in appointing the head of the armies he followed the manifest preference of Congress.
A good President will secure unity to his
of Abraham Lincoln xlvii
administration by his own supervision of the various departments. Lincoln, who accepted advice readily, was never governed by any mem- ber of his cabinet, and could not be moved from a purpose deliberately formed; but his super- vision of affairs was unsteady and incomplete, and sometimes, by a sudden interference tran- scending the usual forms, he rather confused than advanced the public business. If he ever failed in the scrupulous regard due to the rela- tive rights of Congress, it was so evidently with- out design that no conflict could ensue, or evil precedent be established. Truth he would re- ceive from any one, but when impressed by others, he did not use their opinions till, by re- flection, he had made them thoroughly his own. It was the nature of Lincoln to forgive. When hostilities ceased, he, who had always sent forth the flag with every one of its stars in the field, was eager to receive back his returning countrymen, and meditated "some new an- nouncement to the South." The amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery had his most earnest and unwearied support. During the rage of war we get a glimpse into his soul from his privately suggesting to Louisiana, that "in defining the franchise some of the colored peo- ple might be let in," saying: "They would prob- ably help, in some trying time to come, to keep
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the jewel of liberty in the family of freedom." In 1857 ne avowed himself "not in favor of" what he improperly called "negro citizenship," for the Constitution discriminates between citi- zens and electors. Three days before his death he declared his preference that "the elective franchise were now conferred on the very intel- ligent of the colored men, and on those of them who served our cause as soldiers ;" but he wished it done by the States themselves, and he never harbored the thought of exacting it from a new government, as a condition of its recognition.
The last day of his life beamed with sunshine, as he sent, by the Speaker of this House, his friendly greetings to the men of the Rocky mountains and the Pacific slope; as he contem- plated the return of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to fruitful industry; as he welcomed in advance hundreds of thousands of emigrants from Europe ; as his eye kindled with enthusiasm at the coming wealth of the nation. And so, with these thoughts for his country, he was re- moved from the toils and temptations of this life, and was at peace.
Hardly had the late President been consigned to the grave when the prime minister of Eng- land died, full of years and honors. Palmer- ston traced his lineage to the time of the conqueror; Lincoln went back only to his grand-
of Abraham Lincoln xlix
father. Palmerston received his education from the best scholars of Harrow, Edinburg, and Cambridge; Lincoln's early teachers were the silent forest, the prairie, the river, and the stars. Palmerston was in public life for sixty years; Lincoln for buti a tenth of that time. Palmerston was a skilful guide of an established aristocracy; Lincoln a leader, or rather a com- panion, of the people. Palmerston was ex- clusively an Englishman, and made his boast in the House of Commons that the interest of Eng- land was his Shibboleth; Lincoln thought always of mankind, as well as his own country, and served human nature itself. Palmerston, from his narrowness as an Englishman, did not endear his country to any one court or to any one nation, but rather caused general uneasiness and dislike; Lincoln left America more beloved than ever by all the peoples of Europe. Palmerston was self-possessed and adroit in reconciling the conflicting factions of the aristocracy; Lincoln, frank and ingenuous, knew how to poise himself on the ever-moving opinions of the masses. Palmerston was capable of insolence towards the weak, quick to the sense of honor, not heedful of right; Lincoln had rejected counsel given only as a matter of policy, and was not capable of being wilfully unjust. Palmerston, essen- tially superficial, delighted in banter, and knew
1 The Life and Character
how to divert grave, opposition by playful levity; Lincoln was a man of infinite jest on his lips, with saddest earnestness at his heart. Palmer- ston was a fair representative of the aristocratic liberality of the day, choosing for his tribunal, not the conscience of humanity, but the House of Commons; Lincoln took to heart the eternal truths of liberty, obeyed them as the commands of Providence, and accepted the human race as the judge of his fidelity. Palmerston did noth- ing that will endure; Lincoln finished a work which all time cannot overthrow. Palmerston is a shining example of the ablest of a cultivated aristocracy; Lincoln is the genuine fruit of in- stitutions where the laboring man shares and assists to form the great ideas and designs of his country. Palmerston was buried in West- minster Abbey by the order of his Queen, and was attended by the British aristocracy to his grave, which, after a few years, will hardly be noticed by the sides of the graves of Fox and Chatham; Lincoln was followed by the sorrow of his country across the continent to his resting- place in the heart of the Mississippi valley, to be remembered through all time by his country- men, and by all the peoples of the world.
As the sum of all, the hand of Lincoln raised the flag; the American people was the hero of the war; and, therefore, the result is a new era
of Abraham Lincoln li
of republicanism. The disturbances in the country grew not out of anything republican, but out of slavery, which is a part of the system of hereditary wrong; and the expulsion of this domestic anomaly opens to the renovated nation a career of unthought-of dignity and glory. Henceforth our country has a moral unity as the land of free labor. The party for slavery and the party against slavery are no more, and are merged in the party of Union and freedom. The States which would have left us are not brought back as subjugated States, for then we should hold them only so long as that conquest could be maintained; they come to their rightful place under the Constitution as original, neces- sary, and inseparable members of the Union.
We build monuments to the dead, but no monuments of victory. We respect the example of the Romans, who never, even in conquered lands, raised emblems of triumph. And our generals are not to be classed in the herd of vul- gar warriors, but are of the school of Timoleon, and William of Nassau, and Washington. They have used the sword only to give peace to their country and restore her to her place in the great assembly of the nations.
Senators and Representatives of America: as I bid you farewell, my last words shall be words of hope and confidence; for now slavery is no
lii Abraham Lincoln
more, the Union is restored, a people begins to live according to the laws of reason, and repub- licanism is intrenched in a continent.
Geo. /3toVVcAxrif\
Our Heroic Themes1
(read before the phi beta kappa society of harvard university)
By George Henry Boker.
Crown we our heroes with a holier wreath Than man e'er wore upon this side of death ; Mix with their laurels deathless asphodels, And chime their paeans from the sacred bells! Nor in your prayers forget the martyred Chief, Fallen for the gospel of your own belief, Who, ere he mounted to the people's throne, Asked for your prayers, and joined in them his own. I knew the man. I see him, as he stands With gifts of mercy in his outstretched hands; A kindly light within his gentle eyes, Sad as the toil in which his heart grew wise; His lips half-parted with the constant smile That kindled truth, but foiled the deepest guile ; His head bent forward, and his willing ear Divinely patient right and wrong to hear: Great in his goodness, humble in his state, Firm in his purpose, yet not passionate,
1 By special permission of J. B. Lippincott Co. liii
liv Abraham Lincoln
He led his people with a tender hand, And won by love a sway beyond command, Summoned by love to mitigate a time Frenzied with rage, unscrupulous with crime, He bore his mission with so meek a heart That Heaven itself took up his people's part; And when he faltered, helped him ere he fell, Eking his efforts out by miracle. No king this man, by grace of God's intent; No, something better, freeman, — President I A nature, modeled on a higher plan, Lord of himself, an inborn gentleman!
Illustrations
Abraham Lincoln ........ Frontispiece
PAGE
Lincoln Reading the Emancipation Procla- mation to His Cabinet 42
From the painting by Carpenter, now in the Capito! in Wash- ington.
General Winfield Scott * . . . 0 . • 92
Wood-engraving after the original photograph by Brady.
Emancipation Proclamation, January i, 1863 160
Fac-simile cf the final revision.
General William Tecumseh Sherman . . . 286
Wood-engraving after a photograph by George M. Bell.
Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln
Volume VIII [1862 — 1863]
Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln
Address on Colonization to a Deputation of Colored Men
Executive Mansion, Washington, Thursday, August 14, 1862. f~T^HIS afternoon the President of the I United States gave an audience to a
-*■ committee of colored men at the White House. They were introduced by Rev. J. Mitchell, Commissioner of Emigration. E. M. Thomas, the chairman, remarked that they were there by invitation to hear what the Execu- tive had to say to them.
Having all been seated, the President, after a few preliminary observations, informed them that a sum of money had been appropriated by Congress, and placed at his disposition, for the purpose of aiding the colonization in some country of the people, or a portion of them, of African descent, thereby making it his duty, as it had for a long time been his inclination, to
2 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 14
favor that cause. And why, he asked, should the people of your race be colonized, and where? Why should they leave this country? This is, perhaps, the first question for proper consideration. You and we are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need not discuss ; but this physical difference is a great disadvan- tage to us both, as I think. Your race suffer very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on each side. If this is admit- ted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should be separated. You here are freemen, I sup- pose?
A voice: Yes, sir.
The President: Perhaps you have long been free, or all your lives. Your race is suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far removed from being placed on an equality with the white race. You are cut off from many of the advantages which the other race enjoys. The aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this broad continent not a single man of your race is made the equal of a single man of ours. Go where you are treated the best, and the ban
1862] Negro Colonization 3
is still upon you. I do not propose to discuss this, but to present it as a fact with which we have to deal. I cannot alter it if I would. It is a fact about which we all think and feel alike, I and you. We look to our condition. Owing to the existence of the two races on this conti- ment, I need not recount to you the effects upon white men, growing out of the institution of slavery.
I believe in its general evil effects on the white race. See our present condition — the country engaged in war — our white men cutting one another's throats — none knowing how far it will extend — and then consider what we know to be the truth. But for your race among us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, with- out the institution of slavery, and the colored race as a basis, the war could not have an exist- ence. It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated. I know that there are free men among you who, even if they could better their condition, are not as much inclined to go out of the country as those who, being slaves, could obtain their freedom on this condition. I sup- pose one of the principal difficulties in the way of colonization is that the free colored man can- not see that his comfort would be advanced by
4 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 14
it. You may believe that you can live in Wash- ington, or elsewhere in the United States, the remainder of your life as easily, perhaps more so, than you can in any foreign country; and hence you may come to the conclusion that you have nothing to do with the idea of going to a foreign country.
This is (I speak in no unkind sense) an ex- tremely selfish view of the case. You ought to do something to help those who are not so for- tunate as yourselves. There is an unwillingness on the part of our people, harsh as it may be, for you free colored people to remain with us. Now, if you could give a start to the white peo- ple, you would open a wide door for many to be made free. If we deal with those who are not free at the beginning, and whose intellects are clouded by slavery, we have very poor material to start with. If intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would move in this matter, much might be accomplished. It is exceed- ingly important that we have men at the begin- ning capable of thinking as white men, and not those who have been systematically oppressed. There is much to encourage you. For the sake of your race you should sacrifice something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in that respect as the white people. It is a cheering thought throughout life, that some-
1862] Negro Colonization 5
thing can be done to ameliorate the condition of those who have been subject to the hard usages of the world. It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him. In the American Revolution- ary war sacrifices were made by men engaged in it, but they were cheered by the future. Gen- eral Washington himself endured greater phys- ical hardships than if he had remained a British subject, yet he was a happy man because he was engaged in benefiting his race, in doing some- thing for the children of his neighbors, having none of his own.
The colony of Liberia has been in existence a long time. In a certain sense it is a success. The old President of Liberia, Roberts, has just been with me — the first time I ever saw him. He says they have within the bounds of that col- ony between three and four hundred thousand people, or more than in some of our old States, such as Rhode Island or Delaware, or in some of our newer States, and less than in some of our larger ones. They are not all American colonists or their descendants. Some- thing less than 12,000 have been sent thither from this country. Many of the original settlers have died; yet, like people elsewhere, their offspring outnumber those deceased. The
6 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 14
question is, if the colored people are persuaded to go anywhere, why not there?
One reason for unwillingness to do so is that some of you would rather remain within reach of the country of your nativity. I do not know how much attachment you may have toward our race. It does not strike me that you have the greatest reason to love them. But still you are attached to them, at all events.
The place I am thinking about for a colony is in Central America. It is nearer to us than Liberia — not much more than one fourth as far as Liberia, and within seven days' run by steam- ers. Unlike Liberia, it is a great line of travel — it is a highway. The country is a very excel- lent one for any people, and with great natural resources and advantages, and especially because of the similarity of climate with your native soil, thus being suited to your physical condition. The particular place I have in view is to be a great highway from the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and this particular place has all the advantages for a colony. On both sides there are harbors — among the finest in the world. Again, there is evidence of very rich coal-mines. A certain amount of coal is valuable in any country. Why I attach so much importance to coal is, it will afford an opportunity to the inhabitants for immediate
1 862] Negro Colonization 7
employment till they get ready to settle perma- nently in their homes. If you take colonists where there is no good landing, there is a bad show; and so where there is nothing to cultivate and of which to make a farm. But if something is started so that you can get your daily bread as soon as you reach there, it is a great advan- tage. Coal land is the best thing I know of with which to commence an enterprise.
To return — you have been talked to upon this subject, and told that a speculation is intended by gentlemen who have an interest in the coun- try, including the coal-mines. We have been mistaken all our lives if we do not know whites, as well as blacks, look to their self-interest. Unless among those deficient of intellect, every- body you trade with makes something. You meet with these things here and everywhere. If such persons have what will be an advantage to them, the question is, whether it cannot be made of advantage to you? You are intelligent, and know that success does not so much depend on external help as on self-reliance. Much, there- fore, depends upon yourselves. As to the coal- mines, I think I see the means available for your self-reliance. I shall, if I get a sufficient number of you engaged, have provision made that you shall not be wronged. If you will en- gage in the enterprise, I will spend some of the
8 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 14
money intrusted to me. I am not sure you will succeed. The government may lose the money; but we cannot succeed unless we try; and we think, with care, we can succeed. The political affairs in Central America are not in quite as satisfactory a condition as I wish. There are contending factions in that quarter; but, it is true, all the factions are agreed alike on the sub- ject of colonization, and want it, and are more generous than we are here.
To your colored race they have no objection. I would endeavor to have you made the equals, and have the best assurance that you should be, the equals of the best.
The practical thing I want to ascertain is, whether I can get a number of able-bodied men, with their wives and children, who are willing to go when I present evidence of encouragement and protection. Could I get a hundred toler- ably intelligent men, with their wives and chil- dren, and able to "cut their own fodder," so to speak? Can I have fifty? If I could find twenty-five able-bodied men, with a mixture of women and children, — good things in the family relation, I think, — I could make a successful commencement. I want you to let me know whether this can be done or not. This is the practical part of my wish to see you. These are subjects of very great importance — worthy of
1 862] Negro Colonization 9
a month's study, instead of a speech delivered in an hour. I ask you, then, to consider seriously, not pertaining to yourselves merely, nor for your race and ours for the present time, but as one of the things, if successfully managed, for the good of mankind — not confined to the pres- ent generation, but as
From age to age descends the lay
To millions yet to be, Till far its echoes roll away
Into eternity.
The above is merely given as the substance of the President's remarks.
The chairman of the delegation briefly re- plied that they would hold a consultation, and in a short time give an answer.
The President said: Take your full time — no hurry at all.
The delegation then withdrew.
Note to Secretary Chase
Washington, August 14, 1862. Sir: I have signed and herewith return the tax commissions for Connecticut, except two, in which I substituted Henry Hammond for Rufus S. Mather, and David F. Hollister for Fred- erick S. Wildman. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
io Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 16
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 14, 1862.
Sir: I have signed and herewith send the New Jersey tax commissions, so far as laid be- fore me. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
* Telegrams to Officers
War Department, Washington, D. G, August 14, 1862.
Officer in charge of Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase, O.: It is believed that a Dr. J. J. Williams is a prisoner in your charge, and if so tell him his wife is here and allow him to tele- graph to her. A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 15, 1862.
Officer having prisoners in Charge at Camp Douglass, near Chicago, III.: Is there a pris- oner Dr. Joseph J. Williams? and if so tell him his wife is here and allow him to telegraph her.
A. Lincoln.
* Despatch to Hiram Barney
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 16, 1862.
Hon. Hiram Barney, New York: Mrs. L. has $1,000 for the benefit of the hospitals and she
186a] Letter to Fisher n
will be obliged, and send the pay if you will be so good as to select and send her $200 worth of good lemons and $100 worth of good oranges.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to George P. Fisher
Washington, August 16, 1862.
My dear Sir: I was painfully surprised by your letter, handed me by the Postmaster-Gen- eral, because the Secretary of War, who saw you after I did, had assured me that you and accompanying friends were fully satisfied with what he had undertaken to do. Since receiving your letter I have seen him again, and he again assures me that such was his understanding. I went over your eight points with him to see which he accepted, and which he rejected.
He rejects that about postponing drafting till the 15th of September.
He accepts that about the Third Delaware Regiment.
He accepts that about Colonel Grimshaw's regiment.
He accepts that about the battery of artillery, if it be the battery heretofore authorized.
He accepts that about the battalion of cavalry.
He accepts that about forces remaining in the State.
He rejects that about drafting being made un-
12 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 21
der the marshal of the district. He thinks he could not be justified to thus snub the governor, who is apparently doing right; but he will at once check anything which may be apparently wrong.
He accepts that about appointing officers by the War Department, unless some serious and now unforeseen obstacle shall be presented.
I do hope you will be able to get along upon this. The secretary feels very sure that Judge Gilpin thinks you can. I mean this as a pri- vate letter, but I am quite willing for you to show it to Judge Gilpin.
I do hope you will not indulge a thought which will admit of your saying the adminis- tration turns you over to the fury of your ene- mies.
You certainly know I wish you success as much as you can wish it yourself. Your friend, as ever, A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to S. B. Moody
Washington, August 18, 1862. S. B. Moody, Springfield, III.: Which do you prefer, commissary or quartermaster? If appointed it must be without conditions.
A. Lincoln.
Operator please send above for President.
John Hay.
1 862] Telegram to Mrs. Preston 13
Note of Introduction August 18, 1862. The Secretary of the Treasury and the Com- missioner of Internal Revenue will please see Mr. Talcott, one of the best men there is, and, if any difference, one they would like better than they do me. A. Lincoln.
Memorandum
Washington, August 19, 1862. To-day Hon. Mr. Steele, of New York, comes and expresses great anxiety that William Martin may be appointed collector in the district in- cluding Ulster County. He says Mr. Martin is a Republican, but one to whom he (Mr. Steele) is under personal obligations. Mr. Steele fully explains about indictments.
* Telegram to Mrs. Margaret Preston
Washington, D. C, August 21, 1862. Mrs. Margaret Preston, Lexington, Ky.: Your despatch to Mrs. L. received yesterday. She is not well. Owing to her early and strong friendship for you, I would gladly oblige you, but I cannot absolutely do it. If General Boyle and Hon. James Guthrie, one or both, in their discretion, see fit to give you the passes, this is my authority to them for doing so.
A. Lincoln.
14 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 21
* Telegram to Gillet F. Watson
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, August 21, 1862.
Gillet F. Watson, Williamsburg, Va.: Your telegram in regard to the lunatic asylum has been received. It is certainly a case of diffi- culty, but if you cannot remain, I cannot con- ceive who under my authority can. Remain as long as you safely can, and provide as well as you can for the poor inmates of the institution.
A. Lincoln.
1 862] Letter to Greeley 15
Letter to Horace Greeley *
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.
DEAR SIR: I have just read yours of the 19th, addressed to myself through the New York "Tribune." If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not, now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in def- erence to an old friend whose heart I have al- ways supposed to be right.
As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing," as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The
1 Greeley had published an open letter to Lincoln in the "Tribune" of August 20, under the title "The Prayer of Twenty Millions," in which he accused Lincoln of conciliating pro-slavery sentiment too much. The President had constantly to take a decided stand against Greeley and other radical ex- tremists who seemed to regard the question of slavery as the one issue of the war.
1 6 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 27
sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modifi- cation of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Yours,
A. Lincoln.
1 862] Letter to Talcott 17
Memorandum
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 27, 1862.
To-day Hon. F. A. Conkling asks that Mar- shal B. Blake be collector in the Sixth District, instead of the Seventh as recommended.
The Sixth is Mr. Conkling's, and Mr. Blake resides in the Sixth and not in the Seventh. On something I said to Mr. Conkling, he did not get up recommendation of Mr. Blake.
Says both are good men — Blake has never had anything. Orton has an office of $1200 in same district. Is for Blake. Says Orton could go to Seventh.
Letter to Washington Talcott
Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 27, 1862.
My dear Sir: I have determined to appoint you collector. I now have a very special re- quest to make of you, which is, that you will make no war upon Mr. Washburne, who is also my friend, and of longer standing than yourself. I will even be obliged if you can do something for him if occasion presents. Yours truly,
A* Lincoln.
1 8 Abraham Lincoln [Aug. 29
Telegram to Governor Ramsey
Executive Mansion, August 27, 1862. Governor Ramsey, St. Paul, Minn.: Yours received. Attend to the Indians. If the draft cannot proceed, of course it will not proceed. Necessity knows no law. The government can- not extend the time.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington City, August 27, 1862. 4 p.m. Major-General McClellan, Alexandria, Va.: What news from the front? A. LINCOLN.
* Telegrams to General Burnside
August 27, 1862. 4:30 P.M. Major-General Burnside, Famouth, Va.: Do you hear anything from Pope?
A. Lincoln.
August 28, 1862. 2:40 P.M. Major-General Burnside, Falmouth, Va.: Any news from General Pope?
A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to Colonel Haupt
August 28, 1862. 2:40 P.M. Colonel Haupt, Alexandria, Va.: Yours re- ceived. How do you learn that the rebel forces
1862] Telegram to McClellan 19
at Manassas are large and commanded by sev- eral of their best generals?
A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to General Burnside
War Department, Washington, D. C, August 29, 1862. 2:30 p.m.
Major-General Burnside, Falmouth, Va.: Any further news? Does Colonel Devin mean that sound of firing was heard in direction of Warrenton as stated, or in direction of Warren- ton Junction? A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington, August 29, 1862. 2:30 p.m. Major-General McClellan: What news from direction of Manassas Junction? What gener- ally?
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington, August 29, 1862. 4:10 p.m. Major-General McClellan: Yours of to-day just received. I think your first alternative — to wit, "to concentrate all our available forces to open communication with Pope" — is the right one, but I wish not to control. That I now leave to General Halleck, aided by your counsels.
A. Lincoln.
20 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 7
Telegram to General J. T. Boyle
War Department, Washington, £). C, August 31, 1862. General Boyle, Louisville, Kentucky: What force and what the numbers of it which General Nelson had in the engagement near Richmond yesterday?
A. Lincoln.
Order to General H. W. Halleck
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 3, 1862. Ordered, that the general-in-chief, Major- General Halleck, immediately commence, and proceed with all possible despatch, to organize an army for active operations, from all the ma- terial within and coming within his control, in- dependent of the forces he may deem necessary for the defense of Washington when such ac- tive army shall take the field. By order of the President:
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
[Indorsement.]
Copy delivered to Major-General Halleck, September 3, 1862, at 10 P. M.
E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-Gen- eral.
1862] Order to Halleck 21
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Washington, September 4, 1862.
Sir: There are special reasons, as I suppose, why James Bowen of New York should be ap- pointed a brigadier-general. Please hear the particulars from Governor Seward. Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General H. G. Wright
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 7, 1862. General Wright, Cincinnati, Ohio: Do you know to any certainty where General Bragg is? May he not be in Virginia?
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. T. Boyle
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 7, 1862.
General Boyle, Louisville, Kentucky:
Where is General Bragg? What do you know on the subject? A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. E. Wool
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 7, 1862.
Major-General Wool, Baltimore: What about Harper's Ferry? Do you know anything
22 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. u
about it? How certain is your information about Bragg being in the valley of the Shenan- doah? A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington, D. C, September 8, 1862. 5 p.m. Major-General McClellan, Rockville, Mary- land: How does it look now? A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General D. C. Buell
Washington, September 8, 1862. 7:20 p.m. General Buell: What degree of certainty have you that Bragg, with his command, is not now in the valley of the Shenandoah, Virginia?
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Thomas Webster
Washington, September 9, 1862. Thomas Webster, Philadelphia: Your de- spatch received and referred to General Hal- leck, who must control the questions presented. While I am not surprised at your anxiety, I do not think you are in any danger. If half our troops were in Philadelphia, the enemy could take it, because he would not fear to leave the other half in his rear; but with the whole of them here, he dares not leave them in his rear.
A. Lincoln.
1 862] Letter to Governor Curtin 23 Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
War Department, Washington City,
September 10, 1862. 10:15 a.m.
Major-General McClellan, Rockville, Mary- land: How does it look now? A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Governor Andrew G. Curtin
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 11, 1862.
Sir: The application made to me by your adjutant-general for authority to call out the militia of the State of Pennsylvania has received careful consideration. It is my anxious desire to afford, as far as possible, the means and power of the Federal Government to protect the State of Pennsylvania from invasion by the rebel forces; and since, in your judgment, the militia of the State are required, and have been called upon by you, to organize for home defense and protection, I sanction the call that you have made, and will receive them into the service and pay of the United States to the extent they can be armed, equipped, and usefully employed. The arms and equipments now belonging to the General Government will be needed for the troops called out for the national armies, so that arms can only be furnished for the quota of mi- litia furnished by the draft of nine months' men,
24 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 12
heretofore ordered. But as arms may be sup- plied by the militia under your call, these, with the 30,000 in your arsenal, will probably be sufficient for the purpose contemplated by your call. You will be authorized to provide such equipments as may be required, according to the regulations of the United States service, which, upon being turned over to the United States Quartermaster's Department, will be paid for at regulation prices, or the rates allowed by the department for such articles. Railroad trans- portation will also be paid for, as in other cases. Such general officers will be supplied as the exigencies of the service will permit. Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Governor Curtin
Washington, September n, 1862. 12 m. Hon. Andrew G. Curtin: Please tell me at once what is your latest news from or toward Hagerstown, or of the enemy's movements in any direction. A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Executive Mansion, Washington City,
September 11, 1862. 6 p.m.
Major-General McClellan: This is explan- atory. If Porter, Heintzelman, and Sigel were sent you, it would sweep everything from the
1862] Telegram to Gov. Curtin 25
other side of the river, because the new troops have been distributed among them, as I under- stand. Porter reports himself 21,000 strong, which can only be by the addition of new troops. He is ordered to-night to join you as quickly as possible. I am for sending you all that can be spared, and I hope others can follow Porter very soon. A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington City, D. C,
September 12, 1862. 4 p.m.
Major-General McClellan, Clarksburg, Maryland: How does it look now?
A. Lincoln. Telegram to Governor Curtin
War Department, Washington, D. C,
September 12, 1862. 10:35 a.m.
Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania: Your despatch asking for 80,000 disciplined troops to be sent to Pennsylvania is received. Please consider we have not to exceed 80,000 disciplined troops, properly so called, this side of the mountains; and most of them, with many of the new regiments, are now close in the rear of the enemy supposed to be invading Pennsylvania. Start half of them to Harris- burg, and the enemy will turn upon and beat
26 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 12
the remaining half, and then reach Harrisburg before the part going there, and beat it too when it comes. The best possible security for Penn- sylvania is putting the strongest force possible in rear of the army.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General H. G. Wright
United States Military Telegraph,
Washington, September 12, 1862.
Major-General Wright, Cincinnati, Ohio:
I am being appealed to from Louisville against your withdrawing troops from that place. While I cannot pretend to judge of the propriety of what you are doing, you would much oblige me by furnishing me a rational an- swer to make to the governor and others at Louisville.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. T. Boyle
Washington, September 12, 1862. Major-General Boyle, Louisville, Kentucky:
Your despatch of last evening received. Where is the enemy which you dread in Louis- ville? How near to you? What is General Gilbert's opinion? With all possible respect for you, I must think General Wright's mili-
1862] Telegram to Henry 27
tary opinion is the better. He is as much re- sponsible for Louisville as for Cincinnati. Gen- eral Halleck telegraphed him on this very sub- ject yesterday, and I telegraph him now; but for us here to control him there on the ground would be a babel of confusion which would be utterly ruinous. Where do you understand Buell to be, and what is he doing?
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to A. Henry
War Department, Washington, D. C, September 12, 1862.
Hon. Alexander Henry, Philadelphia: Yours of to-day received. General Halleck has made the best provision he can for generals in Penn- sylvania. Please do not be offended when I assure you that in my confident belief Philadel- phia is in no danger. Governor Curtin has just telegraphed me:
I have advices that Jackson is crossing the Poto- mac at Williamsport, and probably the whole rebel army will be drawn from Maryland
At all events, Philadelphia is more than 150 miles from Hagerstown, and could not be reached by the rebel army in ten days, if no hindrance was interposed.
A. Lincoln.
28 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 13
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington City, D. C,
September 12, 1862. 5:45 p.m.
Major-General McClellan: Governor Cur- tin telegraphs me :
I have advices that Jackson is crossing the Poto- mac at Williarnsport, and probably the whole rebel army will be drawn from Maryland.
Receiving nothing from Harper's Ferry or Martinsburg to-day, and positive information from Wheeling that the line is cut, corroborates the idea that the enemy is recrossing the Po- tomac. Please do not let him get off without being hurt.
A. Lincoln.
Reply to a Committee from the Religious Denominations of Chicago, asking the President to issue a Proclamation of Emancipation, September 13, 1862.
The subject presented in the memorial is one upon which I have thought much for weeks past, and I may even say for months. I am ap- proached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men who are equally certain that they represent the divine will. I am sure that either the one or the other
1862] Reply to a Committee 29
class is mistaken in that belief, and perhaps in some respects both. I hope it will not be ir- reverent for me to say that if it is* probable that God would reveal his will to others on a point so connected with my duty, it might be sup- posed he would reveal it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. And if I can learn what it is, I will do it.
These are not, however, the days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right.
The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For instance, the other day four gen- tlemen of standing and intelligence from New York called as a delegation on business con- nected with the war; but, before leaving, two of them earnestly beset me to proclaim general emancipation, upon which the other two at once attacked them. You know also that the last ses- sion of Congress had a decided majority of anti- slavery men, yet they could not unite on this policy. And the same is true of the religious people. Why, the rebel soldiers are praying with a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than
30 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 13
our own troops, and expecting God to favor their side; for one of our soldiers who had been taken prisoner told Senator Wilson a few days since that he met with nothing so discouraging as the evident sincerity of those he was among in their prayers. But we will talk over the merits of the case.
What good would a proclamation of emanci- pation from me do, especially as we are now situated? I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the comet. Would my word free the slaves, when I cannot even enforce the Constitution in the rebel States? Is there a single court, or magis- trate, or individual that would be influenced by it there? And what reason is there to think it would have any greater effect upon the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I approved, and which offers protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who come within our lines? Yet I cannot learn that that law has caused a single slave to come over to us. And suppose they could be induced by a proclama- tion of freedom from me to throw themselves upon us, what should we do with them? How can we feed and care for such a multitude? General Butler wrote me a few days since that he was issuing more rations to the slaves who
1862] Reply to a Committee 31
have rushed to him than to all the white troops under his command. They eat, and that is all ; though it is true General Butler is feeding the whites also by the thousand, for it nearly amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pres- sure of the war should call off our forces from New Orleans to defend some other point, what is to prevent the masters from reducing the blacks to slavery again? For I am told that whenever the rebels take any black prisoners, free or slave, they immediately auction them off. They did so with those they took from a boat that was aground in the Tennessee River a few days ago. And then I am very ungen- erously attacked for it! For instance, when, after the late battles at and near Bull Run, an expedition went out from Washington under a flag of truce to bury the dead and bring in the wounded, and the rebels seized the blacks who went along to help, and sent them into slavery, Horace Greeley said in his paper that the gov- ernment would probably do nothing about it. What could I do?
Now, then, tell me, if you please, what pos- sible result of good would follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire? Under- stand, I raise no objections against it on legal or constitutional grounds; for, as commander- in-chief of the army and navy, in time of war
32 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 13
I suppose I have a right to take any measure which may best subdue the enemy; nor do I urge objections of a moral nature, in view of possible consequences of insurrection and mas- sacre at the South.
I view this matter as a practical war measure, to be decided on according to the advantages or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the rebellion.
I admit that slavery is the root of the rebel- lion, or at least its sine qua non. The ambition of politicians may have instigated them to act, but they would have been impotent without slavery as their instrument. I will also concede that emancipation would help us in Europe, and convince them that we are incited by something more than ambition. I grant, further, that it would help somewhat at the North, though not so much, I fear, as you and those you repre- sent imagine. Still some additional strength would be added in that way to the war, and then, unquestionably, it would weaken the rebels by drawing off their laborers, which is of great importance; but I am not so sure we could do much with the blacks. If we were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks the arms would be in the hands of the rebels; and, indeed, thus far we have not had arms enough to equip our white troops. I will mention another thing, though
1 862] Reply to a Committee 33
it meet only your scorn and contempt. There are fifty thousand bayonets in the Union armies from the border slave States. It would be a serious matter if, in consequence of a proclama- tion such as you desire, they should go over to the rebels. I do not think they all would — not so many, indeed, as a year ago, or six months ago — not so many to-day as yesterday. Every day increases their Union feeling. They are also getting their pride enlisted, and want to beat the rebels.
Let me say one thing more: I think you should admit that we already have an important principle to rally and unite the people, in the fact that constitutional government is at stake. This is a fundamental idea going down about as deep as anything.
Do not misunderstand me because I have men- tioned these objections. They indicate the diffi- culties that have thus far prevented my action in some such way as you desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement; and I can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more than any other. Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do. I trust that in the freedom with which I have canvassed your views I have not in any respect injured your feelings.
34 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 17
Telegram to General H. G. Wright
War Department, Washington, D. G, September 14, 1862.
General Wright, Cincinnati, Ohio: Thanks for your despatch. Can you not pursue the re- treating enemy, and relieve Cumberland Gap?
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
War Department, Washington, September 15, 1862. 2:45 p.m.
Major-General McClellan: Your despatch of to-day received. God bless you, and all with you. Destroy the rebel army if possible.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to J. K. Dubois
Washington, D. G, September 15, 1862. 3 p.m. Hon. J. K. Dubois, Springfield, Illinois: I now consider it safe to say that General Mc- Clellan has gained a great victory over the great rebel army in Maryland, between Fred- ericktown and Hagerstown.1 He is now pur- suing the flying foe. A. LINCOLN.
1 The " great victory " to which the President referred was the battle of Antietam, the results of which were important, but which could not then nor ever justly be characterized as a " great victory."
1862] Telegram to Morton 35
Telegram to Governor Andrew G. Curtin
Washington, D. C, September 16, 1862. Noon. Governor Curtin, Harrisburg: What do you hear from General McClellan's army. We have nothing from him to-day.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Governor Andrew G. Curtin
Washington, D. C,
September 16, 1862. 2:35 p.m. Governor Curtin: Since telegraphing you, despatch came from General McClellan, dated seven o'clock this morning. Nothing of impor- tance happened with him yesterday. This morning he was up with the enemy at Sharps- burg, and was waiting for heavy fog to rise.
A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to Governor Morton
Washington, D. C, September 17, 1862. Governor O. P. Morton, Indianapolis, Ind.:
I have received your dispatch in regard to recommendations of General Wright. I have received no such dispatch from him, at least not that I can remember. I refer yours for Gen- eral Halleck's consideration. A. LINCOLN.
Telegraph office please transmit as above and oblige the President. John Hay.
36 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 22
* Telegram to General Ketchum
Executive Mansion,
Washington, September 20, 1862.
General Ketchum, Springfield, III.: How many regiments are there in Illinois, ready for service but for the want of arms? How many arms have you there ready for distribution?
A. Lincoln.
Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, 1862 1
By the President of the United States
of America:
A Proclamation,
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and commander-in-chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practi- cally restoring the constitutional relation be- tween the United States and each of the States,
1 On July 22 the President assembled his Cabinet and declared it his belief that emancipation of slaves had become a military- necessity. During Lee's invasion of Maryland Lincoln decided to issue a proclamation upon his repulse, which was forthcoming at the bloody battle of Antietam, September 17th. A most interesting account of Lincoln's words to his Cabinet on Sep- tember 22, when he submitted the second draft of the Emanci- pation Proclamation can be found in the diary of Secretary Chase.
1 862] Proclamation 37
and the people thereof, in which States that re- lation is or may be suspended or disturbed.
That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have volun- tarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or else- where, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued.
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
38 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 22
That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Con- gress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have partici- pated, shall, in the absence of strong counter- vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evi- dence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.
That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following:
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the fol- lowing shall be promulgated as an additional article of war, for the government of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such:
Article — . All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the pur-
1 862] Proclamation 39
pose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due ; and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to pun- ish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes," ap- proved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following:
Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States; and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves.
40 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 24
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded, or hin- dered of his liberty except for crime, or some offense against the laws, unless the person claim- ing said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fug- itive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claim- ant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.
And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited.
And the Executive will in due time recom- mend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if
i86a] Proclamation 41
that relation shall have been suspended or dis- turbed) be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight [L. S.] hundred and sixty-two, and of the inde- pendence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
Proclamation Suspending the Writ of
Habeas Corpus, September 24, 1862
By the President of the United States
of America:
A Proclamation.
Whereas it has become necessary to call into service not only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the States by draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection:
42 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 24
Now, therefore, be it ordered —
First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States, and all per- sons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resist- ing militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal prac- tice affording aid and comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States, shall be sub- ject to martial law, and liable to trial and pun- ishment by courts martial or military commis- sions.
Second. That the writ of habeas corpus is sus- pended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, mili- tary prison or other place of confinement, by any military authority, or by the sentence of any court martial or military commission.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twenty- fourth day of September, in the year of our [l. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
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1862] Reply to Serenade 43
Letter Introducing Edward Everett
Executive Mansion, Washington, September 24, 1862.
Whom it May Concern: Hon. Edward Everett goes to Europe shortly. His reputation and the present condition of our country are such that his visit there is sure to attract notice, and may be misconstrued.
I therefore think fit to say that he bears no mission from this government; and yet no gen- tleman is better able to correct misunderstand- ings in the minds of foreigners in regard to American affairs.
While I commend him to the consideration of those whom he may meet, I am quite con-' scious that he could better introduce me than I him in Europe.
Abraham Lincoln.
Reply to Serenade upon Announcement
of Emancipation Proclamation
September 24, 1862.
I appear before you to do little more than
acknowledge the courtesy you pay me, and to
thank you for it. I have not been distinctly
informed why it is that on this occasion you
appear to do me this honor, though I suppose it
it because of the proclamation.
44 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 25
What I did, I did after a very full delibera- tion, and under a very heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have made no mistake.
I shall make no attempt on this occasion to sustain what I have done or said by any comment. It is now for the country and the world to pass judgment and, maybe, take action upon it.
I will say no more upon this subject. In my position I am environed with difficulties. Yet they are scarcely so great as the difficulties of those who upon the battle-field are endeav- oring to purchase with their blood and their lives the future happiness and prosperity of this country.
Let us never forget them. On the fourteenth and seventeenth days of this present month there have been battles bravely, skilfully, and success- fully fought. We do not yet know the par- ticulars. Let us be sure that, in giving praise to certain individuals, we do no injustice to others.
I only ask you, at the conclusion of these few remarks, to give three hearty cheers for all good and brave officers and men who fought those successful battles.
1862] Letter to John Ross 45
Letter to John Ross concerning the Loy- alty of the Cherokee Nation.
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C,
September 25, 1862.
Sir: Your letter of the 16th instant was re- ceived two days ago. In the multitude of cares claiming my constant attention, I have been un- able to examine and determine the exact treaty relations between the United States and the Cherokee Nation. Neither have I been able to investigate and determine the exact state of facts claimed by you as constituting a failure of treaty obligations on our part, and excusing the Cherokee Nation for making a treaty with a portion of the people of the United States in open rebellion against the government thereof.
This letter, therefore, must not be understood to decide anything upon these questions. I shall, however, cause a careful investigation of them to be made. Meanwhile the Cherokee people remaining practically loyal to the Fed- eral Union will receive all the protection which can be given them consistently with the duty of the government to the whole country. I sin- cerely hope the Cherokee Nation may not again be overrun by the enemy, and I shall do all I consistently can to prevent it.
Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN.
46 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 26
Matter Relative to the Dismissal of Major John J. Key from the Military Service OF THE United STATES, September 26,— De- cember 27, 1862
Executive Mansion, Washington, September 26, 1862.
Major John J. Key.
Sir: I am informed that in answer to the question, "Why was not the rebel army bagged immediately after the battle near Sharpsburg?" propounded to you by Major Levi C. Turner, judge-advocate, etc., you answered, "That is not the game. The object is that neither army shall get much advantage of the other, that both shall be kept in the field till they are exhausted, when we will make a compromise and save slavery." I shall be very happy if you will, within twenty- four hours from the receipt of this, prove to me by Major Turner that you did not, either liter- ally or in substance, make the answer stated. Yours,
A. Lincoln.
This is indorsed as follows:
Copy delivered to Major Key at 10.25 A. M., Sep- tember 27, 1862. John Hay.
At about eleven o'clock A. M., September 27,
1 862] Dismissal of Major Key 47
1862, Major Key and Major Turner appear be- fore me. Major Turner says: "As I remem- ber it, the conversation was: I asked the ques- tion why we did not bag them after the battle of Sharpsburg. Major Key's reply was, 'That was not the game ; that we should tire the rebels out and ourselves. That that was the only way the Union could be preserved. We must come together fraternally, and slavery be saved.' " On cross-examination Major Turner says he has frequently heard Major Key converse in regard to the present troubles, and never heard him utter a sentiment unfavorable to the maintenance of the Union. He has never uttered anything which he (Major T.) would call disloyalty. The particular conversation detailed was a pri- vate one.
A. Lincoln.
Indorsed on the above is:
In my view it is wholly inadmissible for any gentleman holding a military commission from the United States to utter such sentiments as Major Key is within proved to have done. Therefore let Major John J. Key be forthwith dismissed from the military service of the Uni- ted States.
A. Lincoln.
48 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 24
Letter to Major John J. Key.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 24, 1862.
Dear Sir: A bundle of letters, including one from yourself, was early last week handed me by General Halleck, as I understood at your re- quest.
I sincerely sympathize with you in the death of your brave and noble son.
In regard to my dismissal of yourself from the military service, it seems to me you misun- derstand me. I did not charge, or intend to charge, you with disloyalty.
I had been brought to fear that there was a class of officers in the army, not very inconsid- erable in numbers, who were playing a game to not beat the enemy when they could, on some peculiar notion as to the proper way of saving the Union; and when you were proved to me, in your own presence, to have avowed yourself in favor of that "game," and did not attempt to controvert the proof, I dismissed you as an ex- ample and a warning to that supposed class.
I bear you no ill will, and I regret that I could not have the example without wounding you personally. But can I now, in view of the public interest, restore you to the service, by which the army would understand that I indorse
1 862] Dismissal of Major Key 49
and approve that game myself? If there was any doubt of your having made the avowal, the case would be different. But when it was proved to me, in your presence, you did not deny or attempt to deny it, but confirmed it, in my mind, by attempting to sustain the position by argument.
I am really sorry for the pain the case gives you; but I do not see how, consistently with duty, I can change it.
Yours, etc.,
A. Lincoln.
[Indorsement^] The within, as appears, was written some time ago. On full reconsideration, I cannot find sufficient ground to challenge the conclusion therein arrived at.
A. Lincoln.
December 27, 1862.
Letter to Hannibal Hamlin1
{Strictly private.) Executive Mansion,
Washington, September 28, 1862.
My Dear Sir: Your kind letter of the 25th is just received. It is known to some that while I hope something from the proclamation, my expectations are not as sanguine as are those of
1 Hamlin was originally a Democrat but became an adherent of the Republican party because of his strong anti-slavery views.
50 Abraham Lincoln [Sept. 29
some friends. The time for. its effect southward has not come; but northward the effect should be instantaneous.
It is six days old, and while commendation in newspapers and by distinguished individuals is all that a vain man could wish, the stocks have declined, and troops come forward more slowly than ever. This, looked soberly in the face, is not very satisfactory. We have fewer troops in the field at the end of six days than we had at the beginning — the attrition among the old outnumbering the addition by the new. The North responds to the proclamation suffi- ciently in breath; but breath alone kills no rebels.
I wish I could write more cheerfully; nor do I thank you the less for the kindness of your letter. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Reply to an Address by Mrs. Gurney, Sep- tember [28?], 1862 I am glad of this interview, and glad to know that I have your sympathy and prayers. We are indeed going through a great trial — a fiery trial. In the very responsible position in which
It was well-known that Lincoln had never gone fast enough to suit him, and when the President issued the Proclamation he took occasion to write a congratulatory letter, to which the above is reply.
1862] Letter to Stanley 51
I happen to be placed, being a humble instru- ment in the hands of our Heavenly Father, as I am, and as we all are, to work out his great purposes, I have desired that all my works and acts may be according to his will, and that it might be so, I have sought his aid ; but if, after endeavoring to do my best in the light which he affords me, I find my efforts fail, I must believe that for some purpose unknown to me, he wills it otherwise. If I had had my way, this war would never have been commenced. If I had been allowed my way, this war would have been ended before this; but we find it still continues, and we must believe that he permits it for some wise purpose of his own, mysterious and un- known to us; and though with our limited un- derstandings we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that he who made the world still governs it.
Letter to Governor Edward Stanley
Executive Mansion,
Washington, September 29, 1862.
My dear Sir: Your note, informing me that you will leave for North Carolina soon, is re- ceived. Your conduct as military governor of that State, as reported to me by General Burn- side, and as I have heard it personally from yourself, has my entire approbation; and it is
52 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 6
with great satisfaction that I learn you are now to return in the same capacity, with the appro- bation of the War Department.
I shall be much gratified if you can find it practicable to have congressional elections held in that State before January. It is my sincere wish that North Carolina may again govern herself conformably to the Constitution of the United States.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Meditation on the Divine Will, September [30?], 1862 The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party; and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adapta- tion to effect his purpose. I am almost ready to say that this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere great power on the minds of the now contestants, he could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And, having begun, he
i862] Meditation 53
could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.
* Despatch to General Halleck
McClellan's Headquarters, October 3, 1862. Major-General Halleck: General Stuart, of the rebel army, has sent in a few of our prisoners under a flag of truce, paroled with terms to pre- vent their fighting the Indians, and evidently seeking to commit us to their right to parole our prisoners in that way. My inclination is to send the prisoners back with a distinct notice that we will recognize no paroles given to our prisoners by rebels as extending beyond the prohibition against fighting them, yet I wish your opinion upon it based both upon the general law and our cartel. I wish to avoid violations of law and bad faith. Answer as quickly as possible, as the thing if done at all should be done at once.
A. Lincoln, President.
Telegram from General Halleck to Gen- eral G. B. McClellan
Washington, D. C, October 6, 1862. Major-General McClellan: I am instructed to telegraph you as follows: The President di- rects that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy, or drive him south. Your army
54 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 8
must move now, while the roads are good. If you cross the river between the enemy and Wash- ington, and cover the latter by your operation, you can be reinforced with 30,000 men. If you move up the valley of the Shenandoah, not more than 12,000 or 15,000 can be sent to you. The President advises the interior line between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. He is very desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately report what line you adopt, and when you intend to cross the river; also to what point the reinforce- ments are to be sent. It is necessary that the plan of your operations be positively determined on before orders are given for building bridges and repairing railroads. I am directed to add that the Secretary of War and the general-in-chief fully concur with the President in these instruc- tions.
H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
*Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Washington, October 7, 1862. Major-General McClellan, Headquarters Army of the Potomac: You wish to see your family and I wish to oblige you. It might be left to your own discretion, certainly so, if Mrs. M. could meet you here at Washington.
A. Lincoln.
1862] Telegram to Grant 55
Letter to T. H. Clay
War Department, October 8, 1862. Thomas H. Clay, Cincinnati, Ohio: You cannot have reflected seriously when you ask that I shall order General Morgan's command to Kentucky as a favor because they have marched from Cumberland Gap. The prece- dent established by it would evidently break up the whole army. Buell's old troops, now in pursuit of Bragg, have done more hard march- ing recently; and, in fact, if you include march- ing and fighting, there are scarcely any old troops east or west of the mountains that have not done as hard service. I sincerely wish war was an easier and pleasanter business than it is; but it does not admit of holidays. On Mor- gan's command, where it is now sent, as I un- derstand, depends the question whether the ene- my will get to the Ohio River in another place.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General U. S. Grant
Washington, D. C, October 8, 1862.
Major-General Grant: I congratulate you
and all concerned in your recent battles and
victories. How does it all sum up? I especially
regret the death of General Hackleman, and am
56 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 13
very anxious to know the condition of General Oglesby, who is an intimate personal friend.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion, October 10, 1862.
Major-General Curtis, St. Louis, Mo.: I believe some Cherokee Indian regiments, with some white forces operating with them, now at or near Fort Scott, are within your department and under your command. John Ross, princi- pal chief of the Cherokees, is now here an exile, and he wishes to know, and so do I, whether the force above mentioned could not occupy the Cherokee country consistently with the public service.
Please consider and answer.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. T. Boyle
War Department, October 11, 1862. 4 p.m. General Boyle, Louisville, Ky.: Please send any news you have from General Buell to-day.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. T. Boyle
War Department, October 12, 1862. 4:10 p.m. General Boyle, Louisville, Ky.: We are very anxious to hear from General Buell's army. We
1 862] Letter to McClellan 57
have heard nothing since day before yesterday. Have you anything? A. LINCOLN.
^Telegram to General Curtis
Washington, D. C, October 12, 1862. Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.: Would the completion of the railroad some distance further in the direction of Springfield, Mo., be of any military advantage to you? Please answer. A. Lincoln.
Letter to General G. B. McClellan *
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, October 13, 1862.
My dear Sir: You remember my speaking to you of what I called your over-cautiousness. Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you cannot do what the enemy is constantly do- ing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim? As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot subsist your army at Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry to that
1 In early October Lincoln had visited McClellan to ascertain the actual condition of the army. McClellan complained it lacked " everything " and gave constant excuses for not moving. Lincoln found the army 100,000 strong and in satisfactory shape. On October 6 he ordered McClellan to cross the Potomac and drive the enemy south. It was his failure to do so, together with his former inaction, that called forth the above letter from the President.
58 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 13
point be put in working order. But the enemy does now subsist his army at Winchester, at a distance nearly twice as great from railroad transportation as you would have to do without the railroad last named. He now wagons from Culpeper Court House, which is just about twice as far as you would have to do from Har- per's Ferry. He is certainly not more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. I cer- tainly should be pleased for you to have the advantage of the railroad from Harper's Ferry to Winchester, but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and in fact ignores the question of time, which cannot and must not be ignored. Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is to "operate upon the enemy's communications as much as possible without exposing your own." You seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your favor. Change positions with the ene- my, and think you not he would break your communication with Richmond within the next twenty- four hours? You dread his going into Pennsylvania; but if he does so in full force, he gives up his communications to you absolutely, and you have nothing to do but to follow and ruin him. If he does so with less than full force, fall upon and beat what is left behind all the easier. Exclusive of the water-line, you are now
1862] Letter to McClellan 59
nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the route that you can and he must take. Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit that he is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on yours as on his. You know I desired, but did not order, you to cross the Potomac below, instead of above, the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was that this would at once menace the enemy's com- munications, which I would seize if he would permit.
If he should move northward, I would follow him closely, holding his communications. If he should prevent our seizing his communica- tions and move toward Richmond, I would press closely to him, fight him if a favorable oppor- tunity should present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say "try"; if we never try, we shall never succeed. If he makes a stand at Winchester, moving neither north nor south, I would fight him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of coming to us, we never can when we bear the wastage of going to him. This proposition is a simple truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. In coming to us he tenders us an advantage which we should not waive. We should not so operate
60 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 14
as to merely drive him away. As we must beat him somewhere or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away. If we cannot beat the enemy where he now is, we never can, he again being within the intrenchments of Richmond.
Recurring to the idea of going to Richmond on the inside track, the facility of supplying from the side away from the enemy is remarkable, as it were, by the different spokes of a wheel extend- ing from the hub toward the rim, and this whether you move directly by the chord or on the inside arc, hugging the Blue Ridge more closely. The chord-line, as you see, carries you by Aldie, Hay Market, and Fredericksburg; and you see how turnpikes, railroads, and finally the Potomac, by Aquia Creek, meet you at all points from Washington; the same, only the lines lengthened a little, if you press closer to the Blue Ridge part of the way.
The gaps through the Blue Ridge I under- stand to be about the following distances from Harper's Ferry, to wit: Vestal's, 5 miles; Greg- ory's, 13; Snicker's, 18; Ashby's, 28; Manassas, 38; Chester, 45; and Thornton's, 53. I should think it preferable to take the route nearest the enemy, disabling him to make an important move without your knowledge, and compelling him to keep his forces together for dread of you. The
1862] Letter to Butler 61
gaps would enable you to attack if you should wish. For a great part of the way you would be practically between the enemy and both Wash- ington and Richmond, enabling us to spare you the greatest number of troops from here. When at length running for Richmond ahead of him enables him to move this way, if he does so, turn and attack him in rear. But I think he should be engaged long before such point is reached. It is all easy if our troops march as well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say they cannot do it. This letter is in no sense an order. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General B. F. Butler and Others
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 14, 1862.
Major-General Butler, Governor Shepley, and all having military and naval au- THORITY Under the United States within the State of Louisiana : The bearer of this, Hon. John E. Bouligny, a citizen of Louisiana, goes to that State seeking to have such of the people thereof as desire to avoid the unsatisfactory prospect before them, and to have peace again upon the old terms under the Constitution of the United States, manifest such desire by elections of members to
62 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 18
the Congress of the United States particularly, and perhaps a legislature, State officers, and United States senators friendly to their object. I shall be glad for you, and each of you, to aid him and all others acting for this object as much as possible. In all available ways give the peo- ple a chance to express their wishes at these elec- tions. Follow forms of law as far as convenient, but at all events get the expression of the largest number of the people possible. All see how such action will connect with and affect the proc- lamation of September 22. Of course the men elected should be gentlemen of character, willing to swear support to the Constitution, as of old, and known to be above reasonable suspicion of duplicity. Yours very respectfully,
A. Lincoln. [Indorsement.]
Similar letter to General Grant, Governor Johnson, and others in Tennessee, dated October 21, 1862. And to Steele, Phelps, and others in Arkansas, November 18, 1862.
*Telegram to Governor Pierpont
War Department, Washington City, D. C, October 16, 1862.
Governor Pierpont, Wheeling, Va.: Your dispatch of to-day received. I am very sorry to have offended you. I appointed the collector
1862] Letter to Surgeon-General 63
as I thought, on your written recommendation, and the assessor also with your testimony of worthiness, although I know you preferred a different man. I will examine to-morrow whether I am mistaken in this.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to the Surgeon-General
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 18, 1862.
Sir: A Baltimore committee called on me this morning saying that city is full of straggling soldiers, half sick, half well, who profess to have been turned from the hospitals with no definite directions where to go. Is this true? Are men turned from the hospitals without knowing where to go? Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram from General Halleck to General D. C. Buell
War Department, Washington, October 19, 1862. 1:33 p.m.
Major-General Buell, Mount Vernon, Ky.: Your telegram of the 17th was received this morning, and has been laid before the President, who concurs in the views expressed in my tele- gram to you yesterday. The capture of East Tennessee should be the main object of your
64 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 20
campaign. You say it is the heart of the enemy's resources; make it the heart of yours. Your army can live there if the enemy's can. You must in a great measure live upon the coun- try, paying for your supplies where proper, and levying contributions where necessary. I am directed by the President to say to you that your army must enter East Tennessee this fall, and that it ought to move there while the roads are passable. Once between the enemy and Nash- ville, there will be no serious difficulty in re- opening your communications with that place. He does not understand why we cannot march as the enemy marches, live as he lives, and fight as he fights, unless we admit the inferiority of our troops and of our generals. Once hold the valley of the upper Tennessee, and the opera- tions of guerrillas in that State and Kentucky will soon cease.
H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
Executive Order Establishing a Provision- al Court in Louisiana
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 20, 1862.
The insurrection which has for some time prevailed in several of the States of this Union, including Louisiana, having temporarily sub- verted and swept away the civil institutions of
1862] Executive Order 65
that State, including the judiciary and the judi- cial authorities of the Union, so that it has be- come necessary to hold the State in military oc- cupation, and it being indispensably necessary that there shall be some judicial tribunal exist- ing there capable of administering justice, I have therefore thought it proper to appoint, and I do hereby constitute, a provisional court, which shall be a court of record for the State of Louisiana; and I do hereby appoint Charles A. Peabody, of New York, to be a provisional judge to hold said court, with authority to hear, try, and determine all causes, civil and crim- inal, including causes in law, equity, revenue, and admiralty, and particularly all such powers and jurisdiction as belong to the district and cir- cuit courts of the United States, conforming his proceedings so far as possible to the course of proceedings and practice which has been cus- tomary in the courts of the United States and Louisiana, his judgment to be final and conclu- sive. And I do hereby authorize and empower the said judge to make and establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the ex- ercise of his jurisdiction, and empower the said judge to appoint a prosecuting attorney, mar- shal, and clerk of the said court, who shall per- form the functions of attorney, marshal, and clerk according to such proceedings and prac-
66 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 24
tice as before-mentioned, and such rules and regulations as may be made and established by said judge. These appointments are to continue during the pleasure of the President, not extend- ing beyond the military occupation of the city of New Orleans or the restoration of the civil authority in that city and in the State of Louisi- ana. These officers shall be paid out of the con- tingent fund of the War Department compensa- tion as follows: The judge at the rate of $3500 per annum; the prosecuting attorney, including the fees, at the rate of $3000 per annum; the marshal, including the fees, at the rate of $3000 per annum; and the clerk, including the fees, at the rate of $2500 per annum; such compen- sations to be certified by the Secretary of War. A copy of this order, certified by the Secretary of War, and delivered to such judge, shall be deemed and held to be a sufficient commission. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.
Telegram from General Halleck to Gen- eral McClellan
Washington, October 21, 1862. 3 p.m.
Major-General George B. McClellan: Your
telegram of 12 M. has been submitted to the
President. He directs me to say that he has no
change to make in his order of the 6th instant.
1862] Telegram to McClellan 67
If you have not been and are not now in condi- tion to obey it, you will be able to show such want of ability. The President does not expect impossibilities, but he is very anxious that all this good weather should not be wasted in inac- tivity. Telegraph when you will move, and on what lines you propose to march.
H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
*Telegram to F. H. Pierpont
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 23, 1862.
Hon. F. H. Pierpont, Wheeling, Va.: Your letter of the 17th just received. When you come to Washington, I shall be pleased to show you the record upon which we acted. Nevertheless answer this, distinctly saying you wish Ross and Ritcher, or any other two you do really want, and they shall be appointed.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
War Department, Washington City,
October 24 [25?], 1862. Major-General McClellan: I have just read your despatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?
A. Lincoln.
68 Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 27
Memorandum, October 25, 1862
Write Canisius that in view of our own as- pirants we cannot find a place for a military officer of high rank from abroad.
Better send the account of the explosive ma- terial to Captain Dahlgren. A. L.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Executive Mansion, Washington, October 26, 1862. 11 130 a. m.
Major-General McClellan: Yours, in reply to mine about horses, received.
Of course you know the facts better than I; still, two considerations remain.
Stewart's cavalry outmarched ours, having certainly done more marked service on the Pen- insula and everywhere since.
Secondly, will not a movement of our army be a relief to the cavalry, compelling the enemy to concentrate instead of foraging in squads everywhere?
But I am so rejoiced to learn from your de- spatch to General Halleck that you begin cross- ing the river this morning.1 A. LINCOLN.
1 This telegram to General McClellan, as also that of October 24, with its curt inquiry, must be taken with the President's order of October 6, as marking the beginning of the end of McClellan's command of the Army of the Potomac.
1 862] Telegram to McClellan 69
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Executive Mansion, Washington, October 27, 1862. 12:10 p.m.
Major-General McClellan: Yours of yester- day received. Most certainly I intend no injus- tice to any, and if I have done any I deeply re- gret it. To be told, after more than five weeks' total inaction of the army, and during which period we sent to the army every fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in the whole to 7,918, that the cavalry horses were too much fatigued to move, presents a very cheerless, almost hope- less, prospect for the future,* and it may have forced something of impatience in my despatch. If not recruited and rested then, when could they ever be? I suppose the river is rising, and I am glad to believe you are crossing.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Executive Mansion, Washington, October 27, 1862. 3:25 p.m.
Major-General McClellan: Your despatch of 3 P. M. to-day, in regard to filling up old regiments with drafted men, is received, and the request therein shall be complied with as far as practicable.
And now I ask a distinct answer to the ques-
jo Abraham Lincoln [Oct. 30
tion, Is it your purpose not to go into action again until the men now being drafted in the States are incorporated into the old regiments?
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General G. B. McClellan
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 29, 1862.
Major-General McClellan: Your despatches of night before last, yesterday, and last night all received. I am much pleased with the move- ment of the army. When you get entirely across the river let me know. What do you know of the enemy? A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to Governor Curtin
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 30, 1862.
Governor Curtin, Harrisburg: By some means I have not seen your dispatch of the 27th about Order No. 154, till this moment. I now learn what I knew nothing of before, that the history of the order is as follows, to-wit: Gen- eral McClellan telegraphed asking General Halleck to have the order made, General Hal- leck went to the Secretary of War with it, stating his approval of the plan. The Secretary as- sented and General Halleck wrote the order. It was a military question which the Secretary sup-
1862] Memorandum 71
posed the generals understood better than he. I wish I could see Governor Curtin.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Governor Johnson
War Department, October 31, 1862. Gov. Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn., via Louisville, Ky.: Yours of the 29th received. I shall take it to General Halleck, but I already know it will be very inconvenient to take Gen- eral Morgan's command from where it now is. I am glad to hear you speak hopefully for Ten- nessee. I sincerely hope Rosecrans may find it possible to do something for her. David Nelson, son of the M. C. of your State, regrets his fath- er's final defection, and asks me for a situation. Do you know him? Could he be of service to you or to Tennessee in any capacity in which I could send him? A. LINCOLN.
Memorandum
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 1, 1862.
To Whom it May Concern: Captain Der- rickson, with his company, has been for some time keeping guard at my residence, now at the Soldiers' Retreat. He and his company are very agreeable to me, and while it is deemed proper for any guard to remain, none would be
yz Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 10
more satisfactory than Captain Derrickson and his company. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Colonel W. R. Morrison
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 5, 1862.
Colonel William R. Morrison, Waterloo, Ills.: Your letter of September 23 is this mo- ment received. While your words of kindness are very grateful, your suspicions that I intend you injustice are very painful to me. I assure you such suspicions are groundless. I cannot even conjecture what junior of yours you sup- pose I contemplate promoting over you. True, seniority has not been my rule in this connection ; but in considering military merit, the world has abundant evidence that I disregard politics.
A. Lincoln.
Order Relieving General G. B. McClellan and Making Other Changes,
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 5, 1862.
By direction of the President, it is ordered that Major-General McClellan be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and that Major-General Burnside take the command of that army. Also that Major-General Hunter take command of the corps in said army which
1862] McClellan Relieved 73
is now commanded by General Burnside. That Major-General Fitz-John Porter be relieved from command of the corps he now commands in said army, and that Major General Hooker take command of said corps.
The general-in-chief is authorized, in [his] discretion, to issue an order substantially as the above, forthwith, or so soon as he may deem proper. A. Lincoln.
Military Order
Executive Mansion, November 7, 1862. Ordered, That Brigadier-General Ellet re- port to Rear-Admiral Porter for instructions, and act under his direction until otherwise or- dered by the War Department. A. LINCOLN.
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 7, 1862.
Dear Sir: Please send me the latest "Pic- ayune" and "True Delta" you can lay your hands upon. Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General John Pope
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 10, 1862.
Major-General Pope, St, Paul, Minn. : Your despatch giving the names of 300 Indians con-
74 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 12
demned to death is received. Please forward as soon as possible the full and complete record of their convictions; and if the record does not fully indicate the more guilty and influential of the culprits, please have a careful statement made on these points and forward to me. Send all by mail. A. LINCOLN.
Order Concerning Blockade
Washington, November 12, 1862. Ordered, First: that clearances issued by the Treasury Department for vessels or merchandise bound for the port of Norfolk, for the military necessities of the department, certified by the military commandant at Fort Monroe, shall be allowed to enter said port. Second : that vessels and domestic produce from Norfolk, permitted by the military commandant at Fort Monroe for the military purposes of his command, shall on his permit be allowed to pass from said port to their destination in any port not blockaded by the United States. A. Lincoln.
Order Concerning the Confiscation Act
Executive Mansion, November 13, 1862.
Ordered, by the President of the United
States, that the Attorney-General be charged
with the superintendence and direction of all
proceedings to be had under the act of Congress
1862] Blockade Order 75
of the 17th of July, 1862, entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, punish treason and re- bellion, seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," in so far as may concern the seizure, prosecution, and condemna- tion of the estate, property, and effects of rebels and traitors as mentioned and provided for in the fifth, sixth, and seventh sections of the said act of Congress. And the Attorney-General is authorized and required to give to the attorneys and marshals of the United States such instruc- tions and directions as he may find needful and consistent touching all such seizures, prosecu- tion, and condemnation; and, moreover, to au- thorize all such attorneys and marshals, where- ever there may be reasonable ground to fear any forcible resistance to the act in the discharge of their respective duties in this behalf, to call upon any military officer in command of the forces of the United States to give to them such aid, protection, and support as may be neces- sary to enable them safely and efficiently to dis- charge their respective duties; and all such com- manding officers are required promptly to obey such call and to render the necessary service as far as may be in their power consistently with their other duties. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President: Edward BATES, Attorney- General.
76 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 15
Telegram to Governor Johnson
War Department, November 14, 1862. Gov. Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: Your despatch of the 4th, about returning troops from western Virginia to Tennessee, is just received, and I have been to General Hal- leck with it. He says an order has already been made by which those troops have already moved, or soon will move, to Tennessee.
A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to F. P. Blair, Jr.
War Department, Washington City, D. C, November 14, 1862.
Hon. F. P. Blair, Jr., Saint Louis, Mo.: Please telegraph me the result of the election in Missouri on Congress and Legislature.
A. Lincoln.
Order for Sabbath Observance
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 15, 1862.
The President, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in the military and naval service. The im- portance for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian sol-
1862] Sabbath Observance 77
diers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the army and navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. The discipline and character of the national forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend be imperiled, by the profanation of the day or name of the Most High. "At this time of public distress" — adopting the words of Washington in 1776 — "men may find enough to do in the service of God and their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality." The first general order issued by the Father of his Coun- try after the Declaration of Independence indi- cates the spirit in which our institutions were founded and should ever be defended. "The general hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country."
Abraham Lincoln. Official: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adju- tant-General.
Telegram to General Blair
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 17, 1862. Hon. F. P. Blair: Your brother says you are solicitous to be ordered to join General McCler-
78 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 21
nand. I suppose you are ordered to Helena; this means that you are to form part of McCler- nand's expedition as it moves down the river; and General McClernand is so informed. I will see General Halleck as to whether the addi- tional force you mention can go with you.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General John A. Dix
Washington, D. C, November 18, 1862. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe: Please give me your best opinion as to the number of the enemy now at Richmond and also at Peters- burg. A. Lincoln.
Draft of Letter to George Robertson— not sent
(Private.)
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 20, 1862.
My dear Sir: Your despatch of yesterday is just received. I believe you are acquainted with the American classics (if there be such), and probably remember a speech by Patrick Henry in which he represented a certain char- acter in the Revolutionary times as totally dis- regarding all questions of country, and "hoarsely bawling, 'Beef! beef!! beef!!!'"
Do you not know that I may as well surrender
1 862] Letter to Shepley 79
the contest directly as to make any order the obvious purpose of which would be to return fugitive slaves? Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Governor G. F. Shepley
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 21, 1862.
Dear Sir: Dr. Kennedy, bearer of this, has some apprehension that Federal officers not citi- zens of Louisiana may be set up as candidates for Congress in that State. In my view there could be no possible object in such an election. We do not particularly need members of Con- gress from there to enable us to get along with legislation here. What we do want is the con- clusive evidence that respectable citizens of Louisiana are willing to be members of Con- gress and to swear support ot the Constitution, and that other respectable citizens there are will- ing to vote for them and send them. To send a parcel of Northern men here as representa- tives, elected, as would be understood (and per- haps really so), at the point of the bayonet, would be disgusting and outrageous ; and were I a member of Congress here, I would vote against admitting any such man to a seat.
Yours very truly, A. Lincoln.
80 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 21
Letter to Governor G. F. Shepley1
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 21, 1862.
My dear Sir: Your letter of the 6th instant to the Secretary of War has been placed in my hands; and I am annoyed to learn from it that at its date nothing had been done about con- gressional elections. On the 14th of October I addressed a letter to General Butler, your- self, and others, upon this very subject, sending it by Hon. Mr. Bouligny. I now regret the ne- cessity of inferring that you had not seen this letter up to the 6th instant. I inclose you a copy of it, and also a copy of another addressed to yourself this morning upon the same general subject, and placed in the hands of Dr. Kennedy. I ask attention to both.
I wish elections for congressmen to take place in Louisiana; but I wish it to be a movement of
1 After the Union successes on the Gulf, Col. G. F. Shepley was appointed military governor of Louisiana. In the above letter addressed to him President Lincoln outlines the specific action to be taken for inaugurating reconstruction. Accordingly, on December 3, the Congressional elections were held. No Fed- eral officer was a candidate and a half-vote was polled. The investigating committee declared the election legal and Congress admitted the representatives. The President advocated similar measures elsewhere when Union victories had won possession, but Congress subsequently refused to receive representatives of such elections. Thus was frustrated the reconstruction policy planned by Lincoln.
186a] Letter to Shepley 81
the people of the districts, and not a movement of our military and quasi-military authorities there. I merely wish our authorities to give the people a chance — to protect them against seces- sion interference. Of course the election can- not be according to strict law. By State law there is, I suppose, no election day before Jan- uary; and the regular election officers will not act in many cases, if in any. These knots must be cut, the main object being to get an expres- sion of the people. If they would fix a day and a way for themselves, all the better; but if they stand idle, not seeming to know what to do, do you fix these things for them by proclamation. And do not waste a day about it, but fix the elec- tion day early enough, that we can hear the re- sult here by the first of January. Fix a day for an election in all the districts, and have it held in as many places as you can.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Letter to General N. P. Banks
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 22, 1862.
My dear General Banks: Early last week you left me in high hope with your assurance that you would be off with your expedition at the end of that week, or early in this. It is now the end of this, and I have just been over-
82 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 22
whelmed and confounded with the sight of a requisition made by you which, I am assured, cannot be filled and got off within an hour short of two months. I inclose you a copy of the requisition, in some hope that it is not genuine — that you have never seen it. My dear general, this expanding and piling up of impedimenta has been, so far, almost our ruin, and will be our final ruin if it is not abandoned. If you had the articles of this requisition upon the wharf, with the necessary animals to make them of any use, and forage for the animals, you could not get vessels together in two weeks to carry the whole, to say nothing of your twenty thousand men; and having the vessels, you could not put the cargoes aboard in two weeks more. And, after all, where you are going you have no use for them. When you parted with me you had no such ideas in your mind. I know you had not, or you could not have expected to be off so soon as you said. You must get back to some- thing like the plan you had then, or your expe- dition is a failure before you start. You must be off before Congress meets. You would be better off anywhere, and especially where you are going, for not having a thousand wagons doing nothing but hauling forage to feed the animals that draw them, and taking at least two thousand men to care for the wagons and ani-
1 862] Letter to Banks 83
mals, who otherwise might be two thousand good soldiers. Now, dear general, do not think this is an ill-natured letter; it is the very reverse. The simple publication of this requisition would ruin you. Very truly your friend,
A. Lincoln.
Draft of Letter to W. L. Vance
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 22, 1862.
Sir: You tell me you have in your hands some two hundred and seventy thousand dollars of "Confederate scrip," which was forced upon Union men of Kentucky, in exchange for sup- plies, by the rebels during their late raid into that State; and you wish government authority for you to take this scrip into the cotton States, exchange it for cotton if found practicable, and to bring the cotton out.
While I have felt great anxiety to oblige you and your friends in this matter, I feel con- strained to decline it. It would come to some- thing, or it would come to nothing — that is, you would get cotton for the scrip, or you would not. If you should get none, the effort would have been a useless failure. If you should get any, to precisely that extent this government would have aided in giving currency to this scrip — that is, men, seeing that the scrip would
84 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 24
bring cotton, would gladly give produce for the scrip; and hence a scramble for it, as for gold, would ensue.
If your two hundred and seventy thousand dollars was to be the sole instance, I would gladly risk it. But it would not be the begin- ning, or at most, only the beginning.
Having begun, I could not stop. What I had done for some, I must do for others. All that sort of scrip now in Kentucky, and much not yet in Kentucky, would find its way into Union hands, and be presented under the rule. We all know how easily oaths are furnished when required in transactions of this sort; and the thing would become even broader yet.
Men who have been robbed outright by the rebels, without even receiving scrip, would ap- peal (and with quite as equitable a case) to be permitted a means of indemnity, by leave to go in and bring out cotton.
This would run till at length I should have to abandon all restraint, or put a stop to what it is now much easier to not begin.
Letter to General Carl Schurz
Executive Mansion, Washington, November 24, 1862.
My dear Sir: I have just received and read your letter of the 20th. The purport of it is
186a] Letter to Schurz 85
that we lost the late elections and the Adminis- tration is failing because the war is unsuccess- ful, and that I must not flatter myself that I am not justly to blame for it. I certainly know that if the war fails, the Administration fails, and that I will be blamed for it, whether I de- serve it or not. And I ought to be blamed if I could do better. You think I could do better; therefore you blame me already. I think I could not do better; therefore I blame you for blaming me. I understand you now to be will- ing to accept the help of men who are not Re- publicans, provided they have "heart in it." Agreed. I want no others. But who is to be the judge of hearts, or of "heart in it"? If I must discard my own judgment and take yours, I must also take that of others ; and by the time I should reject all I should be advised to re- ject, I should have none left, Republicans or others — not even yourself. For be assured, my dear sir, there are men who have "heart in it" that think you are performing your part as poorly as you think I am performing mine. I certainly have been dissatisfied with the slow- ness of Buell and McClellan; but before I re- lieved them I had great fears I should not find successors to them who would do better; and I am sorry to add that I have seen little since to relieve those fears.
86 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 24
I do not clearly see the prospect of any more rapid movements. I fear we shall at last find out that the difficulty is in our case rather than in particular generals. I wish to disparage no one — certainly not those who sympathize with me; but I must say I need success more than I need sympathy, and that I have not seen the so much greater evidence of getting success from my sympathizers than from those who are de- nounced as the contrary. It does seem to me that in the field the two classes have been very much alike in what they have done and what they have failed to do. In sealing their faith with their blood, Baker and Lyon and Bohlen and Richardson, Republicans, did all that men could do; but did they any more than Kearny and Stevens and Reno and Mansfield, none of whom were Republicans, and some at least of whom have been bitterly and repeatedly denounced to me as secession sympathizers? I will not per- form the ungrateful task of comparing cases of failure.
In answer to your question, "Has it not been publicly stated in the newspapers, and appar- ently proved as a fact, that from the commence- ment of the war the enemy was continually supplied with information by some of the con- fidential subordinates of as important an officer as Adjutant-General Thomas?" I must say
1 862] Letter to Schurz 87
"No," as far my knowledge extends. And I add that if you can give any tangible evidence upon the subject, I will thank you to come to this city and do so. Very truly your friend,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
Executive Mansion, Washington, November 25, 1862. 11 :30 a. m.
Major-General Burnside, Falmouth, Virginia: If I should be in a boat off Aquia Creek at dark to-morrow (Wednesday) evening, could you, without inconvenience, meet me and pass an hour or two with me? A. LINCOLN.
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 25, 1862.
Dear Sir: Please remember to confer with the Secretary of the Interior, so as to clear the discrepancy as to amounts derived from sale of public lands. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to George Robertson
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 26, 1862.
My dear Sir: A few days since I had a despatch from you which I did not answer. If
88 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 27
I were to be wounded personally, I think I would not shun it. But it is the life of the na- tion. I now understand the trouble is with Colonel Utley: that he has five slaves in his camp, four of whom belong to rebels, and one belonging to you. If this be true, convey yours to Colonel Utley, so that he can make him free, and I will pay you any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. Yours, etc., A. LINCOLN.
Draft of Letter to General H. W. Halleck
Steamer " Baltimore,"
off Aquia. Creek, Va., Nov. 27, 1862.
Sir: I have just had a long conference with General Burnside. He believes that General Lee's whole army, or nearly the whole of it, is in front of him, at and near Fredericksburg. Gen- eral Burnside says he could take into battle now any day about 110,000 men; that his army is in good spirit, good condition, good morale, and that in all respects he is satisfied with officers and men; that he does not want more men with him, because he could not handle them to advantage; that he thinks he can cross the river in face of the enemy and drive him away; but that, to use his own expression, it is somewhat risky. I wish the case to stand more favorably than this in two respects: First, I wish his crossing of the river to be nearly free from risk;
1862] Letter to Halleck 89
and, secondly, I wish the enemy to be prevented from falling back, accumulating strength as he goes, into his intrenchments at Richmond. I therefore propose that General Burnside shall not move immediately; that we accumulate a force on the south bank of the Rappahannock — at, say, Port Royal— under protection of one or two gunboats, as nearly up to 25,000 strong as we can ; at the same time another force of about the same strength as high up the Pamunkey as can be protected by gunboats. These being ready, let all three forces move simultaneously: General Burnside's force in its attempt to cross the river, the Rappahannock force moving di- rectly up the south side of the river to his assistance, and ready, if found admissible, to deflect off to the turnpike bridge over the Matta- pony in the direction of Richmond; the Pa- munkey force to move as rapidly as possible up the north side of the Pamunkey, holding all the bridges, and especially the turnpike bridge im- mediately north of Hanover Court House; hurry north and seize and hold the Mattapony bridge before mentioned, and also, if possible, press higher up the streams and destroy the rail- road bridges. Then if General Burnside suc- ceeds in driving the enemy from Fredericks- burg, he (the enemy) no longer has the road to Richmond, but we have it, and can march into
90 Abraham Lincoln [Nov. 29
the city. Or, possibly, having forced the enemy from his line we could move upon and destroy his army. General Burnside's main army would have the same line of supply and retreat as he has now provided. The Rappahannock force would have that river for supply, and gunboats to fall back upon; and the Pamunkey force would have that river for supply, and a line be- tween the two rivers — Pamunkey and Matta- pony — along which to fall back upon its gun- boats. I think the plan promises the best results, with the least hazard, of any now conceivable.
NOTE. — The above plan proposed by me was rejected by General Halleck and General Burn- side on the ground that we could not raise and put in position the Pamunkey force without too much waste of time.
A. L.
Letter to Attorney-General Bates
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 29, 1862.
My dear Sir: Few things perplex me more than this question between Governor Gamble and the War Department, as to whether the peculiar force organized by the former in Mis- souri are State troops or United States troops. Now, this is either an immaterial or a mischiev- ous question. First, if no more is desired than
1862] Letter to Bates 91
to have it settled what name the force is to be called by, it is immaterial. Secondly, if it is desired for more than the fixing a name, it can only be to get a position from which to draw practical inferences; then it is mischievous. In- stead of settling one dispute by deciding the question, I should merely furnish a nestful of eggs for hatching new disputes. I believe the force is not strictly either "State troops" or "United States troops." It is of mixed charac- ter. I therefore think it is safer, when a prac- tical question arises, to decide that question directly, and not indirectly by deciding a gen- eral abstraction supposed to include it, and also including a great deal more. Without dispute Governor Gamble appoints the officers of this force, and fills vacancies when they occur. The question now practically in dispute is: Can Governor Gamble make a vacancy by removing an officer or accepting a resignation? Now, while it is proper that this question shall be set- tled, I do not perceive why either Governor Gamble or the government here should care which way it is settled. I am perplexed with it only because there seems to be pertinacity about it. It seems to me that it might be either way without injury to the service; or that the offer of the Secretary of War to let Governor Gamble make vacancies, and he (the Secretary)
92 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
to ratify the making of them, ought to be satis- factory. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
* Telegram to General Curtis
(Cipher.) Washington, November 30, 1862. Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.:
Frank Blair wants Manter's Thirty-second, Curly's Twenty-seventh, Boyd's Twenty-fourth and the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry to go with him down the river. I understand it is with you to decide whether he shall have them and if so, and if also it is consistent with the public service you will oblige me a good deal by letting him have them.
A. Lincoln.
* Letter to Judge Advocate-General
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 1, 1862. Sir: Three hundred Indians have been sen- tenced to death in Minnesota by a Military Commission, and execution only awaits my ac- tion. I wish your legal opinion whether if I should conclude to execute only a part of them, I must myself designate which, or could I leave the designation to some officer on the ground? Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
i^MBMi^KMiii:
General Winfield Scott
Wood Engraving from the Original Photograph by Brady.
1862] Annual Message 93
Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862
FELLOW-CITIZENS of the Senate and House of Representatives: Since your last annual assembling another year of health and bountiful harvest has passed; and while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless us with a return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light he gives us, trusting that in his own good time and wise way all will yet be well.
The correspondence touching foreign affairs which has taken place during the last year is herewith submitted, in virtual compliance with a request to that effect, made by the House of Representatives near the close of the last ses- sion of Congress.
If the condition of our relations with other nations is less gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, it is certainly more satisfac- tory than a nation so unhappily distracted as we are might reasonably have apprehended. In the month of June last there were some grounds to expect that the maritime powers which, at the beginning of our domestic difficulties, so un-
94 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
wisely and unnecessarily, as we think, recog- nized the insurgents as a belligerent, would soon recede from that position, which has proved only less injurious to themselves than to our own country. But the temporary reverses which afterwards befell the national arms, and which were exaggerated by our own disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto delayed that act of simple justice.
The civil war, which has so radically changed, for the moment, the occupations and habits of the American people, has necessarily disturbed the social condition, and affected very deep- ly the prosperity of the nations with which we have carried on a commerce that has been stead- ily increasing throughout a period of half a cen- tury. It has, at the same time, excited political ambitions and apprehensions which have pro- duced a profound agitation throughout the civil- ized world. In this unusual agitation we have forborne from taking part in any controversy between foreign states, and between parties or factions in such states. We have attempted no propagandism, and acknowledged no revolu- tion. But we have left to every nation the ex- clusive conduct and management of its own af- fairs. Our struggle has been, of course, con- templated by foreign nations with reference less to its own merits than to its supposed and often
1862] Annual Message 95
exaggerated effects and consequences resulting to those nations themselves. Nevertheless, com- plaint on the part of this government, even if it were just, would certainly be unwise.
The treaty with Great Britain for the sup- pression of the slave-trade has been put into operation with a good prospect of complete suc- cess. It is an occasion of special pleasure to acknowledge that the execution of it on the part of her Majesty's government has been marked with a jealous respect for the authority of the United States, and the rights of their moral and loyal citizens.
The convention with Hanover for the aboli- tion of the state dues has been carried into full effect under the act of Congress for that pur- pose.
A blockade of three thousand miles of sea- coast could not be established and vigorously en- forced, in a season of great commercial activity like the present, without committing occasional mistakes, and inflicting unintentional injuries upon foreign nations and their subjects.
A civil war occurring in a country where for- eigners reside and carry on trade under treaty stipulations, is necessarily fruitful of complaints of the violation of neutral rights. All such col- lisions tend to excite misapprehensions, and possibly to produce mutual reclamations be-
96 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 1
tween nations which have a common interest in preserving peace and friendship. In clear cases of these kinds I have, as far as possible, heard and redressed complaints which have been pre- sented by friendly powers. There is still, how- ever, a large and an augmenting number of doubtful cases upon which the government is unable to agree with the governments whose protection is demanded by the claimants. There are, moreover, many cases in which the United States or their citizens suffer wrongs from the naval or military authorities of foreign nations, which the governments of those states are not at once prepared to redress. I have proposed to some of the foreign states thus interested mu- tual conventions to examine and adjust such complaints. This proposition has been made especially to Great Britain, to France, to Spain, and to Prussia. In each case it has been kindly received, but has not yet been formally adopted. I deem it my duty to recommend an appro- priation in behalf of the owners of the Nor- wegian bark Admiral P. Tordenskiold, which vessel was, in May, 1861, prevented by the com- mander of the blockading force off Charleston from leaving that port with cargo, notwithstand- ing a similar privilege had, shortly before, been granted to an English vessel. I have directed the Secretary of State to cause the papers in the
1862] Annual Message 97
case to be communicated to the proper com- mittees.
Applications have been made to me by many free Americans of African descent to favor their emigration, with a view to such colonization as was contemplated in recent acts of Congress. Other parties at home and abroad — some from interested motives, others upon patriotic consid- erations, and still others influenced by philan- thropic sentiments — have suggested similar measures; while, on the other hand, several of the Spanish-American republics have protested against the sending of such colonies to their re- spective territories. Under these circumstances, I have declined to move any such colony to any state without first obtaining the consent of its government, with an agreement on its part to receive and protect such emigrants in all the rights of freemen ; and I have at the same time offered to the several states situated within the tropics, or having colonies there, to negotiate with them, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, to favor the voluntary emigration of persons of that class to their respective terri- tories, upon conditions which shall be equal, just, and humane. Liberia and Hayti are as yet the only countries to which colonists of African descent from here could go with certainty of being received and adopted as citizens; and
98 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 1
I regret to say such persons contemplating col- onization do not seem so willing to migrate to those countries as to some others, nor so willing as I think their interest demands. I believe, however, opinion among them in this respect is improving; and that ere long there will be an augmented and considerable migration to both these countries from the United States.
The new commercial treaty between the United States and the Sultan of Turkey has been carried into execution.
A commercial and consular treaty has been negotiated, subject to the Senate's consent, with Liberia; and a similar negotiation is now pend- ing with the republic of Hayti. A considerable improvement of the national commerce is ex- pected to result from these measures.
Our relations with Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Rome, and the other European states, remain undis- turbed. Very favorable relations also continue to be maintained with Turkey, Morocco, China, and Japan.
During the last year there has not only been no change of our previous relations with the in- dependent states of our own continent, but more friendly sentiments than have heretofore existed are believed to be entertained by these neigh-
1862] Annual Message 99
bors, whose safety and progress are so intimately connected with our own. This statement espe- cially applies to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, and Chile.
The commission under the convention with the republic of New Granada closed its session without having audited and passed upon all the claims which were submitted to it. A proposi- tion is pending to revive the convention, that it may be able to do more complete justice. The joint commission between the United States and the republic of Costa Rica has completed its la- bors and submitted its report.
I have favored the project for connecting the United States with Europe by an Atlantic tele- graph, and a similar project to extend the tele- graph from San Francisco, to connect by a Pa- cific telegraph with the line which is being extended across the Russian empire.
The Territories of the United States, with unimportant exceptions, have remained undis- turbed by the civil war, and they are exhibiting such evidence of prosperity as justifies an expec- tation that some of them will soon be in a condi- tion to be organized as States and be constitu- tionally admitted into the Federal Union.
The immense mineral resources of some of those Territories ought to be developed as rap- idly as possible. Every step in that direction
ioo Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 1
would have a tendency to improve the revenues of the government, and diminish the burdens of the people. It is worthy of your serious con- sideration whether some extraordinary measures to promote that end cannot be adopted. The means which suggests itself as most likely to be effective is a scientific exploration of the mineral regions in those Territories, with a view to the publication of its results at home and in foreign countries — results which cannot fail to be aus- picious.
The condition of the finances will claim your most diligent consideration. The vast expendi- tures incident to the military and naval opera- tions required for the suppression of the rebel- lion have hitherto been met with a promptitude and certainty unusual in similar circumstances, and the public credit has been fully maintained. The continuance of the war, however, and the increased disbursements made necessary by the augmented forces now in the field, demand your best reflections as to the best modes of providing the necessary revenue without injury to business and with the least possible burdens upon labor.
The suspension of specie payment by the banks, soon after the commencement of your last session, made large issues of United States notes unavoidable. In no other way could the pay- ment of the troops and the satisfaction of other
1862] Annual Message 101
just demands, be so economically or so well pro- vided for. The judicious legislation of Con- gress, securing the receivability of these notes for loans and internal duties, and making them a legal tender for other debts, has made them a universal currency, and has satisfied, partially at least, and for the time, the long-felt want of a uniform circulating medium, saving thereby to the people immense sums in discounts and ex- changes.
A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period compatible with due regard to all interests concerned, should ever be kept in view. Fluctuations in the value of currency are always injurious, and to reduce these fluctua- tions to the lowest possible point will always be a leading purpose in wise legislation. Convert- ibility— prompt and certain convertibility — into coin is generally acknowledged to be the best and surest safeguard against them; and it is extremely doubtful whether a circula- tion of United States notes, payable in coin, and sufficiently large for the wants of the people, can be permanently, usefully, and safely maintained.
Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary provision for the public wants can be made, and the great advantages of a safe and uniform currency secured?
I know of none which promises so certain re-
102 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
suits, and is at the same time so unobjectionable, as the organization of banking associations un- der a general act of Congress well guarded in its provisions. To such associations the govern- ment might furnish circulating notes, on the se- curity of United States bonds deposited in the treasury. These notes, prepared under the su- pervision of proper officers, being uniform in appearance and security, and convertible always into coin, would at once protect labor against the evils of a vicious currency, and facilitate commerce by cheap and safe exchanges.
A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds would compensate the United States for the preparation and distribution of the notes and a general supervision of the system, and would lighten the burden of that part of the public debt employed as securities. The pub- lic credit, moreover, would be greatly improved and the negotiation of new loans greatly facili- tated by the steady market demand for govern- ments bonds which the adoption of the proposed system would create.
It is an additional recommendation of the measure, of considerable weight in my judg- ment, that it would reconcile, as far as possible, all existing interests by the opportunity offered to existing institutions to reorganize under the act, substituting only the secured uniform na-
1 862] Annual Message 103
tional circulation for the local and various cir- culation, secured and unsecured, now issued by them.
The receipts into the treasury from all sources, including loans and balance from the preceding year, for the fiscal year ending on the 30th June, 1862, were $583,885,247.06; of which sum $49,- 056,397.62 were derived from customs; $1,795,- 331.73 from the direct tax; from public lands, $152,203.77; from miscellaneous sources, $931,- 787.64; from loans in all forms, $529,692,460.50. The remainder, $2,257,065.80, was the balance from last year.
The disbursements during the same period were: for congressional, executive, and judicial purposes $5,939,009.29; for foreign intercourse, $1,339,710.35; for miscellaneous expenses in- cluding the mints, loans, post-office deficiencies, collection of revenue, and other like charges, $14,129,771.50; for expenses under the Interior Department, $3,102,985.52; under the War De- partment, $394,368,407.36; under the Navy De- partment $42,674,569.69; for interest on public debt, $13,190,324.45; and for payment of public debt, including reimbursement of temporary loan, and redemptions, $96,096,922.09 — making an aggregate of $570,841,700.25, and leaving a balance in the treasury on the first day of July, 1862, of $13,043,546.81.
104 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
It should be observed that the sum of $96,- 096,922.09, expended for reimbursements and redemption of public debt, being included also in the loans made, may be properly deducted both from receipts and expenditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year, $487,788,324.97; and the expenditures, $474,744,778.16.
Other information on the subject of the finances will be found in the report of the Secre- tary of the Treasury, to whose statements and views I invite your most candid and considerate attention.
The reports of the Secretaries of War and of the Navy are herewith transmitted. These re- ports, though lengthy, are scarcely more than brief abstracts of the very numerous and ex- tensive transactions and operations conducted through those departments. Nor could I give a summary of them here, upon any principle, which would admit of its being much shorter than the reports themselves. I therefore content myself with laying the reports before you and asking your attention to them.
It gives me pleasure to report a decided im- provement in the financial condition of the Post Office Department, as compared with several preceding years. The receipts for the fiscal year 1861 amounted to $8,349,296.40, which em- braced the revenue from all the States of the
1862] Annual Message 105
Union for three quarters of that year. Notwith- standing the cessation of revenue from the so- called seceded States during the last fiscal year, the increase of the correspondence of the loyal States has been sufficient to produce a revenue during the same year of $8,299,820.90, being only $50,000 less than was derived from all the States of the Union during the previous year. The expenditures show a still more favorable result. The amount expended in 1861 was $13,- 606,759.11. For the last year the amount has been reduced to $11,125,364.13, showing a de- crease of about $2,481,000 in the expenditures as compared with the preceding year, and about $3,750,000 as compared with the fiscal year i860. The deficiency in the department for the previous year was $4,551,966.98. For the last- fiscal year it was reduced to $2,112,814.57. These favorable results are in part owing to the cessation of mail service in the insurrectionary States, and in part to a careful review of all ex- penditures in that department in the interest of economy. The efficiency of the postal service, it is believed, has also been much improved. The Postmaster-General has also opened a cor- respondence, through the Department of State, with foreign governments, proposing a conven- tion of postal representatives for the purpose of simplifying the rates of foreign postage, and to
106 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
expedite the foreign mails. This proposition, equally important to our adopted citizens and to the commercial interests of this country, has been favorably entertained, and agreed to, by all the governments from whom replies have been received.
I ask the attention of Congress to the sugges- tions of the Postmaster-General in his report re- specting the further legislation required, in his opinion, for the benefit of the postal service.
The Secretary of the Interior reports as fol- lows in regard to the public lands :
The public lands have ceased to be a source of revenue. From the ist July, 1861, to the 30th Sep- tember, 1862, the entire cash receipts from the sale of lands were $137,476.26 — a sum much less than the expenses of our land system during the same period. The homestead law, which will take effect on the ist of January next, offers such inducements to settlers that sales for cash cannot be expected to an extent sufficient to meet the expenses of the Gen- eral Land Office, and the cost of surveying and bring- ing the land into market.
The discrepancy between the sum here stated as arising from the sales of the public lands, and the sum derived from the same source as re- ported from the Treasury Department, arises, as I understand, from the fact that the periods of time, though apparently, were not really coin-
1862] Annual Message 107
cident at the beginning point — the Treasury re- port including a considerable sum now, which had previously been reported from the Interior — sufficiently large to greatly overreach the sum derived from the three months now reported upon by the Interior, and not by the Treasury.
The Indian tribes upon our frontiers have, during the past year, manifested a spirit of in- subordination, and at several points have en- gaged in open hostilities against the white settle- ments in their vicinity. The tribes occupying the Indian country south of Kansas renounced their allegiance to the United States, and en- tered into treaties with the insurgents. Those who remained loyal to the United States were driven from the country. The chief of the Cherokees has visited this city for the purpose of restoring the former relations of the tribe with the United States. He alleges that they were constrained by superior force to enter into treaties with the insurgents, and that the United States neglected to furnish the protection which their treaty stipulations required.
In the month of August last the Sioux Indians in Minnesota attacked the settlements in their vicinity with extreme ferocity, killing indiscrim- inately men, women, and children. This attack was wholly unexpected, and therefore no means of defense had been provided. It is estimated
108 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
that not less than eight hundred persons were killed by the Indians, and a large amount of property was destroyed. How this outbreak was induced is not definitely known, and sus- picions, which may be unjust, need not be stated. Information was received by the Indian bureau, from different sources, about the time hostilities were commenced, that a simultaneous attack was to be made upon the white settlements by all the tribes between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The State of Minnesota has suffered great injury from this Indian war. A large portion of her territory has been depopu- lated, and a severe loss has been sustained by the destruction of property. The people of that State manifest much anxiety for the removal of the tribes beyond the limits of the State as a guarantee against future hostilities. The Com- missioner of Indian Affairs will furnish full de- tails. I submit for your especial consideration whether our Indian system shall not be remod- eled. Many wise and good men have impressed me with the belief that this can be profitably done.
I submit a statement of the proceedings of commissioners, which shows the progress that has been made in the enterprise of constructing the Pacific Railroad. And this suggests the earliest completion of this road, and also the fa-
1862] Annual Message 109
vorable action of Congress upon the projects now pending before them for enlarging the ca- pacities of the great canals in New York and Illinois, as being of vital and rapidly increasing importance to the whole nation, and especially to the vast interior region hereinafter to be noticed at some greater length. I purpose having pre- pared and laid before you at an early day some interesting and valuable statistical information upon this subject. The military and commer- cial importance of enlarging the Illinois and Michigan canal and improving the Illinois River is presented in the report of Colonel Web- ster to the Secretary of War, and now trans- mitted to Congress. I respectfully ask atten- tion to it.
To carry out the provisions of the act of Con- gress of the 15th of May last, I have caused the Department of Agriculture of the United States to be organized. The commissioner informs me that within the period of a few months this department has established an extensive system of correspondence and exchanges, both at home and abroad, which promises to effect highly beneficial results in the development of a correct knowledge of recent improvements in agricul- ture, in the introduction of new products, and in the collection of the agricultural statistics of the different States. Also that it will soon be pre-
i io Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
pared to distribute largely seeds, cereals, plants, and cuttings, and has already published and lib- erally diffused much valuable information in anticipation of a more elaborate report which will in due time be furnished, embracing some valuable tests in chemical science now in prog- ress in the laboratory. The creation of this de- partment was for the more immediate benefit of a large class of our most valuable citizens; and I trust that the liberal basis upon which it has been organized will not only meet your ap- probation, but that it will realize, at no distant day, all the fondest anticipations of its most sanguine friends, and become the fruitful source of advantage to all our people.
On the 22d day of September last a procla- lamation was issued by the Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted. In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second para- graph of that paper, I now respectfully recall your attention to what may be called "compen- sated emancipation."
A nation may be said to consist of its terri- tory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. "One generation passeth away, and another gen- eration cometh, but the earth abideth forever." It is of the first importance to duly consider and estimate this ever-enduring part. That portion
1862] Annual Message in
of the earth's surface which is owned and in- habited by the people of the United States is well adapted to be the home of one national family, and it is not well adapted for two or more. Its vast extent and its variety of climate and pro- ductions are of advantage in this age for one people, whatever they might have been in for- mer ages. Steam, telegraphs, and intelligence have brought these to be an advantageous com- bination for one united people.
In the inaugural address I briefly pointed out the total inadequacy of disunion as a remedy for the differences between the people of the two sections. I did so in language which I cannot improve and which, therefore, I beg to repeat:
One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive-slave clause of the Constitution and the law for the sup- pression of the foreign slave-trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a com- munity where the moral sense of the people imper- fectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured; and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly
ii2 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
suppressed, would be ultimately revived without re- striction in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separa- tion than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you.
There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national boundary upon which to divide. Trace through, from east to west, upon the line between the free and slave country, and we shall find a little more than one third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and populated, or soon to be populated, thickly upon both sides; while nearly all its remaining length are merely
1862] Annual Message 113
surveyors' lines, over which people may walk back and forth without any consciousness of their presence. No part of this line can be made any more difficult to pass by writing it down on paper or parchment as a national boundary. The fact of separation, if it comes, gives up on the part of the seceding section the fugitive- slave clause along with all other constitutional obligations upon the section seceded from, while I should expect no treaty stipulation would be ever made to take its place.
But there is another difficulty. The great in- terior region, bounded east by the Alleghanies, north by the British dominions, west by the Rocky Mountains, and south by the line along which the culture of corn and cotton meets, and which includes part of Virginia, part of Ten- nessee, all of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michi- gan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Territories of Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Colorado, already has above ten millions of people, and will have fifty millions within fifty years if not prevented by any political folly or mistake. It contains more than one third of the country owned by the United States — certainly more than one million of square miles. Once half as populous as Mas- sachusetts already is, it would have more than seventy-five millions of people. A glance at the
ii4 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
map shows that, territorially speaking, it is the great body of the republic. The other parts are but marginal borders to it, the magnificent re- gion sloping west from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific being the deepest and also the rich- est in undeveloped resources. In the produc- tion of provisions, grains, grasses, and all which proceed from them, this great interior region is naturally one of the most important in the world. Ascertain from the statistics the small propor- tion of the region which has, as yet, been brought into cultivation, and also the large and rapidly increasing amount of its products, and we shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the pros- pect presented; and yet this region has no sea- coast, touches no ocean anywhere. As part of one nation, its people now find, and may forever find, their way to Europe by New York, to South America and Africa by New Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But separate our com- mon country into two nations as designed by the present rebellion, and every man of this great interior region is thereby cut off from some one or more of these outlets — not, perhaps, by a physical barrier, but by embarrassing and oner- ous trade regulations.
And this is true wherever a dividing or boundary line may be fixed. Place it between the now free and slave country, or place it south
1 862] Annual Message 115
of Kentucky or north of Ohio, and still the truth remains that none south of it can trade to any port or place north of it, and none north of it can trade to any port or place south of it, except upon terms dictated by a government foreign to them. These outlets, east, west, and south, are indispen- sable to the well-being of the people inhabiting, and to inhabit, this vast interior region. Which of the three may be the best is no proper ques- tion. All are better than either; and all of right belong to that people and to their successors for- ever. True to themselves, they will not ask where a line of separation shall be, but will vow rather that there shall be no such line. Nor are the marginal regions less interested in these com- munications to and through them to the great outside world. They, too, and each of them, must have access to this Egypt of the West with- out paying toll at the crossing of any national boundary.
Our national strife springs not from our per- manent part, not from the land we inhabit, not from our national homestead. There is no pos- sible severing of this but would multiply, and not mitigate, evils among us. In all its adap- tations and aptitudes it demands union and ab- hors separation. In fact, it would ere long force reunion, however much of blood and treasure the separation might have cost.
n6 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
Our strife pertains to ourselves — to the pass- ing generations of men ; and it can without con- vulsion be hushed forever with the passing of one generation.
In this view I recommend the adoption of the following resolution and articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States :
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both houses concurring), That the following articles be pro- posed to the legislatures (or conventions) of the several States as amendments to the Consti- tution of the United States, all or any of which articles when ratified by three fourths of the said legislatures (or conventions) to be valid as part or parts of the said Constitution, viz. : "Article — .
"Every state wherein slavery now exists which shall abolish the same therein at any time or times before the first day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand and nine hundred, shall receive compensation from the United States as follows, to wit:
"The President of the United States shall de- liver to every such State bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of per
cent, per annum, to an amount equal to the ag- gregate sum of for each
1 862] Annual Message 117
slave shown to have been therein by the eighth census of the United States, said bonds to be delivered to such State by instalments, or in one parcel at the completion of the abolishment, ac- cordingly as the same shall have been gradual or at one time within such State; and interest shall begin to run upon any such bond only from the proper time of its delivery as afore- said. Any State having received bonds as afore- said, and afterward reintroducing or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund to the United States the bonds so received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon.
"Article — .
"All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom by the chances of the war at any time before the end of the rebellion, shall be forever free ; but all owners of such who shall not have been disloyal shall be compensated for them at the same rates as are provided for States adopt- ing abolishment of slavery, but in such way that no slave shall be twice accounted for. "Article — .
"Congress may appropriate money and other- wise provide for colonizing free colored per- sons, with their own consent, at any place or places without the United States."
I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed ar- ticles at some length. Without slavery the re-
n8 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
bellion could never have existed; without slav- ery it could not continue.
Among the friends of the Union there is great diversity of sentiment and of policy in regard to slavery and the African race amongst us. Some would perpetuate slavery; some would abolish it suddenly and without compensation; some would abolish it gradually, and with com- pensation ; some would remove the freed people from us, and some would retain them with us; and there are yet other minor diversities. Be- cause of these diversities we waste much strength in struggles among ourselves. By mutual con- cession we should harmonize and act together. This would be compromise; but it would be compromise among the friends, and not with the enemies of the Union. These articles are intended to embody a plan of such mutual con- cessions. If the plan shall be adopted, it is as- sumed that emancipation will follow at least in several of the States.
As to the first article, the main points are: first, the emancipation; secondly, the length of time for consummating it — thirty-seven years; and, thirdly, the compensation.
The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates of perpetual slavery; but the length of time should greatly mitigate their dis- satisfaction. The time spares both races from
1C62] Annual Message 119
the evils of sudden derangement — in fact, from the necessity of any derangement; while most of those whose habitual course of thought will be disturbed by the measure will have passed away before its consummation. They will never see it. Another class will hail the prospect of emancipation, but will deprecate the length of time. They will feel that it gives too little to the now living slaves. But it really gives them much. It saves them from the vagrant destitu- tion which must largely attend immediate eman- cipation in localities where their numbers are very great; and it gives the inspiring assurance that their posterity shall be free forever. The plan leaves to each State choosing to act under it to abolish slavery now, or at the end of the century, or at any intermediate time, or by de- grees extending over the whole or any part of the period; and it obliges no two States to pro- ceed alike. It also provides for compensation, and generally the mode of making it. This, it would seem, must further mitigate the dissatis- faction of those who favor perpetual slavery, and especially of those who are to receive the compensation. Doubtless some of those who are to pay, and not to receive, will object. Yet the measure is both just and economical. In a certain sense the liberation of slaves is the de- struction of property — property acquired by de-
120 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
scent or by purchase, the same as any other prop- erty. It is no less true for having been often said, that the people of the South are not more responsible for the original introduction of this property than are the people of the North; and when it is remembered how unhesitatingly we all use cotton and sugar and share the profits of dealing in them, it may not be quite safe to say that the South has been more responsible than the North for its continuance. If, then, for a common object this property is to be sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a common charge? And if, with less money, or money more easily paid, we can preserve the benefits of the Union by this means than we can by the war alone, is it not also economical to do it? Let us con- sider it then. Let us ascertain the sum we have expended in the war since compensated eman- cipation was proposed last March, and consider whether, if that measure had been promptly ac- cepted by even some of the slave States, the same sum would not have done more to close the war than has been otherwise done. If so, the meas- ure would save money, and in that view would be a prudent and economical measure. Cer- tainly it is not so easy to pay something as it is to pay nothing; but it is easier to pay a large sum than it is to pay a larger one. And it is easier to pay any sum when we are able, than
1862] Annual Message 121
it is to pay it before we are able. The war re- quires large sums, and requires them at once. The aggregate sum necessary for compensated emancipation of course would be large. But it would require no ready cash, nor the bonds even, any faster than the emancipation progresses. This might not, and probably would not, close before the end of the thirty-seven years. At that time we shall probably have 100,000,000 of people to share the burden, instead of 31,000,- 000 as now. And not only so, but the increase of our population may be expected to continue for a long time after that period as rapidly as before, because our territory will not have be- come full. I do not state this inconsiderately. At the same ratio of increase which we have maintained, on an average, from our first na- tional census of 1790 until that of i860, we should in 1900 have a population of 103,208,415. And why may we not continue that ratio far beyond that period? Our abundant room — our broad national homestead — is our ample re- source. Were our territory as limited as are the British Isles, very certainly our population could not expand as stated. Instead of receiv- ing the foreign-born as now, we should be com- pelled to send part of the native-born away. But such is not our condition. We have 2,963,000 square miles. Europe has
122 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
3,800,000, with a population averaging 73 1-3 persons to the square mile. Why may not our country, at the same time, average as many? Is it less fertile? Has it more waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural advan- tage? If, then, we are at some time to be as pop- ulous as Europe, how soon? As to when this may be, we can judge by the past and the pres- ent; as to when it will be, if ever, depends much on whether we maintain the Union. Several of our States are already above the average of Eu- rope— 73 1-3 to the square mile. Massachu- setts has 157; Rhode Island, 133; Connecticut, 99 ; New York and New Jersey, each 80. Also two other great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not far below, the former having 63 and the latter 59. The States already above the Euro- pean average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio since passing that point as ever before, while no one of them is equal to some other parts of our country in natural ca- pacity for sustaining a dense population.
Taking the nation in the aggregate, we find its population and ratio of increase for the sev- eral decennial periods to be as follows :
1790.. 3.929,827
1800. . 5,305,937 35.02 % ratio of increase
1862] Annual Message 123
1810. . 7,239,814 36.45 % ratio of increase
1820.. 9,638,131 33.13 " "
1830. . 12,866,020 3349 " " "
1840. . 17,069,453 32.67 " " "
1850.. 23,191,876 35.87 " "
i860.. 31,443,790 35.58 " "
This shows an average decennial increase of 34.60 per cent, in population through the sev- enty years from our first to our last census yet taken. It is seen that the ratio of increase at no one of these seven periods is either two per cent, below or two per cent, above the average, thus showing how inflexible, and consequently how reliable the law of increase in our case is. Assuming that it will continue, gives the fol- lowing results:
1870 42,323,341
1880 56,967,216
1890 76,677,872
1900 103,208,415
1910 138,918,526
1920 186,984,335
1930 251,680,914
These figures show that our country may be as populous as Europe now is at some point be- tween 1920 and 1930 — say about 1925 — our ter-
124 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
ritory, at 73 1-3 persons to the square mile, be- ing of capacity to contain 217,186,000.
And we will reach this, too, if we do not our- selves relinquish the chance by the folly and evils of disunion, or by long and exhausting war springing from the only great element of na- tional discord among us. While it cannot be foreseen exactly how much one huge example of secession, breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population, civilization, and pros- perity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would be very great and injurious.
The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace, insure this increase of population, and proportionately the wealth of the country. With these, we should pay all the emancipation would cost, together with our other debt, easier than we should pay our other debt without it. If we had allowed our old national debt to run at six per cent, per annum, simple interest, from the end of our Revolu- tionary struggle until to-day, without paying anything on either principal or interest, each man of us would owe less upon that debt now than each man owed upon it then; and this be- cause our increase of men, through the whole period, has been greater than six per cent. — has run faster than the interest upon the debt. Thus, time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long
1862] Annual Message 125
as its population increases faster than unpaid in- terest accumulates on its debt.
This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is justly due; but it shows the great importance of time in this connection — the great advantage of a policy by which we shall not have to pay, until we number a hun- dred millions, what by a different policy we would have to pay now, when we number but thirty-one millions. In a word, it shows that a dollar will be much harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the latter will cost no blood, no precious life. It will be a saving of both.
As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable to return to bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. Some of them doubtless, in the property sense, belong to loyal owners; and hence provision is made in this ar- ticle for compensating such.
The third article relates to the future of the freed people. It does not oblige, but merely authorizes, Congress to aid in colonizing such as may consent. This ought not to be regarded as objectionable, on the one hand or on the other, inasmuch as it comes to nothing unless by the mutual consent of the people to be deported, and the American voters through their repre-
126 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
sentatives in Congress. I cannot make it bet- ter known than it already is, that I strongly favor colonization. And yet I wish to say there is an objection urged against free colored persons remaining in the country which is largely imaginary, if not sometimes malicious.
It is insisted that their presence would injure and displace white labor and white laborers. If there ever could be a proper time for mere catch arguments, that time surely is not now. In times like the present, men should utter noth- ing for which they would not willingly be re- sponsible through time and in eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can displace any more white labor by being free than by remain- ing slaves? If they stay in their old places, they jostle no white laborers ; if they leave their old places, they leave them open to white laborers. Logically, there is neither more nor less of it. Emancipation, even without deportation, would probably enhance the wages of white labor, and very surely would not reduce them. Thus, the customary amount of labor would still have to be performed; the freed people would surely not do more than their old proportion of it, and very probably for a time would do less, leaving an increased part to white laborers, bringing their labor into greater demand, and conse-
1862] Annual Message 127
quently enhancing the wages of it. With de- portation, even to a limited extent, enhanced wages to white labor is mathematically certain. Labor is like any other commodity in the mar- ket— increase the demand for it, and you in- crease the price of it. Reduce the supply of black labor by colonizing the black labor out of the country, and by precisely so much you in- crease the demand for, and wages of, white labor. But it is dreaded that the freed people will swarm forth and cover the whole land? Are they not already in the land? Will liberation make them any more numerous? Equally dis- tributed among the whites of the whole coun- try, and there would be but one colored to seven whites. Could the one in any way greatly dis- turb the seven? There are many communities now having more than one free colored person to seven whites, and this without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. The District of Columbia, and the States of Maryland and Delaware, are all in this condition. The Dis- trict has more than one free colored to six whites ; and yet in its frequent petitions to Con- gress I believe it has never presented the pres- ence of free colored persons as one of its griev- ances. But why should emancipation south send the free people north? People of any color seldom run unless there be something to run
128 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. i
from. Heretofore colored people, to some ex- tent, have fled north from bondage; and now, perhaps, from both bondage and destitution. But if gradual emancipation and deportation be adopted, they will have neither to flee from. Their old masters will give them wages at least until new laborers can be procured; and the freedmen, in turn, will gladly give their labor for the wages till new homes can be found for them in congenial climes and with people of their own blood and race. This proposition can be trusted on the mutual interests involved. And, in any event, cannot the North decide for itself whether to receive them?
Again, as practice proves mbre than theory, in any case, has there been any irruption of col- ored people northward because of the abolish- ment of slavery in this District last spring?
What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons to the whites in the District is from the census of i860, having no reference to persons called contrabands, nor to those made free by the act of Congress abolishing slavery here.
The plan consisting of these articles is recom- mended, not but that a restoration of the na- tional authority would be accepted without its adoption.
Nor will the war, nor proceedings under
1862] Annual Message 129
the proclamation of September 22, 1862, be stayed because of the recommendation of this plan. Its timely adoption, I doubt not, would bring restoration, and thereby stay both.
And, notwithstanding this plan, the recom- mendation that Congress provide by law for compensating any State which may adopt eman- cipation before this plan shall have been acted upon, is hereby earnestly renewed. Such would be only an advance part of the plan, and the same arguments apply to both.
This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of, but additional to, all others for re- storing and preserving the national authority throughout the Union. The subject is present- ed exclusively in its economical aspect. The plan would, I am confident, secure peace more speedily, and maintain it more permanently, than can be done by force alone; while all it would cost, considering amounts, and manner of payment, and times of payment, would be easier paid than will be the additional cost of the war if we rely solely upon force. It is much — very much — that it would cost no blood at all.
The plan is proposed as permanent constitu- tional law. It cannot become such without the concurrence of, first two-thirds of Congress and, afterward, three-fourths of the States. The requisite three-fourths of the States will neces-
130 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 1
sarily include seven of the slave States. Their concurrence, if obtained, will give assurance of their severally adopting emancipation at no very distant day upon the new constitutional terms. This assurance would end the struggle now, and save the Union forever.
I do not forget the gravity which should char- acterize a paper addressed to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magistrate of the na- tion. Nor do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor that many of you have more experience than I in the conduct of public af- fairs. Yet I trust that in view of the great re- sponsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to display.
Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would shorten the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood? Is it doubted that it would restore the national authority and national prosperity, and perpetu- ate both indefinitely? Is it doubted that we here — Congress and Executive — can secure its adoption? Will not the good people respond to a united and earnest appeal from us? Can we, can they, by any other means so certainly or so speedily assure these vital objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not "Can any of us imagine better?" but, "Can we all do better?"
1862] Annual Message 131
Object whatsoever is possible, still the question occurs, "Can we do better?" The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy pres- ent. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No per- sonal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not for- get that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last, best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if fol- lowed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
December 1, 1862.
132 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 3
T
Message to Congress, December 3, 1862
rn° THE SENATE and House of Repre- sentatives: On the 3d of November, 1 86 1, a collision took place off the coast of Cuba between the United States war steamer San Jacinto and the French brig Jules et Marie, resulting in serious damage to the lat- ter. The obligation of this government to make amends therefore could not be questioned if the inquiry resulted from any fault on the part of the San Jacinto. With a view to ascer- tain this, the subject was referred to a commis- sion of the United States and French naval offi- cers at New York with a naval officer of Italy as an arbiter. The conclusion arrived at was that the collision was occasioned by the failure of the San Jacinto seasonably to reverse her engine. It then became necessary to ascertain the amount of indemnification due to the injured party. The United States consul-general at Havana was consequently instructed to confer with the con- sul of France on this point, and they have deter- mined that the sum of nine thousand five hun- dred dollars is an equitable allowance under the circumstances.
1 86a] Message to Congress 133
I recommend an appropriation of this sum for the benefit of the owners of the Jules et Marie.
A copy of the letter of Mr. Shufeldt, the consul-general of the United States at Havana, to the Secretary of State on the subject, is here- with transmitted. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 5, 1862.
My dear Sir: With my understanding of the present condition of Missouri, and especially that part of it north of the Missouri River, I think attached resolutions are reasonable. Have you anything to do with it, or does it belong ex- clusively to the Secretary of War? Please an- swer me, returning this note, and resolutions to me. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
*Order to General Sibley Authorizing Ex- ecution of Indians and Half-Breeds1
Executive Mansion, December 6, 1862. Brigadier-General H. H. Sibley, St. Paul, Minn.: Ordered that of the Indians and Half-
1 During August of 1862 there had been an uprising of the Sioux Indians in Minnesota. Hundreds of men, women and children were massacred. Governor Ramsey ordered out troops under General Sibley and soon quelled the outbreak. Most of the Indian ringleaders were caught and hanged. Suspicion was
134
Abraham Lincoln
[Dec. 6
breeds sentenced to be hanged by the Military Commission, composed of Colonel Crooks, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Marshall, Captain Grant, Cap- tain Baily, and Lieutenant Olin, and lately sit- ting in Minnesota, you cause to be executed on Friday, the nineteenth day of December, in- stant, the following named, to wit:
uTe-he-has-ne-cha," |
No. |
2 by the record |
"Tazoo," alias "Plan-doota, |
"No. |
4 by the record |
"Wy-a-teh-to-wah," |
No. |
5 by the record |
''Hin-han-shoon-no-yag," |
No. |
6 by the record |
4tMuz-za-bom-a-dio," |
No. |
io by the record |
"Wah-pay-din-ta," |
No. |
1 1 by the record |
"Wa-he-hud," |
No. |
12 by the record |
4'Sna-ma-ni," |
No. |
14 by the record |
"Ta-te-mi-na," |
No. |
15 by the record |
"Rda-in-yan-kna," |
No. |
19 by the record |
"Do-wan-sa," |
No. |
22 by the record |
"Ha-pen," |
No. |
24 by the record |
"Shoon-kas-ka" (white dog) |
, No. |
35 by the record |
4 'Toon-kan-e-cheh-tay-mane, ' ' |
No. |
67 by the record |
4'E-tay-hoo-tay," |
No. |
68 by the record |
4'Am-da-cha," |
No. |
69 by the record |
44Hay-pee-don," or |
||
"Wanene-omrn-ho-ta," |
No. |
70 by the record |
"Mahpo-o-ke-na-ji," |
No. |
96 by the record |
rife that the attack was inspired by Confederate agents. They were said to have urged all the Indian tribes between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains to a simultaneous attack upon the white settlements.
1862]
Execution of Indians
i35
"Henry Milord,"
a Half-breed," "Chaskay-dow,"
or Chaskay-etay," "Baptiste Campbell,"
a Half-breed, "Tah-ta-kay-gay," 44Ha-pink-pa," "Hypolite Ango,"
a Half-breed, "Na-pay-shue," 44Wa-kan-tan-ka," "Toon-kan-ka-yag-e-na-jin," "Ma-kat-e-na-gin," 4 ' Pa-zee-koo-tay-ma-ne, ' ' "Ta-tey-hde-don," "Wa-she-choon," or
"Toon-kan-shkan-shkan- mene-hay," 44A-e-cha-ga," 44Ha-tan-in-koo," 41 Chay-ton-hoon-ka," 4'Chan-ka-hde," "Hda-hin-hday," 4'0-ya-tey-a-koo," "May-hoo-way-wa," 4'Wa-ken-yan-na,"
No. 115 by the record
No. 121 by the record
No. 138 by the record No. 155 by the record No. 170 by the record
No. 175 by the record No. 178 by the record No. 210 by the record No. 225 by the record No. 254 by the record No. 264 by the record No. 279 by the record
No. 318 No. 327 No. 333 No. 342 No. 359 No. 373 No. 377 No. 382 No. 383
by the by the by the by the by the by the by the by the by the
record record record record record record record record record
The other condemned prisoners you will hold subject to further orders, taking care that they neither escape, nor are subjected to any unlaw- ful violence. ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
136
Abraham Lincoln
[Dec. 9
Letter to C. P. Kirkland
Executive Mansion, December 7, 1862. Charles P. Kirkland, Esq., New York:
I have just received and hastily read your published letter to the Hon. Benjamin R. Cur- tis. Under the circumstances I may not be the most competent judge, but it appears to me to be a paper of great ability, and for the country's sake, more than my own, I thank you for it. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, December 8, 1862
To the Senate and House of Representatives: In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend that Commander John L. Worden, United States Navy, receive a vote of thanks of Congress for the eminent skill and gallantry exhibited by him in the late remarka- ble battle between the United States iron-clad steamer Monitor, under his command, and the rebel iron-clad steamer Merrimac, in March last.
The thanks of Congress for his services on the occasion referred to were tendered by a reso- lution approved July 11, 1862, but the recom- mendation is now specially made in order to
1862] Message to Senate 137
comply with the requirements of the ninth sec- tion of the act of July 16, 1862, which is in the following words :
That any line officer of the navy or marine corps may be advanced one grade if, upon recommendation of the President by name, he receive the thanks of Congress for highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the enemy, or for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession.
Abraham Lincoln *Telegram to Governor Johnson
Executive Mansion, December 8, 1862. Governor Andrew Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: Jesse H. Strickland is here asking authority to raise a regiment of Tennesseeans. Would you advise that the authority be given him?
A. Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, December 9, 1862
To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with the resolution of the Senate of the United States on the 13th of March last, re- questing a copy of the correspondence relative to the attempted seizure of Mr. Fauchet by the commander of the Africa within the waters of the United States, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was accompanied. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
138 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. n
Letter to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion, Washington, December 10, 1862.
Major-General Curtis, St. Louis, Missouri:
Please suspend, until further order, all pro- ceedings on the order made by General Scho- field, on the twenty-eighth day of August last, for assessing and collecting from secessionists and Southern sympathizers the sum of five hun- dred thousand dollars, etc., and in the meantime make out and send me a statement of facts perti- nent to the question, together with your opinion upon it.
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, December 10, 1862
To the Senate and House of Representatives: In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend that Lieutenant- Commander George U. Morris, United States Navy, receive a vote of thanks of Congress for the determined valor and heroism displayed in his defense of the United States ship of war Cum- berland, temporarily under his command, in the naval engagement of Hampton Roads on the 8th of March, 1862, with the rebel iron-clad steam- frigate Merrimac.
Abraham Lincoln.
1 862] Message to Senate 139
*Letter to Jesse K. Dubois
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, December 10, 1862.
My dear Sir: In the summer of 1859 when Mr. Freeman visited Springfield, Illinois, in re- lation to the McCallister & Stebbin's bonds I promised him that, upon certain conditions, I would ask the members of the Legislature to give him a full and fair hearing of his case. I do not now remember, nor have I time to recall, exactly what the conditions were, nor whether they were completely performed; but there can be, in no case, any harm in his having a full and fair hearing, and I sincerely wish it may be given him. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, December n, 1862
1 To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with your resolution of December 5, 1862, requesting the President "to furnish the Senate with all information in his possession touching the late Indian barbarities in the State of Minnesota, and also the evidence in his pos- session upon which some of the principal actors and head men were tried and condemned to death," I have the honor to state that, on receipt of said resolution, I transmitted the same to the
140 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. n
Secretary of the Interior, accompanied by a note, a copy of which is herewith inclosed, marked A, and in response to which I received, through that department, a letter of the Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, a copy of which is herewith inclosed, marked B.
I further state that on the eighth day of No- vember last I received a long telegraphic de- spatch from Major-General Pope, at St. Paul, Minnesota, simply announcing the names of the persons sentenced to be hanged. I immediately telegraphed to have the transcripts of the rec- ords in all the cases forwarded to me, which transcripts, however, did not reach me until two or three days before the present meeting of Con- gress. Meantime I received, through tele- graphic despatches and otherwise, appeals in behalf of the condemned — appeals for their exe- cution— and expressions of opinion as to the proper policy in regard to them and to the In- dians generally in that vicinity, none of which, as I understand, falls within the scope of your inquiry. After the arrival of the transcripts of records, but before I had sufficient opportunity to examine them, I received a joint letter from one of the senators and two of the representa- tives from Minnesota, which contains some state- ments of fact not found in the records of the trials, and for which reason I herewith transmit
1862] Message to Senate 141
a copy, marked C. I also, for the same reason, inclose a printed memorial of the citizens of St. Paul, addressed to me, and forwarded with the letter aforesaid.
Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on the one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other, I caused a careful examination of the records of trials to be made, in view of first ordering the execution of such as had been proved guilty of violating females. Contrary to my expectations, only two of this class were found. I then directed a further examination and a classification of all who were proven to have participated in massacres, as distinguished from participation in battles. This class num- bered forty, and included the two convicted of female violation. One of the number is strongly recommended, by the commission which tried them, for commutation to ten years' imprison- ment. I have ordered the other thirty-nine to be executed on Friday, the 19th instant. The order was despatched from here on Monday, the 8th instant, by a messenger to General Sibley, and a copy of which order is herewith transmit- ted, marked D.
An abstract of the evidence as to the forty is here inclosed, marked E.
To avoid the immense amount of copying, I
142 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 12
lay before the Senate the original transcripts of the records of trials, as received by me.
This is as full and complete a response to the resolution as it is in my power to make.
Abraham Lincoln.
Message to Congress, December 12, 1862
Fellow- citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I have in my possession three valuable swords, formerly the property of Gen- eral David E. Twiggs, which I now place at the disposal of Congress. They are forwarded to me from New Orleans by Major-General Benjamin F. Butler. If they, or any of them, shall be by Congress disposed of in reward or compliment of military service, I think General Butler is entitled to the first consideration. A copy of the general's letter to me, accompanying the swords, is herewith transmitted.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to Fernando Wood
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 12, 1862.
My dear Sir: Your letter of the 8th, with accompanying note of same date, was received yesterday. The most important paragraph in the letter, as I consider, is in these words : "On the 25th of November last I was advised by an
1 862] Letter to Wood 143
authority which I deemed likely to be well in- formed as well as reliable and truthful, that the Southern States would send representatives to the next Congress, provided that a full and gen- eral amnesty should permit them to do so. No guaranties or terms were asked for other than the amnesty referred to." I strongly suspect your information will prove to be groundless; nevertheless, I thank you for communicating it to me. Understanding the phrase in the para- graph above quoted — "the Southern States would send representatives to the next Con- gress"— to be substantially the same as that "the people of the Southern States would cease resist- ance, and would reinaugurate, submit to, and maintain the national authority within the lim- its of such States under the Constitution of the United States," I say that in such case the war would cease on the part of the United States; and that if within a reasonable time "a full and general amnesty" were necessary to such end, it would not be withheld.
I do not think it would be proper now for me to communicate this formally or informally to the people of the Southern States, My belief is that they already know it; and when they choose, if ever, they can communicate with me unequivocally. Nor do I think it proper now to suspend military operations to try any experi-
144 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 16
ment of negotiation. I should nevertheless re- ceive with great pleasure the exact information you now have, and also such other as you may in any way obtain. Such information might be more valuable before the ist of January than afterward.
While there is nothing in this letter which I shall dread to see in history, it is, perhaps, bet- ter for the present that its existence should not become public. I therefore have to request that you will regard it as confidential. Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 14, 1862.
Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.:
If my friend Dr. William Fithian, of Dan- ville, 111., should call on you, please give him such facilities as you consistently can about re- covering the remains of a step-son and matters connected therewith. A. LINCOLN.
^Telegram to General Sibley
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 16, 1862.
Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Saint Paul, Minn.:
As you suggest let the executions fixed for Fri-
1 862] Telegram to Burnside 145
day the 19th instant, be postponed to, and be done on Friday the 26th instant.
A. Lincoln.
(Private.)
Operator please send this very carefully and accurately. A. L.
^Telegram to General Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 16, 1862.
Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.:
N. W. Watkins, of Jackson, Mo. (who is half brother to Henry Clay) writes me that a colonel of ours has driven him from his home at Jack- son. Will you please look into the case and re- store the old man to his home if the public in- terest will admit?
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General Burnside
War Department, Washington, D. C, December 16, 1862. Major-General Burnside, Falmouth: Your dispatch about General Stahel is received. Please ascertain from General Sigel and his old corps whether Stahel or Schurz is preferable and telegraph the result and I will act immediately. After all I shall be governed by your preference.
A. Lincoln.
146 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 18
*Telegram to General Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 17, 1862.
Major-General Curtis: Could the civil au- thority be reintroduced into Missouri in lieu of the military to any extent, with advantage and safety?
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General Burnside
Executive Mansion, December 17, 1862. Maj.-Gen. Burnside: George Patten says he was a class-mate of yours and was in the same regiment of artillery. Have you any place you would like to put him in? and if so what is it?
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, December 18, 1862
To the Senate and House of Representatives : I transmit a copy of a despatch to the Secretary of State from Mr. Adams, United States min- ister at London, and of the correspondence to which it refers, between that gentleman and Mr. Panizzi, the principal librarian of the Brit- ish Museum, relative to certain valuable pub- lications presented to the Library of Congress. Abraham Lincoln.
1862] Message to Congress 147
*Telegram to Governor Gamble
Executive Mansion, December 18, 1862. Governor Gamble, Saint Louis, Mo.: It is represented to me that the enrolled militia alone would now maintain law and order in all the counties of your State north of the Missouri River. If so all other forces there might be re- moved south of the river, or out of the State. Please post yourself and give me your opinion upon the subject. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to General Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 19, 1862.
Major-General Curtis, Saint Louis, Mo.:
Hon. Hall, M. C. here tells me and Gov- ernor Gamble telegraphs me that quiet can be maintained in all the counties north of the Mis- souri River by the enrolled militia. Confer with Governor Gamble and telegraph me.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
Washington, December 19, 1862. Major-General Burnside: Come of course, if in your own judgment it is safe to do so.
A. Lincoln.
148 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 22
Note to Secretary Chase, December 20, 1862
Hon. Secretary of the Treasury: Please do not go out of town.
A. Lincoln.
Note to Secretaries Seward and Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 20, 1862.
Gentlemen: You have respectively tendered me your resignations as Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. I am apprised of the circumstances which may render this course personally desirable to each of you ; but after most anxious consideration my deliberate judgment is that the public interest does not admit of it. I therefore have to re- quest that you will resume the duties of your departments respectively.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Mrs. Lincoln
Washington, December 21, 1862. Mrs. A. Lincoln, Continental Hotel:
Do not come on the night train. It is too cold. Come in the morning.
A. Lincoln.
1 862] Congratulations 149
Note to General J. A. Dix
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 22, 1862. Major-General Dix: Owing to extreme pressure of business, I have neglected for a week to write this note. General Busteed is with you. I bespeak for him your kindest consideration. His case is peculiar. Without much military experience, he has entered the service from pure- ly patriotic motives. Please assign him the position best adapted to his case which may be within your power.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Congratulations to the Army of the Potomac1
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 22, 1862.
To the Army of the Potomac: I have just read your commanding general's report of the battle of Fredericksburg. Although you were not successful, the attempt was not an error, nor
1 The Army of the Potomac had been severely defeated at the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. In his report of that battle General A. E. Btirnside, who had been given com- mand of the army much against his wishes, praised his officers and men and nobly took upon himself all blame for the disas- trous result. This defeat caused the greatest discontent in the North.
150 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 23
the failure other than accident. The courage with which you, in an open field, maintained the contest against an intrenched foe, and the con- summate skill and success with which you crossed and recrossed the river in the face of the enemy, show that you possess all the qualities of a great army, which will yet give victory to the cause of the country and of popular government.
Condoling with the mourners for the dead, and sympathizing with the severely wounded, I congratulate you that the number of both is comparatively so small.
I tender to you, officers and soldiers, the thanks of the nation.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Generals W. B. Franklin and W. F. Smith
Executive Mansion, December 22, 1862. Major-General Franklin and Major-General Smith: Yours of the 20th, suggesting a plan of operations for the Army of the Potomac, is re- ceived. I have hastily read the plan, and shall yet try to give it more deliberate consideration, with the aid of military men. Meanwhile let me say it seems to me to present the old ques- tions of preference between the line of the Pen- insula and the line you are now upon. The diffi- culties you point out as pertaining to the Fred-
1862] West Virginia 151
ericksburg line are obvious and palpable. But now, as heretofore, if you go to James River, a large part of the army must remain on or near the Fredericksburg line, to protect Washington. It is the old difficulty.
When I saw General Franklin at Harrison's Landing on James River last July, I cannot be mistaken in saying that he distinctly advised the bringing of the army away from there.
Yours very truly, A. Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, December 22, 1862
To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 15th instant, requesting a copy of the report of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, I transmit a com- munication from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied.
Abraham Lincoln.
Note to the Cabinet
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 23, 1862.
Gentlemen of the Cabinet: A bill for an act entitled "An Act for the admission of the State of West Virginia into the Union and for other purposes," has passed the House of Representa- tives and the Senate, and has been duly presented to me for my action.
152 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 24
I respectfully ask of each of you an opinion in writing on the following questions, to wit: 1 st. Is the said act constitutional? 2d. Is the said act expedient?
Your obedient servant,
Abraham Lincoln.
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 23, 1862. Dear Sir: Unless you know some strong ob- jection, please send me a nomination for Cuth- bert Bullitt as collector of the customs at New Orleans. I wish to do this at once.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
*Letter to Miss Fanny McCullough
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 23, 1862.
Dear Fanny: It is with deep regret that I learn of the death of your kind and brave father, and especially that it is affecting your young heart beyond what is common in such cases. In this sad world of ours sorrow comes to all, and to the young it comes with bittered agony be- cause it takes them unawares. The older have learned ever to expect it. I am anxious to af ford some alleviation of your present distress. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time.
1862] Message to Congress 153
You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say, and you need only to be- lieve it to feel better at once. The memory of your dear father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad, sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer and holier sort than you have known before.
Please present my kind regards to your afflict- ed mother.
Your sincere friend,
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, December 24, 1862
To the Senate and House of Representatives : I transmit for the consideration of Congress a report from the Secretary of State on the sub- ject of consular pupils.
Abraham Lincoln.
*Telegram to Governor Gamble
War Department, December 27, 1862. His Excellency Governor Gamble : I do not wish to leave the country north of the Missouri to the care of the enrolled militia except upon the concurrent judgment of yourself and Gen- eral Curtis. His I have not yet obtained. Con-
154 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 30
fer with him, and I shall be glad to act when you and he agree. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to General B. F. Butler
Executive Mansion, December 29, 1862. My dear Sir: I believe you have a family, and I dislike to deprive you of an early visit to them ; but I really wish to see you at the earliest moment. I am contemplating a peculiar and important service for you, which I think, and I hope you will think, is as honorable as it is im- portant. I wish to confer with you upon it. Please come immediately upon your arrival at New York. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
War Department, Washington City, D. C,
December 30, 1862. 3:30 p.m. Major-General Burnside:
I have good reason for saying you must not make a general movement of the army without letting me know. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Governor Gamble
Executive Mansion,
Washington, December 30, 1862.
My dear Sir: Inclosed is an order substan- tially, and I believe exactly, such as I directed
1862] Proclamation Revised 155
to be made nearly a month ago. After a good deal of reflection, I concluded that it was better to make a rule for the practical matter in hand (the removal of officers and acceptance of resig- nations) than to decide a general question — to wit: whether the forces are State troops — which, while it might embrace the practical question mentioned, might also be the nest in which forty other troublesome questions would be hatched. I would rather meet them as they come than before they come, trusting that some of them may not come at all.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation of January i, 1863, as Submitted to the Cabinet for Final Revision, December 30, 1862
Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and gov- ernment of the United States, and as a proper and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my in-
156 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 31
tention so to do, publicly proclaimed for one hundred days as aforesaid, order and designate as the States and parts of States in which the people thereof respectively are this day in re- bellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of ),
Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Vir- ginia, and also the counties of ).
And by virtue of the power, and for the pur- pose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward forever shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will rec- ognize and maintain the freedom of said per- sons, and will do no act or acts to repress said persons, or any of them, in any suitable efforts they may make for their actual freedom ; and I hereby appeal to the people so declared to be free to abstain from all disorder, tumult, and violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and in all cases, when allowed, to labor faithfully for wages.
And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be re-
1862] President's Opinion 157
ceived into the armed service of the United States to garrison and defend forts, positions, sta- tions, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
President's Opinion on the Admission of West Virginia into the Union, December 31, 1862
The consent of the legislature of Virginia is constitutionally necessary to the bill for the ad- mission of West Virginia becoming a law. A body claiming to be such legislature has given its consent. We cannot well deny that it is such, unless we do so upon the outside knowledge that the body was chosen at elections in which a ma- jority of the qualified voters of Virginia did not participate. But it is a universal practice in the popular elections in all these States to give no legal consideration whatever to those who do not choose to vote, as against the effect of the votes of those who do choose to vote. Hence it is not the qualified voters, but the qualified voters who choose to vote, that constitute the political power of the State. Much less than to non-voters should any consideration be given to those who did not vote in this case, because it is also matter of outside knowledge that they were not merely neglectful of their rights under and duty to this government, but were also engaged
158 Abraham Lincoln [Dec. 31
in open rebellion against it. Doubtless among those non-voters were some Union men whose voices were smothered by the more numerous secessionists; but we know too little of their number to assign them any appreciable value. Can this government stand, if it indulges con- stitutional constructions by which men in open rebellion against it are to be accounted, man for man, the equals of those who maintain their loy- alty to it? Are they to be accounted even bet- ter citizens, and more worthy of consideration, than those who merely neglect to vote? If so, their treason against the Constitution enhances their constitutional value. With- out braving these absurd conclusions, we can- not deny that the body which consents to the ad- mission of West Virginia is the legislature of Virginia. I do not think the plural form of the words "legislatures" and "States" in the phrase of the Constitution "without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned," etc., has any reference to the new State concerned. That plural form sprang from the contemplation of two or more old States contributing to form a new one. The idea that the new State was in danger of being admitted without its own con- sent was not provided against, because it was not thought of, as I conceive. It is said, the devil takes care of his own. Much more should
1862] President's Opinion 159
a good spirit — the spirit of the C istitution and the Union — take care of its ov 1. I think it cannot do less and live.
But is the admission into the Union of West Virginia expedient? This, in my general view, is more a question for Congress than for the Ex- ecutive. Still I do not evade it. More than on anything else, it depends on whether the ad- mission or rejection of the new State would, un- der all the circumstances, tend the more strongly to the restoration of the national authority throughout the Union. That which helps most in this direction is the most expedient at this time. Doubtless those in remaining Virginia would return to the Union, so to speak, less re- luctantly without the division of the old State than with it; but I think we could not save as much in this quarter by rejecting the new State, as we should lose by it in West Virginia. We can scarcely dispense with the aid of West Vir- ginia in this struggle; much less can we afford to have her against us, in Congress and in the field. Her brave and good men regard her ad- mission into the Union as a matter of life and death. They have been true to the Union under very severe trials. We have so acted as to jus- tify their hopes, and we cannot fully retain their confidence and cooperation if we seem to break faith with them. In fact, they could not do so
160 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. i
much for us, if they would. Again, the admis- sion of the new State turns that much slave soil to free, and thus is a certain and irrevocable en- croachment upon the cause of the rebellion. The division of a State is dreaded as a prece- dent. But a measure made expedient by a war is no precedent for times of peace. It is said that the admission of West Virginia is secession, and tolerated only because it is our secession. Well, if we call it by that name, there is still difference enough between secession against the Constitution and secession in favor of the Consti- tution. I believe the admission of West Virginia into the Union is expedient.
160 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. i
much for us, if they would. Again, the admis- sion of the new State turns that much slave soil to free, and thus is a certain and irrevocable en- croachment upon the cause of the rebellion. The division of a State is dreaded as a prece- dent. But a measure made expedient by a war is no precedent for times of peace. It is said that the admission of West Virginia is secession, and tolerated only because it is our secession. Well, if we call it by that name, there is still difference enough between secession against the Constitution and secession in favor of the Consti- tution. I believe the admission of West Virginia into the Union is expedient.
J*R»*~~,ltKr~~±,,Jtf-~,. Jfrt^, **K*i», ^E—
& Wfev/ ^u^ :&*»« /vw^J> trfSy- UhmaM, L#L]fl*A. rf<>T^s*n-/ o-u. T&~/*~/.
1863] Emancipation Proclamation 161
Final Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 18631
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation*
WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the Pres- ident of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the
1 While preparing1 this momentous document Lincoln as usual sought the advice of his Cabinet. Many suggestions were of- fered but few of them were accepted. On New Year's Day, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in the presence of less than a dozen witnesses. It dealt the death blow to slavery in the United States. Many of Lincoln's letters betray reluctance to frame such a measure. He felt it was unjust toward slave-holders, but circumstance and necessity demanded this action. Lincoln met the need nobly and became the author of one of the greatest and most beneficent military decrees re- corded in history.
162 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. i
United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Con- gress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have partici- pated, shall in the absence of strong coun- tervailing testimony be deemed conclusive evi- dence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and gov- ernment of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said re'
1863] Emancipation Proclamation 163
bellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my pur- pose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of 100 days from the day first above men- tioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, re- spectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the par- ishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, As- sumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties desig- nated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, includ- ing the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power and for the pur- pose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Govern- ment of the United States, including the military
164 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 1
and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so de- clared to be free to abstain from all violence, un- less in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to them that, in all cases where allowed, they la- bor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be re- ceived into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [L. S.] sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty- seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
1863] Emancipation Proclamation 165 Letter to General H. W. Halleck
Executive Mansion, January i, 1863. My dear Sir: General Burnside wishes to cross the Rappahannock with his army, but his grand division commanders all oppose the move- ment. If in such a difficulty as this you do not help, you fail me precisely in the point for which I sought your assistance. You know what Gen- eral Burnside's plan is, and it is my wish that you go with him to the ground, examine it as far as practicable, confer with the officers, get- ting their judgment and ascertaining their tem- per— in a word, gather all the elements for form- ing a judgment of your own, and then tell General Burnside that you do approve or that you do not approve his plan. Your military skill is useless to me if you do not do this.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
[Indorsement.^ Withdrawn, because considered harsh by General Halleck. A. Lincoln.
Headquarters of the Army,
Washington, January 1, 1863.
Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. Sir: From my recent interview with the President and yourself, and from the President's letter of this morning, which you delivered to me at your recep-
1 66 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 2
tion, I am led to believe that there is a very important difference of opinion in regard to my relations toward generals commanding armies in the field, and that I cannot perform the duties of my present office satis- factorily at the same time to the President and to my- self. I therefore respectfully request that I may be relieved from further duties as general-in-chief.1 Very respectfully your obedient servant,
H. W. Halleck.
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January I, 1863. Dear Sir: Yesterday a piteous appeal was made to me by an old lady of genteel appear- ance, saying she had, with what she thought suf- ficient assurance that she would not be disturbed by the government, fitted up the two south di- visions of the old "Duff Green" building, in order to take boarders, and has boarders already in it, and others, including members of Con- gress, engaged; and that now she is ordered to be out of it by Saturday, the 3d instant; and that independently of the ruin it brings on her by her lost outlay, she neither has nor can find an- other shelter for her own head. I know nothing
1 As duplicates are found among General Halleck's papers, and no copy is found in the War Department files, it is presumed that the application was withdrawn upon withdrawal of the President's letter. — N. and H.
1863] Message to Congress 167
about it myself, but promised to bring it to your notice. Yours, truly,
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, January 2, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I submit to Congress the expediency of extend- ing to other departments of the government the authority conferred on the President by the eighth section of the act of the 8th of May, 1792, to appoint a person to temporarily discharge the duties of Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of War, in case of the death, absence from the seat of government, or sickness of either of those officers.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to General B. F. Butler
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 2, 1863.
Major-General Butler: The Secretary of War and myself have concluded to discharge, of the prisoners at Point Lookout, the following classes :
First. Those who will take the oath prescribed in the proclamation of December 8, and by the consent of General Marston will enlist in our service.
Second. Those who will take the oath and be
1 68 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 2
discharged, and whose homes lie safely within our military lines.
I send by Mr. Hay this letter, and a blank- book and some other blanks, the way of using which I propose for him to explain verbally better than I can in writing.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Letter to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 2, 1863.
My dear Sir: Yours of December 29 by the hand of Mr. Strong is just received. The day I telegraphed you suspending the order in re- lation to Dr. McPheeters, he, with Mr. Bates, the Attorney-General, appeared before me and left with me a copy of the order mentioned. The doctor also showed me the copy of an oath which he said he had taken, which is, indeed, very strong and specific. He also verbally as- sured me that he had constantly prayed in church for the President and government, as he had always done before the present war. In looking over the recitals in your order, I do not see that this matter of prayer, as he states it, is negatived, nor that any violation of his oath is charged, nor, in fact, that anything specific is alleged against him. The charges are all gen- eral: that he has a rebel wife and rebel rela-
1863] Letter to Curtis 169
tions, that he sympathizes with rebels, and that he exercises rebel influence. Now, after talk- ing with him, I tell you frankly I believe he does sympathize with the rebels, but the question re- mains whether such a man, of unquestioned good moral character, who has taken such an oath as he has, and cannot even be charged with violating it, and who can be charged with no other specific act or omission, can, with safety to the government, be exiled upon the suspicion of his secret sympathies. But I agree that this must be left to you, who are on the spot; and if, after all, you think the public good requires his removal, my suspension of the order is with- drawn, only with this qualification, that the time during the suspension is not to be counted against him. I have promised him this. But I must add that the United States Government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. When an individual in a church or out of it becomes dangerous to the pub- lic interest, he must be checked; but let the churches, as such, take care of themselves. It will not do for the United States to appoint trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the churches.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
170 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 5
P. S. The committee composed of Messrs. Yeatman and Filley (Mr. Broadhead not at- tending) has presented your letter and the me- morial of sundry citizens. On the whole sub- ject embraced exercise your best judgment, with a sole view to the public interest, and I will not interfere without hearing you.
January 3, 1863. A- LINCOLN.
Letter to Secretary Welles
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 4, 1863.
Dear Sir: As many persons who come well recommended for loyalty and service to the Union cause, and who are refugees from rebel oppression in the State of Virginia, make appli- cation to me for authority and permission to remove their families and property to protec- tion within the Union lines, by means of our armed gunboats on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, you are hereby requested to hear and consider all such applications, and to grant such assistance to this class of persons as in your judgment their merits may render proper, and as may in each case be consistent with the perfect and complete efficiency of the naval service and with military expediency. Abraham Lincoln.
1863] Letter to Curtis 171
Letter to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 5, 1863. My dear Sir: I am having a good deal of trouble with Missouri matters, and I now sit down to write you particularly about it. One class of friends believe in greater severity and another in greater leniency in regard to arrests, banishments, and assessments. As usual in such cases, each questions the other's motives. On the one hand, it is insisted that Governor Gam- ble's unionism, at most, is not better than a sec- ondary spring of action; that hunkerism and a wish for political influence stand before union- ism with him. On the other hand, it is urged that arrests, banishments, and assessments are made more for private malice, revenge, and pe- cuniary interest than for the public good. This morning I was told by a gentleman who I have no doubt believes what he says, that in one case of assessments for $10,000, the different persons who paid compared receipts, and found they had paid $30,000. If this be true, the infer- ence is that the collecting agents pocketed the odd $20,000. And true or not in the instance, nothing but the sternest necessity can justify the making and maintaining of a system so liable to such abuses. Doubtless the necessity for the
172 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 5
making of the system in Missouri did exist, and whether it continues for the maintenance of it is now a practical and very important question. Some days ago Governor Gamble telegraphed me, asking that the assessments outside of St Louis County might be suspended, as they al- ready have been within it, and this morning all the members of Congress here from Missouri but one laid a paper before me asking the same thing. Now, my belief is that Governor Gam- ble is an honest and true man, not less so than yourself; that you and he could confer together on this and other Missouri questions with great advantage to the public ; that each knows some- thing which the other does not; and that acting together you could about double your stock of pertinent information. May I not hope that you and he will attempt this? I could at once safely do (or you could safely do without me) whatever you and he agree upon. There is ab- solutely no reason why you should not agree. Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN
P. S. I forgot to say that Hon. James S. Rol- lins, member of Congress from one of the Mis- souri districts, wishes that, upon his personal responsibility, Rev. John M. Robinson, of Co- lumbia, Missouri; James L. Matthews, of Boone County, Missouri; and James L. Stephens, also of Boone County, Missouri, may be allowed to
1863] Telegram to Rosecrans 173
return to their respective homes. Major Rol- lins leaves me with very strong papers from the neighbors of these men, whom he says he knows to be true men. He also says he has many con- stituents who he thinks are rightly exiled, but that he thinks these three should be allowed to return. Please look into the case, and oblige Major Rollins if you consistently can.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Message to the House of Representatives, January 5, 1863 To the House of Representatives: In com- pliance with the resolution of the House of Rep- resentatives of the 22d ultimo, in relation to the alleged interference of our minister to Mexico in favor of the French, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the papers with which it was accompanied.
Abraham Lincoln.
Telegram to General Rosecrans
Executive Mansion, January 5, 1863.
Major-General W. S. Rosecrans, Murfrees- borough, Tennessee: Your despatch announc- ing retreat of enemy has just reached here. God bless you and all with you! Please tender to all, and accept for yourself, the nation's gratitude
174 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 7
for your and their skill, endurance, and daunt- less courage. A. Lincoln
^Letters to Caleb Russell and Sallie A. Fenton
Executive Mansion, January 5, 1863.
My good Friends: The Honorable Senator Harlan has just placed in my hands your letter of the 27th of December, which I have read with pleasure and gratitude. It is most cheering and encouraging for me to know that in the efforts which I have made and am making for the res- toration of a righteous peace to our country, I am upheld and sustained by the good wishes and prayers of God's people. No one is more deeply than myself aware that without His favor our highest wisdom is but as foolishness and that our most strenuous efforts would avail nothing in the shadow of His displeasure. I am con- scious of no desire for my country's welfare that is not in consonance with His will, and of no plan upon which we may not ask His blessing. It seems to me that if there be one subject upon which all good men may unitedly agree, it is imploring the gracious favor of the God of Na- tions upon the struggles our people are making for the preservation of their precious birthright of civil and religious liberty.
Very truly your friend, A. LINCOLN.
1863J Letter to Green Adams 175
Memorandum
Executive Mansion, January 6, 1863. Colonel Ullman calls with Captain Alban B. Botsford, now of the Seventy-eighth New York Infantry, both at National Hotel. Has prop- erty in Mississippi, and is well acquainted in Louisiana. When time comes would like to aid in organizing blacks there.
^Telegram to General Dix
War Department, January 7, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Do Richmond papers of 6th say nothing about Vicksburg or if anything, what?
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Green Adams
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. G, January 7, 1863. My dear Sir: In answer to your inquiries of this morning, I have to say I am very anxious to have the special force in Kentucky raised and armed. But the changed conduct toward me of some of her members of Congress and the omi- nous outgivings as to what the governor and leg- islature of Kentucky intend doing, admonish me to consider whether any additional arms I may send there are not to be turned against the gov-
176 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 7
ernment. I hope this may clear up on the right side. So far as I can see, Kentucky's sons in the field are acting loyally and bravely. God bless them! I cannot help thinking the mass of her people feel the same way. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Note to General H. W. Halleck
Executive Mansion Washington, D. C, January 7, 1863. My dear Sir: What think you of forming a reserve cavalry corps of, say, 6000 for the Army of the Potomac? Might not such a corps be con- stituted from the cavalry of Sigel's and Slocum's corps, with scraps we could pick up here and there? Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to B. G. Brown
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C,
January 7, 1863. 5 130 P. M. Hon. B. Gratz Brown, Jefferson City, Missouri: Yours of to-day just received. The administra- tion takes no part between its friends in Missouri, of whom I, at least, consider you one; and I have never before had an intimation that ap- pointees there were interfering, or were inclined to interfere.
A. Lincoln.
i863] Note to Halleck 177
Correspondence with General Burnside
January 8, 1863
Headquarters Army of the Potomac,
January 5, 1863.
His Excellency the President of the United States :
Since my return to the army I have become more than ever convinced that the general officers of this command are almost unanimously opposed to another crossing of the river; but I am still of the opinion that the crossing should be attempted, and I have accord- ingly issued orders to the engineers and artillery to prepare for it.1 There is much hazard in it, as there always is in the majority of military movements, and I cannot begin the movement without giving you notice of it, particularly as I know so little of the effect that it may have upon other movements of distant armies.
The influence of your telegram the other day is still upon me, and has impressed me with the idea that there are many parts of the problem which influence you that are not known to me.
In order to relieve you from all embarrassment in my case, I inclose with this my resignation of my commission as major-general of volunteers, which you can have accepted if my movement is not in accord- ance with the views of yourself and your military advisers.
1 This order resulted in the famous " mud march " of Jan- uary 21, 1863, which failed so ludicrously.
178 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 7
I have taken the liberty to write to you personally upon this subject, because it was necessary, as I learn from General Halleck, for you to approve of my gen- eral plan, written at Warrenton, before I could com- mence the movement; and I think it quite as necessary that you should know of the important movement I am about to make, particularly as it will have to be made in opposition to the views of nearly all my gen- eral officers, and after the receipt of a despatch from you informing me of the opinion of some of them who had visited you.,
In conversation with you on New Year's morning, I was led to express some opinions which I afterward felt it my duty to place on paper, and to express them verbally to the gentlemen of whom we were speaking, which I did in your presence after handing you the letter. You were not disposed then, as I saw, to re- tain the letter, and I took it back, but I now return it to you for record, if you wish it.
I beg leave to say that my resignation is not sent in in any spirit of insubordination, but, as I before said, simply to relieve you from any embarrassment in changing commanders where lack of confidence may have rendered it necessary.
The bearer of this will bring me any answer, or I should be glad to hear from you by telegraph in cipher.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. E. Burnside, Major-General, Commanding Army of the Potomac.
1863] Letter to Burnside 179
Headquarters of the Army,
Washington, January 7, 1863. Major-General Burnside, Commanding, etc., Falmouth.
General: Your communication of the 5th was de- livered to me by your aide-de-camp at 12 M. to-day.
In all my communications and interviews with you since you took command of the Army of the Potomac, I have advised a forward movement across the Rap- pahannock. At our interview at Warrenton I urged that you should cross by the fords above Fredericks- burg, rather than to fall down to that place ; and when I left you at Warrenton it was understood that at least a considerable part of your army would cross by the fords, and I so represented to the President. It was this modification of the plan proposed by you that I telegraphed you had received his approval. When the attempt at Fredericksburg was abandoned, I advised you to renew the attempt at some other point, either in whole or in part to turn the enemy's works, or to threaten their wings or communications ; in other words, to keep the enemy occupied till a favorable opportunity offered to strike a decisive blow. I particularly advised you to use your cavalry and light artillery upon his communications, and at- tempt to cut off his supplies and engage him at an ad- vantage.
In all our interviews I have urged that our first object was, not Richmond, but the defeat or scatter- ing of Lee's army, which threatened Washington and
i8o Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 7
the line of the upper Potomac. I now recur to these things simply to remind you of the general views which I have expressed, and which I still hold.
The circumstances of the case, however, have some- what changed since the early part of November. The chances of an extended line of operations are now on account of the advanced season, much less than then. But the chances are still in our favor to meet and defeat the enemy on the Rappahannock, if we can effect a crossing in a position where we can meet the enemy on favorable or even equal terms. I therefore still advise a movement against him. The character of that movement, however, must depend upon circumstances which may change any day and almost any hour. If the enemy should concentrate his forces at the place you have selected for a cross- ing, make it a feint and try another place. Again, the circumstances at the time may be such as to render an attempt to cross the entire army not advisable. In that case theory suggests that, while the enemy con- centrates at that point, advantages can be gained by crossing smaller forces at other points to cut off his lines, destroy his communication, and capture his rear- guards, outposts, etc. The great object is to occupy the enemy, to prevent his making large detachments or distant raids, and to injure him all you can with the least injury to yourself. If this can be best accom- plished by feints of a general crossing and detached real crossings, take that course; if by an actual general crossing, with feints on other points, adopt that course. There seem to me to be many reasons why a
1863] Letter to Burnside 181
crossing at some point should be attempted. It will not do to keep your large army inactive. As you yourself admit, it devolves on you to decide upon the time, place, and character of the crossing which you may attempt. I can only advise that an attempt be made, and as early as possible.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
[Indorsement.]
January 8, 1863. General Burnside: I understand General Halleck has sent you a letter of which this is a copy. I approve this letter. I deplore the want of concurrence with you in opinion by your general officers, but I do not see the remedy. Be cautious, and do not understand that the gov- ernment or country is driving you. I do not yet see how I could profit by changing the command of the Army of the Potomac; and if I did, I should not wish to do it by accepting the resigna- tion of your commission. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to General J. A. McClernand
Executive Mansion, January 8, 1863. My dear Sir: Your interesting communica- tion by the hand of Major Scates is received. I never did ask more, nor ever was willing to accept less, than for all the States, and the peo- ple thereof, to take and hold their places and
1 82 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 8
their rights in the Union, under the Constitu- tion of the United States. For this alone have I felt authorized to struggle and I seek neither more nor less now. Still, to use a coarse but an expressive figure, "broken eggs cannot be mend- ed." I have issued the Emancipation Procla- mation, and I cannot retract it. After the com- mencement of hostilities, I struggled nearly a year and a half to get along without touching the "institution"; and when finally I condition- ally determined to touch it, I gave a hundred days' fair notice of my purpose to all the States and people, within which time they could have turned it wholly aside by simply again becom- ing good citizens of the United States.
They chose to disregard it, and I made the peremptory proclamation on what appeared to me to be a military necessity. And being made, it must stand. As to the States not included in it, of course they can have their rights in the Union as of old. Even the people of the States included, if they choose, need not to be hurt by it. Let them adopt systems of apprenticeship for the colored people, conforming substantially to the most approved plans of gradual emanci- pation ; and with the aid they can have from the General Government they may be nearly as well off, in this respect, as if the present trouble had not occurred, and much better off than they can
1863] Telegram to Johnson 183
possibly be if the contest continues persistently.
As to any dread of my having a "purpose to enslave or exterminate the whites of the South," I can scarcely believe that such dread exists. It is too absurd. I believe you can be my personal witness that no man is less to be dreaded for un- due severity in any case.
If the friends you mention really wish to have peace upon the old terms, they should act at once. Every day makes the case more diffi- cult. They can so act with entire safety, so far as I am concerned.
I think you had better not make this letter public; but you may rely confidently on my standing by whatever I have said in it. Please write me if anything more comes to light. Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to Governor Johnson
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 8, 1863.
Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tennessee:
A despatch of yesterday from Nashville says the body of Captain Todd, of the Sixth Ken- tucky, was brought in to-day.
Please tell me what was his Christian name, and whether he was in our service or that of the enemy. I should also be glad to have your impression as to the effect the late operations
184 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 12
about Murfreesborough will have on the pros- pects of Tennessee.
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, January 9, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit for the consideration of Congress, and with a view to the adoption of such measures in relation to the subject of it as may be deemed expedient, a copy of a note of the 8th instant, addressed to the Secretary of State by the min- ister resident of the Hanseatic republics accred- ited to this government, concerning an interna- tional agricultural exhibition to be held next summer in the city of Hamburg.
Abraham Lincoln.
Telegram to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, January 10, 1863. Major-General Curtis, St, Louis, Missouri:
I understand there is considerable trouble with the slaves in Missouri. Please do your best to keep peace on the question for two or three weeks, by which time we hope to do some- thing here toward settling the question in Mis- souri.
A. Lincoln.
1863] Letter to Buckingham 185
Telegram to Governor Johnson
Executive Mansion, January 10, 1863. Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tennessee:
Yours received. I presume the remains of Captain Todd are in the hands of his family and friends, and I wish to give no order on the sub- ject; but I do wish your opinion of the effects of the late battles about Murfreesborough upon the prospects of Tennessee.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Governor Buckingham
Executive Mansion, January 12, 1863. His Excellency the Governor of Connecticut:
It is with feelings of sincere pleasure and gratitude that I acknowledge the receipt of your kind favor of the 2d of January, conveying the resolutions of the legislature of Connecticut, ap- proved December 24, 1862.
Be assured, my dear sir, that I am deeply grati- fied by this new proof of the loyalty and patri- otic devotion of the people of your State, and that I most gratefully appreciate their expres- sions toward myself, which are at once so gen- erous and so kind.
I have the honor to be, very truly, your obedi- ent servant.
A. Lincoln.
1 86 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 14
Instruction to the Judge- Advocate- General
War Department, January 12, 1863. The Judge-Advocate-General is instructed to revise the proceedings of the court-martial in the case of Major-General Fitz-John Porter, and to report fully upon any legal questions that may have arisen in them, and upon the bearing of the testimony in reference to the charges and specifications exhibited against the accused, and upon which he was tried. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Letter to General J. A. Dix
{Private and Confidential.)
Executive Mansion, January 14, 1863. My dear Sir: The proclamation has been is- sued. We were not succeeding — at best were progressing too slowly — without it. Now that we have it, and bear all the disadvantages of it (as we do bear some in certain quarters), we must also take some benefit fromi it, if practi- cable. I therefore will thank you for your well- considered opinion whether Fortress Monroe and Yorktown, one or both, could not, in whole or in part, be garrisoned by colored troops, leav- ing the white forces now necessary at those places to be employed elsewhere.
Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN.
1863] Letter to Dix 187
Telegram to General S. R. Curtis
War Department, January 14, 1863. Major-General Curtis, St. Louis, Missouri:
The President's attention having been called to the recent order of your provost-marshal in St. Louis, published in the newspapers, it is dis- approved by him, and he directs:
1 st. That the order be suspended.
2d. That all orders of provost-marshals in the State of Missouri respecting trade, commerce, or anything but the discipline and government of the troops in the United States service, be also suspended, and the provost-marshals be relieved from service in such capacity, excepting at St. Louis.
Further instructions on this subject will be transmitted by mail. You will please acknowl- edge the receipt of this telegram.
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
1 88 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. i4
Message to the House of Representatives, January 14, 1863
rfl° THE HOUSE of Representatives: The Secretary of State has submitted to me a resolution of the House of Rep- resentatives of the 5th instant, which has been delivered to him, and which is in the following words :
Resolved, That the Secretary of State be requested to communicate to this House, if not, in his judgment, incompatible with the public interest, why our minis- ter in New Granada has not presented his credentials to the actual government of that country; also the reasons for which Senor Murillo is not recognized by the United States as the diplomatic representative of the Mosquera government of that country; also, what negotiations have been had, if any, with General Her- ran as the representative of Ospina's government in New Granada since it went into existence.
On the twelfth day of December, 1846, a treaty of amity, peace, and concord was conclud- ed between the United States of America and the republic of New Granada, which is still in force. On the seventh day of December, 1847,
1863] Message to House 189
General Pedro Alcantara Herran, who had been duly accredited, was received here as the envoy- extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that republic. On the thirtieth day of August, 1849, Senor Don Rafael Rivas was received by this government as charge d'affaires of the same republic. On the fifth day of December, 1851, a consular convention was concluded between that republic and the United States, which treaty was signed on behalf of the republic of Granada by the same Senor Rivas. This treaty is still in force. On the 27th of April, 1852, Senor Don Victoriano de Diego Paredes was received as charge d'affaires of the republic of New Gra- nada. On the 20th of June, 1855, General Pe- dro Alcantara Herran was again received as en- voy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary duly accredited by the republic of New Grana- da, and he has ever since remained under the same credentials as the representative of that republic near the government of the United States. On the 10th of September, 1857, a claims convention was concluded between the United States and the republic of Granada. This convention is still in force, and has in part been executed. In May, 1858, the constitution of the republic was remodeled, and the nation assumed the political title of the "Granadian Confederacy." This fact was formally an-
190 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 14
nounced to this government, but without any change in their representative here. Previous to the 4th of March, 1861, a revolutionary war against the republic of New Granada, which had thus been recognized and treated with by the United States, broke out in New Granada, as- suming to set up a new government under the name of the "United States of Colombia." This war has had various vicissitudes, sometimes fav- orable, sometimes adverse, to the revolutionary movements. The revolutionary organization has hitherto been simply a military provisionary power, and no definitive constitution of govern- ment has yet been established in New Granada in place of that organized by the constitution of 1858. The minister of the United States to the Granadian Confederacy who was appointed on the twenty-ninth day of May, 1861, was direct- ed, in view of the occupation of the capital by the revolutionary party and of the uncertainty of the civil war, not to present his credentials to either the government of the Granadian Con- federacy or to the provisional military govern- ment, but to conduct his affairs informally, as is customary in such cases, and to report the progress of events and await the instructions of this government. The advices which have been received from him have not hitherto been suffi- ciently conclusive to determine me to recognize
1863] Message to Congress 191
the revolutionary government. General Her- ran being here, with full authority from the gov- ernment of New Granada, which had been so long recognized by the United States, I have not received any representative from the revolu- tionary government, which has not yet been rec- ognized, because such a proceeding would in itself be an act of recognition.
Official communications have been had on various incidental and occasional questions with General Herran as the minister plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the Granadian Con- federacy, but in no other character. No defini- tive measure or proceeding has resulted from these communications, and a communication of them at present would not, in my judgment, be compatible with the public interest.
Abraham Lincoln.
*Note to Secretary Stanton
January 15, 1863. Secretary of War: Please see Mr. Stafford, who wants to assist in raising colored troops in Missouri. A LINCOLN.
Message to Congress, January 17, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives : I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the immediate payment of the army and navy of
192 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 17
the United States, passed by the House of Rep- resentatives on the 14th, and by the Senate on the 15th instant. The joint resolution is a sim- ple authority, amounting, however, under exist- ing circumstances to a direction, to the Secre- tary of the Treasury, to make an additional issue of one hundred millions of dollars in United States notes, if so much money is needed, for the payment of the army and navy. My approval is given in order that every possible facility may be afforded for the prompt discharge of all ar- rears of pay due to our soldiers and our sailors. While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to express my sincere regret that it has been found necessary to authorize so large an additional issue of United States notes, when this circulation and that of the suspended banks to- gether have become already so redundant as to increase prices beyond real values, thereby aug- menting the cost of living, to the injury of labor, and the cost of supplies, to the injury of the whole country. It seems very plain that con- tinued issues of United States notes, without any check to the issues of suspended banks, and without adequate provision for the raising of money by loans, and for funding the issues, so as to keep them within due limits, must soon produce disastrous consequences; and this mat- ter appears to me so important that I feel bound
1863] Message to House 193
to avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of Congress to it.
That Congress has power to regulate the cur- rency of the country can hardly admit of a doubt, and that a judicious measure to prevent the deterioration of this currency by a reason- able taxation of bank circulation or otherwise is needed, seems equally clear. Independently of this general consideration, it would be unjust to the people at large to exempt banks enjoying the special privilege of circulation from their just proportion of the public burdens.
In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and cheaply, it is clearly necessary to give every possible support to the public credit. To that end, a uniform currency in which taxes, subscriptions to loans, and all other ordinary public dues as well as all private dues may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensable. Such a currency can be furnished by banking associa- tions organized under a general act of Con- gress, as suggested in my message at the begin- ning of the present session. The securing of this circulation by the pledge of United States bonds, as therein suggested, would still further facilitate loans, by increasing the present and causing a future demand for such bonds.
In view of the actual financial embarrass- ments of the government, and of the greater em-
194 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 19
barrassment sure to come if the necessary means of relief be not afforded, I feel that I should not perform my duty by a simple announcement of my approval of the joint resolution, which pro- poses relief only by increasing circulation, with- out expressing my earnest desire that measures such in substance as those I have just referred to, may receive the early sanction of Congress. By such measures, in my opinion, will payment be most certainly secured, not only to the army and navy, but to all honest creditors of the gov- ernment, and satisfactory provision made for future demands on the treasury.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to the Working-men of Manches- ter, England
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 19, 1863.
To the Working-men of Manchester: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the ad- dress and resolutions which you sent me on the eve of the new year. When I came, on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitu- tional election to preside in the Government of the United States, the country was found at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have been the cause, or whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount to all others, was before me, namely,
1863] Letter to Workingmen 195
to maintain and preserve at once the Constitu- tion and the integrity of the Federal Republic. A conscientious purpose to perform this duty is the key to all the measures of administration which have been and to all which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of government and my official oath, I could not depart from this purpose if I would. It is not always in the power of governments to enlarge or restrict the scope of moral results which follow the policies that they may deem it necessary for the public safety from time to time to adopt.
I have understood well that the duty of self- preservation rests solely with the American peo- ple ; but I have at the same time been aware that favor or disfavor of foreign nations might have a material influence in enlarging or prolong- ing the struggle with disloyal men in which the country is engaged. A fair examination of his- tory has served to authorize a belief that the past actions and influences of the United States were generally regarded as having been beneficial toward mankind. I have, therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of nations. Circum- stances— to some of which you kindly allude — induce me especially to expect that if justice and good faith should be practised by the United States, they would encounter no hostile influence on the part of Great Britain. It is now a pleas-
196 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 20
ant duty to acknowledge the demonstration you have given of your desire that a spirit of amity and peace toward this country may prevail in the councils of your Queen, who is respected and esteemed in your own country only more than she is by the kindred nation which has its home on this side of the Atlantic.
I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working-men at Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis. It has been often and studiously represented that the attempt to overthrow this government, which was built upon the foundation of human rights, and to substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely to obtain the favor of Europe. Through the action of our disloyal citizens, the working-men of Europe have been sub- jected to severe trials, for the purpose of forc- ing their sanction to that attempt. Under the circumstances, I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the question as an in- stance of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any coun- try. It is indeed an energetic and reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth, and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity and freedom. I do not doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be sus-
1863] Letter to Glover 197
tained by your great nation; and, on the other hand, I have no hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admiration, esteem and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship among the American people. I hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune may be- fall your country or my own, the peace and friendship which now exist between the two nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, perpetual.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to S. T. Glover
Executive Mansion, January 20, 1863 My dear Sir: Yours of January 12, stating the distressed condition of the people in south- west Missouri, and urging the completion of the railroad to Springfield, is just received. Of course I deplore the distress of the people in that section and elsewhere. Nor is the thought of extending the railroad new to me. But the military necessity for it is not so patent but that Congress would try to restrain me in some way, were I to attempt it. I am very glad to believe that the late military operations in Missouri and Arkansas are at least promising of repose to southwest Missouri. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
198 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 20
Message to the Senate, January 20, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: I trans- mit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, in answer to the resolution of the Senate relative to the correspondence between this gov- ernment and the Mexican minister in relation to the exportation of articles contraband of war for the use of the French army in Mexico.1 Abraham Lincoln.
Message to Congress, January 21, 1863
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives: I submit herewith for your consid- eration the joint resolutions of the corporate au- thorities of the city of Washington, adopted Sep- tember 27, 1862, and a memorial of the same under date of October 28, 1862, both relating to and urging the construction of certain railroads concentrating upon the city of Washington.
In presenting this memorial and the joint reso- lutions to you I am not prepared to say more than that the subject is one of great practical importance, and that I hope it will receive the attention of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln.
1 While apparently viewing the French emperor's intentions as friendly, the President made it clear that he would not neglect to insure the safety of the United States from Napoleonic political ambition*.
1863] Porter Dismissed 199
Indorsement on the Proceedings and Sen- tence OF THE FlTZ-JOHN PORTER COURT- MARTIAL, January 21, 1863
War Department,
Washington, January 13, 1863. In compliance with the Sixty-fifth Article of War, these whole proceedings are transmitted to the Secre- tary of War, to be laid before the President of the United States.
H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. January 21, 1863. The foregoing proceedings, findings, and sen- tence in the foregoing case of Major-General Fitz-John Porter are approved and confirmed, and it is ordered that the said Fitz-John Porter be, and he hereby is, cashiered and dismissed from the service of the United States as a major- general of volunteers, and as colonel and brevet brigadier-general in the regular service of the United States, and forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter from General Halleck to General U. S. Grant
Headquarters of the Army,
Washington, January 21, 1863.
General: The President has directed that so
200 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 22
much of Arkansas as you may desire to control be temporarily attached to your department. This will give you control of both banks of the river.
In your operations down the Mississippi you must not rely too confidently upon any direct cooperation of General Banks and the lower flo- tilla, as it is possible that they may not be able to pass or reduce Port Hudson. They, how- ever, will do everything in their power to form a junction with you at Vicksburg. If they should not be able to effect this, they will at least occupy a portion of the enemy's forces, and pre- vent them from reinforcing Vicksburg. I hope, however, that they will do still better and be able to join you.
It may be proper to give you some explana- tion of the revocation of your order expelling all Jews from your department. The President has no objection to your expelling traitors and Jew peddlers, which, I suppose, was the object of your order; but as it in terms proscribed an entire religious class, some of whom are fight- ing in our ranks, the President deemed it neces- sary to revoke it.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
1863] Letter to Steele 201
Letter to General J. A. McClernand
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 22, 1863.
My dear Sir: Yours of the 7th was received yesterday. I need not recite because you remem- ber the contents. The charges in their nature are such that I must know as much about the facts involved as you can. I have too many family controversies, so to speak, already on my hands to voluntarily, or so long as I can avoid it, take up another. You are now doing well — well for the country, and well for yourself — much better than you could possibly be if en- gaged in open war with General Halleck. Al- low me to beg that, for your sake, for my sake, and for the country's sake, you give your whole attention to the better work.
Your success upon the Arkansas was both bril- liant and valuable, and is fully appreciated by the country and government. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln
Letter to General Frederick Steele
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 22, 1863.
Sir: So far as respects your military record and reputation, it seems highly fit and proper that you should be promoted to a major-general-
202
Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 23
ship ; and I should nominate you for it at once were it not for a document presented to me, of which the enclosed is a copy. With a satisfac- tory explanation, I will gladly make the nomi- nation, and in such way that the time from now till then shall not be lost to you. Without such explanation I could scarcely bring myself to make the nomination; and I think it is certain the Senate would not confirm it if made.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Memorandum
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 22, 1863.
To-day Mr. Prentiss calls as attorney of Her- man Koppel, saying the latter is a loyal citizen; that he resided at Charleston, S. C, at the be- ginning of the rebellion ; that he converted what he had into a few bales of cotton and other arti- cles apparently to break the blockade as a mode of getting out, but really intending to surrender to the blockade, which he did of purpose and with no effort to avoid it; that his property has been condemned by a prize court, and he ap- peals to me to remit to him the proceeds of the property, or at least the government's moiety of it.
Admitting this all to be true, is it both lawful and proper for me to do this?
1863] Letter to Stanton 203
Message to Congress, January 23, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit for the consideration of Congress a report from the Secretary of State, transmitting the regulations, decrees, and orders for the gov- ernment of the United States consular courts in Turkey.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. G, January 23, 1863.
Sir: I think General Butler should go to New Orleans again. He is unwilling to go un- less he is restored to the command of the depart- ment. He should start by the 1st of February, and should take some force with him. The whole must be so managed as to not wrong or wound the feelings of General Banks. His original wish was to go to Texas; and it must be arranged for him to do this now with a sub- stantial force; and yet he must not go to the endangering the opening of the Mississippi. I hope this may be done by the time General Butler shall arrive there; but whether or not, I think we cannot longer dispense with General Butler's services. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
204 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 25
Order Relieving General A. E. Burnside and Making Other Changes
(General Orders No. 20.)
War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, D. C, January 25, 1863.
I. The President of the United States has di- rected :
1st. That Major-General A. E. Burnside, at his own request, be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac.
2d. That Major-General E. V. Sumner, at his own request, be relieved from duty in the Army of the Potomac.
3d. That Major-General W. B. Franklin be relieved from duty in the Army of the Potomac.
4th. That Major-General J. Hooker be as- signed to the command of the Army of the Po- tomac.
II. The officers relieved as above will report in person to the adjutant-general of the army.
By order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Message to the Senate, January 26, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with the resolution of the Senate on the 13th instant, requesting a copy of certain cor-
1863] Burnside Relieved 205
respondence respecting the capture of British vessels sailing from one British port to another, having on board contraband of war intended for the use of the insurgents, I have the honor to transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was accom- panied. Abraham Lincoln.
2o6 Abraham Lincoln [Jan. 26
Letter to General J. Hooker1
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, January 26, 1863.
GENERAL: I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what ap- pear to me to be sufficient reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and skil- ful soldier, which of course I like. I also be- lieve you do not mix politics with your profes- sion, in which you are right. You have confi- dence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm; but I think that during General Burn- side's command of the army you have taken
1 Upon General Burnside's resignation, Lincoln selected Gen- eral Hooker to fill his place as Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Both Stanton and Halleck were dissatisfied with the choice. They had set their hearts upon General Rosecrans. Of Lincoln's letter addressed to General Hooker, Nicolay and Hay state that " perhaps the most remarkable thing ... is the evidence it gives how completely the genius of President Lincoln had by this, the middle of his presidential term, risen to the full height of his great national duties and responsibility."
1863] Letter to Hooker 207
counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wTrong to the country and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe it, of your recently say- ing that both the army and the government need- ed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the com- mand. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the army, of criticising their com- mander and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it; and now beware of rashness. Be- ware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories.
Yours very truly,, A. LINCOLN.
Message to Congress, January 28, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most
208 Abraham Lincoln [Jan- 29
cordially recommend that Commander David D. Porter, United States Navy, acting rear-ad- miral commanding the Mississippi squadron, receive a vote of thanks of Congress for the brav- ery and skill displayed in the attack on the post of Arkansas, which surrendered to the combined military and naval forces on the 10th instant. Abraham Lincoln.
*Telegram to General Butler
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 28, 1863.
Major-General Butler, Lowell, Mass.: Please come here immediately. Telegraph me about what time you will arrive.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, January 29, 1863. Dear Sir: Mr. Speed tells me you wish to appoint him to some agency about the Goose Creek Salt-works, and he wishes to decline it, and that William P. Thomasson may be ap- pointed. I personally know Mr. Thomasson to be an honest and very competent man, and fully in sympathy with the administration. I think he should be appointed.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
1863] Telegram to Dix 209
Note to Thurlow Weed
Washington, January 29, 1863. Dear Sir: Your valedictory to the patrons of the Albany "Evening Journal" brings me a good deal of uneasiness. What does it mean? Truly yours,
A. Lincoln.
*Telegrams to General Dix, January 29-31, 1863
War Department, January 29, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Do Richmond papers have anything from Vicksburg?
A. Lincoln.
War Department, January 30, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
What iron-clads if any have gone out of Hampton Roads within the last two days?
A. Lincoln.
War Department, January 31, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Corcoran's and Pryor's battle terminated. Have you any news through Richmond papers or otherwise?
A. Lincoln.
210 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 2
*Telegram to General Schenck
War Department, Washington City, D. C, January 31, 1863. Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md.:
I do not take jurisdiction of the pass question. Exercise your own discretion as to whether Judge Pettis shall have a pass. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to Governor Morton
(Cipher.)
War Department, Washington, D. C, February 1, 1863.
Governor O. P. Morton, Indianapolis, Ind.:
I think it would not do for me to meet you at Harrisburg. It would be known and would be misconstrued a thousand ways. Of course if the whole truth could be told and accepted as the truth, it would do no harm, but that is impossi- ble. A. Lincoln.
Letter to General S. T. Boyle
Executive Mansion, February 1, 1863. Dear Sir: Yesterday Senator Powell left a paper with me, with a request which I indorsed upon it at the time, and the contents of which paper and request appear by the inclosed copies. You perceive at once what the object is. This course of procedure, though just and politic in
1863] Letter to Workingmen 211
some cases, is so liable to gross abuse as to do great injustice in some others, and give the gov- ernment immense trouble. I will thank you, therefore, if you will, without unreasonable de- lay, ascertain the facts of these cases and report them to me, together with such other informa- tion as may best enable me to understand the whole case. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
[Indorsement on paper left by Powell~\
Senator Powell calls and leaves this paper and asks that an order be made on the persons stated to have made the collections to refund the money to the persons respectively from whom collected, and all moneys collected in like man- ner in the counties of Henderson, Union, Hop- kins, and Webster.
January 31, 1863.
Letter to the Working-men of London, England
Executive Mansion, February 2, 1863.
To the Working-men of London: I have re- ceived the New Year's address which you have sent me, with a sincere appreciation of the ex- alted and humane sentiments by which it was inspired.
As these sentiments are manifestly the endur- ing support of the free institutions of England, so I am sure also that they constitute the only
212 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 6
reliable basis for free institutions throughout the world.
The resources, advantages, and powers of the American people are very great, and they have consequently succeeded to equally great respon- sibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to test whether a government established on the principles of human freedom can be maintained against an effort to build one upon the exclusive foundation of human bondage. They will re- joice with me in the new evidences which your proceedings furnish that the magnanimity they are exhibiting is justly estimated by the true friends of freedom and humanity in foreign countries.
Accept my best wishes for your individual welfare, and for the welfare and happiness of the whole British people.
Abraham Lincoln.
Message to the House of Representatives, February 4, 1863
To the House of Representatives: In com- pliance with the resolution of the House of Rep- resentatives on the 5th December last, request- ing information upon the present condition of Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the papers by which it was ac- companied. Abraham Lincoln.
1863] Message to Senate 213
*Telegram to General Schenck
(Cipher.)
War Department, Washington, D. C, February 4, 1863. Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md.:
I hear of some difficulty in the streets of Bal- timore yesterday. What is the amount of it?
A. Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, February 6, 1863.
To the Senate of the United States: I trans- mit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying documents, in answer to the resolution of the Senate on the 30th ultimo. Abraham Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, February 6, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with the resolution of the Senate of the United States of yesterday, requesting informa- tion in regard to the death of General Ward, a citizen of the United States in the military ser- vice of the Chinese government, I transmit a copy of a despatch of the 27th of October last, and of its accompaniment, from the minister of the United States in China.
Abraham Lincoln.
214 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 13
Message to the Senate, February 10, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: In an- swer to the resolution of the Senate of yesterday, requesting information touching the visit of M. Mercier to Richmond in April last, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, to whom the resolution was referred.
Abraham Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, February 12, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: In an- swer to the resolution of the Senate of the 10th instant, requesting information on the subject of mediation, arbitration, or other measures looking to the termination of the existing civil war, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, and the documents by which it was ac- companied.
Abraham Lincoln.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
Executive Mansion,
Washington, February 12, 1863.
Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tennessee: Your despatch about "river patrol- ling" received. I have called the Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of War, and General-in- Chief together, and submitted it to them, who
1863] Message to House 215
promise to do their very best in the case. I can- not take it into my own hands without producing inextricable confusion. A. LINCOLN.
Message to the Senate, February 13, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: I trans- mit to the Senate, in answer to their resolution of the 1 2th instant, the accompanying report from the Secretary of State. A. LINCOLN.
Message to the House of Representatives
Washington, February 13, 1863.
Hon. Galusha A. Grow,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sir: I herewith communicate to the House of Representatives, in answer to their resolution of the 1 8th of December last, a report from the Secretary of the Interior containing all the in- formation in the possession of the department re- specting the causes of the recent outbreaks of the Indian tribes in the Northwest which has not heretofore been submitted to Congress.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to General W. S. Rosecrans
Executive Mansion,
Washington, February 17, 1863.
My dear Sir: In no other way does the ene- my give us so much trouble at so little expense
216 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 22
to himself as by the raids of rapidly moving small bodies of troops, largely if not wholly mounted, harassing and discouraging loyal resi- dents, supplying themselves with provisions, clothing, horses, and the like, surprising and capturing small detachments of our forces, and breaking our communications. And this will increase just in proportion as his larger armies shall weaken and wane. Nor can these raids be successfully met by even larger forces of our own of the same kind acting merely on the de- fensive. I think we should organize proper forces and make counter raids. We should not capture so much of supplies from them as they have done from us, but it would trouble them more to repair railroads and bridges than it does us. What think you of trying to get up such a corps in your army? Could you do it without any or many additional troops (which we have not to give you), provided we furnish horses, suitable arms, and other appointments? Please consider this not as an order, but as a suggestion. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
[Indorsement1^
While I wish the required arms to be fur- nished to General Rosecrans, I have made no promise on the subject except what you can find in the within copy of letter.
March 27, 1863. A- Lincoln.
*863] Letter to Reed 217
^Telegram to W. H. Herndon
War Department, Washington, D. C, February 19, 1863.
William H. Herndon, Springfield, III.:
Would you accept a job of about a month's duration at Saint Louis, $5 a day and mileage? Answer.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Rev. Alexander Reed
Executive Mansion, February 22, 1863. My dear Sir: Your note, by which you, as general superintendent of the United States Christian Commission, invite me to preside at a meeting to be held this day at the hall of the House of Representatives in this city, is re- ceived. While, for reasons which I deem suffi- cient, I must decline to preside, I cannot with- hold my approval of the meeting and its worthy objects. Whatever shall be sincerely, and in God's name, devised for the good of the soldier and seaman in their hard spheres of duty, can scarcely fail to be blest. And whatever shall tend to turn our thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable passions, prejudices, and jeal- ousies incident to a great national trouble such as ours, and to fix them upon the vast and long- enduring consequences, for weal or for woe,
218 Abraham Lincoln [Feb. 28
which are to result from the struggle, and espe- cially to strengthen'our reliance on the Supreme Being for the final triumph of the right, cannot but be well for us all. The birthday of Wash- ington and the Christian Sabbath coinciding this year, and suggesting together the highest inter- ests of this life and of that to come, is most propi- tious for the meeting proposed. Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General Hooker
Executive Mansion,
Washington, February 27, 1863.
Major-General Hooker: If it will be no det- riment to the service I will be obliged for Capt. Henry A. Marchant, of Company I, Twenty- third Pennsylvania Volunteers, to come here and remain four or five days.
A. Lincoln.
Message to the Senate, February 28, 1863
To the Senate of the United States: In com- pliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 26th instant, requesting a copy of any corre- spondence which may take place between me and working-men in England, I transmit the papers mentioned in the subjoined list.
Abraham Lincoln.
1863] Senate Convened 219
Note to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Washington, February 28, 1863.
My dear Sir: Mr. Eastman says you said he would have to come to me about the guns, or something to that effect. Do you know any law giving me control of the case? If so, please say so in writing. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, February 28, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit, for the consideration of Congress, a despatch to the Secretary of State from the United States consul at Liverpool, and the ad- dress to which it refers, of the distressed oper- atives of Blackburn, in England, to the New York relief committee, and to the inhabitants of the United States generally.
Abraham Lincoln.
Proclamation Convening the Senate, Feb- ruary 28, 1863 By the President of the United States of America: A Proclamation Whereas, objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate should be con-
220 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 2
vened at twelve o'clock on the 4th of March next, to receive and act upon such communica- tions as may be made to it on the part of the Executive :
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation de- claring that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol in the city of Washington, on the fourth day of March next, at twelve o'clock at noon on that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington, the twenty-eighth day of February, in the [L. S.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the in- dependence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.
Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion, March 2, 1863. My dear Sir: After much reflection, and
1863] Message to Congress 221
with a good deal of pain that it is adverse to your wish, I have concluded that it is not best to renominate Mr. Howard for collector of in- ternal revenue at Hartford, Connecticut. Sen- ator Dixon, residing at Hartford, and Mr. Loomis, representative of the district, join in recommending Edward Goodman for the place, and, so far, no one has presented a different man. I will thank you, therefore, to send me a nom- ination at once for Mr. Goodman.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 2, 1863. My dear Sir: I see an act under which an assistant collector of the port of New York is to be appointed. Nobody has applied to me for it. Have you any applications or any particular wishes upon the subject? Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Message to Congress, March 2, 1863
To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit to Congress a copy of a preamble and joint resolutions of the legislative assembly of the Territory of New Mexico, accepting the benefits of the act of Congress approved the 2d of July last, entitled "An act donating public
222 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 9
lands to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agricul- ture and the mechanic arts."
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 2, 1863. My dear Sir: Your note in relation to the collectorship at Hartford is just received. It is a little difficult for me to read; but as I make it out, the matter is now temporarily suspended by agreement of yourself and Senator Dixon; and with which, of course, I am satisfied. Yours, truly,
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General Hooker
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, March 5, 1863.
Major-General Hooker, Commanding Army of
the Potomac:
For business purposes I have extended the leave of absence of Capt. Henry A. Marchant, Twenty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, five days, hoping that it will not interfere with the public service. Please notify the regiment to- day.
A. Lincoln.
1863] Memorandum 223
Note to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 7, 1863. Hon. Sec. of State. My dear Sir: Please call over, and bring the "Marque & Reprisal" bill with you. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln. Memorandum
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 9, 1863.
To-day General William F. Smith calls and asks that his nomination heretofore as a major- general, and his acceptance of it by being as- signed to and taking command as a major-gen- eral, may be taken and held to be a vacation of his office as a brigadier-general of volunteers, so that he can again take his place in the regular army.
He would also like to have a leave of absence of as long as the service will admit.
*Telegram to Governor Tod
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 9, 1863.
Governor David Tod, Columbus, Ohio:
I think your advice with that of others would be valuable in the selection of provost-marshals for Ohio. A. LINCOLN.
224 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 10
Proclamation Granting Amnesty to Sol- diers Absent Without Leave, March 10, 1863 By the President of the United States of America : A Proclamation. In pursuance of the twenty-sixth section of the act of Congress entitled "An act for enroll- ing and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," approved on the third day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, I, Abraham Lincoln, President and commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States do hereby order and com- mand that all soldiers enlisted or drafted in the service of the United States now absent from their regiment without leave, shall forthwith return to their respective regiments.
And I do hereby declare and proclaim that all soldiers now absent from their respective regiments without leave who shall on or before the first day of April, 1863, report themselves at any rendezvous designated by the general or- ders of the War Department, No. 58, hereunto annexed, may be restored to their respective regiments without punishment, except the for- feiture of pay and allowances during their ab- sence; and all who do not return within the
1863] Amnesty Proclamation 225
time above specified shall be arrested as de- serters and punished as the law provides.
And whereas, evil-disposed and disloyal per- sons at sundry places have enticed and procured soldiers to desert and absent themselves from their regiments, thereby weakening the strength of the armies and prolonging the war, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and cruelly ex- posing the gallant and faithful soldiers remain- ing in the ranks to increased hardships and dan- ger: I do therefore call upon all patriotic and faithful citizens to oppose and resist the afore- mentioned dangerous and treasonable crimes, and to aid in restoring to their regiments all soldiers absent without leave, and to assist in the execution of the act of Congress "for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes," and to support the proper authori- ties in the prosecution and punishment of of- fenders against said act, and in suppressing the insurrection and rebellion.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one [l. S.] thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: EDWIN M. STANTON, Secre- tary of War.
226 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 17
*Telegram to General Hooker
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 13, 1863. Major-General Hooker: General Stahel wishes to be assigned to General Heintzelman and General Heintzelman also desires it. I would like to oblige both if it would not injure the service in your army, or incommode you. What say you?
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General W. S. Rosecrans
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 17, 1863.
My dear Sir: I have just received your tele- gram saying that the "Secretary of War tele- graphed after the battle of Stone River: ' Any- thing you and your command want you can have,' " and then specifying several things you have requested and have not received.
The promise of the Secretary, as you state it, is certainly pretty broad, nevertheless it ac- cords with the feeling of the whole government here toward you. I know not a single enemy of yours here. Still the promise must have a reasonable construction. We know you will not purposely make an unreasonable request, nor persist in one after it shall appear to be
1863] Letter to Rosecrans 227
such. Now, as to the matter of a paymaster, you desired one to be permanently attached to your army, and, as I understand, desired that Major Larned should be the man. This was denied you ; and you seem to think it was denied partly to disoblige you and partly to disoblige Major Larned — the latter, as you suspect, at the instance of Paymaster-General Andrews. On the contrary, the Secretary of War assures me the request was refused on no personal ground whatever, but because to grant it would derange, and substantially break up, the whole pay-system as now organized, and so organized on very full consideration and sound reason, as believed. There is powerful temptation in money; and it was and is believed that nothing can prevent the paymasters speculating upon the soldiers but a system by which each is to pay certain regiments so soon after he has notice that he is to pay those particular regiments that he has no time or opportunity to lay plans for speculating upon them. This precaution is all lost if paymasters respectively are to serve per- manently with the same regiments, and pay them over and over during the war. No special ap- plication of this has been intended to be made to Major Larned or to your army. And as to General Andrews, I have in another connection felt a little aggrieved at what seemed to be his
228 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 18
implicit following the advice and suggestions of Major Larned — so ready are we all to cry out and ascribe motives when our own toes are pinched.
Now as to your request that your commission should date from December, 1861. Of course you expected to gain something by this; but you should remember that precisely so much as you should gain by it others would lose by it, If the thing you sought had been exclusively ours, we would have given it cheerfully; but, being the right of other men, we having a merely arbitrary power over it, the taking it from them and giving it to you became a deli- cate matter and more deserving of considera- tion. Truth to speak, I do not appreciate this matter of rank on paper as you officers do. The world will not forget that you fought the battle of Stone River, and it will never care a fig whether you rank General Grant on paper, or he so ranks you.
As to the appointment of an aide contrary to your wishes, I knew nothing of it until I re- ceived your despatch; and the Secretary of War tells me he has known nothing of it, but will trace it out. The examination of course will extend to the case of R. S. Thomas, whom you say you wish appointed.
And now be assured you wrong both yourself
1863] Letter to Davis 229
and us when you even suspect there is not the best disposition on the part of us all here to oblige you.1 Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Henry Winter Davis
Executive Mansion, March 18, 1863.
My dear Sir: There will be in the new House of Representatives, as there were in the old, some members openly opposing the war, some supporting it unconditionally, and some supporting it with "buts," and "ifs," and "ands." They will divide on the organization of the House — on the election of a Speaker. As you ask my opinion, I give it, that the supporters of the war should send no man to Congress who will not pledge himself to go into caucus with the unconditional supporters of the war, and to abide the action of such caucus and vote for the person therein nominated for Speaker. Let the friends of the government first save the gov- ernment, and then administer it to their own liking. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
P. S. This is not for publication, but to pre- vent misunderstanding of what I verbally said to you yesterday. A. L.
1 Rosecrans had gained great prestige and popularity by his operations in the west and had been Halleck's choice for com- mand of the Army of the Potomac as against the President's choice of Hooker.
230 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 23
Revocation of Sentence of T. W. Knox
Executive Mansion, March 20, 1863. Whom it May Concern: Whereas, it ap-( pears to my satisfaction that Thomas W. Knox, a correspondent of the New York "Herald," has been by the sentence of a court-martial ex- cluded from the military department under com- mand of Major-General Grant, and also that General Thayer, president of the court-martial which rendered the sentence, and Major-Gen- eral McClernand, in command of a corps of that department, and many other respectable persons, are of the opinion that Mr. Knox's of- fense was technical rather than wilfully wrong, and that the sentence should be revoked: now, therefore, said sentence is hereby so far revoked as to allow Mr. Knox to return to General Grant's headquarters, and to remain if General Grant shall give his express assent, and to again leave the department if General Grant shall re- fuse such assent. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Governor Seymour {Private and Confidential.)
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 23, 1863.
Dear Sir: You and I are substantially strangers^ and I write this chiefly that we may
1863] Letter to Seymour 231
become better acquainted. I, for the time be- ing, am at the head of a nation which is in great peril, and you are at the head of the greatest State of that nation. As to maintaining the na- tion's life and integrity, I assume and believe there cannot be a difference of purpose between you and me. If we should differ as to the means, it is important that such difference should be as small as possible; that it should not be enhanced by unjust suspicions on one side or the other. In the performance of my duty the cooperation of your State, as that of others, is needed — in fact, is indispensable. This alone is a sufficient reason why I should wish to be at a good understanding with you. Please write me at least as long a letter as this, of course saying in it just what you think fit. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Memorandum, March 24, 1863
I think this man, Charles Wiegand, called on me once or oftener, but I really know nothing as to his capacity or merit. If a brigade was promised him by the War Department, I know nothing of it; and not knowing whether he is fit for any place, I could not with propriety recommend him for any.
A. Lincoln.
232 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 26
Telegram to General S. A. Hurlbut
Washington, March 25, 1863. Major-General Hurlbut, Memphis: What news have you? What from Vicksburg? What from Lake Providence? What generally?
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Benjamin Gratz
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 25, 1863.
Mr. Benjamin Gratz, Lexington, Ky.: Show this to whom it may concern as your authority for allowing Mrs. Shelby to remain at your house, so long as you choose to be responsible for what she may do. A. LINCOLN.
^Telegram to General Rosecrans
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 25, 1863.
Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tenn>: Your dispatches about General Davis and General Mitchell are received. General Davis' case is not particular, being simply one of a great many recommended and not nomi- nated, because they would transcend the num- ber allowed by law. General Mitchell nomi- nated and rejected by the Senate and I do not think it proper for me to re-nominate him with-
1863] Letter to Johnson 233
out a change of circumstances such as the per- formance of additional service, or an expressed change of purpose on the part of at least some Senators who opposed him. A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Governor Andrew Johnson
(Private.) Executive Mansion, March 26, 1863. My dear Sir: I am told you have at least thought of raising a negro military force. In my opinion the country now needs no specific thing so much as some man of your ability and position to go to this work. When I speak of your position, I mean that of an eminent citi- zen of a slave State and himself a slaveholder. The colored population is the great available and yet unavailed force for restoring the Union. The bare sight of fifty thousand armed and drilled black soldiers upon the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once; and who doubts that we can present that sight if we but take hold in earnest? If you have been thinking of it, please do not dismiss the thought. Yours very truly, A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 27, 1863.
Dear Sir: Governor Dickinson's business was rather with you than with me. His friend
234 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 30
with him, Edward J. Westcott, has been trad- ing at Newbern, and is hindered from renewing his business there. Please oblige the governor and Mr. Westcott so far as you consistently can. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General N. P. Banks
(Private.)
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March 29, 1863.
My dear Sir: Hon. Daniel Ullman, with a commission of a brigadier-general and two or three hundred other gentlemen as officers, goes to your department and reports to you, for the purpose of raising a colored brigade. To now avail ourselves of this element of force is very important, if not indispensable. I therefore will thank you to help General Ullman forward with his undertaking as much and as rapidly as you can; and also to carry the general object beyond his particular organization if you find it practicable. The necessity of this is palpable if, as I understand, you are now unable to effect anything with your present force; and which force is soon to be greatly diminished by the ex- piration of terms of service, as well as by ordi- nary causes. I shall be very glad if you will take hold of the matter in earnest. You will
1863] Fast Proclaimed 235
receive from the [War] Department a regular order upon this subject. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Proclamation Appointing a National Fast- Day, March 30, 1863 *
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, the Senate of the United States, de- voutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the af- fairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and humiliation:
And whereas, it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scrip- tures and proven by all history, that those na- tions only are blessed whose God is the Lord :
1 Lincoln was profoundly and intensely religious though he never joined a church nor formulated a creed. The current of his religious life and emotion was none the less deep and strong in all the latter part of his life. See his " Meditation," page 52.
236 Abraham Lincoln [Mar. 30
And insomuch as we know that by his divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other na- tion has ever grown; but we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us ; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have be- come too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us:
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves be- fore the offended Power, to confess our na- tional sins, and to pray for clemency and for- giveness :
Now, therefore, in compliance with the re- quest, and fully concurring in the views, of the
1863] Fast Proclaimed 237
Senate, I do by this my proclamation desig- nate and set apart Thursday the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite at their several places of public worship and their re- spective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn oc- casion. All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope au- thorized by the divine teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high, and an- swered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of [L. S.] our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
238 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 1
License of Commercial Intercourse
Washington, Executive Mansion,
March 31, 1863.
Whereas, by the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, entitled "An act to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," all commercial intercourse between the inhabitants of such States as should by proclamation be declared in insurrection against the United States and the citizens of the rest of the United States, was prohibited so long as such conditions of hostility should continue, ex- cept as the same shall be licensed and permitted by the President to be conducted and carried on only in pursuance of rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; and whereas it appears that a partial restora- tion of such intercourse between the inhabitants of sundry places and sections heretofore de- clared in insurrection in pursuance of said act, and the citizens of the rest of the United States, will favorably affect the public interests:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, exercising the au- thority and discretion confided to me by the said act of Congress, do hereby license and permit such commercial intercourse between the citi- zens of loyal States and the inhabitants of such
1863] Letter to Hunter 239
insurrectionary States in the cases and under the restrictions described and expressed in the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, bearing even date with these pres- ents, or in such other regulations as he may hereafter, with my approval, prescribe.
Abraham Lincoln.
Letter to General D. Hunter
(Private.)
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, April i, 1863.
My dear Sir: I am glad to see the accounts of your colored force at Jacksonville, Florida. I see the enemy are driving at them fiercely, as is to be expected. It is important to the enemy that such a force shall not take shape and grow and thrive in the South, and in precisely the same proportion it is important to us that it shall. Hence the utmost caution and vigilance is necessary on our part. The enemy will make extra efforts to destroy them, and we should do the same to preserve and increase them.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
240 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 2
Proclamation About Commercial Inter- course, April 2, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation,
WHEREAS, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, I did, by proclamation dated August 16, 1861, declare that the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louis- iana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mounta^s, and of such other parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore named as might maintain a legal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution, or might be from time to time occupied and con- trolled by forces of the United States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents) were in a state of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse between the same, and the inhabitants thereof, with the ex- ceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other
1863] Proclamation 241
States and other parts of the United States, was unlawful, and would remain unlawful until such insurrection should cease or be suppressed; and that all goods and chattels, wares and merchan- dise, coming from any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, without the license and permis- sion of the President through the Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, by land or water, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same to or from said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, would be forfeited to the United States:
And whereas, experience has shown that the exceptions made in and by said proclamation embarrass the due enforcement of said act of July 13, 1861, and the proper regulation of the commercial intercourse authorized by said act with the loyal citizens of said States:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, do hereby revoke the said exceptions, and declare that the inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida, and Vir- ginia (except the forty-eight counties of Vir- ginia designated as West Virginia, and except also the ports of New Orleans, Key West, Port
242 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 3
Royal, and Beaufort in North Carolina) are in a state of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial intercourse not licensed and conducted as provided in said act between the said States and the inhabitants thereof, with the exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other parts of the United States, is unlawful, and will remain unlawful until such insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed, and notice thereof has been duly given by proclamation; and all cotton, tobacco, and other products, and all other goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said States, with the exceptions afore- said, into other parts of the United States, or proceeding to any of said States, with the ex- ceptions aforesaid, without the license and per- mission of the President through the Secretary of the Treasury will, together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the same, be forfeited to the United States.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this second day of April, in the year of our Lord eighteen [L. S.] hundred and sixty-three, and of the in- dependence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
2863] Indorsement 243
*Telegram to General Hooker
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 3, 1863.
Major-General Hooker: Our plan is to pass Saturday night on the boat, go over from Acquia Creek to your camp Sunday morning, remain with you till Tuesday morning and then return. Our party will probably not exceed six persons of all sorts. A. LINCOLN.
Indorsement on General J. Hooker's Plan
of Campaign Against Richmond, April n,
1863
My opinion is that just now, with the enemy directly ahead of us, there is no eligible route for us into Richmond; and consequently a ques- tion of preference between the Rappahannock route and the James River route is a contest about nothing. Hence our prime object is the enemy's army in front of us, and is not with or about Richmond at all, unless it be incidental to the main object.
What then? The two armies are face to face, with a narrow river between them. Our com- munications are shorter and safer than are those of the enemy. For this reason we can, with equal powers, fret him more than he can us. I do not think that by raids toward Washing-
244 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. n
ton he can derange the Army of the Potomac at all. He has no distant operations which can call any of the Army of the Potomac away; we have such operations which may call him away, at least in part. While he remains intact I do not think we should take the disadvantage of attacking him in his intrenchments ; but we should continually harass and menace him, so that he shall have no leisure nor safety in send- ing away detachments. If he weakens him- self, then pitch into him.
Telegram from General Halleck to General J. Pope
War Department,
Washington, April n, 1863.
Major-General Pope, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The President directs that under no circum- stances will our troops cross the boundary line into British territory without his authority. H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief.
Letter to General Carl Schurz
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 11, 1863.
My dear Sir: I cannot comply with your request to take your division away from the Army of the Potomac. General Hooker does not wish it done. I do not myself see a good
1863] Letter to Schurz 245
reason why it should be done. The division will do itself and its officers more honor and the country more service where it is. Besides these general reasons, as I understand, the Army of the Potomac will move before these proposed changes could be conveniently made. I al- ways wish to oblige you, but I cannot in this case. Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
*Order Staying Execution
Executive Mansion, April n, 1863. Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn.:
Is there a soldier by the name of John R. Minnick of Wynkoop's cavalry under sentence of death, by a court-martial or military com- mission, in Nashville? And if so what was his offense, and when is he to be executed?
A. Lincoln.
If necessary let the execution be staid till I I can be heard from again. A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, April 12, 1863. Major-General Hooker: Your letter by the hand of General Butterfield is received, and will be conformed to. The thing you dispense with would have been ready by midday to-morrow.
A. Lincoln.
246 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 14
Letter to Governor Andrew G. Curtin
Executive Mansion, April 13, 1863. My dear Sir: If, after the expiration of your present term as governor of Pennsylvania, I shall continue in office here, and you shall de- sire to go abroad, you can do so with one of the first-class missions. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Admiral S. F. Du Pont
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 13, 1863.
Admiral Du Pont: Hold your position in- side the bar near Charleston; or, if you shall have left it, return to it, and hold it till further orders. Do not allow the enemy to erect new batteries or defenses on Morris Island. If he has begun it, drive him out. I do not herein or- der you to renew the general attack. That is to depend on your own discretion or a further or- der.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to J. E. Bouligny
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, April 14, 1863. My dear Sir: I did not certainly know the object of your call yesterday, but I had a strong
1863] Letter to Bouligny 247
impression in regard to it. When our national troubles began, you and I were not personally- acquainted, but all I heard of you placed you in my estimation foremost among Louisianians as a friend of the Union. I intended to find you a position, and I did not conceal my inclination to do so. When, last autumn, you bore a letter from me to some parties at New Orleans, you seemed to expect, and consequently I did ex- pect, you would return here as a member of one or the other branch of Congress. But you were not so returned, and this negative evidence, with other of like character, brings me to think that the Union people there for some reason prefer others for the places here. Add to this that the head of the department here in which finding a place for you was contemplated, is not satisfied for the appointment to be made, and it presents, as you see, an embarrassing case for me. My personal feelings for Mr. Bouligny are not less kind than heretofore. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C,
April 14, 1863. 5:30 p.m. Major-General Hooker: Would like to have a letter from you as soon as convenient.
A. Lincoln.
248 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 15
Letter to General D. Hunter and Admiral S. F. Du Pont
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 14, 1863.
General Hunter and Admiral Du Pont: This is intended to clear up an apparent inconsistency between the recent order to continue operations before Charleston and the former one to remove to another point in a certain contingency. No censure upon you, or either of you, is intended. We still hope that by cordial and judicious coop- eration you can take the batteries on Morris Island and Sullivan's Island and Fort Sumter. But whether you can or not, we wish the demon- stration kept up for a time, for a collateral and very important object. We wish the attempt to be a real one, though not a desperate one, if it affords any considerable chance of success. But if prosecuted as a demonstration only, this must not become public, or the whole effect will be lost. Once again before Charleston, do not leave till further orders from here. Of course this is not intended to force you to leave unduly exposed Hilton Head or other near points in your charge.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
P. S. Whoever receives this first, please send a copy to the other immediately. A. L.
1863] Telegram to Hooker 249
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Executive Mansion, April 15, 1863. 10:15 p. m. Major-General Hooker: It is now 10.15 P. M. An hour ago I received your letter of this morning, and a few moments later your despatch of this evening. The latter gives me consider- able uneasiness. The rain and mud of course were to be calculated upon. General S. is not moving rapidly enough to make the expedition come to anything. He has now been out three days, two of which were unusually fair weather, and all three without hindrance from the enemy, and yet he is not twenty-five miles from where he started. To reach his point he still has sixty to go, another river (the Rapidan) to cross, and will be hindered by the enemy. By arithme- tic, how many days will it take him to do it? I do not know that any better can be done, but I greatly fear it is another failure already. Write me often. I am very anxious.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Indorsement on Letter of T. Woodruff, April 16, 1863
In answer to the within question, "Shall we be sustained by you?" I have to answer that at the beginning of the administration I appointed one whom I understood to be an editor of the
250 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 20
"Democrat" to be postmaster at St. Louis — the best office in my gift within Missouri. Soon af- ter this our friends at St. Louis must needs break into factions, the "Democrat" being in my opin- ion justly chargeable with a full share of the blame for it. I have stoutly tried to keep out of the quarrel, and so mean to do.
As to contracts and jobs, I understand that by the law they are awarded to the best bidders ; and if the government agents at St. Louis do differ- ently, it would be good ground to prosecute them upon. A. Lincoln.
Proclamation admitting West Virginia into
the Union, April 20, 1863
By the President of the United States of
America:
A Proclamation,
Whereas, by the act of Congress approved the thirty-first day of December last, the State of West Virginia was declared to be one of the United States of America, and was admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever, upon the condi- tion that certain changes should be duly made in the proposed constitution for that State:
And whereas, proof of a compliance with that condition, as required by the second section of the act aforesaid, has been submitted to me :
1863] West Virginia Admitted 251
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do here- by, in pursuance of the act of Congress afore- said, declare and proclaim that the said act shall take effect and be in force from and after sixty days from the date hereof.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this
twentieth day of April, in the year of
fL s 1 our ^ord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the independence
of the United States the eighty-seventh.
Abraham Lincoln.
By the President: William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.
Letter to C. Truesdale
Executive Mansion, April 20, 1863. Calvin Truesdale, Esq,, Postmaster, Rock Island, Illinois: Thomas J. Pickett, late agent of the quartermaster's department for the island of Rock Island, has been removed or suspended from that position on a charge of having sold timber and stones from the island for his private benefit. Mr. Pickett is an old acquaintance and friend of mine; and I will thank you if you will set a day or days and place on and at which to
252 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 23
take testimony on the point. Notify Mr. Pickett and one J. B. Danforth, Jr. (who as I under- stand makes the charges), to be present with their witnesses, take the testimony in writing offered by both parties and report it in full to me. Please do this for me.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Letter to Secretaries Seward and Welles.
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, April 21, 1863.
Gentlemen: It is now a practical question for this government whether a government mail of a neutral power, found on board a vessel cap- tured by a belligerent power, on charge of breach of blockade, shall be forwarded to its designated destination without opening, or shall be placed in custody of the prize court, to be, in the discretion of the court, opened and searched for evidence to be used on the trial of the prize cases. I will thank each of you to furnish me :
First. A list of all cases wherein such ques- tion has been passed upon either by a diplomatic or a judicial decision.
Secondly. All cases wherein mails under such circumstances have been without special decision either forwarded unopened, or detained and opened in search of evidence.
I wish these lists to embrace as well the re-
1863] Letter to Segar 253
ported cases in the books generally, as the cases pertaining to the present war in the United States.
Thirdly. A statement and brief argument of what would be the dangers and evils of forward- ing such mails unopened.
Fourthly. A statement and brief argument of what would be the dangers and evils of de- taining and opening such mails, and using the contents, if pertinent, as evidence.
And, lastly, any general remarks that may oc- cur to you or either of you.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Joseph Segar.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 23, 1863.
My dear Sir: My recollection is that Acco- mac and Northampton counties (eastern shore of Virginia) were not exempted from a procla- mation issued some short while after the ad- journment of Congress ; that some time after the issuing of the preliminary Emancipation Proc- lamation in September, and before the issuing of the final one on January 1, 1863, You called on me and requested that the "eastern shore of Vir- ginia" might be exempted from both the sum- mer proclamation and the final Emancipation
254 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 27
Proclamation. I told you that the non-exemp- tion of it from the former was a mere omission which would be corrected; and that it should also be exempted from the final Emancipation Proclamation. The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation does not define what is included or excluded ; but only gives notice that this will be done in the final one.
Both yourself and General Dix at different times (General Dix in writing) called my atten- tion to the fact that I had omitted to exempt the "eastern shore of Virginia" from the first procla- mation ; and this was all that was needed to have me correct it. Without being reminded by either him or yourself, I do not think I should have omitted to exempt it from the final Eman- cipation Proclamation; but at all events you did not allow me to forget it. Supposing it was your duty to your constituents to attend to these matters, I think you acted with entire good faith and fidelity to them.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C,
April 23, 1863. 10:10 a.m. Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tennessee: Your despatch of the 21st received.
1863] Telegram to Hooker 255
I really cannot say that I have heard any com- plaint of you. I have heard complaint of a police corps at Nashville, but your name was not mentioned in connection with it, so far as I re- member. It may be that by inference you are connected with it, but my attention has never been drawn to it in that light.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Assistant Secretary Watson
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 27, 1863.
My dear Sir: I have attentively considered the matter of the "Republican," in regard to which you called on me the other day; and the result is that I prefer to make no change unless it shall again give just cause of offense, in which case I will at once withdraw the patronage it is enjoying at my hands. I believe it will not of- fend again ; and if not, it is better to let the past go by quietly. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C,
April 27, 1863. 3:30 p.m.
Major-General Hooker: How does it look
now?
A. Lincoln.
256 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 28
Letter to General Lane
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 27, 1863.
Hon. James H. Lane, Leavenworth, Kansas: The Governor of Kansas is here asking that Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. Williams, of a col- ored regiment there, shall be removed; and also complaining of the military interference of General Blunt in the late election at Leaven- worth. I do not know how, if at all, you are connected with these things; but I wish your assistance to so shape things that the Governor of Kansas may be treated with the consideration that is extended to governors of other States. We are not forcing a regimental officer upon any other governor against his protest. Can- not this matter be somehow adjusted?
A. Lincoln.
[Indorsement.^
Not sent because Governor Carney thought it best not be.
Indorsement on Letter of F. L. Capen, April 28, 1863
It seems to me Mr. Capen knows nothing about the weather in advance. He told me three days ago that it would not rain again till
1863] Telegram to Curtin 257
the 30th of April or 1st of May. It is raining now, and has been for ten hours. I cannot spare any more time to Mr. Capen.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Governor Curtin
War Department, April 28, 1863. Hon. A. G. Curtin, Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania: I do not think the people of Pennsyl- vania should be uneasy about an invasion. Doubtless a small force of the enemy is flour- ishing about in the northern part of Virginia, on the "skewhorn" principle, on purpose to divert us in another quarter. I believe it is nothing more. We think we have adequate force close after them. A. Lincoln.
Letter from Secretary Stanton to General Burnside
War Department, Washington City, April 29, 1863.
Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside, Com- manding Department of the Ohio, Cincinnati: A telegram from Louisville, published in the "National Intelligencer" of this morning, con- tains the following paragraph:
During the sale of a lot of negroes at the court- house this morning, the provost-marshal notified the owners that four were free under the President's
258 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 30
proclamation. They nevertheless went on, when the matter of the four contrabands was turned over to the district judge, who will take measures to annul the sale.
The President directs me to say to you that he is much surprised to find that persons who are free under his proclamation have been suffered to be sold under any pretense whatever; and also desires me to remind you of the terms of the acts of Congress by which the fugitive negroes of rebel owners taking refuge within our lines are declared to be "captives of war." He de- sires you to take immediate measures to prevent any persons who, by act of Congress, are enti- tled to protection from the government as "cap- tives of war" from being returned to bondage or suffering any wrong prohibited by that act. A detailed despatch, with instructions, will be sent to you to-day. Your vigilant and earnest attention to this subject within your department is specially requested.
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
*Telegram to W. A. Newell
Executive Mansion, April 29, 1863.
Hon. W. A. Newell, Allentown, N. J.: I
have some trouble about provost-marshal in
your first district. Please procure Hon. Mr.
Starr to come with you and see me, or come to
1863] Indorsement 259
an agreement with him and telegraph me the result. A. Lincoln.
Indorsement in the Case of Captain Schaadt
Executive Mansion,
Washington, April 30, 1863.
Such facts are brought to my notice as induce me to withhold my approval of the dismissal of Captain Schaadt, named within. He is satis- factorily proved to me to be of good character for candor and manliness, and generally; and that he was most active and efficient in Penn- sylvania last autumn in raising troops for the Union. All this should not retain him in the service if, since then, he has given himself in any way to the injury of the service. How this is I must understand better than I now do be- fore I can approve his dismissal. What has he done? What has he said? If, as is claimed for him, he is guilty of nothing but the with- holding his vote or sanction from a certain reso- lution or resolutions, I think his dismissal is wrong, even though I might think the resolu- tion itself right and very proper to be adopted by such as choose.
Captain Schaadt will report himself to Gen- eral Hunter and deliver him this paper for his further action. A. Lincoln.
260 Abraham Lincoln [Apr. 30
Letter to General D. Hunter
(Private.) Executive Mansion, April 30, 1863.
My dear Sir: This morning I was presented an order of yours, dismissing from the service, subject to my approval, a Captain Schaadt, of one of the Pennsylvania regiments. Disloyalty, without any statement of the evidence supposed to have proved it, is assigned as the cause of the dismissal; and he represents at home — as I am told — that the sole evidence was his refusal to sanction a resolution (indorsing the Emanci- pation Proclamation, I believe) ; and our friends assure me that this statement is doing the Union cause great harm in his neighbor- hood and county, especially as he is a man of character, did good service in raising troops for us last fall, and still declares for the Union and his wish to fight for it.
On this state of the case I wrote a special in- dorsement on the order, which I suppose he will present to you; and I write this merely to as- sure you that no censure is intended upon you; but that it is hoped that you will inquire into the case more minutely, and that if there be no evidence but his refusal to sanction the resolu- tion, you will restore him.
Yours as ever, A. LINCOLN.
1863] Letter to Hunter 261
Telegrams to Governor Curtin
Executive Mansion, May i, 1863.
Governor Curtin, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The whole disposable force at Baltimore and elsewhere in reach have already been sent after the enemy which alarms you. The worst thing the enemy could do for himself would be to weaken himself before Hooker, and therefore it is safe to believe he is not doing it; and the best thing he could do for himself would be to get us so scared as to bring part of Hooker's force away, and that is just what he is trying to do.
I will telegraph you in the morning about calling out the militia. A. LINCOLN.
Executive Mansion, May 2, 1863.
Gov. Curtin, Harrisburg, Penn.: General Halleck tells me he has a despatch from Gen- eral Schenck this morning informing him that our forces have joined, and that the enemy men- acing Pennsylvania will have to fight or run to- day. I hope I am not less anxious to do my duty to Pennsylvania than yourself, but I really do not yet see the justification for incurring the trouble and expense of calling out the militia. I shall keep watch, and try to do my duty.
A. Lincoln.
P. S. Our forces are exactly between the enemy and Pennsylvania.
262 Abraham Lincoln [May 6
Telegram to General D. Butterfield
Washington, D. C, May 3, 1863. Major-General Butterfield: The President thanks you for your telegrams, and hopes you will keep him advised as rapidly as any infor- mation reaches you.
Edwin M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
Telegram to General D. Butterfield
Washington, D. C, May 3, 1863. 4.35 p. m. Major-General Butterfield: Where is Gen- eral Hooker? Where is Sedgwick? Where is Stoneman? A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, May 4, 1863. 3.10 p. m. Major-General Hooker: We have news here that the enemy has reoccupied heights above Fredericksburg. Is that so?
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
Washington, May 4, 1863. Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, O. : Our friend General Sigel claims that you owe him a letter. If you so remember please write him at once. He is here.
A. Lincoln.
1863] Letter to Hooker 263
Telegram to General J. Hooker l
Washington, D. C,
May 6, 1863. 12.25 P- m.
Major-General Hooker: We have through General Dix the contents of Richmond papers of the 5th. General Dix's despatch in full is going to you by Captain Fox of the navy. The substance is General Lee's despatch of the 3d (Sunday), claiming that he had beaten you, and that you were then retreating across the Rappa- hannock, distinctly stating that two of Long- street's divisions fought you on Saturday, and that General [E. F.] Paxton was killed, Stone- wall Jackson severely wounded, and Generals Heth and A. P. Hill slightly wounded. The Richmond papers also stated, upon what author- ity not mentioned, that our cavalry have been at Ashland, Hanover Court House, and other points, destroying several locomotives and a good deal of other property, and all the railroad bridges to within five miles of Richmond.
A. Lincoln.
1When Lincoln read the telegram to the War Department from General Butterfield, Hooker's chief of staff, reporting the withdrawal of the army from the south side of the Rappahan- nock, he was for a moment in despair. This he quickly over- came. Ordering a steamer to be ready, he summoned General Halleck and in little over an hour was on his way to Hooker's headquarters. The next day he had the situation in hand, and was planning an advance upon Richmond.
264 Abraham Lincoln [May 7
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, May 6, 1863. 12.30 p. m. General Hooker: Just as I had telegraphed you contents of Richmond papers showing that our cavalry has not failed, I received General Butterfield's of 11 A. M. yesterday. This, with the great rain of yesterday and last night secur- ing your right flank, I think puts a new face upon your case ; but you must be the judge.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to Colonel R. Ingalls
Washington, D. C, May 6, 1863. 1.45 p. m. Colonel Ingalls: News has gone to General Hooker which may change his plans. Act in view of such contingency.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General J. Hooker
Headquarters Army of the Potomac,
May 7, 1863.
My dear Sir: The recent movement of your army is ended without effecting its object, ex- cept, perhaps, some important breakings of the enemy's communications. What next? If pos- sible, I would be very glad of another movement early enough to give us some benefit from the fact of the enemy's communication being
1863] Letter to Hooker 265
broken; but neither for this reason nor any other do I wish anything done in desperation or rash- ness. An early movement would also help to supersede the bad moral effect of the recent one? which is said to be considerably injurious. Have you already in your mind a plan wholly or partially formed? If you have, prosecute it without interference from me. If you have not, please inform me, so that I, incompetent as I may be, can try and assist in the formation of some plan for the army.
Yours as ever,
A. Lincoln.
266 Abraham Lincoln [May 8
Proclamation Concerning Aliens May 8, 1863
By the President of the United States of America
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, at its last session, enacted a law entitled "An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces and for other purposes," which was approved on the third day of March last; and
Whereas, it is recited in the said act that there now exists in the United States an insur- rection and rebellion against the authority thereof, and it is, under the Constitution of the United States, the duty of the government to suppress insurrection and rebellion, to guarantee to each State a republican form of government, and to preserve the public tranquillity; and
1 The purport of this proclamation was to sustain and make effective the draft bill which, after bitter opposition in both houses, had been finally passed the previous February, and to define the position of aliens who had already declared their intention of becoming citizens. It was shortly after this that the draft riots broke out in New York City, largely due to its foreign-born population.
1863] Proclamation 267
Whereas, for these high purposes a military force is indispensable, to raise and support which all persons ought willingly to contribute ; and
Whereas, no service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than that which is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and Union, and the consequent preservation of free govern- ment; and
Whereas, for the reasons thus recited, it was enacted by the said statute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intention to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years (with certain ex- ceptions not necessary to be here mentioned), are declared to constitute the national forces, and shall be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United States when called out by the President for that purpose ; and
Whereas, it is claimed by and in behalf of persons of foreign birth within the ages speci- fied in said act, who have heretofore declared on oath their intentions to become citizens under and in pursuance of the laws of the United States, and who have not exercised the right of suffrage or any other political franchise under the laws of the United States, or of any of the
268 Abraham Lincoln [May 8
States thereof, that they are not absolutely con- cluded by their aforesaid declaration of inten- tion from renouncing their purpose to become citizens, and that, on the contrary, such persons under treaties or the law of nations retain a right to renounce that purpose and to forego the priv- ileges of citizenship and residence within the United States under the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress:
Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning the liability of persons concerned to perform the service required by such enact- ment, and to give it full effect, I do hereby order and proclaim that no plea of alienage will be received or allowed to exempt from the obliga- tions imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress, any person of foreign birth who shall have de- clared on oath his intention to become a citizen of the United States under the laws thereof, and who shall be found within the United States at any time during the continuance of the present insurrection and rebellion, at or after the expira- tion of the period of sixty-five days from the date of this proclamation; nor shall any such plea of alienage be allowed in favor of any such per- son who has so, as aforesaid, declared his inten- tion to become a citizen of the United States, and shall have exercised at any time the right of suffrage, or any other political franchise,
1863] Telegram to Hooker 269
within the United States, under the laws there- of, or under the laws of any of the several States. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this eight day of May, in the year of our [L. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, May 8, 1863. 4 p. m. Major-General Hooker: The news is here of the capture by our forces of Grand Gulf — a large and very important thing. General Wil- lich, an exchanged prisoner just from Rich- mond, has talked with me this morning. He was there when our cavalry cut the roads in that vicinity. He says there was not a sound pair of legs in Richmond, and that our men, had they known it, could have safely gone in and burned everything and brought in Jeff Davis. We cap- tured and paroled 300 or 400 men. He says as he came to City Point there was an army three miles long (Longstreet's, he thought) mov-
270 Abraham Lincoln [May n
ing toward Richmond. Milroy has captured a despatch of General Lee, in which he says his loss was fearful in his last battle with you.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion, May 8, 1863. My dear Sir: I address this to you person- ally rather than officially, because of the nature of the case. My mind is made up to remove Victor Smith as collector of the customs at the Puget Sound district. Yet in doing this I do not decide that the charges against him are true. I only decide that the degree of dissatisfaction with him there is too great for him to be re- tained. But I believe he is your personal ac- quaintance and friend, and if you desire it I will try to find some other place for him.
Yours as ever, A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. A. Dix
War Department, May 9, 1863. Major-General Dix: It is very important for Hooker to know exactly what damage is done to the railroads at all points between Fred- ericksburg and Richmond. As yet we have no word as to whether the crossings of the North and South Anna, or any of them, have been touched. There are four of these crossings ; that
1863] Letter to Stanton 271
is, one on each road on each stream. You read- ily perceive why this information is desired. I suppose Kilpatrick or Davis can tell. Please ascertain fully what was done, and what is the present condition, as near as you can, and advise
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, May n, 1863. Dear Sir: I have again concluded to relieve General Curtis. I see no other way to avoid the worst consequences there. I think of Gen- eral Schofield as his successor, but I do not wish to take the matter of a successor out of the hands of yourself and General Halleck.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General J. A. Dix
Washington City, May 11, 1863. Major-General Dix: Do the Richmond papers have anything about Grand Gulf or Vicksburg? A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General D. Butterfield
Washington City, May 11, 1863. Major-General Butterfield: About what dis- tance is it from the observatory we stopped at last Thursday, to the line of enemies works you ranged the glass upon for me? A. LINCOLN.
272 Abraham Lincoln [May 13
*Telegram to Governor Horatio Seymour
Washington, May 12, 1863. Governor Seymour, Albany, N. Y.: Dr. Swin- burne and Mr. Gillett are here, having been refused, as they say, by the War Department, permission to go to the Army of the Potomac. They now appeal to me, saying you wish them to go. I suppose they have been excluded by a rule which experience has induced the depart- ment to deem proper, still they shall have leave to go, if you say you desire it. Please answer.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Dr. A. G. Henry
Washington, May 13, 1863. Dr. A. G. Henry, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: Governor Chase's feelings were hurt by my action in his absence. Smith is removed, but Governor Chase wishes to name his suc- cessor, and asks a day or two to make the desig- nation.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion, May 13, 1863. My dear Sir: I return the letters of General Garfield and Mr. Flanders. I am sorry to know the general's pet expedition, under Colonel
1 863] Memorandum 273
Streight, has already been captured. Whether it had paid for itself, as he hoped, I do not know. If you think it proper to fill the agency men- tioned by Mr. Flanders, by all means let Mr. Flanders be the man.
Please send me over the commission for Lewis C. Gunn, as you recommended, for collector of customs at Puget Sound.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, Executive Mansion, May 13, 1863. 1 p.m.
Major-General Hooker: If it will not inter- fere with the service, nor personally incommode you, please come up and see me this evening.
A. Lincoln.
Memorandum about Lieutenant Merry- man, May 13, 1863
I understand there are, or have been, some charges against Lieutenant Merryman, of which I know nothing. I only wish to say, he was raised from childhood in the town where I lived, and I remember nothing against him as boy or man.
His father, now dead, was a very intimate ac- quaintance and friend of mine.
A. Lincoln.
274 Abraham Lincoln [May 14
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, May 13, 1863. My dear Sir: Since parting with you I have seen the Secretaries of State and the Treasury, and they both think we better not issue the special suspension of the writ of habeas corpus spoken of. Governor Chase thinks the case is not before Judge Swaim; that it is before Judge Leavitt; that the writ will probably not issue whichever the applications may be before; and that in no event will Swaim commit an impru- dence. His chief reason for thinking the writ will not issue is that he has seen in a newspaper that Judge Leavitt stated that Judge Swaim and he refused a similar application last year. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General J. Hooker
Executive Mansion, May 14, 1863. My dear Sir: When I wrote on the 7th, I had an impression that possibly by an early move- ment you could get some advantage from the supposed facts that the enemy's communications were disturbed, and that he was somewhat de- ranged in position. That idea has now passed away, the enemy having reestablished his com- munications, regained his positions, and actually
1863] Letter to Bryant 275
received reinforcements. It does not now ap- pear probable to me that you can gain anything by an early renewal of the attempt to cross the Rappahannock. I therefore shall not complain if you do no more for a time than to keep the enemy at bay and out of other mischief by menaces and occasional cavalry raids, if practi- cable, and to put your own army in good condi- tion again. Still, if in your own clear judgment you can renew the attack successfully, I do not mean to restrain you. Bearing upon this last point, I must tell you that I have some painful intimations that some of your corps and division commanders are not giving you their entire con- fidence. This would be ruinous, if true, and you should therefore, first of all, ascertain the real facts beyond all possibility of doubt. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln. Letter to W. C. Bryant
Washington, May 14, 1863. My dear Sir: Yours, requesting that Gen- eral Sigel may be again assigned to command, is received. Allow me to briefly explain. I kept General Sigel in command for several months, he requesting to resign or to be relieved. At length, at his urgent and repeated solicitation, he was relieved. Now it is inconvenient to as-
276 Abraham Lincoln [May 16
sign him a command without relieving or de- priving some other officer who is not asking and perhaps would object to being so disposed of.
This is one of a class of cases, and you per- ceive how embarrassing they are. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to H. T. Blow, C. D. Drake, and Others
Executive Mansion, May 15, 1863. Hon. H. T. Blow and Others, St. Louis, Mo.: Your despatch of to-day is just received. It is very painful to me that you in Missouri cannot or will not settle your factional quarrel among yourselves. I have been tormented with it be- yond endurance for months by both sides. Neither side pays the least respect to my appeals to your reason. I am now compelled to take hold of the case. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to James Guthrie
War Department, May 16, 1863. Hon. James Guthrie, Louisville, Ky.: Your despatch of to-day is received. I personally know nothing of Colonel Churchill, but months ago and more than once he has been represented to me as exerting a mischievous influence at Saint Louis, for which reason I am unwilling
1863] Letter to Stanton 277
to force his continuance there against the judg- ment of our friends on the ground, but if it will oblige you, he may come to, and remain at Louisville upon taking the oath of allegiance, and your pledge for his good behavior.
A. Lincoln.
^Letter to Secretary Stanton
War Department, May 16, 1863. My dear Sir: The commander of the De- partment at St. Louis has ordered several per- sons south of our military lines, which order is not disapproved by me. Yet at the special re- quest of Hon. James Guthrie I have consented to one of the number, Samuel Churchill, remain- ing at Louisville, Ky., upon condition of his tak- ing the oath of allegiance and Mr. Guthrie's word of honor for his good behavior.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Telegram from Secretary Stanton to General F. J. Herron
War Department, May 17, 1863. Major-General F. /. Herron, Rolla, Mo.: Your despatch threatening to resign rather than to serve under General Schofleld has been re- ceived and shown to the President. He directs me to say that he is unaware of any valid objec- tion to General Schofleld, he having recently
278 Abraham Lincoln [May 19
commanded the Department of the Missouri, giving almost universal satisfaction so far as the President ever heard. He directs me to add that he has appreciated the services of General Herron and rewarded them by rapid promo- tions ; but that, even in him, insubordination will be met as insubordination, and that your resig- nation will be acted upon as circumstances may require whenever it is tendered.
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War.
Orders sending C. L. Vallandigham beyond Military Lines *
United States Military Telegraph,
May 19, 1863.
To Major-General Burnside, Commanding Department of Ohio. Sir: The President directs that without de- lay you send C. L. Vallandigham under secure guard to the headquarters of General Rosecrans, to be put by him beyond our military lines; and in case of his return within our lines, he be ar-
1 Vallandigham, an Ohio Democrat of the Copperhead order, opposed the war from the beginning, though declaring himself for the Union. In 1863 his treasonable public attacks on the administration led General Burnside to place him under arrest. This aroused widespread criticism and controversy as an act of despotism. Lincoln, however, backed up Burnside and sug- gested the measures to be taken with the prisoner. The case was taken up by the supporters of Vallandigham. They en- deavored to make it a party issue, but the plan failed.
1863] Vallandigham Order 279
rested and kept in close custody for the term specified in his sentence.
By order of the President:
E. R. S. Canby, Brigadier-General. War Department, May 20, 1863.
Major-General A. E. Burnside: Your de- spatch of three o'clock this afternoon to the Sec- retary of War has been received and shown to the President. He thinks the best disposition to be made of Vallandigham is to put him beyond the lines, as directed in the order transmitted to you last evening, and directs that you execute that order by sending him forward under secure guard without delay to General Rosecrans.
By order of the President:
Ed. R. S. Canby, Brigadier-General.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
Washington, May 20, 1863. Major-General Rosecrans : Yours of yester- day in relation to Colonel Haggard is received. I am anxious that you shall not misunderstand me. In no case have I intended to censure you or to question your ability. In Colonel Hag- gard's case I meant no more than to suggest that possibly you might have been mistaken in a point that could [be] corrected. I frequently make mistakes myself in the many things I am com- pelled to do hastily. A. LINCOLN.
280 Abraham Lincoln [May 24
Telegram from Secretary Stanton to General W. S. Rosecrans
War Department, May 20, 1863. Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesboro: The President desires to know whether you have any late news from Grant, or any of the opera- tions on the Mississippi. If you have, please report. Edwin M. Stanton.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
Washington, May 21, 1863. 4.40 p. m.
Major-General Rosecrans: For certain rea- sons it is thought best for Rev. Dr. Jaquess not to come here.
Present my respects to him, and ask him to write me fully on the subject he has in contem- plation. A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
War Department, May 21, 1863. Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, O.: In the case of Thomas M. Campbell, convicted as a spy, let execution of the sentence be respited un- til further order from me, he remaining in cus- tody meanwhile. A. LINCOLN.
Major-General Burnside: Please acknowl- edge receipt of the above telegram and time of delivery. Tho. T. ECKERT.
1863] Telegram to Stager 281
Telegram to General S. A. Hurlbut
Washington, May 22, 1863. Major-General Hurlbut, Memphis, Tenn.: We have news here in the Richmond news- papers of 20th and 2 1 st, including a despatch from General Joe Johnston himself, that on the 15th or 1 6th — a little confusion as to the day — Grant beat Pemberton and [W. W.] Loring near Edwards Station, at the end of a nine hours1 fight, driving Pemberton over the Big Black and cutting Loring off and driving him south to Crystal Springs, twenty-five miles below Jack- son. Joe Johnson telegraphed all this, except about Loring, from his camp between Browns- ville and Lexington, on the 18th. Another des- patch indicates that Grant was moving against Johnston on the 18th.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Anson Stager
War Department, May 24, 1863. — 10.40 p. m. Anson Stager, Cleveland, Ohio: Late last night Fuller telegraphed you, as you say, that "the stars and stripes float over Vicksburg and the victory is complete." Did he know what he said, or did he say it without knowing it? Your despatch of this afternoon throws doubt upon it.
A. Lincoln.
282 Abraham Lincoln [May 27
^Telegram to Colonel Haggard
Executive Mansion, May 25, 1863. Colonel Haggard, Nashville, Tenn.: Your despatch to Green Adams had just been shown to me. General Rosecrans knows better than we can know here, who should be in charge of the Fifth Cavalry. A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
War Department, May 27, 1863. Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tenn.: Have you anything from Grant? Where is Forrest's headquarters?
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General John M. Schofield
Executive Mansion, May 27, 1863. My dear Sir: Having relieved General Cur- tis and assigned you to the command of the De- partment of the Missouri, I think it may be of some advantage for me to state to you why I did it. I did not relieve General Curtis because of any full conviction that he had done wrong by commission or omission. I did it because of a conviction in my mind that the Union men of Missouri, constituting, when united, a vast ma- jority of the whole people, have entered into a pestilent factional quarrel among themselves —
1863] Letter to Chase 283
General Curtis, perhaps not of choice, being the head of one faction and Governor Gamble that of the other. After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break it up somehow; and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had to remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I wish you to undo nothing merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble did it, but to exercise your own judg- ment, and do right for the public interest. Let your military measures be strong enough to re- pel the invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and persecute the people. It is a difficult role, and so much greater will be the honor if you perform it well. If both factions, or neither, shall abuse you, you will probably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one and praised by the other.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion, May 27, 1863. My dear Sir: The office of second comptrol- ler is vacant by the death of Mr. Cutts. Of course I wish your concurrence whenever I shall fill it. I believe the only applicants — whose pa- pers are now before me — are Augustin Chester, late of Connecticut, now of Chicago, and John
284 Abraham Lincoln [May 29
M. Broadhead, of this city. I herewith inclose their papers to you. I believe they are both competent and worthy gentlemen.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, May 27, 1863. 11 p. m. Major-General Hooker: Have you Rich- mond papers of this morning? If so, what news? A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Erastus Corning
Executive Mansion, May 28, 1863. Hon. Erastus Corning, Albany, N. Y.: The letter of yourself and others dated the 19th and inclosing the resolutions of a public meeting held at Albany on the 16th was received night before last. I shall give the resolutions the con- sideration you ask, and shall try to find time and make a respectful response.
Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General W. S. Rosecrans
Washington, May 28, 1863. Major-General Rosecrans, Murfreesborough, Tenn.: I would not push you to any rashness, but I am very anxious that you do your utmost, short of rashness, to keep Bragg from getting off to help Johnston against Grant. A. LINCOLN.
1863] Telegram to Johnson 285
Letter to General W. S. Rosecrans
Executive Mansion, May 28, 1863.
My dear Sir: I have but a slight personal acquaintance with Colonel Jaquess, though I know him very well by character.
Such a mission as he proposes I think promises good, if it were free from difficulties, which I fear it cannot be.
First. He cannot go with any government authority whatever. This is absolute and im- perative.
Secondly. If he goes without authority, he takes a great deal of personal risk — he may be condemned and executed as a spy.
If, for any reason, you think fit to give Colonel Jaquess a furlough, and any authority from me for that object is necessary, you hereby have it for any length of time you see fit.
Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to Governor Johnson
Washington, May 29, 1863. Governor Andrew Johnson, Louisville, Ky.: General Burnside has been frequently informed lately that the division under General Getty can- not be spared. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but it is true, and cannot be helped.
A. Lincoln.
286 Abraham Lincoln [May 30
Letter to J. K. Dubois and Others1
Executive Mansion, May 29, 1863. Gentlemen: Agree among yourselves upon any two of your own number — one of whom to be quartermaster and the other to be commissary — to serve at Springfield, Illinois, and send me their names, and I will appoint them. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General A. E. Burnside
Washington, May 29, 1863. Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, O.: Your despatch of to-day received. When I shall wish to supersede you I will let you know. All the cabinet regretted the necessity of arrest- ing, for instance, Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there was a real necessity for it; but, being done, all were for seeing you through with it A. Lincoln.
1 Besides Dubois, the above letter was addressed to O. M. Hatch, John Williams, Jacob Bunn, John Bunn, George R. Weber, William Yates, S. M. Cullom, Charles W. Matheny, William F. Elkin, Francis Springer, B. A. Watson, Eliphalet Hawley and James Campbell.
General William T. Sherman
Wood Engraving from a Photograph by George M. Bell.
1863] Reply to Assembly 287
Reply to Members of the Presbyterian General Assembly, May [30?], 1863
IT has been my happiness to receive testimo- nies of a similar nature from, I believe, all denominations of Christians. They are all loyal, but perhaps not in the same degree or in the same numbers ; but I think they all claim to be loyal. This to me is most gratifying, because from the beginning I saw that the issue of our great struggle depended on the divine interpo- sition and favor. If we had that, all would be well. The proportions of tljis rebellion were not for a long time understood. I saw that it involved the greatest difficulties, and would call forth all the powers of the whole country. The end is not yet.
The point made in your paper is well taken as to "the government" and "the administration" in whose hands are these interests. I fully appre- ciate its correctness and justice. In my admin- istration I may have committed some errors. It would be indeed remarkable if I had not. I have acted according to my best judgment in every case. The views expressed by the commit- tee accord with my own; and on this principle
288 Abraham Lincoln [May 30
"the government" is to be supported though "the administration" may not in every case wise- ly act. As a pilot I have used my best exertions to keep afloat our Ship of State, and shall be glad to resign my trust at the appointed time to an- other pilot more skilful and successful than I may prove. In every case and at all hazards the government must be perpetuated. Relying, as I do, upon the Almighty Power, and encouraged as I am by these resolutions which you have just read, with the support which I receive from Christian men, I shall not hesitate to use all the means at my control to secure the termination of this rebellion, and will hope for success.
I sincerely thank you for this interview, this pleasant mode of presentation, and the General Assembly for their patriotic support in these resolutions.
Letter to Charles Sumner *
Executive Mansion, June i, 1863. My dear Sir: In relation to the matter spoke of Saturday morning and this morning — to wit, the raising of colored troops in the North, with the understanding that they shall be com- manded by General Fremont — I have to say:
1 In December, 1863, less than one year after the President pro- claimed his policy of enlisting negroes as soldiers, there were in the army, about 50,000 former slaves. During the last days of the war there were 186,017 colored men in the military service.
rf^l Reply to Assembly 289
That while it is very objectionable, as a gen- eral rule, to have troops raised on any special terms, such as to serve only under a particular command or only at a particular place or places, yet I would forego the objection in this case upon a fair prospect that a large force of this sort could thereby be the more rapidly raised.
That being raised, say to the number of ten thousand, I would very cheerfully send them to the field under General Fremont, assigning him a department, made or to be made, with such white force also as I might be able to put in.
That with the best wishes toward General Fre- mont, I cannot now give him a department, be- cause I have not spare troops to furnish a new department, and I have not, as I think, justi- fiable ground to relieve the present commander of any old one. In the raising of the colored troops, the same consent of governors would have to be obtained as in case of white troops, and the government would make the same provision for them during organization as for white troops.
It would not be a point with me whether Gen- eral Fremont should take charge of the organi- zation, or take charge of the force only after the organization. If you think fit to communicate this to General Fremont, you are at liberty to do so.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
290 Abraham Lincoln [June 5
^Telegram to Colonel Ludlow
Executive Mansion, June i, 1863. Richardson and Brown, correspondents of the "Tribune" captured at Vicksburg, are detained at Richmond. Please ascertain why they are de- tained, and get them off if you can.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General U. S. Grant
War Department,
Washington, D. C, June 2, 1863. Major-General Grant, Vicksburg: Are you in communication with General Banks? Is he coming toward you or going farther off? Is there or has there been anything to hinder his coming directly to you by water from Alexan- dria? A. Lincoln.
Note to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 4, 1863. My dear Sir: I have received additional des- patches, which, with former ones, induce me to believe we should revoke or suspend the order suspending the Chicago "Times;" and if you concur in opinion, please have it done.
Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
1863] Telegram to Hooker 291
* Telegram to General D. Butterfield
War Department, June 4, 1863. Major-General Butterfield: The news you send me from the Richmond "Sentinel" of the 3d must be greatly if not wholly incorrect. The Thursday mentioned was the 28th, and we have dispatches here directly from Vicksburg of the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st, and while they speak of the siege progressing, they speak of no assault or general fighting whatever, and in fact they so speak as to almost exclude the idea that there can have been any since Monday the 25th which was not very heavy. Neither do they mention any demand made by Grant upon Pemberton for a surrender. They speak of our troops as being in good health, condition and spirits. Some of them do say that Banks has Port Hud- son invested. A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 5, 1863. 4 p. M. Major-General Hooker: Yours of to-day was received an hour ago. So much of profes- sional military skill is requisite to answer it, that I have turned the task over to General Halleck. He promises to perform it with his utmost care. I have but one idea which I think worth suggest- ing to you, and that is, in case you find Lee com-
292 Abraham Lincoln [June 6
ing to the north of the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross to the south of it. If he should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it would fight in intrench- ments and have you at disadvantage, and so, man for man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way be getting an advan- tage of you northward. In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other. If Lee would come to my side of the river, I would keep on the same side, and fight him or act on the defense, according as might be my estimate of his strength relatively to my own. But these are mere suggestions which I desire to be controlled by the judgment of yourself and General Halleck. A. LINCOLN.
^Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, June 5, 1863. Major-General Hooker: Would you like to have Captain Treadwell Moore, now in Califor- nia to report to you for duty? A. LINCOLN.
Anonymous Note to the Washington
"Chronicle," June 6, 1863 Editor of the "Chronicle:" In your issue of
1863] Anonymous Note 293
this morning you have an article on the Chicago "Times." Being an Illinoisian, I happen to know that much of the article is incorrect. As I remember, upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the Democratic newspapers at Chicago went over to the opposition. There- upon the "Times" was established by the friends of the administration, Senator Douglas being the most prominent in establishing it. A man by the name of James Sheahan, from this city, was its first and only editor nearly if not quite all the remainder of the senator's life. On the po- litical separation between Mr. Buchanan and Senator Douglas, the "Times" adhered to the senator, and was the ablest paper in his sup- port through his senatorial contest with Mr. Lin- coln. Since the last presidential election cer- tainly, perhaps since Senator Douglas's death, Mr. Sheahan left the "Times"; the "Times" since then has been identical with the "Times" before then in little more than the name. The writer hereof is not well enough posted to say but that your article in other respects is correct.
*Telegram to Mrs. E. J. Grimsley
Washington, D. C, June 6, 1863. Mrs. Elizabeth J. Grimsley, Springfield: Is your John ready to enter the Naval school? If he is telegraph me his full name. A. LINCOLN.
294 Abraham Lincoln [June 8
^Telegram to General J. A. Dix
War Department, June 6, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe, Fa.: By noticing the news you send from the Richmond "Dispatch" of this morning you will see one of the very latest dispatches says they have nothing reliable from Vicksburg since Sunday. Now we here have a dispatch from there of Sunday and others of almost every day preceding since the investment, and while they show the siege progressing they do not show any general fight- ing since the 21st and 22d. We have nothing from Port Hudson later than the 29th when things looked reasonably well for us. I have thought this might be of some interest to you.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to General S. R. Curtis
Executive Mansion, June 8, 1863. My dear Sir: I have scarcely supposed it possible that you would entirely understand my feelings and motives in making the late change of commander for the department of the Mis- souri. I inclose you a copy of a letter which I recently addressed to General Schofield, and which will explain the matter in part. It be- came almost a matter of personal self-defense to somehow break up the state of things in Mis-
1863] Letter to Curtis 295
souri. I did not mean to cast any censure upon you, nor to indorse any of the charges made against you by others. With me the presump- tion is still in your favor: that you are honest, capable, faithful and patriotic. Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
^Telegrams to General J. A. Dix
Executive Mansion, June 8, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe: We have dispatches from Vicksburg of the 3d. Siege progressing. No general fighting recently. All well. Nothing new from Port Hudson.
A. Lincoln.
War Department,
Washington, D. C, June 8, 1863. Major-General Dix, Fort Monroe: The sub- stance of the news sent of fight at Port Hudson on the 27th we have had here three or four days, and I supposed you had it also, when I said this morning, "No news from Port Hudson." We knew that General Sherman was wounded, but we hoped not so dangerously as your despatch represents. We still have nothing of that Rich- mond newspaper story of Kirby Smith crossing and of Banks losing an arm.
A. Lincoln.
296 Abraham Lincoln [June 10
^Telegram to J. P. Hale
Executive Mansion, June 9, 1863. Hon, John P. Hale, Dover, N. H. : I believe that it was upon your recommendation that B. B. Bunker was appointed attorney for Nevada Ter- ritory. I am pressed to remove him on the ground that he does not attend to the office, nor in fact pass much time in the Territory. Do you wish to say anything on the subject.
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to Mrs. Lincoln
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 9, 1863. Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia, Pa. : Think you had better put "Tad's" pistol away. I had an ugly dream about him.
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, D. C, June 9, 1863. Major-General Hooker: I am told there are 50 incendiary shells here at the arsenal made to fit the 100-pounder Parrott gun now with you. If this be true would you like to have the shells sent to you?
A. Lincoln.
1863] Telegram to Hooker 297
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 10, 1863. 6.40 p. m. Major-General Hooker: Your long despatch of to-day is just received. If left to me, I would not go south of the Rappahannock upon Lee's moving north of it. If you had Richmond in- vested to-day, you would not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile your communica- tions, and with them your army, would be ruined. I think Lee's army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes toward the upper Potomac follow on his flank and on his inside track, shortening your lines while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportuni- ty offers. If he stays where he is, fret him and fret him.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Mrs. Lincoln
Executive Mansion, June 11, 1863. Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia: Your three des- patches received. I am very well and am glad to know that you and "Tad" are so.
A. Lincoln.
298 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
Letter to Erastus Corning and Others !
Executive Mansion, June 12, 1863.
GENTLEMEN : Your letter of May 19, inclosing the resolutions of a public meeting held at Albany, New York, on the 1 6th of the same month, was received several days ago.
The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into two propositions — first, the ex- pression of a purpose to sustain the cause of the Union, to secure peace through victory, and to support the administration in every constitu- tional and lawful measure to suppress the rebel- lion; and, secondly, a declaration of censure upon the administration for supposed unconsti- tutional action, such as the making of military arrests. And from the two propositions a third is deduced, which is that the gentlemen compos- ing the meeting are resolved on doing their part to maintain our common government and coun-
1 One of the President's most remarkable political letters in which he clearly outlined and defended his policy pursued in cases of military arrests. The letter was written apropos of the Vallandigham scandal. Letters of such critical character have been classed among Lincoln's most notable State papers, in- vincible in logic and matchless for simplicity and lucidity.
1863] Letter to Corning 299
try, despite the folly or wickedness, as they may conceive, of any administration. This position is eminently patriotic and as such I thank the meeting, and congratulate the nation for it. My own purpose is the same ; so that the meeting and myself have a common object, and can have no difference, except in the choice of means or measures for effecting that object.
And here I ought to close this paper, and would close it, if there were no apprehension that more injurious consequences than any mere- ly personal to myself might follow the censures systematically cast upon me for doing what, in my view of duty, I could not forbear. The reso- lutions promise to support me in every constitu- tional and lawful measure to suppress the rebel- lion; and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall knowingly employ, any other. But the meeting, by their resolutions, assert and argue that certain military arrests and proceedings fol- lowing them, for which I am ultimately respon- sible are unconstitutional. I think they are not. The resolutions quote from the Constitution the definition of treason, and also the limiting safe- guards and guarantees therein provided for the citizen on trials for treason, and on his being held to answer for capital or otherwise infam- ous crimes, and in criminal prosecutions his right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury.
300 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
They proceed to resolve "that these safeguards of the rights of the citizen against the pretensions of arbitrary power were intended more especial- ly for his protection in times of civil commo- tion. " And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions proceed: "They were secured substantially to the English people after years of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our Constitution at the close of the revolution." Would not the demonstration have been better if it could have been truly said that these safeguards had been adopted and applied during the civil wars and during our revolution, instead of after the one and at the close of the other? I, too, am devotedly for them after civil war and before civil war, and at all times, "ex- cept when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require" their suspension. The resolutions proceed to tell us that these safe- guards "have stood the test of seventy-six years of trial under our republican system under cir- cumstances which show that while they consti- tute the foundation of all free government, they are the elements of the enduring stability of the republic." No one denies that they have so stood the test up to the beginning of the present rebellion, if we except a certain occurrence at New Orleans herafter to be mentioned; nor does any one question that they will stand the same
1863] Letter to Corning 301
test much longer after the rebellion closes. But these provisions of the Constitution have no ap- plication to the case we have in hand, because the arrests complained of were not made for trea- son— that is, not for the treason defined in the Constitution, and upon the conviction of which the punishment is death — nor yet were they made to hold persons to answer for any capital or otherwise infamous crimes; nor were the pro- ceedings following, in any constitutional or legal sense, "criminal prosecutions." The arrests were made on totally different grounds, and the proceedings following accorded with the grounds of the arrests. Let us consider the real case with which we are dealing, and apply to it the parts of the Constitution plainly made for such cases. Prior to my installation here it had been incul- cated that any State had a lawful right to secede from the national Union, and that it would be expedient to exercise the right whenever the de- votees of the doctrine should fail to elect a presi- dent to their own liking. I was elected contrary to their liking; and, accordingly, so far as it was legally possible, they had taken seven States out of the Union, had seized many of the United States forts, and had fired upon the United States flag, all berore I was inaugurated, and, of course, before I had done any official act whatever. The rebellion thus begun soon ran into the present
302 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
civil war; and, in certain respects, it began on very unequal terms between the parties. The insurgents had been preparing for it more than thirty years, while the government had taken no steps to resist them. The former had carefully considered all the means which could be turned to their account. It undoubtedly was a well- pondered reliance with them that in their own unrestricted effort to destroy Union, Constitu- tion and law, all together, the government would, in great degree, be restrained by the same Constitution and law from arresting their pro- gress. Their sympathizers pervaded all depart- ments of the government and nearly all commu- nities of the people. From this material, under cover of "liberty of speech," "liberty of the press," and "habeas corpus'' they hoped to keep on foot amongst us a most efficient corps of spies, informers, suppliers and aiders and abettors of their cause in a thousand ways. They knew that in times such as they were inaugurating, by the Constitution itself the "habeas corpus' might be suspended ; but they also knew they had friends who would make a question as to who was to suspend it; meanwhile their spies and others might remain at large to help on their cause. Or if, as has happened, the Executive should sus- pend the writ without ruinous waste of time, in- stances of arresting innocent persons might oc-
1863] Letter to Corning 303
cur, as are always likely to occur in such cases ; and then a clamor could be raised in regard to this, which might be at least of some service to the insurgent cause. It needed no very keen per- ception to discover this part of the enemy's pro- gram, so soon as by open hostilities their machin- ery was fairly put in motion. Yet, thoroughly imbued with a reverence for the guaranteed rights of individuals, I was slow to adopt the strong measures which by degrees I have been forced to regard as being within the exceptions of the Constitution, and as indispensable to the public safety. Nothing is better known to his- tory than that courts of justice are utterly incom- petent to such cases. Civil courts are organized chiefly for trials of individuals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in concert — and this in quiet times, and on charges of crimes well de- fined in the law. Even in times of peace bands of horse-thieves and robbers frequently grow too numerous and powerful for the ordinary courts of justice. But what comparison, in numbers, have such bands ever borne to the insurgent sym- pathizers even in many of the loyal States? Again, a jury too frequently has at least one member more ready to hang the panel than to hang the traitor. And yet again, he who dis- suades one man from volunteering, or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the Union cause
304 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
as much as he who kills a Union soldier in bat- tle. Yet this dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to be no defined crime of which any civil court would take cognizance.
Ours is a case of rebellion — so called by the resolutions before me — in fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion; and the provision of the Constitution that "the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the pub- lic safety may require it," is the provision which specially applies to our present case. This pro- vision plainly attests the understanding of those who made the Constitution that ordinary courts of justice are inadequate to "cases of rebellion" — attests their purpose that, in such cases, men may be held in custody whom the courts, acting on ordinary rules, would discharge. Habeas corpus does not discharge men wTho are proved to be guilty of defined crime ; and its suspension is allowed by the Constitution on purpose that men may be arrested and held who cannot be proved to be guilty of defined crime, "when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it."
This is precisely our present case — a case of rebellion wherein the public safety does require the suspension. Indeed, arrests by process of courts and arrests in cases of rebellion do not
1863] Letter to Corning 305
proceed altogether upon the same basis. The former is directed at the small percentage of or- dinary and continuous perpetration of crime, while the latter is directed at sudden and exten- sive uprisings against the government, which, at most, will succeed or fail in no great length of time. In the latter case arrests are made not so much for what has been done, as for what prob- ably would be done. The latter is more for the preventive and less for the vindictive than the former. In such cases the purposes of men are much more easily understood than in cases of ordinary crime. The man who stands by and says nothing when the peril of his government is discussed, cannot be misunderstood. If not hindered, he is sure to help the enemy; much more if he talks ambiguously — talks for his coun- try with "buts," and "ifs" and "ands." Of how little value the constitutional provision I have quoted will be rendered if arrests shall never be made until defined crimes shall have been com- mitted, may be illustrated by a few notable ex- amples: General John C. Breckinridge, Gen- eral Robert E. Lee, General Joseph E. Johnston, General John B. Magruder, General William B. Preston, General Simon B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now occupy- ing the very highest places in the rebel war ser- vice, were all within the power of the govern-
306 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
ment since the rebellion began, and were nearly as well known to be traitors then as now. Un- questionably if we had seized and held them, the insurgent cause would be much weaker. But no one of them had then committed any crime defined in the law. Every one of them, if ar- rested, would have been discharged on habeas corpus were the writ allowed to operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time not unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few arrests rather than too many.
By the third resolution the meeting indicate their opinion that military arrests may be con- stitutional in localities where rebellion actually exists, but that such arrests are unconstitutional in localities where rebellion or insurrection does not actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall not be made "outside of the lines of neces- sary military occupation and the scenes of in- surrection." Inasmuch, however, as the Con- stitution itself makes no such distinction, I am unable to believe that there is any such constitu- tional distinction. I concede that the class of arrests complained of can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the pub- lic safety may require them; and I insist that in such cases they are constitutional wherever the public safety does require them, as well in places
1863] Letter to Corning 307
to which they may prevent the rebellion extend- ing, as in those where it may be already prevail- ing; as well where they may restrain mischievous interference with the raising and supplying of armies to suppress the rebellion, as where the re- bellion may actually be ; as well where they may restrain the enticing men out of the army, as where they would prevent mutiny in the army; equally constitutional at all places where they will conduce to the public safety, as against the dangers of rebellion or invasion. Take the par- ticular case mentioned by the meeting. It is as- serted in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a military commander, seized and tried "for no other reason than words addressed to a public meeting in criticism of the course of the admin- istration, and in condemnation of the military orders of the general." Now, if there be no mis- take about this, if this assertion is the truth and the whole truth, if there was no other reason for the arrest, then I concede that the arrest was wrong. But the arrest, as I understand, was made for a very different reason. Mr. Vallan- digham avows his hostility to the war on the part of the Union; and his arrest was made because he was laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops, to encourage desertions from the army, and to leave the rebellion without an adequate military force to suppress it. He was
308 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
not arrested because he was damaging the politi- cal prospects of the administration or the per- sonal interests of the commanding general but because he was damaging the army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of the na- tion depends. He was warring upon the mili- tary, and this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandigham was not damaging the military power of the country, then his arrest was made on mistake of fact, which I would be glad to cor- rect on reasonably satisfactory evidence.
I understand the meeting whose resolutions I am considering to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by military force — by armies. Long experience has shown that armies cannot be maintained unless desertion shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. The case re- quires, and the law and the Constitution sanc- tion, this punishment. Must I shoot a simple- minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend into a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a contemptible gov- ernment, too weak to arrest and punish him if
1863] Letter to Corning 309
he shall desert. I think that, in such a case, to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy.
If I be wrong on this question of constitution- al power, my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are constitutional when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires them, which would not be constitutional when, in absence of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does not require them: in other words, that the Constitution is not in its application in all respects the same in cases of rebellion or in- vasion involving the public safety, as it is in times of profound peace and public security. The Constitution itself makes the distinction, and I can no more be persuaded that the govern- ment can constitutionally take no strong meas- ures in time of rebellion, because it can be shown that the same could not be lawfully taken in time of peace, than I can be persuaded that a particu- lar drug is not good medicine for a sick man be- cause it can be shown to not be good food for a well one. Nor am I able to appreciate the dan- ger apprehended by the meeting, that the Ameri- can people will by means of military arrests dur- ing the rebellion lose the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the press, the law of evidence, trial by jury, and habeas corpus throughout the indefinite peaceful future
310 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
which I trust lies before them, any more than I am able to believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the remainder of his healthful life.
In giving the resolutions that earnest consid- eration which you request of me, I cannot over- look the fact that the meeting speak as "Demo- crats." Nor can I, with full respect for their known intelligence, and the fairly presumed de- liberation with which they prepared their reso- lutions, be permitted to suppose that this oc- curred by accident, or in any way other than that they preferred to designate themselves "Demo- crats" rather than "American citizens." In this time of national peril I would have preferred to meet you upon a level one step higher than any party platform, because I am sure that from such more elevated position we could do better battle for the country we all love than we possibly can from those lower ones where, from the force of habit, the prejudices of the past, and selfish hopes of the future, we are sure to expend much of our ingenuity and strength in finding fault with and aiming blows at each other. But since you have denied me this, I will yet be thankful for the country's sake that not all Democrats have done so. He on whose discretionary judg- ment Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and tried
1863] Letter to Corning 311
is a Democrat, having no old party affinity with me, and the judge who rejected the constitution- al view expressed in these resolutions, by refus- ing to discharge Mr. Vallandigham on habeas corpus, is a Democrat of better days than these, having received his judicial mantle at the hands of President Jackson. And still more, of all those Democrats who are nobly exposing their lives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I have learned that many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallandigham, while I have not heard of a single one condemning it. I can- not assert that there are none such. And the name of President Jackson recalls an instance of pertinent history. After the battle of New Orleans, and while the fact that the treaty of peace had been concluded was well known in the city, but before official knowledge of it had arrived, General Jackson still maintained mar- tial or military law. Now that it could be said the war was over, the clamor against martial law, which had existed from the first, grew more furious. Among other things, a Mr. Louaillier published a denunciatory newspaper article. General Jackson arrested him. A law- yer by the name of Morel procured the United States Judge Hall to order a writ of habeas corpus to release Mr. Louaillier. General Jack- son arrested both the lawyer and the judge. A
312 Abraham Lincoln [June 12
Mr. Hollander ventured to say of some part of the matter that "it was a dirty trick." General Jackson arrested him. When the officer under- took to serve the writ of habeas corpus, General Jackson took it from him, and sent him away with a copy. Holding the judge in custody a few days, the general sent him beyond the limits of his encampment, and set him at liberty with an order to remain till the ratification of peace should be regularly announced, or until the British should have left the southern coast. A day or two more elapsed, the ratification of the treaty of peace was regularly announced, and the judge and others were fully liberated. A few days more, and the judge called General Jackson into court and fined him $1000 for hav- ing arrested him and the others named. The general paid the fine, and then the matter rested for nearly thirty years, when Congress refunded principal and interest. The late Senator Doug- las, then in the House of Representatives, took a leading part in the debates in which the consti- tutional question was much discussed. I am not prepared to say whom the journals would show to have voted for the measure.
It may be remarked — first, that we had the same Constitution then as now; secondly, that we then had a case of invasion, and now we have a case of rebellion; and, thirdly, that the perma-
1863] Letter to Corning 313
nent right of the people to public discussion, the liberty of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, the law of evidence, and the habeas corpus, suffered no detriment whatever by that conduct of General Jackson, or its subsequent approval by the American Congress. And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not know wheth- er I would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Val- landingham. While I cannot shift the respon- sibility from myself, I hold that, as a general rule, the commander in the field is the better judge of the necessity in any particular case. Of course I must practise a general directory and re- visory power in the matter.
One of the resolutions expresses the opinion of the meeting that arbitrary arrests will have the effect to divide and distract those who should be untied in suppressing the rebellion and I am specifically called on to discharge Mr. Vallan- digham. I regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to me on the expediency of exercising a consti- tutional power which I think exists. In response to such appeal I have to say, it gave me pain when I learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested (that is, I was pained that there should have seemed to be a necessity for arresting him), and that it will afford me great pleasure to dis- charge him so soon as I can by any means be- lieve the public safety will not suffer by it.
3 14 Abraham Lincoln [June 14
I further say that, as the war progresses, it ap- pears to me, opinion and action, which were in great confusion at first, take shape and fall into more regular channels, so that the necessity for strong dealing with them gradually decreases. I have every reason to desire that it should cease altogether, and far from the least is my regard for the opinions and wishes of those who, like the meeting at Albany, declare their purpose to sus- tain the government in every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion. Still, I must continue to do so much as may seem to be required by the public safety.
A. Lincoln.
^Telegrams to General J. Hooker
{In cipher.) Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 12, 1863. Major-General Hooker: If you can show me a trial of the Incendiary shells on Saturday night I will try to join you at 5 p. m. that day. Answer. A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, June 13, 1863. Major-General Hooker: I was coming down this afternoon, but if you would prefer I should not, I shall blame you if you do not tell me so.
A. Lincoln.
1863] Telegrams to Hooker 315
*Telegrams to General E. B. Tyler
[In cipher.) War Department, June 14, 1863. General Tyler, Martinsburg: Is Molroy in- vested, so that he cannot fall back to Harper's Ferry? A. LINCOLN.
War Department, June 14, 1863. General Tyler, Martinsburg: If you are be- sieged how do you despatch me? Why did you not leave before being besieged?
A. Lincoln.
Telegrams to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 14, 1863. 1.14 p. m. Major-General Hooker: Do you consider it possible that 15,000 of Ewell's men can now be at Winchester? A. LINCOLN.
Washington, June 14, 1863. 5.50 p. m. Major-General Hooker: So far as we can make out here, the enemy have Milroy sur- rounded at Winchester, and Tyler at Martins- burg. If they could hold out a few days, could you help them? If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him? A. LINCOLN.
316 Abraham Lincoln [June 15
Washington, June 14, 1863. 11.55 p- m. Major-General Hooker: Yours of 11:30 [11 115] just received. You have nearly all the elements for forming an opinion whether Win- chester is surrounded that I have. I really fear — almost believe — it is. No communication has been had with it during the day, either at Mar- tinsburg or Harper's Ferry. At 7 P. M. we also lost communication with Martinsburg. The enemy had also appeared there some hours be- fore. At 9 P. M. Harper's Ferry said the enemy was reported at Berryville and Smithfield. If I could know that Longstreet and Ewell moved in that direction so long ago as you stated in your last, then I should feel sure that Winchester is strongly invested. It is quite certain that a con- siderable force of the enemy is thereabout, and I fear it is an overwhelming one compared with Milroy's. I am unable to give you any more certain opinions.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General R. C. Schenck
War Department, June 14, 1863. Major-General Schenck: Get General Mil- roy from Winchester to Harper's Ferry, if pos- sible. He will be "gobbled up" if he remains, if he is not already past salvation.
A. LINCOLN, President United States.
1863] Telegram to Hooker 317
*Telegram to General B. F. Kelley
Washington, D. C, June 14, 1863. Major-General Kelley, Harpers Ferry : Are the forces at Winchester and Martinsburg mak- ing any effort to get to you? A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to Mrs. Lincoln
War Department, June 15, 1863. Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia, Pa.: Tolerably well. Have not rode out much yet, but have at last got new tires on the carriage wheels and per- haps shall ride out soon. A. LINCOLN.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 15, 1863. 8.30 p. m. Major-General Hooker, Fairfax Station: The facts are now known here that Winchester and Martinsburg were both besieged yesterday. The troops from Martinsburg have got into Harper's Ferry without loss. Those from Win- chester are also in, having lost in killed, wounded and missing about one third of their number. Of course the enemy holds both places and I think the report is authentic that he is crossing the Potomac at Williamsport. We have not heard of his yet appearing at Harper's Ferry or on the river anywhere below. I would like to hear from you. A. LINCOLN.
318 Abraham Lincoln [June 15
Call for 100,000 Militia to Serve for Six Months, June 15, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
WHEREAS, the armed insurrectionary combinations now existing in several of the States are threatening to make inroads into the States of Maryland, Western Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, requiring immediately an additional military force for the service of the United States.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States, and commander-in- chief of the army and navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into ac- tual service, do hereby call into the service of the United States one hundred thousand militia from the States following, namely: from the State of Maryland, ten thousand; from the State of Pennsylvania, fifty thousand; from the State of Ohio, thirty thousand; from the State of West Virginia, ten thousand — to be mustered into the service of the United States forthwith, and to serve for the period of six months from the date
1863] Call for Troops 319
of such muster into said service, unless sooner discharged ; to be mustered in as infantry, artil- lery, and cavalry, in proportions which will be made known through the War Department, which department will also designate the several places of rendezvous. These militia to be or- ganized according to the rules and regulations of the volunteer service and such orders as may hereafter be issued. The States aforesaid will be respectively credited, under the enrolment act, for the militia services rendered under this proclamation.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [L. S.] sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. By the President: William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
Letter from John Hay to Julian R. Campbell
Executive Mansion, June 15, 1863. My dear Sir: I am directed by the President to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the
320 Abraham Lincoln [June 16
ioth June, and to express his gratification to the gentlemen composing the association you repre- sent for the liberal and patriotic tone of the reso- lutions which you inclosed.
I have the honor to be, very truly,
Your obedient servant,
John Hay. Letter to General J. Hooker *
(Private.) Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 16, 1863.
My dear General: I send you this by the hand of Captain Dahlgren. Your despatch of 1 1 130 A. M. to-day is just received. When you say I have long been aware that you do not en- joy the confidence of the major-general com- manding, you state the case much too strongly.
You do not lack his confidence in any degree to do you any harm. On seeing him, after tele- graphing you this morning, I found him more nearly agreeing with you than I was myself. Surely you do not mean to understand that I am withholding my confidence from you when I
1 The antagonism between General Hooker and General Hal- leck had been increasing steadily for some time and culminated in Hooker's resignation on June 27. Since the beginning of the war Lincoln had been annoyed, his plans upset and the cause crippled by similar jealousies. He tried to avoid being mixed in these " family quarrels," as he called them, but his despatches show how often he was worried and balked by them.
1863] Letter to Hooker 321
happen to express an opinion (certainly never discourteously) differing from one of your own.
I believe Halleck is dissatisfied with you to this extent only, that he knows that you write and telegraph ("report," as he calls it) to me. I think he is wrong to find fault with this ; but I do not think he withholds any support from you on account of it. If you and he would use the same frankness to one another, and to me, that I use to both of you, there would be no difficulty. I need and must have the professional skill of both, and yet these suspicions tend to deprive me of both.
I believe you are aware that since you took command of the army I have not believed you had any chance to effect anything till now. As it looks to me, Lee's now returning toward Har- per's Ferry gives you back the chance that I thought McClellan lost last fall. Quite possi- bly I was wrong both then and now; but, in the great responsibility resting upon me, I cannot be entirely silent. Now, all I ask is that you will be in such mood that we can get into our action the best cordial judgment of yourself and General Halleck, with my poor mite added, if indeed he and you shall think it entitled to any consideration at all.
Yours as ever,
A. Lincoln.
322 Abraham Lincoln [June 17
*Telegram to F. Kapp and Others
War Department, June 16, 1863. Frederick Kapp and Others, New York: The Governor of New York promises to send us troops and if he wishes the assistance of General Fremont and General Sigel, one or both, he can have it. If he does not wish them it would but breed confusion for us to set them to work in- dependently of him.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General T. F. Meagher
War Department, June 16, 1863. General T. Francis Meagher, New York: Your dispatch received. Shall be very glad for you to raise 3,000 Irish troops if done by the consent of, and in concert with Governor Sey- mour. A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Mrs. Lincoln
War Department, June 16, 1863. Mrs. Lincoln, Philadelphia: It is a matter of choice with yourself whether you come home. There is no reason why you should not, that did not exist when you went away. As bearing on the question of your coming home, I do not think the raid into Pennsylvania amounts to anything at all. A. Lincoln.
1863] Memorandum 323
*Telegram to Colonel W. S. Bliss
Executive Mansion, June 16, 1863. Col. William S. Bliss, New York Hotel: Your dispatch asking whether I will accept "the Loyal Brigade of the North" is received. I never heard of that brigade by name and do not know where it is, yet presuming it is in New York, I say I will gladly accept it, if tendered by and with the consent and approbation of the Governor of that State. Otherwise not.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 16, 1863. 10 p. m. Major-General Hooker: To remove all mis- understanding, I now place you in the strict mili- tary relation to General Halleck of a command- er of one of the armies to the general-in-chief of all the armies. I have not intended differ- ently, but as it seems to be differently under- stood I shall direct him to give you orders, and you to obey them.
A. Lincoln.
Memorandum about I. D. Andrews
Executive Mansion, June 17, 1863. Mr. Israel D. Andrews appeals to me, saying he is suffering injury by something I have said
324 Abraham Lincoln [June 18
of him. I really know very little of Mr. Andrews. As well as I can remember, I was called on by one or two persons asking me to give him or aid him in getting some public em- ployment; and as a reason for declining I stated that I had a very unfavorable opinion of him, chiefly because I had been informed that, in con- nection with some former service of his to the government, he had presented an enormous and unjustifiable claim, which I understood he was still pressing the government to pay. I certain- ly did not pretend to know anything of the mat- ter personally; and I say now, I do not personal- ly know anything which should detract from Mr. Andrews' character.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General J. Hooker
War Department, June 17, 1863. Major-General Hooker: Mr. Eckert, super- intendent in the telegraph office, assures me that he has sent, and will send you everything that comes to the office.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to Joshua Tevis
Executive Mansion, June 18, 1863. Joshua Tevis, C7. S. Atty., Frankfort, Ky.: A Mr. Buckner is here showing a record and
1863] Telegram to Moorhead 325
asking to be discharged from a suit in San Fran- cisco, as bail for one Thompson. Unless the record shown me is defectively made out I think it can be successfully defended against. Please examine the case carefully, and if you shall be of opinion it cannot be sustained, dismiss it and relieve me from all trouble about it. Please answer
A. Lincoln.
Note to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, June 18, 1863. My dear Sir: Could you without too much trouble have sent to me a statement of the case of John Steele, who it seems has been banished to Canada? Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to J. K. Moorhead
Washington, June 18, 1863. 10.40 A. M. To Hon. J. K. Moorhead, Pittsburg, Pa.: If General Brooks, now in command at Pitts- burg, finds any person or persons injuriously af- fecting his military operations, he is authorized to arrest him or them at once if the case is urgent. If not urgent, let him communicate the particu- lars to me. General Brooks is the man to now manage the matter at Pittsburg. Please show this to him. A. LINCOLN.
326 Abraham Lincoln [June 18
*Telegram to Governor D. Tod
{Cipher.) Executive Mansion, June 18, 1863. Governor D. Tod, Columbus, O.: Yours re- ceived. I deeply regret that you were not re- nominated, not that I have aught against Mr. B rough. On the contrary like yourself, I say hurrah for him. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to General A. Dingman
War Department, June 18, 1863. General A. Dingman, Belleville, C. W.: Thanks for your offer of the Fifteenth Battalion, I do not think Washington is in danger.
A. Lincoln.
Letter to E. E. Malhiot, B. Johnson and T. Cottman
Executive Mansion, June 19, 1863. Gentlemen: Your letter, which follows, has been received and considered.
To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, Presi- dent of the United States :
The undersigned, z committee appointed by the planters of the State of Louisiana, respectfully repre- sent that they have been delegated to seek of the Gen- eral Government a full recognition of all the rights
1863] Telegram to Tod 327
of the State as they existed previous to the passage of an act of secession, upon the principle of the exist- ence of the State constitution unimpaired, and no legal act having transpired that could in any way deprive them of the advantages conferred by that constitution. Under this constitution the State wishes to return to its full allegiance in the enjoyment of all rights and privileges exercised by the other States under the Federal Constitution. With the view of accomplish- ing the desired object we further request that your Excellency will, as commander-in-chief of the army of the United States, direct the Military Governor of Louisiana to order an election, in conformity with the constitution and laws of the State, on the first Mon- day of November next, for all State and Federal officers.
With high consideration and respect, we have the honor to subscribe ourselves,
Your obedient servants,
E. E. Malhiot.
Bradish Johnson.
Thomas Cottman.
Since receiving the letter, reliable informa- tion has reached me that a respectable portion of the Louisiana people desire to amend their State constitution, and contemplate holding a State convention for that object. This fact alone, as it seems to me, is a sufficient reason why the General Government should not give the committal you seek to the existing State con-
328 Abraham Lincoln [June 22
stitution. I may add that while I do not per- ceive how such committal could facilitate our military operations in Louisiana, I really appre- hend it might be so used as to embarrass them. As to an election to be held next November, there is abundant time without any order or proclamation from me just now. The people of Louisiana shall not lack an opportunity for a fair election for both Federal and State officers by want of anything within my power to give them. Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 21, 1863. 9 a. m. Major-General Hooker: Operator at Lees- burg just now tells us that firing commenced about seven this morning in direction from here of Aldie's Gap and Middleburg; has continued all day, and has receded from him, and is ap- parently now about White Plains; was very heavy this morning, but lighter now.
A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General J. M. Schofield
War Department, June 21, 1863. General Schofield, Saint Louis, Mo. : I write you to-day in answer to your dispatch of yes- terday. If you cannot await the arrival by mail telegraph me again. A. LINCOLN.
1863] Letter to Schofield 329
Letter to General John M. Schofield
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 22, 1863. My dear Sir: Your despatch, asking in sub- stance whether, in case Missouri shall adopt gradual emancipation, the General Government will protect slave-owners in that species of prop- erty during the short time it shall be permitted by the State to exist within it, has been received. Desirous as I am that emancipation shall be adopted by Missouri, and believing as I do that gradual can be made better than immediate for both black and white, except when military necessity changes the case, my impulse is to say that such protection would be given. I cannot know exactly what shape an act of emancipation may take. If the period from the initiation to the final end should be comparatively short, and the act should prevent persons being sold during that period into more lasting slavery, the whole would be easier. I do not wish to pledge the General Government to the affirmative support of even temporary slavery beyond what can be fairly claimed under the Constitution. I sup- pose, however, this is not desired, but that it is desired for the military force of the United States, while in Missouri, to not be used in sub- verting the temporarily reserved legal rights in
33° Abraham Lincoln [June 23
slaves during the progress of emancipation. This I would desire also. I have very earn- estly urged the slave States to adopt emancipa- tion ; and it ought to be, and is, an object with me not to overthrow or thwart what any of them may in good faith do to that end. You are therefore authorized to act in the spirit of this letter in conjunction with what may appear to be the military necessities of your department. Although this letter will become public at some time, it is not intended to be made so now. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 22, 1863. My dear Sir: Do you not remember the French officer Colonel Duffie, whom we saw at General McDowell's headquarters near Fred- ericksburg, last May a year ago? I remember he was then well spoken of. On the night of the 17th instant he was surrounded by Stuart's cavalry near Millersburg, and cut his way out with proportionately heavy loss to his then small command. Please see and hear him. I think you have strong recommendations on file in his behalf. Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
1863] Letter to Stanton 331
Telegram to General J. Hooker
Washington, June 22, 1863. Major-General Hooker: Operator at Lees- burg just now says :
I heard very little firing this A. M. about daylight, but it seems to have stopped now. It was in about the same direction as yesterday, but farther off.
A. Lincoln. ♦Letter to Secretary Stanton
Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 23, 1863. My dear Sir: You remember that Hon. W. D. Kelley and others are engaged in raising or trying to raise some colored regiments in Phila- delphia. The bearer of this, Wilton M. Her- pert, is a friend of Judge Kelley as appears by the letter of the latter. He is a private in the 1 1 2th Penn. and has been disappointed in a reasonable expectation of one of the smaller of- fices. He now wants to be a Lieutenant in one of the colored regiments. If Judge Kelley will say in writing he wishes to so have him, I am willing for him to be discharged from his present position and be so appointed. If you approve, so endorse and let him carry this letter to Kelley. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.
332 Abraham Lincoln [June 25
*Telegram to Major Van Vliet
(Cipher.)
War Department, Washington, D. C, June 23, 1863. Major Van Vliet, New York: Have you any idea what the news is in the dispatch of General Banks to General Halleck? A Lincoln.
*Telegram to General D. N. Couch
War Department, Washington, D. C, June 23, 1863. Major-General Couch, Harrisburg, Pa.: Have you any reports of the enemy moving into Pennsylvania? And if any what?
A. Lincoln.
^Telegram to General J. A. Dix
Washington, D. C, June 24, 1863. Major-General Dix, Yorktown, Va.: We have a dispatch from General Grant of the 19th. Don't think Kirby Smith took Milliken's Bend since, allowing time to get the news to Joe John- ston and from him to Richmond. But it is not absolutely impossible. Also have news from Banks to the 16th, I think. He had not run away then, nor thought of it.
A. Lincoln.
1863] Telegram to Peck 333
Note to Secretary Chase
Executive Mansion, June 25, 1863. My dear Sir: Hon. William Kellogg will tell you plainly what he wants ; and I wish him obliged so far as you can consistently do it. Please strain a point for him, if you do not have to strain it too far. Yours truly, A. Lincoln.
*Telegram to General Peck
War Department, June 25, 1863. General Peck, Suffolk, Va.: Colonel Der- rom, of the Twenty-fifth New Jersey Volun- teers, now mustered out, says there is a man in your hands under conviction for desertion, who formerly belonged to the above named regi- ment, and whose name is Templeton, Isaac F. Templeton, I believe. The colonel and others appeal to me for him. Please telegraph to me what is the condition of the case, and if he has not been executed send me the record of the trial and conviction. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to General J. Hooker
War Department, June 27, 1863. — 8 A. M. Major-General Hooker: It did not come from the newspapers, nor did I believe it but I wished to be entirely sure it was a falsehood.
A. Lincoln.
334 Abraham Lincoln [June 28
*Telegram to General A. E. Burnside *
Executive Mansion, June 28, 1863. Major-General Burnside, Cincinnati, Ohio: There is nothing going on in Kentucky on the subject of which you telegraph, except an en- rollment. Before anything is done beyond this, I will take care to understand the case better than I now do. A. LINCOLN.
*Telegram to General R. C. Schenck
War Department, June 28, 1863. Major-General Schenck, Baltimore, Md.: Every place in the Naval school subject to my appointment is full and I have one unredeemed promise of more than half a year's standing.
A. Lincoln.
Telegram to General D. N. Couch
Washington, June 28, 1863. 4 p. m. Major-General Couch: What news now? What are the enemy firing at four miles from your works? A LINCOLN.
1 The same telegram was sent to Governor J. T. Boyle of Ohio.
II. ZO09 W Mi