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THE LIFE 
 
 OP 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 VOLUME II 
 
LIFE MASK OF LINCOLN. i860. AGE 51. 
 Made in 1860 by Leonard W. Volk of Chicago. From a photograph. 
 
The LIFE of 
 
 ABRAHAM 
 LINCOLN 
 
 DRAWN from original SOURCES 
 and containing many SPEECHES, 
 LETTERS and TELEGRAMS 
 
 hitherto unpublished, and illustrated 
 with many reproductions from original 
 Paintings, Photographs, et cetera 
 
 BY 
 
 IDA M. TARBELL 
 
 Volume Two 
 
 NEW YORK 
 Doubleday Page & Co, 
 
 MCMIX 
 
Copyright, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899 
 By THE S. S. McCniRE Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1900 
 
 By DOUBLEDAY & McCLURE Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1900 
 By MCCLURE, PHILLIPS & Co. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXII. The first inauguration of Lincoln The relief of Fort 
 Sumter Seward s ambition to control the adminis 
 tration _____--_- i 
 
 XXIIL The beginning of civil war 33 
 
 XXIV. The failure of Fremont Lincoln s first difficulties with 
 
 McClellan The death of Willie Lincoln - 61 
 
 XXV. Lincoln and emancipation ------ 93 
 
 XXVI. Lincoln s search for a General 127 
 
 XXVII. Lincoln and the soldiers 146 
 
 XXVIII. Lincoln s re-election in 1864 170 
 
 XXIX. Lincoln s work in the winter of 1864-65 his second in 
 auguration --------- 205 
 
 XXX. The end of the war 230 
 
 XXXI. Lincoln s funeral ----- -245 
 
 Appendix ------*-- 263 
 
 22400 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Life Mask of Lincoln, 1860 Frontispiece 
 
 Facsimile of Fragment of First Inaugural facing 10 
 
 Mary Todd Lincoln, Wife of the President facing 24 
 
 Lincoln Early in 1861 facing 40 
 
 Lincoln in 1861 facing 100 
 
 First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet, 
 
 September 20, 1862 between pages 116-117 
 
 Lincoln at McClellan s Headquarters, Antietam, October 3, 1862. 
 
 facing 130 
 Grand Review of the Army of the Potomac. . . .between pages 142-143 
 
 Note from Lincoln to the Secretary of War 151 
 
 Mr. Lincoln and his Son " Tad " facing 196 
 
 Legend Scratched on a Window Pane by J. Wilkes Booth 198 
 
 Lincoln in 1 864 facing 220 
 
 The Last Portrait of President Lincoln facing 232 
 
 The Last Bit of Writing Done by Lincoln 237 
 
 Watching at the Bedside of the Dying President on the Night of 
 
 April 14 and 15, 1865 facing 244 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN THE RELIEF OF 
 
 FORT SUMTER SEWARD^S AMBITION TO CONTROL THE 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 
 
 DAYBREAK of March 4, 1861, found the city of Washing 
 ton astir. The Senate, which had met at seven o clock the 
 night before, was still in session ; scores of persons who had 
 come to see the inauguration of the first Republican Presi 
 dent, and who had been unable to find other bed than the 
 floor, were walking the streets; the morning trains were 
 bringing new crowds. Added to the stir of those who had 
 not slept through the night were sounds unusual in Washing 
 ton the clatter of cavalry, the tramp of soldiers. 
 
 All this morning bustle of the city must have reached the 
 ears of the President-elect, at his rooms in Willard s Hotel, 
 where from an early hour he had been at work. An amend 
 ment to the Constitution of the United States had passed the 
 Senate in the all-night session, and as it concerned the sub 
 ject of his inaugural, he must incorporate a reference to it in 
 the address. Then he had not replied to the note he had 
 received two days before from Mr. Seward, asking to be 
 released from his promise to accept the portfolio of State. 
 He could wait no longer. " I can t afford," he said to Mr. 
 Nicolay, his secretary, " to let Seward take the first trick." 
 And he despatched the following letter : 
 d) 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 My dear Sir : Your note of the 2d instant, asking to with 
 draw your acceptance of my invitation to take charge of the 
 State Department, was duly received. It is the subject of 
 the most painful solicitude with me, and I feel constrained 
 to beg that you will countermand the withdrawal. The pub 
 lic interest, I think, demands that you should; and my per 
 sonal feelings are deeply enlisted in the same direction. 
 Please consider and answer by 9 A. M. to-morrow. Your 
 obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 At noon, Mr. Lincoln s work was interrupted. The Presi 
 dent of the United States was announced. Mr. Buchanan 
 had come to escort his successor to the Capitol. The route of 
 the procession was the historic one over which almost every 
 President since Jefferson had travelled to take his oath of 
 office ; but the scene Mr. Lincoln looked upon as his carriage 
 rolled up the avenue was very different from that upon which 
 one looks to-day. No great blocks lined the streets ; instead, 
 the buildings were low, and there were numerous vacant 
 spaces. Instead of asphalt, the carriage passed over cobble 
 stones. Nor did the present stately and beautiful approach 
 to the Capitol exist. The west front rose abrupt and stiff 
 from an unkept lawn. The great building itself was still un 
 completed, and high above his head Mr. Lincoln could see 
 the swinging arm of an enormous crane rising from the 
 unfinished dome. 
 
 But, as he drove that morning from Willard s to the Capi 
 tol, the President-elect saw far more significant sights than 
 these. Closed about his carriage, " so thickly," complained 
 the newspapers, " as to hide it from view/ was a protecting 
 guard. Stationed at intervals along the avenue were pla 
 toons of soldiers. At every corner were mounted orderlies 
 On the very roof-tops were groups of riflemen. When Lin 
 coln reached the north side of the Capitol, where he de 
 scended to enter the building, he found a board tunnel, 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 3 
 
 strongly guarded at its mouth, through which he passed into 
 the building. If he had taken pains to inquire what means 
 had been provided for protecting his life while in the build 
 ing, he would have been told that squads of riflemen were in 
 each wing; that under the platform from which he was to 
 speak were fifty or sixty armed soldiers ; that General Scott 
 and two batteries of flying artillery were in adjacent streets; 
 and that a ring of volunteers encircled the waiting crowd. 
 The thoroughness with which these guards did their work 
 may be judged by the experience which Colonel Clark E. 
 Carr, of Illinois, tells : 
 
 " I was only a young man then," says Colonel Carr, " and 
 this was the first inauguration I had ever attended. I came 
 because it was Lincoln s. For three years Lincoln had been 
 my political idol, as he had been that of many young men in 
 the West. The first debate I heard between him and Douglas 
 had converted me from popular sovereignty, and after that 
 I had followed him all over the State, so fascinated was I by 
 his logic, his manner, and his character. 
 
 " Well, I went to Washington, but somehow, in the in 
 terest of the procession, I failed to get to the Capitol in time 
 to find a place within hearing distance ; thousands of people 
 were packed between me and the stand. I did get, however, 
 close to the high double fence which had been built from the 
 driveway to the north door. It suddenly occurred to me that, 
 if I could scale that wall, I might walk right in after the 
 President, perhaps on to the very platform. It wasn t a min 
 ute before I shinned up and jumped into the tunnel; but 
 before I lit on my feet, a half dozen soldiers had me by the 
 leg and arms. I suppose they thought I was the agent of the 
 long-talked-of plot to capture Washington and kill Mr. Lin 
 coln. They searched me, and then started me to the mouth 
 of the tunnel, to take me to the guard-house, but the crowd 
 was so thick we couldn t get out. This gave me time, and I 
 finally convinced them that it was really my eagerness to 
 hear Mr. Lincoln, and no evil intent, that had brought me in. 
 When they finally came to that conclusion, they took me 
 
4 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 around to one of the basement doors on the east side and let 
 me out. I got a place in front of Mr. Lincoln, and heard 
 every word." 
 
 The precautions taken against the long-threatened at 
 tack on Lincoln s life produced various impressions on 
 the throng. Opponents scornfully insisted that the new Ad 
 ministration was " scared." Radical Republicans rejoiced. 
 " I was thoroughly convinced at the time," says the Hon. 
 James Harlan, at that time a Senator from Iowa, "that Mr. 
 Lincoln s enemies meant what they said, and that Gen 
 eral Scott s determination that the inauguration should go off 
 peaceably prevented any hostile demonstration." Other sup 
 porters of Mr. Lincoln felt differently. 
 
 " Nothing could have been more ill-advised or more osten 
 tatious," wrote the " Public Man " that night in his " Diary," 
 " than the way in which the troops were thrust everywhere 
 upon the public attention, even to the roofs of the houses 
 on Pennsylvania avenue, on which little squads of sharp 
 shooters were absurdly stationed. I never expected to ex 
 perience such a sense of mortification and shame in my own 
 country as I felt to-day, in entering the Capitol through 
 hedges of marines armed to the teeth. . . . Fortu 
 nately, all passed off well, but it is appalling to think of the 
 mischief which might have been done by a single evil-dis 
 posed person to-day. A blank cartridge fired from a window 
 on Pennsylvania avenue might have disconcerted all our 
 hopes, and thrown the whole country into inextricable con 
 tusion. That nothing of the sort was done, or even so much 
 as attempted, is the most conclusive evidence that could be 
 asked of the groundlessness of the rumors and old women s 
 tales on the strength of which General Scott has been led into 
 this great mistake." 
 
 Arm in arm with Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Lincoln passed 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 5 
 
 through the long tunnel erected for his protection, entered 
 the Capitol, and passed into the Senate Chamber, filled to 
 overflowing with Senators, members of the Diplomatic 
 Corps, and visitors. The contrast between the two men as 
 they entered struck every observer. " Mr. Buchanan was so 
 withered and bowed with age," wrote George W. Julian, of 
 Indiana, who was among the spectators, " that in contrast 
 with the towering form of Mr. Lincoln he seemed little more 
 than half a man." 
 
 A few moments delay, and the movement from the Senate 
 towards the east front began, the justices of the Supreme 
 Court, in cap and gown, heading the procession. As soon 
 as the large company was seated on the platform erected on 
 the east portico of the Capitol, Mr. Lincoln arose and ad 
 vanced to the front, where he was introduced by his friend, 
 Senator Baker, of Oregon. He carried a cane and a little 
 roll the manuscript of his inaugural address. There was 
 a moment s pause after the introduction, as he vainly looked 
 for a spot where he might place his high silk hat. Stephen 
 A. Douglas, the political antagonist of his whole public life, 
 the man who had pressed him hardest in the campaign of 
 1860, was seated just behind him. Douglas stepped forward 
 quickly, and took the hat which Mr. Lincoln held helplessly 
 in his hand. " If I can t be President," he whispered smil 
 ingly to Mrs. Brown, a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln and a mem 
 ber of the President s party, " I at least can hold his hat." 
 
 This simple act of courtesy was really the most significant 
 incident of the day, and after the inaugural the most dis 
 cussed. 
 
 " Douglas s conduct can not be overpraised," wrote the 
 " Public Man " in his " Diary." " I saw him for a moment 
 in the morning, when he told me that he meant to put him 
 self as prominently forward in the ceremonies as he properly 
 could, and to leave no doubt on any one s mind of his de- 
 
6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 termination to stand by the new Administration in the per 
 formance of its first great duty to maintain the Union." 
 
 Adjusting his spectacles and unrolling his manuscript, the 
 President-elect turned his eyes upon the faces of the throng 
 before him. It was the largest gathering that had been seen 
 at any inauguration up to that date, variously estimated at 
 from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand. Who of the 
 men that composed it were his friends, who his enemies, he 
 could not tell; but he did know that almost every one of 
 them was waiting with painful eagerness to hear what 
 answer he would make there to the questions they had been 
 hurling at his head since his election. 
 
 Six weeks before, when he wrote the document, he had 
 determined to answer some of their questions. The first of 
 these was, " Will Mr. Lincoln stand by the platform of the 
 Republican party ? " He meant to open his address with this 
 reply: 
 
 The [more] modern custom of electing a Chief Magistrate 
 upon a previously declared platform of principles supersedes, 
 in a great measure, the necessity of restating those principles 
 in an address of this sort. Upon the plainest grounds of 
 good faith, one so elected is not at liberty to shift his posi 
 tion 
 
 Having been so elected upon the Chicago platform, and 
 while I would repeat nothing in it of aspersion or epithet or 
 question of motive against any man or party, I hold myself 
 bound by duty, as well as impelled by inclination, to follow, 
 within the executive sphere, the principles therein declared. 
 By no other course could I meet the reasonable expectations 
 of the country. 
 
 But these paragraphs were not read. On reaching Wash 
 ington in February, Mr. Lincoln s first act had been to give 
 to Mr. Seward a copy of the paper he had prepared, and to 
 ask for his criticisms. Of the paragraphs quoted above, Mr. 
 Seward wrote : 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN ^ 
 
 I declare to you my conviction that the second and third 
 paragraphs, even if modified as I propose in my amendments, 
 will give such advantages to the Disunionists that Virginia 
 and Maryland will secede, and we shall, within ninety, per 
 haps within sixty, days, be obliged to fight the South for this 
 Capital, with a divided North for our reliance. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln dropped the paragraphs, and began by an 
 swering another question : " Does the President intend to 
 interfere with the property of the South ? " 
 
 " Apprehension seems to exist," he said, " among the peo 
 ple of the Southern States that by the accession of a Repub 
 lican administration their property and their peace and per 
 sonal security are to be endangered. There has never been 
 any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the 
 most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed 
 and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all 
 the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I 
 do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that 
 I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with 
 the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I 
 believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclina 
 tion to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so 
 with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar 
 declarations, and had never recanted them." 
 
 He followed this conciliatory statement by a full answer 
 to the question, " Will Mr. Lincoln repeal the fugitive slave 
 laws?" 
 
 " There is much controversy about the delivering up of 
 fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as 
 plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its pro 
 visions : 
 
 " No person held to service or labor in one State, under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence 
 of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
 service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
 party to whom such service or labor may be due/ 
 
 " It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended 
 
8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call 
 fugitive slaves, and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. 
 All members of Congress swear their support to the whole 
 Constitution to this provision as much as to any other. To 
 the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within 
 the terms of this clause shall be delivered up/ their oaths are 
 unanimous. " 
 
 Next he took up the question of Secession, " Has a State 
 the right to go out of the Union if it wants to ? " 
 
 I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and of 
 the Constitution, the Union of these States is perpetual. 
 Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental 
 law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no 
 government proper ever had a provision in its organic law 
 for its own termination. . . . Again, if the United 
 States be not a government proper, but an association of 
 States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, 
 be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made 
 it? One party to a contract may violate it break it, so to 
 speak; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? 
 . . . It follows from these views that no State, upon its 
 own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that 
 resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void; and 
 that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the 
 authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolu 
 tionary, according to circumstances. 
 
 The answer to this question led him directly to the point 
 on which the public was most deeply stirred at that moment. 
 What did he intend to do about enforcing laws in States 
 which had repudiated Federal authority; what about the 
 property seized by the Southern States ? 
 
 " .... to the extent of my ability," he answered, 
 " I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins 
 upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed 
 in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty 
 on my part ; and I shall perform it so far as practicable, un- 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OP LINCOLN 9 
 
 less my rightful masters, the American people, shall with 
 hold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner 
 direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a 
 menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that 
 it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. 
 
 " In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence ; 
 and there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national 
 authority. The power confided to me will be used to 
 hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging 
 to the government, and to collect the duties and imposts ; but 
 beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will 
 be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people 
 anywhere." 
 
 In his original copy of the inaugural address Mr. Lincoln 
 wrote, " All the power at my disposal will be used to reclaim 
 the public property and places which have fallen; to hold, oc 
 cupy, and possess these, and all other property and places be 
 longing to the government." At the suggestion of his friend, 
 the Hon. O. H. Browning, of Illinois, he dropped the words 
 " to reclaim the public property and places which have 
 fallen." Mr. Seward disapproved of the entire selection and 
 prepared a non-committal substitute. Mr. Lincoln, how 
 ever, retained his own sentences. 
 
 The foregoing quotations are a fairly complete expression 
 of what may be called Mr. Lincoln s policy at the beginning 
 of his administration. He followed this statement of his 
 principle by an appeal and a warning to those who really 
 loved the Union and who yet were ready for the " destruc 
 tion of the national fabric with all its benefits, its memories 
 and its hopes." 
 
 " Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any 
 possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no 
 real existence ? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are 
 greater than all the real ones you fly from will you risk the 
 commission of so fearful a mistake ? 
 
10 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 " Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot re 
 move 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 inter 
 course, either amicable or hostile, must continue between 
 them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more 
 advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than be 
 fore? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can 
 make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced be 
 tween 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 
 
 Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ulti 
 mate justice of the people ? Is there any better or equal hope 
 in the world ? In our present differences is either party with 
 out faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of 
 Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side 
 of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that 
 justice will surely prevail by the judgment of this great 
 tribunal of the American people 
 
 My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon 
 this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking 
 time. If there be an object to HURRY any of you in hot haste 
 to a step which you would never take deliberately, that ob 
 ject will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object 
 can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, 
 still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sen- 
 sitive point, the laws of your own framing under it ; while 
 the new administration will have no immediate power, if it 
 would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who 
 are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still 
 is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, 
 patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has 
 never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to 
 adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. 
 
 In YOUR hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and 
 
While the people remain patient, and true to themselves, no man, even in the pres 
 idential chair, by any extreme of wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the 
 government in the short space of four years. 
 
 B&- My countrymen, one and all, take time and think well, upon this whole sub 
 ject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. Nothing worth preserving is 
 either breaking or burning. If there be an Object to Jiurry any of you, in hot haste, 
 to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by 
 taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now 
 dissatisfied, still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the 
 laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no imme 
 diate power, if it would, to change either. If it -were admitted that you who are 
 dissatisfied, hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for 
 precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him, 
 who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best 
 way, all our present difficulty. 
 
 In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the moment 
 ous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you, unless you first assail it. 
 You can have no conflict, without being yourselves the aggressors. Toi^have no oath 
 registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while /shall have the most solemn one 
 to "preserve, protect and defend" it. You can forbear the assault upon it; /can not 
 shrink from the defense of it. With you, and not with me, is the solemn question of 
 
 " Shall it be peace, or a sword?* 
 
 In compliance with a custom as old as the government itself, I appear before you 
 
 to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, to be taken by the President "before he enters on the 
 execution of his oflice." 
 
 * 
 
 I do not consider it necessary at present for me to say more than I have, in relation 
 to those matters of administration, about which there is no special excitement. 
 
 8"Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by 
 the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and per- 
 
 FACSIMILE FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN S FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN II 
 
 not in MINE is the momentous issue of civil war. The gov 
 ernment will not assail YOU. You can have no conflict with 
 out being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath 
 registered in heaven to destroy the government, while / 
 shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and 
 defend it." 
 
 With this last paragraph Mr. Lincoln had meant to close 
 this his first address to the nation. Mr. Seward objected, 
 and submitted two suggestions for a closing; one of his 
 paragraphs read as follows : 
 
 I close. We are not, we must not be, aliens or enemies, 
 but fellow-countrymen and brethren. Although passion has 
 strained our bonds of affection too hardly, they must not, I 
 am sure they will not be broken. The mystic chords which, 
 proceeding from so many battlefields and so many patriotic 
 graves, pass through all the hearts and all hearths in this 
 broad continent of ours, will yet again harmonize in their 
 ancient music when breathed upon by the guardian angel of 
 the nation. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln made a few changes in the paragraphs quoted, 
 and rewrote the above suggestion of Mr. Seward, making of 
 it the now famous closing words :* 
 
 I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
 must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
 must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
 of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot 
 grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this 
 broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when 
 again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of 
 our nature. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln read his inaugural," says Mr. Harlan in 
 his unpublished " Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," " in 
 
 * The reader interested in the first inaugural of Mr. Lincoln should 
 not fail to read the admirable chapter on the subject in Vol. III. of 
 Nicolay and Hay s Life of Abraham Lincoln, where Mr. Seward s criti 
 cisms are given in full. 
 
12 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 a clear, distinct, and musical voice, which seemed to be heard 
 and distinctly understood to the very outskirts of this vast 
 concourse of his fellow-citizens. At its conclusion, he turned 
 partially around on his left, facing the justices of the Su 
 preme Court, and said, I am now ready to take the oath 
 prescribed by the Constitution/ which was then administered 
 by Chief Justice Taney, the President saluting the Bible with 
 his lips. 
 
 " At that moment, in response to a signal, batteries of field 
 guns, stationed a mile or so away, commenced firing a na 
 tional salute, in honor of the nation s new chief. And Mr. 
 Buchanan, now a private citizen, escorted President Lincoln 
 to the Executive Mansion, followed by a multitude of peo- 
 pie." 
 
 " What do you think of it ? " was the question this crowd 
 was asking as it left the scene of the inauguration. Through 
 out the day, on every corner of Washington, and by night on 
 every corner of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Buffalo, 
 and every other city and town of the country reached by the 
 telegraph, men were asking the same question. The an 
 swers showed that the address was not the equivocal docu 
 ment Mr. Seward had tried to make it. 
 
 " It is marked," said the New York " Tribune " of March 
 5, " by no feeble expression. He who runs may read it; 
 and to twenty millions of people it will carry the tidings, 
 good or not, as the case may be, that the Federal Government 
 of the United States is still in existence, with a Man at the 
 head of it." 
 
 " The inaugural is not a crude performance," said the New 
 York " Herald ; " " it abounds in traits of craft and cun 
 ning ; it is neither candid nor statesmanlike, nor does it pos 
 sess any essential of dignity or patriotism. It would have 
 caused a Washington to mourn, and would have inspired 
 Jefferson, Madison, or Jackson with contempt." 
 
 " Our community has not been disappointed, and exhibited 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OP LINCOLN 13 
 
 very little feeling on the subject," telegraphed Charleston, 
 South Carolina. " They are content to leave Mr. Lincoln 
 and the inaugural in the hands of Jefferson Davis and the 
 Congress of the Confederate States." 
 
 " The Pennsylvanian " declared it " a tiger s claw con 
 cealed under the fur of Sewardism." While " The Atlas 
 and Argus," of Albany, characterized it as " weak, rambling, 
 loose-jointed," and as " inviting civil war." 
 
 From Charleston, South Carolina, came the dispatch, 
 " Our community has not been disappointed, and exhibited 
 very little feeling on the subject. They are content to leave 
 Mr. Lincoln and the inaugural in the hands of Jefferson 
 Davis and the Congress of the Confederate States." In New 
 Orleans the assertion that the ordinance was void and that 
 Federal property must be taken and held was considered a 
 declaration of war. At Montgomery the head of the Con 
 federacy, the universal feeling provoked by the inaugural was 
 that war was inevitable. 
 
 The literary form of the document aroused general com 
 ment. 
 
 " The style of the address is as characteristic as its tem 
 per," said the Boston " Transcript." " It has not one fawn 
 ing expression in the whole course of its firm and explicit 
 statements. The language is level to the popular mind the 
 plain, homespun language of a man accustomed to talk with 
 * the folks and the neighbors; the language of a man of 
 vital common-sense, whose words exactly fit in his facts and 
 thoughts." 
 
 This " homespun language " was a shock to many. The 
 Toronto " Globe " found the address of " a tawdry, corrupt, 
 school-boy style." And ex-President Tyler complained to 
 Francis Lieber of its grammar. Lieber replied : 
 
 " You complain of the bad grammar of President Lin 
 coln s message. We have to look at other things, just now, 
 
14 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 than grammar. For aught I know, the last resolution of the 
 South Carolina Convention may have been worded in suffi 
 ciently good grammar, but it is an attempt, unique in its dis- 
 gracefulness, to whitewash an act of the dirtiest infamy. 
 Let us leave grammar alone in these days of shame, and 
 rather ask whether people act according to the first and 
 simplest rules of morals and of honor." 
 
 The question which most deeply stirred the country, how 
 ever, was " Does Lincoln mean what he says ? Will he really 
 use the power confided to him to hold, occupy, and possess 
 the property and places belonging to the government ? " The 
 President was called upon for an answer sooner than he had 
 expected. Almost the first thing brought to his attention on 
 the morning of his first full day in office (March 5) was 
 a letter from Major Robert Anderson, the officer in command 
 of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, saying that he had 
 but a week s provisions, and that if the place was to be re-en 
 forced so that it could be held, it would take 20,000 " good 
 and well-disciplined men " to do it. 
 
 A graver matter the new President could not have been 
 called upon to decide, for all the issues between North and 
 South were at that moment focused in the fate of Fort Sum 
 ter. A series of dramatic incidents had given the fort this 
 peculiar prominence. At the time of Mr. Lincoln s election 
 Charleston Harbor was commanded by Major Anderson. 
 Although there were three forts in the harbor, but one was 
 garrisoned, Fort Moultrie, and that not the strongest in posi 
 tion. Not long after the election Anderson, himself a South 
 erner, thoroughly familiar with the feeling in Charleston, 
 wrote the War Department that if the harbor was to be held 
 by the United States, Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckey must 
 be garrisoned. Later he repeated this warning. President 
 Buchanan was loath to heed him. He feared irritating the 
 South Carolinians. Instead of re-enforcements he sent An- 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 15 
 
 derson orders to hold the forts but to do nothing which 
 would cause a collision. At the same time he entered into a 
 half-contract with the South Carolina Congressmen not to 
 re-enforce Anderson if the State did not attack him. All 
 through the early winter Anderson remained in Moultrie, 
 his position constantly becoming more dangerous. Interest 
 in him increased with his peril, and the discussion as to 
 whether the government should relieve, recall, or let him 
 alone, waxed more and more excited. 
 
 Anderson had seen from the first that if the South Caro 
 linians attempted to seize Moultrie he could not sustain his 
 position. Accordingly, on the night of December 26 he 
 spiked the guns of that fort and secretly transferred his force 
 to Sumter, an almost impregnable position in the centre of 
 the harbor. In the South the uproar over this act was terrific. 
 The administration was accused of treachery. It in turn cen 
 sured Anderson, though he had acted exactly within his or 
 ders which gave him the right to occupy whichever fort he 
 thought best. In the North there was an outburst of exulta 
 tion. It was the first act in defense of United States prop 
 erty, and Anderson became at once a popular hero and re- 
 enforcements for him were vehemently demanded. 
 
 Early in January Buchanan yielded to the pressure and 
 sent the Star of the West with supplies. The vessel was 
 fired on by the South Carolinians as she entered the harbor, 
 and retired. This hostile act did not quicken the sluggish 
 blood of the administration. Indeed, a quasi-agreement with 
 the Governor followed, that if the fort was not attacked no 
 further attempt would be made to re-enforce it, and there the 
 matter stood when Mr. Lincoln on the morning of March 5 
 received Anderson s letter. 
 
 What was to be done? The garrison must not be allowed 
 to starve ; but evidently 20,000 disciplined men could not be 
 had to relieve it the whole United States army numbered 
 
16 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 but 16,000. But if Mr. Lincoln could not relieve it, how 
 could he surrender it ? The effect of any weakening or com 
 promise in his own position was perfectly clear to him. 
 " When Anderson goes out of Fort Sumter," he said rue 
 fully, "I shall have to go out of the White House." The exact 
 way in which he looked at the matter he stated later to Con 
 gress, in substantially the following words : 
 
 To abandon that position, under the circumstances, would 
 have been utterly ruinous ; the necessity under which it was 
 done would not have been fully understood; by many it 
 would have been construed as a part of a voluntary policy ; at 
 home it would have discouraged the friends of the Union, 
 emboldened its adversaries, and gone far to insure to the 
 latter a recognition abroad ; in fact, it would have been our 
 national destruction consummated. This could not be al 
 lowed. 
 
 In his dilemma he sought the advice of the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Army, General Scott, who told him sadly that 
 " evacuation seemed almost inevitable." 
 
 Unwilling to decide at once, Lincoln devised a manoeuvre 
 by which he hoped to shift public attention from Fort Sumter 
 to Fort Pickens, in Pensacola Harbor. The situation of the 
 two forts was similar, although that at Sumter was more 
 critical and interested the public far more intensely. It 
 seemed to Mr. Lincoln that if Fort Pickens could be re-en 
 forced, this would be a clear enough indication to both sec 
 tions that he meant what he had said in his inaugural ad 
 dress, and after it had been accomplished the North would 
 accept the evacuation of Fort Sumter as a military necessity, 
 and on March II he sent an order that troops which had 
 been sent to Pensacola in January by Mr. Buchanan, but 
 never landed, should be placed in Fort Pickens. 
 
 As this order went by sea, it was necessarily some time 
 before it arrived. Night and day during this interval Lin- 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN lj 
 
 coin was busy in a series of original investigations of all sides 
 of the Sumter question. While doing his utmost to obtain 
 such information as would enable him to come to an intelli* 
 gent conclusion, he was beset by both North and South. A 
 report went out early in the month that Sumter was to be 
 evacuated. It could not be verified ; but it spread generally 
 until there was, particularly in Washington, around Mr. Lin 
 coln, a fever of excitement. Finally, on March 25, the 
 Senate asked for the correspondence of Anderson. The 
 President did not believe the time had come, however, to take 
 the public into his confidence, and he replied : 
 
 . . . On examination of the correspondence thus called 
 for, I have, with the highest respect for the Senate, come to 
 the conclusion that at the present moment the publication of 
 it would be inexpedient. 
 
 Three days later, March 28, while he still was uncertain 
 whether his order had reached Fort Pickens or not, General 
 Scott, who was ill, sent a letter over to the White House, 
 advising Mr. Lincoln to abandon both Sumter and Pickens. 
 Coming from such a source, the letter was a heavy blow to 
 the President. One of the men he most trusted had failed to 
 recognize that the policy he had laid down in his inaugural 
 address was serious and intended to be acted upon. It was 
 time to do something. Summoning an officer from the Navy 
 Department, he asked him to prepare at once a plan for a 
 relief expedition to Fort Sumter. That night Mr. Lincoln 
 gave his first state dinner. It was a large affair, many 
 friends besides the members of the Cabinet being present. 
 The conversation was animated, and Lincoln was seemingly 
 in excellent spirits. W. H. Russell, the correspondent of the 
 London "Times," was present, and he notes in his Diary how 
 Lincoln used anecdotes in his conversation that evening : 
 (*) 
 
18 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 " Mr. Bates was remonstrating, apparently, against the 
 appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial 
 importance," says Mr. Russell. " The President interposed 
 with, Come now, Bates, he s not half as bad as you 
 think. Besides that, I must tell you he did me a good turn 
 long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one 
 morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before 
 me, and I had no horse. The judge overtook me in his 
 wagon. Hello, Lincoln ! Are you not going to the court 
 house? Come in, and I ll give you a seat/ Well, I got in, 
 and the judge went on reading his papers. Presently the 
 wagon struck a stump on one side of the road ; then it hopped 
 off to the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was 
 jerking from side to side in his seat; so says I, Judge, I 
 think your coachman has been taking a little drop too much 
 this morning/ Well, I declare, Lincoln/ said he, I should 
 not wonder if you are right ; for he has nearly upset me half a 
 dozen times since starting/ So putting his head out of the 
 window, he shouted, * Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are 
 drunk ! Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning 
 round with great gravity, the coachman said, By gorra ! 
 that s the first rightful decision you have given for the last 
 twelvemonth/ While the company were laughing, the Pres 
 ident beat a quiet retreat from the neighborhood of the At 
 torney-General . 
 
 Lincoln s story-telling that evening was used, as often hap 
 pened, to cover a serious mental struggle. After many of 
 his guests had retired, he called his Cabinet aside, and agi 
 tatedly told them of General Scott s letter. He then asked 
 them to meet him the next day. That night the President 
 did not close his eyes in sleep. The moment had come, as it 
 must come, at one time or another, to every President 
 of the United States, when his vote was the only vote in the 
 Cabinet the only vote in the country. The decision and 
 orders he should give the next day might plunge the country 
 into civil war. Could he escape it ? All night he went over 
 the problem, but his watch only strengthened his purpose. 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 19 
 
 When the Cabinet met, the President put the case before 
 them in such a light that, on his asking the members to give 
 him their views, only two, Seward and Smith, opposed the 
 relief of Fort Sumter. 
 
 That day Lincoln gave his order that the expedition be 
 prepared and ready to sail on April 6. Two days later, he 
 ordered that an expedition for the relief of Fort Pickens be 
 prepared. With the latter order he sent a verbal message to 
 General Scott : 
 
 Tell him that I wish this thing done, and not to let it fail 
 unless he can show that I have refused him something he 
 asked for. 
 
 By April 6, news reached Mr. Lincoln from Fort Pick- 
 ens. The commander of the vessel on which the troops were 
 quartered, acting upon the armistice of Mr. Buchanan, had 
 refused to land the re-enforcements. To relieve Sumter was 
 the only alternative, and Lincoln immediately ordered for 
 ward the expeditions he had been preparing. At the same 
 time he wrote with his own hand instructions for an agent 
 whom he sent to Charleston to notify the Governor of South 
 Carolina that an effort would be made to supply Fort Sumter 
 with provisions only. 
 
 At last it was evident to the members of the Cabinet and to 
 others in the secret that Mr. Lincoln did mean what he had 
 said in his inaugural address : : The power confided to me 
 will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and 
 places belonging to the government." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had another matter on hand at the moment 
 as vital as the relief of Sumter how to prevent further ac 
 cessions to the Southern Confederacy. When he was in 
 augurated, seven of the slave-holding States had left the 
 Union. In two others, Virginia and Missouri, conventions 
 were in session considering secession; but in both, Union 
 
20 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 sentiment predominated. Three others, North Carolina, 
 Kentucky, and Tennessee, had by popular vote decided to 
 hold no convention. Maryland had already held an irregular 
 State assembly, but nothing had been accomplished by the 
 separatists. Mr. Lincoln s problem was how to strengthen 
 this surviving Union sentiment sufficiently to prevent seces 
 sion in case the Administration was forced to relieve Sumter. 
 Evidently he could do nothing at the moment but inform 
 himself as accurately as possible, by correspondence and con 
 ferences, of the temper of the people and put himself into 
 relations with men in each State on whom he could rely in 
 case of emergency. He did this with care and persistency, 
 and so effectively that later, when matters became more seri 
 ous, visitors from the doubtful States often expressed their 
 amazement at the President s knowledge of the sentiments 
 and conditions of their parts of the country. 
 
 The first State in which Lincoln attempted any active in 
 terference in favor of the Union was one which had already 
 voted itself out, Texas. A conflict had arisen there between 
 the Southern party and the Governor, Sam Houston, and on 
 March 18 the latter had been deposed. When Mr. Lincoln 
 heard of this, he decided to try to get a message to the Gov 
 ernor, offering United States support if he would put himself 
 at the head of the Union party of the State. The messenger 
 who carried this word to Houston was Mr. G. H. Giddings, 
 at that time the holder of the contract for carrying the mails 
 by the El Paso route to California. He was taken to the 
 White House by his friend Postmaster-General Blair, and 
 gives the following account of what occurred at the inter 
 view. It is one of the very few descriptions of Mr. Lincoln 
 in a Cabinet meeting which we have : 
 
 I was taken into the Cabinet room, and introduced by the 
 Postmaster-General to President Lincoln and all the mem 
 bers of the Cabinet, who were there apparently waiting for 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 21 
 
 us. The President asked me to take a seat at the big table 
 next to him. He then said to me, " You have been highly 
 recommended to me as a reliable man by the Postmaster- 
 General, the Hon. G. A. Grow, and others. They tell me 
 that you are an old citizen of Texas and about to return to 
 your home. My object in wishing to see you is that I desire 
 to intrust to you a secret message to Governor Houston." 
 
 I said, " Yes, Mr. President, I should have left to-night 
 but for this invitation to call on you, which was a great 
 pleasure to me." 
 
 He then asked me a great many questions, where I was 
 born, when I went to Texas, what I had been doing there, 
 how I liked the State, and what was the public sentiment in 
 Texas in regard to the prospects of a war all of which I 
 answered to the best of my ability. 
 
 He then said to me that the message was of such im 
 portance that, before handing it to me, he would read it to 
 me. Before beginning to read he said, " This is a confi 
 dential and secret message. No one besides my Cabinet and 
 myself knows anything about it, and we are all sworn to 
 secrecy. I am going to swear you in as one of my Cabinet." 
 And then he said to me in a jocular way, " Hold up your 
 right hand," which I did. " Now," said he, "consider your 
 self a member of my Cabinet." 
 
 He then read the message, explaining his meaning at times 
 as he was reading it. The message was written in big bold 
 hand, on large sheets of paper, and consisted of several pages. 
 It was signed " A. Lincoln." I cannot give the exact words 
 of the message, but the substance was as follows : 
 
 It referred first to the surrender, by General Twiggs, of 
 the United States troops, forts, and property in Texas to the 
 rebels, and offered to appoint Governor Houston a major- 
 general in the United States army in case he would accept. 
 It authorized him to take full command in Texas, taking 
 charge of all Government property and such of the old army 
 as he could get together, and to recruit 100,000 men, if pos 
 sible, and to hold Texas in the Union. In case he did accept, 
 the President promised to support him with the whole power 
 of the Government, both of the army and navy. After hear 
 ing the message read, I suggested to the President that it was 
 
22 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 of such importance that perhaps he had better send it by some 
 government official. 
 
 " No," he said. " Those Texans would hang any official 
 caught with that paper." 
 
 I replied that they would hang me, too, if they caught me 
 with that message. 
 
 " I do not wish to have you hung/ he replied ; " and if you 
 think there is so much danger, I will not ask you to take it, 
 although I am anxious to get it to Governor Houston as soon 
 as possible. As you live in Texas and are about to return, I 
 was in hopes you would take it." 
 
 " I will take the message with much pleasure," I replied, 
 " as you personally request it, and will deliver it safely to 
 Governor Houston, only stipulating that it shall remain as 
 one of your Cabinet secrets." This he assured me should be 
 done. 
 
 I remained there until about midnight. The question of 
 war or no war was discussed by different members of the 
 Cabinet. Mr. Seward said there would be no war. 
 The President said he hoped and prayed that there would 
 not be a war. I said to Mr. Seward that, as he knew, Con 
 gress had extended my overland mail contract one contract 
 term and doubled the service; that to put the increased ser 
 vice in operation would cost me over $50,000, which would 
 be lost in case of war ; and I asked him what I had better 
 do. 
 
 " There will be no war," Mr. Seward said ; " go ahead 
 and put on the increased service. You will run no risk in 
 doing so." He said that Humphrey Marshall and some oth 
 ers, whose names I have forgotten, had left Washington a 
 few days before that, to go into the border States and hold 
 public meetings and ask the South to meet the North and 
 have a National Convention for the purpose of amending the 
 Constitution. He had no doubt, he said, that this would be 
 done, and that, so far as he was individually concerned, he 
 would prefer giving the Southern brothers the parchment 
 and let them enter the amendment to the Constitution to suit 
 themselves rather than have a civil war. He said, in all 
 probability, some arrangements would be made to pay for 
 the slaves and the gradual abolishment of slavery. 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 23 
 
 With these momentous affairs on hand, Lincoln needed 
 freedom from trivial and personal matters, if ever a President 
 needed it; yet one who reads the documents of the period 
 would infer that his entire time was spent in appointing post 
 masters. There was no escape for him. The office-seekers 
 had seized Washington, and were making the White House 
 their headquarters. 
 
 " There were days," says William O. Stoddard, " when 
 the throng of eager applicants for office filled the broad stair 
 case to its lower steps; the corridors of the first floor; the 
 famous East room ; the private parlors ; while anxious groups 
 and individuals paraded up and down the outer porch, the 
 walks, and the avenue." 
 
 They even attacked Lincoln on the street. One day as his 
 carriage rolled up the avenue, a man stopped it and attempted 
 to present his application and credentials. " No, no," said 
 Mr. Lincoln indignantly, " I won t open shop in the street." 
 
 This raid had begun in Springfield with the election. As 
 Mr. Lincoln had been elected without bargains on his part, 
 he did not propose to consider minor appointments until actu 
 ally inaugurated. 
 
 " I have made up my mind," he said to a visitor a few days 
 after his election, " not to be badgered about these places. I 
 have promised nothing high or low, and will not. By-and- 
 by, when I call somebody to me in the character of an ad 
 viser, we will examine the claims to the most responsible 
 posts and decide what shall be done. As for the rest, I shall 
 have enough to do without reading recommendations for 
 country postmasters." 
 
 All of the hundreds who had been put off in the winter, 
 now reappeared in Washington. Now, Lincoln had clear no 
 tions of the use of the appointing power. One side should 
 not gobble up everything, he declared ; but in the pressure of 
 
24 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 applications, it gave him the greatest difficulty to prevent this 
 " gobbling up." Another rule he had adopted was not to 
 appoint over the heads of his advisers. He preferred to win 
 their consent to an appointment by tact rather than to make 
 it by his own power. A case in point is disclosed in a letter 
 he wrote to General Scott, in June, in which he said : 
 
 Doubtless you begin to understand how disagreeable it is 
 for me to do a thing arbitrarily when it is unsatisfactory to 
 others associated with me. 
 
 I very much wish to appoint Colonel Meigs Quartermas 
 ter-General, and yet General Cameron does not quite consent. 
 I have come to know Colonel Meigs quite well for a short 
 acquaintance, and, so far as I am capable of judging, I do 
 not know one who combines the qualities of masculine intel 
 lect, learning, and experience of the right sort, and physical 
 power of labor and endurance, so well as he. 
 
 I know he has great confidence in you, always sustaining, 
 so far as I have observed, your opinions against any differ 
 ing ones. 
 
 You will lay me under one more obligation if you can and 
 will use your influence to remove General Cameron s objec 
 tion. I scarcely need tell you I have nothing personal in this, 
 having never seen or heard of Colonel Meigs until about the 
 end of last March. 
 
 But that he could appoint arbitrarily is certain from the 
 following letter: 
 
 . . . You must make a job of it, and provide a place 
 for the bearer of this, Elias Wampole. Make a job of it with 
 the collector and have it done. You can do it for me, and 
 you must. 
 
 In spite of the terrible pressure brought to bear upon him 
 by the place-hunters ; in spite of the frequent dissatisfaction 
 his appointments gave, and the abuse the disappointed heaped 
 upon him, he rarely lost his patience, rarely was anything but 
 
i- 
 
 >^ 
 
 f 
 
 / x - i 
 
 / 
 
 r 
 
 ter 1 
 
 
 MARY TODD LINCOLN, WIFE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 From a photograph taken by Brady, in the War Department Collection of Civil War Photographs. 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 25 
 
 kind. His sense of humor aided him wonderfully in this par 
 ticular. The incongruity of a man in his position, and with 
 the very life of the country at stake, pausing to appoint post 
 masters, struck him forcibly. " What is the matter, Mr. Lin 
 coln," said a friend one day, when he saw him looking par 
 ticularly grave and dispirited. " Has anything gone wrong 
 at the front?" 
 
 " No," said the President, with a tired smile. " It isn t 
 the war ; it s the post-office at Brownsville, Missouri." 
 
 The " Public Man " relates in his " Diary " the end of an 
 interview he and a friend had with the President on 
 March 7: 
 
 " He walked into the corridor with us ; and, as he bade us 
 
 good-by and thanked for what he had told him, he 
 
 again brightened up for a moment and asked him in an 
 abrupt kind of way, laying his hand as he spoke with a queer 
 but not uncivil familiarity on his shoulder, You haven t such 
 
 a thing as a postmaster in your pocket, have you ? 
 
 stared at him in astonishment, and I thought a little in alarm, 
 as if he suspected a sudden attack of insanity; then Mr. Lin 
 coln went on : You see it seems to me kind of unnatural 
 that you shouldn t have at least a postmaster in your pocket. 
 Everybody I ve seen for days past has had foreign ministers, 
 and collectors, and all kinds, and I thought you couldn t have 
 got in here without having at least a postmaster get into 
 your pocket ! " 
 
 The " strange bed- fellows " politics was constantly mak 
 ing always amused him. One day a man turned up who had 
 letters of recommendation from the most prominent pair of 
 enemies in the Republican party, Horace Greeley and Thur- 
 low Weed. The President immediately did what he could 
 for him : 
 
 Mr. Adams is magnificently recommended ; but the great 
 point in his favor is that Thurlow Weed and Horace Gree 
 ley join in recommending hira- I suppose the like never 
 
26 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 happened before, and never will again ; so that it is now or 
 never. What say you ? 
 
 A less obvious perplexity than the office-seekers for Mr. 
 Lincoln at this period, though a no less real one, was the at 
 titude of his Secretary of State his cheerful assumption 
 that he, not Mr. Lincoln, was the final authority of the ad 
 ministration. 
 
 Mr. Seward had been for years the leader of the Republi 
 can party. His defeat in the Chicago Convention of 1860 
 had been a terrible blow to a large number of people, though 
 Seward himself had taken it nobly. " The Republican party 
 was not made for Mr. Seward," he told his friends, " but Mr. 
 Seward for the Republican party," and he went heartily into 
 the campaign. But he believed, as many Republicans did, 
 that Lincoln was unfit for the presidency, and that some one 
 of his associates would be obliged to assume leadership. 
 When Mr. Seward accepted the Secretaryship of State, he 
 evidently did it with the idea that he was to be the Provi 
 dence of the administration. " It is inevitable," he wrote to 
 his wife on December 28th, the very day he wrote to Mr. 
 Lincoln of his acceptance. " I will try to save freedom and 
 my country." A week later he wrote home, " I have as 
 sumed a sort of dictatorship for defense, and am laboring 
 night and day with the cities and States. My hope, rather 
 my confidence, is unabated." And again, on January i8th; 
 " It seems to me if I am absent only eight days, this admin 
 istration, the Congress, and the District would fall into con 
 sternation and despair. I am the only hopeful, calm, con 
 ciliatory person here." 
 
 When Lincoln arrived in Washington and asked Seward 
 to read the inaugural address, the latter gave it the closest 
 attention, modifying it to fit his own policy, and in defense 
 of the changes he made, he wrote to the President-elect: 
 " Only the soothing words which I have spk*n have saved 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OP LINCOLN 27 
 
 us and carried us along thus far. Every loyal man, and in 
 deed every disloyal man, in the South will tell you this." 
 
 He began his duties as Secretary of State with the same 
 confidence in his call to be the real, if not the apparent, head 
 of affairs. When the question of relieving Sumter came up, 
 he believed that it was he who was managing the matter. 
 " I wish I could tell you something of the political troubles 
 of the country/ he wrote home, " but I cannot find the time. 
 They are enough to tax the wisdom of the wisest. Fort 
 Sumter is in danger. Relief of it practically impossible. The 
 commissioners from the Southern Confederacy are here. 
 These cares fall chiefly on me." 
 
 According to Mr. Welles, Secretary of the Navy, " con 
 fidence and mutual frankness on public affairs and matters 
 pertaining to the government, particularly on what related 
 to present and threatened disturbances, existed among all 
 the members [of the cabinet], with the exception of Mr. 
 Seward, who had, or affected, a certain mysterious knowl-* 
 edge which he was not prepared to impart." Mr. Welles 
 asserts that Mr. Seward carried so far his assumption of the 
 " cares " of Sumter and other questions as to meddle in the 
 duties of his associates in the cabinet. He opposed regular 
 cabinet meetings, and at first had his way. After Tuesdays 
 and Fridays were set as cabinet days, he contended that it 
 was not necessary that a member should come to the meet 
 ings unless especially summoned by Mr. Lincoln or him 
 self. 
 
 If Mr. Seward had been less self-confident, he would 
 have seen before the end of March that Mr. Lincoln had a 
 mind of his own, and with it a quiet way of following its 
 decisions. Others had seen this. For instance, he had had 
 his own way about who should go into the cabinet. " There 
 can be no doubt of it any longer," wrote the " Public Ma 
 in his " Diary " on March 2, " this man from Illinois is no 
 
28 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 in the hands of Mr. Seward." Then there was the inaugu 
 ral address it was his, not Mr. Seward s; and more than 
 one prominent newspaper commented with astonishment 
 on that fact. 
 
 Nobody knew these facts better than the Secretary of 
 State. He had discovered also that Mr. Lincoln attended 
 to his business. " This President proposes to do all his 
 work," he wrote to Mrs. Seward on March 16. He had 
 received, too, at least one severe lesson, which ought to have 
 shown him that it was Mr. Lincoln, not he, who was cast 
 ing the decisive vote in the cabinet. This was in reference 
 to Sumter. During the period when the President was wait 
 ing to hear from Fort Pickens, commissioners from the 
 Southern Confederacy had been in Washington. Mr. Sew 
 ard had not received them, but through a trusted agent he 
 had assured them that Sumter would be evacuated. There 
 is no proof, so far as I know, that Mr. Lincoln knew of this 
 quasi-promise of his Secretary of State. As we have seen, 
 he did not decide to order an expedition prepared to relieve 
 the fort until March 29. From what we know of the 
 character of the man, it is inconceivable that he should have 
 authorized Mr. Sev/ard to promise to do a thing which he 
 had not yet decided to do. The Secretary assumed that, be 
 cause he believed in evacuation, it would follow, and he as 
 sured the Southern commissioners to that effect. Suddenly 
 he realized that the President was not going to evacuate 
 Sumter, that his representations to the Southerners were 
 worthless, that he had been following a course which was 
 bound to bring on the administration the charge of decep 
 tion and fraud. Yet all these things taught him nothing of 
 the man he had to deal with, and on April I he sent Mr. 
 Lincoln a letter in which he laid down an astounding policy 
 to make war on half Europe and offered to t^^ the 
 reins of administration into his own hands. 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 29 
 
 SOME THOUGHTS FOR THE PRESIDENTS CONSIDERATION, 
 APRIL I, l86l. 
 
 First. We are at the end of a month s administration, and 
 yet without a policy, either domestic or foreign. 
 
 Second. This, however, is not culpable, and it has even 
 been unavoidable. The presence of the Senate, with the 
 need to meet applications for patronage, have prevented at 
 tention to other and more grave matters. 
 
 Third. But further delay to adopt and prosecute our poli 
 cies for both domestic and foreign affairs would not only 
 bring scandal on the administration, but danger upon the 
 country. 
 
 Fourth. To do this we must dismiss the applicants for 
 office. But how ? I suggest that we make the local appoint 
 ments forthwith, leaving foreign or general ones for ulterior 
 and occasional action. 
 
 Fifth. The policy at home. I am aware that my views 
 are singular, and perhaps not sufficiently explained. My 
 system is built upon this idea as a ruling one, namely, that 
 we must 
 
 CHANGE THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PUBLIC FROM ONE 
 
 UPON SLAVERY, OR ABOUT SLAVERY, for a question upon 
 
 UNION OR DISUNION : 
 
 In other words, from what would be regarded as a party 
 question, to one of patriotism or union. 
 
 The occupation or evacuation of Fort Sumter, although 
 not in fact a slavery or a party question, is so regarded. Wit 
 ness the temper manifested by the Republicans in the free 
 States, and even by the Union men in the South. 
 
 I would therefore terminate it as a safe means for chang 
 ing the issue. I deem it fortunate that the last administra 
 tion created the necessity. 
 
 For the rest, I would simultaneously defend and re-enforce 
 all the ports in the Gulf, and have the navy recalled from for 
 eign stations to be prepared for a blockade. Put the island 
 of Key West under martial law. 
 
 This will raise distinctly the question of union or disunion. 
 I would maintain every fort and possession in the South. 
 
30 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 FOR FOREIGN NATIONS. 
 
 I would demand explanations from Spain and France, 
 categorically, at once. 
 
 I would seek explanations from Great Britain and Russia, 
 and send agents into Canada, Mexico, and Central America 
 to rouse a vigorous continental spirit of independence on this 
 continent against European intervention. 
 
 And, if satisfactory explanations are not received from 
 Spain and France, 
 
 Would convene Congress and declare war against them. 
 
 But whatever policy we adopt, there must be an energetic 
 prosecution of it. 
 
 For this purpose it must be somebody s business to pursue 
 and direct it incessantly. 
 
 Either the President must do it himself, and be all the 
 while active in it, or 
 
 Devolve it on some member of his cabinet. Once adopted, 
 debates on it must end, and all agree and abide. 
 
 It is not in my especial province; 
 
 But I neither seek to evade nor assume responsibility. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln replied : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, April I, 1861. 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWARD. 
 
 My dear Sir: Since parting with you, I have been consid 
 ering your paper dated this day, and entitled " Some 
 Thoughts for the President s Consideration." The first 
 proposition in it is, "First, We are at the end of a month s 
 administration, and yet without a policy, either domestic or 
 foreign." 
 
 At the beginning of that month, in the inaugural, I said : 
 " The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and 
 possess the property and places belonging to the government, 
 and to collect the duties and imposts." This had your distinct 
 approval at the time ; and taken in connection with the order 
 I immediately gave General Scott, directing him to employ 
 
THE FIRST INAUGURATION OF LINCOLN 31 
 
 every means in his power to strengthen and hold the forts, 
 comprises the exact domestic policy you now urge, with the 
 single exception that it does not propose to abandon Fort 
 Sumter. 
 
 Again, I do not perceive how the re-enforcement of Fort 
 Sumter would be done on a slavery or a party issue, while 
 that of Fort Pickens would be on a more national and pa 
 triotic one. 
 
 The news received yesterday in regard to St. Domingo 
 certainly brings a new item within the range of our foreign 
 policy ; but up to that time we have been preparing circulars 
 and instructions to ministers and the like, all in perfect har 
 mony, without even a suggestion that we had no foreign 
 policy. 
 
 Upon your closing proposition that " whatever policy 
 we adopt, there must be an energetic prosecution of it. 
 
 " For this purpose it must be somebody s business to pur 
 sue and direct it incessantly. 
 
 " Either the President must do it himself, and be all the 
 while active in it, or 
 
 " Devolve it on some member of his cabinet. Once adopted, 
 debates on it must end, and all agree and abide " I remark 
 that if this must be done, I must do it. When a general line 
 of policy is adopted, I apprehend there is no danger of its 
 being changed without good reason, or continuing to be a 
 subject of unnecessary debate ; still, upon points arising in its 
 progress I wish, and suppose I am entitled to have, the ad 
 vice of all the cabinet. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN.* 
 
 The magnanimity of this letter was only excelled by the 
 President s treatment of the matter. He never revealed Mr. 
 Seward s amazing proposition to any one but Mr. Nicolay, 
 his private secretary, and it never reached the public until 
 Nicolay and Hay published it. Mr. Lincoln s action in this 
 matter, and his handling of the events which followed, 
 
 * Abraham Lincoln, a History, Vol. III. By Nicolay and Hay. 
 
32 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 gradually dispelled Mr. Seward s illusion. By June, the Sec 
 retary had begun to understand Mr. Lincoln. He was quick 
 and generous to acknowledge his power. " Executive force 
 and vigor are rare qualities," he wrote to Mrs. Seward on 
 June 5. " The President is the best of us." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 
 
 IT WAS on April 9, 1861, that the expedition ordered by 
 President Lincoln for the relief of Fort Sumter sailed from 
 New York. The day before, the Governor of South Carolina 
 had received from the President the notification sent on the 
 6th that he might expect an attempt to be made to provision 
 the fort. Ever since Mr. Lincoln s inauguration the Con 
 federate government had been watching intently the new 
 Administration s course. Sumter, it was resolved, should 
 never be captured, re-enforced, even provisioned. When it 
 was certain that an expedition had started for its relief an 
 order to attack the fort was given, and it was bombarded 
 until it fell. 
 
 The bombardment of Sumter began at half past four 
 o clock in the morning of April 12. All that day rumors 
 and private telegrams came to the White House reporting 
 the progress of the attack and Anderson s heroic defense, but 
 there was nothing official. By evening, however, there was 
 no doubt that Fort Sumter was being reduced. Mr. Lincoln 
 was already formulating his plan of action, his one question 
 to the excited visitors who called upon him being, " Will 
 your State support me with military power ? " The way in 
 which the matter presented itself to his mind he stated clearly 
 to Congress, when that body next came together : 
 
 . . . The assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter 
 was in no sense a matter of self-defense on the part of the 
 
 (3) 33 
 
34 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 assailants. They well knew that the garrison in the fort 
 could by no possibility commit aggression upon them. They 
 knew they were expressly notified that the giving of 
 bread to the few brave and hungry men of the garrison was 
 all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless them 
 selves, by resisting so much, should provoke more. They 
 knew that this government desired to keep the garrison in 
 the fort, not to assail them, but merely to maintain visible pos 
 session, and thus to preserve the Union from actual and im 
 mediate dissolution trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to time, 
 discussion, and the ballot-box for final adjustment; and they 
 assailed and reduced the fort for precisely the reverse ob 
 ject to drive out the visible authority of the Federal Union, 
 and thus force it to immediate dissolution. . . . 
 
 And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United 
 States. It presents to the whole family of man the question 
 whether a constitutional republic or democracy a govern 
 ment of the people by the same people can or can not main 
 tain its territorial integrity against its own domestic 
 foes. . . . 
 
 So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the 
 war power of the government; and so to resist force em 
 ployed for its destruction, by force for its preservation. 
 
 This was not Mr. Lincoln s view alone. It was the view of 
 the North. And when, on April 15, he issued a proclama 
 tion calling for 75,000 militia and appealing to all loyal citi 
 zens " to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the 
 honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National 
 Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to re 
 dress wrongs already long enough endured," there was an 
 immediate and overwhelming response. The telegraph of 
 the very day of the proclamation announced that in almost 
 every city and town of the North volunteer regiments were 
 forming and that Union mass meetings were in session in 
 halls and churches and public squares. " What portion of 
 the 75,000 militia you call for do you give to Ohio ? We will 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 35 
 
 furnish the largest number you will receive," telegraphed the 
 Governor of that State in response to the President s mes 
 sage. Indiana, whose quota was less than 5,000 men, tele 
 graphed back that 10,000 were ready. " We will furnish 
 you the regiments in thirty days if you want them, and 50,- 
 ooo men if you need them," telegraphed Zachariah Chandler 
 from Michigan. So rapidly did men come in under this 
 call for 75,000, that in spite of the efforts of the War De 
 partment to keep the number down, it swelled to 91,816. 
 
 It was not troops alone that were offered. Banks and 
 private individuals offered money and credit. Supplies of 
 every sort were put at the government s order. Corpora 
 tions sent their presidents to Washington, offering rail 
 roads and factories. Stephen Douglas sought Lincoln 
 and offered all his splendid power to the Administration. 
 Edward Everett, who had strongly sympathized with the 
 South, declared for the movement. Individuals suspected of 
 Southern sympathy were promptly hooted off the streets and 
 newspapers which had been advocating disunion were forced 
 to hang out the Stars and Stripes, or suffer a mob to raze 
 their establishments. The fall of Summer seemed for the 
 moment to make a unit of the North. 
 
 Patriotic fervor was intensified by the satisfaction that at 
 last the long tension was over. Nor was this strange. For 
 months the war fever had been burning in the veins of both 
 North and South. At times compromise had seemed cer 
 tain, then suddenly no one knew why it seemed as if another 
 twenty-four hours would plunge the country into war. Many 
 a public man on both sides had grown thin and haggard in 
 wrestling with the terrible problem that winter and spring. 
 Congressmen in Washington had walked the streets argu 
 ing, groaning, seeking an escape. Many a sleepless man had 
 tossed nightly on his bed until daybreak, then rose to smoke 
 and walk, always pursued by the same problems and never 
 
36 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 seeing any final solution but war. The struggle had 
 penetrated the social circles, particularly in border cities like 
 Washington, and rarely did people assemble that hot discus 
 sions did not rise. The very children in the schools took up 
 the debates, and for many weeks in Washington the school 
 grounds were the scenes of small daily quarrels, ending often 
 in blows and tears. The fall of Sumter ended this exhaust 
 ing uncertainty. Henceforth there was nothing to do but 
 range yourself on one side or the other and fight it out. 
 
 But if Sumter unified the sentiment of the North, it did 
 no less for the South. Henceforth there was but one voice 
 in the Southern States, and that for the Confederacy. North 
 Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkan 
 sas, all refused the President s call for troops. In Virginia 
 a convention was in session, whose members up to that day 
 were in the main for the Union. On April 17 that conven 
 tion passed an ordinance of secession. The next day the 
 arsenal at Harper s Ferry was seized by the State, and the 
 Southern Confederacy at Montgomery was informed that 
 Virginia was open to its troops. The line of hostility had 
 reached the very boundaries of Washington. The bluffs 
 across the Potomac, now beautiful in the first green of 
 spring, on which Mr. Lincoln looked every morning from 
 his windows in the White House, were no longer in his 
 country. They belonged to the enemy. 
 
 With the news of the secession of Virginia, there reached 
 Washington on Thursday, April 18, a rumor that a large 
 Confederate force was marching on the city. Now there 
 were not over 2,500 armed men in Washington. Regiments 
 were known to be on their way from Pennsylvania and 
 Massachusetts, but nobody could say when they would ar 
 rive. Washington might be razed to the ground before they 
 came. A hurried effort at defense was at once made. 
 Women and children were sent out of the city. At the 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 37 
 
 White House, Mrs. Lincoln was urged to go with her boys, 
 but she refused positively. " I am as safe as Mr. Lincoln, 
 and I shall not leave him," was her stout answer. 
 
 Guards were stationed at every approach to the city, can 
 non were planted in commanding positions, while " govern 
 ment officials, foreign ministers, governors, senators, office- 
 seekers" were pressed into one or the other of two impromptu 
 organizations, the Clay Battalion of Cassius M. Clay, and 
 the Frontier Guards of Senator Lane of Kansas. For a short 
 time the Frontier Guards were quartered in the East Room 
 of the White House, and Clay s Battalion at Willard s 
 Hotel, which had been stripped of its guests in a night. 
 
 The confusion and alarm of the city was greatly increased 
 on Friday by news received from Baltimore. The Sixth 
 Massachusetts, en route to the Capital, had reached there, 
 that day, and had been attacked as it marched through by a 
 mob of Southern sympathizers. Four of its members had 
 been killed and many wounded. " No troops should go 
 through Maryland," the people of Baltimore declared, 
 " whose purpose was to invade Virginia and coerce sister 
 States." That evening about five o clock the regiment 
 reached Washington. Dusty, torn, and bleeding, they 
 marched two by two through a great crowd of silent people 
 to the Capitol. Behind them there came, in single line, seven 
 teen stretchers, bearing the wounded. The dead had been 
 left behind. 
 
 Early the next day, Saturday, the 2Oth, a delegation of 
 Baltimore men appeared at the White House. They had 
 come to beg Mr. Lincoln to bring no more troops through 
 their city. After a long discussion, he sent them away with 
 a note to the Maryland authorities, suggesting that the troops 
 be marched around Baltimore. But as he gave them the 
 letter, Mr. Nicolay heard him say laughingly : " If I grant 
 you this concession, that no troops shall pass through the 
 
38 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 city, you will be back here to-morrow, demanding that none 
 shall be marched around it." 
 
 The President was right. That afternoon, and again on 
 Sunday and Monday, committees sought him, protesting that 
 Maryland soil should not be " polluted " by the feet of sol 
 diers marching against the South. The President had but 
 one reply : " We must have troops ; and as they can neither 
 crawl under Maryland nor fly over it, they must come across 
 it." 
 
 While the controversy with the Baltimoreans was going 
 on, the condition of Washington had become hourly more 
 alarming. In 1861 there was but one railroad running north 
 from Washington. At Annapolis Junction this line con 
 nected with a branch to Chesapeake Bay ; at the Relay House, 
 with the Baltimore and Ohio to the west ; at Baltimore, with 
 the only two lines then entering that city from the North, 
 one from Harrisburg, the other from Philadelphia. On Fri 
 day, April 19, after the attack on the Sixth Massachusetts, 
 the Maryland authorities ordered that certain of the bridges 
 on the railroads running from Baltimore to Harrisburg and 
 Philadelphia be destroyed. This was done to prevent any 
 more trains bearing troops entering the city. The telegraph 
 lines were also partially destroyed at this time. Inspired by 
 this example, the excited Marylanders, in the course of the 
 next two or three days, tore up much of the track running 
 north from Washington, as well as that of the Annapolis 
 branch, and still further damaged the telegraph. Exit from 
 Washington to the north, east, and west by rail was now 
 impossible. On Sunday night matters were made still worse 
 by the complete interruption of the telegraph to the north. 
 The last wire had been cut. All the news which reached 
 Washington now came by way of the south, and it was all 
 of the most disturbing nature. From twelve to fifteen thou 
 sand Confederates were reported near Alexandria, and an 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 39 
 
 army under Jefferson Davis was said to be ready to march 
 from Richmond. The alarmed citizens, expecting hourly to 
 be attacked, were constantly reporting that they heard can 
 non booming from this or that direction, or had seen scouts 
 prowling around the outskirts of the town. 
 
 The activity of the War Department under these condi 
 tions was extraordinary. General Scott had only four or 
 five thousand men under arms, but he proposed, if the town 
 was attacked, to contest possession point by point, and he 
 had every public building, including school-houses, barri 
 caded. At the Capitol, barricades of cement barrels, sand 
 bags, and iron plates such as were being used in the con 
 struction of the dome were erected ten feet high, at every en 
 trance. In all his efforts the General was assisted by the 
 loyal citizens. Even the men exempted from service by age 
 formed a company called the " Silver Grays," and the sol 
 diers of the War of 1812 offered themselves. 
 
 By Tuesday, April 23, a new terror was added to the 
 situation that of famine. The country around had been 
 scoured for provisions, and supplies were getting short. If 
 Washington was to be besieged, as it looked, what was to be 
 done about food? The government at once ordered that 
 the flour at the Georgetown mills, some 25,000 barrels, be 
 seized, and sold according to the discretion of the military 
 authorities. 
 
 In its distress, it was to Mr. Lincoln that the city turned. 
 The fiber of the man began to show at once. Bayard Taylor 
 happened to be in Washington at the very beginning of the 
 alarm, and called on the President. " His demeanor was 
 thoroughly calm and collected," Taylor wrote to the New 
 York " Tribune," " and he spoke of the present crisis 
 with that solemn, earnest composure which is the sign of a 
 soul not easily perturbed. I came away from his presence 
 cheered and encouraged." However, the suspense of the 
 
40 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 days when the Capital was isolated, the expected troops not 
 arriving, an hourly attack feared, wore on Mr. Lincoln 
 greatly. " I begin to believe," Mr. Hay heard him say bit 
 terly, one day, to some Massachusetts soldiers, " that there is 
 no North. The Seventh Regiment is a myth. Rhode Island 
 js another. You are the only real thing." And again, after 
 pacing the floor of his deserted office for a half hour, he was 
 heard to exclaim to himself, in an anguished tone, " Why 
 don t they come ! Why don t they come ! " 
 
 The delay of the troops to arrive was, perhaps, the most 
 mysterious and terrifying element in the situation for Mr. 
 Lincoln. He knew that several regiments had started, and 
 that the Seventh New York was at Annapolis, having come 
 down Chesapeake Bay. Why they did not make a way 
 through he could not understand. The most disquieting 
 rumors reached him now that an army had been raised in 
 Maryland to oppose their advance; now that they had at 
 tempted to come up the Potomac, and were aground on Vir 
 ginia soil. At last, however, the long suspense was broken. 
 About noon, on Thursday, the 25th, the whole city was 
 thrown into excitement by the shrill whistle of a locomotive. 
 A great crowd gathered at the station, where the Seventh 
 New York was debarking. The regiment had worked its 
 way from Annapolis to the city, building bridges and laying 
 track as it went. Worn and dirty as the men were, they 
 marched gaily up Pennsylvania avenue, through the crowds 
 of cheering, weeping people, to the White House, where 
 Mr. Lincoln received them. The next day, 1,200 Rhode 
 Island troops and the Butler Brigade of 1,400 arrived. Be 
 fore the end of the week, there were said to be 17,000 troops 
 in the city, and it was believed that the number could easily 
 be increased to 40,000. Mr. Lincoln had won his first point 
 He had soldiers to defend his Capital. 
 
 But it was evident by this time that something- more was 
 
>* 
 
 LINCOLN EARLY IN 1 86 1 
 
 From photograph in the collection of H. W. Fay of De Kalb, Illinois, taken prob 
 ably in Springfield early in 1861. It is supposed to have been the first, or at least 
 one of the first, portraits made of Mr. Lincoln after he began to wear a beard. As 
 is well known, his face was smooth until about the end of 1860; when he first al 
 lowed his beard to grow, it became a topic of newspaper comment, and even of 
 caricature. 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 41 
 
 necessary than to defend Washington. When, on April 15, 
 Mr. Lincoln called for 75,000 men for three months, he had 
 commanded the persons disturbing the public peace " to dis 
 perse and retire peacefully to their respective abodes within 
 twenty days from date." 
 
 In reply the South had marched on his Capital, cutting it 
 off from all communication with the North for nearly a week, 
 and had so threatened Harper s Ferry and Norfolk that to 
 prevent the arsenal and shipyards from falling into the hands 
 of the enemy, the Federal commanders had destroyed both 
 these fine government properties. 
 
 Before ten of the twenty days had passed, it was plain that 
 the order was worthless. 
 
 " I have desired as sincerely as any man, and I sometimes 
 think more than any other man/ said the President on April 
 27 to a visiting military company, " that our present diffi 
 culties might be settled without the shedding of blood. I 
 will not say that all hope has yet gone; but if the alternative 
 is presented whether the Union is to be broken in fragments 
 and the liberties of the people lost, or blood be shed, you will 
 probably make the choice with which I shall not be dissatis 
 fied." 
 
 If not as yet quite convinced that war was coming, Mr. 
 Lincoln saw that it was so probable that he must have an 
 army of something beside " three months men," for the very 
 next day after this speech, the Secretary of War, Mr. Cam 
 eron, wrote to a correspondent that the President had de 
 cided to add twenty-five regiments to the regular army. 
 
 There was great need that the regular army be re-enforced. 
 At the beginning of the year it had numbered 16,367 men, 
 but a large part of this force was in the West, and the effi 
 ciency of the whole was greatly weakened by the desertion 
 of officers to the South, 313 of the commissioned officers, 
 nearly one-third of the whole number, having resigned. To 
 
42 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Mr. Lincoln s great satisfaction, this disaffection did not ex 
 tend to the " common soldiers and common sailors." " To 
 the last man, so far as is known," he said proudly, " they 
 have successfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those 
 whose commands, but an hour before, they obeyed as ab 
 solute law." It was on May 3 that the President issued 
 a proclamation increasing the regulars by 22,714, and call 
 ing for three years volunteers to the number of 42,034. But 
 the country was not satisfied to send so few. When the War 
 Department refused troops from States beyond the quota 
 assigned, Governors literally begged that they be allowed to 
 send more. 
 
 " You have no conception of the depth of feeling universal 
 in the Northern mind for the prosecution of this war until 
 the flag floats from every spot on which it had a right to float 
 a year ago," wrote Galusha A. Grow, on May 5. ... 
 In my judgment, the enthusiasm of the hour ought not 
 to be represented by flat refusals on the part of the govern 
 ment, but let them (troops offered above the quota) be held 
 in readiness (in some way) in the States." 
 
 A meeting of the Governors of the Western and Border 
 States was held in Cleveland, Ohio, about the time of the 
 second call, and Mr. Randall, the Governor of Wisconsin, 
 wrote to Lincoln on May 6 : 
 
 " I must be permitted to say it, because it is a fact, there 
 is a spirit evoked by this rebellion among the liberty-loving 
 people of the country that is driving them to action, and if 
 the government will not permit them to act for it, they will 
 act for themselves. It is better for the government to direct 
 this spirit than to let it run wild. ... If it was abso 
 lutely certain that the 75,000 troops first called would wipe 
 out this rebellion in three weeks from to-day, it would still 
 be the policy of your Administration, and for the best in 
 terest of the government, in view of what ought to be the 
 
THE BEGINNING OP CIVIL WAR 43 
 
 great future of this nation, to call into the field at once 
 300,000 men." 
 
 At the same time from Maine W. P. Fessenden wrote : 
 " Rely upon it, you cannot at Washington fairly estimate 
 the resolute determination existing among all classes of peo 
 ple in the free States to put down at once and forever this 
 monstrous rebellion." 
 
 Under this pressure, regiment after regiment was added 
 to the three years volunteers. It was Mr. Lincoln s personal 
 interference which brought in many of these regiments. 
 Why cannot Colonel Small s Philadelphia regiment be re 
 ceived?" he wrote to the Secretary of War on May 21, 
 " I sincerely wish it could. There is something strange about 
 it. Give those gentlemen an interview, and take their regi 
 ment." Again on June 13 he wrote: "There is, it seems, 
 a regiment in Massachusetts commanded by Fletcher Web 
 ster, and which the Hon. Daniel Webster s old friends very 
 much wish to get into the service. If it can be received with 
 the approval of your department and the consent of the 
 Governor of Massachusetts, I shall indeed be much gratified. 
 Give Mr. Ashmun a chance to explain fully." And again on 
 June 17: "With your concurrence, and that of the Gov 
 ernor of Indiana, I am in favor of accepting into what we 
 call the three years service any number not exceeding four 
 additional regiments from that State. Probably they should 
 come from the triangular region between the Ohio and Wa- 
 bash rivers, including my own old boyhood home."* 
 
 So rapid was the increase of the army under this policy, 
 that on July i, the Secretary of War reported 310,000 men 
 at his command, and added : " At the present moment the 
 government presents the striking anomaly of being em- 
 
 * These extracts are from letters to Mr. Cameron found in a volume 
 of the War Records as yet unpublished. Others of the same tenor are 
 in the volume. 
 
44 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 barrassed by the generous outpouring of volunteers to sup 
 port its action." 
 
 But Mr. Lincoln soon found that enrolling men does not 
 make an army. He must uniform, arm, shelter, feed, nurse, 
 and transport them as needed. It was in providing for the 
 needs of the men that came so willingly into service that the 
 Administration found its chief embarrassment. The most 
 serious difficulty was in getting arms. Men could go ununi- 
 formed, and sleep in the open air, but to fight they must have 
 guns. The supplies of the United States arsenals in the 
 North had been greatly depleted in the winter of 1860 and 
 1 86 1 by transfers to the South, between one-fifth and one- 
 sixth of all the muskets in the country and between one- 
 fourth and one-fifth of all the rifles having been sent to the 
 six seceding States. The Confederates had not only ob 
 tained a large share of government arms, but through 
 January, February, March, April, and May they bought 
 from private factories in the North, " under the very noses of 
 the United States officers." This became such a scandal that 
 the Administration had to send out an agent to investigate 
 the trade. At the same time the Federal ministers abroad 
 were warning Mr. Lincoln that the South was picking up 
 all the arms Europe had to spare, and the North was buying 
 nothing. The need of arms opened the way for inventors, 
 and Washington was overrun with men having guns to be 
 tested. Mr. Lincoln took the liveliest interest in these new 
 arms, and it sometimes happened that, when an inventor 
 could get nobody else in the government to listen to him, the 
 President would personally test his gun. A former clerk in 
 the Navy Department tells an incident illustrative. He had 
 stayed late one night at his desk, when he heard some one 
 striding up and down the hall muttering : " I do wonder if 
 they have gone already and left the building all alone." 
 Looking out, the clerk \vas surprised to see the President, 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 45 
 
 * Good evening," said Mr. Lincoln. " I was just looking 
 for that man who goes shooting with me sometimes." 
 
 The clerk knew that Mr. Lincoln referred to a certain mes 
 senger of the Ordnance Department who had been accus 
 tomed to going with him to test weapons, but as this man 
 had gone home, the clerk offered his services. Together they 
 went to the lawn south of the White House, where Mr. Lin 
 coln fixed up a target cut from a sheet of white Congressional 
 note-paper. " Then pacing off a distance of about eighty 
 or a hundred feet," writes the clerk, " he raised the rifle to a 
 level, took a quick aim, and drove the round of seven shots 
 in quick succession, the bullets shooting all around the target 
 like a Catling gun and one striking near the centre. 
 
 " * I believe I can make this gun shoot better/ said Mr. 
 Lincoln, after we had looked at the result of the first fire. 
 With this he took from his vest pocket a small wooden sight 
 which he had whittled from a pine stick, and adjusted it 
 over the sight of the carbine. He then shot two rounds, and 
 of the fourteen bullets nearly a dozen hit the paper ! " 
 
 It was in these early days of preparing for war that Mr. 
 Lincoln interested himself, too, in experiments with the bal 
 loon. He was one of the first persons in this country to 
 receive a telegraphic message from a balloon sent up to make 
 observations on an enemy s works. This experiment was 
 made in June, and so pleased the President that the balloonist 
 was allowed to continue his observations from the Virginia 
 side. These observations were successful, and on June 21, 
 Joseph Henry, the distinguished secretary of the Smith 
 sonian Institution, declared in a report to the Administration 
 that, " from experiments made here for the first time, it is 
 conclusively proved that telegrams can be sent with ease and 
 certainty between the balloon and the quarters of the com 
 manding officer." 
 
 The extraordinary conditions under which Mr. Lincoln 
 
4$ LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 entered the White House prevented him for some weeks 
 from adopting anything like systematic habits. By the time 
 of his second call for troops, however, he had adjusted him 
 self to his new home as well as he ever was able to do. The 
 arrangement of the White House was not materially different 
 then from what it is now. The entrance, halls, the East 
 Room, the Green Room, the Blue Room, the State Dining- 
 room, all were the same, the only difference being in furnish 
 ings and decorations. The Lincoln family used the west end 
 of the second floor as a private apartment; the east end being 
 devoted to business. Mr. Lincoln s office was the large room 
 on the south side of the house, between the office of Private 
 Secretary Nicolay, at the southeast corner, and the room now 
 used as a Cabinet-room. 
 
 " The furniture of this room," says Mr. Isaac Arnold, a 
 friend and frequent visitor of the President, " consisted of 
 a large oak table covered with cloth, extending north and 
 south, and it was around this table that the Cabinet sat when 
 it held its meetings. Near the end of the table and between 
 the windows was another table, on the west side of which 
 the President sat, in a large arm-chair, and at this table he 
 wrote. A tall desk, with pigeon-holes for papers, stood 
 against the south wall. The only books usually found in 
 this room were the Bible, the United States Statutes and a 
 copy of Shakespeare. There were a few chairs and two 
 plain hair-covered sofas. There were two or three map 
 frames, from which hung military maps, on which the posi 
 tions and movements of the armies were traced. There was 
 an old and discolored engraving of General Jackson on the 
 mantel and a later photograph of John Bright. Doors opened 
 into this room from the room of the Secretary and from the 
 outside hall, running east and west across the house. A bell 
 cord within reach of his hand extended to the Secretary s 
 office. A messenger sat at the door opening from the hall, 
 and took in the cards and names of visitors." 
 
 One serious annoyance in the arrangement of the business 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 47 
 
 part of the White House at that date arose from the fact 
 that to reach his office Mr. Lincoln was obliged, in coming 
 from his private apartment, to pass through the hall. As 
 this hall was always filled with persons anxious to see him, 
 it was especially difficult for a man of his informal habits 
 and genial nature to get through. Late in 1864 this difficulty 
 was remedied. At the suggestion of one of his body-guard, 
 a door was cut from the family library into the present 
 cabinet-room and a light partition was run across the 
 south end, thus enabling him to pass into his office without 
 interruption. 
 
 Most of his time, while President, Mr. Lincoln undoubt 
 edly spent in his office. He was a very early riser, being 
 often at his desk at six o clock in the morning, and some 
 times even going out on errands at this early hour. A friend 
 tells of passing the White House early one morning in the 
 spring of 1861 and seeing Mr. Lincoln standing at the gate, 
 looking anxiously up and down the street. " Good morning, 
 good morning/ he said. " I am looking for a newsboy. 
 When you get to the corner, I wish you would send one up 
 this way." 
 
 After the firing on Fort Sumter and the alarm for the 
 safety of Washington, the office-seekers fell off sufficiently 
 for the President to announce that he would see no visitors 
 before nine o clock in the morning or after two in the after 
 noon. He never kept the rule himself, but those about him 
 did their best to keep it for him. He was most informal in 
 receiving visitors. Sometimes he even went out into the hall 
 himself to reply to cards. Ben : Perley Poore says he did 
 this frequently for newspaper men. Indeed, it was so much 
 more natural for Mr. Lincoln to do things for himself than 
 to call on others, to go to others than have them come to him, 
 that he was constantly appearing in unexpected places. The 
 place to which he went oftenest was the War Department 
 
48 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 In 1 86 1, separate buildings occupied the space now covered 
 by the State, Army, and Navy Building. The War Depart 
 ment stood on the site of the northeast corner of the present 
 structure, facing on Pennsylvania avenue. The Navy Build 
 ing was south and in line, and no street separated the White 
 House from these buildings, as now, but the lawn was con 
 tinuous, and a gravel walk ran from one to another. Mr. 
 Lincoln had no telegraph apparatus in the White House, so 
 that all war news was brought to him from the War Depart^ 
 ment, unless he went after it. He much preferred to go 
 after it, and he began soon after the fall of Fort Sumter to 
 run over to the Department whenever anything important 
 occurred. Mr. William B. Wilson, of Philadelphia, was in 
 the military telegraph office of the War Department from the 
 first of May, 1861, and in some unpublished recollections 
 of Mr. Lincoln he recalls an incident illustrating admirably 
 the President s informal relation to the telegraph office. Mr. 
 Wilson had been sent to the White House hurriedly to re 
 peat an important message from an excited Governor. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln considered it of sufficient importance," 
 writes Mr. Wilson, " to return with me to the War Depart 
 ment for the purpose of having a wire-talk with the per 
 turbed Governor. Calling one of his two younger boys to 
 join him, we then started from the White House, between 
 stately trees, along a gravel path which led to the rear of the 
 old War Department building. It was a warm day, and Mr. 
 Lincoln wore as part of his costume a faded gray linen duster 
 which hung loosely around his long gaunt frame ; his kindly 
 eye was beaming with good nature, and his ever-thoughtful 
 brow was unruffled. We had barely reached the gravel walk 
 before he stooped over, picked up a round smooth pebble, 
 and shooting it off his thumb, challenged us to a game of 
 followings/ which we accepted. Each in turn tried to hit 
 the outlying stone, which was being constantly projected on 
 ward by the President. The game was short, but exciting ; 
 the cheerfulness of childhood, the ambition of young man- 
 
THE BEGINNING OP CIVIL WAR 49 
 
 hood, and the gravity of the statesman were all injected into 
 it. The game was not won until the steps of the War De 
 partment were reached. Every inch of progression was 
 toughly contested, and when the President was declared 
 victor, it was only by a hand span. He appeared to be as 
 much pleased as if he had won a battle, and softened the 
 defeat of the vanquished by attributing his success to his 
 greater height of person and longer reach of arm." 
 
 One noticeable feature of Mr. Lincoln s life, at this time, 
 was his relation to the common soldier. Officers he re 
 spected, even deferred to, but from the first arrival of troops 
 in Washington it was the man on foot, with a gun on his 
 shoulder, that had Mr. Lincoln s heart. Even at this early 
 period the men found it out, and went to him confidently for 
 favors refused elsewhere. Thus the franking of letters by 
 Congressmen was one of the perquisites of the boys, and 
 there are cases of their going to the President with letters 
 to be franked when they failed to find, or were refused by, 
 their Congressman. But they also soon learned that trivial 
 pleas or complaints were met by rebukes as caustic as the 
 help they received was genuine when they had a just cause. 
 General Sherman relates the following incident that befell 
 one day when he was riding through camp with Mr. Lin 
 coln: 
 
 " I saw/ says the general, " an officer with whom I had 
 had a little difficulty that morning. His face was pale and 
 his lips compressed. I foresaw a scene, but sat on the front 
 seat of the carriage as quiet as a lamb. The officer forced 
 his way through the crowd to the carriage, and said : Mr. 
 President, I have a cause of grievance. This morning I went 
 to speak to Colonel Sherman, and he threatened to shoot me/ 
 Mr. Lincoln said : Threatened to shoot you ? * Yes, sir, 
 threatened to shoot me. Mr. Lincoln looked at him, then at 
 me, and stooping his tall form towards the officer, said to 
 him, in a loud stage whisper, easily heard for some yards 
 (4) 
 
50 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 around, f Well, if I were you, and he threatened to shoot me, 
 I would not trust him, for I believe he would do it/ " 
 
 It is curious to note in the records of the time how soon, 
 not only the soldiers, but the general public of Washington 
 discovered the big heart of the new President. A cor 
 respondent of the Philadelphia " Press," in a letter of May 
 23, tells how he saw Mr. Lincoln one day sitting in his 
 " new barouche " in front of the Treasury, awaiting Mr. 
 Chase, when there came along a boy on crutches. Lincoln 
 immediately called the boy to him, asked him several ques 
 tions, and then slipped a gold piece into his hands. " Such 
 acts of liberality and disinterested charity," said the cor 
 respondent, " are frequently practiced by our Executive, 
 who can never look upon distress without attempting to re 
 lieve it." 
 
 As soon as the first rush of soldiers to Washington was 
 over and the Capital was comparatively safe, Mr. Lincoln 
 began to take a drive every afternoon. It was among the 
 soldiers that he went almost invariably. Indeed, it was im 
 possible to escape the camps, so fully was the city turned 
 over to the military. The Capitol, Inauguration Ball-room, 
 Patent Office, and other public buildings were used as tem 
 porary quarters for incoming troops. The Corcoran Art 
 Gallery had been turned into a store-house for army supplies. 
 A bakery was established in the basement of the Capitol. 
 The Twelfth New York was in Franklin Park. At the 
 Georgetown College was another regiment. On Meridian 
 Hill the Seventh New York was stationed. Everywhere 
 were soldiers. Mr. Lincoln and his Cabinet officers drove 
 daily to one or another of these camps. Very often his out 
 ing for the day was attending some ceremony incident to 
 camp life: a military funeral, a camp wedding, a review, a 
 flag-raising. He did not often make speeches. " I have 
 made a great many poor speeches," he said one day, in ex- 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 51 
 
 cusing himself, " and I now feel relieved that my dignity 
 does not permit me to be a public speaker." 
 
 All through these early days of calling the army to Wash 
 ington there was little to make one feel how terrible a thing 
 it is to collect and prepare men for battle. So far it was the 
 splendid outburst of patriotism, the dash of adventure, the 
 holiday gaiety of it all, which had impressed the country. 
 There were critics now who said, as they had said before the 
 inauguration and again before the firing on Fort Sumter, 
 that the President did not understand what was going on 
 before his eyes. General Sherman himself confesses his 
 irritation at what seemed to him an unbecoming placidity on 
 the part of Mr. Lincoln. The General had just come from 
 Louisiana. " How are they getting on down there? " asked 
 the President. 
 
 " They are getting on swimmingly," Sherman replied. 
 " They are preparing for war." 
 
 " Oh, well," Lincoln said, " I guess we ll manage to keep 
 house." 
 
 More penetrating observers saw something else in the 
 President, an inner man, wrestling incessantly with an awful 
 problem. N. P. Willis, who saw him at one of the many 
 flag-raisings of that spring, records an impression common 
 enough among thoughtful observers : 
 
 " There was a momentary interval," writes Willis, " while 
 the band played the Star-Spangled Banner, and during this 
 * brief waiting for the word, all eyes, of course, were on the 
 President s face, in which (at least for those near enough 
 to see it well) there was the same curious problem of expres 
 sion which has been more than once noticed by the close 
 observer of that singular countenance the two-fold working 
 of the twofold nature of the man. Lincoln the Westerner, 
 slightly humorous but thoroughly practical and sagacious, 
 was measuring the chore that was to be done, and wonder 
 ing whether that string was going to draw that heap of stuff 
 
$2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 through the hole in the top of the partition, determining that 
 it should, but seeing clearly that it was mechanically 
 a badly arranged job, and expecting the difficulty that did 
 actually occur. Lincoln the President and statesman was 
 another nature, seen in those abstract and serious eyes, which 
 seemed withdrawn to an inner sanctuary of thought, sitting 
 in judgment on the scene and feeling its far reach into the 
 future. A whole man, and an exceedingly handy and joyous 
 one, was to hoist the flag, but an anxious and reverent and 
 deep-thinking statesman and patriot was to stand apart while 
 it went up and pray God for its long waving and sacred wel 
 fare. Completely, and yet separately, the one strange face 
 told both stories, and told them well." 
 
 By the middle of May, 1861, the problem of Mr. Lincoln s 
 life was how to use the army he had called together. The 
 capital was now well guarded. Troops were at Norfolk, 
 Baltimore, and Harper s Ferry, the points at which the Con 
 federates had made their earliest demonstrations. The un 
 certainty as to whether Kentucky would leave the Union had 
 imperiled the line of the Ohio and compelled military demon 
 strations at Cincinnati and Cairo, and in Missouri the strug 
 gle between the Northern and Southern sympathizers had 
 become so violent that a Military Department had been cre 
 ated there. Thus the President had a zig-zag line of troops 
 running from Missouri eastward to Norfolk. The bulk of all 
 the troops however, were in and around Washington. The 
 North had been urging the President, from the day it an 
 swered his first call, to advance the volunteers into Virginia. 
 " Don t establish batteries on Georgetown Heights," wrote 
 Zachariah Chandler from Michigan on April 17. "March 
 your troops into Virginia. Quarter them there." Finally, 
 about the middle of May, the President decided that a move 
 ment across the river should be made, the object being to 
 seize the heights from Arlington south to Alexandria. Mr f 
 Lincoln had the success of this movement deeply at heart* 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 53 
 
 The Confederate flag flying from a staff at Alexandria had 
 been a constant eyesore to him. Again and again he was seen 
 standing with a gloomy face before one of the south win 
 dows of the White House looking through a glass at this 
 flag. 
 
 The time for the advance was set for the night of May 
 23. By morning, Arlington, the shores of the Potomac 
 southward, and the town of Alexandria were occupied by 
 Federal troops. The enemy had fled at their approach. The 
 flag which had caused Mr. Lincoln so much pain was gone, 
 but its removal had cost a life very precious to the President. 
 Young Colonel Ellsworth, one of the most brilliant officers 
 in the volunteer service, a man whom the President had 
 brought to Washington and for whom he felt the warmest 
 affection, had been shot. 
 
 The Arlington heights seized, the army lay for weeks in 
 active. The one movement for which the North now clam 
 ored was a march from Arlington to Richmond. The delay 
 to move made the country irritable and sarcastic. Perhaps 
 thecompletest expression of the discontent of the North with 
 the military policy of the Administration is found in the New 
 York " Tribune/ For days, beginning early in June, that 
 paper kept standing at the head of its editorial columns what 
 it called " The Nation s War Cry." " Forward to Rich 
 mond. Forward to Richmond. The Rebel Congress must 
 not be allowed to meet there on the 2Oth of July. By that 
 date the place must be held by the National Army." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was as anxious for a successful movement 
 southward as any man in the country ; but for some time he 
 resisted the popular outcry, giving his generals the oppor 
 tunity to make ready for which they begged. At last, to 
 wards the end of June, he decided that an advance must be 
 made, and he summoned his Cabinet and the leading mili 
 tary men near Washington to meet him on the evening of 
 
54 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 June 29 and discuss the advisability of and the plans for 
 an immediate attack on the enemy s army, then entrenched 
 at Manassas Junction, some twenty miles southwest of 
 Washington. The Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Gen 
 eral Scott, opposed the advance. He had another plan of 
 campaign; the army was not ready. But Mr. Lincoln in 
 sisted that the country demanded a movement, and that if 
 the Federal army was " green," so was that of the Con 
 federates. General Scott waived his objections, and the ad 
 vance was ordered for July 9. 
 
 Before the battle came off, however, the President wished 
 to impress again on the North what it was fighting for. On 
 July 4, when he sent his message to Congress, which he had 
 summoned in extra session, he put before them clearly his 
 theory of and justification for the war. 
 
 " This is essentially a people s contest. On the side of the 
 Union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that 
 form and substance of government whose leading object is to 
 elevate the condition of men to lift artificial weights from 
 all shoulders ; to clear the paths of laudable pursuits for all ; 
 to afford all an unfettered start, and a fair chance in the race 
 of life. Yielding to partial and temporary departure from 
 necessity, this is the leading object of -the government for 
 whose existence we contend. . . . 
 
 " Our popular government has often been called an ex 
 periment. Two points in it our people have already settled 
 the successful establishing and the successful administering 
 of it. One still remains its successful maintenance against 
 a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for 
 them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly 
 carry an election can also suppress a rebellion ; that ballots 
 are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets ; and that 
 when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there 
 can be no successful appeal back to bullets ; that there can be 
 no successful appeal except to ballots themselves at succeed 
 ing elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace ; teaching 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 55 
 
 men that what they cannot take by election, neither can 
 they take it by a war ; teaching all the folly of being the be 
 ginners of a war. . . . 
 
 " As a private citizen the executive could not have con 
 sented that the institutions of this country shall perish ; much 
 less could he, in betrayal of so vast and so sacred a trust as 
 the free people have confided to him. He felt that he had no 
 moral right to shrink, nor even to count the chances of his 
 own life in what might follow. In full view of his great 
 responsibility he has, so far, done what he has deemed his 
 duty. You will now, according to your own judgment, per 
 form yours. He sincerely hopes that your views and your 
 actions may so accord with his, as to assure all faithful citi 
 zens who have been disturbed in their rights of a certain and 
 speedy restoration to them, under the Constitution and the 
 laws. 
 
 " And having thus chosen our course, without guile and 
 with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go for 
 ward without fear and with manly hearts." 
 
 With these words Mr. Lincoln started the first War Con 
 gress on its duties and the Army of Northeastern Virginia 
 towards Bull Run. 
 
 The advance of the Federals from Arlington towards Ma- 
 nassas Junction had been ordered for July 9. For one and 
 another reason, however, it w 7 as July 21 before the army 
 was ready to attack. The day was Sunday, a brilliant, hot 
 Washington day. Anxious as Mr. Lincoln was over the 
 coming battle, he went to church as usual. It was while he 
 was there that a distant roar of cannon, the first sounds of 
 the battle, only twenty miles away, reached him. Returning 
 to the White House after the services, the President s first in 
 quiry was for news. Telegrams had just begun to come in. 
 They continued at intervals all the afternoon broken re 
 ports from now this, now that, part of the field. Although 
 fragmentary, they were as a whole encouraging. The Presi 
 dent studied them carefully, and after a time went over to 
 
56 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 General Scott s headquarters to talk the news over with him 
 By half-past five he felt so sure that the field was won that 
 he went out for his usual afternoon drive. What happened 
 at the White House then the only eye witnesses, his secre 
 taries, have told in their History : 
 
 " He had not returned when, at six o clock, Secretary Sew- 
 ard came to the Executive Mansion, pale and haggard. 
 Where is the President ? he asked hoarsely of the private 
 secretaries. Gone to drive, they answered. Have you 
 any late news ? he continued. They read him the telegrams 
 which announced victory. Tell no one/ said he. That 
 is not true. The battle is lost. The telegraph says that Mc 
 Dowell is in full retreat and calls on General Scott to save 
 the capital. Find the President and tell him to come imme 
 diately to General Scott s. 
 
 " Half an hour later the President returned from his drive, 
 and his private secretaries gave him Seward s message, the 
 first intimation he received of the trying news. He listened 
 in silence, without the slightest change of feature or expres 
 sion, and walked away to army headquarters. There he read 
 the unwelcome report in a telegram from a captain of engi 
 neers : General McDowell s army in full retreat through 
 Centreville. The day is lost. Save Washington and the 
 remnants of this army. . . The routed troops will not 
 reform. 
 
 From that time on, for at least twenty-four hours, a con 
 tinuous stream of tales of disaster was poured upon Mr. Lin 
 coln. A number of public men had gone from Washington 
 to see the battle. Ex- Senator Dawes, who was among them, 
 says that General Scott urged him to go, telling him that it 
 was undoubtedly the only battle he would ever have a chance 
 to see. About midnight they began to return. They came 
 in haggard, worn, and horror-stricken, and a number of 
 them repaired to the White House, where Mr. Lincoln, lying 
 on his office sofa, listened to their tales of the panic that had 
 seized the army about four in the afternoon and of the re^ 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 5? 
 
 treat that had followed. All of those who returned that 
 night to Washington were positive that the Confederates 
 would attack the city before morning. 
 
 The events of the next day were no less harrowing to Mr. 
 Lincoln than those of the night. A drizzling rain was fall 
 ing, and from daybreak there could be seen, crowding and 
 staggering across the Long Bridge, hundreds of soldiers, civ 
 ilians, negroes, and horses. Hour by hour the streets of the 
 city grew fuller. On the corners white-faced women stood 
 beside boilers of coffee, feeding the exhausted men. Now 
 and then the remnants of a regiment or company which 
 somehow had kept together marched up the street, mud- 
 splashed and dejected. One of the most pathetic sights of the 
 day was the return of Burnside and his men. The regiment 
 and its handsome general had been one of the town s de 
 lights. Now they came back broken in numbers and so over 
 come with fatigue that man after man dropped in the streets 
 as he marched, while slowly in front, his head on his breast, 
 the reins on the neck of his exhausted horse, rode Burnside. 
 
 Before Monday night, it was known that the enemy was 
 not following up his advantage. Two days later the Union 
 army was reintrenched on Arlington heights. A revulsion 
 of feeling had already begun. The effort to make out the 
 rout to be as complete and terrible as it could be, was fol 
 lowed by an attempt to show that it was nothing but a panic 
 among teamsters and sight-seers. Mr. Lincoln was asked to 
 listen to a number of these explanations. " Ah, I see," he 
 said to one vindicator of the day, " we whipped the enemy, 
 and then ran away from him." 
 
 Explanations of the Battle of Bull Run did not interest the 
 President. He was giving his whole mind to repairing the 
 disaster. Two days later, July 23, he wrote out the follow 
 ing " Memoranda of Military Policy suggested by the Bull 
 Run Defeat." Nicolay and Hay, to whose history we owe 
 
58 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 this document, say that the President made the first notes 
 of this " policy " while men were bringing him news of the 
 disaster. 
 
 1. Let the plan for making the blockade effective be 
 pushed forward with all possible dispatch. 
 
 2. Let the volunteer forces at Fort Monroe and vicinity 
 under General Butler be constantly drilled, disciplined, and 
 instructed without more for the present. 
 
 3. Let Baltimore be held as now, with a gentle but firm 
 and certain hand. 
 
 4. Let the force now under Patterson or Banks be 
 strengthened and made secure in its position. 
 
 5. Let the forces in Western Virginia act till further or 
 ders according to instructions or orders from General Mc- 
 Clellan. 
 
 6. Let General Fremont push forward his organization 
 and operations in the West as rapidly as possible, giving 
 rather special attention to Missouri. 
 
 7. Let the forces late before Manassas, except the three 
 months men, be reorganized as rapidly as possible in their 
 camps here and about Arlington. 
 
 8. Let the three months forces who decline to enter the 
 longer service be discharged as rapidly as circumstances will 
 permit. 
 
 9. Let the new volunteer forces be brought forward as 
 fast as possible; and especially into the camps on the two 
 sides of the river here. 
 
 July 27, 1 86 1. 
 
 When the foregoing shall be substantially attended to : 
 
 1. Let Manassas Junction (or some point on one or other 
 of the railroads near it) and Strasburg be seized, ar>d per 
 manently held, with an open line from Washington to Ma 
 nassas, and an open line from Harper s Ferry to Strasburg 
 the military men to find the way of doing these. 
 
 2. This done, a joint movement from Cairo on Memphis; 
 and from Cincinnati on East Tennessee. 
 
 It was to points 7, 8 and 9 of the above memorandum that 
 the President gave his first attention. 
 
THE BEGINNING OF CIVIL WAR 59 
 
 Congress, prostrated as it was by the unexpected defeat, 
 stood by Lincoln bravely, voting him men and money. Re 
 sources he was not going to lack. The confidence of the 
 country was what he needed. To stimulate this confidence, 
 Mr. Lincoln and his advisers summoned to Washington, on 
 July 22, George B. McClellan, the only man who had thus 
 far accomplished anything in the war on which the North 
 looked with pride, and asked him to take the command of 
 the demoralized army. A more effective move could not 
 have been made. 
 
 McClellan was a West Point graduate who had seen serv 
 ice in the Mexican War, but who, in the spring of 1861 held 
 a position as a railroad president. His home was in Cincin 
 nati. After the fall of Sumter the fear of invasion spread 
 rapidly westward from Washington. On, April 21 the 
 Governor of Ohio wired the Secretary of War that he desired 
 a suitable United States officer to be detailed at once to take 
 command of the volunteers of Cincinnati and to provide for 
 the defense of that city, and the next day several leading men 
 wired that the " People of Cincinnati " wished Captain 
 McClellan to be appointed to the position. 
 
 A month later, when West Virginia had decided to stay 
 with the Union and Eastern Virginia had decided to coerce 
 her to remain with the South, McClellan, who had been put 
 in charge of the Ohio troops as his friends requested, was 
 ordered to protect the Unionists of the section against the 
 Southern army. Early in July he undertook an offensive 
 campaign against the enemy, completely driving him from 
 the country in less than three weeks. McClellan announced 
 his victories in a series of addresses which thrilled the North. 
 They saw in him a great general, a second Napoleon and 
 were satisfied when he was put in charge of the army that the 
 disgrace of Bull Run would be speedily wiped out. 
 
 While occupied in reorganizing and increasing the army, 
 
60 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Mr. Lincoln did his best to improve the morale of officers 
 and men. One of the first things he did, in fact, after the 
 battle was to " run over and see the boys," as he expressed 
 it. General Sherman, who was with Mr. Lincoln as he 
 drove about the camps on this visit, says that he made one of 
 the " neatest, best, and most feeling addresses " he ever lis 
 tened to, and that its effect on the troops was " excellent." 
 As often as he could after this, Mr. Lincoln went to the Ar 
 lington camps. Frequently in these visits he left his car 
 riage and walked up and down the lines shaking hands with 
 the men, repeating heartily as he did so, " God bless you, 
 God bless you." Before a month had passed, he saw that 
 under McClellan s training the Army of the Potomac, as it 
 had come to be called, had recovered almost completely from 
 the panic of Bull Run, and that it was growing every day in 
 efficiency. But scarcely had his anxiety over the condition 
 of things around Washington been allayed, before a grave 
 problem was raised in the West. The severest criticisms be 
 gan to come to him on the conduct of a man whom he had 
 made a major-general and whom he had put in command 
 of the important Western division, John C. Fremont. The 
 force of these criticisms was intensified by serious disasters 
 to the Union troops in Missouri. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE FAILURE OF FREMONT LINCOLN^ FIRST DIFFICULTIES 
 
 WITH McCLELLAN THE DEATH OF WILLIE LINCOLN 
 
 THE most popular military appointment Lincoln made be 
 fore McClellan was that of John C. Fremont to the command 
 of the Department of the West. Republicans appreciated it, 
 for had not Fremont been the first candidate of their party 
 for the Presidency? The West was jubilant : Fremont s ex 
 plorations had years before made him the hero of the land 
 along the Mississippi. The cabinet was satisfied, particularly 
 Postmaster-General Blair, whose " pet and protege " Fre 
 mont was. Lincoln himself " thought well of Fremont," 
 believed he could do the work to be done; and he had al 
 ready had experience enough to discern that his great trou 
 ble was to be, not finding major-generals he had more pegs 
 than holes to put them in, he said one day but finding ma 
 jor-generals who could do the thing they were ordered to do. 
 
 Fremont had gone to his headquarters at St. Louis, Mis 
 souri, late in July. Before a month had passed, the gravest 
 charges of incompetency and neglect of duty were being 
 made against him. It was even intimated to the President 
 that the General was using his position to work up a North 
 western Confederacy.* Mr. Lincoln had listened to all these 
 
 * Dr. Emil Preetorius, editor of the " Westliche Post " of St. Louis, 
 Mo., said of this charge, in an interview for this work : " I know that 
 Fremont gave no countenance to any scheme which others may have 
 conceived for the establishment of a Northwestern Confederacy. I had 
 abundant proof, through the years that I knew him, that he was a patriot 
 and a most unselfish man. The de_fect in Fremont was that he was a 
 dreamer. Impractical, visionary things went a long way with him. He 
 was a poor judge of men and formed strange associations. He sur 
 rounded himself with foreigners, especially Hungarians, most of whom 
 
 61 
 
62 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 charges, but taken no action, when, on the morning of Aug 
 ust 30, he was amazed to read it in his newspaper that Fre 
 mont had issued a proclamation declaring, among other 
 things, that the property, real and personal, of all the per 
 sons in the State of Missouri who should take up arms 
 against the United States, or who should be directly proved 
 to have taken an active part with its enemies in the field, 
 would be confiscated to public use and their slaves, if they 
 had any, declared freemen. 
 
 Fremont s proclamation astonished the country as much 
 as it did the President. In the North it elicited almost uni 
 versal satisfaction. This was striking at the root of the 
 trouble slavery. But in the Border States, particularly in 
 Kentucky, the Union party was dismayed. The only possi 
 ble method of keeping those sections in the Union was not 
 to interfere with slavery. Mr. Lincoln saw this as clearly 
 as his Border State supporters. It was well known that this 
 was his policy. He felt that Fremont had not only defied 
 the policy of the administration, he had usurped power which 
 belonged only to the legislative part of the government. He 
 had a good excuse for reprimanding the general, even for 
 removing him. Instead, he wrote him, on September 2, a 
 most kindly letter : 
 
 I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph 
 [of the proclamation], in relation to the confiscation of 
 property and the liberating slaves of traitorous owners, will 
 
 were adventurers and some of whom were swindlers. I struggled hard 
 to persuade him not to fet these men have so much to do with his ad 
 ministration. Mrs. Fremont, unlike the General, was most practical. 
 She was fond of success. She and the General were alike, however, in 
 their notions of the loyalty due between friends. Once, when I pro 
 tested against the character of the men who surrounded Fremont, she 
 replied : * Do you know these very men went out with us on horseback 
 when we took possession of the Mariposa? They risked their lives for 
 us. Now we can t go back on them. It was the woman s feeling. She 
 forgot that brave men may sometimes be downright thieves and rob 
 bers." 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 63 
 
 alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against 
 us ; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Al 
 low me, therefore, to ask that you will, as of your own mo 
 tion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and 
 fourth sections of the act of Congress entitled, " An act to 
 confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," ap 
 proved August 6, 1 86 1, and a copy of which act I herewith 
 send you. 
 
 This letter is written in a spirit of caution, and not of cen 
 sure. I send it by special messenger, in order that it may 
 certainly and speedily reach you. 
 
 But Lincoln did more than this. Without waiting for 
 Fremont s reply to the above, he went over carefully all the 
 criticisms on the General s administration, in order to see 
 if he could help him. His conclusion was that Fremont was 
 isolating himself too much from men who were interested 
 in the same cause, and so did not know what was going on 
 in the very matter he was dealing with. That Mr. Lincoln 
 hit the very root of Fremont s difficulty is evident from the 
 testimony of the men who were with the General in Mis 
 souri at the time. Colonel George E. Leighton of St. Louis, 
 who became provost-marshal of the city in the fall of 1861, 
 says: 
 
 Fremont isolated himself, and, unlike Grant, Halleck, and 
 others of like rank, was unapproachable. When Halleck 
 came here to assume command and called on Fremont, he 
 was accompanied simply by a member of his staff ; but when 
 Fremont returned the call, he rode down with great pomp 
 and ceremony, escorted by his staff an4 bodyguard of one 
 hundred men. 
 
 General B. G. Farrar recounts his experience in trying to 
 get an important message to Fremont from General Lyon, 
 who was at Springfield with an insufficient force: 
 
 Word was returned to me that General Fremont was very 
 busy, that he could not receive the dispatch then, and re- 
 
04 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 quested me to call in the afternoon. I called in the after 
 noon, and was again told that General Fremont was very 
 busy. Three days passed before I succeeded in obtaining an 
 audience with Fremont. As commander of the department 
 Fremont assumed all the prerogatives of an absolute ruler. 
 The approach to his headquarters was through a long line 
 of guards. There were guards at the corners of the streets, 
 guards at the gate, guards at the door, guards at the entrance 
 to the adjutant-general s office, and a whole regiment of 
 troops in the barracks adjacent to his headquarters. I saw 
 his order making Colonel Harding of the home guard a 
 brigadier-general. This was done without consultation 
 with the President and without authority of law. The Czar 
 of Russia could hardly be more absolute in his authority than 
 Fremont assumed to be at St. Louis. . . . Fremont never 
 asked Washington for authority to do a thing. While at 
 St. Louis Fremont visited nobody, so far as I know. When 
 he went forth from his headquarters at all he went under the 
 escort of his bodyguard and a staff brilliantly uniformed. 
 When he removed his headquarters to Jefferson City he went 
 on a special train, with all the trappings and surroundings of 
 a royal potentate. ..." 
 
 Having made up his mind what Fremont s fault was, Lin 
 coln asked General David Hunter to go to Missouri. " He 
 [Fremont] needs to have at his side a man of large experi 
 ence/ he wrote to Hunter. " Will you not, for me, take 
 that place ? Your rank is one grade too high to be ordered 
 to it, but will you not serve the country and oblige me by 
 taking it voluntarily ? " At the same time that Hunter was 
 asked to go to Fremont s relief, Postmaster-General Blair 
 went to St. Louis, with the President s approbation, to talk 
 with the General " as a friend." 
 
 In the meantime, Lincoln s letter of September 2 had 
 reached Fremont. After a few days the General replied that 
 he wished the President himself would make the general or 
 der modifying the clause of the proclamation which referred 
 to the liberation of slaves. This letter he sent by his wife, 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 65 
 
 Jessie Benton Fremont, a woman of ambition and great en 
 ergy of character. " While Fremont was in command of 
 the Department, Mrs. Fremont was the real chief of staff," 
 says Col. Geo. F. Leighton. " She was a woman of strong 
 personality, having inherited much of the brains and force 
 of character which distinguished her father, Senator Ben- 
 ton." " Mrs. Fremont was much like her father," says Judge 
 Clover of St. Louis. " She was intellectual and possessed 
 great force of will." She started East deeply indignant that 
 Mr. Lincoln should ask her husband to modify his procla 
 mation. When she reached Washington, she learned that 
 Mr. Blair had gone to St. Louis. Jumping to the conclusion 
 that it was with an order to remove her husband she hastened 
 to Mr. Lincoln. It was midnight, but the President gave 
 her an audience. Without waiting for an explanation, she 
 violently charged him with sending an enemy to Missouri, 
 to look into Fremont s case and threatening that if Fremont 
 desired to he could set up a government for himself. " I 
 had to exercise all the rude tact I have to avoid quarrelling 
 with her," said Mr. Lincoln afterwards. 
 
 The day after this interview Lincoln sent the order modi 
 fying the clause as Fremont had requested. When this was 
 made public, a perfect storm of denunciation broke over the 
 President. The whole North felt outraged. There was talk 
 of impeaching Lincoln and of replacing him with Fremont. 
 Great newspapers criticised his action, warning him to learn 
 whither he was tending. Influential men in all professions 
 spoke bitterly of his action. " How many times," wrote 
 James Russell Lowell to Miss Norton, " are we to save Ken 
 tucky and lose our self-respect?" The hardest of these 
 criticisms for Lincoln to bear were those from his old friends 
 in Illinois, nearly all of whom supported Fremont. 
 
 The general supposition throughout the country at this 
 time was that the President would remove Fremont. He, 
 (5) 
 
66 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 however, had no idea of dismissing the General on the 
 ground of the proclamation, and he hoped, as he wrote to 
 Senator Browning, that no real necessity existed for it on 
 any ground. The hope was vain. Disasters to the Union 
 army, the evident result of the General s inefficiency, and 
 positive proofs of corruption in the management of the finan 
 cial affairs of the Department, multiplied. In spite of ex 
 postulations and threats from Fremont s supporters, Lincoln 
 decided to remove him. But he would not do it without 
 giving him a last chance. In sending the order for his re 
 moval and the appointment of General Hunter to his place, 
 he directed that it was not to be delivered if there was any 
 evidence that Fremont had fought, or was about to fight, a 
 battle. It was not only Lincoln s sense of justice which led 
 him to give a last chance to Fremont ; it was a part of that 
 far-seeing political wisdom of his not to displace men until 
 they themselves had demonstrated their unfitness so clearly 
 that even their friends must finally agree that he had done 
 right. 
 
 It was generally believed in Missouri that Fremont had 
 decided to receive no bearer of despatches, so that if the 
 President did remove him he could say that he never had 
 been informed of the fact. General Curtis, to whom Lin 
 coln forwarded his order by his friend Leonard Swett 
 knowing this, sent copies by three separate messengers to 
 Fremont s headquarters. The one who delivered it first was 
 General T. I. McKenny, now of Olympia, Washington. His 
 story, written out for this work, is good evidence of the pass 
 to which things had come in Fremont s department : 
 
 About three o clock at night, on October 27, 1861, I think 
 it was, I was awakened by a messenger stating that General 
 Curtis desired to see me at his headquarters. I found Leon 
 ard Swett there with the General, who informed me that he 
 had an important message from the President to be taken 
 
THE FAILURE OP FREMONT 67 
 
 to General Fremont, then in the field, it not being known 
 where. I was shown the order that I was to convey, that 
 General Fremont was relieved of his command of the De 
 partment of the West and General Hunter placed tempo 
 rarily in his stead. Aside from this, I had special instruc 
 tions which I understood were Mr. Lincoln s own 
 
 ist. If General Fremont had fought and gained a decided 
 victory not a mere skirmish then not to deliver the mes 
 sage. 
 
 2d. If he was in the immediate presence of the enemy and 
 about to begin a battle, not to deliver it. 
 
 3d. If neither of these conditions prevailed, to deliver it 
 and to make it known immediately, as it was thought that he 
 was determined to receive no orders superseding him. 
 
 I immediately went to St. Louis, waked up a second-hand 
 dealer in clothing and fitted myself out as a Southern planter, 
 and then took the train for Rolla, Missouri. There I secured 
 horses and a guide, and about two o clock at night rode rap 
 idly south in the direction of Springfield, Missouri, where I 
 expected to find Fremont. I rode this distance principally 
 in the night, passing through the small rebel towns at a very 
 rapid gait. About 117 miles from Rolla I reached the outer 
 cordon of Fremont s pickets. Here I had difficulty getting 
 through the lines, as the instructions to the guard were very 
 stringent. When I finally got in, there being no immediate 
 prospects of a battle, I straightway made my way to Fre 
 mont s headquarters, where I met the officer of the day, who 
 told me that I could not see General Fremont, but that he 
 would introduce me to his chief of staff, Colonel Eaton. The 
 latter also told me that I could not see the General ; but if I 
 would make my business known to him, that he would com 
 municate it to Fremont. This I positively refused to do. 
 He returned to Fremont, and communicated what I had said, 
 but it had no effect. Late in the evening, however, I was 
 hunted up by Colonel Eaton, who took me to General Fre 
 mont s office. 
 
 The General was sitting at the end of quite a long table 
 facing the door by which I entered. I never can forget the 
 appearance of the man as he sat there, with his piercing eye, 
 and his hair parted in the middle. I ripped from my coat 
 
r 68 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 lining the document, which had been sewed in there, and 
 handed the same to him, which he nervously took and opened. 
 He glanced at the superscription, and then at the signature at 
 the bottom, not looking at the contents. A frown came over 
 his brow, and he slammed the paper down on the table, and 
 said, " Sir, how did you get admission into my lines? " I 
 told him that I had come in as a messenger bearing informa 
 tion from the rebel lines. He waved me out, saying, " That 
 will do for the present." 
 
 I had orders to make the contents of the document known 
 as soon as delivered. The first man I met was General Stur- 
 gis, to whom I gave the information. I was then overtaken 
 by the chief of staff, Eaton, who said that General Fremont 
 was much disappointed with the communication, as he had 
 thought that I had information from the rebel forces, and 
 that he requested me not to make the message known for the 
 present. 
 
 I then told Colonel Eaton that I had important despatches 
 for General Hunter and would like transportation and a 
 guide, and he remarked that he would consult General Fre 
 mont on the subject. He soon returned with the informa 
 tion that Fremont did not know where General Hunter was 
 and refused to give me any transportation, saying that he had 
 been relieved and had no authority to do so. I then went to 
 a self-styled " Colonel " Richardson, who had a kind of ma 
 rauding company, having been mustered into neither the 
 United States service nor the State service. I gave him to 
 understand that I would use my influence to have him regu 
 larly mustered into the service, whereupon he furnished me 
 with a good horse and a pretended guide. I could get no 
 information in regard to Hunter, but there was a rumor that 
 he was making towards Springfield and was in the region 
 of a place called Buffalo. I therefore started out about eleven 
 o clock at night on the Buffalo road, and, after great diffi 
 culty, reached the town about daylight, but I could hear 
 nothing of General Hunter. I left my guide, and started out 
 on the road to Bolivar. I had not proceeded more than 
 twelve or fifteen miles before I heard the rattling of horses 
 hoofs in my rear. I stopped to await their arrival, and found 
 that they were a small detachment of Hunter s troops to in- 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 69 
 
 form me that the General had just arrived in Buffalo, where 
 upon I retraced my steps and delivered my message. General 
 Hunter immediately started for Springfield in a four-mule 
 ambulance. Arriving, he issued a short proclamation as 
 suming command. It was thought by some that this would 
 produce a mutiny among the foreign element. It did not. 
 
 It was not in the West alone that the President was suffer 
 ing disappointment. At the time when Fremont received the 
 order retiring him, McClellan had been in command of the 
 Army of the Potomac for over three months. His force had 
 been increased until it numbered over 168,000 men. He had 
 given night and day to organizing and drilling this army, 
 and it seemed to those who watched him that he now had a 
 force as near ready for battle as an army could be made 
 ready by anything save actual fighting. Mr. Lincoln had 
 fully sympathized with his young general s desire to pre 
 pare the Army of the Potomac for the field, and he had given 
 him repeated proofs of his support. McClellan, however, 
 seems to have felt from the first that Mr. Lincoln s kindness 
 was merely a personal recognition of his own military ge 
 nius. He had conceived the idea that it was he alone who 
 was to save the country. " The people call upon me to save 
 the country," he wrote to his wife. " I must save it, and 
 cannot respect anything that is in the way." The President s 
 suggestions, when they did not agree with his own ideas, he 
 regarded as an interference. Thus he imagined that the 
 enemy had three or four times his force, and when the Presi 
 dent doubted this he complained, " The President cannot or 
 will not see the true state of affairs." Lincoln, in his anxiety 
 to know the details of the work in the army, went frequently 
 to McClellan s headquarters. That the President had a 
 serious purpose in these visits McClellan did not see. " I 
 enclose a card just received from A. Lincoln, " he wrote to 
 his wife one day ; " it shows too much deference to be seen 
 
70 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 outside/ In another letter to Mrs. McClellan he spoke of 
 being "interrupted" by the President and Secretary Seward, 
 " who had nothing in particular to say," and again of con 
 cealing himself " to dodge all enemies in shape of brows 
 ing Presidents, etc." His plans he kept to himself, and 
 when at the Cabinet meetings, to which he was constantly 
 summoned, military matters were discussed, he seemed to 
 feel that it was an encroachment on his special business. " I 
 am becoming daily more disgusted with this Administration 
 perfectly sick of it," he wrote early in October; and a 
 few days later, " I was obliged to attend a meeting of the 
 Cabinet at 8 P. M. and was bored and annoyed. There are 
 some of the greatest geese in the Cabinet I have ever seen 
 enough to tax the patience of Job." 
 
 As time went on, he began to show plainly his contempt 
 of the President, frequently allowing him to wait in the ante 
 room of his house while he transacted business with others. 
 This discourtesy was so open that McClellan s staff noticed 
 it, and newspaper correspondents commented on it. The 
 President was too keen not to see the situation, but he was 
 strong enough to ignore it. It was a battle he wanted from 
 McClellan, not deference. " I will hold McClellan s horse, 
 if he will only bring us success," he said one day. 
 
 While there was a pretty general disposition at first to give 
 McClellan time to organize, before the first three months 
 were up Lincoln was receiving impatient comments on the 
 inactivity of the army. This impatience became anger and 
 dismay when, on October 21, the battle of Ball s Bluff 
 ended in defeat. To Mr. Lincoln, Ball s Bluff w^s more 
 than a military reverse. By it he suffered a terrible personal 
 loss, in the death of one of his oldest and dearest friends, 
 Colonel E. D. Baker. Mr. C. C. Coffin, who was at McClel 
 lan s headquarters when Lincoln received the news of his 
 friend s death, tells of the scene : 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT Jl 
 
 The afternoon was lovely, a rare October day. I learned 
 early in the day that something was going on up the Poto 
 mac, near Ed wards s Ferry, by the troops under General 
 Banks. What was going on no one knew, even at McClel 
 lan s headquarters. It was near sunset when, accompanied 
 by a fellow correspondent, I went to ascertain what was 
 taking place. We entered the ante-room, and sent our cards 
 to General McClellan. While we waited, President Lincoln 
 came in ; he recognized us, reached out his hand, spoke of the 
 beauty of the afternoon,while waiting for the return of the 
 young lieutenant who had gone to announce his arrival. The 
 lines were deeper in the President s face than when I saw him 
 in his own home, the cheeks more sunken. They had lines of 
 care and anxiety. For eighteen months he had borne a bur 
 den such as has fallen upon few men, a burden as weighty 
 as that which rested upon the great law-giver of Israel. 
 
 " Please to walk this way," said the lieutenant. We could 
 hear the click of the telegraph in the adjoining room and low 
 conversation between the President and General McClellan, 
 succeeded by silence, excepting the click, click of the instru 
 ment, which went on with its tale of disaster. Five minutes 
 passed, and then Mr. Lincoln, unattended, with bowed head 
 and tears rolling down his furrowed cheeks, his face pale 
 and wan, his breast heaving with emotion, passed through 
 the room. He almost fell as he stepped into the street. We 
 sprang involuntarily from our seats to render assistance, but 
 he did not fall. With both hands pressed upon his heart, he 
 walked down the street, not returning the salute of the senti 
 nel pacing his beat before the door. 
 
 General McClellan came a moment later. " I have not 
 much news to tell you/ he said. " There has been a move 
 ment of troops across the Potomac at Edwards s Ferry, 
 under General Stone, and Colonel Baker is reported killed. 
 That is about all I can give you." 
 
 After Ball s Bluff, the grumbling against inaction in the 
 Army of the Potomac increased until public attention was 
 suddenly distracted by an incident of an entirely new char 
 acter, and one_which changed the discouragement of the 
 
72 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 North over the repeated military failures and the inactivity 
 of the army into exultation. This incident was the capture, 
 on November 8, by Captain Wilkes, of the warship San 
 Jacinto, of two Confederate commissioners to Europe, 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell. Captain Wilkes had stopped 
 the British royal mail packet Trent, one day out from 
 Havana, and taken the envoys with their secretaries from 
 her. It was not until November 15 that Captain Wilkes put 
 into Hampton Roads and sent the Navy Department word of 
 his performance. 
 
 Of course the message was immediately carried to Mr. 
 Lincoln at the White House. A few hours later Benson J. 
 Lossing called on the President, and the conversation turned 
 on the news. Mr. Lincoln did not hesitate to express him 
 self. 
 
 " I fear the traitors will prove to be white elephants," he 
 said. " We must stick to American principles concerning 
 the rights of neutrals. We fought Great Britain for insist 
 ing by theory and practice on the right to do exactly what 
 Captain Wilkes has done. If Great Britain shall now pro 
 test against the act and demand their release, we must give 
 them up, apologize for the act as a violation of our doc 
 trines, and thus forever bind her over to keep the peace in 
 relation to neutrals, and so acknowledge that she has been 
 wrong for sixty years." 
 
 As time went on, Lincoln had every reason to suppose that 
 there was an overwhelming sentiment in the country in fa 
 vor of keeping the commissioners and braving the wrath of 
 England. Banquets and presentations, votes of thanks by 
 the cabinet and by Congress, all kinds of ovation, were ac 
 corded Captain Wilkes. During this excitement the Presi 
 dent held his peace, not even referring to the affair in themes- 
 sage he sent to Congress on December 3. He was studying 
 the situation. Before his inauguration he had said one day to 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 73 
 
 Seward : " One part of the business, Governor Seward, I 
 think I shall leave almost entirely in your hands ; that is, the 
 dealing with those foreign nations and their governments." 
 Now, however, he saw that he must exercise a controlling 
 influence. The person with whom he seems to have dis 
 cussed the case most seriously was Charles Sumner, the 
 chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. 
 
 Sumner was one of the few men who had from the first 
 believed in Lincoln. Although himself most radical, he had 
 been appreciative of the President-elect s point of view, and 
 had seen in the interval between the election and the inau 
 guration that, as a matter of fact, Lincoln was, on the es 
 sential question at issue, " firm as a chain of steel." Thus, 
 on January 26, he wrote, " Mr. Lincoln is perfectly firm. 
 He says that the Republican party shall not, with his assent, 
 become a mere sucked egg, all shell and no meat, the princi 
 ple all sucked out." Although himself a most polished, even 
 a fastidious gentleman, Sumner never allowed Lincoln s 
 homely ways to hide his great qualities. He gave him a re 
 spect and esteem at the start which others accorded only 
 after experience. The Senator was most tactful, too, in his 
 dealings with Mrs. Lincoln, and soon had a firm footing in 
 the household. That he was proud of this, perhaps a little 
 boastful, there is no doubt. Lincoln himself appreciated this. 
 " Sumner thinks he runs me," he said, with an amused twin 
 kle, one day. After tire seizure of Mason and Slidell, the 
 President talked over the question frequently with Sumner, 
 who had, from the receipt of the news, declared, " We shall 
 have to give them up." 
 
 Early in December, word reached America that England 
 was getting ready to go to war in case we did not give up the 
 commissioners. The news aroused the deepest indignation, 
 and the determination to keep Mason and Slidell was for a 
 brief time stronger than ever. Common sense was doing its 
 
74 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 work, however. Gradually the people began to feel that, 
 after all, the commissioners were " white elephants." On 
 December 19, the Administration received a notice that the 
 only redress which would satisfy the British government 
 would be " the liberation of the four gentlemen," and their 
 delivery to the British minister at Washington and a " suit 
 able apology for the aggression which had been committed/* 
 In the days which followed, while the Secretary of State was 
 preparing the reply to be submitted, Sumner was much with 
 the President. We have the Senator s assurance that the 
 President was applying his mind carefully to the answer, so 
 that it would be essentially his. It is evident from Sumner s 
 letter, that Lincoln was resolved that there should be no war 
 with England. Thus, on December 23, Sumner wrote to 
 John Bright, with whom he maintained a regular corre 
 spondence : " Your letter and also Cobclen s I showed at once 
 to the President, who is much moved and astonished by the 
 English intelligence. He is essentially honest and pacific in 
 disposition, with a natural slowness. Yesterday he said to 
 me, * There will be no war unless England is bent upon hav 
 ing one/ 
 
 It was on Christmas day that beward finally had his an 
 swer ready. It granted the British demand as to the sur^ 
 render of the prisoners, though it refused an apology on 
 the ground that Captain Wilkes had acted without orders. 
 After the paper had been discussed by the Cabinet, but no de 
 cision reached, and all of the members but Seward had de 
 parted, Lincoln said, according to Mr. Frederick Seward: 
 " Governor Seward, you will go on, of course, preparing 
 your answer, which, as I understand it, will state the rea 
 sons why they ought to be given up. Now, I have a mind 
 to try my hand at stating the reasons why they ought not 
 to be given up. We will compare the points on each side." 
 
 But the next day, after a Cabinet meeting at which it was 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 75 
 
 decided finally to return the prisoners, when Secretary Sew- 
 ard said to the President : " You thought you might frame 
 an argument for the other side? " Mr. Lincoln smiled, and 
 shook his head. " I found I could not make an argument 
 that would satisfy my own mind," he said ; " and that proved 
 to me your ground was the right one." 
 
 Lincoln s first conclusion was the real ground on which 
 the Administration submitted : " We must stick to American 
 principles concerning the rights of neutrals." The country 
 grimaced at the conclusion. It was to many, as Chase de 
 clared it was to him, " gall and wormwood." Lowell s clever 
 verse expressed best the popular feeling : 
 
 We give the critters back, John, 
 Cos Abram thought f t was right; 
 
 It warn t your bullyin* clack, John, 
 Provokin us to fight. 
 
 The decision raised Mr. Lincoln immeasurably in the view 
 of thoughtful men, especially in England. 
 
 " If reparation were made at all, of which few of us felt 
 more than a hope," wrote John Stuart Mill, " we thought 
 that it would be made obviously as a concession to prudence, 
 not to principle. We thought that there would have been 
 truckling to the newspaper editors and supposed fire-eaters 
 who were crying out for retaining the prisoners at all haz 
 ards. . . . We expected everything, in short, which 
 would have been weak, and timid, and paltry. The only 
 thing which no one seemed to expect is what has actually 
 happened. Mr. Lincoln s government have done none of 
 these things. Like honest men they have said in direct terms 
 that our demand was right; that they yielded to it because 
 it was just; that if they themselves had received the same 
 treatment, they would have demanded the same reparation ; 
 and if what seemed to be the American side of the question 
 was not the just side, they would be on the side of justice, 
 happy as they were to find after their resolution had been 
 taken, that it was also the side which America had formerly 
 
78 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 to Russia. It is plain from Lincoln s letters to Cameron at 
 this time and his subsequent treatment of him that, with 
 characteristic fair-dealing, he took into consideration all the 
 enormous difficulties which beset the Secretary of War. He 
 saw what the public refused to see, that " to bring the War 
 Department up to the standard of the times, and work an 
 army of 500,000 with machinery adapted to a peace estab 
 lishment of 12,000, is no easy task." He had all this in mind 
 evidently when he relieved Cameron, for he assured him of 
 his personal regard and of his confidence in his " ability, pa 
 triotism, and fidelity to public trust." A few months later 
 he did still more for Cameron. In April, 1862, Congress 
 passed a bill censuring the Secretary for certain of his trans 
 actions. The President soon after sent the body a message 
 in which he claimed that he himself was equally responsible 
 in the transaction for which Cameron was being censured : 
 
 I should be wanting equally in candor and in justice if I 
 should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest 
 exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same senti 
 ment is unanimously entertained by the heads of departments 
 who participated in the proceedings which the House of Rep 
 resentatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to say 
 that, although he fully approved the proceedings, they were 
 not moved nor suggested by himself, and that not only the 
 President but all the other heads of departments, were at least 
 equally responsible with him for whatever error, wrong, or 
 fault was committed in the premises. 
 
 In deciding on a successor to Mr. Cameron, the President 
 showed more clearly, perhaps, than in any other appointment 
 of his whole presidential career how far above personal re 
 sentments he was in his public dealings. He chose a man 
 who six years before, at a time when consideration from a 
 superior meant a great deal to him, had subjected him to a 
 slight, and this for no other apparent reason than that he was 
 rude in dress and unpolished in manner ; a man who, besides, 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 79 
 
 had been his most scornful, even vituperative, critic since his 
 election. This man was Edwin M. Stanton, a lawyer of abil 
 ity, integrity, and loyalty, who had won the confidence of the 
 North by his patriotic services in Buchanan s Cabinet from 
 December, 1860, to the close of his administration, March 4-, 
 1 86 1. Lincoln s first encounter with Stanton had been in 
 1855, in his first case of importance outside of Illinois. H3 
 was a counsel in the case with Stanton, but the latter ignored 
 him so openly that all those associated with them observed it. 
 
 Lincoln next knew of Stanton when, as President-elect, 
 he watched from Springfield the deplorable dissolution of 
 the federal authority which Buchanan allowed, and he must 
 have felt profoundly grateful for the new vigor and determi 
 nation which were infused into the Administration when, in 
 December, 1860, Stanton and Holt entered Buchanan s Cabi 
 net. After Lincoln was inaugurated he had nothing to do 
 with Stanton. In fact he did not see him from the 4th of 
 March, 1861, to the day he handed him his commission as 
 Secretary of War, in January, 1862. Stanton, however, was 
 watching Lincoln s administration closely, even disdainfully. 
 After Bull Run he wrote to ex-President Buchanan : " The 
 imbecility of this Administration culminated in that catas 
 trophe; an irretrievable misfortune and national disgrace, 
 never to be forgotten, are to be added to the ruin of all peace 
 ful pursuits and national bankrputcy, as the result of Lin 
 coln s running the machine for five months." 
 
 McClellan, who saw much of Stanton in the fall of 1861, 
 says: 
 
 The most disagreeable thing about him was the extreme 
 virulence with which he abused the President, the Adminis 
 tration, and the Republican party. He carried this to such 
 an extent that I was often shocked by it. He never spoke of 
 the President in any other way than as the " original go 
 rilla," and often said that Du Chaillu was a fool to wander 
 
78 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 to Russia. It is plain from Lincoln s letters to Cameron at 
 this time and his subsequent treatment of him that, with 
 characteristic fair-dealing, he took into consideration all the 
 enormous difficulties which beset the Secretary of War. He 
 saw what the public refused to see, that " to bring the War 
 Department up to the standard of the times, and work an 
 army of 500,000 with machinery adapted to a peace estab 
 lishment of 12,000, is no easy task." He had all this in mind 
 evidently when he relieved Cameron, for he assured him of 
 his personal regard and of his confidence in his " ability, pa 
 triotism, and fidelity to public trust." A few months later 
 he did still more for Cameron. In April, 1862, Congress 
 passed a bill censuring the Secretary for certain of his trans 
 actions. The President soon after sent the body a message 
 in which he claimed that he himself was equally responsible 
 in the transaction for which Cameron was being censured : 
 
 I should be wanting equally in candor and in justice if I 
 should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest 
 exclusively or chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same senti 
 ment is unanimously entertained by the heads of departments 
 who participated in the proceedings which the House of Rep 
 resentatives has censured. It is due to Mr. Cameron to say 
 that, although he fully approved the proceedings, they were 
 not moved nor suggested by himself, and that not only the 
 President but all the other heads of departments, were at least 
 equally responsible with him for whatever error, wrong, or 
 fault was committed in the premises. 
 
 In deciding on a successor to Mr. Cameron, the President 
 showed more clearly, perhaps, than in any other appointment 
 of his whole presidential career how far above personal re 
 sentments he was in his public dealings. He chose a man 
 who six years before, at a time when consideration from a 
 superior meant a great deal to him, had subjected him to a 
 slight, and this for no other apparent reason than that he was 
 rude in dress and unpolished in manner ; a man who, besides, 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 79 
 
 had been his most scornful, even vituperative, critic since his 
 election. This man was Edwin M. Stanton, a lawyer of abil 
 ity, integrity, and loyalty, who had won the confidence of the 
 North by his patriotic services in Buchanan s Cabinet from 
 December, 1860, to the close of his administration, March 4^ 
 1 86 1. Lincoln s first encounter with Stanton had been in 
 1855, in his first case of importance outside of Illinois. H$ 
 was a counsel in the case with Stanton, but the latter ignored 
 him so openly that all those associated with them observed it. 
 
 Lincoln next knew of Stanton when, as President-elect, 
 he watched from Springfield the deplorable dissolution of 
 the federal authority which Buchanan allowed, and he must 
 have felt profoundly grateful for the new vigor and determi 
 nation which were infused into the Administration when, in 
 December, 1860, Stanton and Holt entered Buchanan s Cabi 
 net. After Lincoln was inaugurated he had nothing to do 
 with Stanton. In fact he did not see him from the 4th of 
 March, 1861, to the day he handed him his commission as 
 Secretary of War, in January, 1862. Stanton, however, was 
 watching Lincoln s administration closely, even disdainfully. 
 After Bull Run he wrote to ex-President Buchanan : " The 
 imbecility of this Administration culminated in that catas 
 trophe; an irretrievable misfortune and national disgrace, 
 never to be forgotten, are to be added to the ruin of all peace 
 ful pursuits and national bankrputcy, as the result of Lin 
 coln s running the machine for five months." 
 
 McClellan, who saw much of Stanton in the fall of 1861, 
 says: 
 
 The most disagreeable thing about him was the extreme 
 virulence with which he abused the President, the Adminis 
 tration, and the Republican party. He carried this to such 
 an extent that I was often shocked by it. He never spoke of 
 the President in any other way than as the " original go 
 rilla," and often said that Du Chaillu was a fool to wander 
 
So LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 all the way to Africa in search of what he could so easily 
 have found at Springfield, Illinois. Nothing could have been 
 more bitter than his words and manner always were when 
 speaking of the Administration and the Republican party. 
 He never gave them credit for honesty or patriotism, and 
 very seldom for any ability. 
 
 Lincoln, if he knew of this abuse, which is improbable, re 
 garded it no more seriously than he did McClellan s slights. 
 He knew Stanton was able and loyal; that the country be 
 lieved in him ; that he would administer the department with 
 honesty and energy. Furthermore, he knew of the intimacy 
 between McClellan and Stanton, and as he saw the great 
 necessity of harmonious relations between the head of the 
 War Department and the commander of the army, he was 
 more in favor of Stanton. The appointment was generally 
 regarded as a wise selection, and in many quarters aroused 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 " No man ever entered upon the discharge of the most mo 
 mentous public duties under more favorable auspices, so far 
 as public confidence and support can create such auspices," 
 said the New York " Tribune." " In all the loyal States 
 there has not been one dissent from the general acclamation 
 which hailed Mr. Stanton s appointment as eminently wise 
 and happy. The simple truth is that Mr. Stanton was not 
 appointed to and does not accept the War Department in 
 support of any program or policy whatever, but the un 
 qualified and uncompromising vindication of the authority 
 and integrity of the Union. Whatever views he may enter 
 tain respecting slavery will not be allowed to swerve him 
 one hair from the line of paramount and single-hearted de 
 votion to the National cause. If slavery or anti-slavery shall 
 at any time be found obstructing or impeding the nation in 
 its efforts to crush out this monstrous rebellion, he will walk 
 straight on in the path of duty though that path should lead 
 him over or through the impediment and insure its annihila 
 tion." 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 8 1 
 
 Stanton took hold of his task with the aggressive ear 
 nestness and energy of his nature. He made open war on 
 contractors. He did not hesitate to let McClellan know 
 that he expected an advance. As he wrote Charles A. Dana 
 on January 22 : 
 
 " This army has got to fight or run away; and while men 
 are striving nobly in the West, the champagne and oysters 
 on the Potomac must be stopped." 
 
 It is evident from this same letter to Mr. Dana that he had 
 undertaken to discipline even the President for his habit of 
 joking : 
 
 " I feel a deep, earnest feeling growing up around me. We 
 have no jokes or trivialities, but all with whom I act show 
 that they are in dead earnest." 
 
 The excitement over the Trent affair, the investigation 
 of the War Department, the dismissal of Cameron, and 
 the appointment of Stanton, diverted public criticism from 
 McClellan ; but never for long at a time. The inactivity of 
 the Army of the Potomac had become the subject of gibes 
 and sneers. Lincoln stood by the General. He had promised 
 him all the " sense and information " he had, and he gave it. 
 When Congress opened on December 3, he took the oppor 
 tunity to remind the country that the General was its own 
 choice, as well as his, and that support was due him : 
 
 Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott 
 has retired from the head of the army. . . . With the 
 retirement of General Scott came the executive duty of ap 
 pointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is a 
 fortunate circumstance that neither in council nor country 
 was there, so far as I know, any difference of opinion as to 
 the proper person to be selected. The retiring chief repeat 
 edly expressed his judgment in favor of General McClellan 
 for the position, and in this the nation seemed to give a 
 unanimous concurrence. The designation of General Me- 
 
82 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Clellan is, therefore, in considerable degree the selection of 
 the country as well as of the executive, and hence there is 
 better reason to hope there will be given him the confidence 
 and cordial support thus by fair implication promised, and 
 without which he cannot with so full efficiency serve the 
 country. 
 
 At this time Lincoln had every reason to believe that Me- 
 Clellan would soon move. The General certainly was assur 
 ing the few persons whom he condescended to take into his 
 confidence to that effect. The Hon. Galusha A. Grow, of 
 Pennsylvania, Speaker of the House, says that very soon 
 after Congress came together, the members began to com 
 ment on the number of board barracks that were going up 
 around Washington. 
 
 " It seemed to them," says Mr. Grow, " that there were a 
 great many more than were necessary for hospital and re 
 serve purposes. The roads at that time in Virginia were ex 
 cellent; everybody was eager for an advance. Congressmen 
 observed the barracks with dismay ; it looked as if McClellan 
 was going into winter quarters. Finally several of them 
 came to me and stated their anxiety, asking what it meant. 
 Well, gentlemen/ I said, I don t know what it means, but 
 I will ask the General/ so I went to McClellan, who received 
 me kindly, and told him how all the members were feeling, 
 and asked him if the army was really going into winter quar 
 ters. No, no/ McClellan said, I have no intention of put 
 ting the army into winter quarters; I mean the campaign 
 shall be short, sharp, and decisive/ He began explaining his 
 plan to me, but I interrupted him, saying I did not desire to 
 know his plan ; I preferred not to know it, in fact. If I could 
 assure members of Congress that the army was going to 
 move, it was all that was necessary. I returned with his as 
 surance that there would soon be an advance. Weeks went 
 on, however, without the promised advance; nor did the 
 Army of the Potomac leave the vicinity of Washington until 
 Mr. Lincoln issued the special orders compelling McClellan 
 to move/ 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 83 
 
 Lincoln continued to defend McClellan. " We ve got to 
 
 stand by the General," he told his visitors. " I suppose," he 
 added dubiously, " he knows his business." But loyal as he 
 was he too was losing patience. His friend, Mr. Arnold, tells 
 how the President said one day to a friend of General Mc 
 Clellan, doubtless with the expectation that it would be re 
 peated : " McClellan s tardiness reminds me of a man in 
 Illinois, whose attorney was not sufficiently aggressive. The 
 client knew a few law phrases, and finally, after waiting un 
 til his patience was exhausted by the non-action of his coun 
 sel, he sprang to his feet and exclaimed : " Why don t you go 
 at him with a Fi fa demurrer, a capias, a surrebutter, or a ne 
 exeat, or something, and not stand there like a nudum pac- 
 tum, or a non estf " 
 
 Later he made a remark which was repeated up and down 
 the country : "If General McClellan does not want to use 
 the army for some days, I should like to borrow it and see if 
 it cannot be made to do something." 
 
 Towards the end of December McClellan fell ill. The 
 long-expected advance was out of the question until he re 
 covered. Distracted at this idea, the President for the first 
 time asserted himself as commander-in-chief of the forces of 
 the United States. Heretofore he had used his military au 
 thority principally in raising men and commissioning offi 
 cers ; campaigns he had left to the generals. It had been to 
 be sure largely because of his urgency that the Battle of Bull 
 Run had been fought. After Bull Run he had prepared a 
 " Memorandum of Military Policy Suggested by the Bull 
 Run Defeat," and may have thought the War Department 
 was working according to this. When he relieved Fremont 
 he had offered his successor a few suggestions but he had 
 been careful to add : 
 
 " Knowing how hazardous it is to bind down a distant 
 commander in the field to specific lines and operations, as so 
 
84 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 much always depends on a knowledge of localities and pass 
 ing events, it is intended therefore, to leave a considerable 
 margin for the exercise of your judgment and discretion." 
 
 Early in December, weary with waiting for McClellan, he 
 had sent him a list of questions concerning the Potomac 
 campaign. They were broad hints, but in no sense orders 
 and McClellan hardly gave them a second thought. Nicolay 
 and Hay say that after keeping them ten days, the General 
 returned them with hurried answers in pencil. Certainly he 
 was in no degree influenced by them. And this was about 
 all the military authority " interference " some critics 
 called it, that the President had exercised up to the time 
 McClellan was shut up by fever. 
 
 Now, however, he undertook to learn direct from the offi 
 cers the condition things were in, and if it was not possible 
 to get some work out of the army somewhere along the line. 
 Particularly was he anxious that East Tennessee be relieved. 
 The Unionists there were " being hanged and driven to de 
 spair/ there was danger of them going over to the South. 
 All this the generals knew. Lincoln telegraphed Halleck, 
 then in command of the Western Department, and Buell, in 
 charge of the forces in Kentucky, asking if they were " in 
 concert " and urging a movement which he supposed to have 
 been decided upon some time before. The replies he received 
 disappointed and distressed him. There seemed to be no 
 more idea of advancing in the West than in the East. The 
 plans he supposed settled his generals now controverted. He 
 could get no promise of action, no precise information. " De 
 lay is ruining us," he wrote to Buell on January 7, " and 
 it is indispensable for me to have something definite." And 
 yet, convinced though he was that his plans were practica 
 ble, he would not make them into orders. 
 
 " For my own views," he wrote Buell on January 13, "I 
 have not offered and do not offer them as orders; and while 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 85 
 
 I am glad to have them respectfully considered, I would 
 blame you to follow them contrary to your own clear judg 
 ment, unless I should put them in the form of orders. As to 
 General McClellan s views, you understand your duty in re 
 gard to them better than I do. With this preliminary, I state 
 my general idea of this war to be that we have the greater 
 numbers, and the enemy has greater facility of concentrat 
 ing forces upon points of collision ; that we must fail unless 
 we can find some way of making our advantage an over 
 match for his; and that this can only be done by menacing 
 him with superior forces at different points at the same time, 
 so that we can safely attack one or both if he makes no 
 change ; and if he weakens one to strengthen the other, for 
 bear to attack the strengthened one, but seize and hold the 
 weakened one, gaining so much." 
 
 This hesitancy about exercising his military authority, 
 came from Lincoln s consciousness that he knew next to 
 nothing of the business of fighting. When he saw that those 
 supposed to know something of the science did nothing, he 
 resolved to learn the subject himself as thoroughly as he 
 could. " He gave himself, night and day, to the study of the 
 military situation," say Nicolay and Hay, his secretaries. 
 " He read a large number of strategical works. He pored 
 over the reports from the various departments and districts 
 of the field of war. He held long conferences with eminent 
 generals and admirals, and astonished them by the extent of 
 his special knowledge and the keen intelligence of his ques 
 tions." 
 
 By the time McClellan was about again, Lincoln had 
 learned enough of the situation to convince him that the 
 Army of the Potomac could and must advance, and on Janu 
 ary 27, he, for the first time, used his power as comman- 
 der-in-chief of the army, and issued his General War Order 
 No. i. 
 
 Ordered, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day 
 for a general movement of all the land and naval forces of 
 
86 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the United States against the insurgent forces. That es 
 pecially the army at and about Fortress Monroe ; the Army 
 of the Potomac; the Army of Western Virginia; the army 
 near Munfordville, Kentucky ; the army and flotilla at Cairo, 
 and a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move 
 on that day. 
 
 That all other forces, both land and naval, with their re 
 spective commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and 
 be ready to obey additional orders when duly given. 
 
 That the heads of departments, and especially the Secre 
 taries of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, 
 and the general-in-chief, with all other commanders and sub 
 ordinates of land and naval forces, will severally be held to 
 their strict and full responsibilities for prompt execution of 
 this order. 
 
 Four days later the President issued his first Special War 
 Order, applying exclusively to the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the 
 Potomac, after providing safely for the defense of Washing 
 ton, be formed into an expedition for the immediate object 
 of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad south- 
 westward of what is known as Manassas Junction, all de 
 tails to be in the discretion of the commander-in-chief, and 
 the expedition to move before or on the 22d day of Febru 
 ary next. 
 
 For a time after these orders were issued there was gen 
 eral hopefulness in the country. The newspapers that had 
 been attacking the President now praised him for taking 
 hold of the army. " It has infused new spirit into every one 
 since the President appears to take such an interest in our 
 operations," wrote an officer from the West, to the 
 " Tribune." 
 
 The hope of an advance in the East was short-lived. Mc- 
 Clellan was not willing to carry out the plan for the cam 
 paign which the President approved. Mr. Lincoln believed 
 that the Army of the Potomac should move directly across 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 87 
 
 Virginia against Richmond, while McClellan contended that 
 the safe and brilliant movement was down the Chesapeake, 
 up the Rapahannock to Urbana and across land to the York 
 river. There was much controversy between the friends 
 of the two plans. It ended in the President giving up to his 
 general. Of one thing he felt certain, McClellan would 
 not work as well on a plan in which he did not believe as 
 on one to which he was committed, and as success was what 
 Mr. Lincoln wanted he finally consented to the Chesapeake 
 ; route. It brought bitter criticism upon him, especially from 
 the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. 
 Common sense told men that the direct overland route to 
 Richmond was the better. The President, they said, was 
 afraid of his general-in-chief. 
 
 While harassed by this inaction and obstinacy of McClel- 
 lan s, Mr. Lincoln was plunged into a bitter private sorrow. 
 Early in February his two younger boys, Willie and Tad, 
 as they were familiarly known, fell sick. In the tender 
 ness of his nature Mr. Lincoln could never see suffering 
 of any kind without a passionate desire to relieve it. Es 
 pecially was he moved by the distress of a child. Indeed his 
 love for children had already become familiar to the whole 
 public by the touching little stories which visitors had 
 brought away from the White House and which crept into 
 the newspapers : 
 
 " At the reception Saturday afternoon, at the President s 
 house," wrote a correspondent of the " Independent," 
 " many persons noticed three little girls, poorly dressed, the 
 children of some mechanic or laboring man, who had fol 
 lowed the visitors into the White House to gratify their cu 
 riosity. They passed around from room to room, and were 
 hastening through the reception room, with some trepida 
 tion, when the President called to them, Little girls, are you 
 going to pass me without shaking hands ? Then he bent his 
 tall, awkward form down, and shook each little girl warmly 
 
88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 by the hand. Everybody in the apartment was spellbound by 
 the incident, so simple in itself." 
 
 Many men and women now living who were children in 
 Washington at this time recall the President s gentleness to 
 them. Mr. Frank P. Blair of Chicago, says : 
 
 During the war my grandfather, Francis P. Blair, Sr., 
 lived at Silver Springs, north of Washington, seven miles 
 from the White House. It was a magnificent place of four 
 or five hundred acres, with an extensive lawn in the rear of 
 the house. The grandchildren gathered there frequently. 
 There were eight or ten of us, our ages ranging from eight 
 to twelve years. Although I was but seven or eight years of 
 age, Mr. Lincoln s visits were of such importance to us boys 
 as to leave a clear impression on my memory. He drove out 
 to the place quite frequently. We boys, for hours at a time, 
 played " town ball " on the vast lawn, and Mr. Lincoln would 
 join ardently in the sport. I remember vividly how he ran 
 with the children ; how long were his strides, and how far 
 his coat-tails stuck out behind, and how we tried to hit him 
 with the ball, as he ran the bases. He entered into the spirit 
 of the play as completely as any of us, and we invariably 
 hailed his coming with delight. 
 
 The protecting sympathy and tenderness the President ex 
 tended to all children became a passionate affection for his 
 own. Willie and Tad had always been privileged beings at 
 the White House, and their pranks and companionship un 
 doubtedly did much to relieve the tremendous strain the 
 President was suffering. Many visitors who saw him with 
 the lads at this period have recorded their impressions : 
 how keenly he enjoyed the children; how indulgent and af 
 fectionate he was with them. Again and again he related 
 their sayings, sometimes even to grave delegations. Thus 
 Moncure Conway tells of going to see the President with a 
 commission which wanted to " talk over the situation." The 
 President met them, laughing like a boy. The White House 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT 89 
 
 was in a state of feverish excitement, he said; one of his 
 boys had come in that morning to tell him that the cat had 
 kittens, and now the other had just announced that the dog 
 had puppies. 
 
 When both the children fell ill ; when he saw them suffer* 
 ing, and when it became evident, as it finally did, that Willie, 
 the elder of the two, would die, the President s anguish 
 was intense. He would slip away from visitors and Cabinet 
 at every opportunity, to go to the sick room, and during the 
 last four or five days of Willie s life, when the child was suf 
 fering terribly and lay in an unbroken delirium, Mr. Lincoln 
 shared with the nurse the nightly vigils at the bedside. When 
 Willie finally died, on February 20, the President was so 
 prostrated that it was feared by many of his friends that he 
 would succumb entirely to his grief. Many public duties he 
 undoubtedly did neglect. Indeed, a month after Willie s 
 death, we find him apologizing for delay to answer a letter 
 because of a " domestic affliction." 
 
 If one consults the records of the day, however, it is evi 
 dent that Mr. Lincoln did try to attend to public duties even 
 in the worst of this trial. Only two days after the funeral, 
 on February 23, he held a Cabinet meeting, and the day fol 
 lowing that, a correspondent wrote to the New York 
 " Evening Post : " 
 
 Mr. Lincoln seems to have entirely recovered his health, 
 and is again at his ordinary duties, spending, not infre 
 quently, eighteen out of the twenty-four hours upon the af 
 fairs of the nation. He is frequently called up three and four 
 times in a night to receive important messages from the 
 West. Since his late bereavement he looks sad and care 
 worn, but is in very good health again. 
 
 There is ample evidence that in this crushing grief the 
 President sought earnestly to find what consolation the 
 Christian religion might have fo<r .him. It was the first ex- 
 
90 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 perience of his life, so far as we know, which drove him t3 
 look outside of his own mind and heart for help to endure a 
 personal grief. It was the first time in his life when he had 
 not been sufficient for his own experience. Religion up to 
 this time had been an intellectual interest. The 
 Christian dogma had been taught him as a child 
 and all his life he had been accustomed to hearing 
 every phase of human conduct and experience tested 
 by the precepts of the Bible as they were in 
 terpreted by the more or less illiterate church of the West. 
 For a short period of his life when he was about twenty-five 
 years of age, it is certain that he revolted against the Chris 
 tian system, and even went so far as to prepare a pamphlet 
 against it. The manuscript of this work was destroyed by 
 his friend, Samuel Hill. This period of doubt passed, and 
 though there is nothing to show that Mr. Lincoln returned 
 to the literal interpretation of Christianity which he had 
 been taught, and though he never joined any religious sect, 
 it is certain that he regarded the Bible and the church with 
 deep reverence. He was a regular attendant upon religious 
 services, and one has only to read his letters and speeches to 
 realize that his literary style and his moral point of view 
 were both formed by the Bible. 
 
 It was after his election to the presidency that we begin 
 to find evidences that Mr. Lincoln held to the belief that 
 the affairs of men are in the keeping of a Divine Being who 
 hears and answers prayer and who is to be trusted to bring 
 about the final triumph of the right. He publicly acknow 
 ledged such a faith when he bade his Springfield friends 
 good-by in February, 1861. In his first inaugural address, 
 he told the country that the difficulty between North and 
 South could be adjusted in " the best way," by " intelli 
 gence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm reliance on Him 
 who has never yet forsaken this favored knd." When he 
 
THE FAILURE OF FREMONT Qi: 
 
 ; was obliged to summon a Congress to provide means for a 
 civil war, he started them forth on their duties with the 
 words, " Let us renew our trust in God, and go forward 
 without fear and with manly hearts." In August, 1861, he 
 issued a proclamation for a National Fast Day which is most 
 impressive for its reverential spirit : 
 
 " Whereas it is fit and becoming in all people, at all times, 
 to acknowledge and revere the supreme government of God ; 
 to bow in humble submission to His chastisements; to con 
 fess and deplore their sins and transgressions, in the full con 
 viction that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; 
 and to pray with all fervency and contrition for the pardon 
 of their past offenses, and for a blessing upon their present 
 and prospective action : 
 
 "And whereas when our own beloved country, once, by the 
 blessing of God, united, prosperous, and happy, is now 
 afflicted with faction and civil war, it is peculiarly fit for us 
 to recognize the hand of God in this terrible visitation, and 
 in sorrowful remembrance of our own faults and crimes as a 
 nation, and as individuals, to humble ourselves before Him s 
 and to pray for His mercy to pray that we may be spared 
 further punishment, though most justly deserved; that our 
 arms may be blessed and made effectual for the re-establish 
 ment of law, order, and peace throughout the wide extent of 
 our country ; and that the inestimable boon of civil and reli 
 gious liberty, earned under His guidance and blessing by the 
 labors and sufferings of our fathers, may be restored in all 
 its original excellence." 
 
 But it is not until after the death of his son that we begin 
 to find evidence that Mr. Lincoln was making a personal test 
 of Christianity. Broken by his anxiety for the country, 
 wounded nigh to death by his loss, he felt that he must have 
 a support outside of himself ; that from some source he must 
 draw new courage. Could he find the help he needed in the 
 Christian faith? From this time on he was seen often with 
 the Bible in his hand, and he is known to have prayed fre- 
 
9* LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 quently. His personal relation to God occupied his mind 
 much. He was deeply concerned to know, as he told a visit 
 ing delegation once, not whether the Lord was on his side, 
 but whether he was on the Lord s side. Henceforth, one of 
 the most real influences in Abraham Lincoln s life and con 
 duct is his dependence upon a personal God. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 
 
 THE 22d of February was the day that the President had 
 set for an advance of the army but it was evident to both 
 the Administration and the country that the Army of the 
 Potomac would not be ready to move then. Nor could any 
 body find from McClellan when he would move. The mut 
 tering of the country began again. Committee after com 
 mittee waited on the President. He did his best to assure 
 them that he was doing all he could. He pointed out to them 
 how time and patience, as well as men and money, were 
 needed in war, and he argued that, above all, he must not 
 be interfered with. It was at this time that he used his strik 
 ing illustration of Blondin. Some gentlemen from the West 
 called at the White House one day, excited and troubled 
 about some of the commissions or omissions of the Admin 
 istration. The President heard them patiently, and then 
 replied : " Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth 
 was in gold and you had put it in the hands of Blondin, to 
 carry across the Niagara river on a rope. Would you 
 shake the cable or keep shouting at him, Blondin, stand up a 
 little straighter Blondin, stoop a little more go a little 
 faster lean a little more to the north lean a little more to 
 the south ? No, you would hold your breath as well as your 
 tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The 
 Government is carrying an enormous weight. Untold treas 
 ures are in their hands; they are doing the very best they 
 can. Don t badger them. Keep silence, and we will get you 
 safe across." 
 
 93 
 
94 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 One of the most insistent of the many bodies which beset 
 him was the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the 
 War, appointed the December before. Aggressive and pa 
 triotic, these gentlemen were determined the army should 
 move. But it was not until March that they became 
 convinced that anything would be done. One day early in 
 that month, Senator Chandler, of Michigan, a member of 
 the committee, met George W. Julian. He was in high 
 glee. " Old Abe is mad," he said to Julian, " and the war 
 will now go on." 
 
 Whether it would or not remained to be seen but it was 
 soon evident to everybody that the President was going to 
 make another effort to have it go on for on March 8 he is 
 sued General War Orders Nos. II and III, the first dividing 
 the Army of the Potomac into four army corps and the 
 second directing that the move against Richmond by the way 
 of the Chesapeake bay should begin as early as the i8th of 
 March and that the general-in-chief should be responsible 
 for its moving as early as that day. In this order Lincoln 
 made the important stipulation that General McClellan 
 should make no change of base without leaving in and about 
 Washington a force sufficient to guarantee its safety. 
 
 When Lincoln issued the above orders which were finally 
 to drive McClellan from his quarters around Washington, 
 the war against the South had been going on for nearly a 
 year. In that time the North had succeeded in gathering 
 and equipping an army of about 630,000 men, but this army 
 had not so far materially changed the line of hostilities be 
 tween the North and South, save in the West, where Ken 
 tucky and Northern Missouri had been cleared of most of 
 the Confederates. A navy had been collected but beyond es 
 tablishing a partial blockade of the ports of the Confederacy 
 it had done little. The ineffectiveness of the great effort the 
 North had made was charged naturally to the inefficiency of 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 95 
 
 the Administration. Mr. Lincoln was ignorant and weak, 
 men said, else he would have found generals who would have 
 won victories. A large part of the North, the anti-slavery 
 element, bitterly denounced him, because he had taken no 
 action as yet in regard to slavery. They would have 
 him employ the slaves in the armies, free those which 
 escaped. 
 
 Lincoln understood clearly how strong a weapon against 
 the South the arming and emancipating of the slaves might 
 be, but he did not want to use it. Throughout his entire po 
 litical life he had disclaimed any desire to meddle with slav 
 ery in the States where the Constitution recognized it. He 
 had undertaken the war not to free men but to preserve the 
 Union. Moreover he feared that the least interference with 
 slavery would drive from him those States lying between 
 the North and South, which believed in the institution and 
 yet were for the Union. 
 
 Already they had given him much substantial aid. He 
 hoped to win them entirely to the North. Emancipation 
 would surely make that hope vain. It was largely because 
 he wished to keep their support that when as had happened 
 twice already in his year of service, prominent subordinates 
 had attempted to help the Northern cause by measures af 
 fecting slavery, he had promptly annulled their orders. 
 
 Yet now for many weeks he had been coming to the con 
 clusion that he must do something with this weapon. He 
 must do it to throw confusion into the South, with whom so 
 far the military advantage lay, to win sympathy from 
 Europe, which, exasperated by the suffering which the fail 
 ure to get cotton caused the people, was threatening to re 
 cognize the Southern Confederacy as an independent nation, 
 above all to disarm the enemy in his rear the dissatisfied 
 faction of his own supporters who were beginning to 
 threaten that if he did not free and arm the slaves he could 
 
96 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 get his hands on, they would stop the arms and money they 
 were sending him to carry on the war. 
 
 All through the fall of 1861 he was examining this 
 weapon of emancipation, much as a man in a desperate situa 
 tion might a dagger which he did not want to unsheath, but 
 feared he might be forced to. He was seeking a way to use 
 it, if the time came when he must, that would accomplish all 
 the ends he had in view and still would not drive the Border 
 States from the Union. The plan upon which he finally set 
 tled was a simple and just, though impracticable one he 
 would ask Congress to set aside money gradually to buy and 
 free the negroes in those States that could be persuaded to 
 give up the institution of slavery. Having freed the slaves, 
 he proposed that Congress should colonize them in territory 
 bought for the purpose. 
 
 According to Charles Sumner, Mr. Lincoln had this plan 
 of compensated emancipation well developed by December 
 I, 1 86 1. The Senator reached Washington on that day, and 
 went in the evening to call on the President. Together they 
 talked over the annual message, which was to be sent to Con 
 gress on the 3d. Mr. Sumner was disappointed that it said 
 nothing about emancipation. He had been speaking in 
 Massachusetts on " Emancipation our Best Weapon," and 
 he ardently desired that the President use the weapon. The 
 President explained the plan he had developed, and Mr. 
 Sumner urged that it be presented at once. Mr. Lincoln de 
 clined to agree to this, but as he rose to say good-by to his 
 visitor, he remarked : 
 
 " Well, Mr. Sumner, the only difference between you and 
 me on this subject is a difference of a month or six weeks in 
 time." 
 
 " Mr. President," said Mr. Sumner, " if that is the only 
 difference between us, I will not say another word to you 
 about it till the long-set time you name has passed by." 
 
 " Nor should I have done so," continues Sumner in telling 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 97 
 
 the story, " but about a fortnight after, when I was with him, 
 he introduced the subject himself, asked my opinion on some 
 details of his plan, and told me where it labored his mind. 
 At that time he had the hope that some one of the Border 
 States, Delaware, perhaps, if nothing better could be got, 
 might be brought to make a proposition which could be made 
 use of as the initiation to hitch the whole thing to. * He 
 was in correspondence with some persons at a distance with 
 this view, but he did not consult a person in Washington, 
 excepting Mr. Chase and Mr. Blair, and myself. Seward 
 knew nothing about it." 
 
 Sumner could not keep still, after this, about the plan. Al 
 most every time he saw Lincoln he put in a word. Thus, 
 when the Trent affair was up, he took occasion to read 
 the President a little lecture : 
 
 " Now, Mr. President," he said, " if you had done your 
 duty earlier in the slavery matter, you would not have this 
 trouble on you. Now you have no friends, or the country 
 has none, because it has no policy upon slavery. The country 
 has no friends in Europe, excepting isolated persons. Eng 
 land is not a friend. France is not. But if you had 
 commenced your policy about slavery, this thing could and 
 would have come and gone and would have given you no 
 anxiety. . . . 
 
 " Every time I saw him I spoke to him about it, and I saw 
 him every two or three days. One day I said to him, I re 
 member, I want you to make Congress a New Year s 
 present of your plan. But he had some reason still for delay. 
 He was in correspondence with Kentucky, there was a Mr. 
 Speed in Kentucky to whom he was writing; he read me 
 one of his letters once, and he thought he should hear from 
 there how people would be affected by such a plan. At one 
 
 *The conversation between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Sumner here re 
 ported is taken from an unpublished manuscript courteously put at my 
 disposal by the Rev. Edward Everett Hale. Mr. Hale visited Washing 
 ton in April, 1862, and called on Mr. Sumner, who entertained him with 
 the history of the President s Message on Compensated Emancipation. 
 He made the full notes of the story, which are here published. 
 
 (7) 
 
98 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 time I thought he would send in the message on New Year s 
 Day; and I said something about what a glorious thing it 
 would be. But he stopped me in a moment; Don t say a 
 word about that/ he said; I know very well that the name 
 which is connected with this act will never be forgotten. 
 Well, there was one delay and another, but I always spoke to 
 him till one day in January he said sadly that he had been up 
 all night with his sick child. I was very much touched, and I 
 resolved that I would say nothing to the President about this 
 or any other business if I could help it till that child was well 
 or dead. And I did not. ... I had never said a 
 word to him again about it one morning here, before I had 
 breakfast, before I was up indeed, both his secretaries came 
 over to say that he wanted to see me as soon as I could see 
 him. I dressed at once, and went over. I want to read 
 you my message/ he said ; I want to know how you like it. 
 I am going to send it in to-day/ 
 
 It was on the morning of March 6, 1862, that Mr. Lin 
 coln sent for Mr. Sumner to read his message. A few hours 
 later, when the Senator reached the Capitol, he went to the 
 Senate desk to see if the President had carried out his inten 
 tion. Yes, the document was there. 
 
 As Mr. Sumner s history of the message given to Dr. Hale 
 shows, Mr. Lincoln for months quietly prepared the way for 
 his plan. One of his most adroit preparatory manoeuvers, 
 and one of which Mr. Sumner evidently knew nothing, was 
 performed in New York City, through the Hon. Carl Schurz, 
 who at that time was the American Minister to Spain.* 
 
 Mr. Schurz, who had gone to Madrid in 1861, had not 
 been long there before he concluded that there would be great 
 danger of the Southern Confederacy being recognized by 
 France and England unless the aspect of the situation was 
 
 *The following accounts of Mr. Schurz s interviews with Mr. Lincoln 
 and the plan the two gentlemen arranged for introducing the subject of 
 compensated emancipation to the public was given me by Mr. Schurz 
 himself. The manuscript has been corrected by him, and is published 
 with his permission. 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 99 
 
 speedily changed, either by a decisive military success, or 
 by some evidence on the part of the Administration that the 
 war was to end in the destruction of slavery. If the conflict 
 were put on this high moral plane, Mr. Schurz believed the 
 sympathy of the people in Europe would be so strong with 
 the North that interference in favor of the South would be 
 impossible. All of this he wrote to Mr. Seward in Septem 
 ber of 1 86 1, but he received no reply to his letter other than a 
 formal acknowledgment. 
 
 After a little time, Mr. Schurz wrote to Mr. Lincoln, say 
 ing that he wanted to come to Washington and personally 
 represent to the Administration what he conceived to be the 
 true nature of public opinion in Europe. Mr. Lincoln wrote 
 to him to come, and he arrived in Washington in the last 
 week of January, 1862. He went at once to the White 
 House, where he was received by the President, who listened 
 attentively to his arguments, the same he had made by letter 
 to Mr. Seward. When he had finished his presentation of 
 the case, Mr. Lincoln said that he was inclined to accept that 
 view, but that he was not sure that the public sentiment of 
 the country was ripe for such a policy. It had to be educated 
 up to it. Would not Mr. Schurz go to New York and 
 talk the matter over with their friends, some of whom he 
 named ? 
 
 Mr. Schurz assented, and a few days afterwards reported 
 to Mr. Lincoln that the organization of an " Emancipation 
 Society," for the purpose of agitating the idea, had been 
 started in New York, and that a public meeting would be 
 held at the Cooper Union on March 6. 
 
 "That s it; that is the very thing," Mr. Lincoln replied. 
 :< You must make a speech at this meeting. Go home and 
 prepare it. When you have got it outlined, bring it to me, 
 and I will see what you are going to say." 
 
 Mr. Schurz did so. and in a few days submitted to Mr. 
 
100 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 Lincoln the skeleton of his argument on " Emancipation as 
 a Peace Measure." 
 
 " That is the right thing to say," the President declared 
 after reading it, " And, remember, you may hear from me on 
 the same day." 
 
 On March 6 the speech was delivered, as had been ar 
 ranged, before an audience which packed Cooper Union. No 
 more logical and eloquent appeal for emancipation was made 
 in all the war period. The audience received it with repeated 
 cheers, and when Mr. Schurz sat down " the applause shook 
 the hall," if we may believe the reporter of the New York 
 " Tribune." Just as the meeting was adjourning, Mr. 
 Schurz did hear from Mr. Lincoln, a copy of the message 
 given that afternoon to Congress being placed in his hands, 
 He at once read it to the audience, which, already thoroughly 
 aroused, now broke out again in a " tremendous burst of ap 
 plause." 
 
 The first effect of the message was to unite the radical 
 supporters of Mr. Lincoln with the more moderate. " We 
 are all brought by the common-sense message," said " Har 
 per s Weekly," " upon the same platform. The cannon shot 
 against Fort Sumter effected three-fourths of our political 
 lines; the President s message has wiped out the remaining 
 fourth." But to Mr. Lincoln s keen disappointment, the 
 Border State representatives in Congress let the proposition 
 pass in silence. He saw one and another of them but not a 
 word did they say of the message. The President stood this 
 for four days, then he summoned them to the White House 
 to explain his position. 
 
 The talk was long and entirely friendly. The President 
 said he did not pretend to disguise his anti-slavery feeling; 
 that he thought slavery was wrong, and should continue to 
 think so; but that was not the question they had to deal 
 with. Slavery existed, and that, too, as well by the act of the 
 
LINCOLN IN 1861. AGE 52 
 
 From photograph taken at Springfield, Illinois, early in 1861, by C. S. German, and owned by 
 
 Allen Jasper Conant 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1C I 
 
 North as of the South; and in any scheme to get rid of it, 
 the North as well as the South was morally bound to do its 
 full and equal share. He thought the institution wrong and 
 ought never to have existed ; but yet he recognized the rights 
 of property which had grown out of it, and would respect 
 those rights as fully as similar rights in any other property ; 
 that property can exist, and does legally exist. He thought 
 such a law wrong, but the rights of property resulting must 
 be respected ; he would get rid of the odious law, not by vio 
 lating the right, but by encouraging the proposition, and 
 offering inducements to give it up. The representatives as 
 sured Mr. Lincoln before they left that they believed him to 
 be " moved by a high patriotism and sincere devotion to the 
 happiness and glory of his country ; " they promised him to 
 " consider respectfully " the suggestions he had made, but 
 it must have been evident to the President that they either 
 had little sympathy with his plan or that they believed it 
 would receive no favor from their constituents. 
 
 Although the message failed to arouse the Border States, 
 it did stimulate the anti-slavery party in Congress to com 
 plete several practical measures. Acts of Congress were 
 rapidly approved forbidding the army and navy to aid in the 
 return of fugitive slaves, recognizing the independence of 
 Liberia and Haiti, and completing a treaty with Great Brit 
 ain to suppress slave trading. One of the most interesting of 
 the acts which followed close on the message of March 6 
 emancipated immediately all the slaves in the District of 
 Columbia. One million dollars was appropriated by Con 
 gress to pay the loyal slaveholders of the District for their 
 loss, and $100,000 was set aside to pay the expenses of such 
 negroes as desired to emigrate to Haiti or Liberia. 
 
 The Administration was now committed to compensated 
 emancipation, but there were many radicals who grew restive 
 at the slow working of the measure. They began again to call 
 
102 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 for more trenchant use of the weapon in Lincoln s hand. 
 The commander of the Department of the South, General 
 David Hunter, in his zeal, even issued an order declaring : 
 
 Slavery and martial law in a free country are altogether 
 incompatible; the persons in ... Georgia, Florida, 
 and South Carolina heretofore held as slaves, are therefore 
 declared forever free. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln s first knowledge of this proclamation came 
 to him through the newspapers. He at once pronounced it 
 void. At the same time he made a declaration at which a 
 man less courageous, one less confident in his own policy, 
 would have hesitated a declaration of his intention that no 
 one but himself should decide how the weapon in his hand 
 was to be used : 
 
 I further make known that, whether it be competent for 
 me, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, to declare 
 the slaves of any State or States free, and whether, at any 
 time, in any case, it shall have become a necessity indispens 
 able to the maintenance of the government to exercise such 
 supposed power, are questions which, under my responsi 
 bility, I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified 
 in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field. 
 
 It was a public display of a trait of Mr. Lincoln of which 
 the country had already several examples. He made his 
 own decisions, trusted his own judgment as a final authority. 
 
 In revoking Hunter s order, Mr. Lincoln again appealed 
 to the Border States to accept his plan of buying and freeing 
 their slaves, and as if to warn them that the unauthorized 
 step which Hunter had dared to take might yet be forced 
 upon the administration, he said : 
 
 I do not argue I beseech you to make arguments for 
 yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs 
 of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged considera- 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 103 
 
 tion of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and 
 partizan politics. This proposal makes common cause for a 
 common object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts 
 not the Pharisee. The change it contemplates would come 
 gently as the dews of heaven, not rending or wrecking any 
 thing. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not 
 been done, by one effort, in all past time, as in the provi 
 dence of God it is now your high privilege to do. May 
 the vast future not have to lament that you have neglected it. 
 
 The President s treatment of Hunter s order dissatisfied 
 many who had been temporarily quieted by the message of 
 March 6. Again they besought the President to emanci 
 pate and arm the slaves. The authority and magnitude of 
 the demand became such that Mr. Lincoln fairly staggered 
 under it. Still he would not yield. He could not give up yet 
 his hope of a more peaceful and just system of emancipation. 
 But while he could not do what was asked of him, he seems 
 to have felt that it was possible that he was wrong, and that 
 another man in his place would be able to see the way. In a 
 remarkable interview held early in the summer with several 
 Republican senators, among whom was the Honorable 
 James Harlan, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, the President actually 
 offered to resign and let Mr. Hamlin, the Vice-President, 
 initiate the policy.* 
 
 The senators went to Mr. Lincoln to urge upon him the 
 paramount importance of mustering slaves into the Union 
 army. They argued that as the war was really to free the 
 negro, it was only fair that he should take his part in work 
 ing out his own salvation. Mr. Lincoln listened thought 
 fully to every argument, and then replied : 
 
 Gentlemen, I have put thousands of muskets into the 
 hands of loyal citizens of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Western 
 
 * The account of this interview was given to me by the late Hon. 
 James Harlan of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and was corrected by him before 
 his death. 
 
104 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 North Carolina. They have said they could defend them 
 selves, if they had guns. I have given them the guns. 
 Now, these men do not believe in mustering in the negro. 
 If I do it, these thousands of muskets will be turned against 
 us. We should lose more than we should gain. 
 
 The gentlemen urged other considerations, among* them 
 that it was not improbable that Europe, which was anti- 
 slavery in sentiment, but yet sympathized with the notion 
 of a Southern Confederacy, preferring two nations to one 
 in this country, would persuade the South to free her slaves 
 in consideration of recognition. After they had exhausted 
 every argument, Mr. Lincoln answered them. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, " I can t do it. I can t see it as 
 you do. You may be right, and I may be wrong; but I ll 
 tell you what I can do ; I can resign in favor of Mr. Hamlin. 
 Perhaps Mr. Hamlin could do it." 
 
 The senators, amazed at this proposition, " which," says 
 Senator Harlan, " was made with the greatest seriousness, 
 and of which not one of us doubted the sincerity," hastened 
 to assure the President that they could not consider such a 
 step on his part ; that he stood where he could see all around 
 the horizon; that he must do what he thought right; that, 
 in any event, he must not resign. 
 
 If at this juncture McClellan had given the President a 
 successful campaign it is probable that the radicals would 
 have been more patient with the measure for compensated 
 emancipation. The Border States seeing an overthrow of the 
 Confederacy imminent might have hastened to avail them 
 selves of it. But McClellan was giving the President little 
 but anxiety. He had undertaken the long deferred cam 
 paign against Richmond at the beginning of April, but had 
 begun by disobeying the clause of the President s order 
 which instructed him to leave enough troops around Wash. 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 105 
 
 ington to insure its safety. When he arrived in the Penin 
 sula he began to fortify his position as if he were entering on 
 a defensive instead of offensive campaign, and it was only 
 after repeated probing by the administration that he ad 
 vanced. Every mile of his route towards Richmond was 
 made only after urgent pleas and orders from the President 
 and the Secretary of War and bitter complaints and forebod 
 ings on his part. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln s attitude towards his general-in-chief in this 
 trying spring of 1862 is a most interesting study. He evi 
 dently had determined to exercise fully his power as com- 
 mander-in-chief, to force McClellan into battle and to compel 
 him to carry out the orders which he as chief executive gave. 
 Conscious of his ignorance of military matters, and anxious 
 to avoid errors, he exhausted every source of information 
 on the army and its movements. Secretary Stanton him 
 self did not watch the Army of the Potomac more closely in 
 this campaign than did President Lincoln. Indeed, of the 
 three rooms occupied by the military telegraph office at the 
 War Department, one came to be called the " President s 
 room," so much time did he spend there. During a part of 
 the war, this room was occupied by Mr. A. B. Chandler, now 
 the President of the Postal Telegraph Union. 
 
 " I was alone in this room," says Mr. Chandler, " and 
 as few people came there to see me, Mr. Lincoln could be 
 alone. He used to say, I come here to escape my perse 
 cutors. Many people call and say they want to see me for 
 only a minute. That means, if I can hear their story and 
 grant their request in a minute, it will be enough/ My 
 desk was a large one with a flat top, and intended to be occu 
 pied on both sides. Mr. Lincoln ordinarily took the chair 
 opposite mine at this desk. Here he would read over the 
 telegrams received for the several heads of departments, all 
 of which came to this office. It was the practice to make three 
 
106 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 copies of all messages received, to whomsoever addressed. 
 One of these was what we called a hard copy/ and was 
 saved for the records of the War Department ; two carbon 
 copies were made by stylus, on yellow tissue paper, one for 
 Mr. Lincoln and one for Mr. Stanton. Mr. Lincoln s copies 
 were kept in what we called the * President s drawer of the 
 cipher desk. He would come in at any time of the night 
 or day, and go at once to this drawer, and take out a file of 
 the telegrams, and begin at the top to read them. His posi 
 tion in running over these telegrams was sometimes very 
 curious. He had a habit of sitting frequently on the edge of 
 his chair, with his right knee dragged down to the floor. 
 I remember a curious expression of his when he got to the 
 bottom of the new telegrams and began on those that he had 
 read before. It was, Well, I guess I have got down to the 
 raisins. The first two or three times he said this he made 
 no explanation, and I did not ask one. But one day, after 
 the remark, he looked up under his eyebrows at me with a 
 funny twinkle in his eyes, and said, * I used to know a little 
 girl out West who sometimes was inclined to eat too much. 
 One day she ate a good many more raisins than she ought 
 to, and followed them up with a quantity of other goodies. 
 It made her very sick. After a time the raisins began to 
 come. She gasped and looked at her mother, and said, 
 " Well, I will be better now, I guess, for I have got down to 
 the raisins." 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln frequently wrote telegrams in my office. 
 His method of composition was slow and laborious. It was 
 evident that he thought out what he was going to say before 
 he touched his pen to the paper. He would sit looking out 
 of the window, his left elbow on the table, his hand scratch 
 ing his temple, his lips moving, and frequently he spoke 
 the sentence aloud or in a half whisper. After he was satis 
 fied that he had the proper expression, he would write it 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 107 
 
 out. If one examines the originals of Mr. Lincoln s 
 grams and letters, he will find very few erasures and veiy 
 little interlining. This was because he had them definitely 
 in his mind before writing them. In this he was the exact 
 opposite of Mr. Stanton, who wrote with feverish haste, 
 often scratching out words, and interlining frequently. 
 Sometimes he would seize a sheet which he had filled, and 
 impatiently tear it into pieces." 
 
 It is only necessary to examine the letters and telegrams 
 Lincoln sent to McClellan in the campaign of 1862 to appre 
 ciate the rare patience and still rarer firmness and common- 
 sense with which he was handling his hard military prob 
 lems. As has been said McClellan began his campaign by 
 disobeying the order to leave Washington fully guarded. 
 The President learning this kept back a corps of the army. 
 McClellan protested but Lincoln would not give up the 
 force. " Do you really think," he wrote McClellan, " I 
 should permit the line from Richmond via Manassas Junction 
 to this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could 
 be presented by less than 20,000 unorganized troops ? This 
 is a question which the country will not allow me to evade." 
 
 When it became evident that McClellan did not intend 
 to advance promptly the President made a vigorous protest. 
 
 Once more let me tell you it is indispensable to you that 
 you should strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You 
 will do me the justice to remember I always insisted that 
 going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting 
 at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting 
 a difficulty; that we would find the same enemy and the 
 same or equal intrenchments at either place. The country 
 will not fail to note is noting now that the present hesi 
 tation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of 
 Manassas repeated. 
 
 I beg to assure you that I have never written you or 
 spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor 
 
io8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 with a fuller purpose to sustain you, so far as in my most 
 anxious judgment I consistently can; but you must act. 
 
 McClellan did act but with such caution that he consumed 
 all of April and most of May in working his way up the 
 Peninsula to Richmond. Every move he made was under 
 protest that his force was too small and with incessant com 
 plaint that the administration was not supporting him. To 
 wards the end of May when an extra corps, that of Mc 
 Dowell, was on its way to Richmond to co-operate with 
 McClellan the administration became alarmed by a threat 
 ened attack on Washington and recalled McDowell. The 
 most intelligent military authorities criticise Mr. Lincoln for 
 withdrawing this force just as the attack on the Confeder 
 ates was at last to be made. It was an honest enough error 
 on the President s part. He believed the capital in danger. 
 He knew too that with 98,000 men present for duty Mc 
 Clellan ought to be able to take care of himself. The gen- 
 eral-in-chief, however, regarded this interference with his 
 plans as added proof that the President did not intend to 
 support him, wished his overthrow, and he sent the bitterest 
 complaints to Washington. The President wrote him on 
 May 25 full explanations of the situation as he saw it, and 
 begged him to go ahead and do his best. 
 
 " If McDowell s force was now beyond our reach," he 
 said, " we should be utterly helpless. Apprehension of some 
 thing like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has 
 always been my reason for withholding McDowell s force 
 from you. Please understand this, and do the best you can 
 with the force you have." 
 
 Three days later, after the fighting for Richmond had 
 really begun, he telegraphed him, " I am painfully impressed 
 with the importance of the struggle before you, and shall 
 aid you all I can consistently with my view of due regard to 
 all points." 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 109 
 
 And through the month following while McClellan was 
 engaged in the series of battles by which he hoped to get 
 into Richmond the President did sustain him in every way 
 he could, sending him troops as he could get them, counsel 
 ling him whenever he saw a weak point, encouraging him 
 after every engagement. The result of the campaign was 
 disastrous. After working his way to within a few miles 
 of Richmond McClellan was forced back to the James 
 River, and in a burst of bitter despair he telegraphed to 
 Washington : 
 
 If, at this instant I could dispose of ten thousand fresh 
 men, I could gain a victory to-morrow. I know that a few 
 thousand more men would have changed this battle from 
 a defeat to a victory. As it is, the Government must not and 
 cannot hold me responsible for the result. I feel too ear 
 nestly to-night; I have seen too many dead and wounded 
 comrades to feel otherwise than that the Government has 
 not sustained this army. If you do not do so now, the game 
 is lost. If I save this army now, I tell you plainly that I owe 
 no thanks to you or to any person in Washington. You 
 have done your best to sacrifice this army, 
 
 " Save your army at all events," Lincoln replied. " Will 
 send re-enforcements as fast as we can. Of course they can 
 not reach you to-day, to-morrow, or next day. I have not 
 said you were ungenerous for saying you needed re-enforce 
 ments. I thought you were ungenerous in assuming that I 
 did not send them as fast as I could. I feel any misfortune 
 to you and your army quite as keenly as you feel it yourself. 
 If you have had a drawn battle, or a repulse, it is the price we 
 pay for the enemy not being in Washington. We protected 
 Washington, and the enemy concentrated on you. Had we 
 stripped Washington, he would have been upon us before the 
 troops could have gotten to you. Less than a week ago you 
 notified us that re-enforcements were leaving Richmond to 
 come in front of us. It is the nature of the case, and neither 
 you nor the Government are to blame. Please tell at once 
 the present condition and aspect of things." 
 
110 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 This was June 28. Mr. Lincoln hoped that McClellan 
 might yet recover his position, but the developments of the 
 next two days showed him the campaign was a failure. It 
 was a terrible blow. " When the Peninsula campaign ter 
 minated suddenly at Harrison s Landing," Mr. Lincoln said 
 once to a friend who asked him if he had ever despaired of 
 his country, "I was as nearly inconsolable as I could be 
 and live." 
 
 But he neither faltered nor blamed. He bade McClellan 
 " find a place of security and wait and rest and repair," 
 to maintain his ground if he could but to save his army even 
 if he fell back to Fort Monroe. And he went to work to 
 bring light into about as black a situation as a President ever 
 faced. His first duty was to ask men of the sorrowing and 
 angry country. The War Department had felt so certain in 
 April when McClellan started on the Peninsula campaign 
 that it had force enough to finish the war that recruiting 
 had been stopped. Now a new call was made for 300,000 
 men for three years. 
 
 In order to learn the situation of the Army of the Poto 
 mac more exactly than he could from McClellan s de 
 spairing and often contradictory letters and telegrams, the 
 President himself went to Harrison s Landing in July. The 
 first and important result of his visit was that it fixed his 
 determination to do something immediately about emancipa 
 tion. He was convinced that he was not going to have any 
 military encouragement very soon to offer to his supporters. 
 But he must show them some fruits of their efforts, some 
 sign that the men and money they were pouring into " Mc 
 Clellan s trap," as it was beginning to be called, were not 
 lost; that the new call for 300,000 men just made was not 
 to be in vain. There was nothing to do but use emancipa 
 tion in some way as a weapon, and he summoned the repre 
 sentatives of the Border States to the White House on July 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 1 1 1 
 
 12, and made an earnest, almost passionate, appeal to them 
 to consider his proposition of March 6. 
 
 It is doubtful if Mr. Lincoln in all his political career 
 ever had a measure more at heart than his scheme for com 
 pensated emancipation. Isaac Arnold, who knew him well, 
 says that rarely, if ever, was he known to manifest such 
 solicitude as over this measure. 
 
 " Oh, how I wish the Border States would accept my 
 proposition," he said to Arnold and Owen Lovejoy one 
 day; " then you, Lovejoy, and you, Arnold, and all of us 
 would not have lived in vain. The labor of your life, Love- 
 joy, would be crowned with success. You would live to see 
 the end of slavery." 
 
 " Could you have seen the President," wrote Sumner once 
 to a friend, " as it was my privilege often while he was 
 considering the great questions on which he has already 
 acted the invitation to emancipation in the States, emanci 
 pation in the District of Columbia, and the acknowledg 
 ment of the independence of Haiti and Liberia, even your 
 zeal would have been satisfied. 
 
 " His whole soul was occupied, especially by the first 
 proposition, which was peculiarly his own. In familiar in 
 tercourse with him, I remember nothing more touching than 
 the earnestness and completeness with which he embraced 
 this idea. To his mind it was just and beneficent, while it 
 promised the sure end of slavery." 
 
 His address to the Border States representatives on July 
 12 is full of this conviction : 
 
 " I intend no reproach or complaint," he said, " when I as 
 sure you that, in my opinion, if you all had voted for the 
 resolution in the gradual-emancipation message of last 
 March, the war would now be substantially ended. And the 
 plan therein proposed is yet one of the most potent and swift 
 means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion 
 see definitely and certainly that in no event will the States 
 you represent ever join their proposed confederacy, and they 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 cannot much longer maintain the contest. But you cannot 
 divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with them 
 so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the in 
 stitution within your own States. Beat them at elections, 
 as you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, 
 they still claim you as their own. You and I know what the 
 lever of their power is. Break that lever before their faces, 
 and they can shake you no more forever. * * * If 
 the war continues long, as it must if the object be not sooner 
 attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished 
 by mere friction and abrasion by the mere incidents of 
 the war. It will be gone, and you will have nothing valuable 
 in lieu of it. Much of its value is gone already. How much 
 better for you and for your people to take the step which at 
 once shortens the war and secures substantial compensa 
 tion for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other 
 event! * * * 
 
 " I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned one 
 which threatens division among those who, united, are none 
 too strong. An instance of it is known to you. General 
 Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still is, my 
 friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me 
 in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. 
 He proclaimed all men free within certain States, and I re 
 pudiated the proclamation. He expected more good and less 
 harm from the measure than I could believe would follow. 
 Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offense, 
 to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. 
 And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction 
 is still upon me, and is increasing. By conceding what I 
 now ask, you can relieve me, and, much more, can relieve 
 the country, in this important point. * * * Our 
 common country is in great peril, demanding the loftiest 
 views and boldest action to bring it speedy relief. Once re 
 lieved, its form of government is saved to the world, its be 
 loved history and cherished memories are vindicated, and 
 its happy future fully assured and rendered inconceivably 
 grand. To you, more than to any others, the privilege is 
 given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and 
 to link your own names therewith forever." 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 113 
 
 The majority of the Border States representatives re 
 jected the President s appeal. Now Mr. Lincoln never came 
 to a point in his public career where he did not have a card 
 in reserve, and he never lacked the courage to play it if he 
 was forced to. " I must save this government if possible," 
 he said, now that his best efforts for compensated emancipa 
 tion were vain. " What I cannot do, of course I will not do ; 
 but it may as well be understood, once for all, that I shall 
 not surrender this game leaving any available card un- 
 played." Just what his " available card " was he hinted to 
 Secretary Seward and Secretary Welles the very day after 
 his interview with the Border State representatives. He had 
 about come to the conclusion, he said, that he must free the 
 slaves by proclamation or be himself subdued. " It was a 
 new departure for the President," writes Welles in his 
 Diary, " for until this time, in all our previous interviews 
 whenever the question of emancipation or the mitigation of 
 slavery had been in any way alluded to, he had been prompt 
 and emphatic in denouncing any interference by the General 
 Government with the institution." 
 
 It was probably very shortly after this that a curious in 
 terview took place between Mr. Lincoln and his old and inti 
 mate friend, Leonard Swett, which shows admirably the 
 struggle in the President s mind. The story of this inter 
 view Mr. Swett used to tell often to his friends, and it is 
 through the courtesy of one of them, the Hon. Peter Stenger 
 Grosscup, United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Ju 
 dicial Circuit, that it is given here : 
 
 One day, during the course of the war, when Mr. Swett 
 was at his home in Bloomington, Illinois, he received a tele 
 gram asking him to come immediately to the President. 
 The second morning afterwards found him in Washington. 
 Thinking that something unusual was at hand, he went to 
 the White House upon arrival and before eating his break- 
 (8) 
 
ii4 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 fast. Mr. Lincoln asked him immediately into the cabinet 
 room, and after making a few inquiries about mutual friends 
 in Illinois, pulled up his chair to a little cabinet of drawers. 
 Swett, of course, awaited in silence the developments. Open 
 ing a drawer, Lincoln took out a manuscript which, he said, 
 was a letter from William Lloyd Garrison, and which he 
 proceeded to read. It proved to be an eloquent and pas 
 sionate appeal for the immediate emancipation of the slaves. 
 It recalled the devotion and loyalty of the North, but pointed 
 out, with something like peremptoriness, that unless some 
 step was taken to cut out by the roots the institution of slav 
 ery, the expectations of the North would be disappointed 
 and its ardor correspondingly cooled. It went into the moral 
 wrong that lay at the bottom of the war, and insisted that 
 the war could not, in the nature of things, be ended until the 
 wrong was at an end. The letter throughout was entirely 
 characteristic of Garrison. 
 
 Laying it back without comment, Mr. Lincoln took out 
 another, which proved to be a letter from Garrett Davis, of 
 Kentucky. It, too, treated of emancipation; but from the 
 Border State point of view. It carefully balanced the mar 
 tial and moral forces of the North and South, and pointed 
 out that if the Border States, now divided almost equally 
 between the belligerents, were thrown unitedly to the South, 
 a conclusion of the war favorable to the North would be 
 next to impossible. It then proceeded to recall that slavery 
 was an institution of these Border States with which their 
 people had grown familiar and upon which much of their 
 prosperity was founded. Emancipation, especially emanci 
 pation without compensation, would, in that quarter of the 
 country, be looked upon as a stab at prosperity and a depart 
 ure from the original Union purposes of the war. It beg 
 ged Mr. Lincoln to be led by the Northern abolition senti 
 ment into no such irretrievable mistake. 
 
 Laying this back, Mr. Lincoln took out another, which 
 turned out to be from a then prominent Swiss statesman, 
 a sympathizer with the Northern cause, but whose name I 
 cannot recall. It breathed all through an ardent wish that 
 the North should succeed. The writer s purpose was to call 
 attention to the foreign situation and the importance of pre- 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 115 
 
 venting foreign intervention. This he summed up as fol 
 lows : The governing classes in England and Napoleon in 
 France were favorable to the success of the Confederacy. 
 They were looking for a pretext upon which to base some sort 
 of intervention. Anything that, in international law, would 
 justify intervention would be quickly utilized. A situation 
 justifying such a pretext must be avoided. The writer then 
 pointed out that from the earliest times any interference with 
 the enemy s slaves had been regarded as a cruel and improper 
 expedient; that emancipation would be represented to 
 Europe as an equivalent of inciting slave insurrection; and 
 would be seized upon, the writer feared, as a pretext upon 
 which forcibly to intervene. The letter went over the whole 
 foreign situation, bringing out clearly this phase of the con 
 sequences of emancipation. 
 
 Laying this letter back, the President turned to Mr. Swett, 
 and without a word of inquiry, took up himself the subject 
 of emancipation, not only in the phases pointed out by the 
 letters just read, but every possible phase and consequence 
 under which it could be considered. For more than an hour 
 he debated the situation, first the one side and then the 
 other of every question arising. His manner did not indi 
 cate that he wished to impress his views upon his hearer, 
 but rather to weigh and examine them for his own enlight 
 enment in the presence of his hearer. It was an instance of 
 stating conclusions aloud, not that they might convince an 
 other, or be combatted by him, but that the speaker might see 
 for himself how they looked when taken out of the region 
 of mere reflection and embodied in words. The President s 
 deliverance was so judicial, and so free from the quality of 
 debate, or appearance of a wish to convince, that Mr. Swett 
 felt himself to be, not so much a hearer of Lincoln s views, 
 as a witness of the President s mental operations. The 
 President was simply framing his thought in words, under 
 the eye of his friend, that he might clear up his own mind. 
 
 When the President concluded, he asked for no comment, 
 and made no inquiry, but rising, expressed his hope that Mr. 
 Swett would get home safely, and entrusted to him some 
 messages to their mutual friends. The audience thus 
 ended. 
 
Il6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had, no doubt, determined at this time on 
 the Emancipation Proclamation, perhaps had in his drawer, 
 with the letters he read to Mr. Swett, the original draft 
 which, as he afterwards told Mr. F. B. Carpenter, he pre 
 pared " without consultation with or the knowledge of the 
 cabinet." It was on July 22 that, " after much anxious 
 thought/* he called a cabinet meeting to consider the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 " I said to the cabinet," the President told Mr. Carpenter, 
 " that I had resolved upon this step, and had not called them 
 together to ask their advice, but to lay the subject matter of 
 a proclamation before them ; suggestions as to which would 
 be in order, after they had heard it read." 
 
 The gist of the proclamation which Mr. Lincoln read to 
 the cabinet was that, on the first day of January, 1863, all 
 persons held as slaves within any State or States wherein 
 the constitutional authority of the United States should not 
 then be practically recognized, should " then, thenceforward, 
 and forever be free." He called his proclamation " a fit 
 and necessary military measure," and prefaced it by declar 
 ing that, upon the next meeting of Congress, he intended to 
 recommend a practical plan for giving pecuniary aid to any 
 State which by that time had adopted " gradual abolish 
 ment of slavery." 
 
 The cabinet seems to have been bewildered by the sweep 
 ing proposition of the President. Nicolay and Hay quote 
 a memorandum of the meeting made by Secretary Stanton, 
 in which he says : " The measure goes beyond anything I 
 have recommended." Mr. Lincoln, in his account of the 
 meeting given to Mr. Carpenter, says : 
 
 Various suggestions were offered. . . . Noth 
 ing, however, was offered that I had not already fully an 
 
sstanton Chasa 
 
 President Lincoln 
 
 FIRST READING OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 
 From the original painting by F. B. Carpenter 
 
 The original was painted in the state dining-room of the White-House between February 5 and 
 August 1, 1854, under the eye and with the kindly help of President Lincoln. According to a let 
 ter of Secretary Chase to Mr. Carpenter, "Mr. Lincoln, before reading his manuscript of the 
 proclamation, said, in substance: 1 have considered everything that has been said to me about 
 the expediency of emancipation, and have made up my mind to issue this proclamation, and 1 
 have invited you to come together, not to discuss what is to be done, but to have you hear what I 
 have written and to get your suggestions about form and style ; adding : i have thought it all 
 over, and have made a promise that this should be done to myself and to God. " Secretary Chase 
 adds : " The picture well represents that moment which followed the reading of the proclama 
 tion. It puts the two members who thoroughly advised and heartily believed in the measure 
 on the right of Mr. Lincoln ; the others (who, though they all acquiesced, and Mr. Seward, who. 
 particularly, made important suggestions, had hitherto doubted or advised delay or even opposed) 
 on the left." 
 
Welles 
 
 BEFORE THE CABINET, SEPTEMBER 20, 1862 
 now in the Capitol at Washington 
 
 Upon its completion, the painting was exhibited for two days in the East Room of the Whita 
 House. After having been exhibited through the country, it was purchased by Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Thompson, of New York, and presented to the re-United States, Congress unanimously accept 
 ing the gift and voting Mrs. Thompson the " thanks of Congress," the highest honor ever paid a 
 woman in our country, and setting apart Lincoln s birthday, February 12, 1878, for the acceptance 
 of the painting. On that day both houses of Congress adjourned in honor of the celebration ; tho 
 painting was elevated over the chair of the Speaker of the House of Representatives ; Garfield, 
 then a member of Congress, made the speech of presentation on behalf of Mrs. Thompson, while 
 the Hon. Alexander Stephens, former vice-president of the Confederacy, who, in a famous speech 
 at the beginning of the war, had declared, " Slavery is the cornerstone of the new Confederacy," 
 made the speech accepting, on behalf of Congress, this painting which commemorates the abo. 
 lition of slavery. 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION lij 
 
 ticipated and settled in my own mind, until Secretary Sew- 
 ard spoke. He said in substance : " Mr. President, I ap 
 prove of the proclamation, but I question the expediency 
 of its issue at this juncture. The depression of the public 
 mind, consequent upon our repeated reverses, is so great that 
 I fear the effect of so important a step. It may be viewed as 
 the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help ; 
 the government stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, in 
 stead of Ethiopia stretching forth her hands to the govern 
 ment." His idea was that it would be considered our last 
 shriek, on the retreat. " Now," continued Mr. Seward, 
 " while I approve the measure, I suggest, sir, that you post 
 pone its issue, until you can give it to the country, supported 
 by military success, instead of issuing it, as would be the 
 case now, upon the greatest disasters of the war ! " Th& 
 wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me with 
 very great force. It was an aspect of the case that, in all my 
 thoughts upon the subject, I had entirely overlooked. The 
 result was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside, as 
 you do your sketch for a picture, waiting for a victory. From 
 time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up he/e 
 and there, anxiously waiting the progress of events. 
 
 The victory Mr. Lincoln waited for was long in coming. 
 Disaster after disaster followed. Each new delay or failure 
 only intensified the radical anti-slavery sentiment, and made 
 the demand for emancipation more emphatic and threaten 
 ing. The culmination of this dissatisfaction was an editorial 
 signed by Horace Greeley, and printed in the New York 
 " Tribune " of August 20, entitled, " The Prayer of 20,- 
 000,000 " two columns of bitter and unjust accusations 
 and complaints addressed to Mr. Lincoln, charging him with 
 " ignoring, disregarding, and defying " the laws already 
 enacted against slavery. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln answered it in a letter published in the " Na 
 tional Intelligencer" of Washington, August 23. The 
 document challenges comparison with the State papers of 
 all times and all countries far its lucidity am! jts courage : 
 
Ii8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 " 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 sooner the national au 
 thority 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 strug 
 gle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to de 
 stroy 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 be 
 cause 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. 
 
 The " Greeley faction/ as it was called, not only pursued 
 Mr. Lincoln through the press and pulpit and platform; an 
 unending procession of radical committees and delegations 
 waited upon him. Although he was at that time, by his own 
 statement, adding or changing a line of the proclamation, 
 " touching it up here and there," he seems almost invariably 
 to have argued against emancipation with those who came to 
 plead for it. 
 
 It was only his way of making his own judgment surer. 
 He was not only examining every possible reason for eman 
 cipation; he was steadily seeking reasons against it. Per 
 haps the best illustration preserved to us of this intellectual 
 method of Lincoln is his argument to a committee from the 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 119 
 
 religious denominations of Chicago, who came to him on 
 September 1 3 : 
 
 " What good would a proclamation of emancipation from 
 me do, especially as we are now situated ? I do not want to 
 issue a document that the whole world will see must neces 
 sarily 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 magistrate, 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 Con 
 gress, 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 in 
 duced by a proclamation 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? * * If WQ 
 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 men 
 tion another thing, though it meets 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 proclamation such as you de 
 sire, they should go over to the rebels." 
 
 The letter to Greeley, the passages quoted above, show 
 how the President was wrestling with the question. There 
 is every indication indeed that an incessant struggle against 
 violent emancipation went on in his mind through the whole 
 period. He regarded it as the act of a dictator. He feared 
 it might be fruitless. He dreaded the injury it would do the 
 loyal people of the South. He said once to a friend, that 
 he had prayed to the Almighty to save him from the neces 
 sity of it, adopting the very language of Christ, " If it be 
 possible, let this cup pass from me." In talking to the 
 
120 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Chicago delegations, who argued that it was God s will that 
 he issue a proclamation, he said : 
 
 " I hope it will not be irreverent 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 supposed He 
 would reveal it directly to me; for unless I am more de 
 ceived 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 victory for which the President waited came on Sep 
 tember 17. McClellan had followed Lee into Maryland, 
 and defeated him. The President was at his summer house 
 at the Soldier s Home when the news of Antietam reached 
 him. He at once finished the second draft of the Emancipa 
 tion Proclamation, and called the cabinet together on Mon 
 day, September 22. Secretary Chase recorded in his diary, 
 that day, how, after reading his colleagues a chapter from 
 Artemus Ward, the President " took a graver tone." The 
 words he spoke, as recorded by Mr. Chase, are a remarkable 
 revelation of the man s feelings at the moment : 
 
 I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the 
 relation of this war to slavery ; and you all remember that, 
 several weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared on 
 this subject, which, on account of objections made by some 
 of you, was not issued. Ever since then my mind has been 
 much occupied with this subject, and I have thought, all 
 along, that the time for acting on it might probably come. 
 I think the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. 
 I wish that we were in a better condition. The action of 
 the army against the rebels has not been quite what I should 
 have best liked. But they have been driven out of Maryland, 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 121 
 
 and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When 
 the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as 
 it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a proclama 
 tion of emancipation, such as I thought m( st likely to be 
 useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made the promise 
 to myself and [hesitating a little] to my Maker. The rebel 
 army is now driven out, and I am going to fulfil that prom 
 ise. I have got you together to hear what I have written 
 down. I do not wish your advice about the main matter, for 
 that I have determined for myself. This, I say without in 
 tending anything but respect for any one of you. But I al 
 ready know the views of each on this question. They have 
 been heretofore expressed, and I have considered them as 
 thoroughly and carefully as I can. What I have written is 
 that which my reflections have determined me to say. If 
 there is anything in the expressions I use, or in any minor 
 matter, which any of you thinks had best be changed, I shall 
 be glad to receive the suggestions. One other observation 
 I will make. I know very well that many others might, in 
 this matter as in others, do better than I can ; and if I was 
 satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed 
 by any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitu 
 tional way in which he could be put in my place, he should 
 have it. I would gladly yield it to him. But, though I believe 
 that I have not so much of the confidence of the people as I 
 had some time since, I do not know that, all things consid 
 ered, any other person has more ; and, however this may be, 
 there is no way in which I can have any other man put where 
 I am. I am here ; I must do the best I can, and bear the re 
 sponsibility of taking the course which I feel I ought to take. 
 
 The proclamation appeared in the newspapers of the fol 
 lowing morning. One substantial addition had been made 
 to the document since July 22. It now declared that the 
 Government of the United States would M recognize and 
 maintain " the freedom of the persons set at liberty. 
 
 There was no exultation in the President s mind; indeed 
 there was almost a groan in the words which, the night 
 after he had given it out, he addressed to a party of sere- 
 
122 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 naders, " I can only trust in God that I have made no 
 mistake." The events of the fall brought him little en 
 couragement. Indeed, the promise of emancipation seemed 
 to effect nothing but discontent and uneasiness ; stocks went 
 down, troops fell off. In five great States Indiana, Illinois, 
 Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York the elections went 
 against him. Little but menaces came from Europe. Many 
 said that the President would not dare, in the face of the un 
 rest of the country, fulfil his promise, and issue the procla 
 mation. But when Congress opened on December i, he 
 did submit the proclamation, together with the plan for 
 compensated emancipation which he had w r orked out. Over 
 one-half of the message, in fact, was given to this plan. 
 f Mr. Lincoln pleaded with Congress for his measure as 
 he had never pleaded before. He argued that it would " end 
 the struggle and save the Union forever," that it would 
 " cost no blood at all/ that Congress could do it if they 
 would unite with the executive, that the " good people " 
 would respond and support it if appealed to. 
 
 " It is not/ he said, " " Can any of us imagine better? 
 but/ Can we all do better? Object whatsoever is possible, 
 still the question occurs, Can we do better ? The dogmas 
 of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. 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 personal significance or insignifi 
 cance 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 forget 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 id bear the re- 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 123 
 
 sponsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure free 
 dom 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 followed, the world will forever applaud, and God 
 must forever bless/ 
 
 As the ist of January drew near, many friends of the 
 proclamation doubted that Mr. Lincoln would keep his 
 promise. Among these was the Rev. Byron Sunderland, 
 of Washington, at that time chaplain of the Senate and one 
 of the most aggressively loyal ministers in the city. Dr. 
 Sunderland feared that there was truth in the rumor that the 
 President would withdraw, not issue, the proclamation on 
 the ist of January, and on the Sunday before the New Year 
 he preached a sermon on the subject. Mr. Z. S. Robbins, of 
 Washington, a friend of Mr. Lincoln, asked Dr. Sunderland 
 to go with him to the President and urge him to keep his 
 promise. 
 
 " We were ushered into the cabinet room," says Dr. Sun 
 derland. " It was very dim, but one gas-jet burning. As 
 we entered, Mr. Lincoln was standing at the farther end of 
 the long table which filled the middle of the room. As I 
 stood by the door, I am so very short, that I was obliged to 
 look up to see the President. Mr. Robbins introduced me, 
 and I began at once by saying : I have come, Mr. President, 
 to anticipate the New Year with my respects, and if I may, 
 to say to you a word about the serious condition of this 
 country/ 
 
 Go ahead, Doctor/ replied the President ; every little 
 helps. But I was too much in earnest to laugh at his sally 
 at my smallness. * Mr. President/ I continued, * they say 
 that you are not going to keep your promise to give us the 
 Emancipation Proclamation; that it is your intention to 
 withdraw it/ 
 
124 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 " Well, Doctor, said Mr. Lincoln, you know Peter was 
 going to do it, but when the time came he didn t/ 
 
 " * Mr. President, I continued, * I have been studying 
 Peter. He did not deny his Master until after his Master 
 rebuked him in the presence of the enemy. You have a mas 
 ter, too, Mr. Lincoln, the American people. Don t deny 
 your master until he has rebuked you before all the world/ 
 
 " My earnestness seemed to interest the President, and 
 his whole tone changed immediately. Sit down, Doctor 
 Sunderland, he said ; let us talk/ 
 
 " We seated ourselves in the room, and for a moment the 
 President was silent, his elbow resting on the table, his big, 
 gnarled hands closed over his forehead. Then looking up 
 gravely at me, he began to speak : 
 
 " * Doctor, if it had been left to you and me, there would 
 have been no war. If it had been left to you and me, there 
 would have been no cause for this war ; but it was not left to 
 us. God has allowed men to make slaves of their fellows. 
 He permits this war. He has before Him a strange specta 
 cle. We, on our side, are praying Him to give us victory, 
 because we believe we are right ; but those on the other side 
 pray Him, too, for victory, believing they are right. What 
 must He think of us ? And what is coming from the strug 
 gle? What will be the effect of it all on the whites and on 
 the negroes ? And then suddenly a ripple of amusement 
 broke the solemn tone of his voice. As for the negroes, 
 Doctor, and what is going to become of them : I told Ben 
 Wade the other day, that it made me think of a story I read 
 in one of my first books, " yEsop s Fables." It was an old 
 edition, and had curious rough wood-cuts, one of which 
 showed four white men scrubbing a negro in a potash kettle 
 filled with cold water. The text explained that the men 
 thought that by scrubbing the negro they might make him 
 white. Just about the time they thought they were succeed 
 ing, he took cold and died. Now, I am afraid that by the 
 time we get through this war the negro will catch cold and 
 die/ 
 
 The laugh had hardly died away before he resumed his 
 grave tone, and for half an hour he discussed the question of 
 emancipation. He stated it in every light, putting his points 
 
LINCOLN AND EMANCIPATION 125 
 
 so clearly that each statement was an argument. He showed 
 the fullest appreciation of every side. It was like a talk of 
 one of the old prophets. And though he did not tell me at 
 the end whether the proclamation would be issued or not, I 
 went home comforted and uplifted, and I believed in Abra 
 ham Lincoln from that day." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had no idea of withdrawing the proclama 
 tion. On December 30, he read the document to his cabi 
 net, and asked the members to take copies home and give 
 him their criticisms. The next day at cabinet meeting these 
 criticisms and suggestions were presented by the different 
 members, Mr. Lincoln took them all to his office, where, 
 during that afternoon and the morning of January I, 1863, 
 he rewrote the document. He was called from it at eleven 
 o clock to go to the East Room and begin the customary 
 New Year s handshaking. It was the middle of the after 
 noon before he was free and back in the executive chamber, 
 where the Emancipation Proclamation, which in the inter 
 val had been duly engrossed at the State Department and 
 brought to the White House by Secretary Seward and his 
 son, was waiting his signature. 
 
 " They found the President alone in his room," writes 
 Frederick Seward. " The broad sheet was spread out be 
 fore him on the cabinet table. Mr. Lincoln dipped his pen in 
 the ink, and then, holding it a moment above the paper, 
 seemed to hesitate. Looking around, he said : 
 
 I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing 
 right, than I do in signing this paper. But I have been re 
 ceiving calls, and shaking hands since nine [eleven ?] o clock 
 this morning, till my arm is stiff and numb. Now, this sig 
 nature is one that will be closely examined, and if they find 
 my hand trembled, they will say " he had some compunc 
 tions." But, any way, it is going to be done! 
 
 " So saying, he slowly and carefully wrote his name at the 
 bottom of the proclamation." 
 
126 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 At last the Emancipation Proclamation was a fact. But 
 there was little rejoicing in the heart of the man who had 
 framed and given it to the world. In issuing it, all he had 
 dared hope was that in the long run it would give greater 
 gain than loss. He was not confident that this would be so, 
 but he was willing to risk it. " Hope and fear and doubt con 
 tended over the new policy in uncertain conflict," he said 
 months later. As he had foreseen, dark days followed. 
 There were mutinies in the army; there was ridicule; there 
 was a long interval of waiting for results. Nothing but the 
 greatest care in enforcing the proclamation could make it 
 a greater good than evil, and Mr. Lincoln now turned all his 
 energies to this new task. " We are like whalers," he said 
 one day, " who have been long on a chase ; we have at last 
 got the harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how 
 we steer, or with one flop of his tail he will send us all into 
 eternity." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 
 
 THE failure of McClellan in the Peninsular Campaign not 
 only forced the emancipation proclamation from Lincoln, it 
 set him to working on a fresh set of military problems. The 
 most important of these was a search for a competent gen- 
 eral-in-chief for the armies of the United States. As has 
 already been noted General McClellan had been appointed 
 general-in-chief in July, 1861, after the first battle of Bull 
 Run. A few months experience had demonstrated to the 
 Administration that able as McClellan was in forming an 
 army and inspiring his soldiers, he lacked the ability to di 
 rect a great concerted movement extending over so long a 
 line as that from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. In March 
 when he took the field at the head of the Army of the 
 Potomac the President relieved him from the command of 
 all military departments except that of the Department of 
 the Potomac. From March to July, 1862, Lincoln had no 
 general-in-chief. He felt so keenly his need of an ex 
 perienced military counsellor that towards the end of June 
 he made a hurried and secret visit to General Scott, who 
 since he had been superseded by McClellan had been in re 
 tirement. 
 
 One result of his visit to McClellan at Harrison s Landing 
 in July was to fix Lincoln s determination to have in Wash 
 ington a general-in-chief of all the armies who could supple 
 ment his own meagre knowledge of military matters, and 
 who could aid him in forming judgments. He knew that in 
 the campaign against Richmond he had, at more than one 
 
 127 
 
128 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 critical moment, made decisions which were contrary lo Mc- 
 Clellan s plans. He knew that McClellan claimed that these 
 decisions had caused his failure. He had acted to the best of 
 his judgment in every case, but he undoubtedly felt the dan 
 ger in a civilian s taking such a responsibility. He wanted a 
 man at his side whom he believed was wiser than he in these 
 matters. So far the war had brought out but one man who 
 seemed to him at all fit for this work, Major-General H. W. 
 Halleck, the commander of the Department of the Missis 
 sippi. On his return to Washington from his visit to Mc 
 Clellan, almost the first act of the President was to summon 
 Halleck to Washington as general-in-chief. Halleck was a 
 West Point man highly regarded by General Scott, who 
 had been appointed to take charge of the Department of the 
 West after Fremont s failure there. He had shown such 
 vigor in his field in the winter of i86i- 62, that in March, 
 when McClellan was relieved of the position of general-in- 
 chief, a new department including all the Mississippi region 
 west of Knoxville, Tennessee, was given to Halleck. Since 
 that time he had succeeded in opening the Mississippi with 
 the aid of the gunboats as far south as Memphis. 
 
 Halleck was appointed on July n, and soon after his ar 
 rival in Washington he went to Harrison s Landing to look 
 over McClellan s situation. He found McClellan determined 
 to make another attack on Richmond after he received re- 
 enforcements. Halleck disapproved of the idea. He be 
 lieved that McClellan should return to the Potomac and 
 unite with the new army of Virginia which had just been 
 formed of the troops around Washington and placed under 
 the direction of General John Pope, another product of the 
 Mississippi campaign, from whom the President hoped 
 great things. 
 
 McClellan persistently fought this plan and his removal 
 was seriously discussed at this time. _The great body of the 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 129 
 
 Republican party indeed demanded it. Many did not hesi 
 tate to say that McClellan was a traitor only waiting the 
 proper opportunity to surrender his army to the enemy an 
 accusation which never had other foundation than McClel- 
 lan s obstinacy and procrastination. Lincoln would not re 
 lieve him. He believed him loyal. He knew that no man 
 could be better loved by his soldiers or more capable 
 of putting an army into form. He had no one to put 
 in his place. There was a political reason, too; McClellan 
 was a Democrat. The party took his view of the disastrous 
 Peninsular campaign that Mr. Lincoln had not supported 
 him. To remove him was to arouse bitter Democratic oppo 
 sition and so to decrease the support of the Union cause and 
 at this juncture to hold as solid a North as possible to the 
 war was quite as imperative as to win a battle. 
 
 Lincoln would not relieve McClellan, but he sanctioned 
 the plan for a change of base from the James to the Potomac 
 and early in August, McClellan was ordered to move his 
 army. He continued to struggle against the movement, be 
 lieving he could, if re-enforced, capture Richmond, and when 
 forced to yield he had made the movement with delay and ill- 
 humor. The withdrawal of McClellan freed Lee s army, and 
 the Confederate general marched quickly northward against 
 the Army of Virginia under General Pope. On August 30, 
 Lee defeated Pope in the second battle of Bull Run a de 
 feat scarcely less discouraging to the Federals than the first 
 Bull Run had been, and one that caused almost as great a 
 panic at Washington. Pope was defeated, the country gener 
 ally believed, because McClellan, who was hardly twenty 
 miles away, did not, in spite of orders, do anything to relieve 
 him. It seemed to Lincoln that McClellan even wanted Pope 
 to fail. The indignation of the Secretary of Wir and of the 
 majority of the members of the cabinet was so great against 
 McClellan that a protest against keeping him any longer in 
 (9) 
 
130 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 command of any force was written by Stanton and signed 
 by three of his colleagues. Major A. E. H. Johnson, the pri 
 vate secretary of Stanton, first published this protest in the 
 Washington " Evening Star," March 18, 1893. Mr. John 
 son says that the President thought it unwise to publish the 
 document that Mr. Stanton had prepared ; but he consented 
 that the following protest should be signed and handed to 
 him as a substitute. The understanding of the cabinet mem 
 bers interested was that this revised protest should go to the 
 country. Mr. Johnson believes that Mr. Lincoln himself 
 wrote this protest ; at all events, he is certain that the Presi 
 dent consented to it. 
 
 The undersigned, who have been honored with your se 
 lection as part of your confidential advisers, deeply im 
 pressed with our great responsibility in the present crisis, do 
 but perform a painful duty in declaring to you our deliberate 
 opinion that at this time it is not safe to intrust to Major- 
 General McClellan the command of any army of the United 
 States. And we hold ourselves ready at any time to explain 
 to you in detail the reasons upon which this opinion is based. 
 
 In spite of this evident sympathy of Lincoln with the in 
 dignation against McClellan, on September 2 he placed that 
 general in command of all the troops around Washington. 
 Probably no act of his ever angered the Secretary of War so 
 thoroughly. A large part of the North, too, was indignant. 
 A general cry went up to the President for a new leader. 
 
 Lincoln only showed again in this determined and bitterly 
 criticised action his courage in acting in a crisis according 
 to his own judgment. The army under Pope was demoral 
 ized. Washington was, perhaps, in danger. The defeat had 
 robbed Pope of confidence. Halleck, worn out with fatigue 
 and anxiety, was beseeching McClellan to come to his 
 relief. There was no other general in the army who could 
 so quickly " lick the troops into shape," as Lincoln put 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 131 
 
 it, and man the fortifications around the city. He made the 
 order, and McClellan entirely justified the President s faith 
 in him. He did put the army into form, and was able to fol 
 low at once after Lee, who was making for Maryland and 
 Pennsylvania. Overtaking Lee at Antietam, north of the 
 Potomac, McClellan defeated him on September 17. But 
 to Lincoln s utter despair, he failed to follow up his victory 
 and allowed Lee to get back south of the Potomac river; 
 nor would he follow him, in spite of Lincoln s reiterated urg 
 ing. It was this failure to move McClellan s army from 
 camp that sent Lincoln to visit him early in October. He 
 would find out the actual condition of the army; see if, as 
 McClellan complained, it lacked " everything " and needed 
 rest. He found McClellan with over 100,000 men around 
 him ; two days of his visit he spent in the saddle reviewing 
 this force. He visited the hospitals, talked with the men, in 
 terviewed the generals, saw everything. What his opinion of 
 the ability of the army to do something was, is evident from 
 an order sent McClellan the day after he returned to Wash 
 ington : " The President directs that you cross the Potomac 
 and give battle to the enemy or drive him south." This was 
 on October 6. A week later, McClellan being still in camp, 
 Mr. Lincoln wrote him the following letter : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, October 13, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN. 
 
 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 con 
 stantly doing ? 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 
 
132 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 to that 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 
 Culpepper Court House, which is just about twice as far as 
 you would have to do from Harper s Ferry. He is certainly 
 not more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. 
 I certainly 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 communica 
 tions 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 enemy, and think 
 you not he would break your communication with Richmond 
 within the next twenty- four hours? . . . 
 
 If he should move northward, I would follow r him closely, 
 holding his communications. If he should prevent our seiz 
 ing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I 
 would press closely to him, fight him, if a favorable opportu 
 nity 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 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. . . . 
 
 This patient, sensible letter had no effect on McClellan. 
 Now, forbearing as Lincoln was as a rule, he could lose his 
 patience in a way which it does one good to see. He lost it a 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 133 
 
 few days later, when McClellan gave as a reason for inaction 
 that his cavalry horses had sore tongues. 
 
 " I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and 
 fatigued horses/ Lincoln telegraphed. " Will you pardon 
 me for asking what the horses of your army have done since 
 the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything ? " 
 
 Yet even for this telegram he half apologized two days 
 later : 
 
 Most certainly I intend no injustice to any, and if I have 
 done any I deeply regret it. To be told, after more than five 
 weeks total inaction of the army, and during which period 
 we have 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 hopeless, prospect for the future, and it 
 may have forced something of impatience in my dispatch. 
 
 On the first day of November, McClellan crossed the Po 
 tomac ; but four days later the President, acting on a curious, 
 half-superstitious ultimatum which he had laid down for his 
 own guidance, removed the General. He had decided, Mr. 
 Hay heard him say, that if McClellan permitted Lee to cross 
 the Blue Ridge and place himself between Richmond and the 
 Army of the Potomac, there would be a change in generals. 
 Four days later Lee did this very thing, and Lincoln, un 
 moved by the fact that McClellan had at last begun the 
 movement south, kept the compact with himself. 
 
 But who should be asked to take the command of the 
 army? There was no man whose achievements made him 
 pre-eminent no one whom the country demanded as it had 
 Fremont and McClellan. The choice seemed to be confined 
 to the corps commanders of the Army of the Potomac, and 
 General Ambrose Burnside was ordered to relieve McClel 
 lan. Lincoln had been watching Burnside closely for many 
 
134 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 months. Indeed, he had already twice asked him to talce the 
 command, but Burnside, believing in McClellan and mis 
 trusting his own fitness, had refused. 
 
 With an anxious heart the President watched the new 
 commander as he followed Lee into Virginia and took a po 
 sition north of the Rappahannock, facing Lee, who was now 
 at Fredericksburg, on the south of the river. Burnside at 
 once made ready for battle and Lincoln wanting as al 
 ways to see with his own eyes the army s condition, went 
 down the Potomac on November 27 to Acquia Creek, where 
 Burnside met him and explained his plan. The President 
 thought it risky and in a letter to Halleck suggested a less 
 hazardous substitute. Both Burnside and Halleck objected 
 however and the President yielded. 
 
 Burnside began his movement on December 9. During 
 the loth, nth, I2th, and i.3th, the President studied intently 
 the yellow-tissue telegrams in his drawer at the telegraph 
 office, telling where troops were crossing the river and what 
 positions had been gained. At half-past four o clock on the 
 morning of the I4th, a message was received saying that the 
 troops were all over the river " loss, 5,000." This meant 
 that the final struggle was at hand. About eight o clock that 
 morning, Mr. Lincoln appeared at the telegraph office of the 
 War Department in dressing-gown and carpet slippers. Mr. 
 Rosewater, the present editor of the Omaha " Bee," was re 
 ceiving messages, and he says that the President did not leave 
 the room until night. Secretary Stan ton, Major Eckert, and 
 Captain Fox were the only other persons present, as he re 
 members. The excitement and suspense were too great for 
 any one to eat, and it was not until evening that the Secre 
 tary sent out for food for the watchers. All day the I5th the 
 anxiety lasted; then, at a quarter past four o clock on the 
 morning of the 1 6th, came news of a retreat. " I have 
 thought it necessary," telegraphed Burnside from the north 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 135 
 
 of the Rappahannock, " to withdraw the army to this side of 
 the river." Slowly the dreadful returns came in over 
 10,000 men dead and wounded, 2,000 more missing. The 
 government did its utmost to conceal the disaster, but gradu 
 ally it came out and again the heart-sick country heaped its 
 anger on the President. 
 
 Lincoln s faith in Burnside was sorely tried by the battle 
 of Fredericksburg. Reports which soon came to him of the 
 discouragement of the army, and the disaffection of the 
 corps commanders, alarmed him still further, and he refused, 
 without Halleck s consent, to allow Burnside to make a new 
 movement which the latter had planned. But Halleck de 
 clined, at this critical moment, to accept the responsibilities 
 of his position as General-in-Chief and to give a decision. 
 Lincoln felt his desertion deeply. 
 
 " If in such a difficulty as this," he wrote Halleck, " you 
 do not help, you fail me precisely in the point for which I 
 sought your assistance. You know what General 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 temper in a 
 word, gather all the elements for forming a judgment of 
 your own, and then tell General Burnside that you do ap 
 prove or that you do not approve his plan. Your military 
 skill is useless to me if you will not do this." 
 
 The passing weeks only added to the disorganization of 
 the Army of the Potomac, and on January 25 the Presi 
 dent ordered General Joseph Hooker to relieve General 
 Burnside. Stanton and Halleck were not satisfied with the 
 selection. They wanted the next experiment tried on a 
 Western general who was promising well, General W. S. 
 Rosecrans. That Lincoln himself saw danger in the ap 
 pointment is evident from the letter he wrote to General 
 Hooker : 
 
136 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 General: I have placed you at the head of the Army of ;he 
 Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear 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 skill 
 ful soldier, which of course I like. I also believe you do not 
 mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. 
 You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an 
 indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within rea 
 sonable bounds, does good rather than harm ; but I think that 
 during General Burnside s command of the army you have 
 taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much as 
 you could, in which you did a great wrong 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 
 saying that both the army and the government needed a dic 
 tator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I 
 have given you the command. 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 gov 
 ernment 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 commander 
 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 be 
 ware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy and 
 sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories. Yours 
 very truly, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Hooker had a manly heart, and the President s words ap 
 pealed to the best that was in him. Noah Brooks tells how 
 he heard the General read the letter soon after its receipt. 
 " He finished reading it," writes Mr. Brooks, " almost with 
 tears in his eyes ; and as he folded it and put it back in the 
 breast of his coat, he said, That is just such a letter as a 
 father might write to a son. It is a beautiful letter, and al- 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 137 
 
 though I think he was harder on me than I deserved, I will 
 say that I love the man who wrote it. 
 
 By the first of April, the Army of the Potomac had been 
 put into splendid form by General Hooker. An advance 
 against the enemy, still entrenched at Fredericksburg, where 
 Burnside had engaged him, was contemplated, but prior to 
 the battle a grand review of the troops before the President 
 was planned. It was on Saturday, April 4, that Lincoln 
 left Washington, by a river steamer, for Hooker s headquar 
 ters at Falmouth, Virginia. A great snow-storm began that 
 night, and it was with serious delay and discomfort that the 
 review was conducted. Difficult as it was, the President was 
 indefatigable in his efforts to see all the army, to talk with 
 every officer, to shake hands with as many men as possible. 
 A strange foreboding seemed to possess him. Hooker s con 
 fident assurance, " I am going straight to Richmond, if I 
 live," filled him with dread. " It s about the worst thing I 
 have seen since I have been down here," he told Noah 
 Brooks, who was one of the party. When he watched the 
 splendid column of that vast army of a hundred thousand, 
 there was no rejoicing in his face. The defeats of two years, 
 the angry clamor of an unhappy North, the dead of a dozen 
 battle-fields, seemed written there instead. So haggard was 
 his countenance that even the men in the line noticed it. Ira 
 Seymour Dodd, in one of his graphic Civil War stories, has 
 described this very review, and he tells how he and his com 
 rades were almost awe-stricken by the glimpse they caught 
 of the President s face : 
 
 As we neared the reviewing-stand, the tall figure of Lin 
 coln loomed up. He was on horseback, and his severely 
 plain, black citizen s dress set him in bold relief against the 
 crowd of generals in full uniform grouped behind him. Dis 
 tinguished men were among them ; but we had no eyes save 
 for our revered President, the Commander-in-Chief of the 
 
138 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 army, the brother of every soldier, the great leader of a 
 nation in its hour of trial. There was no time save for a 
 marching salute ; the occasion called for no cheers. Self-ex 
 amination, not glorification, had brought the army and its 
 chief together. But we passed close to him, so that he could 
 look into our faces and we into his. 
 
 None of us to our dying day can forget that countenance ! 
 From its presence we marched directly onward toward our 
 camp, and as soon as " route step " was ordered and the men 
 were free to talk, they spoke thus to each other : " Did you 
 ever see such a look on any man s face ? " " He is bearing 
 the burdens of the nation." " It is an awful load ; it is killing 
 him." " Yes, that is so ; he is not long for this world ! " 
 
 Concentrated in that one great, strong yet tender face, the 
 agony of the life or death struggle of the hour was revealed 
 as we had never seen it before. With new understanding we 
 knew why we were soldiers. 
 
 A day later Lincoln left the army, but before going he said 
 to Hooker and his generals, " Gentlemen, in your next battle 
 put in all your men." The next battle occurred on May i, 
 2, 3, and 4. Over 37,000 men were left out of the fight, 
 and on May 5 the army again withdrew north of the Po 
 tomac. The news of the retreat reached the President soon 
 after noon of May 6. 
 
 "About three o clock in the afternoon," says Noah 
 Brooks, " The door opened, and Lincoln came into the room. 
 I shall never forget that picture of despair. He held a tele 
 gram in his hand, and as he closed the door and came toward 
 us, I mechanically noticed that his face, usually sallow, was 
 ashen in hue. The paper on the wall behind him was of the 
 tint knowu as French gray/ and even in that moment of 
 sorrow and dread expectation I vaguely took in the thought 
 that the complexion of the anguished President s visage was 
 almost exactly like that of the wall. He gave me the tele 
 gram, and in a voice trembling with emotion, said, Read it 
 news from the army/ The despatch was from General 
 Butterfield, Hooker s chief of staff, addressed to the War 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 139 
 
 Department, and was to the effect that the army had been 
 withdrawn from the south side of the Rappahannock, and 
 was then safely encamped in its former position. The ap 
 pearance of the President, as I read aloud these fateful 
 words, was piteous. Never, as long as I knew him, did he 
 seem to be so broken up, so dispirited, and so ghostlike. 
 Clasping his hands behind his back, he walked up and down 
 the room, saying, My God, my God, what will the country 
 say ! What will the country say ! 
 
 This consternation was soon mastered. Lincoln s almost 
 superhuman faculty of putting disaster behind him and turn 
 ing his whole force to the needs of the moment came to his 
 aid. Ordering a steamer to be ready at the wharf, he sum 
 moned Halleck, and at four o clock the two men were on 
 their way to Hooker s headquarters. The next day, the 
 President had the situation in hand, and was planning the 
 next move of the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 The country could not rally so quickly from the blow of 
 Chancellorsville. From every side came again the despair 
 ing cry, " Abraham Lincoln, give us a man ! " But Lincoln 
 had no man of whom he felt surer than he did of Hooker, 
 and for two months longer he tried to sustain that General. 
 A fundamental difficulty existed, however what Lincoln 
 called a " family quarrel " an antagonism between Halleck 
 and Hooker, which caused constant friction. Since the be 
 ginning of the war, Lincoln had been annoyed, his plans 
 thwarted, the cause crippled, by the jealousies and animosi 
 ties of men. So far as possible the President tried to keep out 
 of these complications. " I have too many family controver 
 sies, so to speak, already on my hands, to voluntarily, or so 
 long as I can avoid it, take up another," he wrote to General 
 McClernand once. " You are now doing well well for the 
 country, and well for yourself much better than you could 
 possibly be if engaged in open war with General Halleck/ 
 But his letters and telegrams show how, in spite of himself, 
 
140 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 he was continually running athwart somebody s prejudice or 
 dislike. 
 
 The trouble between Halleck and Hooker reached a cli 
 max at a critical moment. On June 3, Lee had slipped from 
 his position on the Rappahannock and started north. Hooker 
 had followed him with great skill. Both armies were well 
 north of the Potomac, and a battle was imminent when, on 
 June 27, angered by Halleck s refusal of a request, Hooker 
 resigned. 
 
 During the days when Hooker was chasing Lee north 
 ward, the President had spent much of his time in his room 
 at the telegraph office. Mr. Chandler, who was on duty there, 
 relates that one of his most constant inquiries was about the 
 Fifth Corps, under General Meade. "Where s Meade?" 
 " What s the Fifth Corps doing? " he was asking constantly. 
 He had seen, no doubt, that he might be obliged to displace 
 Hooker, and was observing the man whom he had in mind 
 for the position. At all events, it was Meade whom he now 
 ordered to take charge of the army. 
 
 The days following were ones of terrible suspense at 
 Washington. The North, panic-stricken by the Southern in 
 vasion, was clamoring at the President for a hundred things. 
 Among other demands was a strongly supported one for the 
 recall of McClellan. Col. A. K. McClure, of Philadelphia, 
 who, among others, urged Lincoln to restore McClellan, 
 says in a letter to the writer : 
 
 When Lee s army entered Pennsylvania in June, 1863, 
 there was general consternation throughout the State. The 
 Army of the Potomac was believed to be very much demor 
 alized by the defeat of Chancellorsville, by want of confi 
 dence in Hooker as commander, and by the apprehension 
 that any of the corps commanders, called suddenly to lead 
 the army just on the eve of the greatest battle of the war, 
 would not inspire the trust of the soldiers. The friends of 
 General McClellan believed that he could best defend the 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 141 
 
 State. He was admittedly the best organizer in our entire 
 army, and preeminently equipped as a defensive officer, and 
 they assumed that his restoration to the command would 
 bring in immense Democratic support to the Administra 
 tion. 
 
 Lincoln s view of the matter is fully shown by the tele 
 gram which he sent in reply to the one from Colonel Mc- 
 Clure urging McClellan s appointment 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, June 30, 1863. 
 
 A. K. McCLURE, Philadelphia : 
 
 Do we gain anything by opening one leak to stop another ? 
 Do we gain anything by quieting one clamor merely to open 
 another, and probably a larger one ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Three days after his appointment, Meade met Lee at Get 
 tysburg, in Pennsylvania, and after three days of hard fight 
 ing defeated him. During these three terrible days the 
 ist, 2d, and 3d of July Mr. Lincoln spent most of his time 
 in the telegraph office. 
 
 " He read every telegram with the greatest eagerness," 
 says Mr. Chandler, " and frequently was so anxious that he 
 would rise from his seat and come around and lean over my 
 shoulder while I was translating the cipher. After the bat 
 tle of Gettysburg, the President urged Meade to pursue Lee 
 and engage him before he should cross the Potomac. His 
 anxiety seemed as great as it had been during the battle 
 itself, and now, as then, he walked up and down the floor, 
 his face grave and anxious, wringing his hands and showing 
 every sign of deep solicitude. As the telegrams came in, he 
 traced the positions of the two armies on the map, and 
 several times called me up to point out their location, 
 seeming to feel the need of talking to some one. Finally, a 
 telegram came from Meade saying that under such and such 
 circumstances he would engage the enemy at such and such 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 a time. Yes, said the President bitterly, * he will be ready 
 to fight a magnificent battle when there is no enemy there to 
 fight ! "* 
 
 Perhaps Lincoln never had a harder struggle to do what 
 he thought to be just than he did after Meade allowed Lee to 
 escape across the Potomac. He seems to have entertained 
 a suspicion that the General wanted Lee to get away, for in a 
 telegram to Simon Cameron, on July 15, he says: "I 
 would give much to be relieved of the impression that 
 Meade, Couch, Smith, and all, since the battle at Gettysburg, 
 have striven only to get Lee over the river without another 
 fight." The day before, he wrote Meade a letter in which he 
 put frankly all his discontent : 
 
 . . . . My dear General, I do not believe you appreci 
 ate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee s es 
 cape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed 
 upon him would, in connection with our other late successes, 
 have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged in 
 definitely. If you could not safely attack Lee last Monday, 
 how can you possibly do so south of the river, when you can 
 take with you very few more than two-thirds of the force 
 you then had in hand? It would be unreasonable to expect 
 and I do not expect that you can now effect much. Your 
 golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasur 
 ably because of it. 
 
 I beg you will not consider this a prosecution or persecu 
 tion of yourself. As you had learned that I was dissatisfied, 
 I have thought it best to kindly tell you why.* 
 
 He never sent the letter. Thinking it over, in his dispas 
 sionate way, he evidently concluded that it would not repair 
 the misfortune and that it might dishearten the General. He 
 smothered his regret, and went on patiently and loyally for 
 many months in the support of his latest experiment. 
 
 But while in the East the President had been experiment- 
 
 *Abraham Lincoln. A History. By Nicolay and Hay. 
 
GRAND REVIEW OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC BY PRESIDENT 
 General Joseph Hooker hid now bee a ia command of the army since 
 
LINCOLN, AT FALMOUTH, VA., IN APRIL, 1863 
 January 25, 1863, and had brought it into " splendid form 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 143 
 
 ing with men, in the West a man had been painfully and si 
 lently making himself. His name was Ulysses S. Grant 
 The President had known nothing of his coming into the 
 army. No political party had demanded him ; indeed he had 
 found it difficult at first, West Point graduate though he was 
 and great as the need of trained service was, to secure the 
 lowest appointment. He had taken what he could get, how 
 ever, and from the start he had always done promptly the 
 thing asked of him ; more than that, he seemed always to be 
 looking for things to do. It was these habits of his that 
 brought him at last, in February of 1862, to the command of 
 a movement in which Lincoln was deeply interested. This 
 was the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, near the 
 mouth of the Tennessee river. " Our success or failure at 
 Fort Donelson is vastly important, and I beg you to put 
 your soul in the effort," Lincoln wrote on February 16 to 
 Halleck and Buell, then in command of Missouri and Ten 
 nessee. While the President was writing his letters, Grant, 
 in front of Fort Donelson, was writing a note to the 
 Confederate commander, who had asked for terms of capitu 
 lation : " No terms except unconditional and immediate sur 
 render can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on 
 your works." To the harrassed President at Washington 
 these words must have been like a war-cry. He had spent 
 the winter in a vain effort to inspire his supposed great gen 
 erals with the very spirit breathed in the words and deeds of 
 this unknown officer in the West. 
 
 Grant was now made a major-general, and entrusted with 
 larger things. He always brought about results ; but in spite 
 of this, the President saw there was much opposition to him. 
 For a long period he was in partial disgrace; but Lincoln 
 must have noticed that while many other generals, whose 
 achievements were less than Grant s, complained loudly ar.d 
 incessantly at reprimands " snubbing," the President 
 
144 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 called it Grant said nothing. He stayed at his post dog 
 gedly, working his way inch by inch down the Mississippi. 
 
 Finally, in July, 1862, when General Halleck was called 
 to Washington as General-in-Chief, Grant was put at the 
 head of the armies of the West. There was much opposition 
 to him. Men came to the President urging his removal. Lin 
 coln shook his head. " I can t spare this man," he said; " he 
 fights." Many good people complained that he drank. " Can 
 you tell me the kind of whisky? " asked Lincoln, " I should 
 like to send a barrel to some of my other generals." 
 
 Nevertheless, the President grew anxious as the months 
 went on. The opening of the Mississippi was, after the cap 
 ture of Richmond, the most important task of the war. The 
 wrong man there was only second in harm to the wrong man 
 on the Potomac. Was Grant a " wrong man ? " Little could 
 be told from his telegrams and letters. " General Grant is a 
 copious worker and fighter," said Lincoln later, " but he is 
 a very meager writer or telegrapher." Finally, the Presi 
 dent and the Secretary of War sent for a brilliant and loyal 
 newspaper man, Charles A. Dana, and asked him to go to 
 Grant s army, " to act as the eyes of the Government at 
 the front," said the President. His real mission was to find 
 out for them what kind of a man Grant was. Dana s letters 
 soon showed Lincoln that Grant was a general that nothing 
 could turn from a purpose. That was enough for the Presi 
 dent. He let him alone, and watched. When, finally, Vicks- 
 burg was captured, he wrote him the following letter it 
 may be called his first recognition of the General : 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 13, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 My Dear General: I do not remember that you and I ever 
 met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledg 
 ment for the almost inestimable service you have done the 
 country. I wish to say a word further. When yotf firct 
 
LINCOLN S SEARCH FOR A GENERAL 145 
 
 reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do 
 what you finally did march the troops across the neck, run 
 the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; and I 
 never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew 
 better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like 
 could succeed. When you got below and took Port Gibson, 
 Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the 
 river and join General Banks, and when you turned north 
 ward, east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now 
 wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were 
 right and I was wrong. Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Grant was busy with new movements before this letter 
 reached him; indeed, as soon as Vicksburg capitulated, he 
 had begun getting ready to do something else. So occupied 
 was he that he did not even take time to write his plans to 
 the Government, asking Mr. Dana to do it for him. 
 
 Three and a half months later, after the Army of the 
 Cumberland had been defeated at Chickamauga and had re 
 tired into Chattanooga, Grant was called to its relief. In a 
 month the Confederates were driven from their positions 
 on the ridges above him and East Tennessee was saved. 
 There was no longer in Lincoln s mind a doubt that at last 
 he had found the man he wanted. In the winter following, 
 63 and 64, after much discussion Congress revived the 
 grade of lieutenant-general in the army purposely for 
 Grant s benefit and on February 29, Lincoln nominated the 
 general to the rank. He proceeded at once to Washington, 
 where on March 9 the President and the General met for the 
 first time. What did the President want him to do, Grant 
 asked. Take Richmond was the President s reply, could he 
 do it? If he had the troops Grant answered. The President 
 promised them. Two months later Grant had re-organized 
 the Army of the Potomac and had started at its head for the 
 final march to Richmond. 
 
 (10) 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 
 
 ANOTHER serious problem which the failure of the Penin 
 sular campaign thrust on the President was where to get 
 troops for a renewal of the war. When one recalls the eager 
 ness with which men rushed into arms at the opening of the 
 Civil war, it seems as if President Lincoln should never have 
 had anxiety about filling the ranks of the army. For 
 the first year, indeed, it gave him little concern. So promptly 
 were the calls of 1861 answered that in the spring of 1862 
 an army of 637,126 men was in service. It was believed that 
 with this force the war could be ended, and in April recruit 
 ing was stopped. It was a grave mistake. Before the end of 
 May, the losses and discouragements of the Peninsular cam 
 paign made it necessary to re-enforce the Army of the Poto 
 mac. More men were needed, in fact, all along the line. 
 Lincoln saw that, rather than an army of 600,000 men, he 
 should have one of a million, and, July 2, he issued a call 
 for 300,000 men for three years, and August 4 an order 
 was issued for a draft of 300,000 more for nine months. 
 
 By the end of 1862, nearly one and a half million men had 
 been enrolled in the army. Nevertheless, the " strength of 
 the army " at that time was counted at but 918,000. What 
 had become of the half million and more? Nearly 100,000 
 of them had been killed or totally disabled on the battlefield ; 
 200,000 more, perhaps, had fallen out in the seasoning pro 
 cess. Passed by careless medical examiners, the first five- 
 mile march, the first week of camp life, had brought out 
 some physical weakness which made soldiering out of the 
 
 T 4 6 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 147 
 
 question. The rest of the loss was in three-months , six- 
 months , or nine-months men. They had enlisted for these 
 short periods, and their terms up, they had left the army. 
 
 Moreover, the President had learned by this time that, 
 even when the Secretary of War told him that the " strength 
 of the army " was 918,000, it did not by any means follow 
 that there were that number of men present for duty. Expe 
 rience had taught him that about one-fourth of the reputed 
 " strength " must be allowed for shrinkage; that is, for men 
 in hospitals, men on furloughs, men who had deserted. He 
 had learned that this enormous wastage went on steadily. It 
 followed that, if the army was to be kept up to the million- 
 men mark, recruiting must be as steady as, and in proportion 
 to, the shrinkage. 
 
 Recruiting, so easy at the beginning of the war, had be 
 come by 1862 quite a different matter. Patriotism, love of 
 adventure, excitement could no longer be counted on to fill 
 the ranks. It was plain to the President that hereafter, if 
 he was to have the men he needed, military service must be 
 compulsory. Nothing could have been devised which would 
 have created a louder uproar in the North than the sugges 
 tion of a draft. All through the winter of 1862-63, Congress 
 wrangled over the bill ordering it, much of the press in the 
 meantime denouncing it as " despotic " and " contrary to 
 American institutions." The bill passed, however, and the 
 President signed it in March, 1863. At once there was put 
 into operation a huge new military machine, the Bureau of 
 the Provost-Marshal-General, which had for its business the 
 enrollment of all the men in the United States whom the new 
 law considered capable of bearing arms and the drafting 
 enough of them to fill up the quota assigned to each State. 
 This bureau was also to look after deserters. 
 
 A whole series of new problems was thrust on the Presi 
 dent when the Bureau of the Provost-Marshal-General came 
 
148 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 into being. The quotas assigned the States led to endless 
 disputes between the governors and the War Department; 
 the drafts caused riots; an inferior kind of soldier was ob 
 tained by drafting, and deserters increased. Lincoln shirked 
 none of these new cares. He was determined that the effi 
 ciency of the war engine should be kept up, and nobody in 
 the Government studied more closely how this was to be 
 done, or insisted more vigorously on the full execution of 
 the law. In assigning the quotas to the different States, cer 
 tain credits were made of men who had enlisted previously. 
 Many disputes arose over the credits and assignments, 
 some of them most perplexing. Ultimately most of these 
 reached the President. The draft bore heavily on districts 
 where the percentage of death among the first volunteers had 
 been large, and often urgent pleas were made- to the Presi 
 dent to release a city or county from the quota assigned. The 
 late Joseph Medill, the editor of the Chicago " Tribune," 
 once told me how he and certain leading citizens of Chicago 
 went to Lincoln to ask that the quota of Cook County be re 
 duced. 
 
 " In 1864, when the call for extra *iOops came, Chicago 
 revolted," said Mr. Medill. " She had already sent 22,000 
 men up to that time, and was drained. When the new call 
 came, there were no young men to go no aliens except 
 what were bought. The citizens held a mass meeting, and 
 appointed three persons, of whom I was one, to go to Wash 
 ington and ask Stanton to give Cook County a new enroll 
 ment. I begged off; but the committee insisted, so I went. 
 On reaching Washington, we went to Stanton with our 
 statement. He refused entirely to give us the desired aid. 
 Then we went to Lincoln. I cannot do it/ he said, * but I 
 will go with you to Stanton and hear the arguments of both 
 sides. So we all went over to the War Department together. 
 Stanton and General Frye were there, and they, of course, 
 contended that the quota should not be changed. The argu 
 ment went on for some time, and finally was referred to Lin- 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 149 
 
 coin, who had been sitting silently listening. I shall never 
 forget how he suddenly lifted his head and turned on us a 
 black and frowning face. 
 
 " Gentlemen/ he said, in a voice full of bitterness, after 
 Boston, Chicago has been the chief instrument in bringing 
 this war on the country. The Northwest has opposed the 
 South as New England has opposed the South. It is you 
 who are largely responsible for making blood flow as it has. 
 You called for war until we had it. You called for Emanci 
 pation, and I have given it to you. Whatever you have asked 
 you have had. Now you come here begging to be let off 
 from the call for men which I have made to carry out the 
 war you have demanded. You ought to be ashamed of your 
 selves. I have a right to expect better things of you. Go 
 home, and raise your 6,000 extra men. And you, Medill, 
 you are acting like a coward. You and your Tribune have 
 had more influence than any paper in the Northwest in mak 
 ing this war. You can influence great masses, and yet you 
 cry to be spared at a moment when your cause is suffering. 
 Go home and send us those men/ 
 
 " I couldn t say anything. It was the first time I ever was 
 whipped, and I didn t have an answer. We all got up and 
 went out, and when the door closed, one of my colleagues 
 said : Well, gentlemen, the old man is right. We ought to 
 be ashamed of ourselves. Let us never say anything about 
 this, but go home and raise the men/ And we did 6,000 
 men making 28,000 in the war from a city of 156,000. But 
 there might have been crape on every door almost in Chi 
 cago, for every family had lost a son or a husband. I lost two 
 brothers. It was hard for the mothers."* 
 
 Severe as Lincoln could be with any disposition to shirk 
 what he considered a just and necessary demand, strenu 
 ously as he insisted that the ranks must be kept full, he never 
 came to regard the army as a mere machine, never forgot the 
 individual men who made it up. Indeed, he was the one man 
 
 * These notes were made immediately after an interview given me by 
 Mr. Medill in June, 1895. They were to be corrected before publication, 
 but Mr. Medill s death occurred before they were in type, so that the 
 account was never seen by him* 
 
150 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 in the Government who, from first to last, was big enough to 
 use both his head and his heart. From the outset, he was the 
 personal friend of every soldier he sent to the front and 
 somehow every man seemed to know it. No doubt, it was on 
 Lincoln s visits to the camps around Washington, in the 
 early days of the war, that the body of the soldiers got this 
 idea. They never forgot his friendly hand-clasp, his hearty 
 " God bless you," his remonstrance against the youth of 
 some fifteen-year-old boy masquerading as twenty, his jocu 
 lar remarks about the height of some soldier towering above 
 his own six feet four. When, later, he visited the Army of 
 the Potomac on the Rappahannock and at Antietam, these 
 impressions of his interest in the personal welfare of the sol 
 diers were renewed. He walked down the long lines of tents 
 or huts, noting the attempts at decoration, the housekeep 
 ing conveniences, replying by smiles and nods and sometimes 
 with words to the greetings, rough and hearty, which he re 
 ceived. He inquired into every phase of camp life, and the 
 men knew it, and said to one another, " He cares for us; he 
 makes us fight, but he cares." 
 
 Reports of scores of cases where he interfered personally 
 to secure some favor or right for a soldier found their way to 
 the army and gave solid foundation to this impression that 
 he was the soldier s friend. From the time of the arrival of 
 the first troops in Washington, in April, 1861, the town was 
 full of men, all of them wanting to see the President. At 
 first they were gay and curious merely, their requests trivial ; 
 but later, when the army had settled down to steady fight 
 ing, and Bull Run and the Peninsula and Antietam and 
 Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville had cut and scarred and 
 aged it, the soldiers who haunted Washington were changed. 
 They stumped about on crutches. They sat pale and thin 
 in the parks, empty sleeves pinned to their breasts; they 
 came to the White House begging for furloughs to see 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 151 
 
 dying parents, for release to support a suffering family. 
 No man will ever know how many of these soldiers Abra 
 ham Lincoln helped. Little cards are constantly turning up 
 in different parts of the country, treasured by private sol 
 diers, on which he had written some brief note to a proper 
 authority, intended to help a man out of a difficulty. Here 
 is one: 
 
 
 SEC. OF WAR, please see thi? Pittsburgh boy. He 
 is very young, and I shall be satisfied with whatever 
 you do with him. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Aug. 21, 1863. 
 
 The " Pittsburgh boy " had enlisted at seventeen. He 
 had been ill with a long fever. He wanted a furlough, and 
 with a curious trust that anything could be done if he could 
 only get to the President, he had slipped into the White 
 House, and by chance met Lincoln, who listened to his story 
 and gave him this note. 
 
 Many applications reached Lincoln as he passed to and 
 from the White House and the War Department. One day 
 as he crossed the park he was stopped by a negro who told 
 him a pitiful story. The President wrote him out a check 
 for five dollars. " Pay to colored man with one leg," it 
 read. This check is now in the collection of H. H. Officee 
 of Denver, Colorado. 
 
 A pleasing scene between Lincoln and a soldier once fell 
 under the eye of Mr. A. W. Swan of Albuquerque, New 
 
152 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Mexico, on this same path between the White House and the 
 War Department: 
 
 " In company with a gentleman, I was on the way to the 
 War Department one day. Our way led through a small 
 park between the White House and the War Department 
 building. As we entered this park we noticed Mr. Lincoln 
 just ahead of us, and meeting him a private soldier who was 
 evidently in a violent passion, as he was swearing in a high 
 key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. 
 Lincoln paused as he met the irate soldier, and asked him 
 what was the matter. Matter enough/ was the reply. I 
 want my money. I have been discharged here, and can t get 
 my pay/ Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that 
 he used to practice law in a small way and possibly could 
 help him. My friend and I stepped behind some convenient 
 shrubbery where we could watch the result. Mr. Lincoln 
 took the papers from the hands of the crippled soldier, and 
 sat down with him at the foot of a convenient tree, where he 
 examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back 
 told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the 
 War Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter 
 at once. After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped 
 out and asked him if he knew whom he had been talking 
 with. Some ugly old fellow who pretends to be a lawyer/ 
 was the reply. My companion asked to see the papers, and 
 on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement 
 they had received. This indorsement read : Mr. Potts, at 
 tend to this man s case at once and see that he gets his pay. 
 A. L. The initials were too familiar with men in position 
 to know them to be ignored. We went with the soldier, who 
 had just returned from Libby Prison and had been given a 
 hospital certificate for discharge, to see Mr. Potts, and be 
 fore the Paymaster s office was closed for the day, he had 
 received his discharge and check for the money due him, he 
 in the meantime not knowing whether to be the more pleased 
 or sorry to think he had cursed Abe Lincoln to his face." 
 
 It was not alone the soldier to whom the President lis 
 tened ; it was also to his wife, his mother, his daughter, 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 153 
 
 " I remember one morning," says Mr. A. B. Chandler, 
 " his coming into my office with a distressed expression on 
 his face and saying to Major Eckert, Eckert, who is that 
 woman crying out in the hall? What is the matter with 
 her ? Eckert said he did not know, but would go and find 
 out. He came back soon, and said that it was a woman who 
 had come a long distance expecting to go down to the army 
 to see her husband, that she had some very important mat 
 ters to consult him about. An order had gone out a short 
 time before to allow no women in the army, except in special 
 cases. She was bitterly disappointed, and was crying over it. 
 Mr. Lincoln sat moodily for a moment after hearing this 
 story, and suddenly looking up, said, Let s send her down. 
 You write the order, Major/ Major Eckert hesitated a mo 
 ment, and said, Would it not be better for Colonel Hardie 
 to write the order ? Yes, said Mr. Lincoln, that is better ; 
 let Hardie write it/ The major went out, and soon returned, 
 saying, Mr. President, would it not be better in this case to 
 let the woman s husband come to Washington ? Mr. Lin 
 coln s face lighted up with pleasure. Yes, yes/ he said ; 
 let s bring him up/ The order was written, and the woman 
 was told that her husband would come to Washington. This 
 done, her sorrows seemed lifted from Mr. Lincoln s heart, 
 and he sat down to his yellow tissue telegrams with a serene 
 face/* 
 
 The futility of trying to help all the soldiers who found 
 their way to him must have come often to Lincoln s mind. 
 " Now, my man, go away, go away," General Fry overheard 
 him say one day to a soldier who was pleading for the Presi 
 dent s interference in his behalf; " I cannot meddle in your 
 case. I could as easily bail out the Potomac with a teaspoon 
 as attend to all the details of the army/ 
 
 The President s relations with individual soldiers were, of 
 course, transient. Washington was for the great body of sol 
 diers, whatever their condition, only a half-way house be 
 tween North and South. The only body of soldiers with 
 which the President had long association was Company K 
 
1 54 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 of the i5Oth Pennsylvania Volunteers. This company, 
 raised in Crawford County, in northwestern Pennsylvania, 
 reached Washington in the first days of September, 1862. 
 September 6, Captain D. V. Derickson of Meadville, Penn 
 sylvania, who was in command of the company, received 
 orders to march his men to the Soldiers Home, to act 
 there as a guard to the President, who was occupying a cot 
 tage in the grounds. 
 
 " The next morning after our arrival," says Mr. Derick 
 son, " the President sent a messenger to my quarters, stating 
 that he would like to see the captain of the guard at his resi 
 dence. I immediately reported. After an informal intro 
 duction and handshaking, he asked me if I would have any 
 objection to riding with him to the city. I replied that it 
 would give me much pleasure to do so, when he invited me 
 to take a seat in the carriage. On our way to the city, he 
 made numerous inquiries, as to my name, where I came 
 from, what regiment I belonged to, etc. . . . 
 
 " When we entered the city, Mr. Lincoln said he would 
 call at General Halleck s headquarters and get what news 
 had been received from the army during the night. I in 
 formed him that General Cullum, chief aid to General Hal- 
 leek, was raised in Meadville and that I knew him when I 
 was a boy. He replied, l Then we must see both the gentle 
 men. W r hen the carriage stopped, he requested me to remain 
 seated, and said he would bring the gentlemen down to see 
 me, the office being on the second floor. In a short time the 
 President came down, followed by the other gentlemen. 
 When he introduced them to me, General Cullum recognized 
 and seemed pleased to see me. In General Halleck I thought 
 I discovered a kind of quizzical look, as much as to say, 
 Isn t this rather a big joke to ask the Commander-in-Chief 
 of the Army down to the street to be introduced to a country 
 captain ? . . . 
 
 " Supposing that the invitation to ride to the city with the 
 President was as much to give him an opportunity to look 
 over and interview the new captain as for any other purpose, 
 I did not report the next morning. During ^ day I was in- 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 155 
 
 formed that it was the desire of the President that I should 
 breakfast with him and accompany him to the White House 
 every morning, and return with him in the evening. This 
 duty I entered upon with much pleasure, and was on hand in 
 good time next morning; and I continued to perform this 
 duty until we moved to the White House in November. It 
 was Mr. Lincoln s custom, on account of the pressure of 
 business, to breakfast before the other members of the fam-, 
 ily were up ; and I usually entered his room at half-past six 
 or seven o clock in the morning, where I often found him 
 reading the Bible or some work on the art of war. On my 
 entering, he would read aloud and offer comments of his 
 own as he read. 
 
 " I usually went down to the city at four o clock and re 
 turned with the President at five. He often carried a small 
 portfolio containing papers relating to the business of the 
 day, and spent many hours on them in the evening. . . . 
 I found Mr. Lincoln to be one of the most kind-hearted and 
 pleasant gentlemen that I had ever met. He never spoke un 
 kindly of any one. and always spoke of the rebels as those 
 Southern gentlemen/ "* 
 
 This kindly relation begun with the captain, the President 
 extended to every man of his company. It was their pride 
 that he knew every one of them by name. " He always called 
 me Joe," I heard a veteran of the guard say, a quaver in his 
 voice. He never passed the men on duty without acknowl 
 edging their salute, and often visited their camp. Once in 
 passing when the men were at mess, he called out, " That 
 coffee smells good, boys; give me a cup/ And on another 
 occasion he asked for a plate of beans, and sat down on a 
 camp-stool and ate them. Mrs. Lincoln frequently visited 
 the company with the President, and many and many a gift 
 to the White House larder from enthusiastic supporters of 
 the Administration was sent to the boys now a barrel of 
 apple butter, now a quarter of beef. On holidays, Mrs. Lin- 
 
 * Major D. V. Derickson in the Centennial Edition of the Meadville 
 " Tribune-Republican." 
 
1 56 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 coin made it a rule to provide Company K with a turkey 
 dinner. 
 
 Late in the fall of 1862, an attempt was made to depose 
 the company. Every member of the guard now living can 
 quote verbatim the note which the President wrote settling 
 the matter : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, 
 November i, 1862. 
 
 To Whom it May Concern : Captain Derickson, with his 
 company, has been for some time keeping guard at my resi 
 dence, 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 more satisfactory than 
 Captain Derickson and his company. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Thr welfare of the men, their troubles, escapades, amuse 
 ments, were treated by the President as a kind of family 
 matter. He never forgot to ask after the sick, often secured 
 a pass or a furlough for some one, and took genuine delight 
 in the camp fun. 
 
 " While we were in camp at the Soldiers Home in the 
 fall of 1862," says Mr. C. M. Derickson of Mercer, Penn 
 sylvania, " the boys indulged in various kinds of amuse* 
 ment. I think it was the Kepler boys who introduced the 
 trained elephant. Two men of about the same size, both in 
 a stooped position, were placed one ahead of the other. An 
 army blanket was then thrown over them so that it came 
 about to their knees, and a trunk, improvised by wrapping 
 a piece of a blanket around a small elastic piece of wood, 
 was placed in the hands of the front man. Here you have 
 your elephant. Ours was taught to get down on his knees, 
 stand on one leg, and do various other tricks. While the 
 elephant was going through his exercises one evening, the 
 President strolled into camp. He was very much amused at 
 the wonderful feats the elephant could perform, and a few 
 evenings after he called again and brought a friend with him, 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 157 
 
 and asked the captain if he would not have the elephant 
 brought out again, as he would like to have his friend see 
 him perform. Of course it was done, to the great amuse 
 ment of both the President and his friend." 
 
 No doubt much of the President s interest in Company 
 K was due to his son Tad. The boy was a great favorite 
 with the men, and probably carried to his father many a tale 
 of the camp. He considered himself, in fact, no unimportant 
 part of the organization, for he wore a uniform, carried a 
 lieutenant s commission, often drilled with the men or rode 
 on his pony at their head in reviews, and much of the time 
 messed with them. One of the odd duties which devolved 
 upon Company K was looking after Tad s goats. These 
 animals have been given a place in history by Lincoln him 
 self in telegrams to Mrs. Lincoln, duly filed in the records 
 of the War Department : " Tell Tad the goats and father 
 are very well, especially the goats," he wired one day; and 
 again. " All well, including Tad s pony and the goats." 
 They were privileged beings on the White House lawn, and 
 were looked after by the company because of Tad s affection 
 for them. They met an untimely end, being burned to death 
 in a fire, which destroyed the White House stables, February 
 10, 1864. 
 
 The two most harowing consequences of war, the havoc 
 of the battlefield and the disease of camp life, from the be 
 ginning to the end of the Civil War, centered in Washing 
 ton. It was the point to which every man disabled in the 
 Army of the Potomac must come sooner or later for care or 
 to be transferred to the North. After battles, the city 
 seemed turned into one great hospital. For days then a 
 long, straggling train of mutilated men poured in. They 
 came on flat cars or open transports, piled so close together 
 that no attendant could pass between them ; protected occa 
 sionally from the cold by a blanket which had escaped with 
 
153 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 its owner, or from the sun by green boughs placed in their 
 hands or laid over their faces. When Washington was 
 reached, all that could be done was to lay them in long rows 
 on the wharfs or platforms until ambulances could carry 
 them to the hospitals. It is when one considers the numbers 
 of wounded in the great Virginia battles that he realizes 
 the length and awfulness of the streams which flowed into 
 Washington. At Fredericksburg they numbered 9,600; at 
 Chancellorsville, 9,762; in the Wilderness, 12,037; at Spott- 
 sylvania, 13,416. 
 
 In the early days of the war, Washington was so poorly 
 supplied with hospitals that after the first battle of Bull Run 
 churches, dwellings, and government buildings were seized 
 to place the wounded in, and there were so few nurses that 
 the people of Washington had to be called upon. Very rap 
 idly little settlements of board barracks or of white army 
 tents multiplied in the open spaces in and around the town, 
 quarters for the sick and wounded. Nurses poured in from 
 the North. Organizations for relief multiplied. By the 
 end of 1862, Mr. Lincoln could scarcely drive or walk in any 
 direction about Washington without passing a hospital. 
 Even in going to his summer cottage, at the Soldiers Home, 
 the President did not escape the sight of the wounded. The 
 rolling hillside was dotted with white hospital tents during 
 the entire war. In many places the tents were placed close 
 to the road, so as to get more air, the grounds being more 
 thickly wooded than they are now. As he drove home, after 
 a harrowing day in the White House, the President fre 
 quently looked from his carriage upon the very beds of 
 wounded soldiers. 
 
 Every member of the Government, whether he would or 
 notj was obliged to give some attention to this side of the 
 war. It became a regular feature of a congressman s life 
 in those days *o spend every Saturday or Sunday afternoon 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 1 59 
 
 in the hospitals, visiting the wounded men from his district. 
 He wrote their letters, brought them news, saw to their 
 wants. If he had not done it, his constituents would have 
 disposed of him in short order. 
 
 In 1862, Mr. Lincoln called Dr. D. Willard Bliss from the 
 field to Washington, to aid in organizing a more perfect 
 system of general hospitals in and about the city. One re 
 sult of Dr. Bliss s coming was the building of Armory 
 Square Hospital, one of the best conducted institutions of 
 the Civil War. Lincoln gave his personal attention to the 
 building of Armory Square, and for a long time met Dr. 
 Bliss twice each week to consider the ingenious appliances 
 which the latter devised to aid in caring for and treating the 
 wounded. Some of these appliances the President paid for 
 out of his own pocket. Not infrequently he had some sug 
 gestion to make for the comfort of the place. It was due 
 to him that Armory Square became a bower of vine and 
 bloom in the summer. " Why don t you plant flower 
 seeds ? " he asked Dr. Bliss one day. The doctor said he 
 would if he had seeds. " I ll order them for you from the 
 Agricultural Department," replied the President, and sure 
 enough he did; and thereafter, all through the season, each 
 of the long barracks had its own flower bed and vines. 
 
 The President himself visited the hospitals as often as he 
 could, visits never forgotten by the men to whom he spoke as 
 he passed up and down the wards, shaking hands here, giv 
 ing a cheering word there, making jocular comments every 
 where. There are men still living who tell of a little scene 
 they witnessed at Armory Square in 1863. A soldier of the 
 i4Oth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, had been 
 wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Chancellorsville 
 and taken to Washington. One day, as he was becoming 
 convalescent, a whisper ran down the long row of cots 
 that the President was in the building and would soon pass 
 
i6o LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 by. Instantly every boy in blue who was able arose, stood 
 erect, hands to the side, ready to salute his Commander-in- 
 Chief. The Pennsylvanian stood six feet seven inches in his 
 stockings. Lincoln was six feet four. As the President ap 
 proached this giant towering above him, he stopped in 
 amazement, and casting his eyes from head to foot and from 
 foot to head, as if contemplating the immense distance from 
 one extremity to the other, he stood for a moment speech 
 less. At length, extending his hand, he exclaimed, " Hello, 
 comrade, do you know when your feet get cold ? " 
 
 Lincoln rarely forgot a patient whom he saw a second 
 time, and to stubborn cases that remained from month to 
 month he gave particular attention. There was in Armory 
 Square Hospital for a long time a boy known as " little 
 Johnnie." He was hopelessly crippled doomed to death, 
 but cheerful, and a general favorite. Lincoln never failed 
 to stop at " little Johnnie s " cot when he went to Armory 
 Square, and he frequently sent him fruit and flowers and a 
 friendly message through Mrs. Lincoln. 
 
 Of all the incidents told of Lincoln s hospital visits, there 
 is nothing more characteristic, better worth preservation, 
 than the one following, preserved by Dr. Jerome Walker of 
 Brooklyn : 
 
 " Just one week before his assassination, President Lin 
 coln visited the Army of the Potomac, at City Point, Vir 
 ginia, and carefully examined the hospital arrangements of 
 the Ninth, Sixth, Fifth, Second, and Sixteenth Corps hospi 
 tals and of the Engineer Corps, there stationed. At that time 
 I was an agent of the United States Sanitary Commission 
 attached to the Ninth Corps Hospital. Though a boy of 
 nineteen years, to me was assigned the duty of escorting the 
 President through our department of the hospital system. 
 The reader can imagine the pride with which I fulfilled the 
 duty, and as we went from tent to tent I could not but note 
 his gentleness, his friendly greetings to the sick and 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS l6l 
 
 wounded, his quiet humor as he drew comparisons between 
 himself and the very tall and very short men with whom 
 he came in contact, and his genuine interest in the welfare of 
 the soldiers. 
 
 " Finally, after visiting the wards occupied by our invalid 
 and convalescing soldiers, we came to three wards occupied 
 by sick and wounded Southern prisoners. With a feeling 
 of patriotic duty, I said, Mr. President, you won t want to 
 go in there; they are only rebels/ I will never forget how 
 he stopped and gently laid his large hand upon my shoulder 
 and quietly answered, You mean Confederates/ And I 
 have meant Confederates ever since. 
 
 " There was nothing left for me to do after the Presi 
 dent s remark but to go with him through these three wards ; 
 and I could not see but that he was just as kind, his hand 
 shakings just as hearty, his interest just as real for the wel 
 fare of the men, as when he was among our own soldiers. 
 
 " As we returned to headquarters, the President urged 
 upon me the importance of caring for them as faithfully as I 
 should for our own sick and wounded. When I visited next 
 day these three wards, the Southern officers and soldiers 
 were full of praise for Abe Lincoln, as they called him, 
 and when a week afterwards the news came of the assassina 
 tion, there was no truer sorrow nor greater indignation any 
 where than was shown by these same Confederates." 
 
 One great cause of sorrow to Lincoln throughout the war 
 was the necessity of punishing soldiers. Not only did the 
 men commit all the crimes common to society, like robbery 
 and murder; they were guilty of others peculiar to military 
 organization and war, such as desertion, sleeping on post, 
 disobedience to orders, bounty jumping, giving informa 
 tion to the enemy. As the army grew larger, desertion be 
 came so common and so disastrous to efficiency that it had 
 to be treated with great severity. Lincoln seems to have 
 had his attention first called to it seriously when he visited 
 McClellan s army in July, 1862, for he wrote to McClellan, 
 July 13: 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 My Dear Sir: I am told that over 160,000 men have gone 
 into your army on the Peninsula. When I was with you 
 the other day we made out 86,500 remaining, leaving 73,500 
 to be accounted for. I believe 23,500 will cover all the killed, 
 wounded, and missing in all your battles and skirmishes, 
 leaving 50,000 who have left otherwise. Not more than 
 5,000 of these have died, leaving 45,000 of your army still 
 alive and not with it. I believe half or two-thirds of them 
 are fit for duty to-day. Have you any more perfect knowl 
 edge of this than I have ? If I am right, and you had these 
 men with you, you could go into Richmond in the next three 
 days. How can they be got to you, and how can they be 
 prevented from getting away in such numbers for the fu 
 ture? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 About the same time, Buell reported 14,000 absentees 
 from his army. In the winter of 1862 and 1863 it grew 
 worse. General Hooker says that when he took charge of 
 the Army of the Potomac in January, 1863, the desertions 
 were at the rate of 200 a day. "I caused a return to be made 
 of the absentees of the army/ he continues, " and found 
 the number to be 2,922 commissioned officers and 81,964 
 non-commissioned officers and privates. These were scat 
 tered all over the country, and the majority were absent 
 from causes unknown." 
 
 When the Bureau of the Provost-Marshal was established 
 in March, 1863, finding and punishing deserters became one 
 of its duties. Much of the difficulty was due to the methods 
 of recruiting. To stimulate volunteering for long periods, 
 the Government began in 1861 to offer bounties. The boun 
 ties offered by the Government were never large, however, 
 and were paid in installments, so that no great evil resulted 
 from them. But later, when the quota of each State and dis 
 trict was fixed, and the draft instituted, State and local 
 bounties were added to those of the Government. In some 
 places the bounties offered aggregated $1,500, a large part 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 163 
 
 of which was paid on enlistment. Immediately a new class 
 of military criminals sprang up, " bounty- jumpers," men 
 who enlisted, drew the bounty, deserted, and reenlisted at 
 some other point. 
 
 The law allowed men who had been drafted to send substi 
 tutes, and a new class of speculators, known as " substitute- 
 brokers," appeared. They did a thriving business in procur 
 ing substitutes for drafted men who, for one reason or an 
 other, did not want to go into the war. These recruits were 
 frequently of a very poor class, and a large percentage of 
 them took the first chance to desert. It is said that, out of 
 625 recruits sent to re-enforce one regiment, over 40 per 
 cent, deserted on the way. In the general report of the 
 Provost-Marshal-General made at the close of the war, the 
 aggregate deserting was given at 201,397. 
 
 The result of all this was that the severest penalties were 
 enforced for desertion. The President never ceased to ab 
 hor the death penalty for this offense. While he had as little 
 sympathy as Stanton himself with the frauds practised and 
 never commuted the sentence of a bounty- jumper, as far as 
 I have been able to discover, over the great number of sen 
 tences he hesitated. He seemed to see what others ignored, 
 the causes which were behind. Many and many a man de 
 serted in the winter of 1862-1863 because of the Emancipa 
 tion Proclamation. He did not believe the President had the 
 right to issue it, and he refused to fight. Lincoln knew, too, 
 that the " copperhead " agitation in the North reached 
 the army, and that hundreds of men were being urged by 
 parents and friends hostile to the Administration to desert. 
 His indignation never was against the boy who yielded to 
 this influence. 
 
 " Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts," 
 he said, " while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator 
 who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious 
 
1 64 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend into 
 a public meeting, and there working upon his feelings until 
 he is persuaded to write the soldier boy that he is fighting in 
 a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a contemptible 
 government, too weak to arrest and punish him if 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." 
 
 Another cause he never forgot was that mortal homesick 
 ness which so often ate the very heart out of a boy away 
 from home for the first time. It filled many a hospital cot 
 in the Civil War, and shriveled the nerves and sapped the 
 courage until men forgot everything but home, and fled. 
 Lincoln seemed to see in a flash the whole army history of 
 these cases : the boy enlisting in the thrill of perhaps his first 
 great passion; his triumphal march to the field; the long, 
 hard months of seasoning; the deadly longing for home 
 overtaking him ; a chance to desert taken ; the capture. He 
 could not condemn such a boy to death. 
 
 The time Lincoln gave to listening to the intercessions of 
 friends in behalf of condemned deserters, the extent of his 
 clemency, is graphically shown in the manuscript records 
 of the War Department which refer to prisoners of war. 
 Scores of telegrams are filed there, written out by Lincoln 
 himself, inquiring into the reasons for an execution or sus 
 pending it entirely. These telegrams, which have never been 
 published, furnish the documentary proof, if any is wanted, 
 of the man s great heart, his entire willingness to give him 
 self infinite trouble to prevent an injustice or to soften a 
 sorrow. " Suspend execution and forward record for exam 
 ination," was his usual formula for telegrams of this nature. 
 The record would be sent, but after it was in his hands he 
 would defer its examination from week to week. Often he 
 telegraphed, " Suspend execution of death sentence until 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 165 
 
 further orders/ " But that does not pardon my boy," said a 
 father to him once. 
 
 " My dear man," said the President, laying his hand on 
 his shoulder, " do you suppose / will ever give orders for 
 your boy s execution ? " 
 
 In sending these orders for suspension of execution, the 
 President frequently went himself personally to the telegraph 
 office and watched the operator send them, so afraid was he 
 that they might not be forwarded in time. To dozens of the 
 orders sent over from the White House by a messenger is 
 attached a little note signed by Mr. Lincoln, or by one of his 
 secretaries, and directed to Major Eckert, the chief of the 
 office : " Major Eckert, please send above despatch," or 
 " Will you please hurry off the above ? To-morrow is the 
 day of execution." Not infrequently he repeated a telegram 
 or sent a trailer after it inquiring, " Did you receive my 
 despatch suspending sentence of ?" 
 
 Difficulty in tracing a prisoner or in identifying him some 
 times arose. The President only took additional pains. The 
 following telegrams are to the point : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, November 20, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, 
 ARMY OF POTOMAC. 
 
 If there is a man by the name of K under sentence to 
 
 be shot, please suspend execution till further order, and send 
 record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, November 20, 1863, 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, 
 
 ARMY OF POTOMAC. 
 
 An intelligent woman in deep distress called this morning 1 , 
 saying her husband, a lieutenant in the Army of the Poto- 
 
1 66 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 mac, was to be shot next Monday for desertion, and putting 
 a letter in my hand, upon which I relied for particulars, she 
 left without mentioning a name or other particular by which 
 to identify the case. On opening the letter I found it equally 
 vague, having nothing to identify it, except her own signa 
 ture, which seems to be Mrs. A S. K . I could not 
 
 again find her. If you have a case which you think is proba 
 bly the one intended, please apply my despatch of this morn 
 ing to it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 In another case, where the whereabouts of a man who had 
 been condemned were unknown, Lincoln telegraphed him 
 self to four different military commanders, ordering suspen 
 sion of the man s sentence. 
 
 The execution of very young soldiers was always hateful 
 to him. " I am unwilling for any boy under eighteen to be 
 shot," he telegraphed Meade in reference to one prisoner. 
 And in suspending another sentence he gave as an excuse, 
 " His mother says he is but seventeen." This boy he after 
 ward pardoned " on account of his tender age." 
 
 If a reason for pardoning was not evident, he was willing 
 to see if one could not be found : 
 
 S W , private in , writes that he is to 
 
 be shot for desertion on the 6th instant. His own story is 
 rather a bad one, and yet he tells it so frankly, that I am 
 somewhat interested in him. Has he been a good soldier 
 except the desertion ? About how old is he ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Some of the deserters came very close to his own life. 
 The son of more than one old friend was condemned for a 
 military offense in the war, and in the telegrams is recorded 
 Lincoln s treatment of these trying cases. In one of them 
 the boy had enlisted in the Southern Army and had been 
 taken a prisoner. " Please send him to me by an officer," the 
 President telegraphed the military commander having him 
 in charge. Four days later he telegraphed to the boy s father: 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 167 
 
 Your son has just left me with my order to the Sec 
 retary of War to administer to him the oath of allegiance, 
 discharge him and send him to you. 
 
 In another case, where the son of a friend was under trial 
 for desertion, Lincoln kept himself informed of the trial, 
 telegraphing to the general in charge, " He is the son of so 
 close a friend that I must not let him be executed." 
 
 And yet, in spite of the evident reluctance which every 
 telegram shows to allowing the execution of a death sen 
 tence, there are many which prove that, unless he had what 
 he considered a good reason for suspending a sentence, he 
 would not do it. The following telegrams are illustrative : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, November 23, 1863. 
 
 E. P. EVANS, 
 
 WEST UNION, ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 
 
 Yours to Governor Chase in behalf of J A. W 
 
 is before me. Can there be a worse case than to desert, and 
 with letters persuading others to desert ? I cannot interpose 
 without a better showing than you make. When did he de 
 sert ? When did he write the letters ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 In this case sentence was later suspended " until further 
 orders." 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C, April 21, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Yesterday I was induced to telegraph the officer in mili 
 tary command at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Massachu 
 setts, suspending the execution of C C , to be ex 
 ecuted to-morrow for desertion. Just now, on reading your 
 order in the case, I telegraphed the same order withdrawing 
 
168 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the suspension, and leaving the case entirely with you. 
 man s friends are pressing me, but I refer them to you, in 
 tending to take no further action myself. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, CITY, April 25, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, 
 ARMY OF POTOMAC. 
 A Mr. Corby brought you a note from me at the foot of 
 
 a petition, I believe, in the case of D , to be executed 
 
 to-day. The record has been examined here, and it shows 
 too strong a case for a pardon or commutation, unless there 
 is something in the poor man s favor outside of the record, 
 which you on the ground may know, but I do not. My note 
 to you only means that if you know of any such thing ren 
 dering a suspension of the execution proper, on your own 
 judgment, you are at liberty to suspend it. Otherwise I do 
 not interfere. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 It is curious to note how the President found time to at 
 tend to these cases even on the most anxious days of his ad 
 ministration. On the very day on which he telegraphed to 
 James G. Elaine in response to the latter s announcement 
 that Maine had gone for the Union, " On behalf of the 
 Union, thanks to Maine. Thanks to you personally for 
 sending the news," he sent two telegrams suspending sen 
 tences. Such telegrams were sent on days of great battles, 
 in the midst of victory, in the despair of defeat. Whatever 
 he was doing, the fate of the sentenced soldier was on his 
 heart. On Friday, which was usually chosen as execution 
 day, he often was heard to say, " They are shooting a boy 
 
 at to-day. I hope I have not done wrong to allow it." 
 
 In spite of his frequent interference, there were 267 men ex 
 ecuted by the United States military authorities during the 
 Civil War. Of these, 141 were executed for desertion, and 
 
LINCOLN AND THE SOLDIERS 169 
 
 eight for desertion coupled with some other crime, such as 
 murder. After those for desertion, the largest number of 
 executions were for murder, sixty-seven in all. As to the 
 manner of the executions, one hundred and eighty-seven 
 were shot, seventy-nine hung, and in one case the offender 
 was sent out of the world by some unknown way. 
 
 Incidents and documents like those already given, show 
 ing the care and the sympathy President Lincoln felt for 
 the common soldier, might be multiplied indefinitely. Noth 
 ing that concerned the life of the men in the line was foreign 
 to him. The man might have shown cowardice. The 
 President only said, " I never felt sure but I might drop 
 my gun and run away if I found myself in line of battle." 
 The man might be poor and friendless. " If he has no 
 friends, I ll be his friend," Lincoln said. The man might 
 have deserted. " Suspend execution, send me his record," 
 was the President s order. He was not only the Com 
 mander-in-chief of all the armies of the United States, he 
 was the father of the army, and never did a man better de 
 serve a title than did he the one the soldiers gave him 
 " Father Abraham." 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 
 
 IT WAS not until the fall of 1863 that Abraham Lincoln 
 was able to point to any substantial results from the long 
 months of hard thought and cautious experiment he had 
 given to the Civil War. By that time he did have something 
 to show. The borders of the Confederacy had been pressed 
 back and shut in by an impregnable wall of ships and men. 
 Mot only were the borders of the Confederacy narrowed ; the 
 territory had been cut in two by the opening of the Missis 
 sippi, which, in Lincoln s expressive phrase, now ran " un- 
 vexed to the sea." He had a war machine at last which kept 
 the ranks of the army full. He had found a commander-in- 
 chief in Grant; and, not less important, he had found, 
 simultaneously with Grant, also Sherman, McPherson, and 
 Thomas, as well as the proper places for the men with 
 whom he had tried such costly experiments for Burn- 
 side and Hooker. He had his first effective results, too, 
 from emancipation, that policy which he had inaugurated 
 with such foreboding. Fully 100,000 former slaves were 
 now in the United States service, and they had proved be 
 yond question their value as soldiers. More than this, it was 
 evident that some form of emancipation would soon be 
 adopted by the former slave States of Tennessee, Arkansas, 
 Maryland, and Missouri. 
 
 At every point, in short, the policy which Lincoln had set 
 in motion with painful foresight and labor was working as 
 he had believed it would work, but it was working slowly. 
 He saw that many months of struggle and blood and pa- 
 
 170 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 I? I 
 
 tience were needed to complete his task ; many months and 
 in less than a year there would be a presidential election, and 
 he might be obliged to leave his task unfinished. He did not 
 hesitate to say frankly that he wanted the opportunity to 
 finish it. Among the leaders of the Republican party were a 
 few conservatives who, in the fall of 1863, supported Lin 
 coln in his desire for a second term; but there were more 
 who doubted his ability and who were secretly looking for 
 an abler man. At the same time, a strong and open opposi 
 tion to his re-election had developed in the radical wing of 
 the party. 
 
 The real cause of this opposition was Lincoln s unswerv- 
 able purpose to use emancipation purely as a military meas 
 ure. The earliest active form this opposition took was prob 
 ably under the direction of Horace Greeley. In the spring 
 of 1863, Mr. Greeley had become thoroughly disheartened 
 by the slow progress of the war and the meager results of 
 the Emancipation Proclamation. He was looking in every 
 direction for some one to replace Lincoln, and eventually 
 he settled on General Rosecrans, who at that moment was 
 the most successful general before the country. Greeley, 
 after consulting with a number of Republican leaders, de 
 cided that some one should go to Rosecrans and sound him. 
 James R. Gilmore (" Edmund Kirke ") was chosen for this 
 mission. Mr. Gilmore recounts, in his " Personal Recollec 
 tions of Abraham Lincoln," as an evidence of the extent of 
 the discontent with Lincoln, that when he started on his 
 mission, Mr. Greeley gave him letters to Rosecrans from 
 about all the more prominent Republican leaders except Ros- 
 coe Conkling, Charles Sumner, and Henry Wilson. 
 
 Mr. Greeley s idea was, as he instructed Mr, Gilmore, to 
 find out, first, if Rosecrans was w sound on the goose " (po 
 litical slang for sound on the anti-slavery policy), and, sec 
 ondly, if he would consider the nomination to the presi- 
 
172 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 dency. If Mr. Gilmore found Rosecrans satisfactory, 
 Greeley declared that he would force Lincoln to resign, put 
 Hamlin in his place, and compel the latter to give Rosecrans 
 the command of the whole army. His idea was, no doubt, 
 that the war would then be finished promptly and Rosecrans 
 would naturally be the candidate in 1864. 
 
 Mr. Gilmore went on his mission. Rosecrans seemed to 
 him to fulfil Mr. Greeley s ideas, and finally he laid the case 
 before him. The General replied very promptly : " My place 
 is here. The country gave me my education, and so has a 
 right to my military services." He also declared that Mr. 
 Greeley was wrong in his estimate of Lincoln and that 
 time would show it. 
 
 Lincoln knew thoroughly the feeling of the radicals at 
 this time; he knew the danger there was to his hopes of a 
 second term in opposing them; but he could be neither per 
 suaded nor frightened into modifying his policy. The most 
 conspicuous example of his firmness was in the case of the 
 Missouri radicals. 
 
 The radical party in Missouri was composed of men of 
 great intelligence and perfect loyalty; but they were men of 
 the Fremont type, idealists, incapable of compromise and 
 impatient of caution. They had been in constant conflict 
 with the conservatives of the State since the breaking out of 
 the war, and by the spring of 1863, the rupture had become 
 almost a national affair. Both sides claimed to be Union 
 men and to believe in emancipation ; but while the conserva 
 tives believed in gradual emancipation, the radicals de 
 manded that it be immediate. The fight became so bitter 
 that, as Lincoln said to one of the radicals who came to 
 him early in 1863, begging his interference: " Either party 
 would rather see the defeat of their adversary than that of 
 Jefferson Davis. You ought to have your heads knocked to 
 gether," he added in his exasperation. 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 173 
 
 Finally, he determined that he must break up somehow 
 what he called their " pestilent, factional quarrel," and sent 
 a new military governor, General J. M. Schofield, to Mis 
 souri. The advice he gave him was this: 
 
 Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the 
 invader and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unneces 
 sarily 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 prob 
 ably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one and 
 praised by the other. 
 
 General Schofield was not able to live up to Lincoln s 
 counsel. He incurred the suspicion and dislike of the radi 
 cals, and they determined that he must be removed. Sep 
 tember i, a great convention was held, and a committee of 
 seventy persons was appointed to go to Washington and de 
 mand from Mr. Lincoln a redress of grievances. The con 
 vention of course had the sympathy of the radical anti-sla 
 very element of the whole North in its undertaking, and 
 when the Committee of Seventy started for Washington they 
 received an ovation in almost every State through which they 
 passed. Arrived in Washington, they became the centre of 
 the town s interest, and a great reception was given them in 
 Union League Hall, at which eminent men denounced the 
 conservatives of Missouri and demanded immediate emanci 
 pation. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln did not receive the Committee at once but 
 sent for their Secretary, Dr. Emil Preetorius, a leading Ger 
 man Radical. Mr. Preetorius says : 
 
 " In response to a request from the President himself I 
 immediately, in company with Senator Jim Lane, called 
 at the White House. Mr. Lane soon excused himself and left 
 me alone with the President. I had a long talk with him, 
 
174 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 explaining the situation in Missouri, as we Radicals viewed 
 it, and stating just why we had come to Washington. We 
 Germans had not felt so kindly toward Mr. Lincoln since 
 he had set aside Fremont s proclamation of emancipation. 
 We thought he had missed a great opportunity and had 
 thereby displayed a lack of statesmanship. We believed him 
 to be under the influence of the Blair family. Now that he 
 himself had issued an emancipation proclamation we felt 
 wronged because it applied only to the States in rebellion, 
 and not to our own State. Thus, I said to the President, 
 you are really punishing us for our courage and patriot 
 ism. We felt, as Gratz Brown expressed it, that we had to 
 fight three administrations Lincoln s, Jeff Davis s, and our 
 own Governor Gamble s. We felt that we had a right to 
 complain because Lincoln sent out to Missouri generals that 
 were not in sympathy with us. 
 
 " Our talk was of the very frankest kind. Lincoln said 
 he knew I was a German revolutionist and expected me to 
 take extreme views. I recollect distinctly his statement that 
 he would rather be a follower than a leader of public opinion. 
 He had reference to public opinion in the Border States. 
 We need the Border States, said he. Public opinion in 
 them has not matured. We must patiently educate them up 
 to the right opinion. The situation at that time was less 
 favorable in the other Border States than in Missouri. Their 
 Union men had not the strong fighters that Missouri had. 
 As things were then going, the attitude of the Border States 
 was of the very highest importance. I could realize that the 
 more fully as Lincoln argued the case." 
 
 An arrangement was made for the President to receive 
 the committee on September 30 and hear their statement 
 of grievances. The imposing procession of delegates went 
 to the White House at nine o clock in the morning. At the 
 Committee s own request, all reporters and spectators were 
 refused admission to the audience, only the President and 
 one of his secretaries meeting them. Even the great front 
 doors of the White House were locked during the forenoon. 
 
 The conference began by the reading of an address which 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 175 
 
 denounced the conservative party, and demanded that Gen 
 eral Schofield be removed and General Benjamin F. Butler 
 be put in his place, and that the enrolled militia of the State 
 be discharged and national troops replace them. 
 
 After the reading of the address, the President replied. 
 Mr. Enos Clarke of St. Louis, who was one of the delegates, 
 records the impression this reply made upon his mind : 
 
 " The President listened with patient attention to our ad 
 dress," says Mr. Clarke, " and at the conclusion of the read 
 ing replied at length. I shall never forget the intense chagrin 
 and disappointment we all felt at the treatment of the matter 
 in the beginning of his reply. He seemed to belittle and min 
 imize the importance of our grievances and to give magni 
 tude to minor or unimportant matters. He gave us the im 
 pression -of a pettifogger speaking before a justice of the 
 peace jury. But as he talked on and made searching in 
 quiries of members of the delegation and invited debate, it 
 became manifest that his manner at the beginning was really 
 the foil of a master, to develop the weakness of the presenta 
 tion. Before the conclusion of the conference, he addressed 
 himself to the whole matter in an elevated, dignified, exhaus 
 tive, and impressive manner. 
 
 " There was no report made of this conference, but I 
 remember that Mr. Lincoln made this statement : * You 
 gentlemen must bear in mind that in performing the duties 
 of the office I hold I must represent no one section of the 
 Union, but I must act for all sections of the Union in trying 
 to maintain the supremacy of the government/ And he also 
 said this : I desire to so conduct the affairs of this Admin 
 istration that if, at the end, when I come to lay down the 
 reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall 
 at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down in 
 side of me/ These were characteristic expressions. 
 
 " Toward the conclusion of the conference and after the 
 whole matter had been exhaustively discussed by the Presi 
 dent and the petitioners, Mr. C. D. Drake, our chairman, 
 stepped forward and said : Mr. President, the time has now 
 come when we can no longer trespass upon your attention, 
 
176 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 but must take leave of you ; and in those deep, impressive, 
 stentorian tones peculiar to Mr. Drake, he added, Many of 
 these men who stand before } r ou to-day return to inhospit 
 able homes, where rebel sentiments prevail, and many of 
 them, sir, in returning there do so at the risk of their lives, 
 and if any of those lives are sacrificed by reason of the mili 
 tary administration of this government, let me tell you, sir, 
 that their blood will be upon your garments and not upon 
 ours. 
 
 " During this impressive address the President stood be 
 fore the delegation with tears streaming down his cheeks, 
 seeming deeply agitated. 
 
 The members of the delegation were then presented in 
 dividually to the President and took leave of him. I shall 
 always remember my last sight of Mr. Lincoln as we left the 
 room. I was withdrawing, in company with others, and as 
 I passed out I chanced to look back. Mr. Lincoln had met 
 some personal acquaintances with whom he was exchanging 
 pleasantries, and instead of the tears of a few moments be 
 fore, he was indulging in hearty laughter. This rapid and 
 wonderful transition from one extreme to the other im 
 pressed me greatly." 
 
 Ex-Governor Johnson of Missouri, another member of 
 the committee, says of Lincoln s reply to their address : 
 
 " The President in the course of his reply hesitated a great 
 deal and was manifestly, as he said, very much troubled over 
 the condition of affairs in Missouri. He said he was sorry 
 there should be such divisions and dissensions; that they 
 were a source of more anxiety to him than we could imagine. 
 He expressed his appreciation of the zeal of the radical men, 
 but sometimes thought they did not understand the real sit 
 uation. He besought us not to get out of humor because 
 things were not going as rapidly as we thought they should. 
 The war, he pointed out, affected a much larger territory 
 than that embraced within the borders of Missouri, and 
 possibly he had better opportunities of judging of things 
 than some of us gentlemen. He spoke with great kindness, 
 but all the way through showed his profound regret at the 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 177 
 
 condition of affairs in our State. He regretted especially 
 that some of the men who had founded the Republican party 
 should now be arrayed apparently against his administra 
 tion. 
 
 " I had met Mr. Lincoln twice before then. This time he 
 appeared different from what he had on the two former oc 
 casions. There was a perplexed look on his face. When he 
 said he was bothered about this thing, he showed it. He 
 spoke kindly, yet now and then there was a little rasping 
 tone in his voice that seemed to say : * You men ought to fix 
 this thing up without tormenting me/ But he never lost his 
 temper." 
 
 One of Mr. Lincoln s secretaries was present at this con 
 ference and made notes on Mr. Lincoln s answer to the 
 delegation. The following sentences quoted from these 
 notes in Nicolay and Hay s " Abraham Lincoln " show still 
 further how plainly the President dealt with the committee : 
 
 44 Your ideas of justice seem to depend on the application 
 of it." 
 
 f< When you see a man loyally in favor of the Union- 
 willing to vote men and money spending his time and 
 money and throwing his influence into the recruitment of 
 our armies, I think it ungenerous, unjust, and impolitic to 
 make views on abstract political questions a test of his loy 
 alty. I will not be a party to this application of a pocket in 
 quisition. 
 
 You appear to come before me as my friends, if I agree 
 with you, and not otherwise. I do not here speak of mere per 
 sonal friendship. When I speak of my friends I mean those 
 who are friendly to my measures, to the policy of the Gov 
 ernment. I am well aware that by many, by some even 
 among this delegation I shall not name them I have been 
 in public speeches and in printed documents charged with 
 tyranny and wilfulness, with a disposition to make my 
 own personal will supreme. I do not intend to be a tyrant. 
 At all events I shall take care that in my own eyes I do not 
 become one." 
 
 (12) 
 
178 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 Mr. Lincoln then sent the committee away, promising to 
 reply by letter to their address. The events of the next day 
 showed him more plainly than ever what a following they 
 had. The night after the conference, Secretary Chase gave 
 them a great reception at his house. He did not hesi 
 tate to say, in the course of the evening, that he was heartily 
 in sympathy with their mission and that he hoped their 
 military department would be entrusted to a gentleman 
 whose motto was " Freedom for all." Going on to New 
 York, the committee were given a great and enthusiastic 
 meeting at Cooper Union : William Cullen Bryant made a 
 sympathetic speech, and various members of the committee 
 indulged in violent denunciations of the conservative ele 
 ment of the country, and did not hesitate to threaten Mr. 
 Lincoln with revolutionary action if he did not yield to 
 their demands. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln of course was not insensible to the political 
 power of the Missouri radicals. He knew that this was a 
 test case. He knew that they made their issue at a critical 
 time for him, it being the eve of the fall elections. So im 
 portant did his supporters consider it that he do something 
 to pacify radical sentiment that Mr. Leonard Swett, one of 
 his most intimate friends, and one heartily in sympathy with 
 his policy, urged him, one day in October, to take a more 
 advanced position and recommend in his annual message a 
 Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery: 
 
 Turning to me suddenly, he said, " Is not the question of 
 emancipation doing well enough now ? " I replied it was. 
 " Well," said he, " I have never done an official act with a 
 view to promote my own personal aggrandizement, and I 
 don t like to begin now. I can see that emancipation is 
 coming ; whoever can wait for it will see it ; whoever stands 
 in its way will be run over by it." 
 
 In spite of the pressure and threats of the Committee of 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 179 
 
 Seventy, Lincoln, when he answered their letter on October 
 5, yielded to none of their demands. He would not re 
 move Genera! Schofield. He would not discharge the en 
 rolled militia. 
 
 He repeated that they were acting as factionists, declared 
 that they had failed to convince him that General Schofield 
 and the enrolled militia which they charged caused the suf 
 fering of the Union party in the State were responsible, and 
 in a few remarkable paragraphs described what in his 
 opinion was the cause of the trouble in Missouri : 
 
 We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a 
 main question ; but in this case that question is a perplexing 
 compound Union and slavery. It thus becomes a question 
 not of two sides merely, but of at least four sides, even among 
 those who are for the Union, saying nothing of those who are 
 against it. Thus, those who are for the Union with, but not 
 without slavery those for it without, but not with those for 
 it with or without, but prefer it with and those for it with 
 or without, but prefer it without. 
 
 Among these again is a subdivision of those who are 
 for gradual, but not for immediate, and those who are for 
 immediate, but not for gradual extinction of slavery. It is 
 easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and even 
 more, may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful 
 men. Yet, all being for the Union, by reason of these differ 
 ences each will prefer a different way of sustaining the 
 Union. At once sincerity is questioned and motives are as 
 sailed. Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is 
 spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. 
 Deception breeds and thrives. Confidence dies and 
 universal suspicion reigns. Each man feels an impulse 
 to kill his neighbor, lest he be first killed by him. Revenge 
 and retaliation follow. And all this, as before said, may 
 be amongst honest men only; but this is not all. Every 
 foul bird comes abroad and every dirty reptile rises up. 
 These add crime to confusion. Strong measures deemed 
 indispensable, but harsh at best, such men make worse 
 by maladministration. Mulders for old grudges, and mur- 
 
l8o LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 ders for pelf, proceed under any cloak that will best cover 
 for the occasion. These causes amply account for what has 
 occurred in Missouri, without ascribing it to the weakness or 
 wickedness of any general. 
 
 He closed his letter refusing their requests with a few of 
 those resolute sentences of which he was capable when he 
 had made up his mind to do a thing in spite of all opposition : 
 
 I do not feel justified to enter upon the broad field you 
 present in regard to the political differences between 
 Radicals and Conservatives. From time to time I have 
 done and said what appeared to me proper to do and say. 
 The public knows it all. It obliged nobody to follow me, 
 and I trust it obliges me to follow nobody. The Radicals 
 and Conservatives each agree with me in some things and 
 disagree in others. I could wish both to agree with me in all 
 things, for then they would agree with each other and 
 would be too strong for any foe from any quarter. They, 
 however, choose to do otherwise ; and I do not question their 
 right. I too shall do what seems to be my duty. I hold 
 whoever commands in Missouri or elsewhere responsible to 
 me and not to either Radicals or Conservatives. It is my 
 duty to bear all, but at last I must within my sphere, judge 
 what to do and what to forbear. 
 
 There was no mistaking this letter of Lincoln. It told 
 the radicals not only of Missouri, but of the whole North, 
 that the President was not to be moved from his emancipa 
 tion policy. 
 
 Another complaint which many Republicans as well as all 
 Democrats made against Mr. Lincoln in 1864, was his inter 
 pretation of what constituted treason against the govern 
 ment. Their dissatisfaction culminated in what is known as 
 the Vallandigham case. Mr. Vallandigham was an Ohio 
 Democrat of the Copperhead variety who, from the begin 
 ning had opposed the war, although declaring himself for the 
 Union. In the spring of 1863 his attacks on the administra 
 
LINCOLN S REELECTION IN 1864 181 
 
 tion were particularly virulent. He accused the government 
 of not being willing to meet the Confederacy and arrange a 
 peace, of being unconstitutional in enforcing the draft and of 
 making arbitrary military arrests and imprisonments. The 
 party which he represented seemed to be growing in influence 
 every day, and it was known that the efficiency of the army in 
 the winter of 1862-63 had been seriously undermined by the 
 influence of the Copperhead element at home. Mr. Lincoln 
 was opposed to noticing any opposition of this kind unless 
 driven to it, but not all of his subordinates felt the same 
 way. Some of the generals in the army were especially in 
 censed by it, among them General Burnside, then at the 
 head of the Department of the Ohio, who, on April 13, 
 1863, issued an order in which he said: 
 
 " The habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy will 
 not be allowed in this department. Persons committing 
 such offenses will be at once arrested with a view to being 
 tried as above stated or sent beyond our lines into the lines 
 of their friends. 
 
 " It must be distinctly understood that treason expressed 
 or implied will not be tolerated in this department." 
 
 Mr. Vallandigham was angered by this order and in public 
 addresses declared it a " base usurpation of arbitrary author 
 ity," which he should resist. General Burnside retaliated 
 by ordering Vallandigham s arrest at Dayton, Ohio, after a 
 public address in which he had declared among other things 
 that the present war was a " wicked, cruel and unnecessary 
 war; " "a war not being waged for the preservation of the 
 Union; " " a war for the purpose of crushing out liberty and 
 erecting a despotism; " " a war for the freedom of the blacks 
 and the enslavement of the white;" stating " that if the Ad 
 ministration had so wished the war could have been honor 
 ably terminated tnonths ago ; " that " peace mig^ht have been 
 
1 82 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 honorably obtained by listening to the proposed intermedia 
 tion of France," etc., etc. 
 
 Vallandigham was tried soon after arrest by a military 
 commission, pronounced guilty and sentenced to " close con 
 finement in some fortress of the United States." The arrest, 
 the trial by military instead of by civil court, the sentence, 
 aroused a tremendous outcry throughout the country. The 
 best newspapers, including the New York " Evening Post " 
 and the New York " Tribune " condemned the government. 
 Protests and applications for his release poured in upon the 
 President. 
 
 It is probable that Mr. Lincoln regretted the arrest of Val 
 landigham, for he wrote Burnside afterward: "All the 
 
 Cabinet regret the necessity of arresting 
 
 Vallandigham, some perhaps doubting there was a real 
 necessity for it; but, being done, all were for seeing you 
 through with it." Lincoln had, however, no idea of releas 
 ing Vallandigham. His one concern was to prevent the 
 prisoner appearing to the country as a martyr for liberty, 
 the victim of tyranny, and, taking the hint from Burn- 
 side s order he directed that " the prisoner be put beyond 
 our military lines," that is, that he be sent over to the Con 
 federates. General Burnside objected to this. His earnest 
 ness had so blinded his sense of humor that he did not see 
 that this disposition of the prisoner would take away much 
 of the sympathy and dignity which must always attend the 
 tragedy of close confinement. Mr. Lincoln insisted, and 
 finally Vallandigham, attended only by a military escort, 
 was secretly conducted under a flag of truce within the lines 
 of the Confederate general, Braxton Bragg. 
 
 There was nothing heroic about this turn in the affair. 
 Vallandigham protested vehemently that he was not a sym 
 pathizer of the South, that he was for the Union. The Con- 
 federates were as disgusted as the prisoner. Mr. Lincoln, 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 183 
 
 they said to one another, intends to make a Botany Bay of 
 the Confederacy. The Confederate Secretary of War wrote 
 General Bragg in a rather irritable tone that it was clearly an 
 abuse of the flag of truce to employ it to cover a guard over 
 expelled citizens, non-combatants. An old friend of Val- 
 landigham in Virginia offered the government to give him a 
 home if he desired to remain in the Confederacy, but both 
 Vallandigham and the Confederates saw the absurdity of the 
 situation and desired only that it be changed as quickly as pos 
 sible. Considerable correspondence passed between the pris 
 oner and the authorities with the result that on June 2, Jeffer 
 son Davis ordered General Bragg to send Vallandigham, 
 as an alien enemy, under guard of an officer, to Wilmington, 
 and the Secretary of War wrote to the commissioner hav 
 ing the prisoner in charge, the following directions : 
 
 It is not the desire or purpose of this govern 
 ment to treat this victim of unjust and arbitrary power with 
 other than lenity and consideration, but as an alien enemy he 
 cannot be received to friendly hospitality or allowed a con 
 tinued refuge in freedom in our midst. This is due alike 
 to our safety and to him in his acknowledged position as an 
 enemy. You have therefore been charged with the duty, 
 not inappropriate to the commission you hold in relation to 
 prisoners, etc., of meeting him in Lynchburg, and there as 
 suming direction and control of his future movements. He 
 must be regarded by you as under arrest, permitted, unless 
 in your discretion you deem it necessary to revoke the privi 
 lege to be at large on his parole not to attempt to escape nor 
 hereafter to reveal to the prejudice of the Confederate States 
 anything he may see or learn while therein. You will see 
 that he is not molested or assailed or unduly intruded upon, 
 and extend to him the attentions and kind treatment consist 
 ent with his relations as an alien enemy. After a reason 
 able delay with him at Lynchburg, to allow rest and recrea 
 tion from the fatigues of his recent exposure and travel, you 
 will proceed with him to Wilmington, N. C, and there de- 
 
1 84 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 liver him to the charge of Major-General Whiting, com 
 manding in that district, by whom he will be allowed at an 
 early convenient opportunity to take shipping for any neutral 
 port he may prefer, whether in Europe, the Islands, or on 
 this Continent. More full instructions on this point will be 
 given to General Whiting, and your duty will be discharged 
 when you shall have conducted Mr. Vallandigham to Wil 
 mington and placed him at the disposition of that com 
 mander. 
 
 These directions were carried out and Vallandigham 
 sailed for Bermuda and thence for Halifax. August 27 the 
 Provost-Marshal-General was notified that he was at Wind 
 sor, opposite Detroit. 
 
 Although Lincoln, by his adroit disposition of Vallandig 
 ham had taken much of the dignity out of his position, his 
 supporters were determined to make the matter an issue, 
 and on May 19 the New York Democrats, and again on 
 June 26, the Ohio Democrats, while urging their loyalty to 
 the Union protested against the arrest, and called upon the 
 President to restore the exile to his home. Such arrests and 
 trials as his were, they declared, contrary to the Constitu 
 tion, a violation of the right of free speech and the right 
 to a fair trial. On June 12 and June 29, Lincoln replied 
 respectively to these protests in a couple of letters in which 
 he defended his course. Only the briefest extract can be 
 given here, but they show the clearness and boldness of his 
 argument. 
 
 The resolutions promise to support me in 
 every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the re 
 bellion; 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 following them, for which I am ultimately re 
 sponsible, are unconstitutional. I think they are not* 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 185 
 
 " . . . he who dissuades one man from volunteering, 
 or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the Union cause 
 as much as he who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this 
 dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to be no 
 defined crime of which any civil court would take cogni 
 zance. 
 
 " 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 public 
 safety may require it, is the provision which specially ap 
 plies to our present, case. 
 
 
 
 " Mr. Vallandigham avows his hostility to the war on the 
 part of the Union ; and his arrest was made because he w r as 
 laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops, 
 to encourage desertions from the army, and to leave the re 
 bellion without an adequate military force to suppress it. 
 He was not arrested because he was damaging the political 
 prospects of the administration or the personal interests of 
 the commanding general, but because he was damaging the 
 army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of the 
 nation depends. He was warring upon the military, and 
 this gave the military constitutional jurisdiction to lay 
 hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandingham was not damaging 
 the military power of the country, then his arrest was made 
 on mistake of fact, which I would be glad to correct on rea 
 sonably satisfactory evidence. 
 
 " I understand the meeting whose resolutions I am con 
 sidering to be in favor of suppressing the rebellion by mili 
 tary force by armies. Long experience has shown that 
 armies cannot be maintained unless desertion shall be pun 
 ished by the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and 
 the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. 
 
 " If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, 
 my error lies in believing that certain proceedings are con 
 stitutional when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public 
 
1 86 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 
 
 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 Constitu 
 tion is not in its application in all respects the same in cases 
 of rebellion or invasion involving the public safety, as it is 
 in times of profound peace and public security. The Con 
 stitution itself makes the distinction, and I can no more be 
 persuaded that the government can constitutionally take no 
 strong measures 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 particular drug is not good 
 medicine for a sick man because it can be shown to not be 
 good food for a well one. Nor am I able to appreciate the 
 danger apprehended by the meeting, that the American peo 
 ple will by means of military arrests during 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 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 tem 
 porary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during the 
 remainder of his healthful life." 
 
 The Democrats called the letter despotic, but the people 
 saw the sound sense of the arguments, and when in the fall 
 Vallandigham, still in exile, was run for Governor of Ohio, 
 he was defeated by over 100,000 votes. When a few months 
 later he dared the President, came back and began to make 
 violent speeches, no attention was paid to him. The right 
 of the President to suppress any man who hurt the army and 
 thus the Union cause was clearly fixed in the people s mind. 
 If anybody wavered, Lincoln s letters were brought out. 
 Vallandigham henceforth rather helped than injured the 
 President. 
 
 The first effect of Lincoln s resolution in enforcing his 
 own policy was to stimulate the search his opponents were 
 making for a man to put in his place. At that time the 
 fall of 1863 Grant was the military hero ^f the country, 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 187 
 
 and his name began to be urged for the Presidency. Now 
 Lincoln had never seen Grant. Was he a man whose head 
 could be turned by a sudden notoriety? Could it be that, 
 just as he had found the commander for whom he had 
 searched so long, he was to lose him through a burst of 
 popular gratitude and hero-worship? He decided to find 
 out Grant s feeling. He did this through Mr. J. Russell 
 Jones of Chicago, a friend of the General. 
 
 " In 1863," says Mr. Jones, " some of the newspapers, 
 especially the New York Herald/ were trying to boom 
 Grant for the Presidency.* While General Grant was at 
 Chattanooga, I wrote him, in substance, that I did not wish 
 to meddle with his affairs, but that I could not resist suggest 
 ing that he pay no attention to what the newspapers were 
 saying in that connection. He immediately replied, saying 
 that everything of that nature which reached him went into 
 the waste-basket; that he felt he had as big a job on hand as 
 one man need desire ; that his only ambition was to suppress 
 the rebellion ; and that, even if he had a desire to be Presi 
 dent, he could not possibly entertain the thought of becoming 
 a candidate for the office, nor of accepting a nomination were 
 one tendered him, so long as there was a possibility of keep 
 ing Mr. Lincoln in the presidential chair. The whole spirit 
 of his letter was one of the most perfect devotion to Lin 
 coln. 
 
 " Before this letter reached me, however, President Lin 
 coln telegraphed me to come to Washington. The telegram 
 gave no hint of the business upon which he wished to see me, 
 and I had no information upon which to found even a sus 
 picion of its nature. On my way to the train I stopped at 
 my office, in the postoffice building, and in passing my box 
 in the postoffice I opened it and took out several letters. I 
 put them into my pocket, and did not look at them until after 
 I had gotten aboard the train. I then discovered that one of 
 the letters was from General Grant ; it was the letter of which 
 
 *The "Herald" published its first editorial advocating Grant on 
 December is, 1863. It was headed, " Grant as the People s Candidate." 
 
1 88 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 ! have already spoken. The circumstance has always seemed 
 to me to have been providential. 
 
 " Upon my arrival at Washington, I sent word to the 
 President that I had arrived and would be glad to call when 
 ever it was most convenient and agreeable for him to receive 
 me. He sent back a request for me to call that evening at 
 eight o clock. I went to the White House at that hour. 
 
 " When the President had gotten through with the per 
 sons with whom he was engaged, I was invited into his 
 room. The President then gave directions to say to all that 
 he was engaged for the evening. Mr. Lincoln opened the 
 conversation by saying that he was anxious to see somebody 
 from the West with whom he could talk upon the general 
 situation and had therefore sent for me. Mr. Lincoln made 
 no allusion whatever to Grant. I had been there but a few 
 minutes, however, when I fancied he would like to talk about 
 Grant, and I interrupted him by saying : 
 
 Mr. President, if you will excuse me for interrupting 
 you, I want to ask you kindly to read a letter that I got from 
 my box as I was on my way to the train/ 
 
 " Whereupon I gave him Grant s letter. He read it with 
 evident interest. When he came to the part where Grant said 
 that it would be impossible for him to think of the presidency 
 as long as there was a possibility of retaining Mr. Lincoln in 
 the office, he read no further, but arose and, approaching me, 
 put his hand on my shoulder and said : 
 
 1 My son, you will never know how gratifying that is to 
 me. No man knows, when that presidential grub gets to 
 gnawing at him, just how deep it will get until he has tried 
 it; and I didn t know but what there was one gnawing at 
 Grant/ 
 
 " The fact was that this was just what Mr. Lincoln wanted 
 to know. He had said to Congressman Washburne, as I af 
 terwards ascertained : 
 
 " About all I know of Grant I have got from you. I have 
 never seen him. Who else besides you knows anything about 
 Grant? 
 
 " Washburne replied : 
 
 " * I know very little about him. He is my townsman, but 
 I never saw very much of him. The only man who really 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 180 
 
 knows Grant is Jones. He has summered and wintered with 
 him. (This was an allusion to the winter I spent with Grant 
 in Mississippi, at the time Van Dorn got into Holly 
 Springs.) 
 
 " It was this statement of Washburne s which caused Lin 
 coln to telegraph me to come to Washington." 
 
 But there were other names than Grant s in the mouth of 
 the opposition. All through the winter of 1863-1864, in 
 fact, the great majority of the Republican leaders were dis 
 cussing different candidates. One of the men whom they 
 approached was the Vice-President, Hannibal Hamlin. He 
 was a man of strong anti-slavery feeling, and it was well 
 known that Lincoln never had gone fast enough to suit him. 
 Would he accept the candidacy ? he was asked. Mr. Hamlin 
 would not listen to the suggestion. Lincoln, he said, was his 
 friend. Their views were not always the same, but he be 
 lieved in Lincoln, and would not be untrue to his official re 
 lation. Not every member of the official family, however, 
 had the same sense of loyalty. Indeed, before the end of 
 1863, an active campaign for the nomination was being con 
 ducted by one of the members of the cabinet, Mr. Chase, 
 Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Mr. Chase had been a rival of Lincoln in 1860. He had 
 gone into the cabinet with a feeling very like that of Mr. 
 Seward, that Lincoln was an inexperienced man, incapable 
 of handling the situation, and that he or Mr. Seward would 
 be the premier. Mr Seward soon found that Lincoln was 
 the master, and he was great enough to acknowledge the su 
 premacy. But Mr. Chase was never able to realize Lincoln s 
 greatness. He continued to regard him as an inferior mind, 
 and seemed to believe, honestly enough, that the people 
 would prefer himself as President if they could only have 
 an opportunity to vote for him. All through the winter of 
 1863-1864 he carried on a voluminous private correspond-* 
 
190 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 ence in the interests of his nomination, and about the middle 
 of the winter he consented that his name be submitted to the 
 people. The first conspicuous effort to promote his can 
 didacy was a circular marked " confidential/ sent out in 
 February 1864, by Senator Pomeroy of Kansas, calling on 
 the country to organize in behalf of Mr. Chase. The Secre 
 tary hastened to assure Mr. Lincoln that he knew nothing of 
 this circular until he saw it in the newspapers, but he con 
 fessed that he had consented that his name be used as a presi 
 dential candidate, and said that if Mr. Lincoln felt that this 
 impaired his usefulness as Secretary of the Treasury, he did 
 not wish to continue in his position. 
 
 Lincoln had known for many months of Mr. Chase s 
 anxiety for the nomination, but he had studiously ignored 
 it. He could not be persuaded by anybody to do anything 
 to interrupt Mr. Chase s electioneering. Now that the Sec 
 retary had called his attention to the matter of the circular, 
 however, he replied courteously, though indifferently : 
 
 " . . . My knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy s letter having 
 been made public came to me only the day you wrote; but I 
 had, in spite of myself, known of its existence several days 
 before. I have not yet read it, and I think I shall not. I 
 was not shocked or surprised by the appearance of the letter, 
 because I had had knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy s committee, 
 and of secret issues which, I supposed came from it, and of 
 secret agents who I supposed were sent out by it, for sev 
 eral weeks. I have known just as little of these things as 
 my friends have allowed me to know. They bring the docu 
 ments to me, but I do not read them ; they tell me what they 
 think fit to tell me, but I do not inquire for more. . . . 
 
 " Whether you shall remain at the head of the Treasury 
 Department is a question which I will not allow myself to 
 consider from any standpoint other than my judgment of the 
 public service, and, in that view, I do not perceive occasion 
 for a change." 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 191 
 
 Mr. Chase was free, as far as Lincoln was concerned, to 
 conduct his presidential campaign from his seat in the cabi 
 net. But the Republicans of his State were not willing that 
 he should do so, and three days after the Pomeroy circular 
 first appeared in print, the Union members of the legislature 
 demanded, in the name of the people and of the soldiers of 
 Ohio, that Lincoln be renominated. There was nothing to 
 do then but for Mr. Chase to withdraw. 
 
 Indeed, it was already becoming evident to Lincoln s most 
 determined antagonists in the party that it would be useless 
 for them to try to nominate anybody else. On all sides in 
 State legislatures, Union leagues, caucuses the people were 
 demanding that Lincoln be renominated. The case was a 
 curious one. Four years before, Lincoln had been nominated 
 for the Presidency of the United States because he was an 
 available candidate, not from any general confidence that he 
 was the best man in the Republican party for the place. 
 Now, on the contrary, it was declared that he would have to 
 be nominated because he had won the confidence of the 
 people so completely that no candidate would have any 
 chance against him. In four years he had risen from a posi 
 tion of comparative obscurity to be the most generally 
 trusted man in the North. The great reason for this confi 
 dence was that the people understood exactly what he was 
 trying to do and why he was trying to do it. From the be 
 ginning of his Administration, in fact, Lincoln had taken 
 the people into his confidence. Whenever a strong opposi 
 tion to his policy developed in any quarter, it was his habit 
 to explain in a public letter exactly why he was doing what 
 he was doing, and why he was not doing the thing he was 
 urged to do. He had written such a letter to Greeley in 
 August, 1862, explaining his view of the relation of emanci 
 pation to the war; such were his letters in June, 1863, reply 
 ing to the Democrats of New York and Ohio who protested 
 
192 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 against the arrest of Vallandigham for treasonable speech; 
 such his letter to James C. Conkling in August, 1863, ex 
 plaining his views of peace, of emancipation, of colored 
 troops. These public letters are Lincoln s most remarkable 
 state papers. They are invincible in their logic and incom 
 parable in their simplicity and lucidity of expression. By 
 means of them he convinced the people of his own rigid 
 mental honesty, put reasons for his actions into their mouths, 
 gave them explanations which were demonstrations. They 
 believed in him because he had been frank with them, and 
 because he tried to make matters so clear to them, used 
 words they could understand, kept the principle free from all 
 non-essential and partisan considerations. 
 
 Scarcely less important than these letters in convincing the 
 people of the wisdom of his policy were Lincoln s stories and 
 sayings. In February, 1864, just after the popular demand 
 for his renomination began to develop, the New York 
 " Evening Post " published some two columns of Lincoln s 
 stories. The New York " Herald " jeered at the collection 
 as the " first electioneering document " of the campaign, and 
 reprinted them as a proof of the unfitness of Lincoln for the 
 presidency. But jeer as it would, the " Herald " could not 
 hide from its readers the wit and the philosophy of the jokes. 
 Every one of them had been used to explain a point or to set 
 tle a question, and under their laughter was concealed some 
 of the man s soundest reasoning. Indeed, at that very mo 
 ment the " Herald " might have seen, if it had been more dis 
 cerning, that it was a Lincoln saying going up and down the 
 country that was serving as one the strongest arguments for 
 his renomination, the remark that it is never best to swap 
 horses in crossing a stream. Lincoln had used it in speaking 
 of the danger of changing Presidents in the middle of the 
 war. He might have written a long message on the value 
 of experience in a national crisis, and it would have been 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 193 
 
 meaningless to the masses ; but this homely figure o. swap 
 ping horses in the middle of the stream appealed to their hu 
 mor and their common sense. It was repeated over and over 
 in the newspapers of the country. It was in every man s 
 mouth, and was of inestimable value in helping plain people 
 to see the danger of changing Presidents while the war was 
 going on. 
 
 The Union convention was set for June. As the time ap 
 proached, Lincoln enthusiasm grew. It was fed by Grant s 
 steady beating back of Lee toward Richmond. The country, 
 wild with joy, cried out that before July Grant would be in 
 the Confederate capital and the war would be ended. The 
 opposition to Lincoln that had worked so long steadily dwin 
 dled in the face of military success, until all of which it was 
 capable was a small convention in May, in Cleveland, at 
 which Fremont was nominated. 
 
 The Union convention met in June. That it would nomi 
 nate Lincoln was a foregone conclusion. " The convention 
 has no candidate to choose," said the Philadelphia " Press." 
 " Choice is forbidden it by the previous action of the people." 
 The preliminary work of the convention, seating delegates 
 and framing a platform, was rapidly disposed of. Then on 
 June 8, after a skirmish about the method of nominating 
 the candidates, Illinois presented the name of Abraham Lin 
 coln. A call of States was immediately taken. One after 
 another they answered: Pennsylvania for Lincoln, New 
 York for Lincoln, New England solid for him, Kentucky 
 solid, and so on through the thirty States and Territories 
 represented; only one dissenting delegation in the entire 
 thirty: Missouri, whose radical Union representatives gave 
 twenty-two votes for Grant. On the second reading of the 
 vote this ballot was changed, so that the final vote stood 506 
 for Lincoln. 
 
 The President took his renomination calmly. " I do not 
 (-3) 
 
194 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 allow myself to suppose/* he said to a delegation from the 
 National Union League which came to congratulate him, 
 " that either the convention or the League have concluded to 
 decide that I am either the greatest or best man in America, 
 but rather they have concluded that it is not best to swap 
 horses while crossing the river, and have further concluded 
 that I am not so poor a horse that they might not make a 
 botch of it trying to swap." 
 
 The renomination of Lincoln had taken place when the 
 country and the Administration were rejoicing in Grant s 
 successes and still prophesying that the war was practically 
 over. The developments of the next few days after the nom 
 ination put a new look on the military situation. Instead of 
 entering Richmond, Grant attacked Petersburg; but before 
 he could capture it the town had been so re-enforced that it 
 was evident nothing but a siege could reduce it. Now the 
 Army of the Potomac in its march from the Rapidan to the 
 James, extending from May 4th to June 24th, had lost 
 nearly 55,000 men. If Petersburg was to be besieged, it was 
 clear that the army must be re-enforced, that there must be 
 another draft. The President had hinted that this was pos 
 sible only a week after his nomination, in an address in Phil 
 adelphia at a sanitary fair : 
 
 " If I shall discover," he asked, " that General Grant and 
 the noble officers and men under him can be greatly facili 
 tated in their work by a sudden pouring forward of men and 
 assistance, will you give them to me? Are you ready to 
 march?" Cries of "yes" answered him. "Then I say, 
 stand ready," he replied, " for I am watching for the 
 chance." 
 
 A few days later he visited Grant, and rode the lines in 
 front of Petersburg. All that he saw, all the events of the 
 following days, only made it clearer to him that there must 
 be another outpouring of men. His friends besought him to 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 195 
 
 try to get on without it. The country was growing daily 
 more discouraged as it realized that its hope of speedy vic 
 tory was vain. A new draft would arouse opposition, give 
 a new weapon to the Democrats, make his re-election uncer 
 tain: he could not afford it. He refused their counsels. 
 " We must lose nothing even if I am defeated," he said. " I 
 am quite willing the people should understand the issue. My 
 re-election will mean that the rebellion is to be crushed by 
 force of arms." And on July 18, he called for 500,000 
 volunteers for one, two, and three years. 
 
 All the discontent that had been prophesied broke forth on 
 this call. The awful brutality of the war came upon the 
 country as never before. There was a revulsion of feeling 
 against the sacrifice going on, such as had not been ex 
 perienced since the war began. All the complaints that had 
 been urged against Lincoln both by radical Republicans and 
 by Democrats broke out afresh. The draft was talked of as 
 if it were the arbitrary freak of a tyrant. It was declared that 
 Lincoln had violated constitutional rights, personal liberty, 
 the liberty of the press, the rights of asylum ; that, in short, 
 he had been guilty of all the abuses of a military dictator. 
 Much bitter criticism was made of his treatment of peace 
 overtures. It was declared that the Confederates were 
 anxious to make peace, and had taken the first steps, but that 
 Lincoln was so bloodthirsty that he was unwilling to use any 
 means but force. Even Horace Greeley joined now in this 
 criticism, though up to this summer he had stood with the 
 President on the question. In May, 1864, when Congress 
 man Dawson proposed in the Senate that the North should 
 " tender the olive branch of peace as an exchange for the 
 sword," the " Tribune " ridiculed the idea and suggested that 
 Mr. Dawson, without waiting for the House to adopt his 
 resolution, should start at once on his private account for 
 the camp of General Lee " with a whole cart-load of olive 
 
196 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 branches." " Some good may come of it," said Mr. Gree 
 ley; " Mr. Dawson may possibly be treated as a spy." 
 
 Later, when peace was proposed in the Confederate Con 
 gress, Mr. Greeley said : 
 
 " Speaking generally, it is safe to say that if there had 
 been any foundation other than the unconditional surrender 
 of the Confederacy/ upon which to build it, we would have 
 had peace long ago. But the quarrel is a mortal one .... 
 there can be no peace the terms of which are not dictated and 
 enforced by the Congress of the United States." 
 
 On June 10, in answer to an attack on the administra 
 tion for refusing to allow a Confederate gun-boat to bring 
 Stephens to Washington, Greeley said : 
 
 " The, naked truth lies here : Up to this hour the rebels 
 have never been ready or willing to treat with our govern 
 ment on any other footing than that of independence; and 
 this we have not been inclined to concede. When they (or 
 we) have been beaten into a willingness to concede the vital 
 matter in dispute, negotiations for per,ce will be in order 
 and not till then." 
 
 In spite of these utterances however, Mr. Greeley wavered 
 in July, upon receiving from an irresponsible and officious 
 individual known as " Colorado Jewett," a communication 
 stating that two ambassadors of " Davis and Company " 
 were in Canada with full and complete powers for a peace, 
 and requesting Mr. Greeley to come immediately to Niagara, 
 Taking the matter seriously he wrote the President a long 
 and hysterical letter, urging that the offer be accepted, and 
 some one sent to Niagara. Mr. Lincoln saw his chance to 
 demonstrate to the country the futility of peace negotiations. 
 He replied immediately appointing Greeley himself as an 
 ambassador to meet the parties. 
 
MR. LINCOLN AND HIS SON THOMAS, FAMILIARLY KNOWN AS "TAD." ABOUT 
 
 1864. BY BRADY. 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 197 
 
 " If you can find any person anywhere," he wrote, " pro 
 fessing to have any proposition of Jefferson Davis in writing, 
 for peace, embracing the restoration of the Union and aban 
 donment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to him 
 he may come to me with you; and that if he really brings 
 such proposition, he shall at the least have safe conduct with 
 the paper (and without publicity, if he chooses) to the point 
 where you shall have met him. The same if there be two or 
 more persons." 
 
 This was a turn that the editor of the " Tribune " had evi 
 dently not expected, but Mr. Lincoln insisted that he carry 
 out the commission, his only conditions being the ones stated 
 above, and he sent him the following paper: 
 
 " To Whom It May Concern : Any proposition which 
 embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole 
 Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes 
 by and with an authority that can control the armies now at 
 war against the United States, will be received and con 
 sidered by the Executive Government of the United States, 
 and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial and 
 collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have 
 safe conduct both ways. ABRAHAM LINCOLN/ 
 
 Mr. Greeley went to Niagara, but as it turned out the 
 persons whom he had taken seriously had no authority what 
 ever from Davis, and they declared that no negotiations for 
 peace were possible if Mr. Lincoln s conditions must be con 
 ceded. So the conference, which ran over a number of days, 
 and which was enveloped in much mystery, fell through. At 
 the end it got into the newspapers, though only a portion of 
 the correspondence was published at the time. It was evi 
 dent to people of sense however, that Mr. Greeley had been 
 hoodwinked. It was evident, too, that the President was 
 willing to carry on peace negotiations if those points for 
 which the war had been fought were yielded. All the 
 effectiveness of peace cries after this, was gone. Senator 
 
198 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Harlan of Iowa, who, with other Republicans, appreciated 
 thoroughly the clever way in which Lincoln had disposed of 
 the editor of the " Tribune/ said to him one day on the ter 
 race of the White House : " Some of us think, Mr. Lincoln, 
 that you didn t send a very good ambassador to Niagara/ 
 " Well, I ll tell you about that, Harlan," replied the Presi 
 dent, " Greeley kept abusing me for not entering into peace 
 
 6EGEND SCRATCHED ON A WINDOW PANE BY J. WILKES BOOTH, AT MEADVILLE, 
 PENNSYLVANIA, AUGUST, 1864. 
 
 negotiations. He said he believed we could have peace if I 
 would do my part and when he began to urge that I send an 
 ambassador to Niagara to meet Confederate emissaries, I 
 just thought I would let him go up and crack that nut for 
 himself." 
 
 As July dragged on and August passed there was no break 
 in the gloom. Farragut was threatening Mobile ; Sherman, 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 IQ9 
 
 Atlanta; Grant, Petersburg; but all of these three great un 
 dertakings seemed to promise nothing but a fruitless 
 slaughter of men. The despair and indignation of the coun 
 try in this dreadful time all centered on Lincoln. Republi 
 cans, hopeless of reflecting him, talked of replacing him by 
 another candidate. The Democrats argued that the war and 
 all its woes were the direct result of his tyrannical and un 
 constitutional policy The more violent intimated that he 
 should be put out or the way. A sign of the bitterness against 
 him little noted at the moment, but sinister in the light of 
 after events, was an inscription found one August morning 
 written on the window of a room in a Meadville (Pennsyl 
 vania) hotel. The room had been occupied the night before 
 by a favorite actor, J. Wilkes Booth. The inscription ran : 
 "Abe Lincoln Departed this Life Aug. I3th, 1864, By the 
 effects of Poison." 
 
 In the dreadful uproar of discontent one cry alarmed Lin 
 coln more than all others ; this was the revival of the demand 
 that Grant be presented for the presidency. It was not so 
 much the fear of defeat by Grant that affected him as it was 
 the dread that the campaign would be neglected if the Gen 
 eral went into politics. He concluded that he ought to sound 
 Grant again. Colonel John Eaton (now General), a friend 
 of Grant, was in Washington at the time and often with Mr. 
 Lincoln. Referring to the efforts making to nominate 
 Grant, Lincoln asked if the Colonel knew what the General 
 thought of the attempt. No, the Colonel said, he didn t. 
 
 " Well," said Lincoln, " if Grant is the great general we 
 think he is, he must have some consciousness of it, and know 
 that he cannot be satisfied with himself and secure the credit 
 due for his great generalship if he does not finish the job." 
 And he added, " I don t believe they can get him to run." 
 
 The President then asked the Colonel if he could not go to 
 Grant and find out for him how the General felt. Colonel 
 
200 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Eaton started at once on his errand. Reaching headquarters 
 and being received by the General, he worked his way to the 
 subject by recounting how he had met persons recently in 
 travelling who had asked him if he thought Grant could be 
 induced to run against Lincoln, not as a partisan, but as a 
 citizen s candidate, to save the Union. Grant brought his 
 hand down emphatically on the strap arm of his camp-chair. 
 " They can t do it ! They can t compel me to do it ! " 
 
 " Have you said this to the President ? " asked Colonel 
 Eaton. 
 
 " No," said Grant, " I have not thought it worth while to 
 assure the President of my opinion. I consider it as import 
 ant for the cause that he should be elected as that the army 
 should be successful in the field." 
 
 Lincoln s friends took the situation at this period more 
 seriously than he. Their alarm is graphically pictured in the 
 following letter from Leonard Swett to his wife. It was 
 probably written toward the end of August : 
 
 ASTOR HOUSE, NEW YORK, 
 Monday, , 1864. 
 
 My Dear Wife: The fearful things in relation to the 
 country have induced me to stay a week here. I go to 
 Washington to-night, and can t see how I can get away from 
 there before the last of the week. 
 
 A summary of movements is as follows : 
 
 The malicious foes of Lincoln are calling or getting up a 
 Buffalo convention to supplant him. They are Sumner, 
 Wade, Henry Winter Davis, Chase, Fremont, Wilson, etc. 
 
 The Democrats are conspiring to resist the draft. We 
 seized this morning three thousand pistols going to Indiana 
 for distribution. The war Democrats are trying to make 
 the Chicago nominee a loyal man. The peace Democrats are 
 trying to get control of the Government, and through al 
 liance with Jefferson Davis, to get control of both armies 
 and make universal revolution necessary. 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 2OI 
 
 The most fearful things are probable. 
 
 I am acting with Thurlow Weed, Raymond, etc., to try to 
 avert. There is not much hope. 
 
 Unless material changes can be wrought, Lincoln s elec 
 tion is beyond any possible hope. It is probably clean gone 
 now.* 
 
 Lincoln himself had made up his mind that he would be 
 defeated. What would be his duty then? It was so clear to 
 him, that he wrote it down on a slip of paper : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 23, 1864. 
 
 This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly 
 probable that this administration will not be re-elected. Then 
 it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President-elect 
 as to save the Union between the election and the inaugura 
 tion; as he will have secured his election on such ground 
 that he cannot possibly save it afterward. 
 
 A. LlNCOLN.f 
 
 He folded the slip, and when the cabinet met, he asked 
 the members to put their names on the back. What was in 
 side he did not tell them. In the incessant buffeting of his 
 life he had learned that the highest moral experience of 
 which a man is capable is standing clear before his own con 
 science. He laid the paper away, a compact with his con 
 science in case of defeat. 
 
 The Democrats had deferred their national convention as 
 long as possible, hoping for a military situation which would 
 enable them to win the people. They could not have had a 
 situation more favorable to their plans. But they miscalcu 
 lated in one vital particular. They took the despair of the 
 country as a sign that peace would be welcome even at the 
 
 * Letter loaned by Mr. Leonard Herbert Swett, of Aurora, 111. 
 f " Abraham Lincoln; A History." By Nicolay and Hay. 
 
202 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 cost of the Union, and they adopted a peace platform. They 
 nominated on this platform a candidate vowed to war and to 
 the Union, General McClellan. So unpopular was the com 
 bination that General McClellan, in accepting the nomina 
 tion, practically repudiated the platform. 
 
 But at this moment something further interfered to save 
 the Administration. Sherman captured Atlanta, and Farra- 
 gut took Mobile Bay, " Sherman and Farragut," said Sew- 
 ard, " have knocked the bottom out of the Chicago nomina 
 tions." If they had not quite done that, they had at least 
 given heart to Lincoln s supporters, who went to work with 
 a will to secure his re-election. The following letter by 
 Leonard Swett shows something of what was done : 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 8, 1864. 
 
 My Dear Wife: There has never been an instance in 
 which Providence has kindly interposed in our behalf in our 
 national struggles in so marked and essential manner as in 
 the recent Union victories. 
 
 You know I had become very fearful before leaving home. 
 When I arrived in New York, I found the most alarming 
 depression possessing the minds of all the Republicans, 
 Greeley, Beecher, Raymond, Weed; and all the small poli 
 ticians without exception utterly gave up in despair. Ray 
 mond, the chairman of the National Committee, not only 
 gave up, but would do nothing. Nobody would do anything. 
 There was not a man doing anything except mischief. 
 
 A movement was organizing to make Mr. Lincoln with 
 draw or call a convention and supplant him. 
 
 I felt it my duty to see if some action could not be inaugu 
 rated. I got Raymond, after great labor, to call the com 
 mittee at Washington three days after I would arrive here, 
 and came first to see if Mr. Lincoln understood his danger 
 and would help to set things in motion. He understood fully 
 the danger of his position, and for once seemed anxious I 
 should try to stem the tide bearing him down. When the 
 
LINCOLN S RE-ELECTION IN 1864 203 
 
 committee met, they showed entire want of organization and 
 had not a dollar of money. 
 
 Maine was calling for speakers. Two men were obtained, 
 and I had to advance them a hundred dollars each to go. 
 
 The first gleam of hope was in the Chicago convention. 
 The evident depression of the public caused the peace men to 
 control that convention, and then, just as the public began 
 to shrink from accepting it, God gave us the victory at At 
 lanta, which made the ship right itself, as a ship in a storm 
 does after a great wave has nearly capsized it. 
 
 Washburne, of Illinois, a man of great force, came, and 
 he and I have been working incessantly. I have raised and 
 provided one hundred thousand dollars for the canvass. 
 
 Don t think this is for improper purposes. It is not. 
 Speakers have to be paid. Documents have to be sent, and 
 innumerable expenses have to be incurred. 
 
 The Secessionists are flooding the Northwest with money. 
 Voorhees and Vallandigham are arming the people there, 
 and are trying to make the draft an occasion for an uprising. 
 We are in the midst of conspiracies equal to the French Rev 
 olution. 
 
 I have felt it my solemn duty under these circumstances 
 to stay here. I have been actuated by no other motive than 
 that of trying to save our country from further dismember 
 ment and war. People from the West, and our best people, 
 say if we fail now the West will surely break off and go with 
 the South. Of course that would be resisted, and the re 
 sistance would bring war.* 
 
 All through September and October the preparation for 
 the November election continued. The loyal governors of 
 the North, men to whom the Union cause owed much more 
 than has ever been fully realized, worked incessantly. The 
 great orators of the Republican party were set at work, Carl 
 Schurz even giving up his opportunity in the army to take 
 the platform, and many an officer and private who had in 
 fluence in their communities going home on furloughs to aid 
 in electioneering. The most elaborate preparations were 
 * Letter loaned by Mr. Herbert Leonard Swett of Aurora, 111. 
 
204 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 made for getting the vote of every man, most of the States 
 allowing the soldiers to vote in the field. Where this was not 
 arranged for, the War Department did its utmost to secure 
 furloughs for the men. Even convalescents from the hospi 
 tals were sent home to vote. 
 
 In this great burst of determined effort Lincoln took little 
 part. The country understood, he believed, exactly what 
 his election meant. It meant the preservation of the Union 
 by force. It meant that he would draft men so long 
 as he needed them; that he would suspend the writ of 
 habeas corpus, and employ a military tribunal, whenever he 
 deemed it necessary. It meant, too, that he would do his ut 
 most to secure an amendment to the Constitution abolishing 
 slavery forever, for the platform the Union convention had 
 adopted before nominating him contained that plank. He 
 could not be persuaded by the cautious and timid to modify 
 or obscure this policy. He wanted the people to understand 
 exactly what he intended, he said, and whenever he did speak 
 or write, it was only to reiterate his principles in his pe 
 culiarly plain, unmistakable language. Nor would he allow 
 any interference with the suffrage of men in office. They 
 must vote as they pleased. " My wish is," he wrote to the 
 postmaster of Philadelphia, who had been accused of trying 
 to control the votes of his subordinates, " that you will do 
 just as you think fit with your own suffrage in the case, and 
 not constrain any of your subordinates to do other than as he 
 thinks fit with his." 
 
 Thus when the election finally came off, on November 8, 
 there was not a man of any intelligence in the country who 
 did not know exactly what he was voting for, if he voted for 
 Lincoln. What these men thought of him the work of that 
 day showed. Out of 233 electoral votes, General McClellan 
 received twenty-one, 212 being for Lincoln. The oppor 
 tunity to finish the task was now his. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 LINCOLN S WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-65 HIS SECOND 
 
 INAUGURATION 
 
 OUT of the election Lincoln got profound satisfaction. 
 He had striven to his utmost to let the people know what he 
 was trying to do this overwhelming vote for him coming 
 after the dire discouragement of the summer, proved that 
 they understood him and were with him. " I am deeply 
 thankful to God for this approval of the people/ he told a 
 band of serenaders. But there was something beside personal 
 triumph in his reflections on the elections. Since the be 
 ginning of the war Lincoln had repeatedly told the people 
 that Republican institutions were at stake. In his first ad 
 dress to Congress, July 4, 1861, he said : " Our popular gov 
 ernment has often been callrd an experiment. Two points 
 in it our people have already settled the successful estab 
 lishing and the successful administering of it. One still re 
 mains its successful maintenance against a formidable in 
 ternal attempt to overthrow it." 
 
 Three years of internal war had not been able to unseat 
 the government. But what would be the effect of a presiden 
 tial election added to war? The warmest friends of repub 
 lican institutions feared that the strain would be too great. 
 
 " It has long been a grave question," said Lincoln 
 a few days after the election, " whether any government, 
 not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong 
 enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies. On 
 this point the present rebellion brought our republic to a 
 
 205 
 
206 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 severe test, and a presidential election occurring in regular 
 course during the rebellion, added not a little to the strain. 
 " If the loyal people united were put to the utmost of 
 their strength by the rebellion, must they not fail when 
 divided and partially paralyzed by a political war among 
 themselves? But the election was a necessity. We cannot 
 have free government without elections; and if the rebel 
 lion could force us to forego or postpone a national elec 
 tion, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and 
 ruined us. * * * But the election, along with its in 
 cidental and undesirable strife, has done good too. It has 
 demonstrated that a people s government can sustain a na 
 tional election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now, 
 it has not been known to the world that this was a possi 
 bility." 
 
 Another fact vital to Mr. Lincoln s policy was proved by 
 the election. The North was far from exhaustion in " the 
 most important branch of national resources that of liv 
 ing men." 
 
 "While it is melancholy to reflect/" the President 
 said in his December address to Congress. " that the war 
 had filled so many graves, and carried mourning to so 
 many hearts, it is some relief to know that compared with 
 the surviving, the fallen have been so few. While corps, 
 and divisions, and brigades, and regiments have formed, 
 and fought, and dwindled, and gone out of existence, a great 
 majority of the men who composed them are still living. 
 The same is true of the naval service. The election returns 
 prove this. So many voters could not else be found. The 
 States regularly holding elections, both now and four years 
 ago . . . cast 3,982,011 votes now, against 3,870,222 
 cast then; showing an aggregate now of 3,982,011. To 
 this is to be added 33,762 cast now in the new States of 
 Kansas and Nevada, which States did not vote in 1860; thus 
 swelling the aggregate to 4,015,773, and the net increase 
 during the three years and a half of war, to 145,551. . . - 
 To this again should be added the number of all soldiers in 
 the field from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 207 
 
 Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, and California, who by the laws 
 of those States could not vote away from their homes, and 
 which number cannot be less than 90,000. Nor yet is this all. 
 The number in organized Territories is triple now what it 
 was four years ago, while thousands, white and black, join 
 us as the national arms press back the insurgent lines. So 
 much is shown, affirmatively and negatively by the election. 
 " It is not material to inquire how the increase has been 
 produced, or to show that it would have been greater but 
 for the war, which is probably true. The important fact 
 remains demonstrated that we have more men now than we 
 had when the war began ; that we are not exhausted, nor in 
 process of exhaustion; that we are gaining strength, and 
 may, if need be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as 
 to men. Material resources are now more complete and 
 abundant than ever." 
 
 Approved by the people, convinced that the institutions 
 of the country had successfully resisted the worst strain 
 which could be given them, inexhaustible resources at his 
 command, Lincoln took up his task. To put an end to 
 the armed resistance to the union was the first duty. This 
 had got to be done by war not by negotiation. He put it 
 plainly to Congress in December: 
 
 " On careful consideration of all the evidence accessi 
 ble, it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation with the 
 insurgent leader could result in any good. He would ac 
 cept nothing short of severance of the Union precisely 
 what we will not and cannot give. His declarations to this 
 effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt 
 to deceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive our 
 selves. He cannot voluntarily re-accept the Union ; we can 
 not voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue 
 is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It is an issue which can 
 only be tried by war, and decided by victory. If we yield, 
 we are beaten ; if the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. 
 Either way it would be the victory and defeat following 
 war." 
 
208 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 By this time the boundaries of the Confederacy had been 
 so narrowed, their territory so divided by invading armies 
 that it seemed to all observers that they must soon yield. 
 The Mississippi was open and the territory on each side 
 practically under federal control. Louisiana was under 
 military government. Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee 
 were so cleared of troops that they had produced fair crops. 
 Three ports, Norfolk, Fernandina and Pensacola, were 
 opened on December i to commercial intercourse except 
 ing of course " persons, things and information contra 
 band of war." Grant held Lee and the bulk of the Con 
 federate army at Richmond. Sherman who had taken 
 Atlanta in August had marched three hundred miles di 
 rectly through the Confederate country destroying every 
 thing as he went. Nobody knew just then where he would 
 come out but it was certain he could be counted on to 
 hold the Confederate force under Johnston in check. Be 
 sides the armies under Lee and Johnston there were other 
 smaller forces holding positions, but it was evident that 
 if Lee and Johnston were defeated, the surrender of these 
 smaller forces was inevitable. The Confederate navy, too, 
 had been destroyed by this time. The task seemed short, 
 yet such was the courage, the resourcefulness, the audacity 
 in attack and defense which the Confederates had shown 
 from the beginning of the war that Mr. Lincoln was the 
 last man in the North to relax efforts. Although he had 
 an army of nearly a million men enrolled at the time of his 
 re-election, on December 19, he called for 300,000 volunteers 
 to serve for one, two or three years. 
 
 A week after this call Sherman " came out " and pre 
 sented the country Savannah as a Christmas gift. The 
 letter Lincoln wrote him, is worthy to be placed beside the 
 one he wrote to Grant after Vicksburg : 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 209 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 26, 1864. 
 
 MY DEAR GENERAL SHERMAN : 
 
 Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, the capture 
 of Savannah. 
 
 When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic 
 coast, I was anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you 
 were the better judge, and remembering that " nothing 
 risked, nothing gained," I did not interfere. Now, the 
 undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours; for I 
 believe none of us went further than to acquiesce. 
 
 And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, 
 as it should be taken, it is indeed a great success. Not 
 only does it afford the obvious and immediate military ad 
 vantages ; but in showing to the world that your army could 
 be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new 
 service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old oppos 
 ing force of the whole, Hood s army, it brings those who 
 sat in darkness to see a great light. But what next? 
 
 I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant and 
 yourself to decide. 
 
 Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole 
 army -officers and men. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Although the great majority of the country agreed with 
 Mr. Lincoln that the issue between North and South " could 
 only be tried by war, and decided by victory," advocates of 
 peace conferences still nagged the President, begging that 
 if they were allowed to go South or if commissioners from 
 the South were allowed to come North everything could 
 be adjusted. Among these peace-makers was Francis P. 
 Blair, Sr. He knew the South well, he believed honestly 
 enough, no doubt, that mediation would be successful. 
 Finally at the end of December the president gave him a 
 (14) 
 
210 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 pass through the lines. Blair saw President Davis and from 
 him received a letter saying that if Blair would promise 
 that a confederate commissioner, minister or other agent 
 would be received by President Lincoln he would appoint 
 one at once " with a view to secure peace to the two coun 
 tries." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln answered: 
 
 1 You having shown me Mr. Davis s letter to you of 
 the 1 2th instant, you may say to him that I have con 
 stantly been, am now, and shall continue ready to receive 
 any Lgent whom he, or any other influential person now 
 resisting the national authority, may informally send to 
 me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our 
 one common country." 
 
 It is evident from the letters of the two leaders that 
 neither yielded on the essential point at issue. Jefferson 
 Davis recognized " two countries," Abraham Lincoln " one 
 common country/ The upshot of Mr. Blair s mediation 
 was that President Davis sent three commissioners, Alex 
 ander H. Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter and John A. Camp 
 bell, all members of the Confederate government, to Grant s 
 headquarters for conference. Lincoln sent Seward to meet 
 the commissioners with instructions that three things were 
 indispensable to mediation : 
 
 1. The restoration of the national authority through 
 out all the States. 
 
 2. No receding by the executive of the United States 
 on the slavery question from the position assumed thereon 
 in the late annual message to Congress, and in preceding 
 documents. 
 
 3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the 
 war and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the gov 
 ernment. 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 211 
 
 Before Seward had met the commission Lincoln decided 
 to join him and a meeting was arranged at Fortress Mon 
 roe, the Confederate envoys being conducted to the steamer 
 River Queen where Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward were 
 quartered. 
 
 The meeting of the men, all of them acquaintances in 
 earlier days, was cordial and they began and ended their 
 conference in an entirely friendly mood. But from the 
 outset it was evident that nothing would come of it. There 
 was but one way to end the war, Mr. Lincoln told them 
 frankly, and that was for those who were resisting the 
 laws of the Union to cease their resistance. He would 
 grant no armistice would in no way recognize the States 
 so long as they were in arms. He would make no promises 
 as to reconstruction after the war had ceased until they 
 had given him a pledge of reunion and of cessation of resist 
 ance. Mr. Hunter attempted to argue this point with him. 
 There was precedent, he said, for an executive entering into 
 agreement with persons in arms against public authority. 
 Charles I. of England repeatedly recognized the people 
 in arms against him in this way. " I do not profess to be 
 posted in history," replied Mr. Lincoln. " On all such 
 matters I will turn you over to Seward. All I distinctly 
 recollect about the case of Charles is that he lost his head." 
 
 But while Lincoln held firmly to what he regarded as 
 the essentials to peace, he did not hesitate to give the com 
 missioners some very good advice. " If I resided in Geor 
 gia, with my present sentiments," Mr. Stephens reports 
 him as saying, " I ll tell you what I would do if I were in 
 your place. I would go home and get the Governor of 
 the State to call the legislature together, and get them to 
 recall all the State troops from the war; elect senators and 
 members to Congress, and ratify this constitutional amend 
 ment ^.respectively, so as to take effect say in five years. 
 
2i2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Such a ratification would be valid, in my opinion. I have 
 looked into the subject, and think such a prospective ratifi 
 cation would be valid. Whatever may have been the views 
 of your people before the war, they must be convinced now 
 that slavery is doomed. It cannot last long in any event, 
 and the best course, it seems to me, for your public men 
 to pursue would be to adopt such a policy as will avoid, 
 as far as possible, the evils of immediate emancipation. 
 This would be my course, if I were in your place/ 
 
 And so the Hampton Roads conference ended without 
 other result than a renewed confirmation of what Lincoln 
 had contended from the beginning of the agitation for 
 peace measures that the South would never grant until 
 defeated what he claimed as vital to any negotiation a 
 recognition of the Union. 
 
 It was understood by the country that Mr. Lincoln s re 
 election meant not only a continuation of the war but the 
 emancipation of the slaves by a constitutional amendment. 
 The Emancipation Proclamation was never intended by 
 the president for anything but a military measure. He 
 had been careful to state this in delivering it and when 
 called upon to retract it by a large body of the North be 
 cause it turned the war into a contest to " free negroes," 
 he had gone to great pains to explain his view. Thus in 
 a letter written in August 63 to his political friends in 
 Illinois, he said: 
 
 You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and per 
 haps would have it retracted. You say it is unconstitu 
 tional. I think differently. I think the Constitution invests 
 its commander-in-chief with the law of war in time of war. 
 The most that can be said if so much is that slaves are 
 property. Is there has there ever been any question 
 that by the law of war, property, both of enemies and 
 friends, may be taken when needed? And is it not needed 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 213 
 
 whenever taking it helps us, or hurts the enemy? Armies, 
 the world over, destroy enemies property when they can 
 not use it; and even destroy their own to keep it from the 
 enemy. Civilized belligerents do all in their power to 
 help themselves or hurt the enemy, except a few things 
 regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the exceptions 
 are the massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, 
 male and female. 
 
 " But the proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not 
 valid. If it is not valid, it needs no retraction. If it is 
 valid, it cannot be retracted any more than the dead can 
 be brought to life. Some of you profess to think its re 
 traction would operate favorably for the Union. Why bet 
 ter after the retraction than before the issue. There was 
 more than a year and a half of trial to suppress the rebellion 
 before the proclamation issued; the last one hundred days 
 of which passed under an explicit notice that it was com 
 ing, unless averted by those in revolt returning to their 
 allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as favorably 
 for us since the issue of the proclamation as before. I 
 know, as fully as one can know the opinions of others, 
 that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who 
 have given us our most important successes, believe the 
 emancipation policy and the use of the colored troops con 
 stitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion, and that 
 at least one of these important successes could not have 
 been achieved when it was but for the aid of black soldiers. 
 Among the commanders holding these views are some who 
 have never had any affinity with what is called Abolition 
 ism, or with Republican party politics, but who hold them 
 purely as military opinions. I submit these opinions as 
 being entitled to some weight against the objections often 
 urged that emancipation and arming the blacks are unwise 
 as military measures, and were not adopted as such in good 
 faith. 
 
 :i You say you will not fight to free negroes. Some of 
 them seem willing to fight for you; but no matter. Fight 
 you, then, exclusively, to save the Union. I issued the 
 proclamation on purpose to aid you in saving the Union. 
 Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to the 
 
2i 4 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be 
 an apt time then for you to declare you will not fight to 
 free negroes. 
 
 " I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to 
 whatever extent the negroes should cease helping the enemy, 
 to that extent it weakened the enemy in his resistance to 
 you. Do you think differently? I thought that whatever 
 negroes can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just as much 
 less for white soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it 
 appear otherwise to you? But negroes, like other people, 
 act upon motives. Why should they do anything for us 
 if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives 
 for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive, even 
 the promise of freedom. And the promise, being made, 
 must be kept." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln believed that as soon as the war was over, 
 the proclamation would become void. Voters would have to 
 decide then what slaves it freed whether only those who 
 had under it made an effort for their freedom and had 
 come into the Union lines or all of those in the States and 
 parts of States in rebellion at the time it was issued. Mr. 
 Lincoln inclined to the former view. But even if the latter 
 interpretation was decided on, there would still be many 
 slaves in the country the institution if weakened would 
 still exist. It became plainer every day to him that some 
 measure must be devised removing finally and forever the 
 evil root from which the nation s long and sorrowful strug 
 gle had grown. Slavery must end with the war. The 
 only complete and irrevocable method to attain this was 
 a constitutional amendment abolishing it forever. In De 
 cember, 1863, an amendment of this character had been 
 proposed in the House and in the January after a similar 
 one in the Senate. The latter passed, but the House failed 
 to give the requisite two-thirds majority. Mr. Lincoln was 
 convinced nevertheless that the people if asked directly to 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864.5 215 
 
 vote on the subject would approve the amendment and be 
 fore the meeting of the Republican Convention in June, 
 64, he sent for the chairman of the National Committee, 
 Senator Morgan of New York. " I want you," he said, " to 
 mention in your speech, when you call the convention to 
 order as its keynote, and to put into the platform, as the 
 keystone, the amendment of the Constitution abolishing and 
 prohibiting slavery forever." It was done, the third article 
 of the platform reading: 
 
 Resolved, That as slavery was the cause, and now con 
 stitutes the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be, 
 always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of repub 
 lican government, justice and the national safety demand 
 its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the re 
 public; and that while we uphold and maintain the acts 
 and proclamations by which the government, in its own 
 defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we 
 are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the 
 Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with 
 its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the 
 existence of slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of 
 the United States. 
 
 When in December 64 Lincoln addressed Congress for 
 the first time after his election he reminded them that the 
 people in electing him had voted for an amendment prohib 
 iting slavery: 
 
 " Although the present is the same Congress " (which 
 defeated the bill of Dec., 63) he said, "and nearly the 
 same members, and without questioning the wisdom or 
 patriotism of those who stood in opposition, I venture to 
 recommend the reconstruction and passage of the measure 
 at the present session. Of course the abstract question is 
 not changed, but an intervening election shows, almost cer 
 tainly, that the next Congress will pass the measure if this 
 does not. Hence there is only a question of time as to 
 
2i6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 when the proposed amendment will go to the States for 
 their action. And as it is to so go, at all events, may we 
 not agree that the sooner the better ? It is not claimed that 
 the election has imposed a duty on members to change their 
 views or their votes any further than as an additional ele 
 ment to be considered, their judgment may be affected by 
 it. It is the voice of the people now for the first time 
 heard upon the question. In a great national crisis like 
 ours, unanimity of action among those seeking a common 
 end is very desirable almost indispensable. And yet no 
 approach to such unanimity is attainable unless some defer 
 ence shall be paid to the will of the majority, simply because 
 it is the will of the majority. In this case the common end 
 is the maintenance of the Union, and among the means to 
 secure that end, such will, through the election, is almost 
 clearly declared in favor of such constitutional amendment." 
 
 After the bill was introduced he followed its course with 
 greatest care working adroitly and constantly in its interests. 
 Its passage on January 31 was a genuine satisfaction to 
 him. " This finishes the job," he said joyfully, and that 
 night he said to a band of serenaders, that he thought the 
 measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to 
 the winding up of the great difficulty. He wished the 
 reunion of all the States perfected, and so effected as to 
 remove all causes of disturbance in the future; and, to at 
 tain this end, it was necessary that the original disturb 
 ing cause should, if possible, be rooted out. He thought 
 all would bear him witness that he had never shrunk from 
 doing all that he could to eradicate slavery, by issuing an 
 emancipation proclamation. But that proclamation falls 
 short of what the amendment will be when fully consum 
 mated. A question might be raised whether the proclama 
 tion was legally valid. It might be urged, that it only 
 aided those that came into our lines, and that it was inopera 
 tive as to those who did not give themselves up ; or that it 
 would have no effect upon the children of slaves born here- 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 217 
 
 after; in fact, it would be urged that it did not meet the 
 evil. But this amendment is a king s cure-all for all evils. 
 It winds the whole thing up. He would repeat that it was 
 the fitting if not the indispensable adjunct to the con 
 summation of the great game we are playing. He could 
 not but congratulate all present himself, the country, 
 and the whole world upon this great moral victory. 
 
 The third matter which engrossed Lincoln after his elec 
 tion was reconstruction. From the very beginning of the 
 war he had watched for opportunities, however small, to 
 bring back into the Union disaffected districts and individ 
 uals. He was not particular about the way in which the 
 wanderer returned. It was enough in Mr. Lincoln s opin 
 ion if he acknowledged the Union. Portions of Tennessee, 
 Arkansas and Louisiana \vere put under military rule in the 
 first six months of 1862 in order to encourage the Union 
 sympathizers to keep up a semblance of republican gov 
 ernment and whenever the President had a chance he 
 encouraged the avowed Unionists in these States to get 
 together so as to form a nucleus for action when the oppor 
 tunity offered. 
 
 By the end of 1863 Mr. Lincoln believed that the time had 
 come for him publicly to offer protection and pardon to 
 those persons and districts which had been in rebellion, but 
 which had had enough of the experience and were ready 
 to come back. He believed from what he could learn that 
 there was a considerable number of these. Accordingly in 
 December in sending in his annual message to Congress he 
 issued a " proclamation of amnesty and reconstruction." 
 This proclamation offered pardon to all save the persons 
 who had led the rebellion upon their taking an oath to sup 
 port the Constitution and accept the emancipation procla 
 mation. It also promised to protect any State government 
 formed in accordance with a few simple and just regulations 
 
2i8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 which he set forth very clearly. A few weeks after the 
 proclamation was issued, the President, anxious to know 
 how it was working, sent General D. E. Sickles on an in 
 spection tour. 
 
 " Please ascertain at each place," he wrote him, " what 
 is being done, if anything, for reconstruction; how 
 the amnesty proclamation works if at all; what prac 
 tical hitches, if any, there are about it; whether deserters 
 come in from the enemy, what number has come in at 
 each point since the amnesty, and whether the ratio of their 
 arrival is any greater since than before the amnesty; what 
 deserters report generally, and particularly whether, and 
 to what extent, the amnesty is known within the rebel lines." 
 
 As the months went on Lincoln found that in spite of the 
 fact that efforts at forming governments were making and 
 that the pardon was being accepted by many persons there 
 was strong and bitter opposition even in the Republican 
 party to his plans of reconstruction. No little of this op 
 position was resentment that the President had worked out 
 the plan alone and had announced it without consulting 
 anybody. Congress said that he was usurping their rights. 
 Many felt that the pardon Lincoln offered was too generous. 
 Rebels should be punished, not pardoned, they argued. 
 Many declared the States which had seceded could not be 
 allowed to reorganize without congressional action. At 
 the same time the President was constantly harassed by con 
 tests between the military and civil authorities in the States 
 which were trying to organize. These contests seemed so 
 unreasonable and so selfish to Mr. Lincoln that he wrote 
 some very plain letters to the persons concerned. 
 
 " Few things since I have been here," he wrote Genera! 
 Hurlbut in November, " have impressed me more painfully 
 that what for four or five months past has a ppeared a bittef 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 219 
 
 military opposition to the new State government of Louisi 
 ana. ... A very fair proportion of the people of Louisiana 
 have inaugurated a new State government, making an excel 
 lent new Constitution better for the poor black man than 
 we have in Illinois. This was done under military protection, 
 directed by me, in the belief, still sincerely entertained, that 
 with such a nucleus around which to build we could get 
 the State into position again sooner than otherwise. In 
 this belief a general promise of protection and support, ap 
 plicable alike to Louisiana and other States, was given in 
 the last annual message. During the formation of the new 
 government and Constitution they were supported by nearly 
 every loyal person, and opposed by every secessionist. And 
 this support and this opposition, from the respective stand 
 points of the parties, was perfectly consistent and logical. 
 Every Unionist ought to wish the new government to suc 
 ceed ; and every disunionist must desire it to fail. Its failure 
 would gladden the heart of Slidell in Europe, and of every 
 enemy of the old flag in the world. Every advocate of 
 slavery naturally desires to see blasted and crushed the 
 liberty promised the black man by the new Constitution. 
 But why General Canby and General Hurlbut should join 
 on the same side is to me incomprehensible. ..." 
 
 After his re-election, in spite of all opposition, Lincoln 
 steadily supported the new State governments. His practical 
 common sense in dealing with a difficult problem never 
 showed to better advantage than in the plan of reconstruc 
 tion he had offered and was trying. It was not the only plan 
 he kept repeating, but it was accomplishing something, was 
 not this something better than nothing? If it proved bad 
 he would change it for a better one, if a better was offered, 
 but until it was shown that it was adverse to the interests of 
 the people he was trying to bring back into the Union he 
 should follow it. As for the abstract question over which a 
 great part of the North was quarrelling, whether the seceded 
 States were in the Union or out of it, he would not consider 
 it. It was " bad as the basis of a controversy " he declared 
 
220 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 <md " good for nothing at all a merely pernicious abstrac* 
 tion." 
 
 "We all agree," he continued, " that the seceded States, so 
 called, are out of their proper practical relation with the 
 Union, and that the sole object of the government, civil and 
 military, in regard to those States is to again get them into 
 the proper practical relation. I believe that it is not only pos 
 sible, but in fact easier, to do this without deciding or even 
 considering whether these States have ever been out of the 
 Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it 
 would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been 
 abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restor 
 ing the proper practical relations between these States and the 
 Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own 
 opinion whether in doing the acts he brought the States from 
 without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, 
 they never having been out of it." 
 
 As the winter passed into the spring the President saw 
 every day that the end was approaching and as he realized 
 that at last the mighty problem over which he had agonized 
 for so many months was unfolding, as he saw not only that 
 the primary object for which he had been struggling- the 
 Union was to be attained but that even before this end 
 was attained the evil which had caused all the trouble was to 
 be eradicated, he experienced a lofty exaltation, a fresh real 
 ization that the will of God prevails in human affairs. 
 From the time of his election he had been animated by a 
 simple theory : If we do right, God will be with us and if 
 God is with us we cannot fail. He had struggled to see 
 what was right and no man or men had been able to bring to 
 bear pressure heavy enough to turn him from a step he had 
 concluded was right. Yet as the days went on he saw his 
 cause fail again and again. Many times it seemed on the 
 verge of destruction. He pondered deeply over this seem 
 ing contradiction. Was he wrong in his own judgment of 
 
LINCOLN IN 1864 ACE 55 
 From photograph by Brady in the War Department Collection 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 221 
 
 what was right or could it be that God had some end in view 
 different from either that of the North or South? Late in 
 1862, evidently to help clear up his mind, he wrote down on 
 a slip of paper a statement of the puzzling problem. His 
 secretaries later found it and published it in their history. 
 
 " 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 instru 
 mentalities, 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 thaf 
 it shall not end yet. By his mere great power on the minds 
 of the now contestants, he could have either saved or de 
 stroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the con 
 test began. And, having begun, he could give the final vic 
 tory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds." 
 
 As time went on and his conviction that his cause was 
 right grew stronger, in spite of the reverses he suffered, he 
 began to feel that God s purpose was to wipe out slavery and 
 that the war was a divine retribution on North as well as 
 South for the toleration of slavery. In a letter written in 
 April, 1864, he expressed this view: 
 
 " . . .At the end of three years struggle, the nation s 
 condition is not what either party, or any man, devised or 
 expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it is tending 
 seems plain. If God now wills the removal of a great wrong, j 
 and wills also that we of the North, as well as you of the 
 South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, 
 impartial history will find therein new cause to attest and 
 revere the justice and goodness of God." 
 
 By the spring of 1865 this explanation of the continuation 
 of the war fully possessed him and in his inaugural he laid it 
 
-22 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 before the people in a few solemn, beautiful sentences a 
 prophet s cry to a nation bidding them to complete the task 
 the Lord God Almighty had set before them, and to expiate 
 in humility their sins. 
 
 "... The Almighty has his own purposes/ he said. 
 " Woe unto the world because of offenses ! for it must needs 
 be that offenses come ; but woe to that man by whom the of 
 fense cometh/ If we shall suppose that American slavery 
 is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, 
 must needs come, but which, having continued through his 
 appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives 
 to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due 
 to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein 
 any departure from those divine attributes which the be 
 lievers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do 
 we hope fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge 
 of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it 
 continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman s two 
 hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and 
 until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid 
 by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thou 
 sand years ago, so still it must be said, The judgments of 
 the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 
 
 " With malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with 
 firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let 
 us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the na 
 tion s wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the bat 
 tle, and for his widow, and his orphan to do all which may 
 achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our 
 selves, and with all nations." 
 
 It was in this lofty spirit that Abraham Lincoln entered 
 on his second term. Every act of the few days of that 
 term which he served was in full harmony with the words 
 of his inaugural. Although the criticism on him for par 
 doning prisoners of war was at that time very bitter, even 
 General Grant protesting against his broad exercise of the 
 pardoning power, he could be persuaded easily to set free 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 223 
 
 any man or men for whom any honest official would vouch. 
 Honorable John B. Henderson, then in the United States 
 Senate from Missouri, relates for this work his experience 
 in securing pardons from Lincoln in the spring of 1865. 
 
 " From 1862 to 1865," says Mr. Henderson, " the con 
 ditions were such in Missouri, that every man was obliged 
 to espouse actively either the Union or the Confederate 
 cause. No man really was safe out of one army or another. 
 Property was insecure, and if a person attempted to remain 
 neutral he was suspected by both Confederates and Feder 
 als, and was liable to be arrested by either side, and his prop 
 erty destroyed. During the progress of the war a large 
 number of Missourians had been arrested by the Federals 
 and were confined in the military prisons, many of them at 
 St. Louis where the McDowell Medical College had been 
 taken and used for the purpose, and some at Alton, Illinois, 
 about twenty-five miles above St. Louis on the river. The 
 friends and relations of many of these military prisoners 
 appealed to me to secure their release, or to save them from 
 whatever sentence had been pronounced. These sentences, 
 of course, varied. In flagrant cases where they were con 
 victed of acting as spies, or of prosecuting guerilla warfare, 
 the death sentence was sometimes ordered but not often 
 inflicted. Others were condemned to prison for life or dur 
 ing the war. Few of the death sentences were ever inflicted, 
 There was a tacit understanding among the military au 
 thorities that while a show of severity be kept up it was only 
 under extreme circumstances that a prisoner should be exe 
 cuted. Towards the close of the winter of 1864-65, I found 
 that I had a large number of these applications for clemency 
 and pardon on hand. 
 
 " Congress adjourned on March 4, 1865, and Mr. Lincoln 
 on that day was inaugurated for a second term. An extra 
 session of the Senate only was called immediately to act on 
 presidential nominations, but it continued in session until 
 about the iSth of March. I was anxious to clear up as many 
 as possible of these imprisonment cases before leaving for 
 home. I accordingly had mv clerk classify them, according 
 
224 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 to the evidence in each case, giving the name of the pris 
 oner, the character of his offense, together with a statement 
 of the proofs or evidence against him. I caused them to 
 be divided into three classes. Into the first class I put those 
 of whose innocence I had but little doubt; into the second 
 class those whose innocence was more doubtful, but whom 
 I believed it would be safe and proper, under the circum 
 stances, to release; the third class consisted of those who 
 ought still to be retained in confinement. As I had very 
 little time before leaving for the West, I took the first and 
 second classes to the President and asked their pardon and 
 release. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln looked over the list and then said : Do 
 you mean to tell me, Henderson, that you wish me to let 
 loose all these people at once ? 
 
 " Yes, I said, * I believe it can be easily done/ 
 
 " But/ said Mr. Lincoln, I have no time to examine 
 the evidence. I am constantly reproached for my too abun 
 dant charity, and what would be said if I should turn loose 
 so many sinners at once. And again what would be the in 
 fluence in Missouri? 
 
 " I believe, Mr. President/ I said, that the influence 
 would be most beneficial. The war is nearly over. The day 
 for generosity and kindness has come/ 
 
 " Do you really think so ? said the President. 
 
 " * Yes, the rebellion is broken ; the rebels will soon be 
 returning to their homes if permitted to do so. What I es 
 pecially wish is to prevent in my State a prolonged guerilla 
 warfare. The rebels are already conquered in war. Let 
 us try charity and kindness rather than repression and sever 
 ity. The policy of mercy will prove to be a wise reconstruc 
 tion measure/ 
 
 " I hope you are right/ said the President ; but I have 
 no time to examine this evidence. If I sign this list as a 
 whole, will you be responsible for the future good behavior 
 of the men ? 
 
 " Yes/ I said. 
 
 " Then I will take the risk and sign it," said the Presi 
 dent. And after inserting, in his own hand-writing, the 
 word pardoned after the name of each person who had 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 225 
 
 been convicted of offenses by military commission, he signed 
 the general order of release, and returned the paper to me. 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. President; but that is not all; I have 
 another list here. 
 
 " I hope you are not going to make me let loose another 
 lot? 
 
 " * Yes. I am not quite so sure of the merits of this list, 
 but I believe the men are not dangerous, and it will be good 
 policy to let them go. I think it safer and better to err on 
 the side of mercy. 
 
 " Yes, said Mr. Lincoln ; but you know I am charged 
 with making too many mistakes on the side of mercy. 
 
 " Mr. President, my argument for this is the same as 
 in the other case. The war is substantially over. The guilt 
 of these men is at least doubtful And mercy is and must 
 be after all the policy of peace. 
 
 " I guess you are right, said Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " Yes, I said, 1 1 am sure I am, and I think that you 
 ought to sign it. 
 
 " Well, I ll be durned if I don t, said the President, and 
 he signed his name after inserting the word pardoned 
 over the name of those laboring under conviction. 
 
 " This was the only time that I ever heard Mr. Lincoln use 
 a word which approached profanity. 
 
 " * Now, Henderson, he said, as he handed the list back 
 to me, remember you are responsible to me for these men. 
 If they do not behave, I shall have to put you in prison for 
 their sins. " 
 
 A few days after this interview with Mr. Henderson the 
 President decided to take a holiday the first he had taken 
 since he entered the White House in 1861. Boarding a 
 river steamer with a few friends he went to City Point on 
 the James River, where General Grant had his headquar 
 ters. Here he could not possibly be reached by the office- 
 seekers incident to a new term and here, too, he would be 
 near the operations which he felt would soon end the war. 
 
 Grant s headquarters at this time were in a group of cot- 
 
226 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 tages on a high bluff at the juncture of the Appomattox and 
 James Rivers. It was a point which commanded a view of 
 a wide and active scene, including many places made his 
 toric by the operations of the four years just past. To the 
 north were the flats of Bermuda Hundred, with the con 
 spicuous look-out tower, with tents and barracks and 
 wharves ; beyond the wooded slopes of Malvern Hill. Look- 
 Ing eastward across the great bay which the confluence of 
 the two rivers makes here, could be seen Harrison s Landing. 
 On every side wharves ran out from the shore. Here night 
 and day steamers, transports, gun boats were coming and 
 going, unloading men and supplies, carrying away wounded 
 and prisoners. The President s little steamer anchored at 
 the foot of the bluff and here he lived for some ten days. 
 It had been intended that on the day of his arrival at City 
 Point, March 25, the President should review a portion of 
 the troops on the Petersburg line, but that morning the final 
 struggle between besieged and besiegers was begun by the 
 unexpected attack of the Confederates on Fort Stedman. A 
 terrific battle followed and the review was deferred. Com 
 parative quiet followed this attack for some five days and in 
 this interim Lincoln visited the lines behind Petersburg with 
 Grant several times to review the troops and watch the op 
 erations, and he spent considerable time sailing up and down 
 the river with Admiral Porter on his flag-ship. 
 
 Two days after tLe President reached City Point Sher 
 man, whose army had since the fall of Atlanta, marched 
 to the sea and as far northward as Goldsboro, North Caro 
 lina, and was now expecting soon to meet the Confederate 
 army under Johnston, came to City Point to confer with 
 Grant and Lincoln. Both generals agreed that their work 
 was nearly over, but each thought he must fight another 
 great battle. The President urged them to avoid this if 
 sible. " No more blood-shed," was his repeated counsel. 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 227 
 
 Grant s final movements began on March 31. Lincoln at 
 City Point sat all day in the telegraph office at headquarters 
 as at critical moments he did in Washington, receiving re 
 ports from Grant and sending them on to Stanton. It was 
 he who first informed the War Department of Sheridan s 
 success at Five Points on April i. It was he who on the 
 morning of April 3 wired the Secretary of War that at last 
 Petersburg was evacuated and Richmond said to be. A 
 few hours later he went at Grant s request to Petersburg 
 for a last interview with the general before he followed his 
 army which was now moving after the retreating Confed 
 erate army. The city had suffered terribly from the long 
 siege, many of its houses being destroyed and all being more 
 or less riddled by shot and shell. Even to-day a visitor to 
 Petersburg is shown house after house where great cannon 
 balls are embedded in the walls. As Lincoln rode through 
 the streets, busy as he was with the stupendous event he 
 had so long desired, he noticed the destruction with a sorry 
 shake of his head. The talk with Grant was held on the 
 porch of a comfortable house still standing, and then the 
 two parted, Grant to go to Appomattox, Lincoln to City 
 Point. 
 
 The news of the abandonment of Richmond on April 2 
 had by this time reached City Point. Lincoln s first excla 
 mation on receiving the news was " I want to see Rich 
 mond." A party was at once arranged and on the morning 
 of April 4 he started up the river. The trip must have been 
 full of exciting interest to the President, leading as it did 
 by a score of places which had been made forever famous 
 by the struggles of war which he knew now to be over 
 Malvern Hill, Deep Bottom, Dutch Gap, Varina! It was 
 full of real danger, too, for there was no way of knowing 
 positively that the stream was free from torpedoes or the 
 banks entirely cleared of the enemy. The entrance into 
 
228 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Richmond was even more dangerous. Here was the Presi 
 dent of the United States with four companions and 
 a guard of only ten marines, entering on foot a city 
 which for four years he had been doing his utmost to 
 capture by force. That city was in a condition of the wild 
 est confusion. The army and government had abandoned 
 it. Fire had destroyed a large part of it and was still raging. 
 The Federals who had entered the day before had not as 
 yet established any effective patrol. A hostile people filled 
 the streets and hung from the windows. And yet through 
 this chaos of misery, disorganization, and defeat Abraham 
 Lincoln walked in safety. More, as it was noised abroad 
 that he had come his passage became a triumph. The ne 
 groes full of superstitious veneration for the name of Lin 
 coln flocked about him weeping. " Bres de Lord," cried 
 one, " dere is de great Messiah," and throwing himself on 
 his knees he kissed the President s feet. It was only after 
 a long struggle that the guard was able to conduct Mr. Lin 
 coln from this tumultuous rejoicing crowd and bring him 
 safe to the house of Jefferson Davis now the headquarters 
 of the federal troops. 
 
 The President remained two days in Richmond carefully 
 going over the situation and discussing the best means of 
 restoring Union authority and of dealing with the individ 
 uals who had been in insurrection. The President was em 
 phatic in his opinion. The terms must be liberal. " Get 
 them to plowing once," he said in Admiral Porter s pres-. 
 ence, " and gathering in their own little crops, eating pop 
 corn at their own firesides, and you can t get them to shoul 
 der a musket again for half a century." Being cheered at 
 City Point the day after he left Richmond by a crowd of 
 Confederate prisoners, he said again to Admiral Porter: 
 " They will never shoulder a musket again in angefr, and if 
 Grant is wise he will leave them their guns to shoot crows 
 
HIS WORK IN THE WINTER OF 1864-5 229 
 
 with and their horses to plow with; it would do no harm." 
 As to the people of Richmond his one counsel to the military 
 governor was to " let them down easy." Nor would he 
 while there listen to a word of harshness in the treatment 
 of even the leaders of the rebellion. One day when visiting 
 Libby Prison, a member of the party remarked to him that 
 Jefferson Davis ought to be hung, " Judge not that ye be 
 not judged/ Charles Sumner heard him quote. No bit 
 terness was in his soul, only a great thankfulness that the 
 end seemed so near and a firm determination to regulate 
 with mercy all questions of reconstruction. 
 
 Returning to City Point Mr. Lincoln learned that Mr. 
 Seward had been thrown from a carriage and injured and 
 he resolved to go at once to Washington. He had only just 
 reached there when he received word that on April 9 Gen 
 eral Lee had surrendered his army to General Grant at Ap- 
 pomattox. This could mean but one thing, the war was 
 over. No force was now left to the enemy which must not 
 surrender on hearing that the principal Confederate force 
 had laid down its arms. Immediately the President and his 
 associates began the glad task of shutting down the vast 
 war machinery in operation the first act being to issue an 
 order suspending the draft. 
 
 V 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 THE END OF THE WAR 
 
 * THE war is over/ Throughout the breadth of the North 
 this was the jubilant cry with which people greeted one an 
 other on the morning of April 14, 1865. For ten days re 
 ports of victories had been coming to them ; Petersburg 
 evacuated, Richmond fallen, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet 
 fled, Lee surrendered, Mobile captured. Nothing of the 
 Confederacy, in short, remained but Johnston s army, and 
 it was generally believed that its surrender to Sherman was 
 but a matter of hours. How completely the conflict was at an 
 end, however, the people of the North had not realized until 
 they read in their newspapers, on that Good Friday morn 
 ing the order of the Secretary of War suspending the draft, 
 stopping the purchase of military supplies, and removing 
 military restrictions from trade. The war was over indeed, 
 
 Such a day of rejoicing as followed the world has rarely 
 seen. At Fort Sumter scores of well-known citizens of the 
 North, among them Henry Ward Beecher, William Lloyd 
 Garrison, General Robert Anderson, and Theodore Tilton, 
 raised over the black and shattered pile the flag which four 
 years ago Charleston, now lying desolate and wasted, had 
 dragged down. 
 
 Cities and towns, hamlets and country road-sides blos 
 somed with flags and bunting. Stock exchanges met to pass 
 resolutions. Bells rang. Every man who could make a 
 speech was on his feet. It was a Millennium Day, restoring 
 broken homes, quieting aching hearts, easing distracted 
 minds. Even those who mourned and who could count the 
 number whom that dreadful four year - had stripped of those 
 
 230 
 
THE END OF THE WAR 231 
 
 they held dearest? even those who mourned exulted. Their 
 dead had saved a nation, freed a people. And so a subtle joy, 
 mingled triumph, resignation, and hope, swept over the 
 North. It was with all men as James Russell Lowell wrote to 
 his friend Norton that it was with him : " The news, my 
 dear Charles is from Heaven. I felt a strange and tender ex 
 altation. I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry, and ended 
 by holding my peace and feeling devoutly thankful/ 
 
 One man before all others in the nation felt and showed 
 his gladness that day the President, Abraham Lincoln. For 
 weeks now as he had seen the end approaching, little by lit 
 tle he had been thankfully laying aside the ways of war and 
 returning to those of peace. His soul, tuned by nature to gen 
 tleness and good-will, had been for four years forced to lead 
 in a pitiless war. Now his duties were to " bind up the na 
 tion s wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the bat 
 tle, and for his widow, and his orphan ; " to devise plans by 
 which the members of the restored Union could live together 
 in harmony, to plan for the future of the four million human 
 beings to whom he had given freedom. All those who were 
 with him in this period remarked the change in his feelings 
 and his ways. He seemed to be aroused to a new sense of 
 the beauty of peace and rest, to love to linger in quiet 
 spots, and to read over and over with infinite satisfac 
 tion lines of poetry which expressed repose. The perfect 
 tranquillity in death seemed especially to appeal to him. 
 Mrs. Lincoln once related to her friend, Isaac Arnold, that, 
 while at City Point, in April, she was driving one day with 
 her husband along the banks of the James, when they passed 
 a country grave-yard. " It was a retired place, shaded 
 by trees, and early spring flowers were opening on nearly 
 every grave. It was so quiet and attractive that they 
 stopped the carriage and walked through it. Mr. Lincoln 
 seemed thoughtful and impressed. He said : * Mary, yon 
 
232 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 are younger than I. You will survive me. When I am 
 gone, lay my remains in some quiet place like this. 
 
 A few days after this, as he was sailing down the James 
 bound for Washington, Charles Sumner, who was in the 
 party, was much impressed by the tone and manner in which 
 Mr. Lincoln read aloud two or three times a passage from 
 Macbeth : 
 
 " Duncan is in his grave; 
 After life s fitful fever, he sleeps well; 
 Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison, 
 Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing, 
 Can touch him further! " 
 
 There was a marked change in his appearance. All through 
 1863 .and 1864 his thin face had day by day grown more hag 
 gard, its lines had deepened, its pallor had become a more 
 ghastly gray. His eye, always sad when he was in thought, 
 had a look of unutterable grief. Through all these months 
 Lincoln was, in fact, consumed by sorrow. " I think I shall 
 never be glad again," he said once to a friend. But as one by 
 one the weights lifted, a change came over him; his form 
 straightened, his face cleared, the lines became less accentu 
 ated. " His whole appearance, poise, and bearing had mar 
 vellously changed," says the Hon. James Harlan. " He was 
 in fact, transfigured. That indescribable sadness which had 
 previously seemed to be an adamantine element of his very 
 being, had been suddenly changed for an equally indescriba 
 ble expression of serene joy, as if conscious that the great 
 purpose of his life had been achieved." 
 
 Never since he had become convinced that the end of the 
 war was near had Mr. Lincoln seemed to his friends more 
 glad, more serene, than on the I4th of April. The morning 
 was soft and sunny in Washington, and as the spring was 
 early in 1865, the Judas-trees and the dogwood were blos 
 soming on the hillsides, the willows were green along the 
 Potomac, and in the parks and gardens the lilacs bloomed 
 
THE LAST PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, TAKEN APRII Q, 1865, THE 
 SUNDAY BEFORE HIS ASSASSINATION 
 
 Drawn from a 
 the Potomac 
 1894. by Watson Porter 
 
 im a photograph made by Alexander Gardner, photographer to the Army of 
 , while the President was sharpening a pencil for his son Tad. Copyright, 
 
THE END OF THE WAR 233 
 
 a day of promise and joy to which the whole town responded. 
 Indeed, ever since the news of the fall of Richmond reached 
 Washington the town had been indulging in an almost un 
 broken celebration, each new victory arousing a fresh out 
 burst and rekindling enthusiasm. On the night of the I3th, 
 there had been a splendid illumination, and on the I4th, the 
 rejoicing went on. The suspension of the draft and the 
 presence of Grant in town come this time not to plan new 
 campaigns, but to talk of peace and reconstruction seemed 
 to furnish special reason for celebrating. 
 
 At the White House the family party which met at break 
 fast was unusually happy. Captain Robert Lincoln, the 
 President s oldest son, then an aide-de-camp on Grant s staff, 
 had arrived that morning, and the closing scenes of Grant s 
 campaign were discussed with the deepest interest by father 
 and son. Soon after breakfast the President received 
 Schuyler Colfax, who was about to leave for the West, and 
 later in the morning the cabinet met, Friday being its regular 
 day. General Grant was invited to remain to its session. 
 There was the greatest interest at the moment in General 
 Sherman s movements, and Grant was plied with questions 
 by the cabinet. The President was least anxious of all. 
 The news would soon come, he said, and it would be favor 
 able. He had no doubt of this, for the night before he had 
 had a dream which had preceded nearly every important 
 event of the war. 
 
 " He said it was in my department, it related to the 
 water," Secretary Welles afterward wrote ; " that he seemed 
 to be in a singular and indescribable vessel, but always the 
 same, and that he was moving with great rapidity toward a 
 dark and indefinite shore; that he had had this singular 
 dream preceding the firing on Sumter, the battles of Bull 
 Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Stone River, Vicksburg, Wil 
 mington, etc. . . . Victory did not always follow his dream, 
 
234 
 
 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 but the event and results were important. He had no doubt 
 that a battle had taken place, or was about being fought, and 
 Johnston will be beaten, for I had this strange dream again 
 last night. It must relate to Sherman; my thoughts are in 
 that direction, and / know of no other very important event 
 which is likely just now to occur 
 
 The greater part of the meeting was taken up with a dis 
 cussion of the policy of reconstruction. How were they to 
 treat the States and the men who had tried to leave the 
 Union, but who now were forced back into their old rela 
 tions? How could practical civil government be reestab 
 lished; how could trade be restored between North and 
 South; what should be done with those who had led the 
 States to revolt ? The President urged his cabinet to consider 
 carefully all these questions, and he warned them em 
 phatically, Mr. Welles says, that he did not sympathize with 
 and would not participate in any feelings of hate and vin- 
 dictiveness. " He hoped there would be no persecution, no 
 bloody work, after the war was over. None need expect he 
 would take any part in hanging or killing these men, even 
 the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, let 
 down the bars, scare them off, said he, throwing up his hands 
 as if scaring sheep. Enough lives have been sacrificed. We 
 must extinguish our resentment if we expect harmony and 
 union. There was too much desire on the part of our very 
 good friends to be masters, to interfere with and dictate to 
 those States, to treat the people not as fellow-citizens ; there 
 was too little respect for their rights. He didn t sympathize 
 in these feelings." 
 
 The impression he made on all the cabinet that day was ex 
 pressed twenty-four hours later by Secretary Stanton : " He 
 was more cheerful and happy than I had ever seen him, re 
 joiced at the near prospect of firm and durable peace at home 
 and abroad, manifested in marked degree the kindness and 
 
THE END OF THE WAR ^55 
 
 humanity of his disposition, and the tender and forgiving 
 spirit that so eminently distinguished him." 
 
 In the afternoon the President went for his usual drive. 
 Only Mrs. Lincoln was with him. Years afterward Mrs. 
 Lincoln related to Isaac Arnold what she remembered of Mr. 
 Lincoln s words that day : " Mary," he said, " we have had 
 a hard time of it since we came to Washington ; but the war 
 is over, and with God s blessing we may hope for four years 
 of peace and happiness, and then we will go back to Illinois, 
 and pass the rest of our lives in quiet. We have laid by some 
 money, and during this term we will try and save up more, 
 but shall not have enough to support us. We will go back to 
 Illinois, and I will open a law office at Springfield or Chicago, 
 and practice law, and at least do enough to help give us a 
 livelihood." 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when he returned from his 
 drive, and as he left his carriage he saw going across the 
 lawn toward the Treasury a group of friends, among them 
 Richard Oglesby, then Governor of Illinois. " Come back, 
 boys, come back," he shouted. The party turned, joined the 
 President on the portico, and went up to his office with him. 
 
 " How long we remained there I do not remember," says 
 Governor Oglesby. " Lincoln got to reading some humorous 
 book ; I think it was by ( John Phoenix/ They kept sending 
 for him to come to dinner. He promised each time to go, but 
 would continue reading the book. Finally he got a sort of 
 peremptory order that he must come to dinner at once. It 
 was explained to me by the old man at the door that they 
 were going to have dinner and then go to the theater." 
 
 A theater party had been made up by Mrs. Lincoln for that 
 evening General and Mrs. Grant being her guests to see 
 Laura Keene, at Ford s theater, in " Our American Cousin." 
 Miss Keene was ending her season in Washington that night 
 with a benefit. The box had been ordered in the morning, 
 
236 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 and unusual preparations had been made to receive the presi 
 dential party. The partition between the two upper proscen- 
 ium boxes at the left of the stage had been removed, com 
 fortable upholstered chairs had been put in, and the front of 
 the box had been draped with flags. The manager, of 
 course, took care to announce in the afternoon papers that 
 the " President and his lady " and the " Hero of Appo- 
 mattox " would attend Miss Keene s benefit that evening. 
 
 By eight o clock the house was filled with the half-idle, 
 half-curious crowd of a holiday night. Many had come 
 simply to see General Grant, whose face was then unfamiliar 
 in Washington. Others, strolling down the street, had 
 dropped in because they had nothing better to do. The play 
 began promptly, the house following its nonsensical fun with 
 friendly eyes and generous applause, one eye on the Presi 
 dent s box. 
 
 The presidential party was late. Indeed it had not left the 
 White House until after eight o clock, and then it was made 
 up differently from what Mrs. Lincoln had expected, for in 
 the afternoon she had received word that General and Mrs. 
 Grant had decided to go North that night. It was suggested 
 then that the party be given up, but the fear that the public 
 would be disappointed decided the President to keep the en 
 gagement. Two young friends, the daughter of Senator Ira 
 Harris and his stepson, Major H. R. Rathbone, had been in 
 vited to take the place of General and Mrs. Grant. 
 
 Schuyler Colfax and Mr. Ashmun, of Massachusetts, had 
 called early in the evening, and the President had talked with 
 them a little while. He rose finally with evident regret to go 
 to his carriage. The two gentlemen accompanied him to the 
 door, and he paused there long enough to write on a card, 
 "Allow Mr. Ashmun and friends to come in at nine A. M. to 
 morrow." As he shook hands with them he said to Mr. Col- 
 fax : " Colfax, don t forget to tell those people in the mining 
 
THE END OF THE WAR 237 
 
 THE LAST BIT OF WRITING DONE BY LINCOLN. 
 
 Loaned by G. A. Morton, New Haven, Conn. 
 
 regions what I told you this morning." Then, entering the 
 carriage, he was driven to the theater on Tenth street, be 
 tween E and F. 
 
 When the presidential party finally entered the theater, 
 making its way along the gallery behind the seats of the dress 
 circle, the orchestra broke into " Hail to the Chief," and the 
 people, rising in their seats and waving hats and handker 
 chiefs, cheered and cheered, the actors on the stage standing 
 silent in the meantime. The party passed through the nar 
 row entrance into the box, and the several members laid aside 
 their wraps, and bowing and smiling to the enthusiastic 
 crowd below, seated themselves, Mr. Lincoln in a large arm 
 chair at the left, Mrs. Lincoln next to him, Miss Harris next, 
 and to the extreme right, a little behind Miss Harris, Major 
 Rathbone ; and then the play went on. 
 
 The party in the box was well entertained, it seemed, es 
 pecially the President, who laughed good-humoredly at the 
 jokes and chatted cheerfully between the acts. He moved 
 from his seat but once, rising then to put on his overcoat, for 
 the house was chilly. The audience was well entertained, 
 
238 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 too, though not a few kept an eye on the box entrance, still 
 expecting General Grant. The few whose eyes sought the 
 box now and then noticed, in the second scene of the third 
 act, that a man was passing behind the seats of the dress cir 
 cle and approaching the entrance to the box. Those who did 
 not know him noticed that he was strikingly handsome, 
 though very pale ; that was all. They did not look again. It 
 was not General Grant. 
 
 One man did watch him. He knew him, and wanted to 
 see who in the presidential box it could be that he knew well 
 enough to call on in the middle of an act. If any attendant 
 saw him, there was no question of his movements. He was a 
 privileged person in the theater, having free entrance to 
 every corner. He had been there in the course of the day; 
 he had passed out and in once or twice during the evening. 
 
 Crowding behind some loose chairs in the aisle, the man 
 passed out of sight through the door leading into the pas 
 sage behind the President s box. He closed the door behind 
 him, paused for a moment, then did a curious thing for a 
 visitor to a theater party. He picked up a piece of stout 
 plank which he seemed to know just where to find, and 
 slipped one end into a hole gouged into the wall close to the 
 door-casing. The plank extended across the door, making 
 a rough but effective bolt. Turning to the door which led 
 from the passage to the boxes, he may have peered through 
 a tiny hole which had been drilled through the panel. If he 
 did, he saw a quiet party intent on the play, the President 
 just then smiling over a bit of homely wit. 
 
 Opening the door so quietly that no one heard him, the 
 man entered the box. Then if any eye in the house could but 
 have looked, if one head in the box had been turned, it would 
 have been seen that the man held in his right hand a Derrin 
 ger pistol, and that he raised the weapon and aimed it 
 steadily at the head of the smiling President. 
 
THE END OP THE WAR 239 
 
 No eye saw him, but a second later and every ear heard a 
 pistol shot. Those in the house unfamiliar with the play 
 thought it a part of the performance, and waited expectant. 
 Those familiar with " Our American Cousin," the orches 
 tra, attendants, actors, searched in amazement to see from 
 where the sound came. Only three persons in all the house 
 knew just where it was three of the four in the box knew it 
 was there by their side a tragedy. The fourth saw nothing, 
 heard nothing, thought nothing. His head had fallen quietly 
 on his breast, his arms had relaxed a little, the smile was still 
 on his lips. 
 
 Then from the box, now filled with white smoke, came a 
 woman s sharp cry, and there was a sound of a struggle. 
 Major Rathbone, at the sound of the shot, had sprung to his 
 feet and grappled with the stranger, who now had a dagger 
 in his hand, and who struck viciously with it at the Major s 
 heart. He, warding the blow from his breast, received it in 
 his upper arm, and his hold relaxed. The stranger sprang to 
 the balustrade of the box as if about to leap, but Major Rath- 
 bone caught at his garments. They were torn from his 
 grasp, and the man vaulted toward the stage, a light, agile 
 leap, which turned to a plunge as the silken flag in front 
 caught at a spur on his boot. As the man struck the floor his 
 left leg bent and a bone snapped, but instantly he was up ; 
 and limping to the middle of the stage, a long strip of the 
 silken banner trailing from his spur, he turned full on the 
 house, which still stared straight ahead, searching for the 
 meaning of the muffled pistol shot. Brandishing his dagger 
 and shouting so many thought, though there were others 
 whose ears were so frozen with amazement that they heard 
 nothing ft Sic semper tyrannis! " he turned to fly. Not, 
 however, before more than one person in the house had said 
 to himself, " Why, it is John Wilkes Booth ! " Not before 
 others had realized that the shot was that of a murderer, that 
 
240 
 
 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the woman s cry in the box came from Mrs. Lincoln, that the 
 President in all the turmoil alone sat calm, his head unmoved 
 on his breast. As these few grasped the awful meaning of 
 the confused scene, it seemed to them that they could not rise 
 nor cry out. They stretched out inarticulate arms, struggling 
 to tear themseb/es from the nightmare which held them. 
 When strength and voice did return, they plunged over the 
 seats, forgetting their companions, bruising themselves, and 
 clambered to the stage, crying aloud in rage and despair, 
 " Hang him, hang him ! " But Booth, though his leg was 
 broken, was too quick. He struck with his dagger at one who 
 caught him, plunged through a familiar back exit, and, leap 
 ing upon a horse standing ready for him, fled. When those 
 who pursued reached the street, they heard only the rapidly 
 receding clatter of a horse s hoofs. 
 
 But while a few in the house pursued Booth, others had 
 thought only of reaching the box. The stage was now full of 
 actors in their paint and furbelows, musicians with their in 
 struments, men in evening dress, officers in uniform a mot 
 ley, wild-eyed crowd which, as Miss Harris appeared at the 
 edge of the box crying out, " Bring water. Has any one 
 stimulants?" demanded, "What is it? What is the mat 
 ter?" 
 
 " The President is shot," was her reply. 
 
 A surgeon was helped over the balustrade into the box. 
 The star of the evening, whose triumph this was to have 
 been, strove to calm the distracted throng; then she, too, 
 sought the box. Major Rathbone, who first of all in the 
 house had realized that a foul crime had been attempted, had 
 turned from his unsuccessful attempt to stop the murderer 
 to see that it was the President who had been shot. He had 
 rushed to the door of the passage, where men were already 
 beating in a furious effort to gain admission, and had found 
 it barred. It was an instant before he could pull away the 
 
THE END OF THE WAR 241 
 
 plank, explain the tragedy, demand surgeons, and press back 
 the crowd. 
 
 The physicians admitted lifted the silent figure, still sitting 
 calmly in the chair, stretched it on the floor, and began to 
 tear away the clothing to find the wound, which they sup 
 posed was in the breast. It was a moment before it was dis 
 covered that the ball had entered the head back of the left ear 
 and was imbedded in the brain. 
 
 There seemed to be but one desire then : that was to get 
 the wounded man from the scene of the murder. Two per* 
 sons lifted him, and the stricken party passed from the box, 
 through the dress circle, down the stairs into the street, the 
 blood dripping from the wound faster and faster as they 
 went. No one seemed to know where they were going, for as 
 they reached the street there was a helpless pause and an ap 
 peal from the bearers, " Where shall we take him ? " Across 
 the street, on the high front steps of a plain, three-storied 
 brick house, stood a man, who but a moment before had left 
 the theater, rather bored by the play. He had seen, as he 
 stood there idly wondering if he should go in to bed or not, a 
 violent commotion in the vestibule of the theater; had seen 
 people rushing out, the street filling up, policemen and sol 
 diers appearing. He did not know what it all meant. Then 
 two men bearing a body came from the theater, behind them 
 a woman in evening gown, flowers in her hair, jewels on her 
 neck. She was wringing her hands and moaning. The man 
 on the steps heard some one say, " The President is shot ; " 
 heard the bearers of the body asking, " Where shall we take 
 him ? " and quickly coming forward, he said, " iBring him 
 here into my room." 
 
 And so the President was carried up the high steps, 
 through a narrow hall, and laid, still unconscious, still mo 
 tionless, on the bed of a poor, little, commonplace room of a 
 commonplace lodging-house, where surgeons and physicians 
 16) 
 
242 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 gathered about in a desperate attempt to rescue him from 
 death. 
 
 While the surgeons worked the news was spreading to the 
 town. Every man and woman in the theater rushed forth to 
 tell it. Some ran wildly down the streets, exclaiming to 
 those they met, " The President is killed ! The President is 
 killed ! " One rushed into a ball-room, and told it to the 
 dancers ; another bursting into a room where a party of emi 
 nent public men were playing cards, cried, " Lincoln is 
 shot ! " Another, running into the auditorium of Grover s 
 Theater, cried, " President Lincoln has been shot in his pri 
 vate box at Ford s Theater." Those who heard the cry 
 thought the man insane or drunk, but a moment later they 
 saw the actors in a combat called from the stage, the mana 
 ger coming forward. His face was pale, his voice agonized, 
 as he said, " Ladies and gentlemen, I feel it my duty to say 
 to you that the announcement made from the front of the 
 theater just now is true, President Lincoln has been shot." 
 One ran to summon Secretary Stanton. A boy picked up at 
 the door of the house where the President lay was sent to the 
 White House for Robert Lincoln. The news spread by the 
 very force of its own horror, and as it spread it met other 
 news no less terrible. At the same hour that Booth had sent 
 the ball into the President s brain, a man had forced his way 
 into the house of Secretary Seward, then lying in bed with a 
 broken arm, and had stabbed both the Secretary and his son 
 Frederick so seriously that it was feared they would die. In 
 his entrance and exit he had wounded three other members 
 of the household. Like Booth, he had escaped. Horror bred 
 rumor, and Secretary Stanton, too, was reported wounded, 
 while later it was said that Grant had been killed on his way 
 North. Dread seized the town. " Rumors are so thick," 
 wrote the editor of the " National Intelligencer " at two 
 o clock in the morning, " the excitement of this hour is so in 
 tense, that wejrcly entirely uoon our reporters to advise the 
 
THE END OF THE WAR 243 
 
 public of the details and result of this night of horrors. Evi 
 dently conspirators are among us. To what extent does the 
 conspiracy exist ? This is a terrible question. When a spirit 
 so horrible as this is abroad, what man is safe ? We can only 
 advise the utmost vigilance and the most prompt measures by 
 the authorities. We can only pray God to shield us, His un 
 worthy people, from further calamities like these." 
 
 The civil and military authorities prepared for attack from 
 within and without. Martial law was at once established. 
 The long roll was beaten; every exit from the city was 
 guarded ; out-going trains were stopped ; mounted police and 
 cavalry clattered up and down the street ; the forts were or 
 dered on the alert ; guns were manned. 
 
 In the meantime there had gathered in the house on 
 Tenth Street, where the President lay, his family physician 
 and intimate friends, as well as many prominent officials. Be 
 fore they reached him it was known there was no hope, that 
 the wound was fatal. They grouped themselves about the 
 bedside or in the adjoining rooms, trying to comfort the 
 weeping wife, or listening awe-struck to the steady moaning 
 and labored breathing of the unconscious man, which at 
 times could be heard all over the house. Stanton alone 
 seemed able to act methodically. No man felt the tragedy 
 more than the great War Secretary, for no one in the cabinet 
 was by greatness of heart and intellect so well able to com 
 prehend the worth of the dying President ; but no man in that 
 distracted night acted with greater energy or calm. Sum 
 moning the Assistant Secretary, C. A. Dana, and a stenog 
 rapher, he began dictating orders to the authorities on all 
 sides, notifying them of the tragedy, directing them what 
 precautions to take, what persons to arrest. Grant, now re 
 turning to Washington, he directed should be warned to keep 
 close watch on all persons who came close to him in the cars 
 and to see that an engine be sent in front of his train. He 
 sent out, too, an official account of the assassination. To-day 
 
244 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the best brief account of the night s awful work remains me 
 one which Secretary Stanton dictated within sound of the 
 moaning of the dying President. 
 
 And so the hours passed without perceptible change in the 
 President s condition, and with only slight shifting of the 
 scene around him. The testimony of those who had wit 
 nessed the murder began to be taken in an adjoining room. 
 Occasionally the figures at the bedside changed. Mrs. Lin 
 coln came in at intervals, sobbing out her grief, and then was 
 led away. This man went, another took his place. It was not 
 until daylight that there came a perceptible change. Then 
 the breathing grew quieter, the face became more calm. The 
 doctors at Lincoln s side knew that dissolution was near. 
 Their bulletin of six o clock read, " Pulse failing; " that of 
 half-past six, " Still failing; " that of seven, " Symptoms of 
 immediate dissolution," and then at twenty-two minutes past 
 seven, in the presence of his son Robert, Secretaries Stanton, 
 Welles and Usher, Attorney-General Speed, Senator Sum- 
 ner, Private Secretary Hay, Dr. Gurley, his pastor, and sev 
 eral physicians and friends, Abraham Lincoln died. There 
 was a prayer, and then the solemn voice of Stanton broke the 
 stillness, " Now he belongs to the ages." 
 
 Two hours later the body of the President, wrapped in an 
 American flag, was borne from the house in Tenth Street, 
 and carried through the hushed streets, where already thou 
 sands of flags were at half-mast and the gay buntings and 
 garlands had been replaced by black draperies, and where the 
 men who for days had been cheering in excess of joy and re 
 lief now stood with uncovered heads and wet eyes. They car 
 ried him to an upper room in the private apartments of the 
 White House, and there he lay until three days later a heart 
 broken people claimed their right to look for a last time on 
 his face. 
 
WATCHING AT THE BEDSIDE OF THE DYING PRESIDENT ON THE NIGHT OF AI klL 14. 
 
 AND 15, 1865. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 LINCOLN S FUNERAL 
 
 THE first edition of the morning papers in all the cities 
 and towns of the North told their readers on Saturday, 
 April 15, 1865, that Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
 United States, lay mortally wounded in Washington. The 
 extras within the next two hours told them he was dead. 
 The first impulse of men everywhere seems to have been to 
 doubt. It could not be. They realized only too quickly 
 that it was true! There was no discrediting the circum 
 stantial accounts of the later telegrams. There was no es 
 cape from the horror and uncertainty which filled the air, 
 driving out the joy and exultation which for days had inun 
 dated the country. 
 
 In the great cities like New York a death-like silence fol 
 lowed the spreading of the news a silence made the more 
 terrible by the presence of hundreds of men and women walk 
 ing in the streets with bent heads, white faces, and knit 
 brows. Automatically, without thought of what their neigh 
 bors were doing, these men went to their shops only to send 
 away their clerks and close their doors for the day. Stock 
 exchanges met only to adjourn. By ten o clock business had 
 ceased. It was not only in the cities, where the tension of 
 feeling is always greatest, that this was true. It was the same 
 in the small towns. 
 
 " I was a compositor then, working in a printing office at 
 Danville, Illinois/ says Prof. A. G. Draper, of Washing 
 ton, D. C. " The editor came into the room early in the 
 forenoon with a telegram in his hand; he was regarding it 
 
 245 
 
246 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 intently, with a pale face. Without saying a word he passed 
 it to one and another of the compositors. I noticed that as 
 the men read it they laid down their sticks, and without a 
 word went, one after another, took their coats and hats off 
 the nails where they were hanging, put them on, and went 
 into the street. Finally the telegram was passed to me. It 
 was the announcement that Lincoln had been shot the night 
 before and had died that morning. Automatically I laid 
 down my stick, took my hat and coat, and went into the 
 street. It seemed to me as if every man in town had 
 dropped his business just where it was and come out. There 
 was no sound; but the people, with pale faces and tense 
 looks, regarded one another as if questioning what would 
 happen next." 
 
 Just as the first universal impulse seems to have been to 
 cease all business, so the next was to drag down the banners 
 of victory which hung everywhere and replace them by crape. 
 New York City before noon of Saturday was hung in black 
 from the Battery to Harlem. It was not only Broadway and 
 Washington Square and Fifth Avenue which mourned. The 
 soiled windows of Five Points tenements and saloons were 
 draped, and from the doors of the poor hovels of upper Man 
 hattan west of Central Park bits of black weed were strung. 
 And so it was in all the cities and towns of the North. 
 " About nine o clock on Saturday the intelligence reached 
 us of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln and the attempt upon 
 Mr. Seward s life," wrote Senator Grimes from Burlington, 
 Iowa. " Immediately the people began to assemble about the 
 Hawkeye office, and soon Third Street became packed 
 with people. And such expressions of horror, indignation, 
 sorrow, and wonder were never heard before. Shortly, some 
 one began to decorate his house with the habiliments of 
 mourning; and soon all the business part of the town, even 
 the vilest liquor dens, was shroijded with the outward signs 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 247 
 
 of sorrow. All business was at once suspended, and not re 
 sumed during the day; but every one waited for further in 
 telligence from Washington." 
 
 And this was true not only of the towns, it was true of the 
 distant farms. There the news was slower in coming. A 
 traveller journeying from the town stopped to tell it at a 
 farm-house. The farmer, leaving his plow, walked or rode 
 across lots to repeat it to a neighbor. Everywhere they 
 dropped their work, and everywhere they brought out a strip 
 of black and tied it to the door-knob. 
 
 The awful quiet of the North through the first few hours 
 after the tragedy covered not grief alone; below it was a 
 righteous anger, which, as the hours passed, began to break 
 out. It showed itself first against those of Southern sympa 
 thy who were bold enough to say they were " glad of it." In 
 New York a man was heard to remark that " it served old 
 Abe right." Cries of " Lynch him, lynch him ! " were raised. 
 He was set upon by the crowd, and escaped narrowly. All 
 day the police were busy hustling suspected Copperheads 
 away from the mobs which seemed to rise from the ground 
 at the first word of treason. 
 
 " I was kept busy last night," further wrote Senator 
 Grimes from Burlington, " trying to prevent the destruction 
 of the store of a foolish woman who, it was said, expressed 
 her joy at Mr. Lincoln s murder. Had she been a man, so 
 much was the old Adam aroused in me, I would not have ut 
 tered a word to save her." 
 
 In Cincinnati, which had spent the day and night before in 
 the most elaborate jubilation, the rage against treason broke 
 out at the least provocation. " Some individuals of the but 
 ternut inclination," says a former citizen, in recalling these 
 days, " were knocked into the gutters and kicked, because 
 they would make no expression of sorrow, or because of their 
 well-known past sympathy with the rebellion. Others as 
 
248 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 Joyal as any suffered also, through mistaken ideas of mean 
 ness on the part of personal enemies. Junius Brutus Booth, a 
 brother of the assassin, was closing a two-weeks 5 engage 
 ment at Pike Opera House. He was stopping at the Bur- 
 net House. While there was no violent public demonstra 
 tion against him, it was well known that his life would not be 
 worth a farthing should he be seen on the streets or in public. 
 Of course the bills were taken down, and there was no per 
 formance that night. Mr. Booth was well pleased quietly to 
 escape from the Burnet and disappear." 
 
 In one New Hampshire town, where a company of volun 
 teers from the country had gathered to drill, only to be met 
 by the news, it was rumored that a man in a factory near by 
 had been heard to say, " The old abolitionist ought to have 
 been killed long ago." The volunteers marched in a body to 
 the factory, entered, and dragged the offender out into the 
 road. There they held a crude court-martial. " The company 
 surrounded him," says one of the men, " in such military or 
 der as raw recruits could get into, and questioned him as to 
 his utterances. He was willing to do or say anything. Duck 
 him ! was the cry raised on every hand. The canal was close 
 at hand, but there were voices heard saying : He s an old 
 man. Don t duck him. Send him out of town. 1 And so it 
 was done. He was compelled to give three cheers for the 
 Stars and Stripes. I shall never forget his pitiful little * Hoo 
 ray ! He was made to kneel down and repeat something in 
 praise of Abraham Lincoln that one of the officers dictated 
 to him, and then he was marched to his boarding-place, given 
 certain minutes to pack up his effects, and escorted to the 
 railroad station, where he was sent off on the next train. 
 This was a very mild example of the feeling there was. Had 
 the man been a real American Copperhead, he would 
 Scarcely have escaped a ducking, and perhaps a drubbing 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 249 
 
 also ; but many said : He s only an Englishman, and doesn t 
 know any better/ 
 
 The most important expression of the feeling was that at a 
 great noon meeting held at the Custom House in New York. 
 Among the speakers were General Butler, E. L. Chittenden, 
 Daniel L. Dickinson, William P. Fessenden, and General 
 Garfield. The awful, wrathful, righteous indignation of the 
 meeting is told in the following citations from the speeches. 
 
 " If rebellion can do this to the wise, the kind, the benevo 
 lent Abraham Lincoln/ said Butler, " what ought we to do 
 to those who from high places incited the assassin s mind and 
 guided the assassin s knife? [Applause, and cries of * Hang 
 them! ] Shall we content ourselves with simply crushing- 
 out the strength, the power, the material resources of the re 
 bellion? [ Never, never. ] Shall we leave it yet unsubdued 
 to light the torch of conflagration in our cities? Are we to 
 have peace in fact or peace only in name? [Cries of * In fact 
 and applause.] Is this nation hereafter to live in peace, or 
 are men to go about in fear and in dread, as in some of the 
 countries of the Old World, in times past, when every man 
 feared his neighbor, and no man went about except he was 
 armed to the teeth or was clad in panoply of steel ? This ques 
 tion is to be decided this day, and at this hour by the Ameri 
 can people. It may be that this is a dispensation of God, 
 through his providence, to teach us that the spirit of rebellion 
 has not been broken with the surrender of its arms." [Ap 
 plause.] 
 
 " Fellow citizens," said Garfield, " they have slain the 
 noblest and most generous spirit that ever put down a rebel 
 lion on this earth. [Applause.] It may be almost impious to 
 say it ; but it does seem to me that his death almost parallels 
 that of the Son of God, who cried out, Father, forgive them, 
 for they know not what they do. But in taking away that 
 life they have left the iron hand of the people to fall upon 
 them. [Great applause.] Peace, forgiveness and mercy are 
 the attributes of this government, but Justice and Judgment 
 with inexorable tread follow behind, and when they have 
 
250 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 slain love, when they have despised mercy, when they have 
 rejected those that would be their best friends, then comes 
 justice with hoodwinked eyes and the sword." 
 
 The tense despair and rage of the people on Saturday had 
 not broken when they gathered on Sunday for worship. 
 Never, perhaps, in any sorrow, any disaster that this nation 
 has suffered, was there so spontaneous a turning to the 
 church for consolation as on this Sabbath day. Never, per 
 haps, did the clergy of a country rise more universally to con 
 sole the grief of a people than on this day. Everywhere, 
 from East to West, the death of the President was the theme 
 of the sermons, and men who never before in their lives had 
 said anything but commonplaces rose this day to eloquence. 
 One of the most touching of the Sunday gatherings was at 
 .Bloomington, Illinois. Elsewhere it was only a President, a 
 national leader, who had been lost; here it was a personal 
 friend, and people refused to be comforted. On Sunday 
 morning there were sermons in all the churches, but they 
 seemed in no way to relieve the tension. Later in the day 
 word was circulated that a general out-of-door meeting 
 would be held at the court-house, and people gathered from 
 far and near, townspeople and country people, in the yard 
 about the court-house, where for years they had been accus 
 tomed to see Lincoln coming and going ; and the ministers of 
 the town, all of them his friends, talked one after another, 
 until finally, comforted and resigned, the people separated 
 silently and went home. 
 
 On Monday a slight distraction came in the announcement 
 of the plan for the funeral ceremonies. After much discus 
 sion, it had been decided that a public funeral should be held 
 in Washington, and that the body should then lie in state for 
 brief periods at each of the larger cities on the way to 
 Springfield, whither it was to be taken for burial. The neces 
 sity of at once beginning preparations for tb* reception of the 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 251 
 
 funeral party furnished the first real relief to the universal 
 grief which had paralyzed the country. 
 
 The dead President had lain in an upper chamber of the 
 White House from the time of his removal there on Satur 
 day morning until Tuesday morning, when he was laid un 
 der a magnificent catafalque in the centre of the great East 
 Room. Although there were in Washington many citizens 
 who sympathized with the South, although the plot for as 
 sassination had been developed there, yet no sign appeared 
 of any feeling but grief and indignation. It is said that there 
 were not fifty houses in the city that were not draped in 
 black, and it seemed as if every man, woman, and child were 
 seeking some souvenir of the tragedy. A child was found at 
 the Tenth Street house staining bits of soft paper with the 
 half-dried blood on the steps. Fragments of the stained linen 
 from the bed on which the President died were passed from 
 hand to hand; locks of the hair cut away by the surgeons 
 were begged; his latest photograph, the papers of the day, 
 programmes of the funeral, a hundred trivial relics were 
 gathered together, and are treasured to-day by the original 
 owners or their children. They 
 
 "dip their napkins in his sacred blood ; 
 Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, 
 And, dying, mention it within their wills, 
 Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy, 
 Unto their issue." 
 
 On Tuesday morning, when the White House was opened, 
 it was practically the whole population, augmented by hun 
 dreds from the North, who waited at the gates. All day long 
 they surged steadily through the East Room, and at night, 
 when the gates were closed, Lafayette Park and the adjoin 
 ing streets were still packed with people waiting for admis 
 sion. In this great company of mourners two classes were 
 
252 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 conspicuous, the soldiers and the negroes. One had come 
 from camp and hospital, the other from country and hovel, 
 and both wept unrestrainedly as they looked on the dead face 
 of the man who had been to one a father, to the other a liber 
 ator. 
 
 Wednesday had been chosen for the funeral, and every de 
 vice was employed by the Government to make the ceremony 
 fitting in pomp and solemnity. The greatest of the nation 
 members of the cabinet, senators, congressmen, diplomats; 
 representatives of the churches, of the courts, of commerce, 
 of all that was distinguished and powerful in the North, were 
 present in the East Room. Mr. Lincoln s friend, Bishop 
 Simpson, and his pastor, Dr. Gurley, conducted the services. 
 More than one spectator noted that in the great assembly 
 there was but one person bearing the name of Lincoln and re 
 lated to the President his son Robert. Mrs. Lincoln was 
 not able to endure the emotion of the scene, and little Tad 
 could not be induced to be present. 
 
 At two o clock in the afternoon, the booming of cannon 
 and the tolling of bells announced that the services were 
 ended. A few moments later, the coffin was borne from the 
 White House and placed in a magnificent funeral car, and 
 under the conduct of a splendid military and civilian escort, 
 conveyed slowly to the Capitol, attended by thousands upon 
 thousands of men and women. At the east front of the Capi 
 tol the procession halted, and the body of Abraham Lincoln 
 was borne across the portico, from which six weeks before in 
 assuming for the second time the presidency, he had ex 
 plained to the country his views upon reconstruction : " With 
 malice toward none ; with charity for all ; with firmness in the 
 right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 
 finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation s wounds ; to 
 care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his 
 widow and his orphan to do all which may achieve and 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 253 
 
 cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with 
 all nations." 
 
 The rotunda of the Capitol, into which the coffin was now 
 carried, was draped in black, and under the dome was a great 
 catafalque. On this the coffin was placed, and after a simple 
 service there left alone, save for the soldiers who paced back 
 and forth at the head and foot. 
 
 But it was not in Washington alone that funeral services 
 were held that day. All over the North, in Canada, in the 
 Army of the Potomac, even in Richmond, business was sus 
 pended, and at noon people gathered to listen to eulogies of 
 the dead. Twenty-five million people literally participated in 
 the funeral rites of that Wednesday. 
 
 On Thursday the Capitol was opened, and here again, in 
 spite of a steady rain, were repeated the scenes of Tuesday at 
 the White House, thousands of persons slowly mounting the 
 long flight of steps leading to the east entrance and passing 
 through the rotunda. 
 
 At six o clock on the morning of April 21, there gathered 
 in the rotunda the members of the cabinet, Lieutenant-Gen- 
 eral Grant and his staff, many senators, army and navy offi 
 cers, and other dignitaries. After a prayer by Dr. Gurley, the 
 party followed the coffin to the railway station, where the 
 funeral train which was to convey the remains of Abraham 
 Lincoln from Washington to Springfield now stood. A great 
 company of people had gathered for the last scene of the 
 tragedy, and they waited in absolute silence and with uncov 
 ered heads while the coffin was placed in the car. At its foot 
 was placed a smaller coffin, that of Willie Lincoln, the Presi 
 dent s beloved son, who had died in February, 1862. At Mrs. 
 Lincoln s request, father and son were to make together this 
 last earthly journey. 
 
 Following the remains of the President came the party 
 which was to serve as an escort to Springfield. It included 
 
254 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 several of Lincoln s old-time friends, among them Judge Da 
 vid Davis and Ward Lamon ; a Guard of Honor, composed 
 of prominent army officers; a large congressional committee, 
 several governors of States, a special delegation from Illi 
 nois, and a bodyguard. From time to time on the journey 
 this party was joined for brief periods by other eminent 
 men, though it remained practically the same throughout. 
 Three of its members Judge Davis, General Hunter, and 
 Marshal Lamon had been with Mr. Lincoln when he came 
 on to Washington for his first inauguration. 
 
 Precisely at eight o clock, the train of nine cars pulled out 
 from the station. It moved slowly, almost noiselessly, not 
 a bell ringing nor a whistle sounding, through a mourning 
 throng that lined the way to the borders of the town. 
 
 The line of the journey begun on this Friday morning 
 was practically the same that Mr. Lincoln had followed four 
 years before when he came to Washington for his first in 
 auguration. It led through Baltimore, Harrisburg, Phila 
 delphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, 
 Indianapolis, and Chicago, to Springfield. The entire pro 
 gramme of the journey, including the hours when the train 
 would pass certain towns where it could not stop, had been 
 published long enough beforehand to enable the people along 
 the way to arrange, if they wished, to pay a tribute to the 
 dead President. The result was a demonstration which in 
 sincerity and unanimity has never been equalled in the world s 
 history. The journey began at six o clock on the morning 
 of April 21, and lasted until nine o clock of the morning of 
 May 3 : and it might almost be said that during the whole 
 time there was not an hour of the night or day, whether the 
 coffin lay in state in some heavily draped public building or 
 was being whirled across the country, when mourning 
 crowds were not regarding it with wet eyes and bowed heads. 
 Night and darkness in no way lessened the number of the 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 255 
 
 mourners. Thus it was not until eight o clock on Saturday 
 evening (April 22) that the coffin was placed in Independ 
 ence Hall, at Philadelphia. The building was at once opened 
 to the public, and through the whole night thousands filed in 
 to look on the dead man s face. It was at one o clock in the 
 morning, on Monday, that the coffin was carried from Inde 
 pendence Hall to the train, but thousands of men, women, 
 and children stood in the streets while the procession passed, 
 as if it were day. In New York, on the following Tuesday, 
 City Hall, where the coffin had been placed in the afternoon, 
 remained open the whole night. The crowd was even greater 
 than during the day, rilling the side streets around the square 
 in every direction. It was more impressive, too, for the men 
 and women who were willing to watch out the night in the 
 flare of torches and gaslights were laborers who could not 
 secure release in daytime. Many of them had come great 
 distances, and hundreds were obliged, after leaving the hall, 
 to find a bed in a doorway, so overfilled was the town. The 
 crowd was at its greatest at midnight, when, as the bells were 
 tolling the hour, a German chorus of some seventy voices 
 commenced suddenly to sing the Integer vitae. The thrill 
 ing sweetness of the music coming unexpectedly upon the 
 mourners produced an effect never to be forgotten. 
 
 Nor did rain make any more difference with the crowd 
 than the darkness. Several times during the journey there 
 arose heavy storms; but the people, in utter indifference, 
 stood in the streets, often uncovered, to see the catafalque 
 and its guard go by or waiting their turn to be admitted to 
 view the coffin. 
 
 The great demonstrations were, of course, in the cities 
 where the remains lay in state for a few hours. These 
 demonstrations were perforce much alike. The funeral train 
 was met at the station by the distinguished men of the city 
 and representatives of organizations. The coffin was trans- 
 
256 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 ferred to a stately hearse, draped in velvet and crape, sur 
 mounted by heavy plumes, ornamented in silver, and drawn 
 by six, eight, ten, or more horses. Then, to the tolling of 
 the bells and the regular firing of minute guns, followed by 
 a vast concourse of people, it was carried to the place ap 
 pointed for the lying in state. Here a crowd which seemed 
 unending filed by until the time came to close the coffin, when 
 the procession reformed to attend the hearse to the funeral 
 train* 
 
 The first of these demonstrations was in Baltimore, the 
 city which a little over four years before it had been thought 
 unsafe for the President to pass through openly, the city 
 in which the first troops called out for the defense of the 
 Union had been mobbed. Now no offering was sufficient 
 to express the feeling of sorrow. All buildings draped in 
 black, all business suspended, the people poured out in a driv 
 ing rain to follow the catafalque to the Exchange, where for 
 two hours, on April 21, the public was admitted. 
 
 * As was to be expected, the most elaborate of the series of 
 funeral ceremonies was in New York. There, when the 
 funeral train arrived on Tuesday, April 25, the whole city 
 was swathed in crape, and vast crowds filled the streets. The 
 climax of the obsequies was the procession which, on 
 Wednesday, followed the hearse up Broadway and Fifth 
 Avenue to Thirty-fourth Street and thence to the Hudson 
 River station. For a week this procession had been prepar 
 ing, until finally it included representatives of almost every 
 organization of every nature in the city and vicinity. The 
 military was represented by detachments from scores of dif 
 ferent regiments, and by many distinguished officers of the 
 army and navy, among them General Scott and Admiral 
 Farragut. Companies of the Seventh Regiment were on 
 each side of the funeral car. The city sent its officials edu 
 cational, judicial, protective. The foreign consuls marched 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 257 
 
 in full uniform. There were scores of societies and clubs, 
 including all the organizations of Irish, German, and He 
 brews. The whole life of the city was, in fact, represented 
 in the solid column of men which marched that day through 
 the streets of New York in such numbers that it took four 
 hours to pass a single point. Deepest in significance of all 
 the long rank was the rear body in the last division: 200 
 colored men bearing a banner inscribed with the words, 
 " Abraham Lincoln Our Emancipator." A platoon of po 
 lice preceded, another followed the delegation, for the 
 presence of these freedmen would, it was believed by many, 
 cause disorder, and permission for them to march had only 
 been obtained by an appeal to the Secretary of War, Mr. 
 Stanton. Several white men walked with them, and at many 
 points sympathizers took pains to applaud. With this single 
 exception, the procession passed through a silent multitude, 
 the only sound the steady tramp of feet and the music of the 
 funeral dirges. 
 
 At four o clock the funeral car reached the station, and 
 the journey was continued toward Albany. But the obse 
 quies in New York did not end then. A meeting was held 
 that night in Union Square, at which George Bancroft deliv 
 ered an oration that will remain as one of the great expres 
 sions of the day upon Lincoln and the ideas for which he 
 worked. It was for this gathering that Bryant wrote his 
 " Ode for the Burial of Abraham Lincoln," beginning: 
 
 "Oh, slow to smite and swift to spare, 
 
 Gentle and merciful and just ; 
 Who in the fear of God did st bear 
 The sword of power, a Nation s trust." 
 
 Imposing, solemn, and sincere as was this series of muni 
 cipal demonstrations over the bier of Lincoln, there was an 
 other feature of the funeral march which showed more viv 
 idly the affectionate reverence- in which the whole people 
 17) 
 
258 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 held the President. This was the outpouring at villages, 
 country cross-roads, and farms to salute, as it passed, the 
 train bearing his remains. From Washington to Springfield 
 the train entered scarcely a town that the bells were not toll 
 ing, the minute guns firing, the stations draped, and all the 
 spaces beside the track crowded with people with uncovered 
 heads. At many points arches were erected over the track ; 
 at others the bridges were wreathed from end to end in crape 
 and evergreens and flags. And this was not in the towns 
 alone; every farm-house by which the train passed became 
 for the time a funeral house ; the plow was left in the furrow, 
 crape was on the door, the neighbors were gathered, and 
 those who watched from the train as it flew by could see 
 groups of weeping women, of men with uncovered heads, 
 sometimes a minister among them, his arms raised in prayer. 
 Night did not hinder them. Great bonfires were built in 
 lonely country-sides, around which the farmers waited pa 
 tiently to salute their dead. At the towns the length of the 
 train was lit by blazing torches. Storm as well as darkness 
 was unheeded. Much of the journey was made through the 
 rain, in fact, but the people seemed to have forgotten all 
 things but that Abraham Lincoln, the man they loved and 
 trusted, was passing by for the last time. 
 
 At eleven o clock on the morning of Monday, May i, the 
 funeral train reached Chicago, and here the mourning began 
 to take on a character distinctly different from what had 
 marked it through the East. The people who now met the 
 coffin, who followed it to the court-house, who passed in end 
 less streams by it to look on Lincoln s face, dated their trust 
 in him many years earlier than 1861. Man after man of 
 them had come to pay their last tribute, not to the late Presi 
 dent of the United States, but to the genial lawyer, the 
 resourceful, witty political debater who had educated Illinois 
 to believe that a country could not endure half slave and half 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 2 59 
 
 free, and who, after defeat, had kept her faithful to the " dur 
 able struggle " by his counsel. The tears these men 
 shed were the tears of long-time friends and personal 
 followers. 
 
 As the train advanced from Chicago toward Springfield 
 the personal and intimate character of the mourning grew. 
 The journey was made at night, but the whole population of 
 the country lined the route. Nearly every one of the towns 
 passed indeed, one might almost say every one of the farms 
 passed had been visited personally by Lincoln on legal or 
 political errands, and a vast number of those who thus in 
 the dead of night watched the flying train he had at some 
 time in his life taken by the hand. 
 
 It was nine o clock on the morning of May 3 that the 
 funeral train entered the town where, four years and two 
 months before, Abraham Lincoln had bidden his friends 
 farewell, as he left them to go to Washington. Nearly all 
 of those who on that dreary February morning had listened 
 to his solemn farewell words were present in the May sun 
 shine to receive him. Their hearts had been heavy as he de 
 parted ; they were broken now, for he was more than a great 
 leader, an honored martyr, to the men of Springfield. He 
 was their neighbor and friend and helper, and as they bore 
 his coffin to the State House, in the centre of the city, their 
 minds were busy, not with the greatness and honor that had 
 come to him and to them through him, but with the scenes of 
 more than a quarter of a century in which he had always 
 been a conspicuous figure. Every corner of the street sug 
 gested that past. Here was the office in which he had first 
 studied law ; here, draped in mourning, the one before which 
 his name still hung. Here was the house where he had lived, 
 the church he had attended, the store in which he had been 
 accustomed to tell stories and to discuss politics. His name 
 was written everywhere, even on the walls of the Hall of 
 
2 6o LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Representatives in the State House, where they placed his 
 coffin, for here he had spoken again and again. 
 
 During the time that the body lay in state from the noon 
 of May 3 until the noon of May 4 the place Lincoln 
 held in Springfield and the surrounding country was shown 
 as never before. The men and women who came to look on 
 his face were many of them the plain farmers of Sangamon 
 and adjacent counties, and they wept as over the coffin of a 
 father. Their grief at finding him so changed was incon 
 solable. In the days after leaving Washington the face 
 changed greatly, and by the time Springfield was reached it 
 was black and shrunken almost beyond recognition. To 
 many the last look at their friend was so painful that the re 
 membrance has never left them. The writer has seen men 
 weep as they recalled the scene, and heard them say repeat 
 edly, " If I had not seen him dead ; if I could only remember 
 him alive ! " 
 
 It was on May 4, fifteen days after the funeral in Wash 
 ington, that Abraham Lincoln s remains finally rested in 
 Oakland Cemetery, a shaded and beautiful spot, two miles 
 from Springfield. Here, at the foot of a woody knoll, a vault 
 had been prepared; and thither, attended by a great con 
 course of military and civic dignitaries, by governors of 
 States, members of Congress, officers of the army and navy, 
 delegations from orders, from cities, from churches, by the 
 friends of his youth, his young manhood, his maturer years, 
 was Lincoln carried and laid, by his side his little son. The 
 solemn rite was followed by dirge and prayer, by the reading 
 of his last inaugural address, and by a noble funeral oration 
 by Bishop Simpson. Then, as the beautiful day drew toward 
 evening, the vault was closed, and the great multitudes 
 slowly returned to their duties. 
 
 The funeral pageant was at an end, but the mourning was 
 not silenced. From every corner of the earth there came to 
 
LINCOLN S FUNERAL 261 
 
 the family and to the Government tributes to the greatness 
 of the character and life of the murdered man. Medals 
 were cast, tablets engraved, parchments engrossed. At the 
 end of the year, when the State Department came to publish 
 the diplomatic correspondence of 1865, there was a volume 
 of over 700 pages, containing nothing but expressions of 
 condolence and sympathy on Lincoln s death. Nor did the 
 mourning and the honor end there. From the day of his 
 death until now, the world has gone on rearing monuments 
 to Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The first and inevitable result of the emotion which swept 
 over the earth at Lincoln s death was to enroll him among 
 martyrs and heroes. Men forgot that they had despised him, 
 jeered at him, doubted him. They forgot his mistakes, for 
 got his plodding caution, forgot his homely ways. They saw 
 now, with the vision which an awful and sudden disaster so 
 often gives, the simple, noble outlines on which he had 
 worked. They realized how completely he had sunk every 
 partisan and personal consideration, every non-essential, in 
 the tasks which he had set for himself to prevent the exten 
 sion of slavery, to save the Union. They realized how, while 
 they had forgotten everything in disputes over this man, this 
 measure, this event, he had seen only the two great objects 
 of the struggle. They saw how slowly, but surely, he had 
 educated them to feel the vital importance of these objects, 
 had resolved their partisan warfare into a moral struggle. 
 The wisdom of his words, the sincerity of his acts, the stead 
 fastness of his life were clear to them at last. With this rea 
 lization came a feeling that he was more than a man. He 
 was a prophet, they said, a man raised up by God for a 
 special w r ork, and they laid then the foundation of the Lin 
 coln myth which still enthralls so many minds. 
 
 The real Lincoln, the great Lincoln, is not, however, this 
 prophet and martyr. He is the simple, steady, resolute, un- 
 
262 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 selfish man whose supreme ambition was to find out the trutK 
 of the questions which confronted him in life, and whose 
 highest satisfaction was in following the truth he discovered. 
 He was not endowed by nature with the vision of a seer. 
 His power of getting at the truth of things he had won by in 
 cessant mental effort. From his boyhood he would under 
 stand, though he must walk the floor all night with his prob 
 lem. Nor had nature made him a saint. His lofty moral 
 courage in the Civil War was the logical result of life-long 
 fidelity to his own conscience. From his boyhood he would 
 keep faith with that which his mind told him was true, 
 though he lost friend and place by it. When he entered pub 
 lic life these qualities at first won him position ; but they cost 
 him a position more than once. They sent him to Congress ; 
 but, in 1849, they forced him out of public life. They 
 brought him face to face with Douglas from 1854 to 1858, 
 and enabled him to shape the moral sentiment of the North 
 west; but later they defeated him. They made him Illinois s 
 candidate for the presidency in 1860; but they brought upon 
 him as President the distrust and hatred of even his own 
 party. It took four years of dogged struggle, of constant 
 repetitions of the few truths which he believed to be essential, 
 to teach the people of the United States that they could trust 
 him; it took a murderer s bullet to make them realize the 
 surpassing greatness of his simplicity, his common sense, 
 and his resolution. It is this man who never rested until he 
 had found what he believed to be the right, and, who, having 
 found it, could never be turned from it, who is the Real Lin 
 coln. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 The following Letters, Telegrams and Speeches of Abraham Lin 
 coln have been collected by the author in the course of the work of 
 preparing this Life of Lincoln. None of these documents appear 
 in Lincoln s " Complete Works " edited by Nicolay and Hay or in 
 any other collection of his writings. 
 
 NEW SALEM, Aug. 10, 1833. 
 E. C. BLANKENSHIP: 
 
 DEAR SIR : In regard to the time David Eankin served the en 
 closed discharge shows correctly as well as I can recollect having 
 no writing to refer. The transfer of Rankin from my company 
 occurred as follows Rankin having lost his horse at Dixon s ferry 
 and having acquaintance in one of the foot companies who were 
 going down the river was desirous to go with them, and one Gal- 
 ishen being an acquaintance of mine and belonging to the com 
 pany in which Eankin wished to go wished to leave it and join 
 mine, this being the case it was agreed that they should exchange 
 places and answer to each others names as it was expected we all 
 would be discharged in very few days. As to a blanket I have 
 no knowledge of Rankin ever getting any. The above embraces 
 all the facts now in my recollection which are pertinent to the 
 case. 
 
 I shall take pleasure in giving any further information in my 
 power should you call on me. 
 
 Your friend, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by DeWitt 0, Sprague, Washington, D. 0.) 
 
 MR. SPEARS: 
 
 At your request I send you a receipt for the postage on your 
 paper. I am somewhat surprised at your request. I will, however, 
 comply with it. The law requires Newspaper postage to be paid in 
 advance, and now that I have waited a full year you choose to 
 wound my feelings by insinuating that unless you get a receipt 
 I will probably make you pay it again 
 
 Respectfully, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 265 
 
266 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Received of George Spears in full for postage on the u Sangamou 
 Journal " up to the first of July, 1834. 
 
 A. LINCOLN., P. M. 
 
 (From fac-simile of letter printed in Menard-Salem-Lmcoln 
 Souvenir Album. Petersburg, 1893.) 
 
 REPORT OF ROAD SURVEY, written by Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 To the County Commissioner s Court for the County of Sanga* 
 
 mon : 
 
 We, the undersigned, being appointed to view and relocate a part 
 of the road between Sangamon town and the town of Athens 
 respectfully report that we have performed the duty of said ap 
 pointment according to law and that we have made the said re 
 location on good ground and believe the same to be necessary and 
 proper. 
 
 JAMES STROWBRIDGE, * 
 LEVI CANTRALL, 
 Athens, Nov. 4, 1834. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Herewith is the map The court may allow me the following 
 charges if they think proper 
 
 1 day s labour as surveyor $3.00 
 
 Making map .50 
 
 $3.50 
 
 A\ LINCOLN. 
 (Original in office of county clerk, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 John Bennett, Esq. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Aug. 5, 1837. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Mr. Edwards tells me you wish to know whether the 
 act to which your town incorporation provision was attached 
 passed into a law. It did. You can organize under the general 
 incorporation law as soon as you choose. I also tacked a provision 
 on to a fellow s bill to authorize the re-location of the road from 
 Salem down to your town, but I am not certain whether or not the 
 bill passed, neither do I suppose I can ascertain before the law will 
 be published, if it is a law. Bowling Greene, Bennett Abell, and 
 yourself are appointed to make the change. 
 
 No news. No excitement except a little about the election of 
 Monday next. I suppose of course our friend, Dr. Henry, stands 
 no chance in your " diggings." 
 
 Your friend and humble servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by E. R. Oeltjen, Petersburg, Illinois.) 
 
APPENDIX 267 
 
 TO THE PEOPLE. 
 
 " SANGAMO JOURNAL/ SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Aug. 19, 1837. 
 
 In accordance with our determination, as expressed last week, we 
 present to the reader the articles which were published in hand-bill 
 form, in reference to the case of the heirs of Joseph Anderson vs. 
 James Adams. These articles can now be read, uninfluenced by 
 personal or party feeling, and with the sole motive of learning the 
 truth. When that is done, the reader can pass his own judgment 
 on the matters at issue. 
 
 We only regret in this case, that the publications were not made 
 some weeks before the election., Such a course might have pre 
 vented the expressions of regret, which have often been heard since, 
 from different individuals, on account of the disposition they made 
 of their votes. 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 It is well known to most of you, that there is existing at this 
 time, considerable excitement in regard to Gen. Adams s titles to 
 certain tracts of land, and the manner in which he acquired them. 
 As I understand, the Gen. charges that the whole has been gotten 
 up by a knot of lawyers to injure his election ; and as I am one of 
 the knot to which he refers and as I happen to be in possession 
 of facts connected with the matter, I will, in as brief a manner as 
 possible, make a statement of them, together with the means by 
 Which I arrived at the knowledge of them. 
 
 Sometime in May or June last, a widow woman, by the name of 
 Anderson, and her son, who resides in Fulton county, came to 
 Springfield, for the purpose, as they said, of selling a ten acre 
 lot of ground lying near town, which they claimed as the property 
 of the deceased husband and father. 
 
 When they reached town they found the land was claimed by 
 Gen. Adams. John T. Stuart and myself were employed to look 
 into the matter, and if it was thought we could do so with any 
 prospect of success, to commence a suit for the land. I went imme 
 diately to the recorder s office to examine Adams s title, and found 
 that the land had been entered by one Dixon, deeded by Dixon to 
 Thomas, by Thomas to one Miller, and by Miller to Gen. Adams. 
 The oldest of these three deeds was about ten or eleven years old, 
 and the latest more than five, all recorded at the same time, and 
 that within less than one year. This I thought a suspicious cir 
 cumstance, and I was thereby induced to examine the deeds very 
 closely, with a view to the discovery of some defect by which to 
 overturn the title, being almost convinced then it was founded in 
 fraud. I finally discovered that in the deed from Thomas to Mil 
 ler, although Miller s name stood in a sort of marginal note on 
 the record book, it was nowhere in the deed itself. I told the fact 
 
268 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 to Talbott, the recorder, and proposed to him that he should go to 
 Gen. Adams s and get the original deed, and compare it with the 
 record, and thereby ascertain whether the defect was in the orig 
 inal, or there was merely an error in the recording. As Talbott 
 afterwards told me, he went to the General s, but not finding him 
 at home, got the deed from his eon, which, when compared with the 
 record, proved what we had discovered was merely an error of the 
 recorder. After Mr. Talbott corrected the record, he brought the 
 original to our office, as I then thought and think yet, to show us 
 that it was right. When he came into the room he handed the 
 deed to me, remarking that the fault was all his own. On opening 
 it, another paper fell out of it, which on examination, proved to 
 be an assignment of a judgment in the Circuit Court of Sangamon 
 County from Joseph Anderson, the late husband of the widow 
 above named, to James Adams, the judgment being in favor of 
 said Anderson against one Joseph Miller. Knowing that this 
 judgment had some connection with the land affair, I immediately 
 took a copy of it, which is word for word, letter for letter and cross 
 for cross as follows: 
 
 Joseph Anderson, 
 
 vs. 
 
 Joseph Miller. 
 
 Judgment in Sangamon Circuit Court 
 against Joseph Miller obtained on a note 
 originally 25 dolls and interest thereon 
 accrued. 
 
 I assign all my right, title and interest 
 to James Adams which is in consideration 
 of a debt I owe said Adams. 
 
 May 10th, 1827. nis 
 
 JOSEPH X ANDERSON. 
 mark." 
 
 As the copy shows, it bore date May 10, 1827; although the 
 judgment assigned by it was not obtained until the October after 
 wards, as may be seen by any one on the records of the Circuit 
 Court. Two other strange circumstances attended it which cannot 
 be represented by a copy. One of them was, that the date " 1827 " 
 had first been made " 1837 " and without the figure " 3 " being fully 
 obliterated, the figure " 2 " had afterwards been made on top of it ; 
 the other was that, although the date was ten years old, the writing 
 on it, from the freshness of its appearance, was thought by many, 
 and I believe by all who saw it, not to be more than a week old. 
 The paper on which it was written had a very old appearance ; and 
 there were some old figures on the back of it which made the 
 freshness of the writing* on the face of it, much more striking 
 than I suppose it otherwise might have been. The reader s curi- 
 
APPENDIX 269 
 
 osity is no doubt excited to know what connection this assignment 
 had with the land in question. The story is this : Dixon sold and 
 deeded the land to Thomas: Thomas sold it to Anderson; but 
 before he gave a deed, Anderson sold it to Miller, and took Miller s 
 note for the purchase money. When this note became due, Ander 
 son sued Miller on it, and Miller procured an injunction from the 
 Court of Chancery to stay the collection of the money until he 
 should get a deed for the land. Gen. Adams was employed as an 
 attorney by Anderson in this chancery suit, and at the October 
 term, 1827, the injunction was dissolved, and a judgment given 
 in favor of Anderson against Miller; and it was provided that 
 Thomas was to execute a deed for the land in favor of Miller, and 
 deliver it to Gen. Adams, to be held up by him till Miller paid the 
 judgment, and then to deliver it to him. Miller left the county 
 without paying the judgment. Anderson moved to Fulton county, 
 where he has since died. When the widow came to Springfield last 
 May or June, as before mentioned, and found the land deeded to 
 Gen. Adams by Miller, she was naturally led to enquire why the 
 money due upon the judgment had not been sent to them, inas 
 much as he, Gen. Adams, had no authority to deliver Thomas s 
 deed to Miller until the money was paid. Then it was the General 
 told her, or perhaps her son, who came with her, that Anderson, 
 in his lifetime, had assigned the judgment to him, Gen. Adams. 
 I am now told that the General is exhibiting an assignment of the 
 same judgment bearing date " 1828 ;" and in other respects differing 
 from the one described; and that he is asserting that no such 
 assignment as the one copied by me ever existed; or if there did, 
 it was forged between Talbott and the lawyers, and slipped into his 
 papers for the purpose of injuring him. Now, I can only say that 
 I know precisely such a one did exist, and that Ben. Talbott, Win. 
 Butler, C. E. Matheny, John T. Stuart, Judge Logan, Eobert Irwin, 
 P. C. Canedy and S. M. Tinsley, all saw and examined it, and that 
 at least one half of them will swear that IT WAS IN GENERAL 
 ADAMS S HANDWRITING! ! And further, I know that Tal 
 bott will swear that he got it out of the General s possession, and 
 returned it into his possession again. The assignment which the 
 General is now exhibiting purports to have been by Anderson in 
 writing. The one I copied was signed with a cross. 
 
 I am told that Gen. Neale says that he will swear, that he heard 
 Gen. Adams tell young Anderson that the assignment made by hia 
 father was signed with a cross. 
 
 The above are facts, as stated. I leave them without comment. 
 I have given the names of persons who have knowledge of these 
 facts, in order that any one who chooses may call on them and 
 ascertain how far they will corroborate my statements. I have 
 only made these statements because I am known by many to be 
 one of the individuals against whom the charge of forging the 
 assignment and slipping it into the General s papers, has been 
 made; artr? Vcause our silence might be construed into a confes- 
 
270 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 sion of its truth. I shall not subscribe my name; but 1 hereby 
 authorize the editor of the Journal * to give it up to any one that 
 may call for it." 
 
 "It having been stated this morning that the subscriber had 
 refused to give the name of the author of the hand-bill above re 
 ferred to (which statement is not true) : to save any farther re 
 marks on this subject, I now state that A. Lincoln, Esq., is the 
 author of the hand-bill in question. SIMEON FRANCIS. 
 
 "August 7, 1837." 
 
 Messrs. Lincoln and Talbott in reply to Gen. Adams. 
 
 " SANGAMO JOURNAL/ SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Sept. 9, 1837. 
 
 In the "[Republican" of this morning a publication of Gen. 
 Adams s appears, in which my name is used quite unreservedly. 
 For this I thank the General. I thank him because it gives me an 
 opportunity, without appearing obtrusive, of explaining a part of 
 a former publication of mine, which appears to me to have been 
 misunderstood by many. 
 
 In the former publication alluded to, I stated, in substance, that 
 Mr. Talbott got a deed from a son of Gen. Adams s for the purpose 
 of correcting a mistake that had occurred on the record of the said 
 deed in the recorder s office that he corrected the record, and 
 brought the deed and handed it to me and that, on opening the 
 deed, another paper, being the assignment of a judgment, fell out 
 of it. This statement Gen. Adams and the editor of the " Eepubli- 
 can," have seized upon as a most palpable evidence of fabrication 
 and falsehood. They set themselves gravely about proving that 
 the assignment could not have been in the deed when Talbott 
 got it from young Adams, as he, Talbott, would have seen it when 
 he opened the deed to correct the record. Now, the truth is, Tal 
 bott did see the assignment when he opened the deed, or at least 
 he told me he did on the same day; and I only omitted to say so, 
 in my former publication, because it was a matter of such palpable 
 and necessary inference. I had stated that Talbott had corrected 
 the record by the deed; and of course he must have opened it; 
 and, just as the General and his friends argue, must have seen the 
 assignment. I omitted to state the fact of Talbott s seeing the 
 assignment, because its existence was so necessarily connected 
 with other facts which I did state, that I thought the greatest 
 dunce could not but understand it. Did I say Talbott had not 
 seen it ? Did I say anything that was inconsistent with his having 
 seen it before? Most certainly I did neither; and if I did not, 
 what becomes of the argument? These logical gentlemen cannot 
 sustain their argument only by assuming that I did say negatively 
 everything that I did not say affirmatively; and upon the same 
 assumption, we may expect to find the General, if a little harder 
 
APPENDIX 271 
 
 pressed for argument, saying that I said Talbott came to our office 
 with his head downward, not that I actually said so, but because I 
 omitted to say he came feet downward. 
 
 In his publication to-day, the General produces the affidavit of 
 Keuben Radf ord, in which it is said that Talbott told Radf ord that 
 he did not find the assignment in the deed, in the recording of 
 which the error was omitted, but that he found it wrapped in 
 another paper in the recorder s office, upon which statement the 
 Genl. comments, as follows, to-wit: "If it be true as stated by 
 Talbott to Radf ord, that he found the assignment wrapped up in 
 another paper at his office, that contradicts the statement of Lin 
 coln that it fell out of the deed." 
 
 Is common sense to be abused with such sophistry? Did I say 
 what Tabott found it in? If Talbott did find it in another paper 
 at his office, is that any reason why he could not have folded it in 
 a deed and brought it to my office, can any one be so far duped, as 
 to be made believe that what may have happened at Talbott s office 
 at one time, is inconsistent with wlmt happened at my office at 
 another time? 
 
 Now Talbott s statement of the case cs he makes it to me is this, 
 that he got a bunch of deeds from young Adams, and that he knows 
 he found the assignment in the bunch, but he is not certain which 
 particular deed it was in, nor is he certain whether it was folded 
 in the same deed out of which it was took, or another one, when it 
 was brought to my office. Is this a mysterious story? Is there 
 anything suspicious about it? 
 
 " But it is useless to dwell longer on this point. Any man who 
 is not wilfully blind can see at a blush, that there is no discrepancy 
 and Lincoln has shown that they are not only inconsistent with 
 truth, but each other " I can only say, that I have shown that he 
 has done no such thing; and if the reader is disposed to require 
 any other evidence than the General s assertion, he will be of my 
 opinion. 
 
 Excepting the General s most flimsy attempt at mystification, in 
 regard to a discrepance between Talbott and myself, he has not 
 denied a single statement that I made in my hand-bill. Every 
 material statement that I made has been sworn to by men who, in 
 former times, were thought as respectable as General Adams. I 
 stated that an assignment of a judgment, a copy of which I gave, 
 had existed Benj. Talbott, C. R. Matheny, Win. Butler, and Judge 
 Logan, swore to its existence, I stated that it was said to be in Gen. 
 Adams s handwriting the same men swore it was in his handwrit 
 ing. I stated that Talbott would swear that he got it out of Gen. 
 Adams s possession Talbott came forward and did swear it. 
 
 Bidding adieu to the former publication, I now propose to exam 
 ine the General s last gigantic production. I now propose to point 
 out some discrepancies in the General s address; and such too, 
 as he shall not be able to escape from. Speaking of the famous as 
 signment, the General says " This last charge, which was their last 
 
272 LIFE OP UNCOLN 
 
 resort, their dying effort to render my character infamous among 
 my fellow citizens, was manufactured at a certain lawyer s office in 
 the town, printed at the office of the Sangamon Journal, and 
 found its way into the world some time between two days jusi 
 before the last election/ Now turn to Mr. Keys s affidavit in 
 which you will find the following, (viz.) " I certify that some timo 
 in May or the early part of June, 1837, I saw at Williams s corner, 
 a paper purporting to be an assignment from Joseph Anderson to 
 James Adams, which assignment, was signed by a mark to Ander 
 son s name," etc. NOW T mark, if Keys saw the assignment on the 
 last of May or first of June, Gen. Adams tells a falsehood when he 
 says it was manufactured just before the election, which was on the 
 7th of August; and if it was manufactured just before the elec 
 tion, Keys tells a falsehood when he says he saw it on the last of 
 May or first of June. Either Keys or the General is irretrievably 
 in for it; and in the General s very condescending language, I 
 Bay " let them settle it between them." 
 
 Now again, let the reader, bearing in mind that General Adams 
 has unequivocally said, in one part of his address, that the charge 
 in relation to the assignment was manufactured just before the 
 election; turn to the affidavit of Peter S. Weber, where the fol 
 lowing will be found, (viz.) " I, Peter S. Weber, do certify that 
 from the best of my recollection, on the day or day after Gen. 
 Adams started for the Illinois Rapids, in May last, that I was at 
 the house of Gen. Adams, sitting in the kitchen, situated on the 
 back part of the house, it being in the afternoon, and that Benja 
 min Talbott came around the house, back into the kitchen, arid 
 appeared wild and confused, and that he laid a package of papers 
 on the kitchen table and requested that they should be handed to 
 Lucian. He made no apology for coming to the kitchen, nor for 
 not handing them to Lucian himself., but showed the token of 
 being frightened and confused both in demeanor and speech and 
 for what cause I could not apprehend." 
 
 Commenting on Weber s affidavit, Gen. Adams asks, " Why this 
 fright and confusion ? " I reply that this is a question for the 
 General himself. Weber says that it was in May, and if so, it is 
 most clear, that Talbott was not frightened on account of the 
 assignment, unless the General lies when he says the assignment 
 charge was manufactured just before the election. Is it not a 
 strong evidence, that the General is not traveling with the pole- 
 star of truth in his front, to see him in one part of his address 
 roundly asserting that the assignment was manufactured just 
 before the election, and then, forgetting that position, procuring 
 Weber s most foolish affidavit, to prove that Talbott had been en 
 gaged in manufacturing it two months before? 
 
 In another part of his address, Gen. Adams says. " That I hold 
 an assignment of said judgment, dated the 20th of May, 1828, and 
 signed by said Anderson, I have never pretended to deny or con 
 ceal, but stated that fact in one of my circulars previous to tbte 
 
APPENDIX 273 
 
 election, and also in answer to a bill in chancery" Now I pro 
 nounce this statement unqualifiedly false, and shall not rely on the 
 word or oath of any man to sustain me in what I say; but will let 
 the whole be decided by reference to the circular and answer in 
 chancery of which the General speaks. In his circular he did 
 speak of an assignment; but he did not say it bore date 20th of 
 May, 1828; nor did he say it bore any date. In his answer in 
 chancery, he did say that he had an assignment; but he did not 
 say that it bore date the 20th May, 1828; but so far from it, he 
 said on oath (for he swore to the answer) that as well as recollected, 
 he obtained it in 1827. If any one doubts, let him examine the 
 circular and answer for himself They are both accessible. 
 
 It will readily be observed that the principal part of Adams s 
 defense, rests upon the argument, that if he had been base enough 
 to forge an assignment, he would not have been fool enough to 
 forge one that would not cover the case. This argument he used 
 in his circular before the election. The " Republican " has used 
 it at least once, since then; and Adams uses it again in his publi 
 cation of to-day. Now I pledge myself to show that he is just such 
 a fool, that he and his friends have contended it was impossible 
 for him to be. Recollect he says he has a genuine assignment; 
 and that he got Joseph Klein s affidavit, stating that he had seen it, 
 and that he believed the signature to have been executed by the 
 same hand, that signed Anderson s name to the answer in Chan 
 cery. Luckily Klein took a copy of this genuine assignment, 
 which I have been permitted to see; and hence I know it does not 
 cover the case. In the first place it is headed " Joseph Anderson 
 vs. Joseph Miller," and heads off " Judgment in Sangamon Circuit 
 Court." Now, mark, there never was a case in Sangamon Circuit 
 Court entitled Joseph Anderson vs. Joseph Miller. The case men 
 tioned in my former publication, and the only one between these 
 parties that ever existed in the Circuit Court, was entitled Joseph 
 Miller vs. Joseph Anderson, Miller being the plaintiff. What then 
 becomes of all their sophistry about Adams not being fool enough 
 to forge an assignment that would not cover the case? It is cer 
 tain that the present one does not cover the case ; and if he got it 
 honestly, it is still clear that he was fool enough to pay for an 
 as8] gnment that does not cover the case. 
 
 The General asks for the proof of disinterested witnesses. Who 
 does he consider disinterested? None can be more so than those 
 who have already testified against him. No one of them had the 
 least interest on earth, so far as I can learn, to injure him. True, 
 he says they had conspired against him; but if the testimony 
 of an angel from Heaven were introduced against him, he would 
 make the same charge of conspiracy. And now I put the ques 
 tion to every reflecting man, do you believe that Benjamin Tal- 
 bott, Chas. R. Matheny, William Butler and Stephen T. Logan 
 all sustaining high and spotless characters, and justly proud of 
 them, would deliberately perjure themselves, without any motivo 
 
274 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 whatever, except to injure a man s election; and that, too, a man 
 who had been a candidate, time out of mind, and yet who had 
 never been elected to any office ? 
 
 Adams s assurance, in demanding disinterested testimony, is 
 surpassing. He brings in the affidavit of his own son, and even 
 of Peter S. Weber, with whom I am not acquainted, but who, 
 I suppose, is some black or mulatto boy, from his being kept in 
 the kitchen, to prove his points ; but when such a man as Talbott, a 
 man who, but two years ago, run against Gen. Adams for the 
 office of Recorder and beat him more than four votes to one, is 
 introduced against him, he asks the community, with all the con 
 sequence of a Lord, to reject his testimony. 
 
 I might easily write a volume, pointing out inconsistencies be 
 tween the statements in Adams s last address with one another, and 
 with other known facts; but I am aware the reader must already 
 be tired with the length of this article, his opening statements, 
 that he was first accused of being a tory, and that he refuted 
 that; that then the Sampson s ghost story was got up, and he 
 refuted that; that as a last resort, a dying effort, the assignment 
 charge was got up is all as false as hell, as all this community 
 must know. Sampson s ghost first made its appearance in print, 
 and that too, after Keys swears he saw the assignment, as any 
 one may see by reference to the files of papers; and Gen. Adams 
 himself, in reply to the Sampson s ghost story, was the first man 
 that raised the cry of toryism and it was only by way of set off, 
 and never in seriousness that it was banded back at him. His 
 effort is to make the impression that his enemies first made the 
 charge of toryism and he drove them from that, then Sampson s 
 ghost, he drove them from that, then finally the assignment charge 
 was manufactured just before the election. Now, the only general 
 reply he ever made to the Sampson s ghost and tory charges, he 
 made at one and the same time, and not in succession as he states; 
 and the date of that reply will show, that it was made at least a 
 month after the date on which Keys swears he saw the Anderson 
 assignment. But enough. In conclusion I will only say that I have 
 a character to defend as well as Gen. Adams, but I disdain to whim 
 about it as he does. It is true I have no children nor Jcitcher 
 hoys; and if I had, I should scorn to lug them in to make affida 
 vits for me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 September 6, 1837. 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 SANGAMO JOURNAL, SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Oct. 28, 1837. 
 
 Such is the turn which things have lately taken, that when Gen, 
 Adams writes a book, I am expected to write a commentary on 
 it. In the " Republican " of this morning he has presented the world 
 with a new work of six columns in length : in consequence of which 
 
APPENDIX 275 
 
 I must beg the room of one column in the " Journal." It is ob 
 vious that a minute reply cannot be made in one column to every 
 thing that can be said in six; and, consequently, I hope that ex 
 pectation will be answered, if I reply to such parts of the GeneraiV. 
 publication as are worth replying to. 
 
 It may not be improper to remind the reader that in his publica 
 tion of Sept. 6th General Adams said that the assignment charge 
 was manufactured just before the election; and that in reply I 
 proved that statement to be false by Keys, his own witness. Now, 
 without attempting to explain, he furnishes me with another wit 
 ness (Tinsley) by which the same thing is proved, to wit, that 
 the assignment was not manufactured just before the election; 
 but that it was some weeks before. Let it be borne in mind that 
 Adams made this statement has himself furnished two witnesses 
 to prove its falsehood, and does not attempt to deny or explain it. 
 Before going farther, let a pin be stuck here, labeled " one lie 
 proved and confessed." On the 6th of September he said he had 
 before stated in the hand bill that he held an assignment dated 
 May 20th, 1828, which in reply I pronounced to be false, and 
 referred to the hand bill for the truth of what I said. This week 
 he forgets to make any explanation of this. Let another pin be 
 stuck here, labeled as before. I mention these things, because, if, 
 when I convict him in one falsehood, he is permitted to shift his 
 ground and pass it by in silence, there can be no end to this con 
 troversy. 
 
 The first thing that attracts my attention in the General s pres 
 ent production, is the information he is pleased to give to " Those 
 who are made to suffer at his (my) hands" 
 
 Under present circumstances, this cannot apply to me, for I 
 am not a widow nor an orphan : nor have I a wife or children who 
 might by possibility become such. Such, however, I have no 
 doubt, have been, and will again be made to suffer at his hands! / 
 Hands! Yes, they are the mischievous agents. The next thing 
 I shall notice is his favorite expression, " not of lawyers, doctors 
 and others," which he is so fond of applying to all who dare ex 
 pose his rascality. Now, let it be remembered that when he first 
 came to this country he attempted to impose himself upon the 
 community as a lawyer, and actually carried the attempt so far, 
 as to induce a man who was under a charge of murder to entrust 
 the defense of his life in his hands, and finally took his money 
 and got him hanged. Is this the man that is to raise a breeze 
 in his favor by abusing lawyers ? If he is not himself a lawyer, it 
 is for the lack of sense, and not of inclination. If he is not a 
 lawyer, he is a liar for he proclaimed himself a lawyer, and got 
 a man hanged by depending on him. 
 
 Passing over such parts of the article as have neither fact nor 
 argument in them, I come to the question asked by Adamg 
 whether any person ever saw the assignment in his possession* 
 This is an insult to common sense. Talbott has sworn once and 
 
276 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 repeated time and again, that he got it out of Adams s possession 
 and returned it into the same possession. Still, as though he waa 
 addressing fools, he has assurance to ask if any person ever saw 
 it in his possession. Next I quote a sentence, " Now my son 
 Lucian swears that when Talbott called for the deed, that he, Tal- 
 bott, opened it and pointed out the error." True. His son Lucian 
 did swear as he says; and in doing so, he swore what I will prove 
 by his own affidavit to be a falsehood. Turn to Lucian s affidavit, 
 and you will there see that Talbott called for the deed by which 
 to correct an error on the record. Thus it appears that the error 
 in question was on the record, and not in the deed. How then 
 could Talbott open the deed and point out the error? Where a 
 thing is not, it cannot be pointed out. The error was not in the 
 deed, and of course could not be pointed out there. This does not 
 merely prove that the error could not be pointed out, as Lucian 
 swore it was; but it proves, too, that the deed was not opened in 
 his presence with a special view to the error, for if it had been, 
 he could not have failed to see that there was no error in it. It 
 is easy enough to see why Lucian swore this. His object was to 
 prove that the assignment was not in the deed, when Talbott got 
 it: but it was discovered he could not swear this safely, without 
 first swearing the deed was opened and if he swore it was 
 opened, he must show a motive for opening it, and the conclusion 
 with him and his father was, that the pointing out the error, 
 would appear the most plausible. 
 
 For the purpose of showing that the assignment was not in the 
 bundle when Talbott got it, is the story introduced into Lucian s 
 affidavit that the deeds were counted. It is a remarkable fact, 
 and one that should stand as a warning to all liars and fabricators, 
 that in this short affidavit of Lucian s, he only attempted to depart 
 from the truth, so far as I have the means of knowing, in two 
 points, to-wit, in the opening the deed and pointing out the error; 
 and the counting of the deeds, and in both of these he caught 
 himself. About the counting, he caught himself thus after say 
 ing the bundle contained five deeds and a lease, he proceeds, 
 " and I saw no other papers than the said deed and lease." First 
 he has six papers, and then he saw none but two for "my son 
 Lucian s " benefit, let a pin be stuck here. 
 
 Adams again adduces the argument, that he could not have 
 forged the assignment, for the reason that he could have had no 
 motive for it. With those that know the facts there is no ab 
 sence of motive. Admitting the paper, which he has filed in the 
 suit to be genuine, it is clear that it cannot answer the purpose 
 for which he designs it. Hence his motive for making one that 
 he supposed would answer, is obvious. His making the date too 
 old is also easily enough accounted for. The records were not in 
 his hands, and then there being some considerable talk upon this 
 particular subject, he knew he could not examine the records to 
 ascertain the precise dates witbout subjecting himself to BUS- 
 
APPENDIX 277 
 
 pscion ; and hence he concluded to try it by guess, and as it turned 
 out, missed it a little. About Miller s deposition, I have a word to 
 eay. In the first place, Miller s answer to the first question shows 
 upon its face, that he had been tampered with, ana the answer 
 dictated to him. He was asked if he knew Joel Wright and 
 James Adams; and above three-fourths of his ansvver consists 
 of what he knew about Joseph Anderson, a man about whom 
 nothing had been asked, nor a word said in the question a fact 
 that can only be accounted for upon the supposition, that Adams 
 had secretly told him what he wished him to swear to. 
 
 Another of Miller s answers I will prove both by common sense 
 and the Court of Record is untrue. To one question he answers, 
 " Anderson brought a suit against me before James Adams, then 
 an acting Justice of the Peace in Sangamon County, before whom 
 he obtained a judgment. 
 
 Q. Did you remove the same by injunction to the Sangamon 
 Circuit Court? Ans. I did remove it. Now mark- it is said 
 he removed it by injunction. The word " injunction " in common 
 language imports a command that some person or thing shall not 
 move or be removed; in law it has the same meaning. An in 
 junction issuing out of Chancery to a Justice of the Peace, is a 
 command to him to stop all proceedings in a named case until 
 further orders. It is not an order to remove but to stop or stay 
 something that is already moving. Besides this, the records of the 
 Sangamon Circuit Court show, that the judgment of which Miller 
 swore was never removed into said Court by injunction or other 
 wise. 
 
 I have now to take notice of a part of Adams s address which in 
 the order of time should have been noticed before. It is in these 
 words, " I have now shown, in the opinion of two competent 
 judges, that the handwriting of the forged assignment differed from 
 mine, and ~by one of them that it could not be mistaken for mine" 
 That is false. Tinsley no doubt is the judge referred to; and by 
 reference to his certificate it will be seen that he did not say the 
 handwriting of the assignment could not be mistaken for Adams s 
 nor did he use any other expression substantially, or anything near 
 substantially the same. But if Tinsley had said the handwriting 
 could not be mistaken for Adams s, it would have been equally 
 unfortunate for Adams: for it then would have contradicted 
 Keys, who says, "I looked at the writing and judged it the said 
 Adams s or a good imitation." 
 
 Adams speaks with much apparent confidence of his success on 
 attending law suits, and the ultimate maintenance of his title to 
 the land in question. Without wishing to disturb the pleasure of 
 his dream, I would say to him that it is not impossible, that he 
 may yet be taught to sing a different song in relation to the 
 matter. 
 
 At the end of Miller s deposition, Adams asks, "Will Mr. Lin- 
 csoln now say that he is almost convinced my title to tliis ten acre 
 
278 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 tract of land is founded in fraud ? " I answer, I will not. I will 
 now change the phraseology so as to make it run I am quite 
 convinced, &c. I cannot pass in silence Adams s assertion that 
 he has proved that the forged assignment was not in the deed 
 when it came from his house by Talbott f the Recorder. In this, 
 although Talbott has sworn that the assignment was in the bundle 
 of deed when it came from his house, Adams has the unaccountable 
 assurance to say that he has proved the contrary by Talbott. 
 Let him or his friends attempt to show, wherein he proved any 
 such thing by Talbott. 
 
 In his publication of the 6th of September he hinted to Tal 
 bott, that he might ~be mistaken. In his present, speaking of Tal 
 bott and me he says " They may have been imposed upon 9 Can 
 any man of the least penetration fail to see the object of this? 
 After he has stormed and raged till he hopes and imagines he has 
 got us a little scared he wishes to softly whisper in our ears, " If 
 you ll quit I will." If he could get us to say, that some unknown, 
 undefined being had slipped the assignment into our hands without 
 our knowledge, not a doubt remains but that he would immedi 
 ately discover, that we were the purest men on earth. This is 
 the ground he evidently wishes us to understand he is willing 
 to compromise upon. But we ask no such charity at his hands. 
 We are neither mistaken nor imposed upon. We have made the 
 statements we have, because we know them to be true and we 
 choose to live or die by them. 
 
 Esq. Carter, who is Adams s friend, personal and political, will 
 recollect, that, on the 5th of this month, he, (Adams) with a 
 great affectation of modesty, declared that he would never intro 
 duce his own child as a witness. Notwithstanding this affectation 
 of modesty, he has in his present publication introduced his child 
 as witness; and as if to show with hoT7 much contempt he could 
 treat his own declaration, he has had this same Esq. Carter to 
 administer the oath to him. And so important a witness does he 
 consider him, and so entirely does the whole of his entire present 
 production depend upon the testimony of his child, that in it he 
 has mentioned "my son," "my son Lucian," "Lucian, my son," 
 and the like expressions no less than fifteen different times. Let 
 it be remembered here, that I have shown the affidavit of "my 
 darling son Lucian" to be false by the evidence apparent on 
 its own face; and I now ask if that affidavit be taken away what 
 foundation will the fabric have left to stand upon ? 
 
 General Adams s publications and out-door maneuvring taken in 
 connection with the editorial articles of the " Republican," are not 
 more foolish and contradictory than they are ludicrous and amus 
 ing. One week the "Republican" notifies the public that Gen, 
 Adams is preparing an instrument that will tear, rend, split, rive, 
 blow up, confound, overwhelm, annihilate, extinguish, exterminate, 
 burst asunder, and grind to powder all its slanderers, and particu 
 larly Talbott and Lincoln all of which is to be done in due time . 
 
APPENDIX 379 
 
 Then for two or three weeks all is calm- not a word daid. Again 
 the "Republican" comes forth with a mere passing remark that 
 " Public opinion has decided in favor of Gen. Adams," and inti 
 mates that he will give himself no more trouble about the matter. 
 In the meantime Adams himself is prowling about, and as Burns 
 says of the Devil, " For prey, a holes and corners tryin ," and 
 in one instance, goes so far as to take an old acquaintance of mine 
 several steps from a crowd and apparently weighed down with 
 the importance of his business, gravely and solemnly asks him if 
 |" Tie ever heard Lincoln say he was a deist." Anon the "Repub 
 lican" comes again, "We invite the attention of the public to 
 General Adams s communication," &c., " The victory is a great 
 one," " The triumph is overwhelming." (I really believe the edi 
 tor of the Illinois " Republican " is fool enough to think General 
 Adams is an honest man.) Then Gen. Adams leads off " Authors 
 most egregiously mistaken" &c., " most wofully shall their pre 
 sumption be punished" &c. (Lord, have mercy on us.) " The hour 
 is yet to come, yea nigh at hand (how long first do you reckon?) 
 when the Journal and its junto shall say, I have appeared too 
 early" " Then infamy shall lie laid bare to the public gaze" Sud 
 denly the Gen. appears to relent at the severity with which he is 
 treating us and he exclaims, " The condemnation of my enemies 
 is the inevitable result of my own defense" For your health s 
 sake dear Gen., do not permit your tenderness of heart to afflict 
 you so much on our account. For some reason (perhaps because we 
 are killed so quickly) we shall never be sensible of our suffering. 
 
 Farewell, General. I will see you again at Court, if not before 
 when and where we will settle the question whether you or the 
 widow shall have the land. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 October 18, 1837. 
 
 SPEECH BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN BEFORE THE ILLI 
 NOIS LEGISLATURE IN JANUARY, 1837. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, upon the resolution offered by 
 Mr. Linder, to institute an enquiry into the management of 
 the affairs of the State Bank. 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN : Lest I should fall into the too common error, of 
 being mistaken in regard to which side I design to l.e upon, I shall 
 make it my first care to remove all doubt on that point, by declar 
 ing that I am opposed to the resolution under consideration, in 
 toto. Before I proceed to the body of the subject, I will further 
 remark, that it is not without a considerable degree of appre 
 hension, that I venture to cross the track of the gentleman from 
 Coles (Mr. Linder). Indeed, I do not believe I could muster a 
 sufficiency of courage to come in contact with that gentleman, were 
 it not for the fact, that he, some days since, most graciously con 
 descended to assure us that he would never be found wasting am- 
 
280 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 munition on small game. On the same fortunate occasion, he 
 further gave us to understand, that he regarded himself as be 
 ing decidedly the superior of our common friend from Randolph 
 (Mr. Shields) ; and feeling, as I really do, that I, to say the most 
 of myself, am nothing more than the peer of our friend from Ran 
 dolph, I shall regard the gentleman from Coles as decidedly my 
 superior also, and consequently, in the course of what I shall 
 have to say, whenever I shall have occasion to allude to that gen 
 tleman, I shall endeavor to adopt that kind of court language 
 which I understand to be due to decided superiority. In one 
 faculty, at least, there can be no dispute of the gentleman s su 
 periority over me, and most other men; and that is, the faculty of 
 entangling a subject, so that neither himself, or any other man, 
 can find head or tail to it. Here he has introduced a resolution, 
 embracing ninety-nine printed lines across common writing paper, 
 and yet more than one-half of his opening speech has been made 
 upon subjects about which there is not one word said in his reso 
 lution. 
 
 Though his resolution embraces nothing in regard to the con 
 stitutionality of the Bank, much of what he has said has been 
 with a view to make the impression that it was unconstitutional 
 in its inception. Now, although I am satisfied that an ample field 
 may be found within the pale of the resolution, at least for small 
 game, yet as the gentleman has travelled out of it, I feel that I 
 may, with all due humility, venture to follow him. The gentle 
 man has discovered that some gentleman at Washington city has 
 been upon the very eve of deciding our Bank unconstitutional, 
 and that he would probably have completed his very authentic 
 decision, had not some one of the Bank officers placed his hand 
 upon his mouth, and begged him to withhold it. The fact that 
 the individuals composing our Supreme Court, have, in an official 
 capacity, decided in favor of the constitutionality of the Bank, 
 would, in my mind, seem a sufficient answer to this. It is a fact 
 known to all, that the members of the Supreme Court, together 
 with the Governor, form a Council of Revision, and that this 
 Council approved this Bank Charter. I ask, then, if the extra- 
 judicial decision not quite, but almost made, by the gentleman 
 at Washington, before whom, by the way, the question of the 
 constitutionality of our Bank never has, nor never can come 
 is to be taken as paramount to a decision officially made by that 
 tribunal, by which and which alone, the constitutionality of the 
 Bank can never be settled? But aside from this view of the sub 
 ject, I would ask, if the committee which this resolution proposes 
 to appoint, are to examine into the constitutionality of the Bank? 
 Are they to be clothed with power to send for persons and papers, 
 for this object? And after they have found the Bank to be 
 unconstitutional, and decided it so, how are they to enforce their 
 decision? What will their decision amount to? They cannot 
 compel the Bank to ceaae operations, or to change the course of it? 
 
APPENDIX 281 
 
 operations. What good, then, can their labors result in? Cer 
 tainly none. 
 
 The gentleman asks, if we, without an examination, shall, 
 by giving the State deposits to the Bank, and by taking the stock 
 reserved for the State, legalize its former misconduct? Now I 
 do not pretend to possess sufficient legal knowledge to decide, 
 whether a legislative enactment, proposing to, and accepting from, 
 the Bank, certain terms, which would have the effect to legalize 
 or wipe out its former errors, or not; but I can assure the gen 
 tleman, if such should be the effect, he has already got behind 
 the settlement of accounts; for it is well known to all, that the 
 Legislature, at its last session, passed a supplemental Bank char 
 ter, which the Bank has since accepted, and which, according to his 
 doctrine, has legalized all the alleged violations of its original 
 charter in the distribution of its stock. 
 
 I now proceed to the resolution. By examination it will be found 
 that the first thirty-three lines, being precisely one-third of the 
 whole, relate exclusively to the distribution of the stock by the 
 commissioners appointed by the State. Now, Sir, it is clear that 
 no question can arise on this portion of the resolution, except 
 a question between capitalists in regard to the ownership of stock. 
 Some gentlemen have their stock in their hands, while others, 
 who have more money, than they know what to do with, want it; 
 and this, and this alone, is the question, to settle which we are 
 called on to squander thousands of the people s money. What 
 interest, let me ask, have the people in the settlement of this ques 
 tion? What difference is it to them whether the stock is owned 
 by Judge Smith or Sam Wiggins? If any gentleman be entitled 
 to stock in the Bank, which he is kept out of possession of by 
 others, let him assert his right in the Supreme Court, and let him 
 or his antagonist, whichever may be found in the wrong, pay the 
 costs of suit. It is an old maxim and a very sound one, that he 
 that dances should always pay the fiddler Now, Sir, in the pres 
 ent case, if any gentlemen, whose money is a burden to them, 
 choose to lead off a dance, I am decidedly opposed to the people s 
 money being used to pay the fiddler. No one can doubt that the 
 examination proposed by this resolution, must cost the State 
 some ten or twelve thousand dollars ; and all this to settle a question 
 in which the people have no interest, and about which they care 
 nothing. These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in con 
 cert, to fleece the people, and now, that they have got into a quar 
 rel with themselves, we are called upon to appropriate the people s 
 money to settle the quarrel. 
 
 I leave this part of the resolution and proceed to the remainder. 
 It will be found that no charge in the remaining part of the reso 
 lution, if true, amounts to the violation of the Bank charter, 
 except one, which I will notice in due time. It might seem quite 
 sufficient to say no more upon any of these charges or insinua- 
 tions, than enough to show they are AQt violations of the charter; 
 
282 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 yet, as they are ingeniously framed and handled, with a view to 
 deceive and mislead, I will notice in their order, all the most 
 prominent of them. The first of these is in relation to a con 
 nection between our Bank and several Banking institutions in other 
 States. Admitting this connection to exist, I should like to see 
 the gentleman from Coles, or any other gentleman, undertake to 
 show that there is any harm in it. What can there be in such a 
 connection, that the people of Illinois are willing to pay their 
 money to get a peep into? By a reference to the tenth section of 
 the Bank charter, any gentleman can see that the framers of the 
 act contemplated the holding of stock in the institutions of other 
 corporations. Why, then, is it, when neither law nor justice for 
 bids it, that we are asked to spend out time and money, in inquir 
 ing into its truth ? 
 
 The next charge, in the order of time, is, that some officer, di 
 rector, clerk or servant of the Bank, has been required to take 
 an oath of secrecy in relation to the affairs of said Bank. Now, 
 I do not know whether this be true or false neither do I believe 
 any honest man cares. I know that the seventh section of the 
 charter expressly guarantees to the Bank the right of making, 
 under -certain restrictions, such by-laws as it may think fit ; and I 
 further know that the requiring an oath of secrecy would not 
 transcend those restrictions. What, then, if the Bank has chosen 
 to exercise this right? Who can it injure? Does not every mer 
 chant have his secret mark? and who is ever silly enough to com 
 plain of it? I presume if the Bank does require any such oath of 
 secrecy, it is done through a motive of delicacy to those indi 
 viduals who deal with it. Why, sir, not many days since, one 
 gentleman upon this floor, who, by the way I have no doubt is now 
 ready to join this hue and cry against the Bank, indulged in a 
 phillippic against one of the Bank officials, because, as he said, 
 he had divulged a secret. 
 
 Immediately following this last charge, there are several in 
 sinuations in the resolution, which are too silly to require any 
 sort of notice, were it not for the fact, that they conclude by 
 saying, " to the great injury of the people at large." In answer 
 to this I would say that it is strange enough, that the people 
 are suffering these " great injuries," and yet are not sensible of 
 it! Singular indeed that the people should be writhing under op 
 pression and injury, and yet not one among them to be found, to 
 raise the voice of complaint. If the Bank be inflicting injury 
 upon the people, why is it, that not a single petition is presented to 
 this body on the subject? If the Bank really be a grievance, 
 why is it, that no one of the real people is found to ask redress 
 of it? The truth is, no such oppression exists. If it did, our 
 people would groan with memorials and petitions, and we would 
 not be permitted to rest day or night, till we had put it down The 
 people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and 
 maintain them, when they are invaded. Let *iiem call for ai) 
 
APPENDIX 283 
 
 Investigation, and I shall ever stand ready to respond to the call. 
 But they have made no such call. I make the assertion boldly, and 
 without fear of contradiction, that no man, who does not hold an 
 office, or does not aspire to one, has ever found any fault of the 
 Bank. It has doubled the prices of the products of their farms, 
 and filled their pockets with a sound circulating medium, and they 
 are all well pleased with its operations. No, Sir, it is the politician 
 who is the first to sound the alarm, (which, by the way, is a false 
 one.) It is he, who, by these unholy means, is endeavoring to 
 blow up a storm that he may ride upon and direct. It is he, 
 and he alone, that here proposes to spend thousands of the people s 
 public treasure, for no other advantage to them, than to make 
 valueless in their pockets the reward of their industry. Mr. 
 Chairman, this work is exclusively the work of politicians; a set 
 of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, 
 and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least 
 one long step removed from honest men. I say this with the 
 greater freedom, because, being a politician myself, none can 
 regard it as personal. 
 
 Again, it is charged, or rather insinuated, that officers of the 
 Bank have loaned money at usurious rates of interest. Suppose 
 this to be true, are we to send a committee of this House to 
 enquire into it? Suppose the committee should find it true, can 
 they redress the injured individuals? Assuredly not. If any 
 individual had been injured in this way, is there not an ample 
 remedy to be found in the laws of the land? Does the gentleman 
 from Coles know, that there is a statute standing in full force, 
 making it highly penal, for an individual to loan money at a higher 
 rate of interest than twelve per cent? If he does not he is too 
 ignorant to be placed at the head of the committee which his 
 resolution proposes; and if he does, his neglect to mention it, 
 ehows him to be too uncandid to merit the respect or confidence of 
 any one. 
 
 But besides all this, if the Bank were struck from, existence, 
 could not the owners of the capital still loan it usuriously, as well 
 as now? Whatever the Bank, or its officers, may have done, I 
 know that usurious transactions were much more frequent and 
 enormous, before the commencement of its operations, than they 
 have ever been since. 
 
 The next insinuation is, that the Bank has refused specie pay 
 ments. This, if true, is a violation of the charter. But there is 
 not the least probability of its truth; because, if such had been 
 the fact, the individual to whom payment was refused, would 
 have had an interest in making it public, by suing for the dam 
 ages to which the charter entitles him. Yet no such thing has 
 been done; and the strong presumption is, that the insinuation is 
 false and groundless. 
 
 From this to the end of the resolution, there is nothing that 
 merits attention I therefore drop the particular examination of it. 
 
284 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 By a general view of the resolution, it will be seen that a prin 
 cipal object of the committee is, to examine into, and ferret out, 
 a mass of corruption, supposed to have been committed by the 
 commissioners who apportioned the stock of the Bank. I be 
 lieve it is universally understood and acknowledged, that all men 
 will ever act correctly, unless they have a motive to do otherwise. 
 If this be true, we can only suppose that the commissioners acted 
 corruptly, by also supposing that they were bribed to do so. Tak 
 ing this view of the subject, I would ask if the Bank is likely to 
 find it more difficult to bribe the committee of seven, which we 
 are about to appoint, than it may have found it to bribe the com 
 missioners ? 
 
 (Here Mr. Linder called to order. The Chair decided that Mr. 
 Lincoln was not out of order. Mr. Linder appealed to the House; 
 but before the question was put, withdrew his appeal, saying, he 
 preferred to let the gentleman go on; he thought he would break 
 his own neck. Mr. Lincoln proceeded) 
 
 Another gracious condescension, I acknowledge it with grati 
 tude. I know I was not out of order; and I know every sensible 
 man in the House knows it. I was not saying that the gentleman 
 from Coles could not (?) be bribed, nor, on the other hand, will I 
 say he could not. In that particular I leave him where I found 
 him. I was only endeavoring to show that there was at least as 
 great a probability of any^ seven members that could be selected 
 from this House, being bribed to act corruptly, as there was, that 
 the twenty-four commissioners had been so bribed. By a ref 
 erence to the ninth section of the Bank charter, it will be seen 
 that those commissioners were John Tilson, Robert K. McLaugh- 
 lin, Daniel Wann, A. G. S. Wight, John C. Riley, W. H. David 
 son, Edward M. Wilson, Edward L. Pierson, Robert R. Green, 
 Ezra Baker, Aquilla Wren, John Taylor, Samuel C. Christy, Ed 
 mund Roberts, Benjamin Godfrey, Thomas Mather, A. M. Jenkins, 
 W. Linn, W. S. Gilman, Charles Prentice, Richard I. Hamilton, 
 A. H. Buckner, W. F. Thornton, and Edmund D. Taylor. 
 
 These are twenty-four of the most respectable men in the State. 
 Probably no twenty-four men could be selected in the State, with 
 whom the people are better acquainted, or in whose honor and 
 integrity, they would more readily place confidence. And I now 
 repeat, that there is less probability that those men have been 
 bribed and corrupted, than that any seven men, or rather any 
 six men, that could be selected from the members of this House, 
 might be so bribed and corrupted; even though they were headed 
 and led on by " decided superiority " himself. 
 
 In all seriousness, I ask every reasonable man, if an issue be 
 joined by these twenty-four commissioners, on the one part, and 
 any other seven men, on the other part, and the whole depend 
 upon the honor and integrity of the contending parties, to which 
 party would the greatest degree of credit be due? Again: Arv- 
 other consideration is, that we have no right to make the exam- 
 
APPENDIX 285 
 
 ination. What I shall say upon this head, I design exclusively 
 for the law-loving and law-abiding part of the House. To those 
 who claim omnipotence for the Legislature, and who in the plenti- 
 tude of their assumed powers, are disposed to disregard the Con 
 stitution, law, good faith, moral right, and every thing else, 1 
 have not a word to say. But to the law-abiding part I say, examine 
 the Bank charter, go examine the Constitution; go examine the 
 acts that the General Assembly of this State has passed, and you 
 will find just as much authority given in each and every of them, 
 to compel the Bank to bring its coffers to this hall, and to pour 
 their contents upon this floor, as to compel it to submit to thia 
 examination which this resolution proposes. Why, sir, the gen 
 tleman from Coles, the mover of this resolution, very lately denied 
 on this floor, that the Legislature had any right to repeal, or other 
 wise meddle with its own acts, when those acts were made in the 
 nature of contracts, and had been accepted and acted on by other 
 parties. Now I ask, if this resolution does not propose, for thia 
 House alone, to do, what he, but the other day, denied the right 
 of the whole Legislature to do ? He must either abandon the posi 
 tion he then took, or he must now vote against his own resolution. It 
 is no difference to me, and I presume but little to any one else, 
 which he does. 
 
 I am by no means the special advocate of the Bank. I have 
 long thought that it would be well for it to report its condition to 
 the General Assembly, and that cases might occur, when it might 
 be proper to make an examination of its affairs by a committee. 
 Accordingly, during the last session, while a bill supplemental to 
 the Bank charter, was pending before the House, I offered an 
 amendment to the same, in these words : " The said corporation 
 shall, at the next session of the General Assembly, and at each 
 subsequent General Session, during the existence of its charter, 
 report to the same the amount of debts due from said corpora 
 tion; the amount of debts due to the same; the amount of specie 
 in its vaults, and an account of all lands then owned by the same, 
 and the amount for which such lands have been taken; and more 
 over, if said corporation shall at any time neglect or refuse to 
 submit its books, papers, and all and every thing necessary, for a 
 full and fair examination of its affairs, to any person or persona 
 appointed by the General Assembly, for the purpose of making 
 such examination, the said corporation shall forfeit its charter." 
 
 This amendment was negatived by a vote of 34 to 15. Eleven 
 of the 34 who voted against it, are now members of this House; 
 and though it would be out of order to call their names, I hope 
 they will all recollect themselves, and not vote for this examina 
 tion to be made without authority, inasmuch as they refused to 
 receive the authority when it was in their power to do so. 
 
 I have said that cases might occur, when an examination might 
 be proper; but I do not believe any such case has now occurred; 
 and if it has, I should still be opposed to making an examination 
 
286 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 without legal authority. I am opposed to encouraging that law 
 less and mobocratic spirit, whether in relation to the Bank or any 
 thing else, which is already abroad in the land; and is spreading 
 with rapid and fearful impetuosity, to the ultimate overthrow of 
 every institution, of even moral principle, in which persons and 
 property have hitherto found security. 
 
 But supposing we had the authority, I would ask what good 
 can result from the examination? Can we declare the Bank un 
 constitutional, and compel it to desist from the abuses of its 
 power, provided we find such abuses to exist? Can we repair the 
 injuries which it may have done to individuals? Most certainly 
 we can do none of these things. Why then shall we spend the 
 public money in such employment? O, say the examiners, we 
 can injure the credit of the Bank, if nothing else. Please tell me, 
 gentlemen, who will suffer most by that? You cannot injure, to 
 any extent, the stockholders. They are men of wealth of large 
 capital; and consequently, beyond the power of malice. But by 
 injuring the credit of the Bank, you will depreciate the value of 
 its paper in the hands of the honest and unsuspecting farmer and 
 mechanic, and that is all you can do. But suppose you could 
 affect your whole purpose; suppose you could wipe the Bank 
 from existence, which is the grand ultimatum of the project, what 
 would be the consequence? Why, sir, we should spend several 
 thousand dollars of the public treasure in the operation, annihi 
 late the currency of the State; render valueless in the hands of 
 our people that reward of their former labors ; and finally, be once 
 more under the comfortable obligation of paying the Wiggins 
 loan, principal and interest. 
 
 (The foregoing speech is found in the Saiigamo "Journal" of 
 January 28, 1837. It was copied by the Journal " from the Van- 
 dalia " Free Press.") 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, June llth, 1839. 
 DEAR Kow: 
 
 Mr. Redman informs me that you wish me to write you the 
 particulars of a conversation between Dr. Felix and myself rela 
 tive to you. The Dr. overtook me between Rushville and Beards- 
 town. He, after learning that I had lived at Springfield, asked 
 if I was acquainted with you. I told him I was. He said you 
 had lately been elected constable in Adams, but that you never 
 would be again. I asked him why? He said the people there, 
 had found out that you had been Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff in 
 Sangamon County, and that you came off and left your securities 
 to suffer. He then asked me if I did not know such to be the fact. 
 1 told him I did not think you had ever been Sheriff or Deputy 
 Sheriff in Sangamon; but that I thought you had been consta 
 ble. I further told him that if you had left your securities to 
 suffer in that or any other case, I had never heard of it, and that 
 if it had been so, I thought I would have heard of it. 
 
APPENDIX 287 
 
 If the Dr. is telling that I told him anything against you what 
 ever, I authorize you to contradict it flatly. We have no news here. 
 
 Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, HI.) 
 
 SPRINGJLBLD, ILL., Feby. 16, 1842. 
 G. B. SHELEDY, ESQR. : 
 
 Yours of the 10th is duly received. Judge Logan and myself 
 are doing business together now, and we are willing to attend 
 to your cases as you propose As to the terms, we are willing to 
 attend each case you prepare and send us for $10 (when there shall 
 be no opposition) to be sent in advance, or you to know that it 
 is safe It takes $5.75 of cost to start upon, that is, $1.75 to 
 clerk, and $2 to each of two publishers of papers Judge Logan 
 thinks it will take the balance of $20 to carry a case through 
 This must be advanced from time to time as the services are per 
 formed, as the officers will not act without I do not know 
 whether you can be admitted an attorney of the Federal -court 
 in your absence or not; nor is it material, as the business can 
 be done in our names. 
 
 Thinking it may aid you a little, I send you one of our blank 
 forms of Petitions It, you will see, is framed to be sworn to 
 before the Federal court clerk, and, in your cases, will have (to) 
 be so far changed, as to be sworn to before the clerk of your cir 
 cuit court; and his certificate must be accompanied with his offi 
 cial seal The schedules too, must be attended to Be sure 
 that they contain the creditors names, their residences, the 
 amounts due each, the debtors names, their residences, and the 
 amounts they owe, also all property and where located. 
 
 Also be sure that the schedules are signed by the applicants 
 as well as the Petition. 
 
 Publication will have to be made here in one paper, and in one 
 nearest the residence of the applicant. Write us in each case 
 where the last advertisement is to be sent, whether to you or to 
 what paper. 
 
 I believe I have now said everything that can be of any ad 
 vantage. Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Historical Dep t of Iowa, loaned by the 
 Hon. Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 February 22, 1842. 
 To GEORGE E. PICKETT. 
 
 I never encourage deceit, and falsehood, especially if you have 
 got a bad memory, is the worst enemy a fellow can have. The 
 fact is truth is your truest friend, no matter what the circum- 
 
288 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 stances are. Notwithstanding this copy-book preamble, my boy, 
 I am inclined to suggest a little prudence on your part. You see 
 I have a congenital aversion to failure, and the sudden announce 
 ment to your Uncle Andrew of the success of your " lamp-rubbing ;! 
 might possibly prevent your passing the severe physical examina 
 tion to which you will be subjected in order to enter the Military 
 Academy. You see, I should like to have a perfect soldier cred 
 ited to dear old Illinois no broken bones, scalp wounds, etc. So 
 I think perhaps it might be wise to hand this letter from me, in 
 to your good uncle through his room-window after he has had a 
 comfortable dinner, and watch its effect from the top of the pigeon- 
 house. 
 
 I have just told the folks here in Springfield on this lllth an 
 niversary of the birth of him whose name, mightiest in the cause 
 of civil liberty, still mightiest in the cause of moral reformation, 
 we mention in solemn awe, in naked, deathless splendor, that 
 the one victory we can ever call complete will be that one which 
 proclaims that there is not one slave or one drunkard on the face 
 of God s green earth. Recruit for this victory. 
 
 Now, boy, on your march, don t you go and forget the old maxim 
 that " one drop of honey catches more flies than a half -gallon of 
 gall." Load your musket with this maxim, and smoke it in your 
 pipe. 
 
 (Original owned by Lasalle Corbell Pickett. Extracts published 
 in "Tickett & His Men.") 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, August 15, 1842. 
 FRIEND WALKER : 
 
 Enclosed you have an order of court allowing your assignee to 
 sell your property on a credit. Nothing is said in it about allow 
 ing your creditors pay for what they may purchase without money. 
 We however, think this a matter of no consequence; as it will be 
 a matter of course to take their bonds and security, as of other 
 purchasers, and then, in the final settlement, to set off their divi 
 dends against those bonds in whole or as far as they will go. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 LOGAN & LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by J. H. Franklin, Lacon, 111.) 
 
 John Bennett. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, March 7, 1843. 
 FRIEND BENNETT : 
 
 Your letter of this day was handed me by Mr. Miles It is too 
 late now to effect the object you desire On yesterday morning 
 the most of the whig members from this District got together and 
 
APPENDIX 289 
 
 agreed to hold the convention at Tremont in Tazewell County 
 I am sorry to hear that any of the whigs of your County, or in 
 deed of any County, should longer be against conventions. 
 On last Wednesday evening a meeting of all the whigs then 
 here from all parts of the state was held, and the question of the 
 propriety of conventions was brought up and fully discussed, and 
 at the end of the discussion a resolution recommending the sys 
 tem of conventions to all the whigs of the state was unanimously 
 adopted Other resolutions were also passed, all of which will 
 appear in the next Journal. The meeting also appointed a com 
 mittee to draft an address to the people of the state, which ad 
 dress will also appear in the next Journal. 
 
 In it you will find a brief argument in favor of conventions and 
 although I wrote it myself I will say to you that it is conclusive 
 upon the point and can not be reasonably answered. The right 
 way for you to do is hold your meeting and appoint delegates any 
 how, and if there be any who will not take part, let it be so. 
 The matter will work so well this time that even they who now 
 oppose will come in next time. 
 
 The convention is to be held at Tremont on the 5th of April and 
 according to the rule we have adopted your County is to have dele 
 gates being double the number of your representation 
 
 If there be any good whig who is disposed to stick out against 
 conventions get him at least to read the argument in their favor 
 in the address. 
 
 Yours as ever. 
 
 (Original owned by E. B. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, May llth, 1843. 
 FRIEND HARDIN: 
 
 Butler informs me that he received a letter from you, in which 
 you expressed some doubt whether the whigs of Sahgamon will 
 support you cordially You may, at once, dismiss all fears on 
 that subject We have already resolved to make a particular 
 effort to give you the very largest majority possible in our coun 
 ty From this, no whig of the county dissents We have 
 many objects for doing it. We make it a matter of honor and 
 pride to do it; we do it, because we love the whig cause; we do 
 it, because we like you personally; and last, we wish to convince 
 you, that we do not bear that hatred to Morgan county, that 
 you people have so long seemed to imagine. You will see by the 
 journal of this week, that we propose, upon pain of losing a Bar 
 becue, to give you twice as great a majority in this county as you 
 shall receive in your own. I got up the proposal. 
 
 Who of the five appointed, is to write the District address? I 
 did the labor of writing one address this year; and got thunder 
 for my reward. Nothing new here. Yours as ever, 
 
 A.. LINCOLN. 
 
290 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 P. S. I wish you would measure one of the largest of those 
 swords, we took to Alton, and write me the length of it, from tip 
 of the point to tip of the hilt, in feet and inches, I have a dispute 
 about the length. A. L. 
 
 (Original owned by Ellen Hardin Walworth, New York City.) 
 
 This memorandum witnesseth that Charles Dresser and Abraham 
 Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois, have contracted with each other as 
 follows : 
 
 The said Dresser is to convey to or procure to be conveyed to said 
 Lincoln, by a clear title in fee simple, the entire premises (ground 
 and improvements) in Springfield, on which said Dresser now re 
 sides, and give him possession of said premises, on or before the 
 first day of April next for which said Lincoln, at or before the 
 same day, is to pay to said Dresser twelve hundred dollars, or what 
 said Dresser shall then at his option, accept as equivalent thereto; 
 and also to procure to be conveyed to said Dresser, by a clear title 
 in fee simple, the entire premises (ground and building) in Spring 
 field, on the block immediately West of the Public square, the 
 building on which is now occupied by H. A. Hough as a shop, being 
 the same premises some time since conveyed by N. W. Edwards and 
 wife to said Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan Said Dresser takes 
 upon himself to arrange with said Hough for the possession of said 
 shop and premises. 
 
 CHARLES DRESSEP 
 
 Jan y 16, 1844. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Signed duplicates.) 
 
 (Original on file in Springfield, HI.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, May 21, 1844. 
 DEAR HARDIN: 
 
 Knowing that you have correspondents enough, I have forborne 
 to trouble you heretofore; and I now only do so, to get you to 
 set a matter right which has got wrong with one of our best 
 friends. It is old uncle Thomas Campbell of Spring Creek (Ber 
 lin P. O.) He has received several documents from you, and he 
 says they are old newspapers and documents, having no sort of 
 interest in them. He is, therefore, getting a strong impression 
 that you treat him with disrespect. This, I know, is a mistaken 
 impression; and you must correct it. The way, I leave to your 
 self. Rob t W. Canfield, says he would like to have a document 
 or two from you. 
 
 The Locos here are in considerable trouble about Van Bureii s 
 letter on Texas, and the Virginia electors. They are growing sick 
 of the Tariff question; and consequently are much confounded at 
 V. B. s cutting them off from the new Texas question. Nearly 
 half the leaders swear they wont stand it. Of those are Ford, T, 
 
APPENDIX 291 
 
 Campbell, Ewing, Calhoun and others. They don t exactly say 
 they won t vote for V. B., but they say he will not be the candi 
 date, and that they are for Texas anyhow. As ever yours, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by Ellen Hardin Walworth, New York City.) 
 
 To General John J. Hardin. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, January 19, 1845. 
 DEAR GENERAL: 
 
 I do not wish to join in your proposal of a new plan for the 
 selection of a whig candidate for Congress, because 
 
 1st. I am entirely satisfied with the old system under which 
 you and Baker were successively nominated and elected to Con 
 gress; and because the Whigs of the District are well acquainted 
 with the system, and so far as I know or believe, are well satisfied 
 with it. If the old system be thought to be vague, as to all the 
 delegates of the county voting the same way; or as to instructions 
 to them as to whom they are to vote for; or as to filling vacan 
 cies, I am willing to jo^in a provision to make these matters 
 certain. 
 
 2nd. As to your proposals that a poll shall be opened in every 
 precinct, and that the whole shall take place on the same day, I 
 do not personally object. They seem to me to be not unfair; and I 
 forbear to join in proposing them, only because I choose to leave 
 the decision in each county to the Whigs of the county, to be 
 made as their own judgment and convenience may dictate. 
 
 3rd. As to your proposed stipulation that all the candidates 
 shall remain in their own counties, and restrain their friends in 
 the same it seems to me that on reflection you will see, the fact 
 of your having been in Congress has, in various ways, so spread 
 your name in the District, as to give you a decided advantage in 
 such a stipulation. I appreciate your desire to keep down ex 
 citement ; and I promise you keep cool under all circumstances. 
 
 4th. I have already said I am satisfied with the old system under 
 which such good men have triumphed, and that I desire no de 
 parture from its principles. But if there must be a departure 
 from it, I shall insist upon a more accurate and just apportionment 
 of delegates, or representative votes, to the constituent body, than 
 exists by the old; and which you propose to retain in your new 
 plan. If we take the entire population of the Counties as shown 
 by the late census, we shall see by the old plan, and by your pro 
 posed new plan, 
 
 Morgan county, with a population of 16541, has but 8 votes 
 
 While Sangamon with 18697 2156 greater, has but 8 votes 
 
 So Scott with 6553 has 4 votes 
 
 While Tazewell with 7615 has 1062 greater, has but 4 votes 
 
 So Mason with 3135 has 1 vote 
 
 While Logan with 3907, 772 greater, has but 1 vote 
 
292 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 And so on in a less degree the matter runs through all the coun 
 ties, being not only wrong in principle, but the advantage of it 
 being all manifestly in your favor with one slight exception, in 
 the comparison of two counties not here mentioned. 
 
 Again, if we take the whig votes of the counties as shown by 
 the late Presidential election as a basis, the thing is still worse. 
 Take a comparison of the same six counties 
 
 Morgan with her 1443 whig votes has 8 votes 
 
 Sangamon with her 1837, 394 greater, only has 8 votes 
 
 Mason with her 255 has 1 vote 
 
 Logan with her 310, 55 greater, has only 1 vote 
 
 Scott with her 670 has 4 votes 
 
 Tazewell with her 1011, 341 greater, has only 4 votes 
 
 It seems to me most obvious that the old system needs adjust 
 ment in nothing so much as in this : and still, by your proposal, no 
 notice is taken of it. I have always been in the habit of acceding 
 to almost any proposal that a friend would make and I am truly 
 sorry that I cannot in this. I perhaps ought to mention that 
 some friends at different places are endeavoring to secure the 
 honor of the sitting of the convention at their towns respectively, 
 and I fear that they would not feel much complimented if we shall 
 make a bargain that it should sit no where. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Copied from the Sangamo Journal" for Feb. 26, 1846.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, March 1, 1845. 
 FRIEND WILLIAMS: 
 
 The supreme court adjourned this morning for the term. Your 
 cases of Keinhardt vs. Schuyler, Bunce vs. Schuyler, Dickhut vs. 
 Dunell, and Sullivan vs. Andrews are continued. Hinman vs. 
 Pope I wrote you concerning some time ago. McNutt et al. vs. 
 Bean and Thompson is reversed and remanded. 
 
 Fitzpatrick vs. Brady et al. is reversed and remanded with 
 leave to complainant to amend his bill so as to show the real 
 consideration given for the land. 
 
 Bunce against Graves, the court confirmed, wherefore, in ac 
 cordance with your directions, I moved to have the case remanded 
 to enable you to take a new trial in the court below. The court 
 allowed the motion ; of which I am glad, and I guess you are. 
 
 This, I believe, is all as to court business. The canal men have 
 got their measure through the legislature pretty much or quite 
 in the shape they desired. Nothing else now. Yours, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. A. J. Morton. Washington, D. G.) 
 
APPENDIX 293 
 
 Williamson Durley. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, October 3, 1845. 
 
 When I saw you at home, it was agreed that I should write to 
 you and your brother Madison. Until I then saw you I was not 
 aware of your being what is generally called an Abolitionist, or, as 
 you call yourself, a Liberty man, though I well knew there were 
 many such in your country. 
 
 I was glad to hear that you intended to attempt to bring about, 
 at the next election in Putnam, a union of the Whigs proper and 
 such of the Liberty men as are Whigs in principle on all ques 
 tions save only that of slavery. So far as I can perceive, by such 
 union neither party need yield anything on the point in difference 
 between them. If the Whig abolitionists of New York had voted 
 with us last fall, Mr. Clay would now be President, Whig princi 
 ples in the ascendant, and Texas not annexed; whereas, by the di 
 vision, ail that either had at stake in the contest was lost. And, 
 indeed, it was extremely probable, beforehand, that such would 
 be the result. As I always understood, the Liberty men depre 
 cated the annexation of Texas extremely; and this being so, why 
 they should refuse to cast their votes (so) as to prevent it, even 
 to me seemed wonderful. What was their process of reasoning, 
 I can only judge from what a single one of them told me. It was 
 this : l We are not to do evil that good may come. This gen 
 eral proposition is doubtless correct; but did it apply? If by 
 your votes you could have prevented the extension, etc., of slav 
 ery would it not have been good, and not evil, so to have used 
 your votes, even though it involved the casting of them for a 
 slave-holder. By the fruit the tree is to be known. An evil tree 
 cannot bring forth good fruit. If the fruit of electing Mr. Clay 
 would have been to prevent the extension of slavery, could the act 
 of electing have been evil ? 
 
 But I will not argue further. I perhaps ought to say that 
 individually I never was much interested in the Texas question. 
 I never could see much good to come of annexation, inasmuch as 
 they were already a free republican people on our own model. On 
 the other hand. I never could very clearly see how the annexa 
 tion would augment the evil of slavery. It always seemed to me 
 that slaves would be taken there in about equal numbers, with or 
 without annexation. And if more were taken because of an 
 nexation, still there would be just so many the fewer left where 
 they were taken from. It is possibly true, to some extent, that, 
 with annexation, some slaves may be sent to Texas and continued 
 in slavery that otherwise might have been liberated. To whatever 
 extent this may be true, I think annexation an evil. I hold it to 
 be a paramount duty of us in the free States, due to the Union of 
 the States, and perhaps to liberty itself (paradox though it may 
 seem), to let the slavery of the other States alone; while, on 
 the other hand, I hold it to be equally clear that we should never 
 knowingly lend ourselves, directly or indirectly, to ^revent that 
 
294 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 slavery from dying a natural death to find new places for it to 
 live in, when it can no longer exist in the old. Of course I am 
 not now considering what would be our duty in cases of insur 
 rection among the slaves. To recur to the Texas question, I un 
 derstand the Liberty men to have viewed annexation as a much 
 greater evil than ever I did; and I would like to convince you, 
 if I could, that they could have prevented it, if they had chosen. 
 
 I intend this letter for you and Madison together; and if you 
 and he or either shall think fit to drop me a line, I shall be pleased. 
 
 Yours with respect, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. W. Durley, Princeton, Illinois.) 
 
 Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, HI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Jany. 7, 1846. 
 DEAR DOCTOR: 
 
 Since I saw you last fall, I have often thought of writing you, 
 as it was then understood I would, but, on reflection, I have al 
 ways found that I had nothing new to tell you. All has hap 
 pened as I then told you I expected it would Baker s declining, 
 Hardin s taking the track, and so on. 
 
 If Hardin and I stood precisely equal, if neither of us had been 
 to Congress, or, if we both had it would not only accord with 
 what I have always done, for the sake of peace, to give way to 
 him ; and I expect I should do it. That I can voluntarily postpone 
 my pretentions, when they are no more than equal to those to 
 which they are postponed, you have yourself seen. But to yield 
 to Hardin under present circumstances, seems to me as nothing 
 else than yielding to one who would gladly sacrifice me altogether. 
 This, I would rather not submit to. That Hardin is talented, 
 energetic, usually generous and magnanimous, I have, before 
 this, affirmed to you, and do not now deny. You know that my 
 only argument is that "turn about is fair play." This he prac 
 tically at least, denies. 
 
 If it would not be taxing you too much, I wish you would write 
 me, telling the aspect of things in your country, or rather your 
 district; and also, send the names of some of your Whig neigh 
 bours, to whom I might, with propriety, write. Unless I can get 
 some one to do this, Hardin, with his old franking list, will have 
 the advantage of me. My reliance for a fair shake (and I want 
 nothing more) in your county is chiefly on you, because of your 
 position and standing, and because I am acquainted with so few 
 others. Let me hear from you soon. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, Illinois.) 
 
APPENDIX 295 
 
 John Bennett. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Jany 15, 1846. 
 FRIEND JOHN: 
 
 Nathan Dresser is here, and speaks as though the contest be 
 tween Hardin and me is to be doubtful in Menard County I 
 know he is candid and this alarms me some I asked him to 
 tell me the names of the men that were going strong for Hardin; 
 he said Morris was about as strong as any Now tell me, is Morris 
 going it openly? You remember you wrote me, that he would be 
 neutral. Nathan also said that some man who he could not re 
 member had said lately that Menard County was going to de 
 cide the contest and that that made the contest very doubtful. 
 Do you know who that was? Don t fail to write me instantly on 
 receiving telling me all particularly the names of those who are 
 going strong against me. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by E. K. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, January 21, 1846. 
 N. J. ROCKWELL : 
 
 DEAR SIR: You perhaps know that General Hardin and I have 
 a contest for the Whig nomination for Congress for this district. 
 He has had a turn and my argument is " Turn about is fair play." 
 I shall be pleased if this strikes you as a sufficient argument. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Jaa. Berdan, 
 
 Jacksonville, HI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, April 26, 1846. 
 JAS. BERDAN, ESQR.: 
 
 DEAR SIR: I thank you for the promptness with which you 
 answered my letter from Bloomington. I also thank you for the 
 frankness with which you comment upon a certain part of my 
 letter; because that comment affords me an opportunity of try 
 ing to express myself better than I did before, seeing, as I do, that 
 in that part of my letter, you have not understood me as I intended 
 to be understood. In speaking of the " dissatisfaction " of men who 
 yet mean to do no wrong, &c., I meant no special application 
 of what I said to the Whigs of Morgan, or of Morgan & Scott. 
 I only had in my mind the fact, that previous to General Hardin a 
 withdrawal some of his friends and some of mine had become a 
 little warm; and I felt, and meant to say, that for them now to 
 meet face to face and converse together was the best way to 
 efface any remnant of unpleasant feeling, if any such existed. 
 I did not suppose that General Hardin s friends were in any 
 
296 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 greater need of having their feelings corrected than mine were. 
 Since I saw you at Jacksonville, I have had no more suspicion of 
 the Whigs of Morgan than of those of any other part of the Dis 
 trict. I write this only to try to remove any impression that I 
 distrust you and the other Whigs of your country. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Mary Berdan Tiffany, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 James Eerdan, Jacksonville, HI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, May 7th, 1846. 
 JAS. BERDAN, ESQR. : 
 
 DEAR SIR: It is a matter of high moral obligation, if not of 
 necessity, for me to attend the Coles and Edwards courts. I have 
 some cases in both of them, in which the parties have my promise, 
 and are depending upon me. The court commences in Coles on 
 the second Monday, and in Edgar on the third. Your court in 
 Morgan commences on the fourth Monday ; and it is my purpose to 
 be with you then, and make a speech. I mention the Coles and 
 Edgar courts in order that if I should not reach Jacksonville at 
 the time named you may understand the reason why. I do not, 
 however, think there is much danger of my being detained; as 
 I shall go with a purpose not to be, and consequently shall engage 
 in no new cases that might delay me. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Mary Berdan Tiffany, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 REPORT OF SPEECH DELIVERED AT WORCESTER, 
 MASS., ON SEPT. 12, 1848. 
 
 (From the Boston "Advertiser.") 
 
 Mr. Kellogg then introduced to the meeting the Hon. Abram 
 Lincoln, whig member of Congress from Illinois, a representative 
 of free soil. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln has a very tall and thin figure, with an intellectual 
 face, showing a searching mind, and a cool judgment. He spoke 
 in a clear and cool, and very eloquent manner, for an hour and 
 a half, carrying the audience with him in his able arguments and 
 brilliant illustrations only interrupted by warm and frequent 
 applause. He began by expressing a real feeling of modesty in 
 addressing an audience " this side of the mountains/ a part of 
 the country where, in the opinion of the people of his section, 
 everybody was supposed to be instructed and wise. But he had 
 devoted his attention to the question of the coming presidential 
 
APPENDIX 297 
 
 election, and was not unwilling to exchange with all whom he 
 might the ideas to which he had arrived. He then began to show 
 the fallacy of some of the arguments against Gen. Taylor, mak 
 ing his chief theme the fashionable statement of all those who 
 oppose him, ("the old Locofocos as well as the new") that he 
 has no principles, and that the Whig party have abandoned their 
 principles by adopting him as their candidate. He maintained 
 that Gen. Taylor occupied a high and unexceptionable Whig 
 ground, and took for his first instance and proof of this state 
 ment in the Allison letter with regard to the Bank, Tariff, Rivera 
 and Harbors, etc. that the will of the people should produce its 
 own results, without Executive influence. The principle that the 
 people should do what under the constitution they please, is a 
 Whig principle. All that Gen. Taylor is not only to consent, but 
 to appeal to the people to judge and act for themselves. And this 
 was no new doctrine for Whigs. It was the "platform" on 
 which they had fought all their battles, the resistance of Execu 
 tive influence, and the principle of enabling the people to frame 
 the government according to their will. Gen. Taylor consents to 
 be the candidate, and to assist the people to do what they think 
 to be their duty, and think to be best in their natural affairs, but 
 because he dont want to tell what we ought to do, he is accused 
 of having no principles. The Whigs here maintained for years 
 that neither the influence, the duress, or the prohibition of the 
 Executive should control the legitimately expressed will of the 
 people; and now that on that very ground, Gen. Taylor says that 
 he should use the power given him by the people to do, to the 
 best of his judgment, the will of the people, he is accused of want 
 of principle, and of inconsistency in position. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln proceeded to examine the absurdity of an attempt 
 to make a platform or creed for a national party, to all parts of 
 which all must consent and agree, when it was clearly the in 
 tention and the true philosophy of our government, that in Con 
 gress all opinions and principles should be represented, and that 
 when the wisdom of all had been compared and united, the will 
 of the majority should be carried out. On this ground he con 
 ceived (and the audience seemed to go with him) that Gen. 
 Taylor held correct, sound republican principles. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln then passed to the subject of slavery in the states, 
 saying that the people of Illinois agreed entirely with the people 
 of Massachusetts on this subject, except perhaps that they did 
 not keep so constantly thinking about it. All agreed that slav 
 ery was an evil, but that we were not responsible for it and can 
 not affect it in states of this Union where we do not live. But, 
 the question of the extension of slavery to new territories of this 
 country, is a part of our responsibility and care, and is under 
 our control. In opposition to this Mr. L. believed that the self- 
 named "Free Soil" party, was far behind the Whigs. Both 
 parties opposed the extension. As he understood it the new party 
 
2 g3 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 had no principle except this opposition. If their platform held 
 any other, it was in such a general way that it was like the pair 
 01 pantaloons the Yankee pedlar offered for sale "large enough 
 .for any man, small enough for any boy." They therefore had 
 taken a position calculated to break down their single important 
 declared object. They were working for the election of either 
 Gen. Cass or Gen. Taylor. The speaker then went on to show, 
 clearly and eloquently, the danger of extension of slavery, likely 
 to result from the election of General Cass. To unite with those 
 who annexed the new territory to prevent the extension of slav 
 ery in that territory seemed to him to be in the highest degree 
 absurd and ridiculous. Suppose these gentlemen succeed in 
 electing Mr. Van Buren, they had no specific means to prevent 
 the extension of slavery to New Mexico and California, and Gen ; 
 Taylor, he confidently believed, would not encourage it, and would 
 not prohibit its restriction. But if Gen. Cass was elected, he 
 felt certain that the plans of farther extension of territory would 
 be encouraged, and those of the extension of slavery would meet 
 no check. The " Free Soil " men in claiming that name indi 
 rectly attempts a deception, by implying that Whigs were not 
 Free Soil men. In declaring that they would " do their duty and 
 leave the consequences to God," merely gave an excuse for taking 
 a course they were not able to maintain by a fair and full argu 
 ment. To make this declaration did not show what their duty 
 was. If it did we should have no use for judgment, we might as 
 well be made without intellect, and when divine or human law 
 does not clearly point out what is our duty, we have no means of 
 finding out what it is by using our most intelligent judgment of 
 the consequences. If there were divine law, or human law for 
 voting for Martin Van Buren, or if a fair examination of the 
 consequences and first reasoning would show that voting for him 
 would bring about the ends they pretended to wish then he 
 would give up the argument. But since there was no fixed law on 
 the subject, and since the whole probable result of their action 
 would be an assistance in electing Gen. Cass, he must say that 
 they were behind the Whigs in their advocacy of the freedom 
 of the soil. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln proceeded to rally the Buffalo Convention for for 
 bearing to say anything after all the previous declarations of 
 those members who were formerly Whigs on the subject of the 
 Mexican war, because the Van Burens had been known to have 
 supported it. He declared that of all the parties asking the confi 
 dence of the country, this new one had less of principle than any 
 other. 
 
 He wondered whether it was still the opinion of these Free Soil 
 gentlemen as declared in the " whereas " at Buffalo, that the Whig 
 and Democratic parties were both entirely dissolved and absorbed 
 into their own body. Had the Vermont election given them any 
 light? They had calculated on making as great an impression 
 in that State as in any part of the Union, and there their attempts 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 299 
 
 had been wholly ineffectual. Their failure there was a greater suc 
 cess than they would find in any other part of the Union. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln went on to say that he honestly believed that all 
 those who wished to keep up the character of the Union; who did 
 not believe in enlarging our field, but in keeping our fences where 
 they are and cultivating our present possessions, making it a 
 garden, improving the morals and education of the people; de 
 voting the administrations to this purpose; all real Whigs, friends 
 of good honest government; the race was ours. He had oppor 
 tunities of hearing from almost every part of the Union from 
 reliable sources and had not heard of a country in which we had 
 not received accessions from other parties. If the true Whigs 
 come forward and join these new friends, they need not have a 
 doubt. We had a candidate whose personal character and prin 
 ciples he had already described, whom he could not eulogize if he 
 would. Gen. Taylor had been constantly, perseveringly, quietly 
 standing up, doing his duty, and asking no praise or reward for it. 
 He was and must be just the m.n to whom the interests, princi 
 ples and prosperity of the country might be safely intrusted. He 
 had never failed in anything he had undertaken, although many 
 of his duties had been considered almost impossible. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln then went into a terse though rapid review of the 
 origin of the Mexican war and the connection of the administra 
 tion and General Taylor with it, from which he deduced a strong 
 appeal to the Whigs present to do their duty in the support of 
 General Taylor, and closed with the warmest aspirations for and 
 confidence in a deserved success. 
 
 At the close of this truly masterly and convincing speech, the 
 audience gave three enthusiastic cheers for Illinois, and three 
 more for the eloquent Whig member from that State. 
 J. Gillespie. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., May 19, 1849. 
 DEAR GILLESPIE: 
 
 Butterfield will be Commissioner of the Gen l Land Office, un 
 less prevented by strong and speedy efforts. Ewing is for him, 
 and he is only not appointed yet because Old Zach. hangs fire. 
 I have reliable information of this. Now, if you agree with me 
 that his appointment would dissatisfy rather than gratify the 
 Whigs of this State, that it would slacken their energies in future 
 contests, that his appointment in 41 is an old sore with them 
 which they will not patiently have reopened, in a word that 
 his appointment now would be a fatal blunder to the administra 
 tion and our political men, here in Illinois, write Mr. Crittenden to 
 that effect. He can control the matter. Were you to write Ewing 
 I fear the President would never hear of your letter. This may 
 be mere suspicion. You might directly to Old Zach. You will 
 be the best judge of the propriety of that. Not a moment s time 
 is to be lost. 
 
300 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Let this confidential except with Mr. Edwards and a few othera 
 whom you know I would trust just as I do you. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine G. Prickett, Edwardsville, 
 
 Secretary of Interior, Washington, D. C. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., June 3, 1849. 
 HON. SECRETARY OF INTERIOR, 
 
 DEAR SIR: Vandalia, the Receiver s office at which place is the 
 subject of the within, is not in my district; and I have been much 
 perplexed to express any preference between Dr. Stapp and Mr. 
 Remann. If any one man is better qualified for such an office 
 than all others, Dr. Stapp is that man; still, I believe a large 
 majority of the Whigs of the District prefer Mr. Remann, who 
 also is a good man. Perhaps the papers on file will enable you 
 to judge better than I can. The writers of the within are good 
 men, residing within the Land District. 
 
 Your obt. servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 
 
 J. Gillespie. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, July 13, 1849. 
 DEAR GILLESPIE: 
 
 Mr. Edwards is unquestionably offended with me in connec 
 tion with the matter of the General Land Office. He wrote a 
 letter against me which was filed at the Department. 
 
 The better part of one s life consists of his friendships; and, of 
 them, mine with Mr. Edwards was one of the most cherished. 
 I have not been false to it. At a word I could have had the office 
 any time before the Department was committed to Mr. Butter- 
 field, at least Mr. Ewing and the President say as much. That 
 word I forbore to speak, partly for other reasons, but chiefly for 
 Mr. Edwards sake, losing the office that he might gain it, I 
 was always for; but to lose his friendship, by the effort for him, 
 would oppress me very much, were I not sustained by the utmost 
 consciousness of rectitude. I first determined to be an applicant, 
 unconditionally, on the 2nd of June; and I did so then upon 
 being informed by a Telegraphic despatch that the question was 
 narrowed down to Mr. B and myself, and that the Cabinet had 
 postponed the appointment, three weeks, for my benefit. Not 
 doubting that Mr. Edwards was wholly out of the question I, 
 nevertheless, would not then have become an applicant had I 
 supposed he would thereby be brought to suspect me of treachery 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 301 
 
 to iiim. Two or three days afterwards a conversation with Levi 
 Davis convinced me Mr. Edwards was dissatisfied; but I was 
 then too far in to get out. His own letter, written on the 25th 
 of April, after I had fully informed him of all that had passed, 
 up to within a few days of that time, gave assurance I had that 
 entire confidence from him, which I felt my uniform and strong 
 friendship for him entitled me to. Among other things it says 
 " whatever course your judgment may dictate as proper to be 
 pursued, shall never be excepted to by me." I also had had a 
 letter from Washington, saying Chambers, of the Republic, had 
 brought a rumor then, that Mr. E had declined in my favor, 
 which rumor I judged came from Mr. E himself, as I had not 
 then breathed of his letter to any living creature. In saying I 
 had never, before the 22nd of June, determined to be an appli 
 cant, unconditionally, I mean to admit that, before then, I had 
 said substantially I would take the office rather than it should 
 be lost to the State, or given to one in the State whom the Whigs 
 did not want ; but I aver that in every instance in which I spoke of 
 myself, I intended to keep, and now believe I did keep, Mr. E 
 above myself. Mr. Edwards first suspicion was that I had allowed 
 Baker to overreach me, as his friend, in behalf of Don Morrison. 
 I knew this was a mistake; and the result has proved it. I un 
 derstand his view now is, that if I had gone to open war with 
 Baker I could have ridden him down, and had the thing all my 
 own way. I believe no such thing. With Baker and some strong 
 man from the Military tract, & elsewhere for Morrison; and we 
 and some strong man from the Wabash & elsewhere for Mr. E , 
 it was not possible for either to succeed. I believed this in March, 
 and I know it now. The only thing which gave either any chance 
 was the very thing Baker & I proposed, an adjustment with them 
 selves. 
 
 You may wish to know how Butterfield finally beat me. I can 
 not tell you particulars, now, but will, when I see you. In the 
 meantime let it be understood I am not greatly dissatisfied, I 
 wish the offer had been so bestowed as to encourage our friends 
 in future contests, and I regret exceedingly Mr. Edwards feel 
 ings towards me. These two things away, I should have no re 
 grets, at least I think I would not. 
 
 Write me soon. 
 
 Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine G. Prickett, Edwards ville, 
 
 m.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Sept. 14, 1849. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM FITHIAN, Danville, 111. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR: Your letter of the 9th was received a day or 
 two ago. The notes and mortgages you enclosed me were duly 
 
302 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 received. I also got the original Blanchard mortgage from An 
 trim Campbell, with whom Blanchard had left it for you. I got 
 a decree of foreclosure on the whole; but owing to there being no 
 redemption on the sale to be under the Blanchard mortgage, the 
 court allowed Mobley till the first of March to pay the money, 
 before advertising for sale. Stuart was empowered by Mobley 
 to appear for him, and I had to take such decree as he would con 
 sent to, or none at all. I cast the matter about in my mind and 
 concluded that as I could not get a decree now would put the 
 accrued interest at interest, and thereby more than match the 
 fact of throwing the Blanchard debt back from 12 to 6 per cent., it 
 was better to do it. This is the present state of the case. 
 
 I can well enough understand and appreciate your suggestions 
 about the Land Office at Danville; but in my present condition, 
 I can do nothing. 
 
 Yours, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Dr. P. H. Fithian, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Jan. 11, 1851. 
 C. HOYT, ESQ. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : Our case is decided against us. The decision was 
 announced this morning. Very sorry, but there is no help. The 
 history of the case since it came here is this On Friday morn 
 ing last, Mr. Joy filed his papers, and entered his motion for a 
 mandamus, and urged me to take up the motion as soon as pos 
 sible. I already had the points, and authorities sent me, by you 
 and by Mr. Goodrich but had not studied them I began prepar 
 ing as fast as possible. 
 
 The evening of the same day I was again urged to take up the 
 case. I refused on the ground that I was not ready, and on which 
 plea I also got off over Saturday. But on Monday (the 14th) I had 
 to go into it. We occupied the whole day, I using the large part. I 
 made every point and used every authority sent me by yourself 
 and by Mr. Goodrich; and in addition all the points I could think 
 of and all the authorities I could find myself. When I closed the 
 argument on my part, a large package was handed me, which 
 proved to be the Plat you sent me. The court received it of me, 
 but it was not different from the Plat already on the record. I 
 do not think I could ever have argued the case better than I did. 
 I did nothing else, but prepare to argue and argue this case, from 
 Friday morning till Monday evening. Very sorry for the result; 
 but I do not think it could have been prevented. 
 
 Your friend as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by family of Mr. Ned Ames Higgins, Wash 
 ington, D. C.) 
 
APPENDIX 303 
 
 Nov. 4, 1851. 
 DEAR MOTHER: 
 
 Chapman tells me he wants you to go and live with him. If I 
 were you I would try it awhile. If you get tired of it (as I think 
 you will not) you can return to your own home. Chapman feels 
 very kindly to you; and I have no doubt he will make your situa 
 tion very pleasant. Sincerely your son, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From Herndon s " Life of Lincoln.") 
 
 Addressed John D. Johnston, Charleston, Coles County, Illinois. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, November 25, 1851. 
 JOHN D. JOHNSTON: 
 
 DEAR BROTHER: Your letter of the 22d is just received Your 
 proposal about selling the East forty acres of land is all that I want 
 or could claim for myself; but I am not satisfied with it on 
 Mother s account I want her to have her living, and I feel that 
 it is my duty, to some extent, to see that she is not wronged She 
 had a right of Dower (that is, the use of one-third for life) in 
 the other two forties; but, it seems, she has already let you take 
 that, hook and line She now has the use of the whole of the East 
 forty, as long as she lives ; and if it be sold, of course she is entitled 
 to the interest on all the money it brings, as long as she lives ; but 
 you propose to sell it for three hundred dollars, take one hundred 
 away with you, and leave her two hundred at 8 per cent, making 
 her the enormous sum of 16 dollars a year Now, if you are 
 satisfied with treating her in that way, I am not It is true, 
 that you are to have that forty for two hundred dollars, at Mother s 
 death; but you are not to have it before. I am confident that 
 land can be made to produce for Mother at least $30 a year, and I 
 can not, to oblige any living person, consent that she shall be put 
 on an allowance of sixteen dollars a year 
 
 Yours, et., 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mr. William H. Lambert, Philadelphia, Pa.) 
 
 The superscription of the letter is as here printed but the cap 
 tion omits the town and state. 
 
 | PEKIN, May 12, 1853. 
 
 MR. JOSHUA K. STANFORD: 
 
 SIR : I hope the subject-matter of this letter will appear a suffi 
 cient apology to you for the liberty I, a total stranger, take in 
 addressing you. The persons here holding two lots under a con 
 veyance made by you, as the attorney of Daniel M. Baily, now 
 nearly twenty-two years ago, are in great danger of losing the lots, 
 and very much, perhaps all, is to depend on the testimony you give 
 
304 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 as to whether you did or did not account to Baily for the proceeds 
 received by you on this sale of the lots. I, therefore, as one of the 
 counsel, beg of you. to fully refresh your recollection by any means 
 in your power before the time you may be called on to testify. If 
 persons should come about you, and show a disposition to pump 
 you on the subject, it may be no more than prudent to remember 
 that it may be possible they design to misrepresent you and em 
 barrass the real testimony you may ultimately give. It may be six 
 months or a year before you are called on to testify. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Homer Stanford, of Alton, HI.) 
 
 (Confidential.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Sept. 7, 1854. 
 HON. J. M. PALMER: 
 
 DEAR SIR: You know how anxious I am that this Nebraska 
 measure shall be rebuked and condemned everywhere Of course 
 I hope something from your position; yet I do not expect you to 
 do any thing which may be wrong in your own judgment; nor 
 would I have you do anything personally injurious to yourself 
 You are, and always have been, honestly, and sincerely, a demo 
 crat; and I know how painful it must be to an honest sincere 
 man, to be urged by his party to the support of a measure, which 
 in his conscience he believes to be wrong You have had a se 
 vere struggle with yourself, and you have determined not to swal 
 low the wrong Is it not just to yourself that you should, in a 
 few public speeches, state your reasons, and thus justify yourself? 
 I wish you would ; and yet I say " don t do it, if you think it will 
 injure you " You may have given your word to vote for Major 
 Harris; and if so, of course you will stick to it But allow me 
 to suggest that you should avoid speaking of this; for it probably 
 would induce some of your friends, in like manner, to cast their 
 votes You understand And now let me beg your pardon 
 for obtruding this letter upon you, to whom I have ever been 
 opposed in politics Had your party omitted to make Nebraska 
 a test of party fidelity; you probably would have been the Demo 
 cratic candidate for congress in the district You deserved it, 
 and I believe it would have been given you In that case I 
 should have been quite happy that Nebraska was to be rebuked 
 at all events I still should have voted for the whig candidate; 
 but I should have made no speeches, written no letters; and you 
 would have been elected by at least a thousand majority 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A.. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mr. William H. Lambert, Philadelphia, Pa.) 
 
APPENDIX 305 
 
 CLINTON, DE WITT Co., Nov. 10, 1854. 
 MR. CHARLES HOYT. 
 
 DEAR SIR: You used to express a good deal of partiality for 
 me, and if you are still so, now is the time. Some friends here 
 are really for me, for the U. S. Senate, and I should be very 
 grateful if you could make a mark for me among your members. 
 Please write me at all events giving me the names post-offices, 
 and " political position " of members round about you. Direct to 
 Springfield. 
 
 Let this be confidential. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. C. L. Hoyt of Aurora, 111.) 
 
 (Copy) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 1, 1854. 
 J. GILLESPIE, ESQ. : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I have really got it into my head to try to be 
 United States Senator, and, if I could have your support, my 
 chances would be reasonably good. But I know, and acknowledge, 
 that you have as just claims to the place as I have; and therefore 
 I cannot ask you to yield to me, if you are thinking of becoming a 
 candidate, yourself. If, however, you are not, then I should like 
 to be remembered affectionately by you; and also to have you 
 make a mark for me with the Anti-Nebraska members, down your 
 way. 
 
 If you know, and have no objection to tell, let me know whether 
 Trumbull intends to make a push. If he does, I suppose the two 
 men in St. Clair, and one, or both, in Madison, will be for him. 
 We have the legislature, clearly enough, on joint ballot, but the 
 Senate is very close, and Cullom told me to-day that the Nebraska 
 men will stave off the election, if they can. Even if we get into 
 joint vote, we shall have difficulty to unite our forces. Please write 
 me, and let this be confidential. Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed 
 wards ville, 111.) 
 
 Sanford, Porter & Striker, New York City. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, March 10th, 1855. 
 MESSRS. SANFORD, PORTER AND STRIKER, New York. 
 
 GENTLEMEN: Yours of the 5th is received, as also was that of 
 15th Dec. last, inclosing bond of Clift to Pray. When I received 
 (20) 
 
3o6 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 the bond I was dabbling in politics, and of course neglecting busi 
 ness. Having since been beaten out I have gone to work again. 
 
 As I do not practice in Rushville I today open a correspondence 
 with Henry E. Dummer, Esq. of Beardstown, Ills., with the view 
 of getting the job into his hands. He is a good man if he will un 
 dertake it. Write me whether I shall do this or return the bond 
 to you. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by the Skaneateles Library, Skaneateles, N. Y.) 
 
 Dec. 13, 1855. 
 
 DEAR SIR: You will confer a favor on me, if you will send me 
 the Congressional " Globe " during the present session. Please 
 have it directed to me. 
 
 I will pay for the same when you visit your family. 
 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original formerly owned by Col. Thomas Donaldson. Loaned 
 by Stan. V. Henkels of PhiladeVhia, Pa.) 
 
 REPORT MADE BY WILLIAM C. WHITNEY OF THE 
 SPEECH DELIVERED BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN BE 
 FORE THE FIRST REPUBLICAN STATE CONVEN 
 TION OF ILLINOIS HELD AT BLOOMINGTON ON 
 
 MAY 29, 1856. 
 
 (Mr. Whitney s notes were made at the time but not written out 
 until 1896. He does not claim that the speech, as here reported, is 
 literally correct only that he has followed the argument, and that 
 in many cases the sentences are as Mr. Lincoln spoke them.) 3 * 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I was over at [cries of "Plat 
 form!" " Take the platform! "] I say, that while I was at Dan 
 ville Court, some of our friends of anti-Nebraska got together in 
 Springfield and elected me as one delegate to represent old Sanga- 
 mon with them in this convention, and I am here certainly as a 
 sympathizer in this movement and by virtue of that meeting and 
 selection. But we can hardly be called delegates strictly, inas 
 much as, properly speaking, we represent nobody but ourselves. I 
 think it altogether fair to say that we have no anti-Nebraska party 
 in Sangamcn, although there is a good deal of anti-Nebraska 
 feeling there ; but I say for myself, and I think I may speak also for 
 my colle<i<rues, that we who are here fully approve of the platform 
 and of all that has been done [a voice; "Yes!"]; and even if 
 we are not regularly delegates, it will be right for me to answer 
 your call to speak. I suppose we truly stand for the public senti 
 
 "Copyright, 1896, by Sarah A. Wiutoey. 
 
APPENDIX 307 
 
 merit of Sangamon on the great question of the repeal, although 
 we do not yet represent many numbers who have taken a distinct 
 position on the question. 
 
 We are in a trying time it ranges above mere party and this 
 movement to call a halt and turn our steps backward needs all 
 the help and good counsels it can get; for unless popular opinion 
 makes itself very strongly felt, and a change is made in our pres 
 ent course, blood will flow on account of Nebraska, and brother s 
 hand will be raised against brother! [The last sentence was ut 
 tered in such an earnest, impressive, if not, indeed, tragic, man 
 ner, as to make a cold chill creep over me. Others gave a similar 
 experience.] 
 
 I have listened with great interest to the earnest appeal made 
 to Illinois men by the gentleman from Lawrence [James S. Emery] 
 who has just addressed us so eloquently and forcibly. I was deeply 
 moved by his statement of the wrongs done to free-State men out 
 there. I think it just to say that all true men North should sym 
 pathize with them, and ought to be willing to do any possible and 
 needful thing to right their wrongs. But we must not promise 
 what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we can 
 not; we must be calm and moderate, and consider the whole diffi 
 culty, and determine what is possible and just. We must not be 
 led by excitement and passion to do that which our sober judgments 
 would not approve in our cooler moments. We have higher aims; 
 we will have more serious business than to dally with temporary 
 measures. 
 
 We are here to stand firmly for a principle to stand firmly for 
 a right. We know that great political and moral wrongs are done, 
 and outrages committed, and we denounce those wrongs and out 
 rages, although we cannot, at present, do much more. But we 
 desire to reach out beyond those personal outrages and establish 
 a rule that will apply to all, and so prevent any future outrages. 
 
 We have seen to-day that every shade of popular opinion is 
 represented here, with Freedom or rather Free-Soil as the basis. 
 We have come together as in some sort representatives of popular 
 opinion against the extension of slavery into territory now free 
 in fact as well as by law, and the pledged word of the statesmen 
 of the nation who are now no more. We come we are here as 
 sembled together to protest as well as we can against a great 
 wrong, and to take measures, as well as we now can, to make that 
 wrong right; to place the nation, as far as it may be possible now, 
 as it was before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; and the 
 plain way to do this is to restore the Compromise, and to demand 
 and determine that Kansas shall be free! [Immense applause.] 
 While we affirm, and reaffirm, if necessary, our devotion to the 
 principles of the Declaration of Independence, let our practical 
 work here be limited to the above. We know that there is not a 
 perfect agreement of sentiment here on the public questions which 
 might be rightfully considered in this convention, and that the 
 
308 , LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 indignation which we all must feel cannot be helped; out all of 
 MB must give up something for the good of the cause. There is 
 one desire which is uppermost in the mind, one wish common to 
 us all to which no dissent will be made; and I counsel you ear 
 nestly to bury all resentment, to sink all personal feeling, make all 
 things work to a common purpose in which we are united and 
 agreed about, and which all present will agree is absolutely neces 
 sary which must be done by any rightful mode if there be such: 
 Slavery must l>e kept out of Kansas! [Applause.] The test 
 the pinch is right there. If we lose Kansas to freedom, an ex 
 ample will be set which will prove fatal to freedom in the end. 
 We, therefore, in the language of the Bible, must " lay the axe to 
 the root of the tree." Temporizing will not do longer; now is the 
 time for decision for firm, persistent, resolute action. [Ap 
 plause.] 
 
 The Nebraska bill, or rather Nebraska law, is not one of whole 
 some legislation, but was and is an act of legislative usurpation, 
 whose result, if not indeed intention, is to make slavery national; 
 and unless headed off in some effective way, we are in a fair way to 
 see this land of boasted freedom converted into a land of slavery 
 in fact. [Sensation.] Just open your two eyes, and see if this be 
 not so. I need do. no more than state, to command universal ap 
 proval, that almost the entire North, as well as a large following 
 in the border States, is radically opposed to the planting of slav 
 ery in free territory. Probably in a popular vote throughout the 
 nation nine-tenths of the voters in the free States, and at least 
 one-half in the border States, if they could express their senti 
 ments freely, would vote NO on such an issue ; and it is safe to say 
 that two-thirds of the votes of the entire nation would be opposed 
 to it. And yet, in spite of this overbalancing of sentiment in this 
 free country, we are in a fair way to see Kansas present itself for 
 admission as a slave State. Indeed, it is a felony, by the local 
 law of Kansas, to deny that slavery exists there even now. By 
 every principle of law, a negro in Kansas is free; yet the bogus 
 legislature makes it an infamous crime to tell him that he is free ! * 
 
 The party lash and the fear of ridicule will overawe justice and 
 liberty; for it is a singular fact, but none the less a fact, and well 
 known by the most common experience, that men will do things 
 under the terror of the party lash that they would not on any ac 
 count or for any consideration do otherwise; while men who will 
 march up to the mouth of a loaded cannon without shrinking, 
 will run from the terrible name of " Abolitionist," even when pro- 
 
 * Statutes of Kansas, 1855, Chapter 151, Sec. 12. If any free person, by speaking 
 or by writing, assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in 
 this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, write, circu 
 late . . . any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, or circular containing any de 
 nial of the right of persons to hold slaves in this Territory, such person shall be 
 deemed guilty of felony, and punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of 
 not less than two years. 
 
 Sec. 13. No person who is conscientiously opposed to holding slaves, or who does 
 not admit the right to hold slaves in this Territory, shall sit as a juror on the trial 
 of any prosecution for any violation of any Sections of this A"* 
 
APPENDIX 309 
 
 nounced by a worthless creature whom they, with good reason, 
 despise. For instance to press this point a little Judge Douglas 
 introduced his anti-Nebraska bill in January; and we had an extra 
 session of our legislature in the succeeding February, in which were 
 seventy-five Democrats; and at a party caucus, fully attended, 
 there were just three votes out of the whole seventy-five, for the 
 measure. But in a few days orders came on from Washington, 
 commanding them to approve the measure; the party lash was 
 applied, and it was brought up again in caucus, and passed by a 
 large majority. The masses were against it, but party necessity 
 carried it; and it was passed through the lower house of Congress 
 against the will of the people, for the same reason. Here is where 
 the greatest danger lies that, while we profess to be a government 
 of law and reason, law will give way to violence on demand of this 
 awful and crushing power. Like the great Juggernaut I think 
 that is the name the great idol, it crushes everything that comes 
 in its way, and makes a or as I read once, in a blackletter law 
 book, " a slave is a human being who is legally not a person but a 
 thing/ And if the safeguards to liberty are broken down, as is 
 now attempted, when they have made things of all the free negroes, 
 how long, think you, before they will begin to make things of poor 
 white men ? [Applause.] Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go 
 backward. The founder of the Democratic party declared that 
 all men were created equal. His successor in the leadership has 
 written the word " white " before men, making it read " all white 
 men are created equal." Pray, will or may not the Know-nothings, 
 if they should get in power, add the word " protestant," making 
 it read " all protestant white men"? 
 
 Meanwhile the hapless negro is the fruitful subject of reprisals 
 in other quarters. John Pettit, whom Tom Benton paid his re 
 spects to, you will recollect, calls the immortal Declaration " a 
 self-evident lie ; " while at the birthplace of freedom in the shadow 
 of Bunker Hill and of the " cradle of liberty," at the home of the 
 Adamses and Warren and Otis Choate, from our side of the 
 house, dares to fritter away the birthday promise of liberty by pro 
 claiming the Declaration to be " a string of glittering generali 
 ties ; " and the Southern Whigs, working hand in hand with pro- 
 slavery Democrats, are making Choate s theories practical. 
 Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, mindful of the moral element in 
 slavery, solemnly declared that he " trembled for his country 
 when he remembered that God is just; " while Judge Douglas, with 
 an insignificant wave of the hand, " don t care whether slavery is 
 voted up or voted down." Now, if slavery is right, or even nega 
 tive, he has a right to treat it in this trifling manner. But if it 
 is a moral and political wrong, as all Christendom considers it 
 to be, how can he answer to God for this attempt to spread and 
 fortify it ? [Applause.] 
 
 But no man, and Judge Douglas no more than any other, can 
 maintain a negative, or merely neutral, position on this question; 
 
510 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 and, accordingly, lie avows that the Union was made by white 
 men and for white men and their descendants. As matter of fact, 
 the first branch of the proposition is historically true; the gov 
 ernment was made by white men, and they were and are the su 
 perior race. This I admit. But the corner-stone of the govern 
 ment, so to speak, was the declaration that " all men are created 
 equal," and all entitled to " life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap 
 piness." [Applause.] 
 
 And not only so, but the framers of the Constitution were par 
 ticular to keep out of that instrument the word " slave," the 
 reason being that slavery would ultimately come to an end, and 
 they did not wish to have any reminder that in this free country 
 human beings were ever prostituted to slavery. [Applause.] Nor 
 is it any argument that we are superior and the negro inferior 
 that he has but one talent while we have ten. Let the negro pos 
 sess the little he has in independence; if he has but one talent, 
 he should be permitted to keep the little he has. [Applause.] 
 But slavery will endure no test of reason or logic; and yet its ad 
 vocates, like Douglas, use a sort of bastard logic, or noisy assump 
 tion, it might better be termed, like the above, in order to prepare 
 the mind for the gradual, but none the less certain, encroachments 
 of the Moloch of slavery upon the fair domain of freedom. But 
 however much you may argue upon it, or smother it in soft phrase, 
 slavery can only be maintained by force by violence. The repeal 
 of the Missouri Compromise was by violence. It was a violation 
 of both law and the sacred obligations of honor, to overthrow and 
 trample underfoot a solemn compromise, obtained by the fearful 
 loss to freedom of one of the fairest of our Western domains. 
 Congress violated the will and confidence of its constituents in 
 voting for the bill; and while public sentiment, as shown by the 
 elections of 1854, demanded the restoration of this compromise, 
 Congress violated its trust by refusing, simply because it had the 
 force of numbers to hold on to it. And murderous violence is 
 being used now, in order to force slavery on to Kansas; for it 
 cannot be done in any other way. [Sensation.] 
 
 The necessary result was to establish the rule of violence force, 
 instead of the rule of law and reason; to perpetuate and spread 
 slavery, and, in time, to make it general. We see it at both ends of 
 the line. In Washington on the very spot where the outrage was 
 started, the fearless Sumner is beaten to insensibility, and is now 
 slowly dying ; while senators who claim to be gentlemen and Chris 
 tians stood by, countenancing the act, and even applauding it 
 afterward in their places in the Senate. Even Douglas, our man, 
 saw it all and was within helping distance, yet let the murderous 
 blows fall unopposed. Then, at the other end of the line, at the 
 very time Sumner was being murdered, Lawrence was being de 
 stroyed for the crime of Freedom. It was the most prominent 
 stronghold of liberty in Kansas, and must give way to the all- 
 dominating power of slavery. Only two days ago, Judge Trum- 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 bull found it necessary to^ propose a bill in the Senate to prevent 
 a general civil war and to restore peace in Kansas. 
 
 We live in the midst of alarms ; anxiety beclouds the future ; we 
 expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read. Are we 
 in a healthful political state? Are not the tendencies plain? Do 
 not the signs of the times point plainly the way in which we are 
 going? [Sensation.] 
 
 In the early days of the Constitution slavery was recognized, 
 by South and North alike, as an evil, and the division of senti 
 ment about it was not controlled by geographical lines or consid 
 erations of climate, but by moral and philanthropic views. Peti 
 tions for the abolition of slavery were presented to the very first 
 Congress by Virginia and Massachusetts alike. To show the har 
 mony which prevailed, I will state that a fugitive slave law was 
 passed in 1793, with no dissenting voice in the Senate, arid but 
 seven dissenting votes in the House. It was, however, a wise law, 
 moderate, and, under the Constitution, a just one. Twenty-five 
 years later, a more stringent law was proposed and defeated; and 
 thirty-five years after that, the present law, drafted by Mason 
 of Virginia, was passed by Northern votes. I am not, just now, 
 complaining of this law, but I am trying to show how the current 
 sets; for the proposed law of 1817 was far less offensive than the 
 present one. In 1774 the Continental Congress pledged itself, 
 without a dissenting vote, to wholly discontinue the slave trade, 
 and to neither purchase nor import any slave; and less than three 
 months before the passage of the Declaration of Independence, 
 the same Congress which adopted that declaration unanimously 
 resolved " that no slave ~be imported into any of the thirteen 
 United Colonies." [Great applause.] 
 
 On the second day of July, 1776, the draft of a Declaration of 
 Independence was reported to Congress by the committee, and 
 in it the slave trade was characterized as " an execrable commerce," 
 as "a piratical warfare," as the "opprobrium of infidel powers," 
 and as " a cruel war against human nature." [Applause.] All 
 agreed on this except South Carolina and Georgia, and in order to 
 preserve harmony, and from the necessity of the case, these ex 
 pressions were omitted. Indeed, abolition societies existed as far 
 south as Virginia; and it is a well-known fact that Washington, 
 Jefferson, Madison, Lee, Henry, Mason, and Pendleton were quali 
 fied abolitionists, and much more radical on that subject than we 
 of the Whig and Democratic parties claim to be to-day. On 
 March 1, 1784, Virginia ceded to the confederation all its lands 
 lying northwest of the Ohio River. Jefferson, Chase of Mary 
 land, and Howell of Rhode Island, as a committee on that and 
 territory thereafter to be ceded, reported that no slavery should 
 exist after the year 1800. Had this report been adopted, not only 
 the Northwest, but Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missis 
 sippi also would have been free; but it required the assent of 
 nine States to ratify it. North Carolina was divided, and thus 
 
3 i2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 its vote was lost; and Delaware, Georgia, and New Jersey refused 
 to vote. In point of fact, as it was, it was assented to by six 
 States. Three years later, on a square vote to exclude 
 slavery from the Northwest, only one vote, and that from 
 New York, was against it. And yet, thirty-seven years 
 later, five thousand citizens of Illinois out of a voting mass of less 
 than twelve thousand, deliberately, after a long and heated con 
 test, voted to introduce slavery in Illinois; and, to-day, a large 
 party in the free State of Illinois are willing to vote to fasten the 
 shackles of slavery on the fair domain of Kansas, notwithstanding 
 it received the dowry of freedom long before its birth as a political 
 community. I repeat, therefore, the question: Is it not plain in 
 what direction we are tending? [Sensation.] In the colonial 
 time, Mason, Pendleton, and Jefferson were as hostile to slavery 
 in Virginia as Otis, Ames, and the Adamses were in Massachusetts ; 
 and Virginia made as earnest an effort to get rid of it as old Massa 
 chusetts did. But circumstances were against them and they failed; 
 but not that the good will of its leading men was lacking. Yet within 
 less than fifty years Virginia changed its tune, and made negro- 
 breeding for the cotton and sugar States one of its leading indus 
 tries. [Laughter and applause.] 
 
 In the Constitutional Convention, George Mason of Virginia 
 made a more violent abolition speech than my friends Lovejoy or 
 Codding would desire to make here to-day a speech which could 
 not be safely repeated anywhere on Southern soil in this enlight 
 ened year. But while there were some differences of opinion on 
 this subject even then, discussion was allowed; but as you see by 
 the Kansas slave code, which, as you know, is the Missouri slave 
 code, merely ferried across the river, it is a felony to even express 
 an opinion hostile to that foul blot in the land of Washington and 
 the Declaration of Independence. [Sensation.] 
 
 In Kentucky my State in 1849, on a test vote, the mighty 
 influence of Henry Clay and many other good men there could not 
 get a symptom of expression in favor of gradual emancipation 
 on a plain issue of marching toward the light of civilization with 
 Ohio and Illinois; but the State of Boone and Hardin and Henry 
 Clay, with a nigger under each arm, took the black trail toward 
 the deadly swamps of barbarism. Is there can there be any 
 doubt about this thing? And is there any doubt that we must 
 all lay aside our prejudices and march, shoulder to shoulder, in 
 the great army of Freedom? [Applause.] 
 
 Every Fourth of July our young orators all proclaim this to be 
 " the land of the free and the home of the brave ! " Well, now, 
 when you orators get that off next year, and, may be, this very 
 year, how would you like some old grizzled farmer to get up in 
 the grove and deny it? [Laughter.] How would you like that? 
 But suppose Kansas comes in as a slave State, and all the " border 
 ruffians " have barbecues about it, and free-State men come trail 
 ing back to the dishonored North, like whipped dogs with their 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 313 
 
 tails between their legs, it is ain t it? evident that this is no 
 more the " land cf the free ; " and if we let it go so, we won t dare 
 to say " home of the brave " out loud. [Sensation and confusion.] 
 
 Can any man doubt that, even in spite of the people s will, slav 
 ery will triumph through violence, unless that will be made mani 
 fest and enforced? Even Governor Reeder claimed at the outset 
 that the contest in Kansas was to be fair, but he got his eyes open 
 at last; and I believe that, as a result of this moral and physical 
 violence, Kansas will soon apply for admission as a slave State. 
 And yet we can t mistake that the people don t want it so, and 
 that it is a land which is free both by natural and political law. 
 No law, is free law! Such is the understanding of all Christendom. 
 In the Somerset case, decided nearly a century ago, the great Lord 
 Mansfield held that slavery was of such a nature that it must take 
 its rise in positive (as distinguished from natural) law; and that 
 in no country or age could it be traced back to any other source. 
 Will some one please tell me where is the positive law that estab 
 lishes slavery in Kansas ? [A voice : " The bogus laws."] Aye, 
 the bogus laws! And, on the same principle, a gang of Missouri 
 horse-thieves could come into Illinois and declare horse-stealing 
 to be legal [Laughter], and it would be just as legal as slavery 
 is in Kansas. But by express statute, in the land of Washington 
 and Jefferson, we may soon be brought face to face with the dis 
 creditable fact of showing to the world by our acts that we prefer 
 slavery to freedom darkness to light ! [Sensation.] 
 
 It is, I believe, a principle in law that when one party to a 
 contract violates it so grossly as to chiefly destroy the object for 
 which it is made, the other party may rescind it. I will ask 
 Browning if that ain t good law. [Voices : " Yes ! "] Well, now 
 if that be right, I go for rescinding the whole, entire Missouri 
 Compromise and thus turning Missouri into a free State; and I 
 should like to know the difference should like for any one to 
 point out the difference between our making a free State of 
 Missouri and their making a slave State of Kansas. [Great ap 
 plause.] There ain t one bit of difference, except that our way 
 would be a great mercy to humanity. But I have never said 
 and the Whig party has never said and those who oppose the 
 Nebraska bill do not as a body say, that they have any intention 
 of interfering with slavery in the slave States. Our platform says 
 just the contrary. We allow slavery to exist in the slave States, 
 not because slavery is right or good, but from the necessities of 
 our Union. We grant a fugitive slave law because it is so " nom 
 inated in the bond ; " because our fathers so stipulated had to 
 and we are bound to carry out this agreement. But they did not 
 agree to introduce slavery in regions where it did not previously 
 exist. On the contrary, they said by their example and teachings 
 that they did not deem it expedient did not consider it right 
 to do so; and it is wise and right to do just as they did about it 
 f Voices: " Good! "], and that is wha.t we propose not to interfere 
 
314 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 with slavery where it exists (we have never tried to do it), and 
 to give them a reasonable and efficient fugitive slave law. [A 
 voice : "No!"] I say YES ! [Applause.] It was part of the 
 bargain, and I m for living up to it ; but I go no further ; I m not 
 bound to do more, and I won t agree any further. [Great ap 
 plause.] 
 
 We, here in Illinois, should feel especially proud of the pro 
 vision of the Missouri Compromise excluding slavery from what 
 is now Kansas; for an Illinois man, Jesse B. Thomas, was its 
 father. Henry Clay, who is credited with the authorship of the 
 Compromise in general terms, did not even vote for that pro 
 vision, but only advocated the ultimate admission by a second 
 compromise; and Thomas was, beyond all controversy, the real 
 author of the " slavery restriction " branch of the Compromise. 
 To show the generosity of the Northern members toward the South 
 ern side: on a test vote to exclude slavery from Missouri, ninety 
 voted not to exclude, and eighty-seven to exclude, every vote from 
 the slave States boing ranged with the former and fourteen votes 
 from the free States, of whom seven were from New England 
 alone; while on a vote to exclude slavery from what is now Kan 
 sas, the vote was one hundred and thirty-four for, to forty-two 
 against. The scheme, as a whole, was, of course, a Southern 
 triumph. It is idle to contend otherwise, as is now being done 
 by the Nebraskites; it was so shown by the votes and quite as em 
 phatically by the expressions of representative men. Mr. Lowndes 
 of South Carolina was never known to commit a political mistake; 
 his was the great judgment of that section; and he declared that 
 this measure "would restore tranquillity to the country a result 
 demanded by every consideration of discretion, of moderation, of 
 wisdom, and of virtue." When the measure came before Presi 
 dent Monroe for his approval, he put to each member of his cabi 
 net this question: "Has Congress the constitutional power to 
 prohibit slavery in a territory ? " And John C. Calhoun and Wil 
 liam H. Crawford from the South, equally with John Quincy 
 Adams, Benjamin Rush, and Smith Thompson from the North, 
 alike answered, "Yes!" without qualification or equivocation; 
 and this measure, of so great consequence to the South, was passed ; 
 and Missouri was, by means of it, finally enabled to knock at the 
 door of the Republic for an open passage to its brood of slaves. 
 And, in spite of this, Freedom s share is about to be taken by vio 
 lence by the force of misrepresentative votes, not called for by 
 the popular will. What name can I, in common, decency, give to 
 this wicked transaction? [Sensation.] 
 
 But even then the contest was not over; for when the Missouri 
 constitution came before Congress for its approval, it forbade any 
 free negro or mulatto from entering the State. In short, our Illi 
 nois " black laws " were hidden away in their constitution [laugh 
 ter], and the controversy was thus revived. Then it was that Mr. 
 Clay s talents shone out conspicuously, and tJi controversy that 
 
APPENDIX 3 J 5 
 
 shook the Union to its foundation was finally settled to the satis 
 faction of the conservative parties on both sides of the line, though 
 not to the extremists on either, and Missouri was admitted by the 
 small majority of six in the lower House. How great a majority, 
 do you think, would have been given had Kansas also been secured 
 for slavery? [A voice: "A majority the other way."] "A ma 
 jority the other way," is answered. Do you think it would have 
 been safe for a Northern man to have confronted his constituents 
 after having voted to consign both Missouri and Kansas to hope 
 less slavery? And yet this man Douglas, who misrepresents his 
 constituents and who has exerted his highest talents in that di 
 rection, will be carried in triumph through the State and hailed 
 with honor while applauding that act. [Three groans for " Dug! "] 
 And this shows whither we are tending. This thing of slavery is 
 more powerful than its supporters even than the high priests that 
 minister at its altar. It debauches even our greatest men. It 
 gathers strength, like a rolling snow-ball, by its own infamy. Mon 
 strous crimes are committed in its name by persons collectively 
 which they would not dare to commit as individuals. Its aggres 
 sions and encroachments almost surpass belief. In a despotism, 
 one might not wonder to see slavery advance steadily and remorse 
 lessly into new dominions; but is it not wonderful, is it not even 
 alarming, to see its steady advance in a land dedicated to the 
 proposition that "all men are created equal?" [Sensation.] 
 
 It yields nothing itself; it keeps all it has, and gets all it can 
 besides. It really came dangerously near securing Illinois in 
 1824; it did get Missouri in 1821. The first proposition was to 
 admit what is now Arkansas and Missouri as one slave State. 
 But the territory was divided and Arkansas came in, without se 
 rious question, as a slave State; and aiterwards Missouri, not as 
 a sort of equality, free, but also as a slave State. Then we had 
 Florida and Texas; and now Kansas is about to be forced into the 
 dismal procession. [Sensation.] And so it is wherever you look. 
 We have not forgotten it is but six years since how dangerously 
 near California came to being a slave State. Texas is a slave 
 State, and four other slave States may be carved from its vast 
 domain. And yet, in the year 1829, slavery was abolished through 
 out that vast region by a royal decree of the then sovereign of 
 Mexico. Will you please tell me by what right slavery exists in 
 Texas to-day? By the same right as, and no higher or greater 
 than, slavery is seeking dominion in Kansas: by political force 
 peaceful, if that will suffice; by the torch (as in Kansas) and the 
 bludgeon (as in the Senate chamber), if required. And so his 
 tory repeats itself; and even as slavery has kept its course by 
 craft, intimidation, and violence in the past, so it will persist, 
 in my judgment, until met and dominated by the will of a people 
 bent on its restriction. 
 
 We have, this very afternoon, heard bitter denunciations of 
 Brooks in Washington, and Titus, Stringfellow, Atchison, Jones, 
 
316 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 and Shannon in Kansas the battle-ground of slavery. I cer 
 tainly am not going to advocate or shield them; but they and 
 their acts are but the necessary outcome of the Nebraska law. 
 We should reserve our highest censure for the authors of the 
 mischief, and not for the catspaws which they use. I believe it 
 was Shakespeare who said, " Where the offence lies, there let the 
 axe fall ; " and, in my opinion, this man Douglas and the Northern 
 men in Congress who advocate " Nebraska " are more guilty 
 than a thousand Joneses and Stringfellows, with all their mur 
 derous practices, can be. [Applause.] 
 
 We have made a good beginning here to-day. As our Methodist 
 friends would say, " I feel it is good to be here." While extrem 
 ists may find some fault with the moderation of our platform, 
 they should recollect that " the battle is not always to the strong, 
 nor the race to the swift." In grave emergencies, moderation is 
 generally safer than radicalism; and as this struggle is likely to be 
 long and earnest, we must not, by our action, repel any who are 
 in sympathy with us in the main, but rather win all that we can 
 to our standard. We must not belittle nor overlook the facts of 
 our condition that we are new and comparatively weak, while 
 our enemies are entrenched and relatively strong. They have 
 the administration and the political power; and, right or wrong, 
 at present they have the numbers. Our friends who urge an ap 
 peal to arms with so much force and eloquence, should recollect 
 that the government is arrayed against us, and that the num 
 bers are now arrayed against us as well; or, to state it 
 nearer to the truth, they are not yet expressly and affirmatively 
 for us; and we should repel friends rather than gain them by 
 anything savoring of revolutionary methods. As it now stands, 
 we must appeal to the sober sense and patriotism of the people. 
 We will make converts day by day; we will grow strong by calm 
 ness and moderation; we will grow strong by the violence and 
 injustice of our adversaries. And, unless truth be a mockery and 
 justice a hollow lie, we will be in the majority after a while, and 
 then the revolution which we will accomplish will be none the 
 less radical from being the result of pacific measures. The 
 battle of freedom is to be fought out on principle. Slavery is 
 a violation of the eternal right. We have temporized with it from 
 the necessities of our condition; but as sure as God reigns and 
 school children read, THAT BLACK FOUL LIE CAN NEVER BE CONSE 
 CRATED INTO GOD S HALLOWED TRUTH! [Immense applause lasting 
 some time.] One of our greatest difficulties is, that men who 
 know that slavery is a detestable crime and ruinous to the nation, 
 are compelled, by our peculiar condition and other circumstances, 
 to advocate it concretely, though damning it in the raw. Henry 
 Clay was a brilliant example of this tendency ; others of our purest 
 statesmen are compelled to do so; and thus slavery secures actual 
 support from those who detest it at heart. Yet Henry Clay per 
 fected and forced through the Compromise which secured to 
 
APPENDIX 317 
 
 slavery a great State as well as a political advantage. Not that 
 he hated slavery less, but that he loved the whole Union more. 
 As long as slavery profited by his great Compromise, the hosts of 
 pro-slavery could not sufficiently cover him with praise; but now 
 that this Compromise stands in their way 
 
 "... they never mention him, 
 His name is never heard : 
 Their lips are now forbid to speak 
 That once familiar word." 
 
 They have slaughtered one of his most cherished measures, and 
 his ghost would arise to rebuke them. [Great applause.] 
 
 Now, let us harmonize, my friends, and appeal to the moderation 
 and patriotism of the people: to the sober second thought; to the 
 awakened public conscience. The repeal of the sacred Missouri 
 Compromise has installed the weapons of violence: the bludgeon, 
 the incendiary torch, the death-dealing rifle, the bristling cannon 
 the weapons of kingcralt, of the inquisition, of ignorance, of bar 
 barism, of oppression. We see its fruits in the dying bed of the 
 heroic Sumner; in the ruins of the "Free State" hotel; in the 
 smoking embers of the "Herald of Freedom;" in the free-State 
 Governor of Kansas chained to a stake on freedom s soil like a 
 horse-thief, for the crime of freedom. [Applause.] We see it in 
 Christian statesmen, and Christian newspapers, and Christian 
 pulpits applauding the cowardly act of a low ~bully, WHO CRAWLED 
 
 UPON HIS VICTIM BEHIND HIS BACK AND DEALT THE DEADLY BLOW. 
 
 [Sensation and applause.] We note our political demoralization 
 in the catch-words that are coming into such common use; on the 
 one hand, " f reedom-shriekers," and sometimes " f reedom-screech- 
 ers " [Laughter] ; and, on the other hand, " border ruffians," and 
 that fully deserved. And the significance of catch-words cannot 
 pass unheeded, for they constitute a sign of the times. Every 
 thing in this world " jibes " in with everything else, and all the 
 fruits of this Nebraska bill are like the poisoned source from 
 which they come. I will not say that we may not sooner or later 
 be compelled to meet force by force; but the time has not yet 
 come, and if we are true to ourselves, may never come. Do not 
 mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet. Therefore let 
 the legions of slavery use bullets; but let us wait patiently till 
 November and fire ballots at them in return ; and by that peaceful 
 policy, I believe we shall ultimately win. [Applause.] 
 
 It was by that policy that here in Illinois the early fathers 
 fought the good fight and gained the victory. In 1824 the free 
 men of our State, led by Governor Coles (who was a native of 
 Maryland and President Madison s private secretary), deter 
 mined that those beautiful groves should never reecho the dirge 
 of one who has no title to himself. By their resolute determina 
 tion, the winds that sweep across our broad prairies shall never cool 
 the parched ^row, nor shall the unfettered streams that bring joy 
 
3 i8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 and gladness to our free soil water the tired feet, of a slave; but 
 so long as those heavenly breezes and sparkling streams bless the 
 land, or the groves and their fragrance or memory remain, the 
 humanity to which they minister SHALL BE FOREVER FREE! [Great 
 applause.] Palmer, Yates, Williams, Browning, and some more 
 in this convention came from Kentucky to Illinois (instead of 
 going to Missouri), not only to better their conditions, but also 
 to get away from slavery. They have said so to me, and it is under 
 stood among us Kentuckians that we don t like it one bit. Now, 
 can we, mindful of the blessings of liberty which the early men 
 of Illinois left to us, refuse a like privilege to the free men who 
 seek to plant Freedom s banner on our Western outposts ? [" No 1 
 No ! "] Should we not stand by our neighbors who seek to better 
 their conditions in Kansas and Nebraska ? [" Yes ! " " Yes ! "] 
 Can we as Christian men, and strong and free ourselves, wield the 
 sledge or hold the iron which is to manacle anew an already op 
 pressed race? ["No! No!"] "Woe unto them," it is written, 
 " that decree unrighteous decrees and that write grievousiiess 
 which they have prescribed." Can we afford to sin any more deeply 
 against human liberty ? [" No ! No ! "] 
 
 One great trouble in the matter is, that slavery is an insidious 
 and crafty power, and gains equally by open violence of the 
 brutal as well as by sly management of the peaceful. Even after 
 the ordinance of 1787, the settlers in Indiana and Illinois (it was 
 all one government then) tried to get Congress to allow slavery 
 temporarily, and petitions to that end were sent from Kaskaskia, 
 and General Harrison, the Governor, urged it from Vincennes, 
 the capital. If that had succeeded, good-by to liberty here. But 
 John Randolph of Virginia made a vigorous report against it; 
 and although they persevered so well as to get three favorable 
 reports for it, yet the United States Senate, with the aid of some 
 slave States, finally squelched it for good. [Applause.] And 
 that is why this hall is to-day a temple for free men instead of a 
 negro livery stable. [Great applause and laughter.] Once let 
 slavery get planted in a locality, by ever so weak or doubtful a 
 title, and in ever so small numbers, and it is like the Canada thistle 
 or Bermuda grass you can t root it out. You yourself may 
 detest slavery; but your neighbor has five or six slaves, and 
 he is an excellent neighbor, or your son has married his daughter, 
 and they beg you to help save their property, and you vote against 
 your interest and principles to accommodate a neighbor, hoping 
 that your vote will be on the losing side. And others do the 
 same; and in those ways slavery gets a sure foothold. And when 
 that is done the whole mighty Union the force of the nation 
 is committed to its support. And that very process is working 
 in Kansas to-day. And you must recollect that the slave property 
 is worth a billion of dollars ($1,000,000,000) ; while free-State men 
 must work for sentiment alone. Then there are " blue lodges " 
 as they call them everywhere doing their secret and deadly work. 
 
APPENDIX 319 
 
 It is a very strange thing, and not solvable by any moral law 
 that I know of, that if a man loses his horse, the whole country will 
 turn out to help hang the thief; but if a man but a shade or two 
 darker than I am is himself stolen, the same crowd will hang one 
 who aids in restoring him to liberty. Such are the inconsisten 
 cies of slavery, where a horse is more sacred than a man; and the 
 essence of squatter or popular sovereignty I don t care how you 
 call it is that if one man chooses to make a slave of another, 
 no third man shall be allowed to object. And if you can do this 
 in free Kansas, and it is allowed to stand, the next thing you 
 will see is ship loads of negroes from Africa at the wharf at 
 Charleston; for one thing is as truly lawful as the other; and 
 these are the bastard notions we have got to stamp out, else they 
 will stamp us out. [Sensation and applause.] 
 
 Two years ago, at Springfield, Judge Douglas avowed that Illi 
 nois came into the Union as a slave State, and that slavery waa 
 weeded out by the operation of his great, patent, everlasting prin 
 ciple of "popular sovereignty." [Laughter.] Well, now, that 
 argument must be answered, for it has a little grain of truth at 
 the bottom. I do not mean that it is true in essence, as he would 
 have us believe. It could not be essentially true if the ordinance 
 of 87 was valid. But, in point of fact, there were some degraded 
 beings called slaves in Kaskaskia and the other French settlements 
 when our first State constitution was adopted; that is a fact, and 
 I don t deny it. Slaves were brought here as early as 1720, and 
 were kept here in spite of the ordinance of 1787 against it. But 
 slavery did not thrive here. On the contrary, under the influence 
 of the ordinance, the number decreased fifty-one from 1810 to 1820 ; 
 while under the influence of squatter sovereignty, right across the 
 river in Missouri, they increased seven thousand two hundred and 
 eleven in the same time; and slavery finally faded out in Illinois, 
 under the influence of the law of freedom, while it grew stronger and 
 stronger in Missouri, under the law or practice of "popular sovereign 
 ty." In point of fact there were but one hundred and seventeen slaves 
 in Illinois one year after its admission, or one to every four hun 
 dred and seventy of its population; or, to state it in another way, 
 if Illinois was a slave State in 1820, so were New York and New 
 Jersey much greater slave States from having had greater num 
 bers, slavery having been established there in very early times, 
 But there is this vital difference between all these States and the 
 judge s Kansas experiment; that they sought to disestablish slav 
 ery which had been already established, while the judge seeks, so 
 far as he can, to disestablish freedom, which had been established 
 there by the Missouri Compromise. [Voices : " Good ! "] 
 
 The Union is undergoing a fearful strain; but it is a stout old 
 ship, and has weathered many a hard blow, and " the stars in 
 their courses," aye, an invisible power, greater than the puny efforts 
 of men, will fight for us. But we ourselves must not decline the 
 burden of responsibility, nor take counsel of unworthy passions. 
 
320 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Whatever duty urges us to do or to omit, must be done or omitted; 
 and the recklessness with which our adversaries break the laws, 
 or counsel their violation, should afford no example for us. There 
 fore, let us revere the Declaration of Independence ; let us continue 
 to obey the Constitution and the laws; let us keep step to the 
 musk; of the Union. Let us draw a cordon, so to speak, around the 
 slave States, and the hateful institution, like a reptile poisoning it 
 self, will perish by its own infamy. [Applause.] 
 
 But we cannot be free men if this is, by our national choice, 
 to be a land of slavery. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve 
 it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot 
 long retain it. [Loud applause.] 
 
 Did you ever, my friends, seriously reflect upon the speed with 
 which we are tending downwards? Within the memory of men 
 now present the leading statesmen of Virginia could make genuine, 
 red-hot abolitionist speeches in old Virginia! and, as I have said, 
 now even in " free Kansas " it is a crime to declare that it is " free 
 Kansas." The very sentiments that I and others have just ut 
 tered, would entitle us, and each of us, to the ignominy and se 
 clusion of a dungeon; and yet I suppose that, like Paul, we were 
 " free born." But if this thing is allowed to continue, it will be 
 but one step further to impress the same rule in Illinois. [Sensa 
 tion.] 
 
 The conclusion of all is, that we must restore the Missouri 
 Compromise. We must highly resolve that Kansas must "be, free! 
 [Great applause.] We must reinstate the birthday promise of the 
 Republic; we must reaffirm the Declaration of Independence; we 
 must make good in essence as well as in form Madison s avowal 
 that " the word slave ought not to appear in the Constitution ; " 
 and we must even go further, and decree that only local law, and 
 not that time-honored instrument, shall shelter a slave-holder. We 
 must make this a land of liberty in fact, as it is in name. 
 But in seeking to attain these results so indispensable if the lib 
 erty which is our pride and boast shall endure we will be loyal 
 to the Constitution and to the " flag of our Union," and no matter 
 what our grievance even though Kansas shall come in as a slave 
 State ; and no matter what theirs even if we shall restore the Com 
 promise WE WILL SAY TO THE SOUTHERN DISUNIONISTS, WE WON^T 
 
 GO OUT OF THE UNION, AND YOU SHAN T! ! ! [This was the cli 
 max; the audience rose to its feet en masse, applauded, stamped, 
 waved handkerchiefs, threw hats in the air, and ran riot for sev 
 eral minutes. The arch-enchanter who wrought this transforma 
 tion looked, meanwhile, like the personification of political jus 
 tice.] 
 
 But let us, meanwhile, appeal, to the sense and patriotism of 
 the people, and not to their prejudices; let us spread the floods 
 of enthusiasm here aroused all over these vast prairies, so sugges 
 tive of freedom. Let us commence by electing the gallant sol 
 dier Governor (Colonel) Bissell who stood for the honor of our 
 
APPENDIX 321 
 
 State alike on the plains and amidst the chaparral of Mexico and 
 on the floor of Congress, while he defied the Southern Hotspur; 
 and that will have a greater moral effect than all the border ruf 
 fians can accomplish in all their raids on Kansas. There is both 
 a power and a magic in popular opinion. To that let us now ap 
 peal ; and while, in all probability, no resort to force will be needed, 
 our moderation and forbearance will stand us in good stead when, 
 if ever, WE MUST MAKE AN APPEAL TO BATTLE AND TO THE GOD OP 
 HOSTS ! ! [Immense applause and a rush for the orator.] 
 
 William Grimes. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, July 12, 1856. 
 
 Yours of the 29th of June was duly received. I did not an 
 swer it because it plagued me. This morning I received an 
 other from Judd and Peck, written by consultation with you. Now 
 let me tell you why I am plagued: 
 
 1. I can hardly spare the time. 
 
 2. I am superstitious. I have scarcely known a party pre 
 ceding an election to call in help from the neighboring States, 
 but they lost the State. Last fall, our friends had Wade, of 
 Ohio, and others, in Maine; and they lost the State. Last spring 
 our adversaries had New Hampshire full of South Carolinians, 
 and they lost the State. And so, generally, it seems to stir up 
 more enemies than friends. 
 
 Have the enemy called in any foreign help? If they have a 
 foreign champion there, I should have no objection to drive a 
 nail in his track. I shall reach Chicago on the night of the 15th, 
 to attend to a little business in court. Consider the things I have 
 suggested, and write me at Chicago. Especially write me whether 
 Browning consents to visit you. Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From " Life of Win. Grimes," by Salter.) 
 
 John Bennett. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Aug. 4, 1856. 
 JOHN BENNETT, ESQ. 
 
 DEAR SIR: I understand you are a Fillmore man If, as be 
 tween Fremont and Buchanan you really prefer the election of 
 Buchanan, then burn this without reading a line further But 
 if you would like to defeat Buchanan and his gang, allow me 
 a word with you Does any one pretend that Fillmore can 
 carry the vote of this State? I have not heard a single man pre 
 tend so Every vote taken from Fremont and given to Fillmore is 
 just so much in favor of Buchanan. The Buchanan men see this ; 
 and hence their great anxiety in favor of the Fillmore movement 
 They know where the shoe pinches They now greatly prefer 
 having a man of your character go for Fillmore than for Buchanan 
 (21) 
 
322 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 because they expect several to go with you, who would go for 
 Fremont, if you were to go directly for Buchanan. 
 
 I think I now understand the relative strength of the three par 
 ties in this state as well as any one man does and my opinion 
 is that to-day Buchanan has alone 85,000 Fremont 78,000 and 
 Fillmore 21,000. This gives B. the state by 7,000 and leaves him 
 in the minority of the whole 14,000. 
 
 Fremont and Fillmore men being united on Bissell as they al 
 ready are, he can not be beaten This is not a long letter, but 
 it contains the whole story, Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by E. R. Oeltjen, Petersburg, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Aug. 19, 1856. 
 
 DEAR DUBOIS : Your letter on the same sheet with Mr. Miller s is 
 just received. I have been absent four days. I do not know when 
 your court sits. 
 
 Trumbull has written the Committee here to have a set of 
 appointments made for him commencing here in Springfield, 
 on the llth of Sept., and to extend throughout the south half 
 of the State. When he goes to Lawrenceville, as he will, I will 
 strain every nerve to be with you and him. More than that I can 
 not promise now. Yours as truly as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, HL) 
 
 Dr. E. Boal, Lacon, 111. 
 
 Sept. 14, 1856, 
 DR. R. BOAL. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 8th inviting me to be with (you) 
 at Lacon on the 30th is received. I feel that I o ve you and our 
 friends of Marshall, a good deal; and I will come if I can; and 
 if I do not get there, it will be because I shall think my efforts 
 ere now needed further South. 
 
 Present my regards to Mrs. Boal, and believe (me), as ever 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 < Original owned by Dr. Robert Boal, Lacon, HI.) 
 
 Dr. R. Boal, Lacon, HI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 25, 1856. 
 DR. R. BOAL. 
 
 DEAR SIR: When I was at Chicago two weeks ago I saw Mr. 
 Arnold, and from a remark of his, I inferred he was thinking of 
 the Speakership. though I think he was not anxious about it. 
 
APPENDIX 323 
 
 He seemed most anxious for harmony generally, and particularly 
 that the contested seats from Peoria and McDonough might be 
 rightly determined. Since I came home I had a talk with Cul- 
 lom, one of our American representatives here, and he says he 
 is for you for Speaker, and also that he thinks all the Americana 
 will be for you, unless it be Gorin, of Macon, of whom he cannot 
 speak. If you would like to be Speaker go right up and see 
 Arnold. He is talented, a practiced debater, and, I think, would do 
 himself more credit on the floor than in the Speaker s seat. Go and 
 see him ; and if you think fit, show him this letter. 
 
 Your friend as ever. 
 
 (Original owned by Dr. Kobert Boal, Lacon, I1L> 
 
 (Private.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., February 20, 1857. 
 JOHN E. ROSETTE, ESQ. : 
 
 DEAR SIR : Your note about the little paragraph in the " Re 
 publican " was received yesterday, since which time I have been 
 too unwell to notice it. I had not supposed you wrote or approved 
 it. The whole originated in mistake. You know by the conversa 
 tion with me that I thought the establishment of the paper unfor 
 tunate, but I always expected to throw no obstacle in its way, and 
 to patronize it to the extent of taking and paying for one copy. 
 When the paper was brought to my house, my wife said to me, 
 " Now are you going to take another worthless little paper ? " I 
 said to her evasively, " I have not directed the paper to be left." 
 From this, in my absence, she sent the message to the carrier. This 
 is the whole story. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From Herndon s " Life of Lincoln.") 
 
 To William Grimes. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, August, 1857. 
 
 DEAR SIR: Yours of the 14th is received, and I am much 
 obliged for the legal information you give. 
 
 You can scarcely be more anxious than I that the next election 
 in Iowa should result in favor of the Republicans. I lost nearly 
 all the working-part of last year, giving my time to the canvass; 
 and I am altogether too poor to lose two years together. I am 
 engaged in a suit in the United States Court at Chicago, in which 
 the Rock Island Bridge Company is a party. The trial is to com 
 mence on the 8th of September, and probably will last two or three 
 weeks. During the trial it is not improbable that all hands may 
 come over and take a look at the bridge, and, if it were possibla 
 
324 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 to make it hit right, I could then speak at Davenport. My courts 
 go right on without cessation till late in November. Write me 
 again, pointing out the more striking points of difference be 
 tween your old and new constitutions, and also whether Demo 
 cratic and Republican party lines were drawn in the adoption of 
 it, and which were for and which were against it. If, by 
 possibility, I could get over among you it might be of some ad 
 vantage to know these things in advance. Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From " Life of Wm. Grimes," by Salter.) 
 
 LINCOLN S ARGUMENT IN THE ROCK ISLAND BRIDGE 
 
 CASE. 
 
 From " The Daily Press " of Chicago, Sept. 24, 1857. 
 THE ROCK ISLAND BRIDGE CASE. 
 
 HURD ET AL. 
 V8. 
 
 RAILROAD BRIDGE Co. 
 
 UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT, 1 
 
 HON. JOHN MCCLEAN, Presiding Judge. I 
 
 13th day, Tuesday, Sept. 22nd, 1857. J 
 
 HONORABLE ABRAM LINCOLN S ARGUMENT. 
 
 Mr. A. Lincoln addressed the jury. He said he did not purpose to 
 assail anybody, that he expected to grow earnest as he proceeded 
 but not ill natured. " There is some conflict of testi 
 mony in the case," he said, " but one quarter of such a number 
 of witnesses seldom agree and even if all were on one side, some 
 discrepancy might be expected. We are to try and reconcile 
 them, and to believe that they are not intentionally erroneous 
 as long as we can." He had no prejudice, he said, against steam 
 boats or steamboatmen nor any against St. Louis for he sup 
 posed they went about this matter as other people would do in 
 their situation. " St. Louis," he continued, " as a commercial 
 place may desire that this bridge should not stand as it is ad 
 verse to her commerce, diverting a portion of it from the river; 
 and it may be that she supposes that the additional cost of rail 
 road transportation upon the productions of Iowa will force them 
 to go to St. Louis if this bridge is removed. The meetings in St. 
 Louis are connected with this case only as some witnesses are in 
 it and thus has some prejudice added color to their testimony." 
 
 The last thing that would be pleasing to him, Mr. Lincoln said, 
 would be to have ons of these great channels extending almost 
 
APPENDIX 325 
 
 from where it never freezes to where it never thaws blocked up 
 but there is a travel from east to west whose demands are not less 
 important than that of those of the river. It is growing larger and 
 larger, building up new countries with a rapidity never before 
 seen in the history of the world. He alluded to the astonishing 
 growth of Illinois having grown within his memory to a population 
 of a million and a half; to Iowa and the other young rising com 
 munities of the northwest. 
 
 " This current of travel," said he, " has its rights as well as that 
 of north and south. If the river had not the advantage in priority 
 and legislation we could enter into free competition with it and we 
 could surpass it. This particular railroad line has a great im 
 portance and the statement of its business during a little less 
 than a year shows this importance. It is in evidence that from 
 September 8th, 1856, to August 8th, 1857, 12,586 freight cars and 
 74,179 passengers passed over this bridge. Navigation was closed 
 four days short of four months last year, and during this time 
 while the river was of no use this road and bridge were valuable. 
 There is too a considerable portion of time when floating or thin 
 ice makes the river useless while the bridge is as useful as ever. 
 This shows that this bridge must be treated with respect in this 
 court and is not to be kicked about with contempt. The other 
 day Judge "Wead alluded to the strike of the contending interest 
 and even a dissolution of the Union. The proper mode for all 
 parties in this affair is to live and let live and then we will 
 find a cessation of this trouble about the bridge. What mood 
 were the steamboat men in when this bridge was burned? Why 
 there was a shouting and ringing of bells and whistling on all 
 the boats as it fell. It was a jubilee, a greater celebration than 
 follows an excited election. The first thing I will proceed to is the 
 record of Mr. Gurney and the complaint of Judge Wead that 
 the record did not extend back over all the time from the comple 
 tion of the bridge. The principal part of the navigation after the 
 bridge was burned passed through the span. When the bridge 
 was repaired and the boats were a second time confined to the 
 draw it was provided that this record should be kept- That is the 
 simple history of that book. 
 
 " From April 19th, 1856, to May 6th seventeen days there were 
 twenty accidents and all the time since then there have been but 
 twenty hits, including seven accidents, so that the dangers of this 
 place are tapering off and as the boatmen get cool the accidents 
 get less. We may soon expect if this ratio is kept up that there 
 will be no accidents at all. 
 
 " Judge Wead said while admitting that the floats went straight 
 through there was a difference between a float and a boat, but I 
 do not remember that he indulged us with an argument in sup 
 port of this statement. Is it because there is a difference in size? 
 Will not a small body and a large one float the same way under 
 the same influence? True a flat boat will float faster than an 
 
326 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 egg shell and the egg shell might be blown away by the wind, but if 
 under the same influence they would go the same way. Logs, floats, 
 boards, various things the witnesses say all show the same cur 
 rent. Then is not this test reliable? At all depths too the direc 
 tion of the current is the same. A series of these floats would 
 make a line as long as a boat and would show any influence upon 
 any part and all parts of the boat. 
 
 " I will now speak of the angular position of the piers. What 
 is the amount of the angle ? The course of the river is a curve and 
 the pier is straight. If a line is produced from the upper end of 
 the long pier straight with the pier to a distance of 350 feet and a 
 line is drawn from a point in the channel opposite this point to 
 the head of the pier, Colonel Nason says they will form an angle 
 of twenty degrees. But the angle if measured at the pier is seven 
 degrees, that is we would have to move the pier seven degrees 
 to make it exactly straight with the current. Would that make 
 the navigation better or worse? The witnesses of the plaintiff 
 seem to think it was only necessary to say that the pier formed 
 an angle with the current and that settled the matter. Our more 
 careful and accurate witnesses say that though they had been 
 accustomed to seeing the piers placed straight with the current, 
 yet they could see that here the current had been made straight 
 by us in having made this slight angle; that the water now runs 
 just right, that it is straight and cannot be improved. They think 
 that if the pier was changed the eddy would be divided and the 
 navigation improved. 
 
 " I am not now going to discuss the question what is a material 
 obstruction. We do not greatly differ about the law. The cases 
 produced here are I suppose proper to be taken into consideration 
 by the court in instructing a jury. Some of them I think are not 
 exactly in point, but I am still willing to trust his honor, Judge 
 McClean, and take his instructions as law. What is reasonable 
 skill and care? This is a thing of which the jury are to judge. 
 I differ from the other side when it says that they are bound to 
 exercise no more care than was taken before the building of the 
 bridge. If we are allowed by the legislature to build the bridge 
 which will require them to do more than before when a pilot 
 comes along it is unreasonable for him to dash on heedless of this 
 structure which has been legally put there. The Afton came there 
 on the 5th and lay at Rock Island until next morning. When a 
 boat lies up the pilot has a holiday, and would not any of these 
 jurors have then gone around to the bridge and gotten acquainted 
 with the place. Pilot Parker has shown here that he does not 
 understand the draw. I heard him say that the fall from the head 
 to the foot of the pier was four feet; he needs information. He 
 could have gone there that day and seen there was no such fall. 
 He should have discarded passion and the chances are that he 
 would have had no disaster at all. He was bound to make himself 
 acquainted with the place. 
 
APPENDIX 327 
 
 " McCammon says that the current and the swell coming from 
 the long pier drove her against the long pier. In other words 
 drove her toward the very pier from which the current came! It 
 is an absurdity, an impossibility. The only recollection I can 
 find for this contradiction is in a current which White says strikes 
 out from the long pier and then like a ram s horn turns back and 
 this might have acted somehow in this manner. 
 
 " It is agreed by all that the plaintiffs boat was destroyed and 
 that it was destroyed upon the head of the short pier; that she 
 moved from the channel where she was with her bow above the 
 head of the long pier; till she struck the short one, swung around 
 under the bridge and there was crowded and destroyed. 
 
 "I shall try to prove that the average velocity of the current 
 through the draw with the boat in it should be five and a half 
 miles an hour ; that it is slowest at the head of the pier and swiftest 
 at the foot of the pier. Their lowest estimate in evidence is six 
 , miles an hour, their highest twelve miles. This was the testi 
 mony of men who had made no experiment, only conjecture. We 
 have adopted the most exact means. The water runs swiftest in 
 high water and we have taken the point of nine feet above low 
 water. The water when the Afton was lost was seven feet above 
 low water, or at least a foot lower than our time. Brayton and 
 his assistants timed the instrument. The best instruments known 
 in measuring currents. They timed them under various circum 
 stances and they found the current five miles an hour and no 
 more. They found that the water at the upper end ran slower 
 than five miles ; that below it was swifter than five miles, but that 
 the average was five miles. Shall men who have taken no care, 
 who conjecture, some of whom speak of twenty miles an hour, be 
 believed against those who have had such a favorable and well 
 improved opportunity? They should not even qualify the result. 
 Several men have given their opinion as to the distance of the 
 steamboat Carson and I suppose if one should go and measure 
 that distance you would believe him in preference to all of them. 
 
 " These measurements were made when the boat was not in the 
 draw. It has been ascertained what is the area of the cross sec 
 tion of this stream and the area of the face of the piers and the 
 engineers say that the piers being put there will increase the cur 
 rent proportionally as the space is decreased. So with the boat 
 in the draw. The depth of the channel was twenty-two feet, the 
 width one hundred and sixteen feet, multiply there and you have 
 the square feet across the water of the draw, viz. : 2,552 feet. The 
 Afton was 35 feet wide and drew 5 feet, making a fourteenth of 
 the sum. Now, one-fourteenth of five miles is five-fourteenths of 
 one mile -about one third of a mile the increase of the current. 
 We will call the current five and a half miles per hour. The next 
 thing I will try to prove is that the plaintiff s ( ?) boat had power 
 to run six miles an hour in that current. It has been testified 
 that she was a strong, swift boat, able to run eight miles an hour 
 
328 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 up stream in a current of four miles an hour and fifteen miles down 
 stream. Strike the average and you will find what is her average 
 about eleven and a half miles. Take the five and a half miles 
 which is the speed of the current in the draw and it leaves the 
 power of that boat in that draw at six miles an hour, 528 feet 
 per minute and 8 4-5 feet to the second. 
 
 " Next I propose to show that there are no cross currents. I 
 know their witnesses say that there are cross currents that as 
 one witness says there were three cross currents and two eddies; 
 so far as mere statement without experiment and mingled with 
 mistakes can go they have proved. But can these men s testi 
 mony be compared with the nice, exact, thorough experiments of 
 our witnesses. Can you believe that these floats go across the 
 currents? It is inconceivable that they could not have discov 
 ered every possible current. How do boats find currents that 
 floats cannot discover? We assume the position then that those 
 cross currents are not there. My next proposition is that the Afton 
 passed between the S. B. Carson and the Iowa shore. That is un 
 disputed. 
 
 " Next I shall show that she struck first the short pier, then the 
 long pier, then the short one again and there she stopped." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln then cited the testimony of eighteen witnesses on 
 this point. 
 
 " How did the boat strike when she went in ? Here is an end 
 less variety of opinion. But ten of them say what pier she struck; 
 three of them testify that she struck first the short, then the long 
 and then the short for the last time. None of the rest substan 
 tially contradict this. I assume that these men have got the 
 truth because I believe it an established fact. My next proposi 
 tion is that after she struck the short and long pier and before she 
 got back to the short pier the boat got right with her bow up. So 
 says the pilot Parker that he got her through until her star 
 board wheel passed the short pier. This would make her head about 
 even with the head of the long pier. He says her head was as high 
 or higher than the head of the long pier. Other witnesses confirmed 
 this one. The final stroke was in the splash door aft the wheel. 
 Witnesses differ but the majority say that she struck thus." 
 
 Court adjourned. 
 
 14th day, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1857. 
 
 Mr. A. Lincoln resumed. He said he should conclude as soon as 
 possible. He said the colored map of the plaintiff which was 
 brought in during one stage of the trial showed itself that the 
 cross currents alleged did not exist. That the current as repre 
 sented would drive an ascending boat to the long pier but not 
 to the short pier, as they urge. He explained from a model of a 
 boat where the splash door is just behind the wheel. The boat 
 struck on the lower shouldei of the short pier as she swung around 
 
APPENDIX 329 
 
 in the splash cloor, then as she went on around she struck the 
 point or end of the pier where she rested. " Her engineers," said 
 Mr. Lincoln, " say the starboard wheel then was rushing around 
 rapidly. Then the boat must have struck the upper point of the 
 pier so far back as not to disturb the wheel. It is forty feet 
 from the stern of the Afton to the splash door and thus it appears 
 that she had but forty feet to go to clear the pier. How was it 
 that the Afton with all her power flanked over from the channel 
 to the short pier without moving one foot ahead? Suppose she 
 was in the middle of the draw, her wheel would have been 31 feet 
 from the short pier. The reason she went over thus is her star 
 board wheel was not working. I shall try to establish the fact 
 that the wheel was not running and that after she struck she 
 went ahead strong on this same wheel. Upon the last point the 
 witnesses agree that the starboard wheel was running after she 
 struck and no witnesses say that it was running while she was 
 out in the draw flanking over," 
 
 Mr. Lincoln read from the testimonies of various witnesses to 
 prove that the starboard wheel was not working while the Afton 
 was out in the stream. 
 
 " Other witnesses show that the captain said something of the 
 machinery of the wheel and the inference is that he knew the 
 wheel was not working. The fact is undisputed that she did not 
 move one inch ahead while she was moving this 31 feet sideways. 
 There is evidence proving that the current there is only five miles 
 an hour and the only explanation is that her power was not all 
 used that only one wheel was working. The pilot says he or 
 dered the engineers to back her up. The engineers differ from 
 him and said they kept one going ahead. The bow was so swung 
 that the current pressed it over; the pilot pressed the 
 stern over with the rudder though not so fast but that the bow 
 gained on it and only one wheel being in motion the boat nearly 
 stood still so far as motion up and down is concerned, and thus 
 she was thrown upon this pier. The Afton came into the draw 
 after she had just passed the Carson and as the Carson no doubt 
 kept the true course the Afton going around her got out of the 
 proper way, got across the current into the eddy which is west of 
 a straight line drawn down from the long pier, was compelled to 
 resort to these changes of wheels which she did not do with suffi 
 cient adroitness to save her. Was it not her own fault that she 
 entered wrong, so far wrong that she never got right? Is the de 
 fense to blame for that? 
 
 " For several days we were entertained with depositions about 
 boats smelling a bar. Why did the Afton then after she had 
 come up smelling so close to the long pier sheer off so strangely 
 when she got to the center of the very nose she was smelling she 
 seemed suddenly to have lost her sense of smell and to have flanked 
 over to the short pier." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln said there was no practicability in the project of 
 
330 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 building a tunnel under the river, for there " is not a tunnel that 
 is a successful project in this world. A suspension bridge cannot 
 be built so high but that the chimneys of the boats will grow up 
 till they cannot pass. The steamboatmen will take pains to make 
 them grow. The cars of a railroad cannot without immense ex 
 pense rise high enough to get even with a suspension bridge or 
 go low enough to get through a tunnel; such expense is unrea 
 sonable. 
 
 " The plaintiffs have to establish that the bridge is a material 
 obstruction and that they have managed their boat with reason 
 able care and skill As to the last point high winds have nothing 
 to do with it, for it was not a windy day. They must show due skill 
 and care. Difficulties going down stream will not do for they were 
 going up stream. Difficulties with barges in tow have nothing to 
 do with the accident, for they had no barge." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln said he had much more to say, many things he 
 could suggest to the jury, but he wished to close to save time. 
 
 Jesse K. Dubois. 
 
 BLOOMINGTON, Dec. 21, 1857. 
 
 DEAR DUBOIS : J. M. Douglas of the I. C. K. E. Co. is here and 
 will carry this letter. He says they have a large sum (near $90,000) 
 which they will pay into the treasury now, if they have an assur 
 ance that they shall not be sued before Jany. 1859 otherwise not. 
 I really wish you could consent to this. Douglas says they can 
 not pay more and I believe him. 
 
 I do not write this as a lawyer seeking an advantage for a client ; 
 but only as a friend, only urging you to do what I think I would 
 do if I were in your situation. I mean this as private and confi 
 dential only, but I feel a good deal of anxiety about it. 
 
 Yours, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Jan. 19, 1858. 
 To HON. GEO. T. BROWN: 
 
 Send Jo. Gillespie up here at once. Don t fail. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Copy of note, sent with telegram, from Brown to Gillespie.) 
 
 DEAR Jo: 
 
 Have just rec d this telegraph. I know nothing further. I send 
 a buggy for you. BROWN. 
 
 (Copy of telegram sent from Abraham Lincoln, [Springfield] to 
 Joseph Gillespie, [Edwardsville] through George T. Brown, 
 [Alton].) 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett.) 
 
APPENDIX 331 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, 3 an. 19, 1858. 
 HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: This morning Col. McClernand showed me a 
 petition for a mandamus against the Secretary of State to compel 
 him to certify the apportionment act of last session; and he says 
 it will be presented to the court to-morrow morning. We shall be 
 allowed three or four days to get up a return ; and I, for one, want 
 the benefit of consultation with you. 
 
 Please come right up. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
 wardsville, HI.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Feb. 7, 1858. 
 HON. J. GILLESPIE: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Yesterday morning the court overruled the de 
 murrer to Hatch s return in the mandamus case. McClernand 
 was present; said nothing about pleading over; and so I suppose 
 the matter is ended. The court gave no reason for the decision; 
 but Peck tells me confidentially that they were unanimous in the 
 opinion that even if the Gov r had signed the bill purposely, he had 
 the right to scratch his name off, so long as the bill remained in his 
 custody and control. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
 wardsville, HI.) 
 
 Mr. Edward G. Miner, Winchester, HI. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Feb. 19, 1858. 
 EDWARD G. MINER, ESQ., 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Mr. G. A. Sutton is an applicant for superin 
 tendent of the addition to the Insane Asylum, and I understand it 
 partly depends on you whether he gets it. 
 
 Mr. Sutton is my fellow townsman and friend, and I therefore 
 wish to say for him that he is a man of sterling integrity and as a 
 master mechanic and builder not surpassed by any in our city, or 
 any I have known anywhere as far as I can judge. 
 ^ I hope you will consider me as being really interested for Mr. 
 Sutton and not as writing merely to relieve myself of importunity. 
 
 Please ^how this to Col. William Koss and let him consider it 
 as much intended for him as for yourself. 
 
 Your friend as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Edward G. Miner, Jr., Eochester, N. Y.) 
 
332 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 Sydney Spring, Grayville, 111. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, June 19, 1858. 
 SYDNEY SPRING, ESQ., 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Your letter introducing Mr. Faree was duly 
 received. There was no opening to nominate him for Superin 
 tendent of Public Instruction, but through him, Egypt made a 
 most valuable contribution to the convention. I think it may 
 be fairly said that he came off the lion of the day or rather of 
 the night. Can you not elect him to the Legislature? It seems 
 to me he would be hard to beat. What objection could be made 
 to him? What is your Senator Martin saying and doing? Wliat 
 is Webb about? 
 
 Please write me. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by S. T. Spring, Grayville, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, July 16, 1858. 
 HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I write this to say that from the specimens of 
 Douglas Democracy we occasionally see here from Madison, we 
 learn that they are making very confident calculation of beating 
 you, and your friends for the lower house, in that county. They 
 offer to bet upon it. Billings and Job, respectively, have been up 
 here, and were each, as I learn, talking largely about it. If they 
 do so, it can only be done by carrying the Fillmore men of 1856 very 
 differently from what they seem to going in the other party. Below 
 is the vote of 1856, in your district. 
 
 Counties. Buchanan. Fremont. Fillmore. 
 
 Bond 607 153 659 
 
 Madison 1451 1111 1658 
 
 Montgomery 992 162 686 
 
 3050 1426 3003 
 
 By this you will see, if you go through the calculation, that if 
 they get one-quarter of the Fillmore votes, and you three-quarters, 
 they will beat you 125 votes. If they get one-fifth, and you four- 
 fifths, you beat them 179. In Madison, alone, if our friends get 
 1000 of the Fillmore votes, and their opponents the remainder, 658, 
 we win by just two votes. 
 
 This shows the whole field, on the basis of the election of 1856. 
 
 Whether, since then, any Buchanan, or Fremonters, have shifted 
 ground, and how the majority of new votes will go, you can judge 
 better than I. 
 
 Of course you, on the ground, can better determine your line of 
 tactics than any one off the ground ; but it behooves you to be wide 
 awake, and actively working. 
 
APPENDIX 333 
 
 Don t neglect it ; and write me at your first leisure. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 John Mathers, Jacksonville, 111. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, July 20, 1858. 
 JNO. MATHERS, ESQ. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Your kind and interesting letter of the 19th 
 was duly received. Your suggestions as to placing one s self on the 
 offensive rather than the defensive are certainly correct. That is 
 a point which I shall not disregard. I spoke here on Saturday night. 
 The speech, not very well reported, appears in the State Journal 
 of this morning. You doubtless will see it; and I hope that you 
 will perceive in it, that I am already improving. I would mail 
 you a copy now, but have not one hand. I thank you for your 
 letter and shall be pleased to hear from you again. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by K. W. Mills, Virginia, 111.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, July 25, 1858. 
 HON. J. GILLESPIE : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : Your doleful letter of the 18th, was received on 
 my return from Chicago last night. I do hope you are worse scared 
 than hurt, though you ought to know best. We must not lose the 
 district. We must make a job of it, and save it. Lay hold of the 
 proper agencies, and secure all the Americans you can, at once. I 
 do hope, on closer inspection, you will find they are not half gone. 
 Make a little test. Run down one of the poll-books of the Ed- 
 wardsville precinct, and take the first hundred known American 
 names. Then quietly ascertain how many of them are actually 
 going for Douglas. I think you will find less than fifty. But even 
 if you find fifty, make sure of the other fifty, that is, make sure of 
 all you can, at all events. We will set other agencies to work 
 which shall compensate for the loss of a good many Americans. 
 Don t fail to check the stampede at once. Trumbull, I think, will 
 be with you before long. 
 
 There is much he cannot do, and some he can. I have reason 
 to hope there will be other help of an appropriate kind. Write me 
 again. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mrs. Josephine Gillespie Prickett of Ed- 
 war dsville, 111.) 
 
 E. C. Cook. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Aug. 2, 1858. 
 HON. R C. COOK, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I have a letter from a very true friend and in- 
 
334 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 telligenf man insisting that there is a plan on foot in La Salle 
 and Bureau to run Douglas republicans for Congress and for 
 the Legislature in those counties, if they can only get the en 
 couragement of our folks nominating pretty extreme abolitionists. 
 It is thought they will do nothing if our folks nominate men who 
 are not very obnoxious to the charge of abolitionism? Please 
 have your eye upon this. 
 
 Signs are looking pretty fair. Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 
 
 Hon. J. M. Palmer. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Aug. 5, 1853. 
 HON. J. M. PALMER, 
 
 DEAR SIR: Since we parted last evening no new thought has 
 occurred to (me) on the subject of which we talked most yes 
 terday. 
 
 I have concluded, however, to speak at your town on Tuesday, 
 August 31st, and have promised to have it so appear in the papers 
 of to-morrow. Judge Trumbull has not yet reached here. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by the Kev. Preston Wood, Springfield, HI.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Aug. 11, 1858. 
 ALEXANDER SYMPSON, ESQ. : 
 
 DEAR SIR: Yours of the 6th received. If life and health con 
 tinue I shall pretty likely be at Augusta on the 25th. 
 
 Things look reasonably well. Will tell you more fully when I 
 see you. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, HI.) 
 
 Dr. William Fithian, Danville, 111. 
 
 BLOOMINGTON, Sept. 3, 1858. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR: Yours of the 1st was received this morning, as 
 also one from Mr Harmon, and one from Hiram Beckwith on the 
 same subject. You will see by the Journal that I have appointed 
 to speak at Danville on the 22nd of Sept., the day after Douglas 
 speaks there. My recent experience shows that speaking at the 
 same place the next day after D. is the very thing, it is, in fact, 
 a concluding speech on him. Please show this to Messrs. Harmon 
 and Beckwith; and tell them they must excuse me from writing 
 separate letters to them. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 P. S. Give full notice to all surrounding country. 
 
 A. It. 
 
 (Original owned by Dr. P. H. Fithian, Springfield, HI.) 
 
m i | 
 KNOX (mfcf LINCOLN 
 
 * ~ 
 
 THE LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS MEETING AT GALESBURG, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 7, 1858 
 
 The fifth debate between Lincoln and Douglas was held at Galesburg, Illinois, on October 7 
 1858. The platform from which they spoke was erected at the end of Knox College. The students 
 took a lively interest in the contest, decorating the college gayly with flags and streamers Im 
 mediately over the heads of the speakers, extending across the end of the building was nlared 
 A large banner bearing the words : " KNOX COLLEOJE FOB LINCOLN " 
 
APPENDIX 335 
 
 BLANDINSVILLE, Oct. 26, 1858. 
 A. SYMPSON, ESQ.: 
 
 DEAR SIR: Since parting with you this morning I heard some 
 things which make me believe that Edmunds and Morrill will 
 spend this week among the National Democrats trying to induce 
 them to content themselves by voting for Jake Davis, and then to 
 vote for the Douglas candidates for Senator and Representative. 
 Have this headed off, if you can. Call Wagley s attention to it, 
 and have him and the National Democrat for Rep. to counteract 
 it as far as they can. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, HI.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 8, 1858. 
 H. D. SHARPE, ESQ. : 
 
 DEAR SIR : Your very kind letter of Nov. 9th was duly received. 
 I do not know that you expected or desired an answer ; but glancing 
 over the contents of yours again, I am prompted to say that, while 
 I desired the result of the late canvass to have been different, I 
 still regard it as an exceeding small matter. I think we have fairly 
 entered upon a durable struggle as to whether this nation is to 
 ultimately become all slave or all free, and though I fall early in 
 the contest, it is nothing if I shall have contributed, in the least 
 degree, to the final rightful result. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by the family of H. D. Sharpe, Brooklyn, 
 N. Y.) 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, Dec. 12, 1858. 
 ALEXANDER SYMPSON, ESQ. : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : I expect the result of the election went hard with 
 you. So it did with me, too, perhaps not quite so hard as you 
 may have supposed. I have an abiding faith that we shall beat 
 them in the long run. Step by step the objects of the leaders will 
 become too plain for the people to stand them. I write merely to 
 let you know that I am neither dead nor dying. Please give my 
 respects to your good family, and all inquiring friends. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by family of Alexander Sympson, Lewistown, HI.) 
 
 A LEGAL OPINION BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 The llth Section of the Act of Congress, approved Feb. 11, 1805, 
 prescribing rules for the subdivision of Sections of land within 
 
336 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the United States system of Surveys, standing tmrepealed, in my 
 opinion, is binding on the respective purchasers of different parts 
 of the same section, and furnishes the true rule for Surveyors 
 in establishing lines between them That law, being in force 
 at this time each became a purchaser, becomes a condition of the 
 purchase. 
 
 And, by that law, I think the true rule for dividing into quarters, 
 any interior Section, or Sections, which is not fractional, is to run 
 straight lines through the Section from the opposite quarter sec 
 tion corners, fixing the point where such straight lines cross, or 
 intersect each other, as the middle or center of the Section. 
 
 Nearly, perhaps quite, all the original surveys are to some ex 
 tent, erroneous, and in some of the Sections, greatly so. In each 
 of the latter, it is obvious that a more equitable mode of division 
 than the above, might be adopted ; but as error is infinitely various 
 perhaps no better single rules can be prescribed. 
 
 At all events I think the above has been prescribed by the com 
 petent authority. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Springfield, Jany. 6, 1859. 
 
 (Original owned by L. A. Enos, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 Hawkins Taylor. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Sept. 6, 1859. 
 HAWKINS TAYLOR, ESQ. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 3d is just received. There is some 
 mistake about my expected attendance of the U. S. Court in your 
 city on the 3d Tuesday of this month. I have had no thought of 
 being there. It is bad to be poor. I shall go to the wall for bread 
 and meat, if I neglect my business this year as well as last. It 
 would please me much to see the City, and good people, of Keokuk, 
 but for this year it is little less than an impossibility. I am con 
 stantly receiving invitations which I am compelled to decline. I 
 was pressingly urged to go to Minnesota; and I now have two 
 invitations to go to Ohio. These last are prompted by Douglas 
 going there; and I am really tempted to make a flying trip to 
 Columbus and Cincinnati. 
 
 I do hope you will have no serious trouble in Iowa. What thinks 
 Grimes about it? I have not known him to be mistaken about 
 an election in Iowa. Present my respects to Col. Carter, and any 
 other friends; and believe me Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original in the Collection of Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by 
 the Hon. Chas. Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 MARCH 10, 1860. 
 
 As to your kind wishes for myself, allow me to say I cannot entei 
 the ring on the money basis first, because in the main it is 
 
APPENDIX 337 
 
 wrong ; and secondly, I have not and cannot get the money. I say 
 in the main the use of money is wrong; but for certain objects in 
 a political contest, the use of some, is both right, and indispensa 
 ble. With me, as with yourself, this long struggle has been one of 
 great pecuniary loss. I now distinctly say this If you shall be 
 appointed a delegate to Chicago, I will furnish one hundred dollars 
 to bear the expenses of the trip. 
 
 Present my respects to Genl. Lane; and say to him, I shall be 
 pleased to hear from him at any time. 
 
 Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Extract from letter to Kansas delegate. Original in possession 
 of J. W. Weik, Greencastle, Ind.) 
 
 Hawkins Taylor. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., April 21, 1860. 
 HAWKINS TAYLOR, ESQ. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 15th is just received. It surprises 
 me that you have written twice, without receiving an answer. I 
 have answered all I ever received from you; and certainly one 
 since my return from the East. 
 
 Opinions here, as to the prospect of Douglas being nominated, 
 are quite conflicting some very confident he will, and others that 
 he will not be I think his nomination possible; but that the 
 chances are against him. 
 
 I am glad there is a prospect of your party passing this way 
 to Chicago. Wishing to make your visit here as pleasant as we 
 can, we wish you to notify us as soon as possible, whether you 
 come this way, how many, and when you will arrive. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original in the Collection of Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by 
 the Hon. Chas. Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 Hon. C. B. Smith. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., May 26, 1860. 
 HON. C. B. SMITH 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : Yours of the 21st, was duly received ; but I have 
 found no time until now, to say a word in the way of answer. I 
 am, indeed, much indebted to Indiana; and, as my home friends 
 tell me, much to you personally. Your saying you no longer con 
 sider la. a doubtful state is very gratifying. The thing starts 
 well everywhere too well, I almost fear, to last. But we are in, 
 and stick or go through, must be the word. 
 Let me hear from Indiana occasionally. 
 
 Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Werter G. Betty, Norwood, Ohio.) 
 (22) 
 
33 8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., June 4, 1860. 
 HON. GEORGE ASHMUN : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: It seems as if the question whether my first 
 name is " Abraham " or " Abram " will never be settled. It is 
 " Abraham," and if the letter of acceptance is not yet in print, you 
 may, if you think fit, have my signature thereto printed " Abraham 
 Lincoln." Exercise your judgment about this. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From Springfield, Mass., 1836-1886," by Mason A. Green.) 
 
 W. B. Miner. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Aug. 11, 1860. 
 W. B. MINER, ESQ. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Yours of the Yth with newspaper slip attached is re 
 ceived; and for which I thank you. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
 Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 HON. JOHN 
 
 Private 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL. Aug. 31, 1860 
 
 HON. JOHN > 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : Yours of the 27th is duly received It consists 
 almost exclusively of a historical detail of some local troubles, 
 among some of our friends in Pennsylvania; and I suppose its 
 object is to guard me against forming a prejudice against Mr. Mc- 
 
 C . I have not heard near so much upon that subject as you 
 
 probably suppose; and I am slow to listen to criminations among 
 friends, and never expose their quarrels on either side My sin 
 cere wish is that both sides will allow by-gones to be by-gones, and 
 look to the present and future only. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Chas. Eoberts, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.) 
 
 Hon. N. Sargent. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Sept. 20, 1860. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : Your kind letter of the 16th was received yes 
 terday; have just time to acknowledge its receipt, and to say I 
 thank you for it; and that I shall be pleased to hear from you 
 again whenever it is convenient for you to write. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, HI.) 
 
APPENDIX 339 
 
 Win. Herndon. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., October 10, I860. 
 
 DEAR WILLIAM : I cannot give you details, but it is entirely cer 
 tain that Pennsylvania and Indiana have gone Republican very 
 largely. Pennsylvania 25,000, and Indiana 5,000 to 10,000. Ohio 
 of course is safe. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From Herndon s " Life of Lincoln." Permission of Jesse Weik.) 
 
 (Private and Confidential.) 
 Major David Hunter, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, October 26, 1860. 
 MAJOR DAVID HUNTER: 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Your very kind letter of the 20th was duly re 
 ceived, for which please accept my thanks. I have another letter, 
 from a writer unknown to me, saying the officers of the army at 
 Fort Kearny have determined, in case of Republican success at the 
 approaching presidential election, to take themselves, and the arms 
 at that point, South, for the purpose of resistance to the govern 
 ment. While I think there are many chances to one that this is a 
 humbug, it occurs to me that any real movement of this sort in 
 the army would leak out and become known to you. In such case, 
 if it would not be unprofessional or dishonorable (of which you are 
 to be judge), I shall be much obliged if you will apprise me of it. 
 Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by War Records Commission.) 
 
 (Confidential.) 
 Major David Hunter. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, December 22, 1860. 
 MAJOR DAVID HUNTER : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I am much obliged by the receipt of yours of 
 the 18th. The most we can do now is to watch events, and be as well 
 prepared as possible for any turn things may take. If the forts 
 fall, my judgment is that they are to be retaken. When I shall de 
 termine definitely my time of starting to Washington, I will notify 
 you. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by War Records Commission.) 
 
 Hon. I. N. Morris, Quincy, HI. 
 Confidential. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Dec. 24, 1860. 
 HON. I. N. MORRIS, 
 MY DEAR Sm : Without supposing that you and I are any nearer 
 
340 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 together, politically than heretofore, allow me to tender you my 
 sincere thanks for your Union resolution, expressive of views 
 upon which we never were, and, I trust, never will be at variance. 
 Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Thomas L. Morris, Quinoey, 111.) 
 
 Hon. Postmaster-General, Washington, D. 0. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 12, 1861. 
 HON. POST-MASTER GENERAL, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I understand that the outgoing and incoming 
 Representatives for the Cleveland District, unite in recommending 
 Edwin Cowles for P. M. in that City; that Senator Wade has con 
 sidered the case and declines to interfere ; and that no other M. C. 
 interferes. Under these circumstances, if correct, I think Mr. 
 Cowles better be appointed. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
 Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 13, 1861. 
 HON. P. M. G. 
 
 DEAR SIR: The bearer of this, Mr. C. T. Hempstow, is a Vir 
 ginian who wishes to get, for his son, a small place in your Dept. 
 I think Virginia should be heard, in such cases. 
 
 LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by the Hon. 
 Charles Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 WASHINGTON, March 30, 1861. 
 DEAR STUART: 
 
 Cousin Lizzie shows me your letter of the 27th. The question of 
 giving her the Springfield Post-office troubles me. You see I have 
 already appointed William Jayne a territorial governor and Judge 
 Trumbull s brother to a land-office Will it do for me to go on and 
 justify the declaration that Trumbull and I have divided out all 
 the offices among our relatives? Dr. Wallace you know, is needy, 
 and looks to me ; and I personally owe him much. 
 
 I see by the papers, a vote is to be taken as to the Post-office. 
 Could you not set up Lizzie and beat them all ? She, being here, 
 
APPENDIX 341 
 
 need know nothing of it, so therefore there would be no indelicacy 
 on her part 
 
 Yours, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by Mr. Stuart Brown, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 The originals of the telegrams and letters which follow are in the 
 collection of telegrams sent by the War Department during the 
 Civil War, unless otherwise noted. A few of them appear in the 
 official War Records, but none of them are to be found in the Com 
 plete Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Nicolay and Hay, and 
 the most of them have never before been printed. The telegrams 
 have been compared with the originals by the Record and Pension 
 Office. 
 
 WASHINGTON, May 22, 1861. 
 
 GOVERNOR E. D. MORGAN, Albany, N. Y. : 
 
 I wish to see you face to face to clear these difficulties about for 
 warding troops from New York. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, May 27, 1861. 
 COL. W. A. BARTLETT, New York: 
 
 The Naval Brigade was to go to Fort Monroe without trouble to 
 the Government, and must so go or not at all. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVH MANSION, June 13, 1861. 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: There is, it seems, a regiment in Massachusetts 
 commanded by Fletcher Webster, and which Hon. Daniel Web 
 ster s old friends very much wish to get into the service. If it 
 can be received with the approval of your Department and the 
 consent of the Governor of Massachusetts I shall indeed be much 
 gratified. Give Mr. Ashman a chance to explain fully. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From War Records, Vol. L, Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 13, 1861. 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: I think it is entirely safe to accept a fifth regi 
 ment from Michigan, and with your approbation I should say a 
 regiment presented by Col. T. B. W. Stockton, ready for service 
 
342 
 
 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 within two weeks from now, will be received. Look at Colonel 
 Stockton s testimonials. Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From War Kecords, Vol. L, Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 17, 1861. 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : With your concurrence, and that of the Governor 
 of Indiana I am in favor of accepting into what we call the three 
 years service any number not exceeding four additional regi 
 ments from that State. Probably they should come from the tri 
 angular region between the Ohio and Wabash Eivers, including 
 my own old boyhood home. Please see Hon. C. M. Allen, Speaker 
 of the Indiana House of Representatives, and unless you perceive 
 good reasons to the contrary, draw up an order for him according 
 to the above. Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. L, Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 17, 1861. 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: With your concurrence, and that of the Gov 
 ernor of Ohio, I am in favor of receiving into what we call the 
 three years service any number not exceeding six additional regi 
 ments from that State, unless you perceive good reasons to the 
 contrary. Please see Hon. John A. Gurley, who bears this, and 
 make an order corresponding with the above. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From War Records, Vol. L, Series in.) 
 
 NEW YORK, June 17, 1861. 
 His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 DEAR SIR: The Hon. Robert Dale Owen is authorized to pre 
 sent for your consideration our cavalry regiment being now raised 
 upon the border. It will be composed of the best material both 
 in men and horses. Mr. Owen will present to you the peculiar 
 claims and condition of the border, differing from the border of 
 any other State. I trust Your Excellency may find it consistent 
 with your views and the public interest to accept of this regiment. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 O. P. MORTON, 
 
APPENDIX 343 
 
 (Indorsement. ) 
 
 June 22, 1861. 
 
 If agreeable to the Secretary of War, I approve the receiving one 
 of the regiments already accepted from Indiana, organized and 
 equipped as a cavalry regiment. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. I., Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 29, 1861. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Kentucky Delegation who are for the Union: 
 
 I somewhat wish to authorize my friend, Jesse Bayles, to raise 
 a Kentucky regiment, but I do not wish to do it without your con 
 sent. If you consent, please write so at the bottom of this. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 We consent. 
 
 R. MALLORY. 
 H. GRIDER. 
 G. W. DUNLAP. 
 J. S. JACKSON. 
 C. A. WICKLIFFE. 
 
 August 5, 1861. 
 
 I repeat, I would like for Col. Bayles to raise a regiment of cav 
 alry whenever the Union men of Kentucky desire or consent to it. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From War Records, Vol. I., Series HI.) 
 
 Secretary of interior, Washington, D. C. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 6, 1861. 
 HON. SEC. OF INTERIOR, 
 
 MY BEAR SIR: Please ask the Comr. of Indian Affairs, and of the 
 Oen l Land Office to come with you, and see me at once. I want 
 the assistance of all of you in overhauling the list of appoint 
 ments a little before I send them to the Senate. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by Werter G. Betty, Norwood, Ohio.) 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 24, 1861. 
 
 THE GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 SIR: Together with the regiments of three years volunteers 
 which the Government already has in service in your State, enough 
 to make eight in all, if tendered in a reasonable time, will be 
 accepted, the new regiments to be taken as far as convenient, from 
 
344 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 the three months men and officers just discharged, and to be or 
 ganized, equipped, and sent forward as fast as single regiments 
 are ready, on the same terms as were those already in the service 
 from that State. Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Indorsement.) 
 
 This order is entered in the War Department, and the Governor 
 of New Jersey is authorized to furnish the regiments with wagons 
 and horses. S. CAMERON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. I., Series in.) 
 
 Hon. James Pollock. 
 
 WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 1861. 
 HON. JAMES POLLOCK, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: You must make a job for the bearer of this 
 make a job of it with the collector and have it done. You can do 
 it for me and you must. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned by Chas. Roberts, Esq., Philadelphia, Pa.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 4, 1861. 
 
 HONORABLE SECRETARY OF STATE. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: Please see Mr. Walker, well vouched as a Union 
 man and son-in-law of Governor Morehead, and pleading for his 
 release. I understand the Kentucky arrests were not made by spe 
 cial direction from here and I am willing if you are that any of 
 the parties may be released when James Guthrie and James Speed 
 think they should be. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. II., Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 31, 1861. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER: 
 
 DEAR Sra: Yours of the 23d is received, and I am constrained 
 to say it is difficult to answer so ugly a letter in good temper. I 
 am, as you intimate, losing much of the great confidence I placed 
 in you, not from any act or omission of yours touching the public 
 service, up to the time you were sent to Leavenworth, but from the 
 flood of grumbling despatches and letters I have seen from you 
 since. I knew you were being ordered to Leavenworth at the time 
 it was done ; and I aver that with as tender a regard for your honor 
 
APPENDIX 345 
 
 and your sensibilities as I had for my own, it never occurred to 
 me that you were being " humiliated, insulted and disgraced ; " 
 nor have I, up to this day, heard an intimation that you have been 
 wronged, coming from any one but yourself No one has blamed 
 you for the retrograde movement from Springfield, nor for the in 
 formation you gave General Cameron; and this you could readily 
 understand, if it were not for your unwarranted assumption that 
 the ordering you to Leavenworth must necessarily have been done 
 as a punishment for some fault. I thought then, and think yet, the 
 position assigned to you is as responsible, and as honorable, as that 
 assigned to Buell I know that General McClellan expected more 
 important results from it. My impression is that at the time you 
 were assigned to the new Western Department, it had not been 
 determined to replace General Sherman in Kentucky; but of this 
 I am not certain, because the idea that a command in Kentucky 
 was very desirable, and one in the farther West undesirable, had 
 never occurred to me You constantly speak of being placed in 
 command of only 3,000 Now tell me, is this not mere impatience ? 
 Have you not known all the while that you are to command four 
 or five times that many ? 
 
 I have been, and am sincerely your friend ; and if, as such, I dare 
 to make a suggestion, I would say you are adopting the best possi* 
 ble way to ruin yourself. " Act well your part, there all the honor 
 lies." He who does something at the head of one Regiment, will 
 eclipse him who dees nothing at the head of a hundred. 
 
 Your friend, as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 On the outside of the envelope in which this letter was found, 
 General Hunter had written: 
 
 The President s reply to my " ugly letter." This lay on his table 
 a month after it was written, and when finally sent was by a special 
 conveyance, with the direction that it was only to be given to me 
 when I was in a good humor. 
 
 (Original owned by War Records Commission.) 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, 
 i January 20, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Commanding Armies of 
 the United States: 
 
 You or any officer you may designate will in your discretion sus 
 pend the writ of habeas corpus so far as may relate to Major Chase, 
 lately of the Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States, 
 now alleged to be guilty of treasonable practices against this 
 Government. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 By the President, 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. II., Serie% in.) 
 
346 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 3, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Saint Louis, Mo. : 
 
 Your dispatch in regard to Colonel Barrett s regiment is re 
 ceived. Use your own judgment in the matter. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Please send above by order of the President. JOHN HAY, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 9, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 If the rigor of the confinement of Magoffin at Alton is endanger 
 ing his life, or materially impairing his health, I wish it mitigated 
 as far as it can be consistently with his safe detention. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Please send above by order of the President. JOHN HAY. 
 
 Postmaster General, Washington, D. C. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 24, 1862. 
 
 HON. POSTMASTER GENERAL. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: The Member of Congress from the District in 
 cluding Tiffin, O., calls on me about the Post-Master at that place. 
 I believe I turned over a despatch to you from some persons there, 
 asking a suspension, so as for them to be heard, or something of 
 the sort. If nothing, or nothing amounting to anything, has been 
 done, I think the suspension might now be suspended, and the 
 commission go forward. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by Hon. Chas. 
 Aldrich, curator, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 29, 1862. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MOCLELLAN : 
 
 Would it derange or embarrass your operations if I were to 
 appoint Captain Charles Griffin, a brigadier-general of volun 
 teers? Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 SPEECH TO THE 12TH INDIANA EEGIMENT. 
 
 Soldiers of the Twelfth Indiana Eegiment: It has not been 
 customary heretofore, nor will it be hereafter, for me to say some 
 thing to every regiment passing in review. It occurs too frequently 
 for me to have speeches ready on all occasions. i.s you have paid 
 
APPENDIX 347 
 
 such a mark of respect to the Chief Magistrate, it appears that I 
 should say a word or two in reply. 
 
 Your Colonel has thought fit, on his own account and in your 
 name, to say that you are satisfied with the manner in which I 
 have performed my part in the difficulties which have surrounded 
 the nation. For your kind expressions I am extremely grateful, 
 but, on the other hand, I assure you that the nation is more in 
 debted to you, and such as you, than to me. It is upon the brave 
 hearts and strong arms of the people of the country that our re 
 liance has been placed in support of free government and free 
 institutions. 
 
 For the part which you and the brave army of which you are 
 a part have, under Providence, performed in this great struggle, 
 I tender more thanks greatest thanks that can be possibly due 
 and especially to this regiment, which has been the subject of 
 good report. The thanks of the nation will follow you, and may 
 God s blessing rest upon you now and forever. I hope that upon 
 your return to your homes you will find your friends and loved 
 ones well and happy. I bid you farewell. 
 
 (From New York " Evening Post," May 15, 1862.) 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., June 5, 18629 1-2 p. m. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK: 
 
 I have received the following dispatch from General McClellan 
 which I transmit for your consideration. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 7, 1862. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN : 
 
 Your dispatch about Chattanooga and Dalton was duly received 
 and sent to General Halleck. I have just received the following 
 answer from him. We have Fort Pillow, Randolph and Memphis. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 28, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNOR O. P. MORTON,, Indianapolis, Ind. : 
 
 Your dispatch of to-day is just received. I have no recollection 
 of either John R. Cravens, or Cyrus M. Allen, having been named 
 to me for appointment under the tax law. The latter particularly 
 has been my friend, and I am sorry to learn that he is not yours. 
 No appointment has been or will be made by me for the purpose 
 of stabbing you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
348 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON Crrr, D. C., July 3, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe: 
 
 What news if any have you from General Burnside? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 28, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNORS OF ALL LOYAL STATES: 
 
 It would be of great service here for us to know, as fully as you 
 can tell, what progress is made and making in recruiting for old 
 regiments in your State. Also about what day the first regiment 
 can move with you, what the second, what the third and so on? 
 This information is important to us in making calculations. Please 
 give it as promptly and accurately as you can. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 12, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNOR CURTIN, Harrisburg, Penn.: 
 
 It is very important for some regiments to arrive here at once. 
 What lack you from us? What can we do to expedite matters? 
 Answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 14, 1862. 
 
 Officer in charge of Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase, Ohio : 
 
 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. 
 
 HON. JAMES DIXON, Hartford, Conn.: 
 Come here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION. 
 WASHINGTON, August 15, 1862. 
 
 Officer having prisoners in charge at Camp Douglass, near Chi 
 cago, 111.: 
 
 Is there a prisoner Dr. Joseph J. Williams ? and if so tell him his 
 rtfe is here and allow him to telegraph her. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 349 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 16, 1862. 
 
 HON. HIRAM BARNEY, New York: 
 
 Mrs. L. has $1,000 for the benefit of the hospitals and she 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 18, 1862. 
 S. B. MOODY, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 Which do you prefer commissary or quartermaster ? If appointed 
 it must be without conditions. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Operator please send above for President. JOHN HAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 20, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNOR ANDREW, Boston, Mass.: 
 
 Neither the Secretary of War nor I know anything except what 
 you tell us about the " published official document " you mention. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 21, 1862. 
 
 MRS. MARGARET PRESTON, Lexington, Ky.: 
 
 Your dispatch 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 21, 1862. 
 
 GILLET F. WATSON, Williamsburg, Ya.: 
 
 Your telegram in regard to the lunatic asylum has been re 
 ceived. It is certainly a case of difficulty, but if you cannot re 
 main, I cannot conceive 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. 
 
350 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 August 27, 1862 4.30 p. m. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Falmouth, Va.: 
 Do you hear anything from Pope ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 August 28, 18622.40 p. m. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Falmouth, Va.: 
 Any news from General Pope? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 August 28, 18622.40 p. m. 
 COLONEL HAUPT, Alexandria, Va.: 
 
 Yours received. How do you learn that the rebel forces at 
 Manassas are large and commanded by several of their best gen 
 erals? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 29, 18622.30 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 direc 
 tion of Warrenton Junction? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WA.R DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 30, 186210.20 a. m. 
 
 COLONEL HAUPT, Alexandria, Va.: 
 What news? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 August 30, 18623.50 p. m. 
 COLONEL HAUPT, Alexandria, Va.: 
 Please send me the latest news. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 August 30, 18628.35 p. m. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BANKS, Manassas Junction, Va.: 
 Please tell me what news. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 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 General Hal- 
 leck s consideration. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 351 
 
 Telegraph office please transmit as above and oblige the Presi 
 dent. JOHN HAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 18, 1862. 
 
 HONORABLE SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 SIR : The attached paper is said to contain a list of civilians im 
 prisoned at Salisbury, N. C. Please preserve it. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (From War Kecords, Vol. IV., Series in.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 20, 1862. 
 
 GENERAL KETCHUM, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 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. 
 
 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 prevent 
 their fighting the Indians, and evidently seeking to commit us 
 to their right to parole our prisoners in that way. My inclina 
 tion is to send the prisoners back with a distinct notice that we 
 will recognize no paroles given to our prisoners by rebels as ex 
 tending 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. 
 
 (From War Records, Vol. IV., Series III.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 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. 
 
352 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 9, 1862. 
 
 MORTON McMiCHAEL, Office "North American," Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 The letter alluded to in your dispatch of yesterday has not been 
 received. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Operator please send above and oblige. A. L. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., October 16, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNOR PIERPOINT, Wheeling, Va.: 
 
 Your dispatch of to-day received. I am very sorry to have of 
 fended you. I appointed the collector as I thought, on your writ 
 ten 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 21, 1862. 
 
 GENERAL JAMESON, Upper Stillwater, Me.: 
 
 How is your health now ? Do you or not wish Lieut. R. P. Craw 
 ford to be restored to his office? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 23, 1862. 
 
 HON. F. H. PIERPOINT, Wheeling, Va.: 
 
 Tour letter of the 17th just received. When you come to Wash 
 ington, I shall be pleased to show you the record upon which we 
 acted. Nevertheless answer this, distinctly saying you wish Rosa 
 and Ritcher, or any other two you do really want and they shall bo 
 appointed. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 23, 1862. 
 BEN. FIELD, ESQ., Astor House: 
 
 Your letter of 20th received. Think your request cannot safely 
 be granted. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 353 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 29, 1862. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN : 
 
 Your dispatches of night before last, yesterday, and last night 
 all received. I am much pleased with the movement of the army. 
 When you get entirely across the river let me know. What do you 
 know of the enemy? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 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 Halleck went to the Secretary of War with 
 it, stating his approval of the plan. The Secretary assented and 
 General Halleck wrote the order. It was a military question which 
 the Secretary supposed the generals understood better than he. 
 I wish I could see Governor Curtin. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 5, 1862. 
 
 HON. M. F. ODELL, Brooklyn, N. Y.: 
 
 You are re-elected. I wish to see you at once. Will you come! 
 Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 7, 1862. 
 
 COL. W. W. LOWE, Eort Henry, Ter.-n.t 
 
 Yours of yesterday received. Governor Johnson, Mr. Ethridga 
 and others are looking after the very thing you telegraph about. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 17, 1862. 
 
 EGBERT A. MAXWELL, Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 Your dispatch of to-day received. I do not at all understand it. 
 
 A. LLVCOLN. 
 (23) 
 
354 L 1 *^ OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 26, 1862* 
 
 HON. GEORGE ROBERTSON, Lexington, Ky.: 
 
 I mail you a short letter to-day. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) 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 con 
 sistent with the public service you will oblige me a good deal 
 by letting him have them. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Judge Advocate General, Washington, D. C. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 1862. 
 
 JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL. 
 
 SIR: Three hundred Indians have been sentenced to death in 
 Minnesota by a Military Commission, and execution only awaits 
 my action. I wish your legal opinion whether if I should con 
 clude 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. 
 
 (Original in Archives of Treasury Dept. Loaned by M. E. Ailes, 
 Washington, D. C.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 1862. 
 
 HON. H. J. RAYMOND, Times Office, New York: 
 
 Yours of November 25, reached me only yesterday. Thank you for 
 it. I shall consider and remember your suggestions. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 1862. 
 
 HON. B. GRATZ BROWN, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Yours of the 3d received yesterday. Have already done what 
 I can in the premises. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 355 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 8, 1862. 
 
 GOVERNOR ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Term.: 
 
 Jesse H. Strickland is here asking authority to raise a regiment 
 of Tennesseeans. Would you advise that the authority be given 
 him? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 10, 1862. 
 HON. J. K. DUBOIS : 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : In the summer of 1859 when Mr. Freeman visited 
 Springfield, Illinois, in relation to the McCallister & Stebbin a 
 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 per 
 formed ; 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. 
 
 (Original owned by the Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, 
 Illinois.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 14, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 If my friend Dr. William Fithian, of Danville, HI., should call on 
 you, please give him such facilities as you consistently can about 
 recovering the remains of a step-son and matters connected there 
 with. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 14, 1862. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 Please come to Washington so soon as you conveniently can. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT. 
 JOHN G. NICOLA Y, Headquarters: 
 What news have you? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 16, 1862. 
 
 BRIG. GEN. H. H. SIBLEY, Saint Paul, Minn.: 
 
 As you suggest let the executions fixed for Friday the 19th in 
 stant, be postponed to, and be done on Friday the 26th instant. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
356 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Private. 
 Operator please send this very carefully and accurately. 
 
 A. L. 
 
 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 Jackson. Will you please look into the case and restore 
 the old man to his home if the public interest will admit ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., December 16, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Falmouth: 
 
 Your dispatch about General Stahel is received. Please ascer 
 tain 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 December 17, 1862. 
 
 ABRAHAM C. CORSEY, of Seventh Illinois Volunteers, Grand Junc 
 tion, Miss. : 
 Your dispatch of yesterday received. Not now. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 17, 1862. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS: 
 
 Could the civil authority be reintroduced into Missouri in lieu 
 of the military to any extent, with advantage and safety ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 17, 1862. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE : 
 
 George Patten says he was a class-mate of yours and was in the 
 same regiment of artillery. Have you a place you would like to 
 put him in ? and if so what is it ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 357 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, 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 your 
 self and give me your opinion upon the subject. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 19, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Hon. Hall, M. C., here tells me, and Governor Gamble tel 
 egraphs me that quiet can be maintained in all the counties north 
 of the Missouri River by the enrolled militia. Confer with Gov 
 ernor Gamble and telegraph me. A. 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. 
 
 Please send above and oblige the President. JOHN HAY, 
 
 A. P. S. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 27, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Let the order in regard to Dr. McPheters and family be sus 
 pended until you hear from me again. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 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 General Curtis. His I have not yet obtained. 
 Confer with him, and I shall be glad to act when you and he agree. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 31, 1862. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 I hear not a word about the Congressional election of which you 
 and I corresponded. Time nearly up. A. LINCOLN. 
 
358 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 Private. EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 31, 1862. 
 HON. H. J. RAYMOND: 
 
 The proclamation cannot be telegraphed to you until during the 
 day to-morrow. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 Private. EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 31, 1862. 
 HON. HORACE GREELEY: 
 
 The proclamation cannot be telegraphed to you until during the 
 day to-morrow. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 Caleb Russell. 
 Sallie A. Fenton. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, 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 pleas 
 ure 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 restoration 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 conscious 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 sub 
 ject upon which all good men may unitedly agree, it is imploring 
 the gracious favor of the God of Nations upon the struggles our 
 people are making for the preservation of their precious birth 
 right of civil and religious liberty. 
 
 Very truly your friend, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Mr. John Dugdale, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., January 7, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Do Richmond papers of 6th say nothing about Vicksburg or if 
 anything, what? A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 359 
 
 f 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 23, 1863. 
 GENERAL BURNSIDE: 
 Will aee you any moment when you come. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., January 29, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Do Richmond papers have anything from Vicksburg? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., 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, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 (Cypher) 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 truth, it 
 would do no harm, but that is impossible. A. LINCOLN. 
 
3 6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 (Cypher) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 4, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 I hear of some difficulty in the streets of Baltimore yesterday. 
 What is the amount of it? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 13, 1863. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa. : 
 
 General Clay is here and I suppose the matter we spoke of will 
 have to be definitely settled now. Please answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 19, 1863. 
 
 WILLIAM H. HERNDON, Springfield, HI. : 
 
 Would you accept a job of about a month s duration at Saint 
 Louis, $5 a day and mileage ? Answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 26, 1863. 
 
 HON. J. K. DUBOIS, Springfield, 111. : 
 
 General Kosecrans respectedly urges the appointment of William 
 P. Caslin as a brigadier-general. What say you now? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 27, 1863. 
 
 ALFRED RUSSELL, CHARLES DICKEY, Detroit, Mich.: 
 
 The bill you mention in your dispatch of yesterday was ap 
 proved and signed on the 24th of this month. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 27, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER : 
 
 If it will be no detriment to the service I will be obliged for 
 Capt. Henry A. Marchant, of Company I, Twenty-third Pennsyl 
 vania Volunteers, to come here and remain four or five days. 
 
 A. LINCOLN, 
 
APPENDIX 361 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 16, 1863. 
 HON. J. O. MORTON, Joliet, 111. : 
 
 William Chumasero is proposed for provost-marshal of your dis 
 trict. What think you of it ? I understand he is a good man. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Murfreesborough, Tenn.: 
 
 Your telegram of yesterday just received. I write you more 
 fully than I could communicate by the wires. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 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 ba 
 responsible for what she may do. A, LINCOLN. 
 
$>2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 25, 186b. 
 
 HAJOR-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 nominated, because they 
 would transcend the number allowed by law. General Mitchell 
 nominated and rejected by the Senate and I do not think it proper 
 for me to re-nominate him without a change of circumstances such 
 as the performance of additional service, or an expressed change of 
 purpose on the part of at least some Senators who opposed him. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 3, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR A. G. CURTIN, Harrisburg, Pa. : 
 After next Tuesday the President will be here. 
 
 JOHN G. NICOLAY. 
 
 COLONEL SANFORD: 
 Please send above telegram. Yours, 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 11, 1863. 
 
 Officer in Command at Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Is there a soldier by the name of John R. Minnick of Wynkoop a 
 cavalry under sentence of death, by a court martial or military 
 commission, 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 can be heard from 
 again. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 363. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, April 23, 1863. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 Telegraph me the name of your candidate for West Point. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, April 23, 1863. 
 
 HON. S. P. CHASE, Philadelphia, Pa. : 
 Telegraph me the name of your candidate for West Point. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 29, 1863. 
 
 HON. W. A. NEWELL, Allentown, N. J. : 
 
 I have some trouble about provost-marshal in your first dis 
 trict. Please procure Hon. Mr. Starr to come with you and see 
 me, or come to an agreement with him and telegraph me the result. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 4, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 5, 1863. 
 
 HON. O. M. HATCH, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 Your dispatch of March 9th recommending provost-marshals, 
 reads 9th District Benj. F. Weist, Pittsfield, 111. Should it not 
 be Benj. F. Westlake? Answer. JNO. G. NICOLA Y. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, May 11, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix: 
 
 Do the Richmond papers have anything about Grand Gulf or 
 Vicksburg? A. LINCOLN. 
 
364 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, May 11, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTTERFIELD : 
 
 About what distance 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 12, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR SEYMOUR, Albany, N. Y.: 
 
 Dr. Swinburne 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 expe 
 rience has induced the department to deem proper, still they shall 
 have leave to go, if you say you desire it. Please answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 13, 1863. 
 
 DR. A. G. HENRY, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
 
 Governor Chase s feelings were hurt by my action in his ab 
 sence. Smith is removed, but Governor Chase wishes to name his 
 successor, and asks a day or two to make the designation. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, May 16, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES GUTHRIE, Louisville, Ky. : 
 
 Your dispatch 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 to force his con 
 tinuance there against the judgment 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. 
 
 Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, May 16, 1868. 
 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: The commander of the Department at St. Louis 
 has ordered several persons south of our military lines, which order 
 
APPENDIX 365 
 
 is not disapproved by me. Yet at the special request of Hon. James 
 Guthrie I have consented to one of the number, Samuel Churchill, 
 remaining at Louisville, Ky., upon condition of his taking the 
 oath of allegiance and Mr. Guthrie s word of honor for his good 
 behavior. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 (Original owned bjr 0. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, May 21, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 In the case of Thomas M. Campbell, convicted as a spy, let ex 
 ecution of the sentence be respited until further order from me, 
 he remaining in custody meanwhile. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE: 
 
 Please acknowledge receipt of above telegram and time of de 
 livery. THO. T. ECKERT. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 22, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL QUINCY A. GILMORE, New York City: 
 
 The President of the United States desires that you shall come 
 here to see him on your way to Kentucky. 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 24, 186310.40 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 com 
 plete." Did he know what he said, or did he say it without know 
 ing it? Your dispatch of this afternoon throws doubt upon it. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 25, 1863. 
 
 COLONEL HAGGARD, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Your dispatch to Green Adams had just been shown to me. Gen 
 eral Kosecrans knows better than we can know here, who should 
 be in charge of the "Fifth Cavalry. A. LINCOLN. 
 
3 6 ^ LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMEN i t 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 26, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 Your dispatch about Campbell, Lyle and others received and 
 postponement ordered by you approved. I will consider and tele 
 graph you again in a few days. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 27, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Let the execution of William B. Compton be respited or sus 
 pended till further order from me, holding him in safe custody 
 meanwhile. On receiving this notify me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 27, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR BUCKINGHAM, Hartford, Conn. : 
 
 The execution of Warren Whitemarch is hereby respited or sus 
 pended until further order from me, he to be held in safe custody 
 meanwhile. On receiving this notify me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, 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 
 consideration you ask, and shall try to find time and make a re 
 spectful response. Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 1, 1863. 
 COLONEL LUDLOW, Fort Monroe: 
 
 Richardson and Brown, correspondents of the Tribune captured 
 at Vicksburg, are detained at Richmond. Please ascertain why 
 they are detained, and get them off if you can. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 2, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER: 
 
 It is said that Philip Margraf, in your army, is under sentence 
 to be shot on Friday the 5th instant as a deserter. If so please 
 send me up the record of his case at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 367 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 4, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER: 
 
 Let execution of sentences in the cases of Daily, Margraff and 
 Harrington, be respited till further order from me, they remain 
 ing in close custody meanwhile. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., 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 what 
 ever, 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 Hudson invested. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., June 5, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER: 
 
 Would you like to have Capt. Treadwell Moore, now in Cali 
 fornia, to report to you for duty? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 6, 1863. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH J. GRIMSLEY, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 Is your John ready to enter the Naval school? If he is tele 
 graph me his full name. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 6, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 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 fighting 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. 
 
3 68 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 8, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe : 
 
 We have dispatches from Vicksburg of the 3d. Siege progress 
 ing. No general fighting recently. All well. Nothing new from 
 Port Hudson. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D, 0., June 8, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe : 
 
 The substance 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 Hud 
 son." We knew that General Sherman was wounded, but we 
 hoped not so dangerously as your dispatch represents. We still 
 have nothing of that Richmond newspaper story of Kirby Smith 
 crossing and of Banks losing an arm. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, 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 Territory. 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, 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. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 11, 1863. 
 MRS. LINCOLN, Philadelphia: 
 
 Your three dispatches received. I am very well and am glad 
 to know that you and " Tad " are so, A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 369 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, 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. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 13, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER: 
 
 I was coming down this afternoon, but if yov would prefer I 
 should not, I shall blame you if you do not tell me so. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., June 14, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL TYLER, Martinsburg: 
 
 Is Molroy invested, so that he cannot fall back to Harper 7 ! 
 Ferry? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 14, 1863. 
 GENERAL TYLER, Martinsburg: 
 
 If you are besieged how do you dispatch me? Why did you not 
 leave before being besieged? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 14, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL KELLEY, Harper s Ferry: 
 
 Are the forces at Winchester and Martinsburg making any effort 
 to get to you? A. 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 perhaps shall ride out 
 soon. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1863 5.35 p. m. 
 
 GENERAL TYLER, Harper s Ferry: 
 
 Please answer as soon as you can the following inquiries which 
 General Hooker makes. A. LINCOLN, 
 
 (24) 
 
370 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1863. 
 
 HORRACE BINNEY, JR., Philadelphia: 
 
 I sent General Cadwallader some hours ago to the Secretary of 
 War, and general-in-chief with the question you ask. I have not 
 heard the result. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., 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 independently of him. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., 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 Seymour. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., 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. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 16, 1863. 
 
 COL. WILLIAM S. BLISS, New York Hotel: 
 
 Your dispatch asking whether I will accept " the Loyal Bri 
 gade 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. Other 
 wise not. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 371 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 17, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER: 
 
 Mr. Eckert, superintendent in the telegraph office, assures me 
 that he has sent, and will send you everything that comes to the 
 office. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 18, 1863. 
 
 JOSHUA TEVIS, ESQ., U. S. Attorney, Frankfort, Ky.: 
 
 A Mr. Buckner is here showing a record and asking to be dis 
 charged from a suit in San Francisco, 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. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 18, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR D. TOD, Columbus, Ohio: 
 
 Yours received. I deeply regret that you were not renominated, 
 not that I have aught against Mr. Brough. On the contrary like 
 yourself, I say hurrah for him. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 21, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 I write you to-day in answer to your dispatch of yesterday. If 
 you cannot await the arrival by mail telegraph me again. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 23, 1863b 
 
 MAJOR VAN VLIET, New York : 
 
 Have you any idea what the news is in the dispatch of General 
 Banks to General Halleck? A. LINCOLN. 
 
372 
 
 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 June 24, 186o. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL COUCH, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 Have you any reports of the enemy moving into Pennsylvania $ 
 And if any what? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, 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 Johnston 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., June 25, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL PECK, Suffolk, Va.: 
 
 Colonel Derrom, of the Twenty-fifth New Jersey Volunteers, 
 now mustered out, says there is a man in your hands under con 
 viction for desertion, who formerly belonged to the above named 
 regiment, 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. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 25, 1868. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SLOCUM, Leesburg, Va.: 
 
 Was William Gruvier, Company A, Forty-sixth Pennsylvania, 
 one of the men executed as a deserter last Friday ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WASHINGTON, June 26, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 What is the case of " William Waller," at Maysville, Ky. ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., 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. 
 
APPENDIX 373 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 28, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 There is nothing going on in Kentucky on the subject of which 
 you telegraph, except an enrollment. Before anything is done be 
 yond this, I will take care to understand the case better than I 
 now do. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, DL C., June 28, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR J. T. BOYLE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 There is nothing going on in Kentucky on the subject of which 
 you telegraph, except an enrollment. Before anything is done 
 beyond this, I will take care to understand the case better than 
 I now do. A. LINCOLN, j 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 28, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Every place in the Naval school subject to my appointment ia 
 full and I have one unredeemed promise of more than half a year s 
 standing. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 30, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR PARKER, Trenton, N. J.: 
 
 Your dispatch of yesterday received. I really think the alti 
 tude of the enemies army in Pennsylvania presents us the best 
 opportunity we have had since the war began. I think you will 
 not see the foe in New Jersey. I beg you to be assured that no 
 one out of my position can know so well as if he were in it, the 
 difficulties and involvments of replacing General McClellan in 
 command, and this aside from any imputations upon him. Please 
 accept my sincere thanks for what you have done and are doing 
 to get troops forward. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, June 30, 1863. 
 
 A. K. McCLURE, Philadelphia : 
 
 Do we gain anything by opening one leak to stop another? Do 
 we gain anything by quieting one clamor merely to open another, 
 and probably a larger one? A. LINCOLN, 
 
374 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 (Cypher) 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, June 30, 1863 3.25 p. m. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL COUCH, Harrisbir., Pa.: 
 
 I judge by absence of news that the enemy is not crossing or 
 pressing up to the Susquehanna. Please tell me what you know 
 of his movements. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 3, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 Private Downey, of the Twentieth or Twenty-sixth Kentucky 
 Infantry, is said to have been sentenced to be shot for desertion 
 to-day. If so, respite the execution until I can see the record. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, July 3, 1863. 
 
 ROBERT T. LINCOLN, ESQ., Cambridge, Mass. : 
 
 Don t be uneasy. Your Mother very slightly hurt by her fall. 
 
 A. L. 
 Please send at once. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 5, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FRENCH, Frederick Town, Md. : 
 
 I see your dispatch about destruction of pontoons. Cannot the 
 enemy ford the river? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 7, 1863. 
 
 J. K. DUBOIS AND OTHERS, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 An appointment of Chesley at Danville had already been made 
 and gone forward for enrollment commissioner of Seventh Dis 
 trict when your dispatch arrived. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 8, 1863. 
 
 E. DELAFIELD SMITH, New York: 
 
 Your kind dispatch on behalf of self and friends is gratefully 
 received. Capture of Vicksburg confirmed by dispatch from Gen 
 eral Grant himself. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 375 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 8, 1863. 
 
 HON. F. I . Low, San Francisco, CaL: 
 
 There is no doubt that General Meade, now commanding the 
 Army of the Potomac, beat Lee at Gettysburg, Pa., at the end 
 of a three days battle, and that the latter is now crossing the 
 Potomac at Williamsport over the swollen stream and with poor 
 means of crossing, and closely pressed by Meade. We also have 
 dispatches rendering it entirely certain that Vicksburg surrendered 
 to General Grant on the glorious old 4th. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., July 9, 1863. 
 
 HON. LEONARD SWETT, HON. F. F. Low, San Francisco, Cal. : 
 
 Consult together and do not have a riot, or great difficulty about 
 delivering possession. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, July 11, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 How many rebel prisoners captured within Maryland and Penn 
 sylvania have reached Baltimore within this month of July ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, July 11, 1863. 
 
 R T. LINCOLN, New York, Fifth Avenue Hotel: 
 Come to Washington. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 12, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 You seem to misunderstand the nature of the objection to Gen 
 eral Tremble s going to Baltimore. His going there is opposed 
 to prevent his meeting his traitorous associates there. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 14, 1863. 
 
 ROBERT T. LINCOLN, New York, Fifth Avenue Hotel: 
 Why do I hear no more of you? A. LINCOLN. 
 
376 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, July 15, 1863. 
 
 HON. L. SWETT, San Francisco, Cal. : 
 
 Many persons are telegraphing me from California, begging me 
 for the peace of the State to suspend the military enforcement 
 of the writ of possession in the Almedan case, while you are the 
 single one who urges the contrary. You know I would like to 
 oblige you, but it seems to me my duty in this case is the other 
 way. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON CITY, July 15, 1863. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa. : 
 
 Your dispatch of yesterday received. Lee was already across 
 the river when you sent it. I would give much to be relieved of 
 the impression that Meade, Couch, Smith, and all since the battle 
 at Gettysburg, have striven only to get Lee over the river without 
 another fight. -Please tell me, if you know, who was the one corps 
 commander who was for fighting in the council of war on Sunday 
 night. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 15, 1863. 
 
 ROBERT A. MAXWELL, 1032 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia: 
 
 Your dispatch of to-day is received, but I do not understand it. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 18, 1863. 
 GOVERNOR O. P. MORTON, Indianapolis: 
 
 What do you remember about the case of John O. Brown, con 
 victed of mutinous conduct and sentenced to death? What do 
 you desire about it? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 NEW YORK, July 28, 1863. 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, New York: 
 
 Bob went to Fort Monroe and only got back to-day. Will start 
 to you at 11 a. m. to-morrow. All well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, July 30, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Please suspend execution of Peter Schalowsky, Company B, For 
 ty-fifth New York Regiment Volunteers, til] further order and 
 send me record of his conviction. A. LINCOLN, 
 
APPENDIX 377 
 
 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 3, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL "FOSTER, (or whoever may be in command of the 
 military department with headquarters at Fort Monroe, Va. :) 
 
 If Dr. Wright on trial at Norfolk, has been or shall be convicted, 
 send me a transcript of his trial and conviction and do not let 
 execution be done upon him until my further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 4, 1863. 
 
 HON. JOHN A. BINGHAM, Cadiz, Ohio : 
 
 It is indispensable for us to have a judge at Key West as soon 
 as possible. Please inform me whether you will go. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 5, 1863. 
 Cincinnati Gazette: 
 
 Please send me your present posting as to Kentucky election. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 15, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 * I think you are right in placing " little reliance in the report," 
 still the question is so interesting that I would like to know if the 
 captain of the Hudson gave any particulars how he got his news 
 and the like. Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 17, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL W. K. STRONG, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Please send me a transcript of the record in the case McQuin 
 and Bell, under sentence of death by a commission of which you 
 were the head. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D, 0., August 17, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 The appointment of Colonel Gillam to be a brigadier-general haa 
 been ordered. A. LINCOLN. 
 
378 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 (Private.) 
 Hon. James Conkling. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., August 17, 1863. 
 
 MY DEAR CONKLING: I cannot leave here now. Herewith is a 
 letter instead. You are one of the best public readers. I have but 
 one suggestion read it very slowly. And now God bless you, and 
 all good Union men. Yours as ever, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From Herndon s " Life of Lincoln." Permission of Jesse Weik.) 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 20, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES C. CONKLING, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 Your letter of the 14th is received. I think I will go or send 
 a letter, probably the latter. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 20, 1863. 
 GENERAL A. J. HAMILTON, (of Texas) New York: 
 
 Telegraph me the name of a boy or young man who you would 
 like to have appointed to West Point. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 21, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Ya. : 
 
 At this late moment I am appealed to in behalf of William 
 Thompson of Company K, Third Maryland Volunteers, in Twelfth 
 Army Corps, said to be at Kelly s Ford, under sentence to be shot 
 to-day as a deserter. He is represented to me to be very young, 
 with symptoms of insanity. Please postpone the execution till 
 further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 22, 1863. 
 GENERAL SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Please send me if you can a transcript of the record in the case 
 of McQuin and Bell, convicted of murder by a military commis 
 sion. I telegraphed General Strong for it, but he does not answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 24, 1863. 
 
 MRS. ELIZABETH J. GRIMSLEY, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 I mail the papers to you to-day appointing Johnny to the Naval 
 school. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 379 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 28, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 Please notify, if you can, Senator Bowden, Mr. Segar, and Mr. 
 Chandler, all, or any of them, that I now have the record in Dr. 
 Wright s case and am ready to hear them. When you shall have 
 got the notice to them please let me know. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 28, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL CRAWFORD, Rappahannock Station, Va. : 
 
 I regret that I cannot be present to witness the presentation of 
 a sword by the gallant Pennsylvania Reserve Corps to one so 
 worthy to receive it as General Meade. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 29, 1863. 
 HON. L. SWETT, San Francisco, Cal. : 
 
 If the Government s rights are reserved, the Government will be 
 satisfied, and at all events it will consider. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 29, 1863. 
 
 BEN. FIELD, ESQ., Syracuse, N. Y. : 
 I send you by mail to-day a copy of the Springfield letter. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 29, 1863. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Manchester, N. H.: 
 
 All quite well. Fort Sumter is certainly battered down and 
 utterly useless to the enemy, and it is believed here, but not en 
 tirely certain that both Sumter and Fort Wagner are occupied 
 by our forces. It is also certain that General Gilmore has thrown 
 some shot into the city of Charleston. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 31, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES C. CONKLING, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 In my letter of the 26th insert between the sentence ending 
 " since the issue of the emancipation proclamation as before " and 
 the next commencing " You say you will not fight, &c.," what fol 
 lows below my signature hereto. A. LINCOLN. 
 
380 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 "I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others, that 
 some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who have given 
 us our most important successes, believe the emancipation policy, 
 and the use of colored troops, constitute the heaviest blow yet 
 dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of those important 
 successes, could not have been achieved when it was, but for the 
 aid of black soldiers. Among the commanders holding these views 
 are some who have never had any affinity with what is called abo 
 litionism, or with Republican party politics, but who hold them 
 purely as military opinions. I submit these opinions as being en 
 titled to some weight against the objections, often urged, that 
 emancipation, and arming the blacks, are unwise as military meas 
 ures, and were not adopted as such in good faith." 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 31, 1863. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LAUGH:, Munfordsville, Ky. : 
 
 Let the execution of Thomas E. Coleman and Charles Johns, 
 be suspended until further order from here. Acknowledge receipt 
 of this. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 31, 1863. 
 
 COL. A. G. HOBSON, Bowling Green, Ky. : 
 
 I have telegraphed Lieutenant-Colonel Lauck, at Munfords 
 ville, to suspend the execution of Coleman and Johns until fur 
 ther order from here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 31, 1863. 
 H. B. WILSON AND OTHERS, Camden N. J.: 
 Will grant you an interview on Wednesday or sooner. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 3, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES C. CONKLING, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 I am mortified this morning to find the letter to you botched up 
 in the Eastern papers, telegraphed from Chicago. How did this 
 happen? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 3, 1863. 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Manchester, Vt. : 
 
 The Secretary of War tells me he has telegraphed General 
 Doubleday to await further orders. We are all well and have noth 
 ing new. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 381 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 5, 1863. 
 
 HON. JOSEPH SEGAR, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 I have just seen your dispatch to the Secretary of War, who is 
 absent. I also send a dispatch from Major Hayner of the 3d 
 showing that he had notice of my order, and stating that the peo 
 ple were jubilant over it, as a victory over the Government ex 
 torted by fear, and that he had already collected about 4,000 of 
 the money. If he has proceeded since I shall hold him accounta 
 ble for his contumacy. On the contrary no dollar shall be re 
 funded by my order until it shall appear that my act in the case 
 has been accepted in the right spirit. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 6, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore: 
 
 The Secretary of War is absent. Please direct or order that the 
 collection of the light house be suspended, and that the money 
 already collected be held, both till further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 6, 1863. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Manchester, Vt.: 
 
 All well and no news except that General Burnside has Knox- 
 ville, Term. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 9, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va. : 
 
 It would be a generous thing to give General Wheaton a leave of 
 absence for ten or fifteen days, and if you can do so without injury 
 to the service, please do it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 10, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL WHEATON, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Yesterday at the instance of Mr. Blair, senator, I telegraphed 
 General Meade asking him to grant you a leave of absence, to 
 which he replied that you had not applied for such leave, and that 
 you can have it when you do apply. I suppose it is proper for you 
 to know this. A. LINCOLN. 
 
382 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 11, 1863. 
 
 VICE PRESIDENT HAMLIN, Bangor, Me.: 
 
 Your letter of August 22, to be presented by your son Cyrus ia 
 on my table, but I have not seen him, or know of his being here 
 recently. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 11, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.: 
 
 It is represented to me that Thomas Edds, in your army, is 
 under sentence of death for desertion, to be executed next Mon 
 day. It is also said his supposed desertion is comprised in an ab 
 sence commencing with his falling behind last winter, being cap 
 tured and paroled by the enemy, and then going home. If this 
 be near the truth, please suspend the execution till further order 
 and send me the record of the trial. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 12, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL GEARY, Kelly s Ford: 
 
 Please tell me what you know or believe as to the conduct and 
 disposition of E. Jacquelin Smith, residing near Salem on the 
 Manassas Gap Railroad. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 12, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.: 
 
 The name is " Thomas Edds " not " Eddies " as in your dis 
 patch. The papers left with me do not designate the regiment 
 to which he belongs. The man who gave me the papers, I do not 
 know how to find again. He only told me that Edds is in the 
 Army of the Potomac, and that he fell out of the ranks during 
 Burnsides mud march last winter. If I get further information 
 I will telegraph again. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, September 13, 1863. 
 
 HON. J. K DUBOIS, HON. O. M. HATCH: 
 
 What nation do you desire General Allen to be made quarter 
 master-general of? This nation already has a quartermaster- 
 general. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 383 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 13, 1863. 
 
 DR. JOHN P. GRAY, Norfolk, Va.: 
 
 The names of those whose affidavits are left with me on the 
 question of Dr. Wright s sanity are as follows: 
 
 Mrs. Jane C. Bolsom, Mrs. M. E. Smiley, Moses Hudgin, J. D. 
 Ghislin, Jr., Felix Logue, Robert B. Tunstall, M. D., Mrs. Eliza 
 beth Rooks, Dr. E. D. Granier, Thomas K. Murray, William J. 
 Holmes, Miss Margaret E. Wigeoa, Mrs. Emily S. Frost. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 13, 1863. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM H. H SCOTT, Danville, El. : 
 
 Your niece, Mrs. Kate Sharp, can now have no difficulty in 
 going to Knoxville, Tenn., as that place is within our military 
 lines. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 15, 1863. 
 
 J. G. ELAINE, Augusta, Me. : 
 
 Thanks both for the good news you send and for the sending 
 of it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 16, 1863. 
 
 MRS. J. F. SPEED, Louisville, Ky.: 
 
 Mr. Holman will not be jostled from his place with my knowl 
 edge and consent. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 16, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.: 
 
 Is Albert Jones of Company K, Third Maryland Volunteers to 
 be shot on Friday next? If so please state to me the general fea 
 tures of the case. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Major Haynor left here several days ago under a promise ta 
 put down in writing, in detail the facts in relation to the mis 
 conduct of the people on the Eastern shore of Virginia. He has 
 not returned. Please send him over. A. LINCOLN. 
 
LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Headquarters Army of Potomac: 
 
 Yours in relation to Albert Jones is received. I am appealed 
 to in behalf of Richard M. Abrams of Company A, Sixth New Jer 
 sey Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-General Freeline- 
 hoysen, Governor Newell, Hon. Mr. Middleton, M. C., of the dis 
 trict and the marshal who arrested him. I am also appealed to in 
 behalf of Joseph S. Smith, of Company A, Eleventh New Jersey 
 Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-General Freelinghoy- 
 sen, and Hon. Marcus C. Ward. Please state the circumstances of 
 their cases to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, September 18, 1863. 
 
 HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Dispatch of yesterday just received. I shall try to find the paper 
 you mention and carefully consider it. In the meantime let me 
 urge that you do your utmost to get every man you can, black and 
 white, under arms at the very earliest moment, to guard roads, 
 bridges and trains, allowing all the better trained soldiers to go 
 forward to Rosecrans. Of course I mean for you to act in co-op 
 eration with, and not independently of the military authorities. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 18, 1863. 
 
 C. M. SMITH, ESQ., Springfield, HI.: 
 
 Why not name him for the general you fancy most ? This is my 
 suggestion. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, September 18, 1863. 
 
 MRS. HANNAH ARMSTRONG, Petersburg, HI.: 
 
 I have just ordered the discharge of your boy William as you 
 say, now at Louisville, Ky. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 19, 1863. 
 
 HUGHEY GALLAGHER, Philadelphia, Pa. : 
 
 I know nothing as to John Gallagher. The law does not require 
 this class of cases to come before me, and they do not come unless 
 brought by the friends of the condemned. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 385 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 20, 1863. 
 
 HRS. A. LINCOLN, New York: 
 
 I neither see nor hear anything of sickness here now, though 
 there may be much without my knowing it. I wish you to stay, or 
 come just as is most agreeable to yourself. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., September 21, 1863. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York: 
 
 The air is so clear and cool and apparently healthy that I would 
 be glad for you to come. Nothing very particular but I would 
 be glad to see you and Tad. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 21, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR PIERPOINT, Alexandria, Va.: 
 
 I would be glad to have your opinion whether it would be good 
 policy to refund the money collected from the people of East 
 Virginia, as indemnity for the light house depredation. I believe 
 you once gave me your opinion on the point, but I am not entirely 
 sure. Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 21, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of John H. Williams, Company D, 
 Fourth Regiment Maryland Volunteers, First Corps, who is said 
 to be under sentence of death, to be executed on the 25th for de 
 sertion. The appeal is made on the ground of unsoundness of 
 mind. Please give me briefly the facts and your views. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 22, 1863. 
 
 MILITARY OFFICER IN COMMAND, Cumberland, Md. : 
 
 It is represented to me that one Dennis McCarty, is at Cumber 
 land under sentence of death, but that the time is not yet fixed 
 for his execution. Please answer telling me whether this state 
 ment is correct, and also if an order shall come to you for his exe 
 cution, notify me of it at once by telegraph. A. LINCOLN. 
 (25) 
 
3^6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 22, 1863, 
 
 HON. O. M. HATCH, HON. J. K. DUBOIS, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 Your letter is just received. The particular form of my dispatch 
 was jocular, which I supposed you gentlemen knew me well enough 
 to understand. General Allen is considered here as a very faithful 
 and capable officer, and one who would be at least thought of for 
 quartermaster-general if that office were vacant. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 22, 1863. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Fifth Avenue House, New York: 
 
 Did you receive my dispatch of yesterday? Mrs. Cuthbert did 
 not correctly understand me. I directed her to tell you to use 
 your own pleasure whether to stay or come, and I did not say it 
 is sickly and that you should on no account come. So far as I see 
 or know, it was never healthier, and I really wish to see you. An 
 swer this on receipt. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 23, 1883. 
 
 THOMAS DAVIES, Indianapolis, Ind.: 
 
 Forward your petition and record of trial immediately. There 
 is time for them to reach before the 1st of next month. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 24, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in favor of a private (name not remembered) 
 in Company D, First Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, in Sixth 
 Corps, who is said to be under sentence to be shot to-morrow. 
 Please give me briefly the facts of the case, including his age and 
 your opinion on it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 p. g. Also give me a like statement in the case of Daniel Sul 
 livan, of Thirteenth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, First 
 Army Corps. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 25, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL McCALLUM, Alexandria, Va. : 
 
 I have sent to General Meade, by telegraph, to suspend the exe 
 cution of Daniel Sullivan of Company E, Thirteenth Massachu- 
 
APPENDIX 387 
 
 setts, which was to be to-day, but understanding there is an inter 
 ruption on the line, may I beg you to send this to him by the quick 
 est mode in your power ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 25, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 Please send Major Hayner over now. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 25, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Owing to the press in behalf of Daniel Sullivan, Company E, 
 Thirteenth Massachusetts, and the doubt though small, which you 
 express of his guilty intention, I have concluded to say let hia 
 execution be suspended till further order, and copy of record 
 sent me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 26, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of Adam Wolf, private in Company 
 H, Thirteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Please answer as you 
 have done in other cases. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 29, 1863. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Indianapolis, Ind. : 
 
 Please suspend execution of Adam Davies till further order from 
 me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 30, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 Following dispatch just received: 
 
 Union Men Driven Out of Missouri. 
 
 LEAVENWORTH, September 29. Governor Gamble having author 
 ized Colonel Moss, of Liberty, Mo., to arm the men in Platte and 
 Clinton Counties, he has armed mostly the returned rebel sol 
 diers and men under bonds. Moss* men are now driving the UnioD 
 
388 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 men out of Missouri. Over one hundred families crossed the river 
 to-day. Many of the wives of our Union soldiers have been com 
 polled to leave. Four or five Union men have been murdered by 
 Colonel Moss men. 
 
 Please look to this and if true, in whole or part put a stop to it. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Francis S. Corkran, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 1863. 
 
 HON. FRANCIS S. CORKRAN, Baltimore, Md. 
 
 Mrs. L. is now at home and would be pleased to see you any 
 time. If the grape time has not passed away, she would be pleased 
 to join in the enterprise you mention. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Clarence G. Corkran, Lutherville, Md.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., October 1, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR BRADFORD, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Please be here in person at 12 m. Saturday to fix up definitely 
 in writing the matter about which Mr. Johnson and Governor 
 Hicks brings a communication from you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Please repeat to Annapolis. A. L. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 1, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL TYLER, Baltimore: 
 
 Take care of colored troops in your charge, but do nothing fur 
 ther about that branch of affairs until further orders. Particu 
 larly do nothing about General Vickers of Kent County. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Send a copy to Colonel Birney. A. L. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 1, 1863 120 p. m, 
 
 THOMAS A. SCOTT, Louisville, Ky.: 
 
 Tell me how things have advanced so far as you know. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 389 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 October 1, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Let respite of ten days be granted to Herman Barber, alias E. W. 
 Von Heinecke, sentenced to be shot to-morrow for desertion. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Send by telegraph at once. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 3, 1863. 
 
 COLONEL BIRNEY, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 Please give me as near as you can, the number of slaves you 
 have recruited in Maryland. Of course the number is not to in 
 clude the free colored. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 3, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Have you a man in jeopardy as a deserter by the name William 
 T. Evers, private in Company D, Brooklyn Fourteenth State Mil 
 itia, or Eighty-fourth Volunteers? If you have please send me 
 the facts and conditions of his case. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 4, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of Daniel Hanson, of Ninety-seventh 
 New York, said to be under sentence of death for desertion. Please 
 inform me as usual. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 5, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Yesterday I inquired of you about Daniel Hanson, private in 
 Ninety-seventh New York, said to be under sentence of death for 
 desertion. I fear you did not receive the dispatch. Please answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 7, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn: 
 
 What news have you from Kosecrans army, or in that direction 
 beyond Nashville? A. LINCOLN, 
 
390 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 8, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of August Blittersdorf , at Mitchell s 
 Station, Va., to be shot to-morrow as a deserter. I am unwilling 
 for any boy under eighteen to be shot, and his father affirms 
 that he is yet under sixteen. Please answer. His regiment or 
 company not given me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 8, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of John Murphy, to be shot to 
 morrow. His mother says he is but seventeen. Please answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 8, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 The boy telegraphs from Mitchell s Station, Va. The father 
 thinks he is in the One hundred and nineteenth Pennsylvania Vol 
 unteers. The father signs the name "Blittersdorf." I can tell 
 no more. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 11, 18639.50 a. m. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 How is it now? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 12, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 The father and mother of John Murphy, of the One hundred 
 and nineteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, have filed their own affi 
 davits that he was born June 22, 1846, and also the affidavits of 
 three other persons who all swear that they remembered the cir 
 cumstances of his birth and that it was in the year 1846, though 
 they do not remember the particular day. I therefore on account 
 of his tender age, have concluded to pardon him, and to leave it 
 to yourself, whether to discharge him or continue him in the 
 service. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 391 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 13, 1863. 
 McVEiGH, Philadelphia: 
 
 The enemy some days ago made a movement, apparently to turn 
 General Meade s right. This led to a maneuvering of the two 
 armies and to pretty heavy skirmishing on Saturday, Sunday and 
 Monday. We have frequent dispatches from General Meade, and 
 up to 10 o clock last night nothing had happened giving either 
 side any marked advantage. Our army reported to be in excellent 
 condition. The telegraph is open to General Meade s camp this 
 morning, but we have not troubled him for a dispatch. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 13, 1863. 
 
 HON. J. K. MOOREHEAD, Pittsburg, Pa.: 
 
 Not unless you think it necessary. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 14, 18633.35. 
 
 WAYNE MCVEIGH, Philadelphia: 
 How does it stand now 2 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0. 
 GOVERNOR CURTIN, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 How does it stand ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, October 15, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES W. GRIMES, Burlington, Iowa: 
 
 Thanks for your Iowa election news. I suppose you know that 
 Pennsylvania and Ohio are all right. Governor Morton telegraphs 
 that county elections in Indiana have gone largely in the same 
 direction. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 15, 1863. 
 
 MAJ. HERMAN KEITEZ, Cumberland, Md. : 
 
 Suspend execution of Dennis McCarty till further order from 
 here. If McCarty has been removed send this to the officer where 
 he is. A. LINCOLN. 
 
392 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1863. 
 
 L. B. TODD, Lexington, Ky. : 
 
 I send the following pass to your care. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 " WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1863. 
 To whom it may concern : 
 
 Allow Mrs. Kobert S. Todd, widow, to go South and bring her 
 daughter Mrs. General B. Hardin Helm, with her children north 
 to Kentucky. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Postpone the execution of Dr. Wright to Friday the 23d instant, 
 (October). This is intended for his preparation and is final. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 15, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEAJTO, Army of Potomac: 
 
 On the 4th instant you telegraphed me that Private Daniel Han 
 son, of Ninety-seventh New York Volunteers, had not yet been 
 tried. When he shall be, please notify me of the result, with a 
 brief statement of his case, if he be convicted. Gustave Blit- 
 tersdorf, whom you say is enlisted in the One hundred and nine 
 teenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, as William Fox, is proven to 
 me to be only fifteen years old last January. I pardon him, and 
 you will discharge him or put him in the ranks at your discre 
 tion. Mathias Brown, of Nineteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, is 
 proven to me to be eighteen last May, and his friends say he is 
 convicted on an enlistment and for a desertion, both before that 
 time. If this last be true he is pardoned, to be kept or discharged 
 as you please. If not true suspend his execution and report the 
 facts of his case. Did you receive my dispatch of 12th pardoning 
 John Murphy? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 16, 1863. 
 
 HON. S. P. CHASE, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio: 
 
 If Judge Lawrence cannot go to Key West at once, I shall have 
 to appoint another. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 393 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 16, 1863. 
 
 THOMAS W. SWEENEY, Continental, Philadelphia : 
 
 Tad is teasing me to have you forward his pistol to him, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 16, 1863. 
 
 T. C. DURANT, New York: 
 
 I remember receiving nothing from you of the 10th, and I do 
 not comprehend your dispatch of to-day. In fact I do not remem 
 ber, if I ever knew who you are, and I have very little concep 
 tion as to what you are telegraphing about. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 16, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Have you in custody for desertion a man by the name of Jacob 
 Schwarz, a Swiss ? If so please send a short statement of his case. 
 Neither his company, regiment or corps is given me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Knoxville, Tenn. : 
 
 I am greatly interested to know how many new troops of ail 
 sorts you have raised in Tennessee. Please inform me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. Q., October 17, 1863. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 I forgot to notify you that your dispatch of day before yesterday 
 was duly received, and immediately attended to in the best way 
 we could think of. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SLOCUM, Stevenson, Ala.: 
 
 Please have a medical examination made of William Brown, 
 private in Company C, Fifth Connecticut Volunteers, and report 
 the result to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
394 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 17, 1863. 
 
 HON. \VILLIAM B. THOMAS, Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 
 I am grateful for your offer of 100,000 men, but as at present 
 advised I do not consider that Washington is in danger, or that 
 there is any emergency requiring 60 or 90 days men. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 It would be useless for Mrs. Dr. Wright to come here. The sub 
 ject is a very painful one, but the case is settled. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, D. C., October 18, 1863. 
 
 T. C. DURANT, New York: 
 
 As I do with others, so I will try to see you when you come. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 20, 1863. 
 
 COL. DONN PIATT, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 If the young men seem to know anything of importance, send 
 them over. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 20, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, 
 BRIG. GEN. J. T. BOYLE, Louisville, Ky.: 
 
 Let execution of sentence of Lee W. Long be suspended until 
 further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 22, 1863. 
 
 MILITARY COMMANDER, Evansville, Ind. : 
 
 A certain Major Long, I believe Lee W. Long, is by sentence of 
 court-martial, or military commission, to be executed soon on the 
 30th instant, I think at Evansville. I have directed execution of 
 the sentence to be suspended till further order. Please act accord 
 ingly. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 395 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., October 25, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL J. T. BOYLE, Louisville, Ky. : 
 
 Let the order suspending the execution of Long apply also to the 
 case of Woolf oik. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 28, 1863. 
 
 HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 If not too inconvenient, please come at once and have a personal 
 conversation with me, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 29, 1863. 
 T. J. CARTER, New York: 
 
 I made your appointment yesterday, and the Secretary of the 
 Interior undertook to send it to you. I suppose it will reach you 
 to-day. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 29, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 I see in a newspaper that you have recently approved sentences 
 of death for desertion of Thomas Sands, James Haley, H. H. Wil 
 liams, Mathias Brown, alias Albert Brown, H. C. Beardsley, and 
 George F. Perkins. Several of these are persons in behalf of whom 
 appeals have been made to me. Please send me a short statement 
 of each one of the cases, stating the age of each, so far as you can. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Hon. James W. Grimes. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 29, 1863. 
 
 HON. JAMES W. GRIMES. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR: The above act of congress was passed, as I sup 
 pose, for the purpose of shutting out improper applicants for seats 
 in the House of Representatives; and I fear there is some danger 
 that it will be used to shut out proper ones. Iowa, having an en 
 tire Union delegation, will be one of the States the attempt will 
 be made, if upon any. The Governor doubtless has made out the 
 certificates, and they are already in the hands of the members. I 
 suggest that they come on with them; but that, for greater caution, 
 
39 6 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 you, and perhaps Mr. Harlan with you, consult with the Governor, 
 and have an additional set made out according to the form on 
 the other half of this sheet; and still another set, if you can, by 
 studying the law, think of a form that in your judgment, promises 
 additional security, and quietly bring the whole on with you, to 
 be used in case of necessity. Let what you do be kept still. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original, owned by Hist. Dept. of Iowa. Loaned by Charles 
 Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.) 
 
 (Cypher) . EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 30, 1863. 
 
 HON. F. F. LOWE, San Francisco, Cal. : 
 
 Below is an act of Congress, passed last session, intended to ex 
 clude applicants not entitled to seats, but which there is reason to 
 fear, will be used to exclude some who are entitled. Please get with 
 the Governor and one or two other discreet friends, study the act 
 carefully, and make certificates in two or three forms, according to 
 your best judgment, and have them sent to me, so as to multiply the 
 chances of the delegation getting their seats. Let it be done with 
 out publicity. Below is a form which may answer for one. If you 
 could procure the same to be done for the Oregon member it might 
 be well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Act to regulate the duties of the clerk of the House of Repre 
 sentatives in preparing for the Organization of the House. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 United States of America, in Congress assembled, That, before the 
 first meeting of the next Congress, and of every subsequent Con 
 gress, the Clerk of the next preceding House of Representatives 
 shall make a roll of the representatives elect and place thereon the 
 names of all persons, and of such persons only, whose credentials 
 show that they were regularly elected in accordance with the laws 
 of their States respectively, or the law of the United States. 
 
 Approved March 3, 1863. 
 
 By His Excellency 
 
 Governor of the State of California. 
 
 I, , Governor of the State of .California, do hereby 
 
 certify and make known that the following persons, namely : 
 Names. Districts. 
 
 have been regularly elected members of the House of Representa 
 tives of the United States for the Thirty-eighth Congress, and for 
 
APPENDIX 397 
 
 the districts above mentioned, in accordance with the laws of the 
 said State and of the United States, and that they only have been 
 so elected. 
 
 IN TESTIMONY THEKEOF, I have hereunto set my hand 
 and caused the seal of the said State to be affixed. 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., October 30, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 Much obliged for the information about deserters contained in 
 your dispatch of yesterday, while I have to beg your pardon for 
 troubling you in regard to some of them, when, as it appears by 
 yours, I had the means of answering my own questions. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 31, 1863. 
 
 HON. ABRAM WAKEMAN, New York : 
 
 Hanscom s dispatch just received. Have made careful inquiry 
 as to the truth of assertions you refer to and find them unfounded. 
 The provost-marshal-general has issued no proclamation at all. He 
 has in no form announced anything recently in regard to troops in 
 New York, except in his letter to Governor Seymour of October 21, 
 which has been published in the newspapers of that State. 
 
 JOHN HAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 31, 1863. . 
 
 SAINT NICHOLAS HOTEL OFFICE, New York : 
 
 Not knowing whether Colonel Parsons could be spared from duty 
 elsewhere to come to Washington, I referred Governor Yates s dis 
 patch to the Secretary of War, who I presume still holds it under 
 advisement. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 31, 1863. 
 
 L. B. TODD, Lexington, Ky. : 
 
 I sent the pass by telegraph more than ten days ago. Did you 
 not receive it? !A. LINCOLN* 
 
39 8 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 1, 1863. 
 
 J. B. SHEPPARD, Harper s Ferry, Md. : 
 
 Yours of this morning received, and the Secretary of War is at 
 tending to your request. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 1, 1863. 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWARD, Auburn, N. Y.: 
 
 No important news. Details of Hooker s night fight do great 
 credit to his command, and particularly to the Eleventh Corps 
 and Geary s part of the Twelfth. No discredit on any. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 3, 1863. 
 
 ABRAM KEQUA, New York: 
 
 I know nothing whatever of Lieutenant Lobring, about whose 
 case you telegraph. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 3, 1863. 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWARD, Auburn, N. Y.: 
 
 Nothing new. Dispatches up to 12 last night from Chattanooga 
 show all quiet and doing well. How is your son ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 3, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Samuel Wellers, private in Company B, Forty-ninth Pennsyl 
 vania Volunteers, writes that he is to be shot for desertion on the 
 6th instant. His own story is rather a bad one, and yet he tells it 
 so frankly, that I am somewhat interested in him. Has he been 
 a good soldier except the desertion ? About how old is he ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 5, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Please suspend the execution of Samuel Wellers, Forty-ninth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 399 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 8, 1863. 
 
 WILLIAM B. ASTOR, EGBERT B. KOSEVELT, New York : 
 
 I shall be happy to give the interview to the committee as you 
 request. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 9, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR MULFORD, Fort Monroe: 
 Let Mrs. Clark go with Mrs. Todd. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 10, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo. : 
 
 1 see a dispatch here from Saint Louis, which is a little difficult 
 for me to understand. It says " General Schofield has refused 
 leave of absence to members in military service to attend the leg 
 islature. All such are radical and administration men. The elec 
 tion of two Senators from this place on Thursday will probably 
 turn upon this thing." What does this mean ? Of course members 
 of the legislation must be allowed to attend its sessions. But 
 how is there a session before the recent election returns are in? 
 And how is it to be at "this place" and that is Saint Louis? 
 Please inform me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 11, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 I believe the Secretary of War has telegraphed you about mem 
 bers of the legislation. At all events, allow those in the service 
 to attend the session, and we can afterward decide whether they 
 can stay through the entire session. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 11, 1863. 
 HON. HIRAM BARNEY, New York: 
 
 I would like an interview with you. Can you not come? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 11, 1863. 
 
 JOHN MILDERBORGER, Peru, Ind.: 
 
 I cannot comprehend the object of your dispatch. I do not often 
 decline seeing people who call upon me, and probably will see you if 
 you call. A. LINCOLN. 
 
400 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 12, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL VAUGHAN, or officer in command, Lexington, Mo. : 
 
 Let execution of William H. Ogden be suspended until further 
 order from me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 13, 1863. 
 
 E. H. & E. JAMESON, Jefferson City, Mo.: 
 
 Yours saying Brown and Henderson are elected senators is re 
 ceived. I understand this is one and one. If so it is knocking 
 heads together to some purpose. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 16, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Knoxville, Tenn.: 
 What is the news? , A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 20, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SCIIEXOK, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 It is my wish that neither Maynadier, nor Gordon be executed 
 without my further order. Please act upon this. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 20, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 If there is a man by the name of King under sentence to be 
 shot, please suspend execution till further order, and send record. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 20, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 An intelligent woman in deep distress, called this morning, saying 
 her husband, a lieutenant in the Army of Potomac, was to be shot 
 next Monrlay for desertion, and putting a letter in my hand, upon 
 which I relied for particulars, she left without mentioning a name 
 or other particular by which to identify the case. On opening 
 the letter I found it equally vague, having nothing to identify 
 by, except her own signature, which seems to be " Mrs. Anna S. 
 King." I could not again find her. If you have a case which you 
 shall think is probably the one intended, please apply my dispatch 
 of this morning to it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 401 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 23, 1863. 
 
 E. P. EVANS, West Union, Adams County, Ohio : 
 
 Yours to Governor Chase in behalf of John A. Welch is before 
 me. Can there be a worse case than to desert and with letters 
 persuading others to desert? I cannot interpose without a better 
 showing than you make. When did he desert? When did he 
 write the letters? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 23, 1863. 
 
 HON. GREEN CLAY SMITH, Covington, Ky. : 
 
 I am told that John A. Welch is under sentence as a deserter to 
 be shot at Covington on the llth of December. Please bring a copy 
 of the record and other facts of his case with you when you come. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 24, 1863. 
 
 MILITARY OFFICER IN COMMAND, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 Please suspend execution of sentence against E. A. Smith, until 
 further order, meantime send me a copy of record of his trial. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, November 25, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Commanding Army of the Potomac: 
 
 Suspend execution in case of Adolphus Morse, Seventy-sixth 
 New Ycrk, deserter, and send record to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 November 25, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 The sentence in the case of Privt. Moses Giles, Company B, 
 Seventh Maine Volunteers, is suspended until further orders. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 December 2, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 The sentence in the case of Privt. H. Morris Husband, Ninety- 
 ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, (now of Third Army Corps First 
 Division) is suspended until further orders. Let the record Ve 
 forwarded to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (26) 
 
402 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 3, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Please suspend execution of Frederick Foster until the record 
 can be examined. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 3, 1883. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Governor Seymour especially asks that Isaac C. White sentenced 
 to death for desertion be reprieved. I wish this done. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 The sentences in the cases of Brice Birdsill, private Company 
 B, One hundred and twenty-fourth New York Volunteers, and 
 Frederick Foster, of Ninety-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, are 
 suspended until further orders. Let the records be forwarded at 
 once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 3, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Please suspend execution in case of William A. Gammon, 
 Seventh Maine, and send record to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 8end by telegraph and oblige, yours very truly, 
 
 JOHN HAT, 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 The sentences in the cases of Private John L. Keatly, and James 
 Halter, Company I, Second Delaware Volunteers, are suspended 
 until further orders. Let the records be at once forwarded. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 4, 1863 9 1-2 a. m. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Metropolitan, New York: 
 All going welL A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 5, 1863 10 a. m. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
 All doing well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 403 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., December 6, 1863. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
 All doing well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 186310.20 a. m. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
 
 All doing well. Tad confidently expects you to-night. When 
 will you come? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 18637 p. m. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Metropolitan Hotel, New York: 
 
 Tad has received his book. The carriage shall be ready at ff 
 p. m. to-morrow. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Charles P. Kirkland, New York. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 1863. 
 
 CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, ESQ., New York. 
 
 I have just received and have read your published letter to the 
 Hon. Benjamin K. Curtis. 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 for my own I 
 thank you for it. Yours very truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Miss Julia Kirkland, Utica, N. Y.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 9, 1863. 
 JUDGE ADVOCATE-GENERAL : 
 
 COLONEL: The President desires me to request that you will 
 order the execution of these men to be suspended until the records 
 can be examined, using the President s signature to your dispatch. 
 
 Yours truly, JOHN HAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 10, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Please suspend execution in any and all sentences of death 
 in your department until further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
404 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 10, 1863. 
 
 OFFICER IN MILITARY COMMAND, Covington, Ky. : 
 
 Let the execution of John A. Welch, under sentence to be shot 
 for desertion to-morrow, be suspended until further order from here. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 December 11, 1863. 
 
 BRIGADIER-GENERAL LOCKWOOD, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 The sentences in the cases of Privates William Irons, Company 
 D, and Jesse Lewis, Company E, Fifth Maryland Volunteers, or 
 dered to be carried into execution to-day, is hereby suspended until 
 further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 11, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL J. M. SCHOFIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 Please come to see me at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 11, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac : 
 
 Lieut. Col. James B. Knox, Tenth Regiment Pennsylvania Re 
 serves, offers his resignation under circumstances inducing me to 
 wish to accept it. But I prefer to know your pleasure upon the 
 subject. Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 12, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Please suspend execution of sentence in case of William F. Good 
 win, Company B, Seventeenth Infantry, and forward the record 
 for my examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 13, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL J. M. SCHOPIELD, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 On the llth I telegraphed asking you to come here and see me. 
 Did you receive the dispatch? A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 405- 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 14, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADB: 
 
 Please suspend execution in case of William Gibson, Fourth 
 Maine Kegiment until further order and send record. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 14, 1863. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Please suspend execution of Lewis Beers, Fourteenth TJ. S. In 
 fantry, and of William J. Hazlett, One hundred and nineteenth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers and send record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 15, 1863. 
 
 MOTHER MARY GONYEAG, Superior, Academy of Visitation, Keokuk, 
 
 Iowa: 
 
 The President has no authority as to whether you may raffle for 
 the benevolent object you mention. If there is no objection in the 
 Iowa laws, there is none here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 17, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HURLBUT, Memphis, Tenn.: 
 
 I understand you have under sentence of death, a tall old man, 
 by the name of Henry F. Luckett. I personally knew him, and 
 did not think him a bad man. Please do not let him be executed 
 unless upon further order from me, and in the meantime send me a 
 transcript of the record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 21, 1863. 
 
 GOVERNOR PIERPOINT, Alexandria, Va. : 
 Please come up and see me to-day. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 21, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 It is said that William H. Blake is under sentence of death at 
 Fort Magruder, in your department. Do not let him be executed 
 without further order from me, and in foe meantime have the 
 record sent me. He is said to belong to the First or Second Penn 
 sylvania Artillery. A. LINCOLN. 
 
406 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 22, 1863. 
 
 MILITARY COMMANDER, Point Lookout, Md. : 
 
 If you have a prisoner by the name Linder Daniel Linder, 1 
 think, and certainly the son of U. F. Linder, of Illinois, please 
 send him to me by an officer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 24, 1863. 
 
 MILITARY COMMANDER, Point Lookout, Md. : 
 
 If you send Linder to me as directed a day or two ago, also 
 send Edwin 0. Claybrook, of Ninth Virginia rebel cavalry. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 26, 1863. 
 
 HON. U. F. LINDER, Chicago, HI.: 
 
 Your son Dan has just left me with my order to the Secretary of 
 War, to administer to him the oath of allegiance, discharge him 
 and send him to you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 26, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Providence, R. I.: 
 
 Yours in relation to Privates Eaton and Burrows, of the Sixth 
 New Hampshire, is received. When you reach here about New 
 Year, call on me and we will fix it up, or I will do it sooner if you 
 say so. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 26, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 If Christopher Delker, of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania Volun 
 teers, is under sentence of death, do not execute him till further 
 order. Whenever it shall be quite convenient I shall be glad to 
 have a conference with you about this class of cases. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 29, 1863. 
 
 MA JOB-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Providence, E. L: 
 
 You may telegraph Eaton and Burrows that these cases will be 
 disposed of according to your request when you come to Wash 
 ington A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 407 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 29, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of Joseph Kichardson of Forty-ninth 
 Pennsylvania, and Moses Chadbourne, (in some New Hampshire 
 Kegiment) said to be under sentence for desertion. As in other 
 cases do not let them be executed until further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 30, 1863. 
 
 GENERAL BOYLE, Louisville, Ey.: 
 
 It is said that Corporal Robert L. Crowell, of Company E, Twen 
 tieth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, is under sentence to be shot 
 on the 8th of January at Louisville. Do not let the sentence be 
 executed until further order from me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 30, 1863. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 Jacob Bowers is fully pardoned for past offence, upon condition 
 that he returns to duty and re-enlists for three years or during 
 the war. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 1, 1864 3.30 p. m. 
 
 GENERAL STTLLIVAN, Harper s Ferry: 
 
 Have you anything new from Winchester, Martinsburg or there 
 abouts? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 2, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR PIERPOINT, Alexandria, Va. : 
 
 Please call and see me to-day if not too inconvenient. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 3, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HURLBUT, Memphis, Tenn.: 
 
 Suspend execution of sentence of Privt. Peter Fingle of Four 
 teenth Iowa Volunteers, and forward record of trial for examina 
 tion. A. LINCOLN. 
 
408 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 3, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Suspend the execution of Prvt. Joseph Kichardson, Forty-ninth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers, who is sentenced to be shot to-morrow, 
 and forward record of trial for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 5, 1864. 
 
 MRS. LINCOLN, Continental Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa,: 
 All very well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 5, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL BOYLE, Camp Nelson, Ky.: 
 
 Execution in the cases of Burrow and Eaton is suspended, as 
 stated by General Burnside. Let this be taken as an order to that 
 effect. I do not remember receiving any appeal in behalf of God- 
 dard, Crowell, Prickett, or Smith, and yet I may have sent a 
 dispatch in regard to some of them. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 5, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 If not inconsistent with the service, please allow General Wil 
 liam Harrow as long a leave of absence as the rules permit with the 
 understanding that I may lengthen it if I see fit. He is an acquaint 
 ance and friend of mine, and his family matters very urgently 
 require his presence. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 6, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL BOYLE, Camp Nelson, Ky. : 
 
 Let execution in the cases of Goddard, Crowell, Prickett, and 
 Smith, mentioned by you be suspended till further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 7, 1864. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Philadelphia, Pa. : 
 We are all well and have not been otherwise. A. LINCOLN; 
 
APPENDIX 409 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., January 7, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND, Covington, Ky. : 
 
 The death sentence of Henry Andrews is commuted to impris 
 onment at hard labor during the remainder of the war. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 9, 1864. 
 
 HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 Your two letters one of the 6th and the other of the 7th both 
 received. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 11, 1864. 
 
 R. T. LINCOLN, Cambridge, Mass.: 
 
 I send you draft to-day. How are you now? Answer by tele 
 graph at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 12, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR 0. P. MORTON, Indianapolis, Ind.: 
 
 I have telegraphed to Chattanooga suspending execution of Wil 
 liam Jeffries until further order from me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 12, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT OR MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Chattanooga, 
 
 Tenn. : 
 
 Let execution of the death sentence upon William Jeffries, of 
 Company A, Sixth Indiana Volunteers, be suspended until further 
 order from here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 13, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fortress Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Let Wilson B. Kevas, Third Pennsylvania Artillery, be respited 
 until further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
4 io LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., January 14, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 Suspend execution of the death sentence in the case of Allen G. 
 Maxson, corporal in Company D, in First Michigan Volunteers, 
 until further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 15, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR BROUGH, Columbus, Ohio : 
 
 If Private William G. Toles, of Fifty-ninth Ohio Volunteers, 
 returns to his regiment and faithfully serves out his term, he is 
 fully pardoned for all military offenses prior to this. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 16, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL SULLIVAN, Harper s Ferry: 
 
 Please state to me the reasons of the arrest of Capt. William 
 Firey, of Major Coles battalion, at Charlestown. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 16, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL, MEADE or MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK, Army of the 
 
 Potomac : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Joseph W. Clifton, of 
 Sixth New Jersey Volunteers, until further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 19, 1864. 
 
 COL. JOHN CLARK, Third Eegiment of Pennsylvania Keserves, Al 
 exandria, Va. : 
 
 Where is John Wilson, under sentence of desertion, of whom you 
 wrote Hon. Mr. Thayer yesterday? A. LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 19, 1864. 
 
 R. T. LINCOLN, Cambridge, Mass. : 
 
 There is a good deal of small-pox here. Your friends must 
 judge for themselves whether they ought to conv* or not. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 41 
 
 MAJOR ECKEBT: 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe: 
 
 Please suspend executions until further order, in the cases of 
 Private Henry Wooding, of Company C, Eighth Connecticut Vol 
 unteers, and Private Albert A. Lacy, of Company H, Fourth Rhode 
 Island Volunteers. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER: 
 
 If Henry C. Fuller, of Company C, One hundred and eighteenth 
 New York Volunteers, under sentence of death for desertion, has 
 not been executed, suspend his execution until further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL O EDGWICK, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 Please suspend execution of John Wilson, of Seventy-first Penn 
 sylvania, under sentence for desertion, till further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 20, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK: 
 
 Suspend execution till further order in case of Private James 
 Lane, Company B, Seventy-first New York Volunteers. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 22, 1864. 
 
 MILITARY COMMANDER, Fort Independence : 
 
 Suspend until further order execution of Charles E. Belts, of 
 Twelfth Massachusetts, and send me the record of his trial. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
4 i2 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 23, 1864. 
 
 MAJ. GEN. C. C. WASHBURNE, Care of C. & G. Woodman, No. 33 
 
 Pine street, New York City : 
 
 Your brother wishes you to visit Washington, and this is your 
 authority to do so. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 25, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Suspend execution of sentence Samuel Tyler, of Company G, 
 Third Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, in First Brigade, First 
 Division, Sixth Corps, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above dispatch JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 25, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Robert Gill, ordered to be 
 shot on the 29th instant, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 26, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe: 
 
 Some days ago a dispatch was sent to stay execution of James 
 C. Grattan, and perhaps some others, which has not been answered. 
 Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 26, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK: 
 
 Your letter of January 22, received. Suspend execution of sen* 
 tence in all the capital cases mentioned in General Orders No. 1 
 and 2, where it has not already been done. I recapitulate the 
 whole list of capital cases mentioned in said orders including those 
 cases in which execution has been heretofore, as well as those on 
 which it is now suspended. 
 
 Private John Wilson, Company D, Seventy-first Pennsylvania; 
 Private James Lane, Company B, Seventy-first New York; Pri- 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 vate Joseph W. Clifton, Company F, Sixth New Jersey; Private 
 Ira Smith, Company I, Eleventh New Jersey; Private Allen G. 
 Maxson, Company D, First Michigan; Private John Keatly, Com 
 pany I, Second Delaware; Private Daniel P. Byrnes, Company A, 
 Ninety-eighth Pennsylvania; Private Samuel Tyler, Company G, 
 Third New Jersey; Private Kobert Gill, Company D, Sixth New 
 York Cavalry. 
 Forward the records in these cases for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 27, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Knoxville, Tenn.: 
 
 Is a supposed correspondence between General Longstreet a&a 
 yourself about the amnesty proclamation, which is now in the 
 newspapers genuine? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 28, 1864. 
 
 To the COMMANDING OFFICER at Fort Preble, Portland, Me. : 
 
 Suspend the execution of death sentence of Charles Caple, until 
 further orders, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above dispatch. I infer from the letter on which 
 the reprieve is granted that Fort Preble is in Maine, but do not 
 certainly know. Please inquire of Colonel Hardee. As the execu 
 tion was set for to-morrow, it is important that the dispatch should 
 go at once. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 28, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER, Fort Mifflin : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Bernard Develin, Com 
 pany E, Eighty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further orders, 
 and forward record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
4H LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 28, 1864. 
 
 HON. EDWARD STANLEY, San Francisco, Gal. : 
 
 Yours of yesterday received. We have rumors similar to the 
 dispatch received by you, but nothing very definite from North 
 Carolina. Knowing Mr. Stanley to be an able man, and not doubt 
 ing that he is a patriot, I should be glad for him to be with his 
 old acquaintances south of Virginia, but I am unable to suggest 
 anything definite upon the subject. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 29, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SICKLES, New York : 
 
 Could you, without it being inconvenient or disagreeable to 
 yourself, immediately take a trip to Arkansas for me ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 29, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK, Army of Potomac : 
 
 Suspend execution of George Sowers, Company E, Fourth Ohio 
 Volunteers, and send record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 31, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR BRAMLETTE, Frankfort, Ky. : 
 
 General Boyle s resignation is accepted, so that your Excel 
 lency can give him the appointment proposed. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 1, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Frank W. Parker, of 
 one of the Maine regiments, sentenced to be shot for desertion 
 on the 5th instant, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT : 
 Please send above dispatch, JNO. G. NICOLA Y, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX 4I5 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 3, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR YATES, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 The U. S. Government lot in Springfield can be used for a sol 
 diers home, with the understanding that the Government doea 
 not incur any expense in the case. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 6, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER at Sandusky, Ohio : 
 
 Suspend the execution of death sentence of George Samuel 
 Goodrich, Jr., One hundred and twenty-second Kegiment New 
 York Volunteers, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 8, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER, Portland, Me., care of Israel Washburne, Jr.: 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of James Taylor until fur 
 ther orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 8, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of James Taylor until fur 
 ther orders and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR EROUGH, Columbus, Ohio : 
 
 Kobert Johnson, mentioned by you, is hereby fully pardoned 
 for any supposed desertion up to date. A. LINCOLN- 
 
416 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SICKLES, New York: 
 
 Please come on at your earliest convenience, prepared to mak 
 the contemplated trip for me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 11, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SEDGWICK, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Unless there be strong reason to the contrary, please send Gen 
 eral Kilpatrick to us here, for two or three days. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 12, 1864. 
 
 MILITARY COMMANDER, Boston, Mass. : 
 
 If there is anywhere in your command a man by the name of 
 James Taylor under sentence of death for desertion, suspenc. ex 
 ecution till further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 12, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 
 If there is anywhere in your command a man by the name of 
 James Taylor under sentence of death for desertion, suspend exe 
 cution till further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 17, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL STEELE, Little Kock, Ark.: 
 
 The day fixed by the convention for the election is probably 
 the best, but you on the ground, and in consultation with gen 
 tlemen there, are to decide. I should have fixed no day for an 
 election, presented no plan for reconstruction, had I known the 
 convention was doing the same things. It is probably best that 
 you merely assist the convention on their own plan, as to election 
 day and all other matters. I have already written and telegraphed 
 this half a dozen times. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 18, 1864. 
 A. ROBINSON, Leroy, N. Y.: 
 
 The law only obliges us to keep accounts with States, or at most, 
 Congressional Districts, and it would overwhelm us to attempt 
 
APPENDIX 417 
 
 in counties, cities and towns. Nevertheless we do what we can 
 to oblige in particular cases. In this view I send your dispatch 
 to the provost-marshal general, asking him to do the best he can 
 for you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 February 19, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDER GEORGE S. BLAKE, Commandant Naval Academy, New 
 port, K. L: 
 
 I desire the case of Midshipman C. Lyon re-examined and if not 
 clearly inconsistent I shall be much obliged to have the recom 
 mendation changed. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 22, 1864. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR BROUGH, Columbus, Ohio : 
 As you request Clinton Fulton charged as a deserter is pardoned. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 22, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL STEELE, Little Eock, Ark.: 
 
 Yours of yesterday received. Your conference with citizens 
 approved. Let the election be on the 14th of March as they agreed. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 22, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Colonel Sanderson will be ordered to you to-day, a mere omis 
 sion that it was not done before. The other questions in your dis 
 patch I am not yet prepared to answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 25, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER, Johnson s Island: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of John Marrs until fur 
 ther orders and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT : 
 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLA Y, 
 
 (27) Private Secretarj. 
 
418 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 26, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 I cannot remember at whose request it was that I gave the pass 
 to Mrs. Bulkly. Of course detain her, if the evidence of her being 
 a spy is strong against her. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 26, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe: 
 
 If it has not already been done, suspend execution of death sen 
 tence of William K. Stearns, Tenth New Hampshire Volunteers, 
 until further orders and forward record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 W. -Jayne. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 26, 1864. 
 
 HON. W. JAYNE. 
 
 DEAR SIR: I dislike to make changes in office so long as they 
 can be avoided. It multiplies my embarrassments immensely. I 
 dislike two appointments when one will do. Send me the name 
 of some man not the present marshal, and I will nominate him to 
 be Provost Marshal for Dakota. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Dr. William Jayne, Springfield, 111.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 27, 1864. 
 
 MAJ. GEN. GEORGE H. THOMAS, Department of Cumberland: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of F. W. Lauferseick, first 
 corporal, Company D, One hundred and sixth Regiment Ohio Vol 
 unteers, until further orders, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 29, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 
 Do you advise that John McKee, now in military confinement 
 at Fort Lafayette, be turned over to the civil authorities ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 419 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 2, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND, Knoxville, Tenn.: 
 
 Allow Mrs. Anne Maria Rumsey, with her six daughters to go 
 to her father, Judge Breck, at Richmond, Ky. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 2, 1864. 
 JUDGE D. BRECK, Richmond, Ky.: 
 
 I have directed the officer at Knoxville to allow Mrs. Rumsey 
 to come to you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 2, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Suspend execution of the death sentence of James Whelan, One 
 hundred and sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further 
 orders and forward record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT : 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., March 3, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL STEELE, Little Rock, Ark. : 
 
 Yours including address to people of Arkansas is received. I 
 approve the address and thank you for it. Yours in relation to 
 Willard M. Randolph also received. Let him take the oath of De 
 cember 8, and go to work for the new constitution, and on your 
 notifying me of it, I will immediately issue the special pardon for 
 him. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 4, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Admiral Dahlgreen is here, and of course is very anxious about 
 his son. Please send me at once all you know or can learn of his 
 fate. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 7, 1864. 
 TJ. S. MARSHAL, Louisville, Ky. : 
 
 Until further order suspend sale of property and further pro 
 ceedings in cases of the United States against Dr. John B. English, 
 
420 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 and S. S. English, et al. sureties for John L. Hill. Also same 
 against same sureties for Thomas A. Ireland. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 9, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 What are the facts about the imprisonment of Joseph A. Bilisoly ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 9, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 New York City votes 9,500 majority for allowing soldiers to vote, 
 and the rest of the State nearly all on the same side. Tell the 
 soldiers. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 14, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 First lieutenant and adjutant of Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers, 
 Edward P. Brooks, is a prisoner of war at Richmond, and if you 
 can without difficulty, effect a special exchange for him, I shall be 
 obliged. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, March 17, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of John F. Abshier, citizen, 
 until further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLA Y, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION.. 
 WASHINGTON, March 22, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.: 
 
 Hon. W. R. Morrison says he has requested you by letter to 
 effect a special exchange of Lieut. Col. A. F. Rogers, of Eightieth 
 Illinois Volunteers, now in Libby Prison, and I shall be glad if you 
 can effect it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 421 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 22, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR EVANS, Denver, Col. Ter. : 
 
 Colorado Enabling Act was signed yesterday by the President. 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 23, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Please suspend execution of Alanson Orton, under sentence for 
 desertion, until further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 24, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Eort Monroe, Ya. : 
 
 Please, if you can, effect special exchanges for J. F. Robinson, 
 first lieutenant, Company E, Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volun 
 teers, and C. L. Edmunds, first lieutenant, Company D, Sixty- 
 seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 March 24, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Do not change your purpose to send Private Orton, of Twelfth 
 U. S. Infantry, to the Dry Tortugas. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., March 30, 1864. 
 
 HON. E. M. CORWINE, New York : 
 
 It does not occur to me that you can present the Smith case any 
 better than you have done. Of this, however, you must judge for 
 yourself. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 5, 1864. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY JOHN BROUGH, Columbus, Ohio: 
 
 The President has ordered the pardon of the soldiers of the 
 Twelfth Ohio, in accordance with your request. JOHN HAY. 
 
 (This letter does appear in the Life by J. G. Nicolay and John 
 Hay.) 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 6, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fortress Monroe, Va.: 
 
 The President directs me to acknowledge receipt of your dis- 
 
422 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 patch of this morning and to say that you will submit by letter 
 or telegram to the Secretary of War the points in relation to the 
 exchange of prisoners wherein you wish instructions, and that it is 
 not necessary for you to visit Washington for the purpose indi 
 cated. JOHN HAY, 
 
 Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 9, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 Suspend execution of Private William Collins, Company B, 
 Sixty-ninth New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade, and class him 
 with other suspended cases. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 11, 1864 6.15 p. m. 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWARD, Astor House, New York : 
 
 Nothing of importance since you left. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 12, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 I am pressed to get from Libby, by special exchange, Jacob C. 
 Hagenbuck, first lieutenant, Company H, Sixty-seventh Pennsyl 
 vania Volunteers. Please do it if you can without detriment or 
 embarrassment. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 17, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 Private William Collins of Company B, of the Sixty-ninth New 
 York Volunteers, has been convicted of desertion, and execution 
 suspended as in numerous other cases. Now Captain O Neill, 
 commanding the regiment, and nearly all its other regimental and 
 company officers, petition for his full pardon and restoration to his 
 company. Is there any good objection? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 18, 1864. 
 
 COL. PAUL FRANK, of New York Fifty-second, Army of Potomac: 
 Is there or has there been a man in your regiment by the name of 
 Cornelius Garoin ! And if so, answer me as far as you know where 
 he now is. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 433 
 
 EXECUTIVE 
 WASHINGTON, April 20, 1804. 
 
 CALVIN TRUESDALE, ESQ., Postmaster, Eock Island, HI. : 
 
 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 stone 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, to set a day 
 or days and place on and at which to take testimony on the point. 
 Notify Mr. Pickett and one J. B. Danforth (who as I understand 
 makes the charge) to be present with their witnesses. Take the 
 testimony in writing offered by both sides, and report it in full to 
 me. Please do this for me. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (From Herndon s " Life of Lincoln." Permission of Jesse Weik.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 20, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN MILITARY COMMAND, at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, 
 
 Mass.: 
 
 If there is a man by the name of Charles Carpenter, under sen 
 tence of death for desertion, at Fort Warren, suspend execution 
 until further order and send the record of his trial. If sentenced 
 for any other offence, telegraph what it is, and when he is to be 
 executed. Answer at all events. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 21, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN MILITARY COMMAND, at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, 
 
 Mass. : 
 
 The order I sent yesterday in regard to Charles Carpenter is 
 hereby withdrawn, and you are to act as if it had never existed. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 21, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 
 Yesterday I was induced to telegraph the officer in military com 
 mand at Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, Mass., suspending the 
 execution of Charles Carpenter, to be executed to-morrow for de 
 sertion. Just now on reading your order in the case, I telegraphed 
 the same officer withdrawing the suspension, and leaving the case 
 entirely with you. The man s friends are pressing me, but I refer 
 them to you, intending to take no further action myself. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
424 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 22, 1864. 
 
 BRIGADIER-GENERAL BRAYMAN, Commanding Cairo: 
 
 What day did General Corse part with General Banks? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON., D. C., April 22, 1864. 
 
 A. G. HODGES, ESQ., Frankfort, Ky.: 
 Did you receive my letter ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 23, 1864. 
 
 HAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Senator Ten Eyck is very anxious to have a special exchange 
 of Capt. Frank J. McLean, of Ninth Tennessee Cavalry now, or 
 lately at Johnson s Island, for Capt. T. Ten Eyck, Eighteenth 
 U. S. Infantry, and now at Richmond. I would like to have it 
 done. Can it be? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, April 25, 1864. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, Springfield, 111.: 
 
 Yours of the 15th is just received. Thanks for your kind re 
 membrance. I would accept your offer at once, were it not that 
 I fear there might be some impropriety in it, though I do not 
 Bee that there would. I will think of it a while. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, April 25, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 A Mr. Corby brought you a note from me at the foot of a peti 
 tion I believe, in the case of Dawson, to be executed to-day. The 
 record has been examined here, and it shows too strong a case 
 for a pardon or commutation, unless there is something in the poor 
 man s favor outside of the record, which you on the ground may 
 know, but I do not. My note to you only means that if you know 
 of any such thing rendering a suspension of the execution proper, 
 on your own judgment, you are at liberty to suspend it. Otherwise 
 I do not interfere. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 425 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 26, 1864 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Chattanooga, Term.: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of young Perry from Wis 
 consin, condemned for sleeping on his post, until further orders, 
 and forward record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 27, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 John J. Stefke, Company I, First New Jersey Cavalry, having 
 a substitute, is ordered to be discharged. Please have him sent 
 here to Washington. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., April 27, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac : 
 
 Your dispatch about Private Peter Gilner received. Dispose of 
 him precisely as you would under the recent order, if he were 
 under sentence of death for desertion, and execution suspended 
 by me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 28, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 If Private George W. Sloan, of the Seventy-second Pennsyl 
 vania Volunteers, is under sentence of death for desertion, suspend 
 execution till further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 29, 1864. 
 GENERAL BRAYMAN, Cairo, 111.: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of O. Kellogg, and J. W. Pryor, both 
 in prison at Cairo. Please telegraph me what are the charges and 
 summary of evidence against them. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 30, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND, at Little Kock, Ark.: 
 
 Please send me the record of trial for desertion of Thadeus A. 
 Kinsloe, of Company D, Seventh Missouri Volunteer Cavalry. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
426 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 5, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL KOSECRANS, Commanding, &c., Saint Louis, Mo. : 
 
 The President directs me to inquire whether a day has yet been 
 fixed for the execution of citizen Robert Louden, and if so what 
 day? JOHN HAY, 
 
 Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 9, 1864. 
 
 MRS. SARAH B. MECONKEY, West Chester, Pa. 
 
 MADAM : Our mutual friend, Judge Lewis tells me you do me the 
 honor to inquire for my personal welfare. I have been very anx 
 ious for some days in regard to our armies in the field, but am 
 considerably cheered, just now, by favorable news from them. I 
 am sure that you will join me in the hope for their further suc 
 cess; while yourself, and other good mothers, wives, sisters, and 
 daughters, do all you and they can, to relieve and comfort the gal 
 lant soldiers who compose them. Yours truly, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by Columbia University Library.) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 10, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore: 
 
 Please tell me what is the trouble with Dr. Hawks. Also please 
 ask Bishop Whittington to give me his view of the case. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 14, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN MILITARY COMMAND at Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 If Thomas Dorerty, or Welsh, is to be executed to-day and it is 
 not already done, suspend it till further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 17, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 If there is a man by the name of William H. H. Cummings, of 
 Company H, Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers, within 
 your command under sentence of death for desertion, suspend 
 execution till further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 427 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 18, 1864. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY KICHARD YATES, Springfield, 111.: 
 If any such proclamation has appeared, it is a forgery. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 19, 1864. 
 
 HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Yours of the 17th was received yesterday. Will write you on 
 the subject within a day or two. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 20, 1864. 
 
 FELIX SCHMEDDING, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 The pleasure of attending your fair is not within my power. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, May 21, 1864. 
 
 MR. STANSBURT, U. S. Sanitary Commission : 
 
 Principal Musician John A. Burke, Fourteenth U. S. Infantry, 
 has permission to accompany Capt. W. K. Smedburg, Fourteenth 
 Infantry (wounded) to New York. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 21, 1864. 
 
 CHRISTIANA A. SACK, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 I cannot postpone the execution of a convicted spy on a mere 
 telegraphic dispatch signed with a name I never heard before. 
 General Wallace may give you a pass to see him if he chooses. 
 
 A. LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 May 23, 1864. 
 To the COMMANDING OFFICER at Fort Monroe : 
 
 Is a man named Henry Sack to be executed to-morrow at noon! 
 If so, when was he condemned and for what offense ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
428 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., May 24, 1864. 
 
 To the COMMANDING OFFICER at Fort Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Let the execution of Henry Sack be suspended. I have com 
 muted his sentence to imprisonment during the war. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send this at once. Tours, 
 
 JOHN HAY, 
 Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 25, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac: 
 
 Mr. J. C. Swift wishes a pass from me to follow your army to 
 pick up rags and cast off clothing. I will give it to him if you 
 say so, otherwise not. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 30, 1864. 
 
 COLONEL BUTTON, Old Point Comfort, Va.: 
 
 Colonel Dutton is permitted to come from Fort Monroe to Wash 
 ington. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May 31, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HURLBUT, Belvidere, 111.: 
 
 You are hereby authorized to visit Washington and Baltimore, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 4, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 
 Please inform me whether Charles H. Scott, of Eighth IT. S. In 
 fantry, is under sentence of death in your department? and if so 
 when to be executed and what are the features of the case ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 6, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac: 
 
 Private James McCarthy, of the One hundred and fortieth New 
 York Volunteers, is here under sentence to the Dry Tortugas for 
 
APPENDIX 429 
 
 an attempt to desert. His friends appeal to me and if his colonel 
 and you consent, I will send him to his regiment. Please answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, June 7, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 When your communication shall be ready send it by express. 
 There will be no danger of its miscarriage. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 13, 18t>4. 
 THOMAS WEBSTER, Philadelphia: 
 
 Will try to leave here Wednesday afternoon, say at 4 p. m. re 
 main till Thursday afternoon and then return. This subject to 
 events. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 18, 1864. 
 C. A. WALBORN, Post Master Philadelphia: 
 Please come and see me in the next day or two. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, June 19, 1864. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York: 
 
 Tad arrived safely and all well. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., June 27, 1864. 
 
 COLONEL BASCOM, Assistant Adjutant-General, Knoxville, Tenn.: 
 Please suspend sale of the property of Rogers & Co., until fur 
 ther order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 28, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Port Monroe, Va. : 
 
 Is there a man by the name of Amos Tenney in your command, 
 under sentence for desertion ? and if so suspend execution and send 
 me the record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, June 29, 1864. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point: 
 
 Dr. Worster wishes to visit you with a view of getting 1 your 
 permission to introduce into the army " Harmon s Sandal Sock." 
 Shall I give him a pass for that object ? A. LINCOLN. 
 
430 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 9, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 When did the Secretary of War telegraph you to release Dr. 
 Barrett ? If it is an old thing let it stand till you hear further. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 July 20, 1864. 
 
 J. L. WRIGHT, Indianapolis, Ind. : 
 All a mistake. Mr. Stanton has not resigned. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. 0., July 27, 1864. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.: 
 
 Please have a surgeon s examination of Cornelius Lee Comygas, 
 in Company A, One hundred and eighty-third Volunteers, made 
 on the questions of general health and sanity. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT,, 
 WASHINGTON, July 28, 1864. 
 
 HON. J. W. FORNEY, Philadelphia, Penn.: 
 
 I wish yourself and M. McMichael would see me here to-morrow, 
 or early in the day Saturday. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 30, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER, Harper s Ferry, Va. : 
 What news this morning? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, July 30, 1864. 
 HON. M. ODELL, Brooklyn: 
 
 Please find Colonel Fowler, of Fourteenth Volunteers, and have 
 him telegraph, if he will, a recommendation for Clemens J. Myera, 
 for a clerkship. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 1, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR E. D. MORGAN, Saratoga Springs, N. T. : 
 Please come here at once. I wish to see you. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 431 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 5, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR PIERPOINT, Alexandria, Va.: 
 
 General Butler telegraphs me that Judge Snead is at liberty. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 6, 1864. 
 
 COL. S. M. BOWMAN, Baltimore, Md.: 
 If convenient come and see me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 6, 1864. 
 
 HON. ANSON MILLER, Kockford, HI.: 
 
 If you will go and live in New Mexico I will appoint you a 
 judge there. Answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 6, 1864. 
 
 HON. HORACE GREELEY, New York: 
 
 Yours to Major Hay about publication of our correspondence 
 received. With the suppression of a few passages in your letters 
 in regard to which I think you and I would not disagree, I should 
 be glad of the publication. Please come over and see me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (This letter does appear in the Life by John G. Nicolay and 
 John Hay.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 8, 1864. 
 
 HON. HORACE GREELEY, New York: 
 
 I telegraphed you Saturday. Did you receive the dispatch? 
 Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 8, 1864. 
 HON. I. N. ARNOLD, Chicago: 
 
 I send you by mail to-day the appointment of Colonel Mulligan, 
 to be a brevet brigadier-general. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 ENDOKSEMENT OF APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 August 15, 1864. 
 "I am always for the man who wishes to work; and I shall be 
 
432 
 
 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 glad for this man to get suitable employment at Cavalry Depot, 
 or elsewhere. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther, Chicago, 111.) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 18, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 The officer whose duty it would be to execute John S. Young, 
 upon a sentence of death for murder, &c., is hereby ordered to sus 
 pend such execution until further order from me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 18, 1864. 
 
 GEORGE W. BRIDGES, Colonel Tenth Tennessee Volunteers, Nash 
 ville, Tenn.: 
 
 If Governor Andrew Johnson thinks execution of sentence in 
 case of William R. Bridges should be further suspended, and will 
 request it, the President will order it. 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 20, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Patrick Jones, Company 
 F, Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry, umtil further orders and forward 
 record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Bermuda Hundred, Va.: 
 
 Please allow Judge Snead to go to his family on Eastern Shore, 
 or give me some good reason why not. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 August 21, 18643 p. m. 
 
 COLONEL CHIPMAN, Harper s Ferry, Va.: 
 
 What news now? , A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 433 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, August 24, 1864. 
 
 MRS. MARY McCooK BALDWIN, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 This is an order to the officer having in charge to execute the 
 death sentence upon John S. Young, to suspend the same until 
 further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, August 26, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Thanks to General Gillam for making the news and also to you 
 for sending it. Does Joe Heiskell s " walking to meet us " mean 
 any more than that " Joe " was scared and wanted to save his skin ? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 28, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 The punishment of the four men under sentence of death to 
 be executed to-morrow at Baltimore, is commuted in each case to 
 confinement in the Penitentiary at hard labor during the war. 
 You will act accordingly. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., August 30, 1864. 
 
 HON. B. H. BREWSTER, Astor House, New York: 
 
 Your letter of yesterday received. Thank you for it. Please have 
 no fears. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 5, 1864. 
 
 HON. HENRY J. RAYMOND, New York: 
 
 Have written about Indiana matters. Attend to it to-morrow. 
 
 E. B. WASHBURNE. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 7, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 This is an order to whatever officer may have the matter in 
 charge, that the execution of Thomas R. Bridges be respited to 
 Friday, September 30, 1864. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (28) 
 
434 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 7, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 This is an order to whatever officer may have the matter in 
 charge that the execution of Jesse T. Broadway and Jordon Mose- 
 ley, is respited to Friday September 30, 1864. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 8, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR SMITH, Providence, K. I.: 
 
 Yours of yesterday about Edward Conley received. Don t re 
 member receiving anything else from you on the subject. Please 
 telegraph me at once the grounds on which you request his pun 
 ishment to be commuted. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 8, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR PICKERING, Olympia, W. T. : 
 
 Your patriotic dispatch of yesterday received and will be pub 
 lished. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 8, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL SLOUGH, Alexandria, Va.: 
 
 Edward Conley s execution is respited to one week from to 
 morrow. Act accordingly. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, September 9, 1864. 
 
 ISAAC M. SCHEMERHORN, Buffalo, N. Y.: 
 
 Yours of to-day received. I do not think the letter you mention 
 has reached me. I have no recollection of it. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 11, 1864. 
 
 MRS. A. LINCOLN, New York: 
 
 All well. What day will you be home? Four days ago sent 
 dispatch to Manchester. Vt.,, for you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 435 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 13, 1864. 
 
 HON. J. G. ELAINE, Augusta, Me.: 
 
 On behalf of the Union, thanks to Maine. Thanks to you per 
 sonally for sending the news. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 P. S. Send same to L. B. Smith and M. A. Blanchard, Port 
 land, Me. A. L. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 13, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis: 
 
 Postpone the execution of S. H. Anderson for two weeks. Hear 
 what his friends can say in mitigation and report to me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLA Y, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 13, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-VJENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis: 
 
 Postpone the execution of Joseph Johnson for two weeks. Ex 
 amine the case and report. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLA Y, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 15, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR H. H. HEATH, Baltimore, Md. : 
 You are hereby authorized to visit Washington. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 16, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL SLOUGH, Alexandria, Va.: 
 
 On the 14th I commuted the sentence of Conley, but fearing 
 you may not have received notice I send this. Do not execute him. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
436 LIFE OP LINCOLN 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 16, 1864. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM SPRAGUE, Providence, E. I. : 
 I corn muted the sentence of Conley two days ago. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 16, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIGEL, Bethlehem, Pa.: 
 You are authorized to visit Washington on receipt of this. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 September 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Headquarters Army Potomac: 
 
 If you have not executed the sentence in the case of Private 
 Peter Gilner, Company F, Sixty-second Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
 let it be suspended until further orders. Keport to me. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 24, 1864. 
 
 FRANK W. BOLLARD, New York: 
 I shall be happy to receive the deputation you mention. 
 
 A. LlNCOLNc 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 25, 1864. 
 
 GEORGE H. BRAGONIER, Commanding at Cumberland, Md. : 
 
 Postpone the execution of Private Joseph Provost, until Friday 
 the 30th instant. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 25, 1864. 
 
 H. W. HOFFMAN, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Please come over and see me to-morrow, or as soon as convenient. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 27, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of Robert Bridges, who it is said 
 is to be executed next Friday. Please satisfy yourself, and give 
 me your opinion as to what ought be done. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 437 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 28, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Execution of Jesse A. Broadway is hereby respited to Friday 
 the 14th day of October next. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 29, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Let the execution of Kobert T. Bridges be suspended until fur 
 ther order from me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, September 30, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Bermuda Hundred, Ya.: 
 
 Is there a man in your department by the name of James Hal- 
 lion, under sentence, and if so what is the sentence, and for what? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 1, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Fort Monroe, Ya. : 
 
 Is there a man by the name James Hallion (I think) under 
 sentence? And what is his offense? What the sentence, and 
 when to be executed? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 5, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND, at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of Thomas K. Miller until further order from 
 me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 10, 18645 p. m. 
 
 GOVERNOR CUETIN, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 
 Yours of to-day just this moment received, and the Secretary 
 having left it is impossible for me to answer to-day. I have not 
 received your letter from Erie. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 11, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL S. CAMERON, Philadelphia, Pa.: 
 Am leaving office to go home. How does it stand now? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
438 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE 
 
 October 12, 1864. 
 
 MAJOB-OENERAL MEADE, Headquarters Army of the Potomac: 
 
 The President directs suspension of execution in case of Albert 
 G. Lawrence, Sixteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, until his fur 
 ther order. JOHN HAY, 
 Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 13, 1864. 
 
 HON. G. S. ORTH, Lafayette, Ind.: 
 
 I now incline to defer the appointment of judge until the meet 
 ing of Congress. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, October 13, 1864. 
 
 COMMANDANT at Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 The sentence of Jesse Broadway has been commuted by the 
 President to imprisonment at hard labor for three years. 
 
 JOHN HAY, 
 Major and Assistant Adjutant- General. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1864. 
 
 HON. H. W. HOFFMAN, Baltimore, Md. : 
 Come over to-night and see me. A. LINCOLN, 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 16, 1864. 
 
 HON. J. K. MOOREHEAD, Pittsburg, Pa.: 
 
 I do not remember about the Peter Gilner case, and must look 
 it up before I can answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 22, 1864. 
 
 WILLIAM PRICE, District Attorney, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 Yours received. Will see you any time when you present your 
 self. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 25, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn.: 
 
 Suspend execution of Young C. Eolmonson, until further order 
 from here. Answer if you receive this- A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 4:9 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION. 
 WASHINGTON, October 25, 1864. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL KOBINSON, of Third Maryland Battalion, 
 near Petersburg, Va. : 
 
 Please inform me what is the condition of, and what is being 
 done with Lieut. Charles Saumenig, in your command. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, October 30, 1864. 
 
 HON. A. K. McCLURE, Harrisburg, Pa.: 
 I would like to hear from you. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., October 31, 1864. 
 
 HON. THOMAS T. DAVIS, Syracuse, N. Y. : 
 
 I have ordered that Milton D. Norton be discharged on taking 
 the oath. Please notify his mother. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 1, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 
 Please suspend execution of Private P. Carroll until further 
 order. Acknowledge receipt. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 1, 1864. 
 
 HON. A. HOBBS, Malone, N. Y.: 
 
 Where is Nathan Wilcox, of whom you telegraph, to be found? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 2, 1864. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point: 
 
 Suspend until further order the execution of Nathan Wilcox of 
 Twenty -second Massachusetts Kegiment Fifth Corps, said to be 
 at Repair Depot. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 2, 1864. 
 
 HON. H. J". RAYMOND and GENERAL W. K. STRONG, New York: 
 
 Telegraphed General Dix last night to suspend execution of P. 
 Carroll, and have his answer that the order is received by him. 
 
 A. LINCOLN* 
 
440 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 3, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Lexington, Ky.: 
 
 Suspend execution of Vance Mason until further order. Ac 
 knowledge receipt. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 3, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: 
 
 Suspend execution of Samuel J. Smith, and George Brown, 
 alias George Rock, until further order and send record. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 4, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BURBRIDGE, Lexington, Ky.: 
 
 Suspend execution of all the deserters ordered to be executed 
 on Sunday at Louisville, until further order, and send me the 
 records in the cases. Acknowledge receipt. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 5, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Chattanooga, Tenn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of Robert W. Reed until further order and 
 send record. Answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 5, 1864. 
 
 HON. W. H. SEWARD, Auburn, N. Y. : 
 
 No news of consequence this morning. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 10, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Suspend execution of Major Wolf until further order and mean 
 while report to me on the case. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 10, 1864. 
 
 H. W. HOFFMAN, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 The Maryland soldiers in the Army of the Potomac cast a 
 total vote of 1428, out of which we get 1160 majority. This is 
 directly from General Meade and General Grant. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 44I 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 15, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Nashville, Term.: 
 How much force and artillery had Gillem? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., November 15, 1864. 
 
 W. H. PURNELL, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 I shall be happy to receive the committee on Thursday morning 
 (17th) as you propose. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 19, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Davenport, Iowa: 
 
 Let the Indian "Big Eagle" be discharged. I ordered this 
 some time ago. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 24, 1864. 
 
 HON. HENRY M. KICE, Saint Paul, Minn.: 
 
 Have suspended execution of deserters named in your dispatch 
 until further orders from here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON CITY, November 24, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Fort Snelling, Minn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of Patrick Kelly, John Lennor, Joel H. 
 Eastwood, Thomas J. Murray, and Hoffman until further order 
 from here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, November 26, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS: 
 
 Please telegraph me briefly on what charge and evidence Mrs. 
 Anna B. Martin has been sent to the Penitentiary at Alton. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 5, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Let execution in the case of Oliver B. Wheeler, sergeant in the 
 Sixth Regiment, Missouri Volunteers, under sentence of death 
 
442 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 for desertion at Chattanooga, on the 15th instant, be suspended 
 until further order, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please forward the above. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 7, 1864. 
 
 GOVERNOR HALL, Jefferson City, Mo.: 
 
 Complaint is made to me of the doings of a man at Hannibal, 
 Mo., by the name of Haywood, who, as I am told has charge of 
 some militia force, and is not in the U. S. service. Please inquire 
 into the matter and correct anything you may find amiss if in 
 your power. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., December 8, 1864. 
 
 COLONEL FASLEIGH, Louisville, Ky.: 
 
 I am appealed to in behalf of a man by the name of Frank 
 Fairbairns, said to have been for a long time, and still in prison, 
 without any definite ground stated. How is it? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 December 8, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL EOSECRANS, Commanding, Saint Louis, Mo. : 
 
 Let execution in case of John Berry and James Berry be sus 
 pended until further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Will you please hurry off the above? To-morrow is the day of 
 execution. JOHN HAY, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 14, 1864. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Ya. : 
 
 Please have execution of John McNulty, alias Joseph Riley, 
 Company E, Sixth New Hampshire Volunteers, suspended and 
 record sent to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 443 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 16, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Chattanooga, Tenn. : 
 
 It is said that Harry Walters, a private in the Anderson cav 
 alry, is now and for a long time has been in prison at Chattanooga. 
 Please report to me what is his condition, and for what he is im 
 prisoned. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 20, 1864. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Suspend execution of James P. Boilean until further order from 
 here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 22, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Saint Joseph, Mo. : 
 
 Poutpone the execution of Higswell, Holland, and Way, for 
 twenty days. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 22, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Indianapolis, Ind. : 
 
 Postpone the execution of John Doyle Lennan, alias Thomas 
 DoyLs, for ten days. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 28, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of James K. Mallory, for six weeks from Fri 
 day the 30th of this month, which time I have given his friends 
 to make proof, if they can, upon certain points. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 29, 1864. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER: 
 
 Taere is a man in Company I, Eleventh Connecticut Volunteers, 
 First Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, at 
 Chain s Farm, Va., under the assumed name of William Stanley, 
 
444 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 but whose real name is Frank R. Judd, and who is under arrest, 
 and probably about to be tried for desertion. He is the son of our 
 present minister to Prussia, who is a close personal friend of 
 Senator Trumbull and myself. We are not willing for the boy 
 to be shot, but we think it as well that his trial go regularly on, 
 suspending execution until further order from me and reporting 
 to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 29, 1864. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Louisville, Ky. : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of George S. Owen, until 
 further orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. Yours, 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 30, 1864. 
 
 COLONEL WARNER, Indianapolis, Ind.: 
 
 It is said that you were on the court martial that tried John 
 Lennon, and that you are disposed to advise his being pardoned 
 find sent to his regiment. If this be true, telegraph me to that 
 effect at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, December 31, 1864. 
 
 COL. A. J. WARNER, Indianapolis, Ind.: 
 
 Suspend execution of John Lennon until further order from 
 me and in the meantime send me the record of his trial. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 4, 1865. 
 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, Springfield, HI.: 
 
 Let Trumbo s substitute be regularly mustered in, send me 
 the evidence that it is done and I will then discharge Trumbo. 
 
 &.. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 445 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 6, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point: 
 
 If there is a man at City Point by the name of Waterman 
 Thornton who is in trouble about desertion, please have his case 
 briefly stated to me and do not let him be executed meantime. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 9 f 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Saint Joseph, Mo. : 
 
 Postpone the execution of the death sentence of Holland, High- 
 smith, and Utz, ten days longer unless you receive orders from me 
 to the contrary. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 11, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Postpone the execution of S. W. Elliott, and C. E. Peacher, until 
 the 3rd day of February, 1865. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 12, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Lexington, Ky. : 
 
 Suspend execution of sentence of death in case of Solomon 
 Spiegel, Ninth Michigan Cavalry, until further orders and for 
 ward record of trial for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 12, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.: 
 
 If Henry Stork of Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, has been con- 
 Ticted of desertion, and is not yet executed, please stay till further 
 order and send record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
446 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 19, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL DODGE, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 If Mrs. Beattie, alias Mrs. Wolff, shall be sentenced to <3eath, 
 notify me, and postpone execution till further order. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 19, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD: 
 
 You have a man in arrest for desertion passing by the name of 
 Stanley. William Stanley, I think, but whose real name is dif 
 ferent. He is the son of so close a friend of mine that I must 
 not let him be executed. Please let me know what is his present 
 and prospective condition. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 20, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, New York: 
 Let W. N. Bilbo be discharged on his parole. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 20, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.: 
 
 If Thomas Samplogh, of the First Delaware Regiment has been 
 sentenced to death, and is not yet executed, suspend and report the 
 case to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 21, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Two weeks or ten days ago, as I remember, I gave direction for 
 Levin L. Waters to be either tried at once or discharged. If he 
 has not been tried, nor a trial of him progressing in good faith 
 discharge him at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 22, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md. : 
 
 The case of Waters being as you state it, in your dispatch of to 
 day, of course the trial will proceed. A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 447 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, B. C., January 23, 1865. 
 
 W. O. BARTLETT, ESQ., New York: 
 Please come and see me at once. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 24, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point: 
 
 If Newell W. Root, of First Connecticut Heavy Artillery, is 
 under sentence of death please telegraph me briefly the circum 
 stances. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 25, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Do not allow Elliott, under sentence of death to be exe 
 cuted without further order from me, and if an exchange of him 
 for Capt. S. T. Harris, now a prisoner, supposed to be at Columbia, 
 S. C., can be effected, let it be done. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 25, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.: 
 
 Having received the report in the case of Newell W. Root, I do 
 not interfere further in the case. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 26, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of William H. Jeffs, Com 
 pany B, Fifty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers, until further or- 
 ders, and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 26, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Suspend execution of Hamel Shaffer ordered to be shot at City 
 Point to-morrow, until further orders and forward record of trial 
 for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
448 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 27, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT: 
 
 Stay execution in case of Barney Koorke, Fifteenth New York 
 Engineers, until record can be examined here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Send above dispatch and oblige. JOHN HAY, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 27, 1865. 
 
 To the COMMANDING OFFICER at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Let execution in case of Cornelius E. Peacher, be stayed until 
 further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 28, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD, Army of the James: 
 
 Give me a brief report in case of Charles Love, Seventh New 
 Hampshire, tried for desertion, and transmit record for my ex 
 amination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 30, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD, Headquarters Army of the James : 
 
 By direction of the President you are instructed to inform the 
 three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, that 
 a messenger will be dispatched to them at or near where they 
 now are, without unnecessary delay. EDWIN M. STANTON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 (This letter does appear in the Life by J. G. Nicolay and John 
 Hay.) 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., January 31, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Suspend sending off of Charles E. Waters, until further order 
 and send record if it has not already been sen,* 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
APPENDIX 449 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 31, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore, Md.: 
 
 Your second dispatch in regard to Waters is received. The 
 President s dispatch of this morning did not refer to Levin T 
 Waters, but to a man who it was represented had been convicted 
 by a military commission of unlawful trade with the rebels or 
 something of that kind, and was to be sent this morning to the 
 Albany Penitentiary. His name was given as Charles E. Waters. 
 If such prisoner is on his way North let him be brought back and 
 held aa directed in the President s dispatch. 
 
 JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, January 31, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Philadelphia, Pa. : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of John Murphy, ordered 
 for February 10, 1865, at Fort Mifflin, until further orders and for 
 ward record of trial for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please forward above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 1, 1865. 
 
 GENERAL SHEPLEY, Norfolk, Va.: 
 
 It is said that Henry W. Young, private in Sixty-third New 
 York Volunteers, Company E, is in arrest for desertion. If he 
 shall be tried and sentenced to any punishment, do not let sentence 
 be executed until further order from me, meantime send me 
 record of the trial. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 2, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Frankfort, Ey. : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of W. E. Walker until 
 further orders, and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN; 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 (29) 
 
450 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE 
 WASHINGTON, February 4, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn. : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of James K. Mallory, until 
 further orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., February 6, 1865. 
 
 FREDERICK HASSAUREK, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 A dispatch from General Grant says " Lieutenant Markbeit has 
 been released from prison and is now on his way North." 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 To LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, Headquarters Armies of the 
 United States : 
 
 Suspend execution in case of Simon J. Schaffer, Fifteenth New 
 York Engineers, until further orders, and send me the record. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 Send above. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 
 WASHINGTON, February 7, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Davenport, Iowa: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of John Davis, alias John 
 Lewis, until further orders and forward record of trial for exam 
 ination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 8, 1865. 
 
 MARK HOYT, ESQ., 28 Spruce Street, New York: 
 
 The President has received your dispatch asking an interview 
 He cannot appoint any specific day or hour, but your delegation 
 may come at their own convenience and he will see them as soon 
 as he possibly can after their arrival. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX 451 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 9, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL CADWALLADER, Philadelphia: 
 
 Please suspend execution in case of Thomas Adams, One hun 
 dred and eighty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and send record 
 to me. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. Q. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 9, 1865. 
 
 COMMANDING-GENERAL Sixth Army Corps : 
 
 Suspend the execution of the sentence of Private James L. 
 Hycks, Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, until further 
 orders. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 The President requests that you will send the above. The man 
 was to have been executed on 10th instant. 
 
 ED. D. NEILL, 
 Secretary to President, United States, &c. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 9, 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Hugh F. Riley, Eleventh 
 Massachusetts Volunteers, now in front of Petersburg, until fur 
 ther orders, and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 9, 1865. 
 
 His EXCELLENCY JOHN A. ANDREW, Governor of Massachusetts, 
 
 Boston, Mass. : 
 
 The President has to-day sent a dispatch ordering that the exe 
 cution of Hugh F. Riley, Eleventh Massachusetts Volunteers, be 
 suspended until further orders and the record forwarded for ex 
 amination. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
452 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 11, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD, Army of James: 
 
 Suspend execution of sentence in case of Maj. T. C. Jameson 
 and send me the record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 11, 1865. 
 
 COL. P. B. HAWKINS, Frankfort, Ky. : 
 
 General Burbridge may discharge W. E. Waller, if he thinks fit. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 12, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER, Cincinnati, Ohio: 
 
 Is it Lieut. Samuel B. Davis whose death sentence is com 
 muted? If not done, let it be done. Is there not an associate of 
 his also in trouble ? Please answer. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 13, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN: 
 
 Suspend execution of sentence in case of James Lynch, alia.4 
 Hennessy, until further orders and send record to me. Please ac 
 knowledge receipt of this. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 14, 1865. 
 
 To the Commanding Officer, Davenport, Iowa: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of John C. Brown, alias 
 William A. Craven, and of John Ble, alias Cohoe, until further 
 orders and send records for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX 453 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 14, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN: 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of James Brown, fixed for 
 the 17th instant at Harper s Ferry, until further orders, and for 
 ward record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 WASHINGTON, February 15, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN: 
 
 Suspend execution in case of Luther T. Palmer, Fifth New 
 York Artillery, for fourteen days and send record to me for ex 
 amination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 15, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of William Eandall, at 
 Harper s Ferry, of Fifth New York Heavy Artillery, until further 
 orders and forward record of trial for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 16, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of George W- Brown, Com 
 pany A, Fifteenth New York Engineers, now at City Point, until 
 further orders and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 16, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of Charles Love, Seventh 
 New Hampshire Volunteers, at City Point, until further orders and 
 forward record for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
454 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 17, 1865 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Davenport, Iowa : /- 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of William A. Craven, for 
 four weeks and forward record for examination. A. LINCOLN, 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 17, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Harper s Ferry : 
 
 Chaplain Fitzgibbon yesterday sent me a dispatch invoking 
 clemency for Jackson, Stewart and Randall, who are to be shot 
 to-day. The dispatch is so vague that there is no means here of 
 ascertaining whether or not the execution of sentence of one or 
 more of them may not already have been ordered. If not suspend 
 execution of sentence in their cases until further orders and for 
 ward records of trials for examination. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send above telegram. JNO. G. NIOOLAY. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 20, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER IN COMMAND at Davenport, Iowa : 
 
 Suspend execution of Henry Cole, alias Henry Coho, until fur 
 ther order and send record. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 22, 1865. 
 
 OFFICER EN COMMAND at Lexington, Ky. : 
 Send forthwith record of the trial of C. K. Johnson. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 23, 1865. 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Suspend execution of death sentence of George A. Maynard, 
 Company A, Forty-sixth New York Veteran Volunteers, until 
 further orders and forward record for examination. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 MAJOR ECKERT: 
 
 Please send the above telegram. JNO. G. NICOLAY, 
 
 Private Secretary. 
 
APPENDIX 455 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 24? 1865. 
 
 MAJOB-OENERAL POPE, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Please inquire and report to me whether there is any propriety 
 of longer keeping in Gratiott Street Prison a man said to be 
 there by the name of Kiley Whiting. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, February 28, 1865. 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER, Harper s Ferry, Va. : 
 
 Let the sentence in case of Luther T. Palmer be suspended till 
 further order. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., March 6, 1865 
 
 HON. DAVID TOD, Cleveland, Ohio: 
 
 I have yours about Grannis, and am compelled to say there is a 
 complication in the way. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., March 9, 1865. 
 
 W. O. BARTLETT, Philadelphia (probably at Continental) : 
 It will soon be too late if you are not here. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WASHINGTON, March 13, 1865. 
 HON. HENRY T. BLOW, Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 A Miss E. Snodgrass, who was banished from Saint Louis in 
 May, 1863, wishes to take the oath and return home. What say 
 y^? A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 16, 1865. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD: 
 
 Suspend execution of Lieut. Henry A. Meek, of First U. S. Col 
 ored Cavalry, until further order from here. Answer. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 WAR DEPARTMENT, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., March 17, 1865. 
 
 COL. R. M. HOUGH AND OTHERS, Chicago, HI. : 
 
 Yours received. The best I can do with it is to refer it to the 
 War Department. The Bock Island case referred to, was my 
 
456 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 individual enterprise, and it caused so much difficulty m so many 
 ways that I promised to never undertake another. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, May [March] 20, 1865. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ORD, Army of the James: 
 
 Is it true that George W. Lane is detained at Norfolk without 
 any charge against him? And if so why is it done? 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, March 23, 1865. 
 
 GENERAL DODGE, Commanding, &c., Saint Louis, Mo.: 
 
 Allow Mrs. K. S. Ewell the benefit of my amnesty proclamation 
 on her taking the oath. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, 
 
 March 25, 1865. (Received 5 p. m.) 
 
 HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: 
 
 I am here within five miles of the scene of this morning s action. 
 I have nothing to add to what General Meade reports except that 
 I have seen the prisoners myself and they look like there might 
 be the number he states 1,600. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., March 26, 1865. (Received 11.30 a. m.) 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR : 
 
 I approve your Fort Sumter programme. Grant don t seem to 
 know Yeatman very well, but thinks very well of him so far as 
 he knows. Thinks it probable that Y. is here now, for the place. 
 I told you this yesterday as well as that you should do as you 
 think best about Mr. Whiting s resignation, but 1 suppose you 
 did not receive the dispatch. I am on the boat and have no later 
 war news than went to you last night. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., March 30, 18657.30 p. m. 
 
 (Received 8.30 p. m.) 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR: 
 
 I begin to feel that I ought to be at home and yet I dislike 
 to leave without seeing nearer to the end of General Grant s pres 
 ent movement. He has now been out since yesterday morning 
 and although he has not been divested from his programme no 
 considerable effort has yet been produced so far as we know here. 
 Last night at 10.15 p. m. when it was dark as a rainy night with- 
 
APPENDIX 457 
 
 out a moon could be, a furious cannonade soon joined in by a 
 heavy musketry fire opened near Petersburg and lasted about two 
 hours. The sound was very distinct here as also were the flashes 
 of the guns up the clouds. It seemed to me a great battle, but 
 the older hands here scarcely noticed it and sure enough this morn 
 ing it was found that very little had been done. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) CITY POINT, VA., April 1, 18655.30 p. m. 
 
 (Keceived 8.30 p. m.) 
 
 HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: 
 
 Dispatch just received showing that Sheridan, aided by War 
 ren had at 2 p. m. pushed the enemy back so as to retake the five 
 forks and bring his own headquarters up to I. Boisseans. The 
 five forks were barricaded by the enemy and carried by Diven s 
 division of cavalry. This part of the enemy seems to now be 
 trying to work along the White Oak road to join the main force 
 in front of Grant, while Sheridan and Warren are pressing them 
 as closely as possible. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., April 2, 1865. 
 MRS. LINCOLN: 
 
 At 4.30 p. m. to-day General Grant telegraphs that he has Peters 
 burg completely enveloped from river below to river above, and 
 has captured since he started last Wednesday, about 12,000 pris 
 oners and 50 guns. He suggests that I shall go out and see him in 
 the morning, which I think I will do. Tad and I are both well, 
 and will be glad to see you and your party here at the time you 
 name. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) CITY POINT, VA., April 3, 18655 p. m. 
 
 (Received 7 p. m.) 
 HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: 
 
 Yours received. Thanks for your caution, but I have already 
 been to Petersburg, stayed with General Grant an hour and a half 
 and returned here. It is certain now that Richmond is in our 
 hands, and I think I will go there to-morrow. I will take care of 
 myself. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Cypher) CITY POINT, VA., April 4, 18658 a. m. 
 
 (Received 8.45 a. m.) 
 
 HON. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: 
 
 General Weitzel telegraphs from Richmond that of railroad 
 etock he found there, 28 locomotives, 44 passenger and baggage 
 cars, and 106 freight cars. At 3.30 this evening General Grant from 
 Southerland Station, 10 miles from Petersburg toward Burkes* 
 ville telegraphs as follows : 
 
458 LIFE OF LINCOLN 
 
 " General Sheridan picked up 1,200 prisoners to-day and from 
 300 to 500 more have been gathered by other troops. The majority 
 of the arms that were left in the hands of the remnant of Lee s 
 army are now scattered between Richmond and where his troops 
 are. The country is also full of stragglers, the line of retreat 
 marked with artillery, ammunition burned or charred wagons, cais 
 sons, ambulances, &c." A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., April 5, 1865. (Received 11 : 55 p. m.) 
 HON. SECRETARY OF STATE: 
 
 Yours of to-day received. I think there is no probability of 
 my remaining here more than two days longer. If that is too long 
 come down. I passed last night at Richmond and have just re 
 turned. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., April 7, 18658.35 a. m. 
 
 (Received 10.30 a. m.) 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR: 
 
 At 11.15 p. m. yesterday at Burkesville Station, General Grant 
 Bends me the following from General Sheridan: 
 
 "April 611.15 p. m. 
 " LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 " I have the honor to report that the enemy made a stand at the 
 intersection of the Burks Station road with the road upon which 
 they were retreating. I attacked them with two divisions of the 
 Sixth Army Corps and routed them handsomely, making a connec 
 tion with the cavalry I am still pressing on with both cavalry and 
 infantry. Up to the present time we have captured Generals Ewell, 
 Kershaw, Button, Corse, De Bare, and Custus Lee, several thou 
 sand prisoners, 14 pieces of artillery with caissons and a large 
 number of wagons. If the thing is pressed I think Lee will sur 
 render. " P. H. SHERIDAN, 
 
 " Major-General, Commanding." 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 CITY POINT, April 7, 18659 a. m. 
 
 (Received 10:30 a. m.) 
 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR: 
 
 The following further just received: 
 
 "BURKESVILLE, VA. 
 "A. LINCOLN: 
 
 " The following telegrams respectfully forwarded for your in* 
 formation: "U. S. GRANT, 
 
 " Lieutenant-General." 
 
APPENDIX 459 
 
 " SECOND ARMY CORPS, April 67.30 p. m. 
 . A. S. WEBB: 
 
 " Our last fight just before dark at Sailor s Creek gave us 2 
 guns, 3 flags, considerable numbers of prisoners, 200 wagons, 70 
 ambulances with mules and horses to about one-half the wagons 
 and ambulances. There are between 30 and 50 wagons in addition 
 abandoned and destroyed along the road, some battery wagons, 
 forages, and limbers. I have already reported to you the capture 
 of 1 gun, 2 flags and some prisoners, and the fact that the road for 
 over 2 miles is strewed with tents, baggage, cooking utensils, some 
 ammunition, some material of all kinds, the wagons across the 
 approach to the bridges it will take some time to clear it. The 
 enemy is in position on the heights beyond with artillery. The 
 bridge partially destroyed and the approaches on other side are 
 of soft bottom land. We cannot advance to-morrow in the same 
 manner we have to-day. As soon as I get my troops up a little, 
 we are considerably mixed, I might push a column down the road 
 and deploy it but it is evident that I cannot follow rapidly during 
 the night. "A. A. HUMPHREYS, 
 
 " Major-General." 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 HEAD QUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 CITY POINT, April 7, 11 a. m., 1865. 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : 
 
 Gen. Sheridan says " If the thing is pressed I think that Lee will 
 surrender." Let the thing be pressed. A. LINCOLN. 
 
 (Original owned by C. F. Gunther of Chicago, HI.) 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, 
 WASHINGTON, April 11, 1865. 
 
 BRIO. GEN. G. H. GORDON, Norfolk, Va.: 
 
 Send to me at once a full statement as to the cause or causes 
 for which, and by authority of what tribunal, George W. Lane, 
 Charles Whitlock, Ezra Baker, J. M. Kenshaw, and others are 
 restrained of their liberty. Do this promptly and fully. 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
ESTDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 A Ashmun, George, i, 349, 359 ; ii, 43. 
 
 236. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, Ode for the Burial Atkinson, Gen., i, 75, 81-84. 
 
 of, ii, 257. Atwood, of Philadelphia, i, 373. 
 "Abraham, Father," ii, 169. 
 Adams, Mr., ii, 25. 
 
 Adams, Gen. James, i, 155-157. B 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, i, 207. 
 
 Address to Border States representa- Bad Ax, battle of, i, 90. 
 
 tives, ii, in. Bailhache, Wm. H., Major, i, 403. 
 
 Address, first inaugural, ii, 6-12. Baker, Edward D., Col., i, 133, 158, 
 
 opinions of the press, ii, 12, 13, 166. 
 
 second inaugural, ii, 221, 222. nominated for Congress against Lin- 
 Administration, embarrassment of, ii, coin, i, 194, 195, 202, 203, 212, 398; 
 
 44. ii, 70, 7i. 
 
 military policy, ii, 53, 70, 93, 95, Baker, Senator, of Oregon, ii, 5. 
 101, 194. Ball s Bluff, battle of, ii, 70, 71. 
 
 Akers, Peter, Rev. Dr., sermon of, i, Baltimore, plot in, i, 419. 
 
 237. Bancroft, Frederick, i 392. 
 
 Allen, Dr. John, i, 9. Banks, Gen., i, 347 ; ii, 58, 71. 
 
 Anderson, Robert, Gen., i, 80, 86, 90, Banks, of Massachusetts, i, 347, 403. 
 
 387. Baptist Licking Locust Ass., i, 35. 
 
 in command of Fort Sumter, ii, Bartlett, D. W., i, 370. 
 
 14, 15. Bateman, Newton, Dr., i, 361. 
 
 - heroic defence, ii, 33, 230. Bates, Edward, i, 347, 398, 402, 424. 
 
 Anti-slavery agitation, i, 35. Beatty, George, i, 321. 
 
 Arms, i, 388, ii, 44. Beckwith, H. W., Judge, i, 251. 
 
 Armstrong, Jack, i, 63, 64, 107, 270. "Personal Recollections of Lin- 
 Armstrong murder, i, 270-273. coin," i, 252, 308. 
 
 Armstrong, Hannah, i, 107, 270, 271, Beecher, Henry Ward, Rev., i, 304, 
 
 273- 322; ii, 230. 
 
 Armstrong, William. (See Armstrong Bell, Mr., i, 380, 386. 
 
 murder case.) Bennett, John, i, 137, 193, 204. 
 
 Army of the Cumberland, ii, 145. Benton, Thomas H., i, 207. 
 
 Army of Northeastern Virginia, ii, 55. Berry, Lucy (Shipley), Mrs., aunt of 
 Army, increase of, ii, 43. Nancy Hanks, i, 8. 
 
 Army of the Potomac, ii, 69. Berry, Mr., of Boston, i, 373. 
 
 inaction of, ii, 71, 86, 105, 127, Berry and Lincoln, store of, i, 9, 92. 
 133. 139, 140, 145, 150, 160, 162. tavern license, i, 94-96, 104, 108. 
 
 Army of Virginia, ii, 129. Berry, Richard, i, 8, 10. 
 
 Arnold, Isaac, ii, 46, in, 231. Berry, Wm. F., i, 92. 
 
 Arsenal, supplies of, ii, 44. Birney, James G., i, 200. 
 
 Ashburn resolution, i, 214. Bissell, Wm. H., Gen., i, 291. 
 
464 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Black Hawk. (See Black Hawk War.) 
 Black Hawk War, i, 73-87. 
 
 prominent Americans engaged in, 
 i, 90, 114, 211. 
 
 Blaine, James G., Secretary, ii, 168. 
 Blair, Francis P., i, 292, 349, 359; ii, 
 88. 
 
 acts as peacemaker, ii, 209-210, 
 
 359- 
 
 Blair, Frank P., of Chicago, ii, 88. 
 
 Blair, Montgomery, Postmaster-Gen 
 eral, i, 424, 425 ; ii, 20, 61, 64, 65, 
 97- 
 
 Blanchard, John, i, 208. 
 
 Blodgett, Judge, i, 276, 277. 
 
 Blondin, story of, ii, 92. 
 
 Boal, Robert, Dr., i, 203. 
 
 Bond, Ben., i, 166. 
 
 Boone, Nathan, Col., i, 90. 
 
 Booth, Junius Brutus, ii, 248. 
 
 Booth, John Wilkes, ii, 199. 
 
 assassinates Lincoln, 238-240. 
 Boutwell, George S., Gov., i, 349, 359, 
 
 360. 
 
 Bowles, Samuel, i, 349, 359, 370. 
 Bragg, Braxton, Gen., ii, 182, 183. 
 Brayman, Mason, Gen., i, 255, 259, 
 
 327. 
 
 Breckenridge, Gov., i, 380, 386. 
 Breese, Sidney, Hon., i, 90. 
 Bright, John, ii, 46. 
 Broadwell, Judge, i, 177. 
 Brokaw, Abraham, i, story of Lincoln s 
 
 fees, 267, 268. 
 
 Bromley, Isaac H., Mr., i, 343, 349. 
 Brooks, Noah, i, 404 ; ii, 138. 
 Brown, Gratz, i, 349 ; ii, 174. 
 Brown, of Philadelphia, i, 373. 
 Brown, Mrs., Dr., i, 176. 
 
 describes Lincoln s wedding, i, 190. 
 Browning, O. H., Hon., i, 133, 158, 
 
 229 ; ii, 9, 66. 
 
 Browning, O. H., Mrs., i, 149, 150. 
 Brumfield, Nancy (Lincoln), Mrs., i, 
 
 6. 
 
 Brumfield, William, i, 6. 
 Bryant, John, i, 86, 144, 146. 
 Bryant, William Cullen, i, 80, 86, 90, 
 
 327. 
 
 editorial on Lincoln, i, 365, 370, 
 380 ; ii, 178, 257. 
 
 Buchanan, James T., President, i, 207, 
 300-303, 407, 423. 
 
 escorts Lincoln to Capitol, ii, 2, 4, 
 5, 15, 16. 
 
 Buell, Gen., ii, 84, 143, 162. 
 
 Bull Run, battle of, ii, 55, 56, 59, 60 
 
 79, 150. 
 
 Burner, Daniel Green, i, 108. 
 Burner, Isaac, i, no. 
 Burnside, Ambrose, Gen., return of, 
 
 ", 57- 
 
 relieves McClellan, ii, 133. 
 
 movements of, ii, 134, 135, 170, 181, 
 182. 
 
 Busey, S. C., Dr., personal reminis 
 cences and recollections, i, 208-210. 
 
 Butler, Gen., ii, 58, 249. 
 
 Butler, William, i, 91, 148, 180, 186, 
 187, 
 
 Butterfield, Justin, Gen., i, 230, 231 ; 
 ii, 138. 
 
 Cabinet, selecting the, i, 399~4O3, 423- 
 
 425 ; n, 18-22, 53, 70. 
 Calhoun, John, i, 99, 122, 159, 197. 
 Campaign of 1860, delegation of, i, 
 
 359- 
 
 nomination an accomplished fact, i, 
 
 361. 
 
 demonstrations, i, 364. 
 
 opinions of the press, i, 365. 
 
 rail fence, i, 366. 
 
 Seward s ratification, i, 366-368. 
 
 speeches, i, 369. 
 
 tracts, i, 369. 
 
 clubs, i, 370. 
 
 songs, i, 371. 
 
 mass meetings, i, 372, 
 Cameron, Rev. John, i, 107* 
 Cameron, John, i, 60. 
 
 Cameron, Simon, Secretary, i, 342, 
 344, 347, 400, 425 ; ii, 43. 
 
 unfitness, ii, 76, 77. 
 
 relieved, ii, 78, 142. 
 Cameron, Polly, Mrs., i, 107. 
 Campbell, John A., ii, 210. 
 Campbell, Thomas, i, 196, 197. 
 Canby, Gen., ii, 219. 
 Canfield, Robert W., i, 197. 
 Capitol, the, ii, 2. 
 
 Carman, Walter, i, 53, 54. 
 Carpenter, Mr., ii, 116. 
 Carr, Clark E., Col., ii, 3. 
 Carr, Wm. W., Lieut., i, 198. 
 Carter, David K., i, 359. 
 Cartwright, Peter, i, 206, 273, 274. 
 Casparis, James, i, 216. 
 Cass, Gen., i, 218, 219. 
 
INDEX 
 
 465 
 
 Cemetery, Oakland, grave of Abraham 
 
 Lincoln, ii, 260. 
 
 Chandler, A. B., ii, 105, 140, 141, 153. 
 Chandler, Zachariah, Senator, i, 292 ; 
 
 ii, 35, 52, 94- 
 
 Chase, Salmon P., Secretary, i, 335, 
 344, 347, 355, 399, 4OO, 425, 426 ; 
 ii, 50, 75, 120. 
 
 rival of Lincoln, ii, 189-191. 
 Chicago, mourning in, ii, 258. 
 Chicago, rise of, i, 114. 
 
 audacity of, i, 342. 
 
 Civil War, ii, 146, 157, 164, 168, 170. 
 
 Chittenden, E. L., ii, 249. 
 
 Clarke, Enos, ii, 175. 
 
 Clary s Grove Boys, i, 63, 89, 92, 272. 
 
 Clay, Cassius M., i, 349, 369, 370; ii, 
 
 37- 
 
 Clay, Henry, i, 197, 201, 216, 380. 
 Clover, Judge, ii, 65. 
 Coffin, C. C., ii, 70. 
 Colfax, Schuyler, i, 425 ; ii, 233, 236. 
 Collamer, of Vermont, i, 347. 
 Compositors receive news of Lincoln s 
 
 death, ii, 245, 246. 
 Conant, A. J., i, 93, 373. 
 Confederacy, Southern, ii, 19, 36. 
 Conference, Hampton Roads, ii, 212. 
 Congress stands by Lincoln, ii, 59. 
 Conkling, James C., Hon., i, 357. 
 Conkling, Roscoe, ii, 171. 
 Cooper Institute, Sumner s speech at, 
 
 i, 369- 
 
 Cooper Union speech, i, 326-330, 383. 
 Convention, Bloomington, i, 292-300. 
 Convention, Chicago, i, 340. 
 
 formally opened, i, 342. 
 
 nominates Lincoln, i, 347-356. 
 
 delegates to, i, 343-345 ; ii, 26. 
 Convention, Decatur, i, 339, 340. 
 Convention, Editorial, i, 289292. 
 Convention, National Democratic, i, 
 
 362. 
 
 Convention, Pekin, i, 195-197. 
 Convention, Republican. (See Chicago 
 
 Convention.) 
 
 Convention, Springfield, i, 316. 
 Convention, Union, ii, 193. 
 Conway, Moncure, ii, 88. 
 Corwin, Thomas, i, 349. 
 Couch, Gen., ii, 142. 
 Crafton, Greek, i, 273, 274. 
 Crawford, Josiah, i, 199. 
 Crawford, Mrs., i, 25. 
 Crotty, William, Mrs., i, 320. 
 Crume, Mary (Lincoln) Mrs., i, 6. 
 
 Crume, Ralph, i, 6. 
 Cullom, Robert M., i, 133. 
 Cullom, Shelby M., Senator, i, 133. 
 Cullom, Gen., ii, 154. 
 Curtis, Gen., ii, 66. 
 Curtis, Geo. Wm., i, 349. 
 Custom House, New York, meeting 
 in, ii, 249. 
 
 Dana, Charles A., Assistant Secretary, 
 
 ii, 81, 144. 
 Davis, David, Judge, partiality for 
 
 Lincoln, i, 244-246, 267, 268, 296, 
 
 345- 
 
 sees New Jersey delegation, i, 350, 
 
 351, 381 ; ii, 76, 254. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, i, 90, 208, 382 ; ii, 
 39, 172, 174, 183, 210, 229, 230. 
 
 Davis, J. McCann, i, 8. 
 
 Dawes, Senator, ii, 56. 
 
 Dawson John, i, 130. 
 
 Dayton, of New Jersey, i, 347. 
 
 Debates, Freeport, i, 363. 
 
 Debates, Lincoln-Douglas, i, 281, 303, 
 307-322, 326. 
 
 Defeat, Stillman s, i, 79. 
 
 Democrats, organization of, i, 126. 
 
 Department of the West, ii, 61. 
 
 Derickson, D. V., Capt., ii, 154-156. 
 
 Dickerson, E. N., i, 261,262. 
 
 Dickinson, Daniel L., ii, 249. 
 
 Dickey, Judge T. Lyle, story of Lin 
 coln, i, 287, 288. 
 
 Diller, Roland, i, 236. 
 
 District of Columbia, slavery in, i, 228. 
 
 Dix, Gen., ii, 167. 
 
 Dixon, John, i, 83. 
 
 Dodge, Henry, Gov., i, 83, 90. 
 
 Dodd, Ira Seymour, ii, 137. 
 
 Dougherty, E. C., i, 289. 
 
 Douglass, Fred., i, 320. 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A., i, 114, 126, 133, 
 
 153- 
 
 phenomenal record, i, 159. 
 
 campaign of 1837-1840, i, 159, 163. 
 
 character, i, 160, 172, 173, 207, 267. 
 
 serious struggles, i, 280, 281, 284, 
 
 306, 335, 336. 
 
 doctrine, i, 363, 378, 380, 382, 385, 
 
 386, 391, 393, 414. 
 
 holds Lincoln s hat, ii, 5. 
 
 offers aid to Lincoln, ii, 35. 
 Douglas, Wm. A., i, 272. 
 
466 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Draft bill, ii, 147. 
 Drake, C. D., ii, 175. 
 Draper, A. G., Prof., ii, 245. 
 Dream, President s, ii, 233, 234. 
 Dresser, Nathan, i, 204. 
 Drummond, Josiah, i, 345. 
 Dubois, Jesse K., i, 113, 137, 158. 
 Dubois, Lincoln, i, 410. 
 " Duff Green s Row," i, 208. 
 Duncan, Gov., i, 113. 
 Durley, Madison, i, 200. 
 Durley, Williamson, i, 200. 
 Durrett, R. T., i, 4, 6. 
 Discontent, Northern, ii, 53. 
 
 Early, Capt. Jacob M., i, 86, 87. 
 Eaton, John, Gen., ii, 67, 68, 199. 
 Eckert, Maj., ii, 134, 153, 165. 
 Edwards, Cyrus, i, 229-231. 
 Edwards, Benj. T., Judge, i, 178. 
 Edwards, B. T., Mrs., i, 178. 
 Edwards, Ninten W., i, 130, 158, 172, 
 
 177, 178. 
 Edwards, NinianW., Mrs., i, 172, 176, 
 
 191. 
 
 Election, tables of, i, 362-364. 
 Elkins, Wm. F., i, 130. 
 Ellsworth, Colonel of Zouaves, i, 371 ; 
 
 ii, 53- 
 
 Emancipation, ii, 95, 96. 
 
 Emancipation, message on, compen 
 sated, ii, 97. 
 
 Emancipation, compensated, ii, 96, 
 in. 
 
 Emancipation Proclamation, ii, 116- 
 126, 163, 171, 212. 
 
 Emancipation Society, ii, 99. 
 
 Embree, Elisha, i, 208. 
 
 Emerson, Ralph, i, 264-266. 
 
 Emerson, Ralph W., i, 224. 
 
 Escort, President s funeral, ii, 253, 
 
 254- 
 
 Evans, E. P., ii, 167. 
 Evarts, Wm. M., i, 349, 353, 359. 
 Everett, Edward, ii, 35. 
 Ewing, Wm. D., Hon.,i, 90, 113, 133, 
 
 139, 158, 198. 
 
 Farragut, Admiral, ii, 198, 202, 256. 
 Farrar, B. G., Gen., ii, 63. 
 Faxon, Charles, i, 289. 
 
 Fell, JesseW.,1, 334, 345. 
 Ferguson, John, i, no. 
 Fessenden, William P., ii, 249, 
 Field, David Dudley, i, 327. 
 Ficklin, O. B., Hon., i, 320. 
 Fillmore, Millard, i, 225, 301. 
 Filson, John, i, 4. 
 Fletcher, Job, i, 130. 
 Ford, A. N., i, 289. 
 Ford s theatre, ii, 242. 
 
 party at, ii, 235-237. 
 Ford, Theodore, i, 113. 
 
 Fort Pickens, ii, 16, 17, 19, 28, 31. 
 Forts Henry and Donelson, capture of, 
 
 ii, 143. 
 
 Fort Moultrie, ii, 14, 15. 
 Fort Sumter, i, 80, 387 ; ii, 14-17, 19, 
 
 28, 29, 31, 33, 100, 230. 
 Fox, Capt., ii, 134. 
 Francis, Simeon, i, 184, 185. 
 Free soil, i, 218, 219. 
 Freedmen, march of, ii, 257. 
 Fremont, John C., Gen., i, 301 ; ii, 
 
 58, 60. 
 
 appointment of, ii, 61. 
 
 charges against, ii, 61, 65. 
 
 relieved of command, ii, 66-69, 128, 
 
 133, 174, 193. 
 Fremont, Jessie Benton, Mrs., ii, 62, 
 
 65. 
 
 Fremont and Dayton, i, 300. 
 Friend, Dennis, commonly called 
 
 Hanks. (See Hanks, Dennis.) 
 Frontier store, i, 62. 
 Frye, Gen., ii, 148. 
 
 Funeral journey, President s, ii, 254- 
 260. 
 
 Gamble, Gov., ii, 174. 
 Garfield, Gen., ii, 249. 
 Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, i, 224, 304 ; ii, 
 
 230. 
 
 Gentry, Mr., i, 39. 
 Gentryville, Ind., boyhood home of 
 
 Lincoln, i, 18. 
 Giddings, G. H., i, 208, 224, 292, 349. 
 
 letter to Lincoln, i, 368. 
 
 describes cabinet meeting, ii, 20-22. 
 Gillespie, Judge, i, 205, 230, 405, 406, 
 
 409. 
 
 Gilmer, John A., i, 393, 402. 
 Gilmore, James R. (Edmund Kirke), 
 
 " Personal Recollections of Abraham 
 
 Lincoln," ii, 171, 172. 
 
INDEX 
 
 467 
 
 Goggin of Virginia, i, 382. Hanks, Joseph, brother of Nancy, i, 
 
 Gollaher, Austin, i, 14, 15. 7, 232. 
 
 Graham, Christopher Columbus, Dr., i, Hanks, Nancy. (See Nancy [Hanks] 
 
 10, 14, 35. Lincoln, Mrs.) 
 
 Graham, Mentor, i, 61, 66, 100, 117. Hanks, Nancy (Shipley), Mrs., i, 7. 
 
 Grant, Mrs., ii, 235, 236. Hanks, William, i, 7. 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S., Gen., in the West, Hardie, Col., ii, 153. 
 
 11, 143, 144. ^ Hardin, John J., Col., i, 114, 158, 
 
 appointed Lieutenant-General, ii, 166, 180, 189, 194-197, 202-206, 212. 
 
 145, 170. Harding, Col., ii, 64. 
 
 mentioned for Presidency, ii, 186- Harding, George, relates meeting of 
 189. Lincoln and Stanton, i, 260-264. 
 
 attacks Petersburg, ii, 194, 199, 208, Harlan, James, Hon., i, 423-425; ii, 4, 
 
 225. n, 103, 198, 232. 
 
 final movements, ii, 227, 233, 235, Harris, Lieut., i, 83, 84. 
 
 236. Harris, Ira, Senator, ii, 236, 237. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, i, 292, 303, 304, 307, Harris, Miss, ii, 237. 
 
 315, 327, 344, 347, 349, 352, 354, Harrison, Peachy, i, 273-275. 
 
 369, 370. ( Harrison, Wm. Henry, Gen., i, 163, 
 
 editorials, i, 395, 398, 418; ii, 117, 165, 166. 
 
 118, 119. Hawley, Joseph, i, 349. 
 
 opposes Lincoln, ii, 171, 172, 195- Hay, John, ii, 40. 
 
 198. Hazel, Caleb, i, 16. 
 
 Green, Bowling, " Squire," i, no, in. Head, Jesse, Rev., marries Thomas 
 
 Greene, friend of Lincoln, i, 66, 67, Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, i, 10, 35. 
 
 75, 76. Helm, Mrs., i, 179. 
 
 Grigsby, Aaron, i, 27. Henderson, T. J., Gen., i, 165. 
 
 Grigsby, Nat., i, 43. Henderson, John B., secures pardons 
 
 Grigsby, Sarah Lincoln, Mrs., i, 13, from Lincoln, ii, 223-225. 
 
 27. Henderson, Wm. H., i, 166. 
 
 Grimes, Senator, ii, 246, 247. Henry, A. G., Dr., i, 180,- 323. 
 
 Grosscup, Peter Stenger, Hon., ii, 113. Henry, Gen., i, 81-84. 
 
 Grow, G. A., Hon., ii, 21, 42, 18. Herndon, Arthur, i, 130. 
 
 Gurley, Dr., pastor of Lincoln, ii, 244, Herndon Brothers, i, 92. 
 
 249, 252, 253. Herndon, James, i, 92. 
 
 Herndon, Rowan, i, 92, 106. 
 Herndon, Wm. H., i, 29, 33, 40, 44, 
 
 H 57, 58, 62, 105, 106, 174-177, I79 
 192, 214, 239, 249, 259, 269, 295, 
 
 Hale, Edward Everett, Rev., ii, 97. 304, 409. 
 
 Hale, J. T., Hon., i, 392. Herndon and Weik, i, 250. 
 
 Hall, Levi, i, 47, 49. Hicks, of New York, i, 373. 
 
 Halleck, H. W., Gen., ii, 84. Hill and McNeill, i, 91. 
 
 appointed General-in-Chief, ii, 128, Hill, John, i, 255. 
 
 130, 134, 135, 139, 140, 143, 144, Hill, Samuel, i, 106, 117; ii, 90. 
 
 154. Hingham, Mass., arrival of Lincoln 
 
 Hallucination, i, 404. family in, i, I. 
 
 Halstead, Murat, i, 349, 352. Hitchcock, Caroline Hanks, Mrs., 
 
 Hamlin, Hannibal, Vice-President, compiler of genealogy of Hanks 
 
 meeting with Lincoln, i, 378, 397, family in America, i, 7. 
 
 398. Hitt, Robert L., Hon., i, 277, 315, 
 
 loyalty to Lincoln, ii, 189. 322. 
 
 Hanks, Benjamin, i, 7. Hoar, Gen., i, 224. 
 Planks, Dennis, i, 14, 22, 33. Hogan, John, Rev., i, 166. 
 Hanks, John, i, 58, 65. Hooker, Joseph, Gen., relieves Burn- 
 Hanks, Joseph, i, 7, 8. side, ii, 135. 
 
468 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hooker, Joseph, receipt of President s 
 letter, ii, 136-139, 162, 170. 
 
 Howells, W. D., i, 370. 
 
 Hospitals, ii, 157-161. 
 
 Houston, Sam, Gov.,ii, 20-23. 
 
 Hoyt, Col., i, 353. 
 
 Hunter, David, Gen., i, 379, 396; ii, 
 64, 67, 68, 102, 254. 
 
 Hunter, R. M. T., ii, 210, 211. 
 
 Hurlburt, Gen., ii, 218, 219. 
 
 Hyer, Tom, i, 343, 344. 
 
 lies, Capt., "Footsteps and Wander- 
 
 ings," i, 80-84, 86. 
 Illinois, Convention system of, i, i, 93. 
 Illinois, Eighth Judicial Circuit of, i, 
 242-245. 
 
 Ninth General Assembly of, ni- 
 
 114, 124-126. 
 
 Tenth General Assembly of, i, 127, 
 
 132, 142-145, 147, 159- 
 
 State taxes, i, 185. 
 
 Address to the people of, i, 193. 
 Inauguration Ball, i, 209. 
 
 Internal improvements, public utility 
 of, i, 67-72, 
 
 J 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, Gen., i, 396; ii, 12. 
 James, B. F., i, 202. 
 Jayne, Julia, Miss, i, 185, 186, 191. 
 Jefferson, Joseph, Autobiography of, i, 
 
 248, 249. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, i, 35, 325, 380,414. 
 Johnson, Andrew, i, 208. 
 Johnson Reverdy, i, 261, 262. 
 Johnson, ex-Governor, ii, 176. 
 Johnston, Albert Sidney, i, 90. 
 Johnston, Gen., ii, 208, 226. 
 Johnston, John, half brother of Lin 
 coln, i, 21, 233, 238. 
 Johnston, A. E. H., Maj., ii, 130. 
 Johnston, Matilda, i, 21. 
 Johnston, Sally Bush. (See Lincoln, 
 Sally [Bush], Mrs.) 
 
 ohnston, Sarah, i, 21. 
 
 ones, of Gentryville, i, 34. 
 
 ones, J. Russell, ii, 187-189. 
 
 ones, Wm., Capt., i, 48. 
 
 ones, of Cincinnati, i, 373, 374. 
 
 udd, Norman B., i, 275, 277, 278, 
 316, 324, 339, 345. 
 
 Judd, Norman B., nominates Lincoln, 
 
 i, 354, 418, 420, 422. 
 Judd, Norman B., Mrs., i, 277, 278. 
 Julian, George W., i, 398 ; ii, 5, 94. 
 
 K 
 
 Kansas-Nebraska Bill, i, 280-284. 
 Keene, Laura, ii, 235, 236. 
 Kellogg s Grove, skirmish of, i, 87. 
 Kellogg, Wm., i, 391. 
 Kelley, William D., Judge, i, 345, 359. 
 Kelso, Jack, i, 93, 107, no. 
 Kidd, T. W. L, i, 251, 252. 
 King, Preston, i, 292, 349. 
 Knox, Joseph B., i, 277. 
 
 Lamar, John, Capt, i, 32. 
 
 Lamon, Marshal, ii, 254. 
 
 Lamon, Ward, i, 251, 268, 269, 419; 
 ii, 254. 
 
 Lane, Henry S., i, 346, 352. 
 
 Lane, Senator, ii, 37, 173. 
 
 Law, martial, established, ii, 243. 
 
 Lawrence, Geo., i, 412. 
 
 Lecompton Constitution, i, 303. 
 
 Lee, Gen., ii, 120, 131, 134, 140-142, 
 193, 208, 229. 
 
 Leighton, George, Col., ii, 63, 65. 
 
 Levering, Mrs., i, 178. 
 
 Levis, Edward, i, 188, 189. 
 
 Libby Prison, ii, 229. 
 
 Liberty Men, i, 200-202. 
 
 Lieber, Francis, ii, 13. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, of Berks Co., i, 2. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, cousin of the Presi 
 dent, i, 232. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, son of John, i, 3. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, of Rockingham 
 Co., Va., i, 8. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, President, birth, 
 Feb. 12, 1809, i, 14. 
 
 early childhood, i, 14-17. 
 
 boyhood in Indiana, i, 18-27. 
 
 life on the farm, i, 21. 
 
 desultory education, i, 29-34. 
 
 effect of tragedies, i, 27, 28. 
 
 backwoods orator, i, 36. 
 
 first dollar, i, 38. 
 
 on Ohio and Mississippi rivers, i, 
 
 37-40. 
 
 impression on others, i, 40-44. 
 
 clearness in argument, i, 43, 44. 
 
INDEX 
 
 469 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, leaves Indiana, 
 1830, for Decatur.Ill., i, 45-49. 
 
 first monument, i, 46. 
 
 strength and appearance, i, 49-51. 
 
 rail splitting, i, 49, 51. 
 
 flat boating, i, 51-56. 
 
 sees slavery, i, 57, 58, 200, 222. 
 
 in New Salem, 1831-32, i, 59-67. 
 
 authority, i, 64. 
 
 speech to beat, i, 65. 
 
 honesty, i, 65. 
 
 grammar, i, 66. 
 
 " practicing polemics," i, 66. 
 
 studying men, i, 66. 
 
 candidate for General Assembly of 
 
 the State, March, 1832, i, 67-72. 
 
 piloting the " Talisman," i, 72. 
 
 Capt. of Sangamon Company, i, 75- 
 
 Black Hawk War, i, 78-87. 
 
 disbanded at Whitewater, Wis., i, 
 
 87, 88. 
 
 candidate for State Assembly, i, 89- 
 91. 
 
 storekeeper in New Salem, i, 91-96. 
 
 reading, 93-94. 
 
 postmaster in New Salem, i, 96-98. 
 
 message on compensated emanci 
 
 pation, ii, 96-98, 100, 101. 
 
 summer of 1833, i, 98. 
 
 surveying, i, 99-101. 
 
 appalling debt, i, 104, 105. 
 
 relations with community, i, 106. 
 
 elected to Illinois legislature, 1834, 
 
 i, 108, 109. 
 
 studying law, i, 109, no. 
 
 in Ninth Assembly, i, 111-115. 
 
 meeting with Stephen A. Douglas, 
 
 i, 114. 
 
 love for Ann Rutledge, i, 116-121. 
 
 intellectual equipment at twenty-six, 
 
 i, 121-123. 
 
 first experience as legislator, i, 124- 
 
 126. 
 
 campaign for Tenth Assembly, 
 
 1836, i, 127-129. 
 
 reflected, i, 130. 
 
 admitted to bar at Springfield, i, 
 
 132. 
 
 work in Tenth Assembly, i, 132-144. 
 
 social life in Vandalia, i, 145, 146. 
 
 Major Stuart s partner, i, 147. 
 
 removes to Springfield, i, 147. 
 
 Mary Owens, i, 149-153. 
 
 controversy with Gen. Adams, i, 
 
 155-157. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, clever strategist, i, 
 157, 158. 
 
 meeting with Douglas, i, 159. 
 
 campaign against Douglas, 1837- 
 
 1840, i, 159-163. 
 
 campaign of 1840, i, 160-169. 
 
 monster political meetings, i, 165. 
 
 social life in Springfield, i, 170-172. 
 
 engagement to Mary Todd, i, 172, 
 
 173- 
 
 breaking of engagement to Mary 
 
 Todd, i, 174-181. 
 
 friendship with Speed, i, 181-184. 
 
 encounter with Shields, i, 184-190. 
 
 marries Mary Todd, i, 190, 191. 
 
 candidate for Congress, 1842, i, 
 
 192-194. 
 
 supports Baker and Hardin, i, 194- 
 
 197. 
 
 Pekin convention, 1843, i, 195-197. 
 
 campaign work, i, 197-199. 
 
 fears Hardin s reelection, i, 202-206. 
 
 elected to Congress, August, 1846, 
 
 i, 206. 
 
 in Washington, 1847, i, 207-212. 
 
 Spot Resolutions, i, 212-215. 
 
 forms "Young Indian" club, i, 
 
 216. 
 
 speaks for Taylor, i, 216, 220. 
 
 slavery question, i, 220-224. 
 
 at Niagara, i, 225, 226. 
 
 an inventor, i, 227. 
 
 bill to abolish slavery in District of 
 
 Columbia, i, 228. 
 
 end of congressional career, 1849, 
 
 i, 299. 
 
 refutes Edwards accusation, i, 230, 
 
 231. 
 
 declines governorship of Oregon, i, 
 
 232. 
 
 assists relatives, i, 232-234. 
 
 with children, i, 235-237 ; ii, 87, 88. 
 
 religion, i, 237, 238. 
 
 devotion to study, 238-240. 
 
 abandons politics for law, i, 241. 
 
 on the Eighth Circuit, i, 242-247. 
 
 humor and helpfulness, i, 246, 247. 
 
 conduct of cases, i, 247-256. 
 
 telling stories, i, 253-256. 
 
 place in legal circle, i, 257. 
 
 defence of slave girl, i, 257, 258. 
 
 case of Illinois Central Railroad, i, 
 
 258, 259- 
 
 meets Stanton, i, 260-264. 
 
 McCormick case, i, 260-266. 
 
 fees, i, 267-270. 
 
47o 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, Armstrong murder 
 case, i, 270-273. 
 
 Harrison murder case, i, 273-275. 
 
 Rock Island Bridge case, i, 275- 
 
 278. 
 
 Missouri Compromise, i, 279-299. 
 
 campaign under Fremont and Day 
 
 ton, i, 300. 
 
 proposed as candidate for Vice- 
 
 Presidency, June 17, i, 300. 
 
 Lincoln-Douglas debates, i, 302- 
 
 326. 
 
 speeches in New England, i, 330- 
 
 332. 
 
 a national figure, i, 332, 333. 
 
 autobiography, i, 338. 
 
 the rail candidate, i, 340, 353. 
 
 Cooper Institute speech, i, 326, 330, 
 
 341. 
 
 newspaper support, i, 339, 341. 
 
 compromise candidate, i, 347. 
 
 nomination for President, 1860, i, 
 
 350-358. 
 
 campaign, 1860, i, 359-372. 
 
 letter of acceptance, i, 361. 
 
 visitors, i, 373-375- 
 
 policy of silence, i, 376-378. 
 
 certainty of election, i, 378-384. 
 
 election day, i, 384-386. 
 
 votes for, i, 386. 
 
 President elect, i, 387. 
 
 news of disruption, i, 387-389. 
 
 replies to appeals, i, 390-395. 
 
 cabinet, i, 398-403, 423-426. 
 
 simple propositions, I, 2, 3, 4, i, 
 
 396, 397- 
 
 prepares inaugural address, i, 403. 
 
 events preceding inauguration, i, 
 
 404-410. 
 
 journey to Washington, i, 411-423. 
 
 first inauguration, ii, 1-13. 
 
 decides fate of Fort Sumter, ii, 14- 
 
 19. 
 
 prevents accessions to the Confeder 
 
 acy, ii, 19-22. 
 
 besieged by office-seekers, ii, 23- 
 
 26. 
 
 Seward s attitude to, ii, 26-30. 
 
 reply to Seward, ii, 30-32. 
 
 preparing for Civil War, ii, 33-45. 
 
 conditions in the White House, ii, 
 
 45-48. 
 
 relation to the common soldier, ii, 
 
 49. 50- 
 
 impresses others, ii, 51, 52. 
 
 how to use the army, ii, 52-55. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, battle of Bull Run, 
 ii, 55-57- 
 
 gives McClellan command, ii, 59. 
 
 "Memoranda of Military Policy 
 
 Suggested by Bull Run Defeat," 
 . ", 57, 58. 
 
 improves morale of officers and men, 
 
 ii, 60. 
 
 trouble with Fremont, ii, 61-66. 
 
 disappointment in McClellan, ii, 69, 
 
 70. 
 
 receives news of Col. Baker s death, 
 
 ii, 70, 71. 
 
 Trent affair, ii, 72-75. 
 
 rights of neutrals, ii, 72-75. 
 
 trouble in official family, ii, 76-78. 
 
 appoints Stanton, ii, 78-80. 
 
 first encounter with Stanton, 1865, 
 
 ii, 79. 
 
 defends McClellan, ii, 8r, 83. 
 
 memorandum of military policy, ii, 
 
 83. 
 
 military authority, ii, 84, 85. 
 
 war order, first special, ii, 86. 
 
 bitter private sorrow, ii, 87-89. 
 
 seeks religious help, ii, 89-92. 
 
 receives committees, ii, 93. 
 
 issues war orders, ii, 94. 
 
 denounced, ii, 95. 
 
 plans Compensated Emancipation, 
 
 ii, 96-101. 
 
 revokes Hunter s order, ii, 102. 
 
 offers to resign, ii, 103, 104. 
 
 in the War Department, ii, 105- 
 
 107. 
 
 difficulties with McClellan, ii, 107- 
 
 no, 128-133. 
 
 address to Border State representa 
 
 tives, ii, 111-113. 
 
 seeks a General, ii, 127. 
 
 appoints Halleck, ii, 128. 
 
 appoints Burnside, ii, 133-135. 
 
 appoints Hooker, ii, 135-137. 
 
 reviews army, ii, 137, 138. 
 
 receives war news, ii, 138, 142. 
 
 notices Grant, ii, 143, 144. 
 
 interview with Leonard Swett, ii, 
 
 II3-U5. 
 
 Emancipation Proclamation, ii, 116- 
 
 126. 
 
 appoints Grant Lieutenant-General, 
 
 ii, 145. 
 
 filling the ranks, ii, 146-149. 
 
 personal friend of soldiers, ii, 150- 
 
 157- 
 
 in the hospitals, ii, 159-161. 
 
INDEX 
 
 471 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, sorrow in punish 
 ing deserters, ii, 161-169. 
 
 suspends executions, ii, 164-168. 
 
 in 1863, ii, 170. 
 
 opposed by radicals, ii, 171, 180. 
 
 substantial results of policy, ii, 171. 
 
 conducts Vallandigham case, ii, 
 
 180-186. 
 
 finds out Grant s feelings, ii, 187- 
 
 189, 199, 200. 
 
 ignores Chase s electioneering, ii, 
 
 190. 
 
 renommated, n, 191-194. 
 
 visits Grant, ii, 194. 
 
 calls for more volunteers, ii, 195. 
 
 meets Greeley s criticism, ii, 196- 
 
 198. 
 
 alarmed by discontent, ii, 199. 
 
 duty if defeated, ii, 201, 202. 
 
 reelection, ii, 204. 
 
 reflections on the election, ii, 205- 
 
 207. 
 
 letters to Sherman, ii, 209. 
 
 replies to Jefferson Davis, ii, 210. 
 
 meets Confederate envoys, ii, 211. 
 
 view of Emancipation Proclamation, 
 
 ii, 212-216. 
 
 reconstruction, ii, 217-219. 
 
 a mighty problem, ii, 220, 221. 
 
 explains Emancipation Proclama 
 
 tion, ii, 222. 
 
 second inaugural, ii, 222, 223. 
 
 pardons prisoners of war, 223-225. 
 
 at City Point, ii, 225, 227. 
 
 enters Richmond, 227, 228. 
 
 orders draft suspended, ii, 229. 
 
 change in appearance, ii, 232. 
 
 feelings at the end of the war, ii, 
 
 231. 
 
 the I4th of April, ii, 232-237. 
 
 "the President is shot," ii, 238- 
 
 242. 
 
 death of, ii, 243, 244. 
 
 mourning for, ii, 245-251. 
 
 funeral of, ii, 250-260. 
 
 grave of, ii, 260. 
 
 tributes to, ii, 261. 
 
 the real, ii, 261, 262. 
 
 Lincoln and Herndon, i, 241, 267, 315. 
 Lincoln, Daniel, i, I. 
 Lincoln, Enoch, i, 2. 
 Lincoln family, i, I. 
 Lincoln, George, of Brooklyn, i, 375. 
 Lincoln, Jacob, i, 3. 
 Lincoln, John, called "Virginia John," 
 i, 2. 
 
 Lincoln, Josiah, i, 6. 
 Lincoln and Lamon, i, 251. 
 Lincoln, Levi, i, i. 
 Lincoln, Levi, Jr., i, 2. 
 Lincoln, Mary (Shipley), Mrs., i, 8. 
 Lincoln, Mary Todd, Mrs., family of, 
 i, 172. 
 
 engagement to Lincoln, i, 173. 
 
 engagement broken, i, 174-179, 181, 
 
 184, 185.. 
 
 marries Lincoln, i, 190, 191, 366; 
 
 ii, 37, 231, 236, 237, 252. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, i, 2. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, second, i, 2. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, grandson of John, 
 .i, 5, 6. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, brother of Thomas, 
 j, 8, 232. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, cousin of the Presi 
 dent, i, 232. 
 
 Lincoln, Mordecai, uncle of the Presi 
 dent, i, 232. 
 
 Lincoln, Nancy, called Sarah, i, 14. 
 
 Lincoln, Nancy (Hanks), Mrs., mother 
 of the President, i, 7, 8, 19, 20, 22, 
 27, 35, 220. 
 
 Lincolns of Hingham, i, 366. 
 
 Lincoln, Robert, son of the President, 
 i, 330 ; ii, 233, 242. 
 
 Lincoln, Sally Bush, Mrs., marries 
 Thomas Lincoln, i, 21. 
 
 relation with stepson, i, 32. 
 
 her character of Lincoln, i, 44. 
 
 death, i, 169. 
 
 visited by Lincoln, i, 408. 
 Lincoln, Samuel, of Hingham, i, i, 
 
 217. 
 
 Lincoln, Sarah, sister of the President. 
 (See Grigsby, Sarah [Lincoln], Mrs.) 
 
 Lincoln, Tad (Thomas), son of the 
 President, i, 236 ; ii, 87, 88, 157, 
 252. 
 
 Lincoln, Thomas, i, i. 
 
 Lincoln, Thomas, father of the Presi 
 dent, i, 6. 
 
 marriage with Nancy Hanks, i, 7, 
 
 8-10. 
 
 position in Hardin Co., i, 13. 
 
 birth of son Abraham, i, 14. 
 
 emigrates to Indiana, i, 18. 
 
 marries Mrs. Sally Bush Johnston, 
 
 i, 21, 25, 35. 
 
 leaves Indiana for Illinois, i, 45, 47, 
 
 65- 
 
 poor livelihood, i, 147, 220. 
 
 illness, i, 238. 
 
472 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Lincoln, Willie, son of the President, 
 
 ii, 87. 
 
 death of, ii, 89, 253. 
 Linder, Gen., " Reminiscences" of, 
 
 i, i, 40, 136, 254. 
 Logan, John, Judge, i, 91, 133, 252, 
 
 274, 337, 345, 354- 
 Logan, Stephen T., i, 89, 113. 
 Longfellow, Henry W., i, 224. 
 "Long Nine," the, i, 130, 153. 
 " Lost Speech," i, 296. 
 Lott, Elijah, i, 189. 
 Louisiana Purchase, i, 279. 
 Lovejoy, Elijah, anti-slavery editor, i, 
 
 143, 221. 
 
 Lovejoy, Owen, i, 322 ; ii, in. 
 Lowell, James Russell, ii, 65, 224, 231. 
 Lundy, Benjamin, editor of the 
 
 "Genius," i, 35. 
 Lutes, William, i, 25. 
 Lyon, Gen., ii, 63. 
 Lynching prevented, ii, 247, 248. 
 
 M 
 
 Manny, John T. (See McCormick 
 
 case.) 
 
 Marshall, Humphrey, ii, 22. 
 Mason and Slidell, capture of, ii, 72, 
 
 73- 
 
 surrender of, ii, 74. 
 McClellan, George B., Gen., story cur 
 rent of, i, 259. 
 
 takes command of army, ii, 59. 
 
 preparing for the field, ii, 69, 70, 
 
 71, 80-85. 
 
 campaign of 1862, ii, 107-110, 120. 
 
 failure, ii, 127-133. 
 
 removed, ii, 133, 161, 202, 204. 
 " McClellan s Own Story," i, 260. 
 McClure, A. K., Col., i, 349, 398 ; ii, 
 
 140, 141. 
 McClernand, John A., i, 133, 274, 349 ; 
 
 ", 139- 
 
 McCormick, Andrew, i, 130. 
 
 McCormick case, i, 260-266, 278. 
 
 McCormick, Cyrus H. (See McCor 
 mick case.) 
 
 Mcllvaine, A. R., i, 208. 
 
 McDowell, Gen., ii, 56, 108. 
 
 McKenny, T. I., Gen., ii, 66. 
 
 McLean, of Pennsylvania, i, 347, 352, 
 
 354- 
 McNeill, John, i, 117-119. 
 
 McPherson, H, 170. 
 
 McRae, of North Carolina, i, 382. 
 
 Meade, Gen., ii, 140-142, 165, 166, 
 
 168. 
 Medill, Joseph A., Hon., i, 295, 316, 
 
 322. 
 
 "Reminiscences," 17339, 347, 349- 
 
 takes message to President, ii, 148, 
 149. 
 
 Merryman, E. H., i, 186, 187-189. 
 
 Militia, call for, ii, 34. 
 
 Mexican War, i, 212-215, 219, 291, 
 
 320. 
 Missouri Compromise, i, 35, 257, 279- 
 
 299. 
 
 Mill, John Stuart, ii, 75. 
 Morgan, E. D., Gov., i, 292. 
 Morris, i, 204. 
 Morrison, Don, i, 229, 231. 
 Morton, Oliver P., i, 292. 
 Moultrie, Fort, ii, 14, 15. 
 
 N 
 
 Neapope, i, 74. 
 
 New Salem, map of, i, 9. 
 
 New Salem, scene of Lincoln s mer 
 cantile career, i, 59, 60. 
 
 Nicolay, Jno. G., i, 176; ii, i, 37. 
 
 Nicolay and Hay, " Abraham Lincoln, 
 A History," i, 225, 390, 392, 393, 
 410 ; ii, ii, 31, 84, 85, 116, 142, 177. 
 
 Norton, Charles, ii, 231. 
 
 Norton, Miss, ii, 65. 
 
 New York City, in mourning, ii, 270, 
 
 meeting at Custom House, ii, 249. 
 
 Lincoln s funeral in, ii, 255-257. 
 
 Ode for the Burial of Abraham Lin 
 coln, ii, 257. 
 
 Officee, H. H., ii, 151. 
 
 Office seekers, ii, 23-25. 
 
 Offut, Denton, i, 51, 59-65, 72. 
 
 Oglesby, Richard J., i, 290, 322, 340, 
 345 ; ii, 235. 
 
 Oldroyd, O. F., i, 345. 
 
 Onstott, Henry, i, no. 
 
 Order, first special war, ii, 86. 
 
 Ordinance of 1787, i, 33, 34, 278. 
 
 Osborne, Charles, i, 35. 
 
 Owens, Mary, i., 133, 149-152, 173- 
 
INDEX 
 
 473 
 
 P Richmond, condition of, ii, 228. 
 
 Riney, Zachariah, i, 16. 
 
 Palfrey, i, 224. " River Queen," steamer, ii, 211. 
 
 Palmer, John M., i, 292, 322, 337, Robbins, Z. S., ii, 123. 
 
 340, 345, 350, 357. Rodney, Miss., i, igi. 
 
 Pardons, ii, 223. Rock Island Bridge case, i, 275-278. 
 
 Parrott, John H., i, 10. Roll, John, Mr., i, 53. 
 
 Parker, Theodore, i, 303, 304. Rosecrans, W. S., Gen., ii, 135, 171, 
 
 Patterson, Gen., ii, 58. 172. 
 
 Peck, Ebenezer, i, 126, 159. Rosewater, Mr., ii, 134. 
 
 Perry, of South Carolina, i, 382. Ross, Thomas, i, 411. 
 
 Petersburg, 111., laid out by Lincoln, Ruggles, J. M., Hon., i, 132, 195. 
 
 i, 101. Russell, W. H., ii, 17. 
 
 Pettis, S. Newton, Judge, i, 352, 354. Rutledge, Ann, i, 9, 116-120, 121. 
 Phillips, Wendell, i, 224, 304. 
 Piatt, i, 374. 
 
 Pierce, Franklin W., i, 306. 
 Pickett, Thomas J., i, 289. 
 Pinkerton, Allan, i, 418. 
 
 Pitcher, John, Judge, i, 34. Sangamon, navigation of, i, 68. 
 
 Plot in Baltimore, i, 419. " San Jacinto," warship, ii, 72. 
 
 Pollock, James, i, 208. Schneider, George, i, 290, 340. 
 
 Pomeroy, Senator, ii, 190, 191. Schofield, Gen., ii, 173, 179. 
 
 Pope, John, Gen., ii, 128-130. School, Old Carter, i, 199. 
 
 Poore, Ben: Perley, i, 211 ; ii, 47. Scott, Dred, i, 302, 303, 307. 
 
 Potts, Mr., ii, 152. Scott, Gen., i, 82, 90, 396, 408, 419, 
 
 Porter, Admiral, ii, 226, 228. 420 ; ii, 3, 4, 16, 17-19, 30, 39, 54, 
 
 Preetorius, Emil, Dr., ii, 61, 173. 56, 81, 127, 128, 256. 
 
 Prescott, C. J., i, 397. Scott, Judge, i, 166-168, 253, 254, 293. 
 
 Press, i, 365, 366. Schurz, Carl, i, 349, 359, 369, 380, 
 
 Prickett, Josephine Gillespie, Mrs. 399 ; ii, 98-100. 
 
 i, 405. Scripps, John L., i, 29, 322. 
 
 Proclamation, Emancipation, ii, 116- Seamon, John, i, 53, 54. 
 
 126, 163, 171, 212. Secession, question of, ii, 8. 
 
 Selby, Paul, i, 284, 289, 290, 292. 
 Seward, Frederick, i, 419, 420; ii, 74, 
 
 R 125. 
 
 stabbed, ii, 242. 
 
 Radford, Reuben, i, 91, 92. Seward, Wm. H., Secretary, i, 224, 
 
 Radicals, Missouri, ii, 172. 303, 304, 335, 339, 343, 344, 350, 
 
 Rails, i, 49, 98, 99, 366. 352-355, 357, 3^9, 37, 374, 380, 
 
 Ralston, Virgil Y., i, 289. 381, 392, 399, 400, 402, 407, 420, 
 
 Randall, Gov., ii, 42. 424-426; ii, i, 6, 9, ii, 19, 22, 31. 
 
 Rathbone, H. R., Major, 11,236, 237. ambition, ii, 26-28. 
 
 with Lincoln s assassin, ii, 239, 240. some thoughts for the President s 
 
 Ray, Charles H., i, 290. consideration, ii, 29, 30. 
 
 Raymond, editor, i, 370 ; ii, 202. begins to understand Lincoln, ii, 
 
 Reconstruction, ii, 217, 234, 252. 32, 56, 74, 76, 97, 99, 113, 125, 
 
 Reeder, Andrew H., i, 349. 189, 210, 211-. 
 
 Republican party in Illinois, formation stabbed, ii, 242. 
 
 of, i, 289. Seward, Mrs., ii, 28, 32. 
 
 Resources, national, ii, 206-208. Shaw, B. F., i, 290. 
 
 Reynolds, i, 21, 75, 79, 80. Sherman, Gen., ii, 49, 51, 60, I7O, 
 
 Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 198, 202, 208, 226, 233. 
 
 i, 279. Shields, James, i, 22, 159, 172. 
 
 Richardson, Col., ii, 68. encounter with Lincoln, i, 184-190. 
 
474 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Shipley, Lucy. (See Berry, Lucy [Ship- 
 
 ley], Mrs.) 
 Shipley, Mary. (See Lincoln, Mary 
 
 [Shipley], Mrs.) 
 tiiple\ 
 
 Shipley, Nancy. (See Hanks, Nancy 
 
 [Shipley], Mrs.) 
 Shipley, Rachel, Mrs., i, 8. 
 Shipley, Robert, i, 8. 
 Short, James, i, 105, 106. 
 Simpson, Bishop, ii, 252. 
 
 President s funeral oration, ii, 260. 
 "Silver Grays," ii, 39. 
 
 Simmons, Pollard, i, gg. 
 
 Sixth Massachusetts, attacked by mob 
 
 in Baltimore, ii, 37, 38. 
 Slavery prohibited, ii, 215. 
 Small, Col., ii, 43. 
 Smith, Caleb B., Secretary, i, 354, 
 
 402, 424, 425 ; ii, ig. 
 Smith, Leslie, i, 166. 
 Southern Confederacy, founding of the, 
 
 i, 388 ; ii, 95, 104. 
 South, threats of, i, 379-387. 
 Speech, Lost, i, 2g6-2gg. 
 Speed, Joshua, i, 128, I2g, 147, 174, 
 
 175, I7g, 181-183, igo, 22g ; ii, g7. 
 Spot Resolutions, i, 212-214. 
 Spriggs, Mrs., i, 208, 223. 
 Springfield, condition of, i, 148. 
 
 mass meeting in, i, 372. 
 
 election in, i, 384. 
 
 President s body brought back to, 
 ii, 260. 
 
 Stanton, Edwin M., Secretary, in con 
 nection with McCormick case, i, 260- 
 266. 
 
 appointment of, ii, 7g-8i, 106, 107, 
 
 130, 134, 148, 163. 
 
 impressions of Lincoln, ii, 234, 243, 
 
 244, 257. 
 
 Star of the West, ii, 15. 
 Stedman, E. C., i, 371. 
 Stevens, Thaddeus, i, 34g, 353, 36g. 
 Stillman, Major, i, 78, 7g. 
 Stone, Daniel, i, 130. 
 Stone, Gen., i, 4ig, 420; ii, 71. 
 Strohn, John, i, 208. 
 Stuart and Lincoln, i, 158. 
 Stuart, John, Mrs., statement of, 1,177. 
 Stuart, John T., Major, i, go ; log, 
 
 122, 158, 159, 181. 
 Sturgis, Gen., ii, 68. 
 Sumner, Charles, Secretary, i, 224, 301, 
 
 303, 304, 3~6g. 
 
 belief in Lincoln, ii, 73, g7, 171, 
 
 229, 232. 
 
 Sunderland, Byron, ii, 123. 
 
 Swan, A. W., ii, 151. 
 
 Sweeny, William, i, 3g8. 
 
 Swett, Leonard, i, 337, 344, 345, 347, 
 
 350, 353, 354, 357, 381 ; ii, 66, 113, 
 
 115, 116, 178, 200-203. 
 
 Taney, Chief Justice, i, 306 ; ii, 12. 
 
 "Talisman," steamer, i, 70, 72. 
 
 Taylor, Bayard, ii, 3g. 
 
 Taylor, Dick, Col., i, 157. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, Gen., i, 7g, 81, 82, 
 
 go, 2og, 218, 229 ; ii, 13. 
 Texas, annexation of, i, 200. 
 Texas, conflict in, ii, 20, 21. 
 Thayer, Eli, i, 392. 
 Thomas, William, i, 159. 
 Thornton, H. W., Hon., i, 179, 180. 
 Tilton, Theodore, ii, 230. 
 Todd, Robert S., i, 172. 
 Tompkins, Patrick, i, 208. 
 Toombs, i, 216. 
 Tracts, campaign, i, 369, 370. 
 Trent, Alexander, i, 104. 
 Trent, William, i, 104. 
 Trent, packet ship, ii, 72, 76. 
 Troops, call for, ii, 42, no, 146, 195, 
 Troops, federal, ii, 53. 
 Troops, review of, ii, 137, 138. 
 Trumbull, Lyman, Judge, i, 322. 
 Tuck, Amos, i, 359, 402. 
 Turnham, David, Mr., i, 133. 
 Twiggs, Gen., ii, 121. 
 
 U 
 
 Usher, Secretary, ii, 244. 
 Usrey, W. J., i, 290. 
 
 Van Bergen, Mr., i, 105. 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, i, 197, 218. 
 
 Vallandigham case, ii, 180-186, 203. 
 
 Vanuxem and Potter, i, 250. 
 
 " Virginia John." (See Lincoln, John.) 
 
 Virginia, secession of, ii, 36. 
 
 Voorhees, ii, 203. 
 
 W 
 
 Wade, of Ohio, i, 347. 
 Wallace, Mrs., i, 178, 179, 
 
INDEX 
 
 475 
 
 War, brutality of, ii, 195. 
 
 early days of, ii, 158. 
 
 end of, ii, 230. 
 
 War of 1812, soldiers of, ii, 39. 
 
 War records, ii, 43. 
 
 Ward, Artemus, ii, 120. 
 
 War orders, general, ii, 94. 
 
 Washburn, i, 209, 210. 
 
 Washburne, E. B., Hon. i, 315, 364, 
 
 372, 392, 396, 423 ; ii, 203. 
 Washington, D. C., in 1848, i, 207-211. 
 
 slave market in, i, 228. 
 
 alarming condition of, ii, 3639. 
 
 arrival of troops, ii, 40. 
 
 a hospital, ii, 157, 158. 
 Watkins, Thomas, i, 101, 104. 
 Watson, P. H. (See McCormick case.) 
 Webster, Daniel, i, 166, 207 ; ii, 43. 
 Webster, Fletcher, i, 166. 
 
 Weed, Thurlow, i, 225, 349, 355, 378, 
 381, 392, 395, 398, 399, 402; ii, 25, 
 
 21. 
 
 Weik, Jesse, i, 30. 
 Weir, Mr., i, 130. 
 Weldon, Lawrence, Judge, i, 247 ; ii, 
 
 237, 239. 
 Welles, Gideon, Secretary, i, 349, 359, 
 
 403, 424; ii, 27, 113. 
 Wentworth, "Long John," i, 336., 
 Wharton, O. P., i, 290. 
 White Cloud, i, 74. 
 
 White, Horace, i, 349. 
 
 White House, arrangement of, ii, 46. 
 
 Whitesides, Gen., i, 186, 187. 
 
 Whitney, H. C., i, 239, 242. 
 
 reports Lincoln s lost speech, i, 296- 
 299. 
 
 Whiting, Maj.- Gen., ii, 184. 
 
 Whitney, Walter, i, 412. 
 
 Whittier, John G., i, 224, 370. 
 
 Wide Awakes. (See campaign 1860.) 
 
 Wigwam. (See Chicago convention.) 
 
 Wilkes, Capt., ii, 72, 74. 
 
 Wilson, R. L., i, 130. 
 
 Wilson, Henry, ii, 171. 
 
 Wilson, William B., ii, 48. 
 
 Willard, Henry, i, 349. 
 
 Willis, N. P., impression of the Presi 
 dent, ii, 51. 
 
 Wilmot, David, i, 292, 349, 398. 
 
 Wilmot proviso, i, 222. 
 
 Winters, Wm. Hoffman, librarian, i, 33, 
 
 Winthrop, Robert C., i, 207, 212. 
 
 Wood, Fernando, i, 396. 
 
 Wright, Dr. J. J., i, 17. 
 
 Wright, of Mobile, i, 373. 
 
 Yates, Richard, i, 280. 
 Yaneey, William L., i, 379. 
 
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