278
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Joel Parker.
[Telegram.']
Executive Mansion, June 30,
i
Governor Parker, Trenton, N.
J.
Your despatch of yesterday received.
I really
think the attitude of the enemy's army in Penn-
sylvania
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 involvements of replacing General McClellan
in command, and
this
aside from any
imputa-
tions upon him.
Please accept my sincere thanks
for what you have done and
are doing
to
get
troops forward.
A.
Lincoln.
Alexander" Kelly McClure.^
[Telegram.l
War Department, 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.
S.
P. Lee.
When
the
Confederate
Government
realized
that
Vicksburg was
doomed, Vice-President Stephens went
on
a
steamer
to
Fort
Monroe
bearing
proposals
of
peace
from
Jefferson
Davis,
" Commander-in-chief
of
the land and
naval
forces
of
the
Confederate
States,"
^ Sent
in
reply
to
a
letter urging
the
reinstatement
of
McClellan after Hooker's resignation.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
279
to Abraham
Lincoln, "Commander-in-chief of
the land
and
naval
forces
of
the
United
States."
On
July
4,
after
the
victories
at
Gettysburg
and
Vicksburg,
the
President
instructed
Admiral
Lee
at
Fort Monroe
to
refuse the request of Mr. Stephens to proceed to Wash-
ington
with
the
letter,
saying:
[Telegram.']
The
ctistomary agents and channels
are ade-
quate for
all needful communication and confer-
ence between the United
States
forces and
the
insurgents.
A.
Lincoln.
George G. Meade.
On June 23,
1863, General Meade w^as placed in com-
mand of the Army of the Potomac.
[Telegram.]
Washington, D.
C., July
7, 1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac.
I have received from the President the follow-
ing note, which
I
respectftilly communicate
:
Major-General
Halleck.
We have
certain information
that Vicksburg surren-
dered
to General Grant on
the Fourth
of
July,
Now,
if General Meade can complete
his work
so
gloriously
prosecuted
thus
far,
by
the
literal
or
substantial
de-
struction
of
Lee's
army,
the
rebellion
will
be
over.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
H. W. Halleck, General-in-chief.
[Telegram.]
Washington, D.
C., July 8, 1863.
Major-General Meade,
Frederick,
Maryland.
There is reliable information that the enemy
crossing
at
Williamsport.
The
opportunity
2 8o
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
attack his divided forces should not be lost.
The
President
is urgent and anxious that your army
should move against him by forced marches.
H. W. Halleck, General-in-chief.
[Private.]
Executive Mansion, July 2y,
1863.
Major-General Meade.
I have not thrown General Hooker away
; and
therefore I would like to know whether
it would
be
agreeable
to
you,
all
things
considered,
for
him to take a corps under you,
if he himself
is
willing to do
so.
Write me
in perfect freedom,
with the assurance that
I will not subject you to
any embarrassment by making your
letter or
its
contents known to any one.
I wish to know your
wishes before I decide whether to break the sub-
ject to him.
Do not lean a hair's breath against
your own feelings, or your judgment of the pub-
lic service, on the idea of gratifying me.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Alansion, August
11, 1863.
My dear General Meade.
Yesterday
week
I
made known
to
General
Hooker our
brief
correspondence
in
regard
to
him.
He seemed
gratified with
the kind
spirit
manifested by both of us
; but said he was busy
preparing a report and would consider.
Yesterday he called again, and said he would
accept the
offer
if
it was
still open
; would go
at once
if you desire, but would prefer waiting
till the
ist of September, unless there was to be
a
battle, or you
desire him
to come
sooner.
I
told him I would write you.
Please answer.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
281
War Department, October
8,
1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac.
I am appealed to in behalf of August Blitters-
dorf,
at
Alitchell'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 an-
swer.
His regiment or company not given me.
A. Lincoln.
In
March,
1864,
charges were made
against General
Meade by
the Nczv York Herald which caused him to
ask
for
a court of
inquiry.
To
this
request the
Presi-
dent
replied on March
29,
1864
:
It
is quite natural that you should
feel some
sensibility on the subject
; yet I am not impressed,
nor do
I
think
the country
is
impressed,
with
the belief that your honor demands, or the public
interest demands, such an inquiry.
The country
knows
that
at
all
events you
have
done good
service
; and
I believe
it agrees with me that
it
is much better
for you to be engaged
in trying
to do more, than
to be diverted,
as you
neces-
sarily would be, by a court of inquiry.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Lorenzo Thomas.
[Telegram.']
War Department, July 8, 1863.
12.30 p. m.
General Lorenzo Thomas, Harrisburg, Pennsyl-
vania.
Your despatch of this morning to the Secretary
of War
is before me.
The forces you speak of
will be of no imaginable
service
if they cannot
go forward with a
little more expedition.
Lee is
282
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
now passing the Potomac faster than the forces
you mention
are
passing
CarHsle.
Forces now
beyond
Carhsle
to be
joined by
regiments
still
at Harrisburg, and the united force again to join
Pierce somewhere, and the whole to move down
the Cumberland
Valley,
will,
in my
unprofes-
sional opinion, be quite as
likely to capture the
*'man in the moon" as any part of Lee's army.
A. Lincoln.
War Department, February 28,
1864.
General L. Thomas,
Louisville, Kentucky.
I see your despatch of yesterday to the Secre-
tary of War.
I wish you would go to the Mississippi River
at once, and take hold of and be master
in the
contraband
and
leasing
business.
You
under-
stand
it
better than any other man
does.
Mr.
Miller's
system
doubtless
is
well
intended,
but
from what
I hear
I
fear that,
if persisted
in,
it
would fall dead within its own entangling details.
Go there and be the judge.
A Mr. Lewis
will
probably
follow you
with
something from me
on this subject, but do not wait for him.
Nor is
this to induce you to violate or neglect any mili-
tary
order from
the
general-in-chief
or
Secre-
tary of War.
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, March
i, 1864.
General L. Thomas.
This introduces Mr. Lewis, mentioned
in my
despatch
sent you
at Louisville some days ago.
I have but little personal acquaintance with him
;
but he has
the
confidence
of
several members
of Congress here who seem
to know him
well.
He hopes
to be
useful,
without
charge
to
the
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
283
Government,
in
facilitating
the
introduction
of
the
free-labor system on the Mississippi planta-
tions.
He
is acquainted with, and has access to,
many of the planters who wish to adopt the sys-
tem.
He
will show you two letters of mine on
this subject, one somewhat general, and the other
relating
to named
persons.
They
are
not
dif-
ferent in principle.
He will also show you some
suggestions coming from some
of
the
planters
themselves.
I desire that
all
I promise
in these
letters, so far as practicable, may be in good faith
carried out, and that suggestions from the plant-
ers may be heard and adopted,
so
far
as
they
may
not
contravene
the
principles
stated,
nor
justice, nor fairness, to laborers.
I do not herein
intend
to
overrule your own mature judgment
on any point.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, June
13,
1864.
Major-General Thomas,
Louisville, Kentucky.
Complaint
is made to me that
in the
vicinity
of Henderson, our militia are seizing negroes and
carrying them off without their own consent, and
according to no rules whatever, except those of
absolute
violence.
I wish you would
look
into
this and
inform me, and
see
that
the making
soldiers of negroes
is done according to the rules
you are acting upon, so that unnecessary provo-
cation and irritation be avoided.
A. Lincoln.
Thomas Carney.
Governor Carney and General James G.
Blunt had a
controversy over military authority
in Kansas, in which
the
President
supported
the
Governor.
On
July
21,
1863, he wrote him a
letter which ended as follows
:
284
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
It
is my purpose to take care that he
[Bliint'\
shall
not any more
take
persons
charged
with
civil crimes out of the custody of the courts, and
turn them over to mobs to be hanged.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
{Indorsement
of Letter Dated May
13,
1864.]
The v^ithin letter
is, to my mind, so obviously
intended
as
a page
for a
political record, as
to
be
difficult to answer in a straightforward, busi-
nesslike way.
The merits of the Kansas people
need not to be argued to me.
They are just as
good as any other loyal and patriotic people, and
as such, to the best of my ability
I have always
treated
them,
and
intend
to
treat them.
It
is
not my
recollection
that
I
said
to you
Senator
Lane would
probably
oppose
raising
troops
in
Kansas because
it would confer patronage upon
you.
What
I did say was, that he would prob-
ably
oppose
it
because
he and you were
in a
mood
of
each
opposing
whatever
the
other
should propose.
I did argue generally, too, that
in my
opinion
there
is
not
a more
foolish
or
demoralizing
way
of
conducting
a
political
rivalry than these
fierce and bitter struggles for
patronage.
As
to your demand
that
I
will accept or
re-
ject your 'proposition to furnish troops, made to
me yesterday,
I have to say
I took the proposi-
tion under advisement, in good faith, as
I believe
you know
; that you can withdraw
it if you wish
;
but while
it remains before me,
I
shall
neither
accept nor
reject
it
until, with
reference to the
public interest,
I shall feel that I am ready.
Yours truly,
A.
Lincoln.
May
14, 1864.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
285
Oliver O. Howard.
Executive Mansion, July 21,
1863.
My dear General Howard:
Your
letter
of
the
i8th
is
received.
I
was
deeply mortified by the escape of Lee across the
Potomac, because
the
substantial
destruction of
his army would have ended the war, and because
I believed such destruction was perfectly easy
believed that General Meade and his noble army
had expended
all
the
skill, and
toil, and
blood,
up to the ripe harvest, and then
let the crop go
to waste.
Perhaps my
mortification was heightened be-
cause
I had always believed—making my belief
a hobby, possibly—that the main rebel army go-
ing north of the Potomac could never return,
if
well attended to; and because
I was
so greatly
flattered
in this belief by the operations
at Get-
tysburg.
A few days having passed,
I am now
profoundly grateful for what was done, without
criticism for what was not done.
General Meade has my confidence, as a brave
and
skilful
officer and a true man.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Montgomery Blair.^
* Montgomery
Blair, of Maryland,
Lincoln's Postmaster-
General, was a son
of
Francis
P.
Blair,
Sr.
He was
re-
moved by President Buchanan in 1855 from his position of
U.
S.
solicitor in the Court of Claims because
of his oppo-
sition
to the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise.
In
1857
he acted as counsel for the plaintiff in the Dred Scott case.
He stood almost alone in the Cabinet in opposing the
sur-
render of Fort Sumter.
2S6
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Executive Mansion, July 24,
1863.
Hon. Postmaster-General.
Sir
:
Yesterday
little
indorsements
of
mine
went
to
you
in
two
cases
of
postmasterships
sought
for widows whose husbands have
fallen
in the battles of this war.
These cases occurring
on the same day brought me to
reflect more at-
tentively than
I had before done,
as to what
is
fairly
due
from
us
here
in
the
dispensing
of
patronage toward the men who, by fighting our
battles,
bear
the
chief
burden
of
saving
our
country.
My
conclusion
is
that,
other
claims
and
qualifications
being
equal,
they
have
the
better
right
; and
this
is
especially applicable to
the
disabled
soldier
and
the
deceased
soldier's
family.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, November 2, 1863.
Hon. Montgomery
Blair.
My
dear
Sir:
Some
days ago
I
understood
you
to
say
that
your
brother,
General
Frank
Blair,
desires to be guided by my wishes
as to
whether he
will occupy his
seat
in Congress or
remain
in
the
field.
My
wish,
then,
is
com-
pounded of what
I
believe
will be best
for the
country and best for him, and
it
is that he will
come
here,
put
his
military commission
in my
hands,
take
his
seat, go
into
caucus
with
our
friends,
abide
the
nominations,
help
elect
the
nominees, and thus
aid to organize a House of
Representatives
which
will
really
support
the
Government
in
the war.
li the
result
shall be
the election of himself as Speaker,
let him serve
in
that position
;
if not,
let him retake his com-
mission and return to the army.
For the coun-
trv
this
will heal
a dangerous schism;
for him
I
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
287
it
will
relieve
from
a
dans^^erous
position.
By
a misunderstanding,
as
I
think, he
is
in danger
of being permanently separated from those with
whom
only he
can
ever have
a
real sympathy
—the
sincere opponents
of
slavery.
It
will be
a
mistake
if
he
shall
allow
the
provocations
offered him by
insincere
time-servers
to
drive
him out of the house of his own building.
He
is
young
yet.
He
has
abundant
talent—quite
enough to occupy
all
his time without devoting
any
to
temper.
He
is
rising
in
military
skill
and
usefulness.
His
recent appointment
to
the
command
of
a
corps by
one
so
competent
to
judge as General Sherman proves
this.
In that
line he can serve both
the country and himself
more
profitably than he
could
as
a member of
Congress on the
floor.
The foregoing
is what I
would
say
if Frank
Blair were my brother
in-
stead of yours.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
General Frank
Blair followed
this advice
to
the
let-
ter.
Failing
to
be
elected
Speaker,
he
reentered
the
army,
and
won
fame
for
himself
under
Sherman.
After
the war he joined
the Democratic
party, becom-
ing
its candidate
for Vice-President in
1868.
This
let-
ter of Lincoln's was published some time after
its date,
and
gave
great
offense
to
the
enemies
of
the
Blairs.
Montgomery
Blair
was
very
irascible
and
indiscreet,
and these enemies soon found
sufficient reasons to urge
Lincoln to remove him.
This Lincoln did in the follow-
ing kindly manner
:
Executive Mansion, September 23, 1864.
Hon. Montgomery
Blair.
My
dear
Sir: You
have
generously
said
to
me more than once that whenever your resigna-
tion could be
a
relief
to me
it was
at my
dis-
posal.
The time has come.
You very well know
288
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
that
this
proceeds
from
no
dissatisfaction
of
mine
with
you
personally
or
officially.
Your
uniform kindness has been unsurpassed by
that
of any friend; and while
it
is true that the war
does not so greatly add to the difficulties of your
department as to those of some others,
it
is yet
much
to
say,
as
I most
truly
can,
that
in
the
three years and
a
half during which you have
administered the general
post-office,
I remember
no
single
complaint
against
you
in
connection
therewith.
Yours,
A. Lincoln.
Francis P. Blair,
Sr.
Executive Mansion, Julv
30,
1863.
Hon. F.
P.
Blair.
My dear Sir: Yours of to-day, with inclosure,
is
received.
Yesterday
I commenced trying
to
get up an expedition for Texas.
I
shall do the best
I
can.
Meantime
I would
like
to know who
is the
great man Alexander,
that
talks so oracularly about
"if the
President
keeps his word" and Banks not having ''capacity
to
run an omnibus on Broadway"?
How has
this
Alexander's
immense
light
been
obscured
hitherto?
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Mr.
Blair
conceived
the
idea
that,
through
his
per-
sonal
acquaintance
with many
Confederate
leaders,
he
might be able
to
effect a peace.
Without
telling Presi-
dent Lincoln of his
intention, he asked him for a pass.
[Pass.]
Allow the bearer, F. P.
Blair,
Sr., to pass our
lines, go South, and return.
A. Lincoln.
December 28, 1864.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
289
Mr. Blair had several interviews with Jefferson Davis
and members
of
his
Cabinet, which
led
to an
abortive
peace
conference
on
February
3,
1865.
Washington, January
18,
1865.
F.
P.
Blair, Esq.
Sir: You having shown me Mr.
[Jefferson]
Davis's
letter
to you
of
the
12th
instant, you
may say to him that
I have constantly been, am
now, and
shall
continue,
ready
to
receive any
agent whom he
or any other
influential
person
now
resisting the national authority may
infor-
mally
send
to me
with
the
view
of
securing
peace to the people of our one common country.
Yours,
etc.,
A. Lincoln.
[Indorsement.']
January 28,
1865.
To-day Mr.
Blair
tells me
that on
the
21st
instant he
delivered
to
Mr.
Davis
the
original
of which the within
is a copy, and
left
it with
him; that at the time of delivering
it Mr. Davis
read
it over twice in Mr. Blair's presence, at the
close
of which
he
(Mr.
Blair)
remarked
that
the
part about
''our one common
country"
re-
lated to the part of Mr. Davis's letter about ''the
two countries," to which Mr. Davis replied that
he so understood
it.
A. Lincoln.
MOULTON.
Executive Mansion, July 31, 1863.
My dear
Sir: There has been a good
deal of
complaint against you by your
superior
officers
of
the
Provost-Marshal-General's
Department,
and your removal
has been
strongly urged on
290
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
the ground of
''persistent disobedience of orders
and
neglect
of
duty."
Firmly
convinced,
as
I
am, of the patriotism of your motives,
I am un-
willing to do anything in your case v^hich may
seem unnecessarily harsh or at variance with the
feelings
of
personal
respect
and
esteem
with
which
I have always regarded you.
I consider
your
services
in
your
district
valuable,
and
should be sorry to lose them.
It
is unnecessary
for me to
state, however, that when differences
of opinion arise between officers of the Govern-
ment, the ranking officer must be obeyed.
You,
of course, recognize as clearly as I do the impor-
tance of this
rule.
I hope you will conclude to
go on in your present position under the regula-
tions
of
the
department.
I
wish
you
would
write
to me.
I am very truly your friend and
obedient servant,
A.
Lincoln.
Stephen A. Hurlbut.
Executive Mansion, July 31, 1863.
My dear General Hurlbut.
The
emancipation
proclamation
applies
to
Arkansas.^
I think
it
is
valid
in law, and will
be so held by the courts.
I think
I shall not re-
tract or repudiate it.
Those who shall have tasted
actual freedom
I
believe can never be
slaves or
quasi-slaves again.
For the
rest,
I believe some
plan
substantially
being
gradual
emancipation
would be better for both white and black.
The
Missouri plan, recently adopted,
I do not object
to on account of the time for ending the institu-
tion
; ^ but
I am sorry the beginning should have
^ General Hurlbut was in command in this
State.
^ Missouri had decided that
all slaves in the State should
become
free
in
1870.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
291
been postponed for seven years, leaving
all that
time to agitate for the repeal of the whole thing.
It should begin at once, giving at least the new-
born
a
vested
interest
in
freedom which
could
not be taken away.
If Senator Sebastian could
come with something of
this
sort from Arkan-
sas,
I,
at
least, should take great interest
in his
case
; and
I believe a single individual will have
scarcely done the world so great a service.
See
him,
if you can, and read this to him
; but charge
him to not make
it public for the present.
Write
me again.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, May 2, 1864.
Major-General Hurlbut.
My
dear
Sir:
General
Farnsworth
has
just
been reading
to me from your
letter to him of
the 26th ultimo.
I snatch a moment to say that
my friendship and confidence for you remain un-
abated,
but
that
Generals
Grant
and Thomas
cannot
be
held
to
their
just
responsibilities
if
they
are not allowed
to
control
in the
class
of
cases to Vv^hich yours belongs.
From
one
standpoint
a
court
of
inquiry
is
most just, but
if your case were my own I would
not allow Generals Grant and Sherman
[fo]
be
diverted by
it just now.
Yours
truly,
A. Lincoln.
[Private.']
Executive Mansion, November
14, 1864.
Major-General Hurlbut.
Few things
since
I have been here have im-
pressed me more
painfully than what,
for four
or
five months
past, has appeared a
bitter mili-
292
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
tary opposition to the new
State government of
Louisiana.
I
still indulged some hope that
I was
mistaken in the fact
; but copies of a correspond-
ence on the subject between General Canby and
yourself, and shown me to-day, dispel that hope.
A very
fair proportion of the people of Louisi-
ana have inaugurated a new
State government,
making an excellent new constitution—better for
the
poor
black man
than we
have
in
Illinois.
This
was
done
under
military
protection,
di-
rected by me,
in the belief,
still
sincerely enter-
tained, 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,
applicable
alike
to
Louisiana and
other
States, was given
in the
last annual message.
During the forma-
tion
of
the
new
government
and
constitution
they were supported by nearly every
loyal per-
son, and opposed by every secessionist.
And this
support and this
opposition, from the respective
standpoints of the
parties, was perfectly consis-
tent and
logical.
Every Unionist ought to wish
the new government to succeed
; and every
dis-
tmionist 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.
Of course,
in the condition of things
at New
Orleans,
the
military must
not be thwarted by
the
civil authority
; but when
the
Constitutional
Convention, for what
it deems a breach of privi-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
293
lege, arrests an editor
in no way connected with
the mihtary,
the mihtary necessity
for insiUting
the convention and
forcibly discharging the edi-
tor,
is
difficult to perceive.
Neither
is the mili-
tary
necessity
for
protecting the people against
paying
large
salaries
fixed by
a
legislature
of
their own choosing very apparent.
Equally
dif-
ficult
to
perceive
is
the
military
necessity
for
forcibly interposing to prevent a bank from loan-
ing
its own money to
the
State.
These things,
if they have occurred, are, at the best, no better
than
gratuitous
hostility.
I
wish
I
could hope
that
they may be shown
to not have
occurred.
To make assurance against misunderstanding,
I
repeat that in the existing condition of things in
Louisiana, the military must not be thwarted by
the
civil authority; and
I add that on points of
difference
the
commanding
general
must
be
judge and
master.
But
I
also add
that
in the
exercise
of
this judgment and
control,
a
pur-
pose,
obvious
and
scarcely unavowed,
to
tran-
scend
all
military
necessity,
in
order
to
crush
out the
civil government, will not be overlooked.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
J.
G. Foster.
Executive Mansion, August 8, 1863.
General Foster.
This will be handed you by Governor Pierpont
of Virginia.
He goes, among other things, seeking to adjust
a difficulty at Norfolk and Portsmouth.
It seems
there
is
a
large number
of
families
in
Ports-
mouth who are destitute and whose natural sup-
porters are in the rebel army or have been killed
294
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
in
It.
These
destitute
families must
live some-
how,
and
it
seems
the
city
authorities on one
side, and our mlhtary on the other, are in ruinous
conflict about the mode of providing.
Governor Pierpont
Is a good man, and
if you
w\\\ place him
in conference and amicable
rela-
tions with the military authority in the vicinity, I
do not doubt
that much good
will come
of
it.
Please do
it.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
J. M. Fleming and R. Morrow.
Executive Mansion, August 9,
1863.
Messrs. Jno. M. Fleming and R. Morrow.
Gentlemen
: The
petition
of which you were
the
bearers
has
just
been
handed
me.
Your
cards and notes had come to me on two or three
successive
days
before;
and
I knew
then,
as
well as
I do now after reading the petition, what
your mission was.
I knew
it was the same true
and painful story which Governor Johnson, Mr.
Maynard,
Dr.
Clements, and
others
have been
telling me
for more
than
two
years.
I
also
knew
that meeting you
could do no good,
be-
cause
I have
all the while done, and
shall con-
tinue to do, the best for you
I could and can.
I
do
as much
for East Tennessee
as
I would or
could if my own home and family were in Knox-
ville.
The
diflicultles of getting a Union army
into that region, and of keeping
it there, are so
apparent—so obvious—that none can
fail to see
them, unless
It may be those who are driven mad
and blind by their sufferings.
Start by whatever
route they may, their lines of supply are broken
before they get half way.
A
small
force
suffi-
cient
to
beat
the enemy now
there
would
be
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
295
of no value, because the enemy would reinforce
to meet them, until we should have to give back
or accumulate so large a force as to be very dif-
ficult
to
supply, and
as
to ruin us
entirely
if a
great disaster should befall
it.
I know you are
too much distressed to be argued with, and there-
fore
I do not attempt
it at length.
You know
I
am not indifferent to your troubles, else
I should
not, more than a year and a half ago, have made
the effort
I did to have a railroad built on pur-
pose to relieve you.
The Secretary of War, Gen-
eral
Halleck,
General
Burnside,
and
General
Rosecrans
are
all engaged now
in an
effort
to
relieve your
section.
But, remember, you
will
probably thwart them
if you make this public.
Yours
truly,
A. Lincoln.
James H. Hackett.
Executive Mansion, August
17,
1863.
James H. Hackett, Esq.
My dear
Sir: Months ago
I should have ac-
knowledged the receipt of your book and accom-
panying kind note
; and
I now have to beg your
pardon for not having done
so.
For one of my age
I have seen very
little of
the drama.
The
first presentation of Falstaff
I
ever saw was yours here,
last winter or
spring.
Perhaps the best compliment I can pay
is to say,
as
I truly can, I am very anxious to see
it again.
Some of Shakespeare's plays
I have never read;
while others
I have gone over perhaps
as
fre-
quently as any unprofessional reader.
Among the
latter are "Lear," "Richard IIL," "Henry VHL,"
"Hamlet,"
and
especially
"Macbeth."
I
think
nothing equals "Macbeth."
It
is wonderful.
296
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Unlike you gentlemen of the profession I think
the soliloquy in ''Hamlet" commencing "Oh, my
offense is rank," surpasses that commencing "To
be or not to be."
But pardon this small attempt
at criticism.
I should like to hear you pronounce
the opening speech of Richard III.
Will you not
soon visit Washington again?
If you do, please
call and let me make your personal acquaintance.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, November 2, 1863.
James H. Hackett.
.
.
.
My note to you
I
certainly did not expect to
see in print
; yet I have not been much shocked by
the newspaper comments upon
it.
Those com-
ments
constitute
a
fair
specimen
of what
has
occurred to me through
life.
I have endured a
great deal of ridicule without much malice
; and
have received a great deal of kindness, not quite
free from
ridicule.
I am used to
it.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
J.
G. Blunt.
Executive Mansion, August
18,
1863.
Major-General Blunt.
.
.
.
I regret to find you denouncing so many per-
sons as liars, scoundrels, fools, thieves, and perse-
cutors of yourself.
Your military position looks
critical, but did anybody force you into
it ?
Have
you been ordered
to confront and
fight
10,000
men with 3,000 men?
The Government cannot
make men; and
it
is very easy, when a man has
been given
the
highest commission,
for him
to
turn on those who gave
it and vilify them for not
giving him a command according to his rank.
r
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
297
My appointment
of yon
first
as
a
brigadier,
and
then
as
a
major-general, was
evidence
of
my
appreciation
of your
services
; and
I have
since marked but one thing
in
connection with
you with which to be
dissatisfied.
The sending
a mihtary order twenty-five miles outside of your
lines, and
all military
lines, to take men charged
with no offense against the military, out of the
hands of the courts, to be turned over to a mob
to be hanged, can find no precedent or principle
to justify
it.
Judge Lynch sometimes takes juris-
diction of cases which prove too strong for the
courts
; but this is the first case within my knowl-
edge wherein the
court being
able
to maintain
jurisdiction
against Judge
Lynch,
the
military
has come to the assistance of the
latter.
I take
the facts of this case as you state them yourself,
and not from any report of Governor Carney,^
or other person.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
John
P. Usher.
Executive Mansion, August 24,
1863.
Hon. Secretary of the Interior.
Sir
: By the within you see the claim of Illinois
for the two per cent, on sales of public lands
is
again presented.
My view of the case
is not changed.
I believe
the law
is with the
State; and yet
I think
it
is
ungracious to be pressing the claim at this time
of national trouble.
Nevertheless,
I have to ask that you will
de-
termine what
is your duty according to the law,
and then do
it.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
^ See
letter to Governor Carney.
298
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
James
C. Conkling.
^Private.']
War Department,
August
26,
1863.
My dear Conkling
:
I cannot leave here now.
Here-
with
is
a
letter
instead.
You
are one of the best pub-
lic
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.
Executive Mansion, August 26,
1863.
Hon. James C. Conkling.
My dear Sir
: Your letter inviting me to attend
a mass-meeting of unconditional Union men,
to
be held
at the
capital of
Illinois on the 3d day
of September, has been
received.
It would be
very agreeable to me to thus meet my old friends
at my own
home,
but
I
cannot
just now
be
absent from here so long as a visit there would
require.
The meeting
is
to be of
all those who main-
tain
unconditional
devotion
to
the Union
;
and
I am
sure my
old
political
friends
will thank
me for tendering, as
I do, the nation's gratitude
to those other noble men whom no partisan mal-
ice
or
partisan
hope
can
make
false
to
the
nation's
life.
There are those who are dissatisfied with me.
To
such
I
would
say
: You
desire
peace,
and
you blame me that we do not have
it.
But how
can we attain
it?
There are but three conceiv-
able ways
:
First,
to
suppress
the
rebellion by
force
of arms.
This
I am trying
to
do.
Are
you
for
it?
If you
are,
so
far we are agreed.
If you
are not
for
it,
a second way
is
to give
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
299
up
the
Union.
I am
against
this.
Are
you
for
it?
If you
are, you should say
so
plainly.
If you are not for force, nor yet for dissolution,
there only remains some imaginable compromise.
I do not believe any compromise embracing the
maintenance of the Union
is now possible.
All
I learn leads to a
directly opposite
belief.
The
strength of the rebellion
is
its military,
its army.
That army dominates all the country and
all the
people
within
its
range.
Any
offer
of
terms
made by any man or men within that range,
in
opposition
to
that army,
is
simply nothing
for
the present, because such man or men have no
power whatever to enforce their side of a com-
promise,
if one were made with them.
To
illustrate
:
Suppose
refugees
from
the
South and peace men of the North get together
in convention and
frame and proclaim
a com-
promise embracing a
restoration
of
the Union.
In what way can
that compromise be
used
to
keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania?
Meade's
army can keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania,
and,
I
think, can ultimately drive
it out of ex-
istence.
But no paper compromise to which the
controllers of Lee's army are not agreed can at
all
aft'ect that army.
In an
effort at such com-
promise we should waste time which the enemy
would
improve
to
our
disadvantage
;
and
that
would be all. A compromise, to be effective, must
be made either with those who control the rebel
army, or with the people first liberated from the
domination of that army by the success of our
own army.
Now, allow me to assure you
that
no word or intimation from that rebel army, or
from any of the men
controlling
it,
in
relation
to any peace compromise, has ever come to my
300
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
knowledge or
belief.
All charges and
insinua-
tions to the contrary are deceptive and ground-
less.
And
I promise you that if any such propo-
sition
shall
hereafter
come,
it
shall
not
be
rejected and kept a
secret from you.
I
freely
acknowledge myself
the
servant of
the
people,
according
to
the bond
of
service—the
United
States Constitution—and that, as such, I am re-
sponsible to them.
But to be plain.
You are dissatisfied with me
about the negro.
Quite
likely there
is a
differ-
ence
of opinion between you and myself upon
that subject.
I certainly wish that all men could
be
free,
while
I
suppose you do
not.
Yet,
I
have neither adopted nor proposed any measure
which
is
not
consistent
with
even
your
view,
provided you
are
for the Union.
I
suggested
compensated
emancipation,
to
which
you
re-
plied you wished not to be taxed to buy negroes.
But
I had not asked you to be taxed to buy ne-
groes, except
in such way as
to save you from
greater
taxation
to
save
the Union
exclusively
by other means.
You
dislike
the
Emancipation
Proclamation,
and perhaps would have
it
retracted.
You say
it
is
unconstitutional.
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 whenever taking
it
helps
us, or hurts
the enemy?
Armies,
the
world over, destroy enemies' property when they
cannot
use
it; and even
destroy
their own
to
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
301
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 bar-
barous 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
retraction
would operate
favorably
for
the Union.
Why
better 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 pro-
gressed 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 suc-
cesses,
believe
the emancipation
policy and
the
use of the colored troops constitute 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 Abolitionism, or with
Republican
party
politics,
but who
hold
them
purely as military opinions.
I submit these opin-
ions
as
being
entitled
to some
weight
against
the
objections
often
urged
that
emancipation
302
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
and arming
the
blacks
are
unwise
as
military
measures, and were not adopted as such in good
faith.
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.
When-
ever you
shall have conquered
all
resistance to
the Union,
if
I
shall urge you to continue
fight-
ing,
it will be an apt time then for you to declare
you \\W\ not fight to free negroes.
I thought that in your struggle for the Union,
to whatever extent the negroes should cease help-
ing
the enemy,
to
that
extent
it weakened the
enemy
in
its
resistance to
you.
Do you
think
differently?
I
thought
that
whatever
negroes
can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just so 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.
The signs look better.
The Father of Waters
again goes unvexed
to the
sea.
Thanks
to the
great Northwest for
it.
Nor yet wholly to them.
Three hundred miles up they met New England,
Empire,
Keystone,
and
Jersey,
hewing
their
way
right and
left.
The sunny
South,
too,
in
more colors than one, also lent a hand.
On the
spot,
their part of the history was jotted down
in black and white.
The job was a great national
one, and
let none be banned who bore an hon-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
303
orable
part
in
it.
And
while
those who have
cleared the great river may well be proud,
eve.i
that
is not
all.
It
is hard to say that anything
has been more
bravely and
well
done
than
at
Antietam, Murfreesborough, Gettysburg, and on
many
fields
of
lesser
note.
Nor must
Uncle
Sam's web-feet be forgotten.
At
all the watery
margins they have been
present.
Not only on
the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river,
but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, and where-
ever
the ground was
a
little damp,
they have
been
and made
their
tracks.
Thanks
to
all
:
for the great Republic—for the principle
it lives
by
and
keeps
alive—for
man's
vast
future
thanks to
all.
Peace does not appear so distant as
it
did.
I
hope
it
will come
soon, and come
to
stay, and
so come as to be worth the keeping in
all future
time.
It will then have been proved that among
free men there can be no successful appeal from
the ballot to the
bullet, and that they who take
such appeal are sure to
lose their case and pay
the
cost.
And
then
there
will
be some
black
men who can remember that with
silent tongue,
and
clenched
teeth, and
steady
eye, and
well-
poised
bayonet,
they
have
helped mankind
on
to
this great consummation,
while
I
fear there
will be some
white ones
unable
to
forget
that
with malignant heart and
deceitful speech they
strove to hinder
it.
Still,
let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy
final
triumph.
Let
us be
quite
sober.
Let
us
diligently apply the means, never doubting that
a just God,
in
his own good
time,
will give us
the
rightful
result.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
304
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
[Telegram.']
Washington, September
3, 1863.
Hon. James C. Conkling, Springfield,
111.
I am mortified this morning to find a letter to
you
botched
up
in
the
Eastern
papers,
tele-
graphed from Chicago.
How did this happen ?
A. Lincoln.
S. W. Crawford.
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 Penn-
sylvania Reserve Corps to one so worthy to
re-
ceive
it as General Meade.
A. Lincoln.
Mrs. Joshua
F. Speed.
Washington, D. C, September
16, 1863.
Mrs. J. F. Speed, Louisville, Ky.
Mr. Holman will not be jostled from his place
with my knowledge and consent.
A.
Lincoln.
Mrs. Hannah Armstrong.^
{Telegram.^
Executive Mansion, September
19, 1863.
Mrs. Hannah Armstrong, Petersburg,
111.
I have just ordered the discharge of your boy
WiUiam, as you say, now at Louisville, Ky.
A. Lincoln.
^ Mrs. Armstrong and her husband Jack were old friends
of Lincoln
at New
Salem,
111.
She had patched
Lincoln's
trousers, and with her husband had comforted him
in
his
grief over the death
of his
first
love.
Their son William
had been condemned as a deserter.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
305
Charles D. Drake and Others.
On
October
5,
1863,
the
President
answered
com-
plaints
of Charles
D. Drake and
others,
of
St.
Louis,
made
against
General
Schofield's
military
administra-
tion
in
Missouri,
as
follows
:
Executive Mansion, October
5,
1863.
Hon. Charles D. Drake and Others, Committee.
Among
the
reasons
given
[for
removal
of
General
Schofield]
enough
of
suffering
and
v^rong to Union men
is certainly, and
I suppose
truly,
stated.
Yet the whole
case,
as presented,
fails
to
convince me
that
General
Schofield or
the enrolled militia
is responsible for that suffer-
ing and
wrong.
The whole
can
be
explained
on
a more
charitable
and,
as
I
think,
a more
rational
hypothesis.
We
are
in
civil war.
In
such cases there always
is a main question; but
in
this
case
that
question
is a perplexing com-
pound—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 pre-
fer
it
with—and
those
for
it with
or
without,
but prefer
it without.
Among these again
is
a
stibdivision
of those
who are for gradual, but not for immediate, and
those who are for immediate, but not for grad-
ual, 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
3o6
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
reason
of
these
differences
each
will
prefer
a
different way of sustaining the Union.
At once
sincerity
is questioned, and motives are assailed.
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 re-
taliation
follow.
And
all
this,
as
before
said,
may be among honest men only
; but this
is not
all.
Every
foul
bird comes
abroad and
every
dirty
reptile rises up.
These add crime to con-
fusion.
Strong measures deemed
indispensable,
but harsh at best, such men make worse by mal-
administration.
Murders
for
old
grudges, and
murders
for
pelf, proceed under any cloak that
will
best cover
for the occasion.
These
causes
amply
account
for what
has
occurred
in
Mis-
souri,
without
ascribing
it
to
the
weakness
or
wickedness of any general.
The newspaper files,
those
chroniclers
of
current
events,
will
show
that the
evils now complained
of were
quite
as
prevalent under Fremont, Hunter, Halleck, and
Curtis,
as under
Schofield.
If
the former had
greater
force
opposed
to
them,
they
also had
greater force with which to meet
it.
When the
organized
rebel army
left
the
State,
the main
Federal force had to go also, leaving the depart-
ment commander
at home
relatively no stronger
than before.
Without disparaging any,
I affirm
with confidence that no commander of that de-
partment
has,
in proportion
to
his means, done
better
than
General
Schofield.
.
.
.
To restrain contraband intelligence and trade, a
system of searches,
seizures, permits, and passes
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
3°
had been
introduced,
I
think, by
General Fre-
mont
When
General
Halleck came
he found
and continued this system, and added an order
applicable to some parts of the State
to levy and
collect contributions from noted
rebels,
to com-
pensate
losses and
relieve
destitution caused by
the
rebellion.
The
action
of
General Fremont
and
General
Halleck,
as
stated
constituted
a
sort
of
system, which
General
Curtis found m
full operation when he took command of the de-
partment.
That there was a necessity for some-
thing of the sort was clear, but that
it could only
be
justified by
stern
necessity, and
that
it was
liable
to
great
abuse
in
administration,
was
equally
clear.
Agents to execute
it, contrary to
the 2:reat prayer, were led into temptation.
Some
mio-ht
while others would not,
resist that temp-
tatton'
It was not possible to hold any to a very
strict
accountability,
and
those
yielding
to
the
temptation would
sell permits and passes to those
who would pay most and most readily for them
;
and would
seize
property
and
collect
levies m
the aptest wav to
fill their own pockets.
Money
being the object, the man having money, whether
loyal
or
disloyal,
would
be
the
victim.
This
practice
doubtless
existed
to some
extent, and
it was a real additional evil that
it could be and
was plausibly charged to exist in greater extent
than
it did.
,
When
General
Curtis took command
of
the
department,
Mr.
Dick,
against whom
I
never
knew anything to
allege, had general charge of
this system.
A controversy m regard to
it rap-
idly grew into almost unmanageable proportions.
One side ignored the necessity and magnified the
evils of the system, while the other ignored the
3o8
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
evils and magnified the necessity, and each
bit-
terly assailed the motives of the other.
I could
not
fail to see that the controversy enlarged
in
the
same
proportion
as
the
professed
Union
men here
distinctly took
sides
in two opposing
political parties.
I exhausted my wits, and very
nearly my
patience
also,
in
efforts
to
convince
both
that the
evils
they charged on each
other
were
inherent
in
the
case,
and
could
not
be
cured by giving either party a victory over the
other,
.
.
.
Imbecility
is urged as one cause for removing
General Schofield, and the late massacre at Law-
rence, Kansas,
is pressed as evidence of that im-
becility. To my mind that fact scarcely tends to
prove
the
proposition.
That
massacre
is
only
an example of what Grierson, John
[//.] Mor-
gan,
and
many
others
might
have
repeatedly
done on
their
respective
raids had they chosen
to incur
the
personal hazard and possessed the
fiendish hearts to do
it.
The
charge
is made
that
General
Schofield,
on purpose to protect the Lawrence murderers,
would
not allow them
to be pursued
into Mis-
souri.
While no punishment could be too sud-
den or too severe for those murderers,
I am well
satisfied
that
the
preventing
of
the
threatened
remedial
raid
into
Missouri was
the
only
safe
way
to avoid an
indiscriminate massacre
there,
including
probably more
innocent
than
guilty.
Instead of condemning I therefore approve what
I
understand
General
Schofield
did
in
that
re-
spect.
The charges
that General
Schofield has pur-
posely withheld protection from loyal people and
purposely
facilitated the
objects
of the
disloyal
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
309
are altogether beyond my power of
belief.
I do
not arraign the veracity
of gentlemen
as
to the
facts complained
of, but
I do more
than
ques-
tion the judgment which would infer that those
facts occurred
in
accordance with
the purposes
of General
Schofield.
With my present views,
I must decline to re-
move General
Schofield.
In
this
I decide noth-
ing against General Butler.^
I
sincerely wish
it
were
convenient
to
assign him
a
suitable com-
mand.
In order
to meet some
existing
evils
I
have addressed
a
letter
of
instructions
to Gen-
eral
Schofield, a copy of which
I inclose to you.
As to the enrolled militia,
I
shall endeavor to
ascertain better than
I now know what
is
its ex-
act value.
Let me say now, however, that your
proposal to substitute national forces for the en-
rolled
militia
implies that
in your judgment the
latter
is
doing
something
which
needs
to
be
done
; and
if
so,
the
proposition
to throw
that
force away and
to supply
its place by bringing
other
forces from
the
field where
they
are
ur-
gently needed seems
to me very
extraordinary.
Whence
shall
they come?
Shall they be
with-
drawn from Banks, or Grant, or Steele, or Rose-
crans ?
Few things have been so grateful to my
anxious
feelings as when,
in June
last, the
local
force
in Missouri aided General
Schofield
to so
promptly send a large general force to the relief
of General Grant, then investing Vicksburg, and
menaced
from
without
by
General
Johnston.
Was this all wrong?
Should the enrolled militia
then have been broken up and General Herron
kept
from
Grant
to
police
Missouri?
So
far
^ Benjamin
F.
Butler, with whom Mr. Drake
et
al. pro-
posed to replace Schofield.
3IO
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
from finding cause to object,
I confess to a sym-
pathy for whatever reHeves our general force in
Missouri
and
allows
it
to
serve
elsewhere.
I
therefore,
as
at present
advised, cannot attempt
the
destruction
of
the
enrolled
militia
of
Mis-
souri.
I may add that the force being under the
national
military
control,
it
is
also
within
the
proclamation
in regard to the habeas corpus.
I concur
in
the propriety
of your
request
in
regard to elections, and have, as you see, directed
General
Schofield
accordingly.
I
do
not
feel
justified to enter upon the broad
field you
pre-
sent 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
obliges 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
hear
all, but
at
last
I
must,
within my
sphere,
judge what to do and what to
forbear.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
311
John Williams and N.
G. Taylor.
[Telegram.']
War Department, October
17,
1863.
John
Williams
and
N.
G.
Taylor,
Knoxville,
Tennessee.
You do not estimate the holding of East Ten-
nessee more highly than
I do.
There
is no abso-
lute purpose of withdrawing our forces from
it,
and
only
a
contingent
one
to
withdraw them
temporarily
for
the
purpose
of
not
losing
the
position permanently.
I am in great hope of not
finding
it necessary to withdraw them at all, par-
ticularly
if you
raise new troops rapidly for us
there.
A. Lincoln.
William
B. Thomas.
Executive Mansion, October 17,
1863.
Hon. William 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.
Sanitary Fair at Chicago.
Executive Mansion, October
26,
1863.
Ladies having in Charge the Northwestern Fair
for the Sanitary Commission, Chicago,
Illi-
nois.
According to the request made in your behalf,
the
original
draft
of
the Emancipation
Procla-
mation
is herewith inclosed.
The formal words
at the top and the conclusion, except the signa-
ture, you
perceive,
are not
in my handwriting.
312
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
They were written
at the
State Department, by
whom
I know
not.
The
printed
part was
cut
from
a
copy
of
the
preliminary
proclamation,
and
pasted
on,
merely
to
save
writing.
I had
some
desire to
retain the paper; but
if
it
shall
contribute
to
the
relief
or
comfort
of
the
sol-
diers, that will be better.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
George H. Boker.
Executive Mansion, October 26,
1863.
George H. Boker, Esq., Secretary.
My dear
Sir:
It
is with heartfelt gratification
that
I
acknowledge
the
receipt
of
your
com-
munication
of
the
6th,
and
the
accompanying
medal, by which
I am made an honorary mem-
ber of the Union League of Philadelphia.
I shall always bear with me the consciousness
of having endeavored to do my duty in the try-
ing
times through
which we
are
passing, and
the generous
approval
of a portion
of my
fel-
low-citizens
so
intelligent
and
so
patriotic
as
those
composing
your
association
assures
me
that
I have not wholly
failed.
I
could' not
ask, and no one could
merit,
a
better reward.
Be kind enough,
sir, to convey to the gentle-
men whom you
represent, the assurance
of the
grateful
appreciation
with
which
I
accept
the
honor you have conferred upon me.
I am very truly your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
313
Elihu
B. Washburne.
[Private and Confidential]
Executive Mansion, October 26, 1863.
Hon. E.
B. Washburne.
My dear
Sir: Yours of the
12th has been
in
my hands several days.
Inclosed I send the leave
of absence for your brother, in as good form as
I think
I can
safely put
it.
Without knowing
whether he would accept
it,
I have tendered the
collectorship
at Portland,
]\Iaine,
to your other
brother, the Governor.
Thanks to both you and our friend Campbell
for your kind words and
intentions.
A second
term would be a great honor and a great labor,
which,
together, perhaps
I would not decline
if
tendered.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, December
18, 1863.
Hon. E. B. Washburne.
My dear Sir: The joint resolution of thanks to
General Grant and those under his command has
been before me, and
is approved.
H agreeable
to you, I shall be glad for you to superintend the
getting up of the medal, and the making of the
copy to be engrossed on parchment, which
I am
to transmit to the General.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Thomas Swann.
[Priz'ate.]
Executive Mansion, October 2y, 1863.
Hon. Thomas Swann.
Dear Sir: Your
letter, a copy of which
is on
the other half of this sheet,
is received.
I trust
314
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
there
Is no
just ground
for
the
suspicion you
mention
; and I am somewhat mortified that there
could be any doubt of my views upon the point
of your inquiry.
I wish all loyal qualified voters
in Maryland and elsewhere
to have
the
undis-
turbed
privilege
of
voting
at
elections
;
and
neither my authority nor my name can be prop-
erly used
to the
contrary.
Your obedient
servant,
A.
Lincoln.
Publish both
letters,
if either.
A. L.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C, July lo, 1864.
9.20 a. m.
Thomas Swann and
Others,
Baltimore, Mary-
land.
Yours
of
last
night
received.
I
have
not
a
single soldier but whom
is being disposed by the
military for the best protection of
all.
By latest
accounts the enemy
is moving on Washington.^
They cannot
fly to either place.
Let us be vigi-
lant, but keep
cool.
I hope
neither
Baltimore
nor W^ashington will be sacked.
A. Lincoln.
't>*
A. W. Bradford.
Executive Mansion, November
2,
1863.
His
Excellency A. W.
Bradford,
Governor
of
Maryland.
Sir: Yours of the 31st
ult. was received yes-
terday about noon, and
since then
I have been
giving most earnest attention to the subject-mat-
ter of
it.
At my
call General Schenck has
at-
tended, and he assures me it is almost certain that
^ General
Jubal
A.
Early
had
beaten Lew
Wallace
at
the Monocacy
River, Md., on July
9, and was on his way
to
the
capital.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
315
violence will be used at some of the voting places
on election day unless prevented by his provost-
guards.
He says
that
at some
of
those
places
Union
voters
will
not
attend
at
all,
or
run
a
ticket, unless they have some assurance of pro-
tection.
This makes
the Missouri
case,
of my
action
in regard to which you express your ap-
proval.
The remaining point of your letter
is a protest
against any person offering to vote being put to
any
test
not
found
in
the
laws
of
Maryland.
This brings us to a difference between Missouri
and Maryland.
With
the same
reason
in both
States, Missouri has, by law, provided a test for
the voter with reference to the present rebellion,
while Maryland has not.
For example, General
Trimble, captured fighting us at Gettysburg,
is,
without
recanting
his
treason,
a
legal
voter by
the laws of Maryland.
Even General Schenck's
order
admits him
to
vote,
if
he
recants upon
oath.
I think that
is cheap enough.
My order
in
Missouri,
which you
approve,
and
General
Schenck's order
here,
reach
precisely the same
end.
Each assures the right of voting to all loyal
men, and whether
a man
is
loyal, each
allows
that man to
fix by his own oath.
Your sugges-
tion that nearly
all the candidates are loyal,
I do
not think quite meets the case.
In this struggle
for the nation's
life,
I cannot so confidently rely
on
those
whose
elections may
have
depended
upon
disloyal
votes.
Such men, when
elected,
may prove true; but such votes are given them
in the expectation that they will prove false.
Nor do
I think that to keep the peace
at the
polls,
and
to
prevent
the
persistently
disloyal
from voting, constitutes just cause of offense to
3i6
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Maryland.
I think she has her own example for
it.
If I mistake not,
it is precisely what General
Dix did when your Excellency was elected gov-
ernor.
I revoke the
first of the three propositions
in
General
Schenck's
General Order
No.
;
not
that it is wrong in principle, but because the mili-
tary,
being
of
necessity
exclusive judges
as
to
who shall be arrested, the provision
is too liable
to abuse.
For the revoked part
I substitute the
following
:
That
all provost-marshals and other
military
officers
do prevent
all
disturbance and violence
at or about the
polls,
whether
offered
by
such
persons
as
above
de-
scribed, or by any other person or persons whomsoever.
The other two propositions of the order I allow
to
stand.
General Schenck
is
fully determined,
and has my
strict orders
besides, that
all
loyal
men may vote, and vote for whom they please.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
John Jacob Astor,
Jr., and Others.
[Private, except to General Dix.l
Executive Mansion, November 9,
1863.
Messrs.
J.
J.
Astor,
Jr.,
R.
B.
Roosevelt, and
Nathaniel Sands.
Gentlemen: Upon
the
subject of your
letter,
I have to say that
it
is beyond my province to
interfere
with New York
city
politics;
that
I
am very grateful to General Dix for the zealous
and able military and quasi-civil support he has
given the Government during the war, and that
if the people of New York should tender him the
mayoralty, and he accept
it, nothing on that sub-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
317
ject could be more satisfactory to me.
In this I
must not be understood as saying aught against
any one, or as attempting the least degree of dic-
tation in the matter.
To
state
it
in another way,
if General Dix's
present relation to the General Government lays
any
restraint upon him
in
this
matter,
I
wish
to remove that
restraint.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
B.
F. Flanders.
See
letters
to Salmon
P. Chase
of May
13,
1863,
to
Nathaniel
P. Banks
of August
5,
1863, and November
5,
1863.
Executive Mansion, November
9,
1863.
Hon. B. F. Flanders.
My dear Sir: In a conversation with General
Butler, he made
a
suggestion which
impressed
me a good deal
at the time.
It was
that, as a
preliminary
step,
a
vote be
taken, yea
or
nay,
whether
there
shall be
a
State
convention
^
to
repeal
the ordinance
of
secession and
remodel
the State constitution.
I send
it merely as a sug-
gestion
for your consideration, not having con-
sidered
it maturely myself.
The
point which
impressed me
was,
not
so
much the questions to be voted on, as the
effect
of crystallizing, so to speak,
in taking such pop-
ular vote on any proper question.
In
fact,
I have always thought the act of
se-
cession
is
legally nothing, and needs no
repeal-
ing.
Turn the thought over
in your mind, and
see
if in your own judgment you can make any-
thing of
it.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
^ In Louisiana.
3i8
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
E. H. AND E. Jameson.
War Department, November
13,
1863.
E. H. and E. Jameson, Jefferson City, Mo.
Yours
saying
Brown
and
Henderson
are
elected
senators
is
received.
I understand
this
is one and one.
If so
it
is knocking heads
to-
gether to some purpose.
A. Lincoln.
Zachariah Chandler.
Executive Mansion, November 20, 1863.
Hon. Zachariah Chandler.
My dear Sir: Your letter of the 15th, marked
^'private," was received to-day.
I have seen Gov-
ernor Morgan and Thurlow Weed,
separately,
but not
together,
within the
last
ten
days; but
neither of them mentioned the forthcoming mes-
sage, or said anything, so far as I can remember,
which brought the thought of the message to my
mind.
I am very glad the elections this autumn
have gone
favorably, and
that
I
have
not, by
native
depravity
or under
evil
influences, done
anything bad
enough
to
prevent
the
good
re-
sult.
I hope
to "stand firm" enough
to not go
backward, and yet not go forward
fast enough
to wreck the country's cause.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
E.
P. Evans.
Executive Mansion, 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
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
319
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.
Cooper Institute Committee.
Executive Mansion, December 2,
1863.
George Opdyke and Others.
Gentlemen
: Yours of the 28th ultimo, inviting
me to be present at a meeting to be held at the
Cooper
Institute on
the 3d
instant,
to promote
the
raising of
volunteers,
is
received.
Nothing
would be more grateful
to my
feelings, or bet-
ter accord with my judgment, than to contribute,
if
I could, by my presence or otherwise, to that
eminently patriotic object.
Nevertheless, the now
early meeting of Congress, together with a tem-
porary
illness, render my attendance impossible.
You
propose
also
to
celebrate
our Western
victories.
Freed
from
the
apprehension
of
wounding the just
sensibilities of brave soldiers
fighting elsewhere,
it would be exceedingly agree-
able to me to join in a suitable acknowledgment
to those of the great West, with whom
I was
born and have passed my life.
And
it is exceed-
ingly
gratifying
that
a
portion,
lately
of
the
Army
of
the
Potomac,
but now
serving
with
the great Army of the West, has borne so con-
spicuous a part
in the
late brilliant triumphs
in
Georgia.
Honor
to
the
soldier and
sailor
everywhere
who bravely bears
his- country's
cause.
Honor
also to the citizen who cares
for his brother
in
the
field, and
serves,
as he best
can,
the same
cause—honor to him, only less than to him who
320
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
braves,
for
the common
good,
the
storms
of
heaven and the storms of battle.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
John Rogers.
[Message to Congress.']
To the Senate and House of Representatives.
In conformity to the law of July
i6,
1862,
I
most
cordially
recommend
that
Captain
John
Rogers, United
States Navy,
receive
a vote of
thanks from Congress for the eminent
skill and
gallantry
exhibited by him
in
the engagement
with the
rebel armed
iron-clad steamer Fingal,
alias Atlanta, whilst
in command of the United
States iron-clad steamer JVeehazvken, which
led
to her capture on
the
17th
of June,
1863, and
also for the zeal, bravery, and general good con-
duct shown by this officer on many occasions.
Abraham Lincoln.
Washington, December 8, 1863.
Thomas Cottman.
Executive Alansion, December
15, 1863.
Dr. Thomas Cottman.
My
dear
Sir
: You were
so
kind
as
to
say
this morning that you
desire
to return
to Lou-
isiana, and to be guided by my wishes, to some
extent,
in
the
part you may
take
in
bringing
that State to resume her rightful relation to the
General Government.
My wishes are in a general way expressed, as
well as
I can express them, in the proclamation
issued on the 8th of the present month, and
in
that part
of
the annual message which
relates
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
321
to
that
proclamation.
It
there
appears
that
I
deem the sustaining of the Emancipation Proc-
lamation, where
it applies, as indispensable; and
I add here that
I would esteem
it
fortunate
if
the people of Louisiana should themselves place
the remainder of the State upon the same foot-
ing,
and
then,
if
in
their
discretion
it
should
appear best, make some temporary provision for
the whole of
the
freed
people,
substantially
as
suggested in the
last proclamation.
I have not put forth the plan
in that procla-
mation
as
a
Procrustean
bed,
to which
exact
conformity
is to be indispensable; and,
in Lou-
isiana
particularly,
I
wish
that
labor
already
done, which varies from that plan
in no impor-
tant particular, may not be thrown away.
The
strongest wish
I
have,
not already pub-
licly
expressed,
is
that
in
Louisiana
and
else-
where
all
sincere Union men would
stoutly
es-
chew
cliquism, and, each
yielding something
in
minor
matters,
all work
together.
Nothing
is
likely to be so baleful
in the great work before
us
as
stepping
aside
from
the main
object
to
consider who
will get the offices
if a small mat-
ter
shall go
thus, and who
else
will
get them
if
it shall go otherwise.
It
is time now for real
patriots
to
rise above
all
this.
As
to
the
par-
ticulars
of what
I may think
best
to be done
in any State, I have publicly stated certain points
which
I have thought indispensable to the
rees-
tablishment and maintenance of the national au-
thority
; and
I go no further than this because
I
wish
to
avoid both
the
substance and
the
ap-
pearance of
dictation.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
322
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
O. D.
FiLLEY.
Executive Mansion, December
22,
1863.
O. D.
Filley,
St. Louis, Missouri.
I have
just looked over
a
petition
signed by
some three dozen citizens of
St. Louis, and three
accompanying
letters.
.
.
.
the whole relating to
the
Rev.
Dr.
McPheeters.
The
petition
prays,
in
the name
of
justice and
mercy,
that
I
will
restore
Dr.
McPheeters
to
all
his
ecclesiastical
rights.
This gives no intimation as to what ec-
clesiastical rights are withheld.
Your
letter
states that Provost-Marshal Dick,
about
a
year
ago,
ordered
the
arrest
of
Dr.
McPheeters,
pastor of the Vine
Street Church,
prohibited him from
officiating, and placed
the
management of the
affairs of the church out of
the control of
its chosen trustees
; and near the
close you
state that a certain course ''would in-
sure
his
release."
Mr.
Ranney's
letter
says
:
''Dr. Samuel
S. McPheeters
is enjoying
all the
rights of a
civilian, but cannot preach
the Gos-
pel !! !"
Mr.
Coalter,
in
his
letter
asks:
"Is
it
not
a
strange
illustration
of
the
condition
of
things, that the question of who shall be allowed
to preach
in a church
in
St. Louis
shall be
de-
cided by the President of the United States?"
Now,
all
this
sounds
very
strangely;
and,
withal,
a
little
as
if you gentlemen making the
application do not understand the case alike
; one
affirming
that
the
doctor
is
enjoying
all
the
rights of a
civilian, and another pointing out to
me what
will
secure
his
release
!
On
the
sec-
ond
day
of
January
last,
I
wrote
to
General
Curtis
in
relation
to Mr. Dick's order upon Dr.
McPheeters
;
and,
as
I
suppose
the
doctor
is
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
323
enjoying all the rights of a civilian,
I only quote
that part of my letter which relates to the church.
It
is
as
follows:
''But
I
must
add
that
the
United
States Government must not, as by
this
order,
undertake
to
run
the
churches.
When
an individual,
in a church or out of
it, becomes
dangerous
to
the
public
interest,
he
must
be
checked
; but
the
churches,
as
such, must
take
care
of
themselves.
It
will
not
do
for
the
United
States
to
appoint
trustees,
supervisors,
or other agents
for the churches."
This
letter going
to
General
Curtis, then
in
command
there,
I
supposed,
of
course,
it was
obeyed,
especially
as
I
heard
no
further com-
plaint from
Dr.
McPheeters
or
his
friends
for
nearly an
entire year.
I have never interfered,
nor thought
of
interfering,
as
to who
shall
or
shall
not
preach
in
any
church
;
nor
have
I
knowingly or believingly
tolerated any one
else
to so interfere by my authority.
If any one is so
interfering by color of my authority, I would like
to have
it specifically made known to me.
If,
after
all, what
is now sought
is
to have
me put Dr. McPheeters back over the heads of
a
majority
of
his own
congregation,
that,
too,
will be declined.
I
will not have control of any
church on any side.
Yours respectfully,
A. Lincoln.
Samuel
S. McPheeters.
[Indorsement on Petition.']
The
assumptions
of
this
paper,
so
far
as
I
know,
or
believe,
are
entirely
false.
I
have
never deprived Doctor McPheeters of any eccle-
siastical right, or authorized or excused
its being
324
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
done
by
any
one
deriving
authority from me.
On
the
contrary,
in regard
to
this very
case,
I
directed a long time ago that Doctor McPheeters
w^as to be arrested, or remain at large, upon the
same rule as any one else; and that in no event
w^as any one to interfere, by my authority, as to
v^ho should or should not preach in any church.
This was done,
I think, in a letter, in the nature
of an order, to Mr. Dick.
The assumption that
I am keeping Dr. McPheeters from preaching in
his church
is monstrous.
If any one
is doing
this, by pretense
of my
authority,
I
will thank
any one who can to make out and present me a
specific case against him.
If,
after
all, the doc-
tor
is kept out by the majority of his own par-
ishioners,
and my
official
power
is
sought
to
force him in over their heads,
I decline that also.
A.
Lincoln.
December
22,
1863.
Thomas E. Bramlette.
[Telegram.^
Executive Mansion, January 6, 1864.
2 p. m.
Governor Bramlette, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Yours
of
yesterday
received.
Nothing
is
known
here
about
General
Foster's
order,
of
which you
complain, beyond
the
fair presump-
tion that
it comes from General Grant, and that
it has an
object which,
if you understood, you
would be loath to
frustrate.
True, these troops
are,
in
strict law, only to be removed by my or-
der
; but General Grant's judgment would be the
highest incentive to me to make such order.
Nor
can
I understand how doing so
is bad faith and
dishonor,
nor
yet how
it
so
exposes Kentucky
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
325
to ruin.
Military men here do not perceive how
it exposes Kentucky, and
I am sure Grant would
not permit
it
if
it
so appeared
to him.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.^
Executive Mansion, January
17,
1864.
Governor Branilette, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Your letter of the eighth
is just received.
To
your question, ''May
I not add
q. e.'dJ"
I an-
swer "No," because you omit the "premise"
in
the law, that the President may in his discretion
send
these troops out of Kentucky
; and
I take
it that
if he shall do so, on the judgment of Gen-
eral Grant as to
its propriety,
it
will be neither
cruelty, bad
faith, nor
dishonor.
When
I
tele-
graphed you
I knew, though
I did not say so to
you,
that
General
Grant was
about
that
time
with General Foster at Knoxville, and could not
be
ignorant
of,
or
averse
to,
the
order which
alarmed you.
I
see he has since passed through
Kentucky, and
I hope you have had a conference
with him.
A. Lincoln.
Washington, D.
C., November
10,
1864.
Governor Bramlette, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Yours
of yesterday
received.
I
can
scarcely
believe that General John
B. Houston has been
arrested "for no other offense than opposition to
my
reelection"
;
for,
if
that had
been deemed
sufficient cause of arrest,
I should have heard of
more
than
one
arrest
in Kentucky on
election
day.
If,
however.
General
Houston
has
been
arrested
for no
other
cause than
opposition
to
my
reelection, General Burbridge
will discharge
326
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
him
at once,
I sending him a copy of this as an
order to that effect.
A. Lincoln.
On November 22,
1864, the President sent a telegram
to Governor
Bramlette informing him
that "the
Secre-
tary
of War and myself are trying
to
devise means of
pacification and harmony
for Kentucky, which we hope
to
effect
soon, now
that the passion-exciting subject of
the
election
is past."
On
February
5,
1865,
the
President
telegraphed
in
answer
to
a query
of Governor
Bramlette
concerning
the
Thirteenth
Amendment:
"Precedents
justify
the
legislature to act on
ex-oflicio notice of Congress having
passed
the
proposed
amendment
;
nevertheless,
I
will
send you the authenticated copy."
Andrews.
[Indorsement.]
The case of Andrews
is really a very bad one,
as appears by the record already before me.
Yet
.
.
.
I
.
.
. ordered
his
punishment
commuted
to imprisonment for during the war
at hard
la-
bor. ...
I
did
this,
not
on
any
merit
in
the
case,
but
because
I am
trying
to
evade
the
butchering business lately.
A. Lincoln.
QUINCY A. GiLLMORE.
See letter to Gideon Welles of December 20,
1863.
Executive Mansion, January
13,
1864.
Major-General
Gillmore.
I understand an effort
is being made by some
worthy
gentlemen
to
reconstruct
a
loyal
State
government
in
Florida.
Florida
is
in your
de-
partment, and
it
is not unlikely that you may be
there
in person.
I have given Mr. Hay a com-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
327
mission
of
major,
and
sent him
to
yon,
with
some blank-books and other blanks, to aid in the
reconstruction.
He
will explain as to the man-
ner
of
using
the
blanks,
and
also my
general
views on the
subject.
It
is
desirable
for
all
to
cooperate,
but
if
irreconcilable
differences
of
opinion
shall
arise, you
are master.
I wish the
thing done
in the most speedy way
possible,
so
that when
done,
it
lie within
the range
of
the
late proclamation on the subject.
The
detail
la-
bor,
of course,
will have
to be done by others
;
but
I
shall be
greatly
obliged
if you
will give
it such general supervision as you can find con-
sistent with your more strictly military
duties.
Yours very truly,
A.
Lincoln.
The North American Review.
Executive Mansion, January
16,
1864.
Messrs. Crosby and Nichols.
Gentlemen: The number
for
this month and
year
of
the North American Review was
duly
received, and for which please accept my thanks.
Of
course,
I am
not the most
impartial judge;
yet,
with
due
allowance
for
this,
I
venture
to
hope
that
the
article
entitled "The
President's
Policy"
will be of value to the country.
I fear
I am
not
quite worthy
of
all which
is
therein
kindly said of me personally.
The
sentence of twelve
lines, commencing
at
the top of page 252,
I could wish to be not ex-
actly
as
it
is.
In what
is
there
expressed, the
writer has not correctly understood me.
I have
never had a theorv that secession could absolve
States
or
people
from
their
obligations.
Pre-
cisely the contrary
is
asserted
in
the inaugural
S
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
address
; and
it was because of my belief
in the
continuation of these obligations that
I was puz-
zled,
for a time,
as
to denying the
legal
rights
of
those
citizens who remained
individually
in-
nocent of treason or
rebellion.
But
I mean no
more now than to merely
call
attention
to
this
point.
Yours respectfully,
A. Lincoln.
J.
J. Reynolds.
Executive Mansion, January 20,
1864.
Major-General Reynolds.
.
.
.
The true rule for the military
is to
seize such
property as
is needed
for military uses and rea-
sons, and
let the
rest
alone.
Cotton and other
staple articles of commerce are seizable for mili-
tary
reasons.
Dwelling-houses
and
furniture
are seldom so.
If Mrs. Morton
is playing traitor
to the
extent of
practical
injury,
seize
her, but
leave her house to the courts.
Please revise and
adjust
this
case upon
these
principles.
Yours, etc.,
A. Lincoln.
Alpheus Lewis.
Executive Mansion, January
23,
1864.
Alpheus Lewis, Esq.
My
dear
Sir: You
have
inquired how
the
government would regard and treat cases where-
in
the owners
of
plantations,
in
Arkansas,
for
instance,
might
fully
recognize
the
freedom
of those formerly slaves, and by fair contracts of
hire
with
them,
recommence
the
cultivation
of
their
plantations.
I
answer,
I
should
regard
such
cases
with
great
favor,
and
should
as
a
principle
treat them
precisely
as
I would
treat
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
329
the
same number
of
free
white
people
in
the
same relation and condition.
Whether white or
black, reasonable
effort should be made to give
government
protection.
In
neither
case
should
the giving of aid and comfort to the rebellion, or
other practices injurious to the Government, be
allowed on such
plantations
; and
in
either, the
Government would
claim
the
right
to
take,
if
necessary, those
of proper ages and
conditions
into
the
military
service.
Such
plan must not
be used to break up existing leases or arrange-
ments of abandoned plantations which the Gov-
ernment may have made to give employment and
sustenance to the idle and destitute people.
With
the
foregoing
qualifications,
and
explanations,
and in view of
its tendency to advance freedom,
and
restore
peace
and
prosperity,
such
hiring
and employment of
the
freed people, would be
regarded by me with
rather
especial
favor.
To be more specific,
I add that all the military,
and
others
acting
by
authority
of
the
United
States,
are
to
favor and
facilitate the introduc-
tion
and
carrying
forward,
in good
faith,
the
free-labor system
as above
indicated, by
allow-
ing
the
necessary
supplies
therefor
to
be
pro-
cured
and
taken
to
the
proper
points, and by
doing and
forbearing whatever
will advance
it,
providing that existing military and trade regu-
lations be
not transcended
thereby.
I
shall
be
glad to learn that planters adopting this system
shall have employed one so zealous and active as
yourself to act as an agent in relation thereto.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
330
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Frederick Steele.
Washington, January 27,
1864.
Major-General
Steele.
I have addressed
a
letter to you, and put
it
in the hands
of Mr. Gantt and other Arkansas
gentlemen, containing a program for an election
in
that
State. ... Be
sure
to
retain
the
free-
State
constitutional
provision
in
some
unques-
tionable form, and you and he can
fix the
rest.
The
points
I
have made
in
the program have
been well considered.
Take hold with an honest
heart and a strong hand.
Do not
let any ques-
tionable man
control
or
influence
you.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, January
30,
1864.
Major-General
Steele.
Since
writing mine
of
the
27th,
seeing
still
further accounts of the action of the convention
in Arkansas, induces me to write you yet again.
They
seem
to be
doing
so
well,
that
possibly
the best you can do would be
to help them on
their own plan
; but of this you must confer with
them and be the judge.
Of
all things, avoid,
if
possible,
a
dividing
into
cliques
among
the
friends of the common object.
Be firm and reso-
lute
against
such
as
you
can
perceive
would
make confusion and
division.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, June 29,
1864.
Major-General
Steele.
I understand
that Congress
declines
to admit
to
seats the persons
sent as senators and repre-
sentatives from Arkansas.
These persons appre-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
331
hend
that,
in consequence, you may not support
the new
State government
there
as you
other-
wise would.
My wiah
is that you give that gov-
ernment and the people there the same support
and
protection
that you would
if
the members
had been admitted, because
in no
event, nor
in
any view of the case, can this do any harm, while
it
will be
the best you can do toward suppress-
ing the rebellion.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
James Wadsworth.
[Extract from
Letter
to
General
Wadszvorth
Given by F. B.
Carpenter.']
(Late January or early February,
1864.)
You desire to know,
in the event of our com-
plete success in the field, the same being followed
by a loyal and cheerful submission on the part of
the
South,
if
universal amnesty
should
not be
accompanied with universal
suffrage.
Now,
since you know my private
inclinations
as to what terms should be granted to the South
in
the contingency mentioned,
I
will
here
add,
that
if our success should thus be
realized,
fol-
lowed by
such
desired
results,
I
cannot
see,
if
tmiversal
amnesty
is
granted,
how,
under
the
circumstances,
I
can
avoid
exacting
in
return
universal
suffrage
or
at
least
suffrage
on
the
basis of intelligence and military service.
How
to
better
the
condition
of
the
colored
race has long been a study which has
attracted
my serious and careful
attention
; hence
I think
I am clear and decided as to what course
I shall
pursue
in
the
premises,
regarding
it
as
a
re-
ligious
duty,
as
the'
nation's
guardian
of
these
people who
have
so
heroically
vindicated
their
332
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
manhood on the
battle-field, where,
in
assisting
to save the
life of the Republic, they have dem-
onstrated
in
blood
their
right
to
the
ballot,
which
is but
the humane protection of the
flag
they have so fearlessly defended.
In
an
article
in
Scribncr's
Magazine
for
January,
1893,
by
the
Marquis
de
Chambrun,
the
above
letter
contains this paragraph
:
The
restoration
of
the
Rebel
States
to
the
Union must
rest upon the principle of
civil and
political
equality
of both
races; and
it must be
sealed by
general
amnesty.
Horace Maynard.
\Telegram.'\
Executive Mansion, February 13, 1864.
Hon. Horace Maynard, Nashville, Tennessee.
Your
letter
of
[thc^
second
received.
0£
course Governor Johnson
will proceed with
re-
organization as the exigencies of the case appear
to him
to
require.
I do not apprehend he
will
think
it necessary
to deviate from my views to
any ruinous extent.
On one hasty reading I see
no
such
deviation
in
his
program,
which you
send.
A. Lincoln.
J. M. Thayer.
[Telegram.']
War Department, February
15,
1864.
General Thayer, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Yours received.
Whatever of conflict there
is
between the convention and me
is accidental, not
designed,
I having acted
in ignorance
that
the
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
2>3Z
convention would act.
I yield to the convention,
and have so notified General
Steele, who
is mas-
ter, and
is to cut any knots which cannot be un-
tied.
Correspond with him.
A. Lincoln.
Daniel E. Sickles.
Executive Mansion, February
15, 1864.
Major-General
Sickles.
I wish you to make a tour for me
(principally
for
observation
and
information)
by
way
of
Cairo and New
Orleans, and
returning by the
gulf and ocean.
.
.
.
Please
ascertain
at each
place what
is being
done,
if
anything,
for
reconstruction
; how
the
amnesty
proclamation
works—if
at
all
;
what
practical
hitches,
if
any,
there
are
about
it;
whether deserters come in from the enemy, what
number has come in at each point since the am-
nesty, 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.
Also learn what
you can as to the colored people
; how they get
along as
soldiers,
as laborers
in our
service, on
leased
plantations,
and
as
hired
laborers
with
their old masters,
if there be such
cases.
Also
learn what you can as to the colored people with-
in the
rebel
lines.
Also get any other informa-
tion you may consider interesting, and from time
to time, send me what you may deemi important
to be known here at once, and be ready to make
a general report on your return.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
334
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
W. M. FiSHBACK.
War Department, February
17, i§64.
William M. Fishback,
Little Rock, Arkansas.
When
I fixed a plan for an election in Arkan-
sas
I
did
it
in ignorance
that your
convention
was doing the same work.
Since
I
learned the
latter fact
I have been constantly trying to yield
my
plan
to
them.
I
have
sent two
letters
to
General
Steele, and three or four despatches to
you and
others, saying that
he,
General
Steele,
must be master, but that
it will probably be best
for him to merely help the convention on its own
plan.
Some
single mind must
be
master,
else
there
will
be
no
agreement
in
anything,
and
General
Steele,
commanding
the
military
and
being on the ground,
is the best man to be that
master.
Even now citizens are telegraphing me
to
postpone
the
election
to
a
later
date
than
either
that
fixed by
the
convention
or by me.
This discord must be silenced.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C, March
12, 1864.
William Fishback, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
I know not
that any change
of departmental
lines
is
likely
to be made
in Arkansas
;
but
if
done,
it
will be
for purely
military
reasons,
to
which
the good
people
there
can have no
just
cause of objection.
Get out the largest vote you
can, and the largest part of
it on the right side
that
is possible.
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
335
William Jayne.
Executive Mansion, 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
ap-
pointments
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.'
E. H. East.
Washington, February
27,
1864.
Hon. E. H. East, Secretary of
State,
Nashville,
Tennessee.
.
.
.
No person who has taken the oath of amnesty
of eighth December,
1863, and
obtained
a par-
don
thereby,
and who
intends
to
observe
the
same
in good
faith,
should have any
objection
to taking
that
prescribed by Governor Johnson
as a
test of loyalty.
I have seen and examined
Governor
Johnson's
proclamation,
and am
en-
tirely
satisfied with
his plan, which
is to restore
the
State
government
and
place
it
under
the
control of citizens truly loyal to the Government
of the United
States.
A. Lincoln.
Please send above
to Governor Johnson.
A. L.
J. A.
J. Creswell.
Executive Mansion, IMarch
7,
1864.
Hon. John A.
J. Creswell.
My
dear
Sir:
I am
very anxious
for eman-
cipation
to
be
effected
in
Maryland
in
some
substantial
form.
I
think
it
probable
that my
336
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
expressions of a preference for gradual over im-
mediate emancipation, are misunderstood.
I had
thought
the gradual would produce
less confu-
sion
and
destitution,
and
therefore
would
be
more
satisfactory;
but
if
those who
are
better
acquainted with the subject, and are more deeply
interested
in
it, prefer the immediate, most cer-
tainly
I have no objection to their judgment pre-
vailing.
My wish
is that
all who are for eman-
cipation in any form, shall cooperate,
all treating
all respectfully, and all adopting and acting upon
the
major
opinion
when
fairly
ascertained.
What
I
have
dreaded
is
the
danger
that
by
jealousies,
rivalries,
and
consequent
ill-blood
driving
one
another
out
of
meetings and
con-
ventions—perchance from the
polls—the friends
of emancipation themselves may divide, and lose
the
measure
altogether.
I
wish
this
letter
to
not be made public
; but no man representing me
as
I herein represent myself will be in any dan-
ger of contradiction by me.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, March
17,
1864.
Hon. John A.
J. Creswell.
My dear Sir
:
It needs not to be a secret that
I wish success to emancipation in Maryland.
It
would aid much to end the
rebellion.
Hence
it
is
a
matter
of
national
consequence,
in
which
every
national man may
rightfully
feel
a
deep
interest.
I
sincerely
hope
the
friends
of
the
measure
will
allow no minor
considerations
to
divide and
distract them.^
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
^
^ Slavery was
abolished
by
the
Constitutional
Conven-
tion on June 24,
1864.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
337
Meredith
P. Gentry.
Executive Mansion, March
13,
1864.
Hon. M. P. Gentry.
My dear
Sir: Yours by the hand
of General
Grant
is
received.
Of
course
I have
not
for-
gotten you.
General Grant
is hereby authorized,
in
his
discretion,
to send you South
; and
it
is
rather my wish
that he may
find
it not
incon-
sistent
with
his
view
of
the
public
interest
to
oblige you.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Michael Hahn.
See letters to Nathaniel
P. Banks of August
5,
1863,
and of November
5,
1863.
[Prizvte.']
Executive Mansion, March
13,
1864.
Hon. Michael Hahn.
My
dear
Sir:
I
congratulate you on having
fixed your name in history as the
first free-State
governor
of Louisiana.
Now you
are about
to
have a convention,
which, among other
things,
will
probably
define
the
elective
franchise.
I
barely
suggest
for
your
private
consideration,
whether some of the colored people may not be
let in—as, for instance, the very intelligent, and
especially those who have fought gallantly in our
ranks.
They would probably
help,
in some try-
ing time
to come,
to keep
the jewel
of
liberty
within the family of freedom.
But
this
is only
a suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
338
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
B.
B. French.
[Private.']
Executive Mansion, March 25, 1864.
Hon. B. B. French.
My
dear
Sir:
I
understand
a
bill
is
before
Congress by
your
instigation,
for
taking your
office from the control of the Department of the
Interior, and considerably enlarging the powers
and
patronage
of
your
office.
The
proposed
change may be right
for aught
I know, and
it
certainly
is right for Congress to do as
it thinks
proper
in the case.
What I wish to say
is, that
if the change is made, I do not think
I can allow
you to
retain
the
office; because that would be
encouraging
officers to be constantly intriguing,
to the detriment of the public
interest,
in order
to
profit
themselves.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
A.
G. Hodges.
Executive Mansion, April
4,
1864.
A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Kentucky.
My
dear
Sir: You ask me
to put
in writing
the substance of what
I verbally
said the other
day in your presence, to Governor Bramlette and
Senator Dixon.
It was about as follows
:
''I am naturally anti-slavery.
If slavery
is not
wrong,
nothing
it wrong.
I
cannot remember
when I did not so think and
feel, and yet
I have
never understood
that the presidency conferred
upon me
an
unrestricted
right
to
act
officially
upon
this judgment and
feeling.
It was
in the
oath I took that
I would to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
339
the United
States.
I
could not take
the
office
without taking the
oath.
Nor was
it my view
that
I might take an oath to get power, and break
the oath
in using the power.
I understand, too,
that
in
ordinary
civil
administration
this
oath
even forbade me to
practically indulge my
pri-
marv
abstract judgment on
the moral
question
of
slavery.
I had
publicly
declared
this many
times, and
in many ways.
And
I
aver that,
to
this
day,
I
have
done no
official
act
in mere
deference
to my
abstract judgment and
feeling
on slavery.
I did understand, however, that my
oath
to preserve the Constitution
to the best of
my
ability imposed upon me
the
duty
of
pre-
serving, by every indispensable means, that Gov-
ernment—that nation, of which that Constitution
was the organic law. /Was
it possible to lose the
nation
and
yet
preserve
the
Constitution?
By
general law,
life and limb must be protected, yet
often a limb must be amputated to save a
life
;
but
a
life
is never wisely given to save
a limb.
I
felt
that measures
otherwise
unconstitutional
might become lawful by becoming indispensable
to
the preservation
of the Constitution through
the preservation of the nation.
Right or wrong,
I
assumed
this
ground,
and now avow
it.
I
could not
feel
that,
to the best of my
ability,^ I
had even
tried
to
preserve the
Constitution,
if,
to
save
slavery
or any minor
matter,
I
should
permit the wreck of Government,
country, and
Constitution
all
together.
When,
early
in
the
war. General Fremont attempted military eman-
cipation,
I
forbade
it,
because
I
did
not
then
think it an indispensable necessity.
W^ien, a little
later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War,
suggested the arming
of the blacks,
I
objected
340
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
because
I
did not yet think
it an
indispensable
necessity.
When,
still
later, General Hunter
at-
tempted
military
emancipation,
I again
forbade
it, because
I did not yet think the indispensable
necessity had come.
When
in March and May
and
July,
1862,
I made
earnest and
successive
appeals
to
the border
States
to
favor compen-
sated emancipation,
I believed the indispensable
necessity
for
military
emancipation and
arming-
the
blacks would come
unless
averted by
that
measure.
They
declined
the proposition, and
I
was,
in my best judgment,
driven
to
the
alter-
native
of
either
surrendering
the
Union,
and
with
it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand
upon the colored element.
I chose the latter.
In
choosing
it,
I hoped for greater gain than
loss
;
but of
this,
I was not entirely confident.
More
than a year of
trial now shows no loss by
it in
our foreign relations, none in our home popular
sentiment, none
in our white military force—no
loss by
it anyhow
or anywhere.
On
the
con-
trary
it shows
a gain
of
quite a hundred and
thirty
thousand
soldiers,
seamen, and
laborers.
These are palpable
facts, about which,
as
facts,
there can be no
caviling.
We have
the men
;
and we
could
not have had them
without
the
measure.
*'And now
let any Union man who complains
of the measure
test himself by writing down
in
one
line that he
is for subduing the rebellion by
force
of arms
; and
in
the
next,
that he
is
for
taking
these hundred and
thirty thousand men
from
the Union
side,
and
placing them where
they would be but for the measure he condemns.
If he cannot
face
his
case
so
stated,
it
is
only
because he cannot face the truth."
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
341
I add a word which was not in the verbal con-
versation.
In telling this tale
I attempt no com-
pliment to my own sagacity.
I claim not to have
controlled events, but confess plainly that events
have
controlled me.
Now,
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,
and
wills
also
that
we
of
the
North,
as
well
as you
of
the
South,
shall pay
fairly
for our complicity
in
that wrong, impar-
tial history
will
find therein new cause to attest
and revere the justice and goodness of God.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Mrs. Horace Mann.
Executive Mansion, April
5,
1864.
Mrs. Horace Mann.
Madam: The petition of persons under eight-
teen, praying that I would free all slave children,
and the heading of which petition
it appears you
wrote, was handed me a few days since by Sen-
ator Sumner.
Please tell these
little people I am
very glad their young hearts are so
full of just
and generous sympathy, and
that, while
I have
not the power to grant
all they ask,
I trust they
will
remember
that
God
has,
and
that,
as
it
seems. He
wills to do
it.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
William Dennison.
On
April
7,
1864,
in answer
to
a
request
to
give
a
cotton-trader
a
letter
of
recommendation
to
military
and
naval
authorities,
etc.,
the
President
telegraphed
342
LETTERS AXD TELEGRAMS
Governor Dennison.
of Ohio, through John G.
Nicolay,
his private secretary, that "the President thinks he can-
not safely write that class of
letters."
Executive Mansion, June 2^,
1864.
Hon. William Dennison and Others, a Commit-
tee of the National Union Convention.
Gentlemen
:
Your
letter
of
the
14th
instant
formally
notifying me
that
I
have been nomi-
nated by
the
convention you
represent
for
the
Presidency of the United
States
for four years
from
the
fourth
of March
next
has
been
re-
ceived.
The nomination
is
gratefully
accepted,
as
the
resolutions
of
the
convention,
called the
platform, are heartily approved.
While the reso-
lution
in
regard
to the
supplanting
of
republi-
can government upon
the
western
continent
is
fullv
concurred
in,
there
might
be
misunder-
standing were
I
not to say that the position of
the
Government
in
relation
to
the
action
of
France in Mexico, as assumed through the State
Department and approved and
indorsed by the
convention among the measures and
acts of the
executive,
will be
faithfully maintained
so long
as the state of facts shall leave that position per-
tinent and
applicable.
I am
especially
gratified
that the soldier and the seaman were not forgot-
ten by the convention,
as they forever must and
will be remembered by the grateful country for
whose
salvation they
devote
their
lives.
Thanking you for the kind and complimentary
terms in which you have communicated the nom-
ination and other proceedings of the convention,
I subscribe myself.
Your obedient servant,
Abraham Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
343
[Telegram.']
Washing-ton, D. C, September 24,
1864.
Governor William Dennison, Columbus, Ohio.
Mr.
Blair
has
resigned
and
I
appoint
you
Postmaster-General.
Come on
immediately.
A. Lincoln.
Isaac Murphy.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C, April 27,
1864.
Governor Murphy,
Little Rock, Arkansas.
I am much gratified to learn that you got out
so large a
vote,
so nearly
all the
right way,
at
the late election
; and not
less so that your State
government,
including the
legislature,
is organ-
ized and
in good working
order.
Whatever
I
can
I
will
do
to
protect
you
;
meanwhile you
must do your utmost to protect yourselves.
Pre-
sent my greetings to all.
A. Lincoln.
William
T. Sherman.^
[Telegram.]
Washington, D. C, May
4,
1864.
Major-General
Sherman,
Chattanooga,
Tennes-
see.
I
have an
imploring
appeal
in behalf
of
the
citizens, who say your Order No. 8 will compel
them
to go
north
of
Nashville.
This
is
in no
^ General
Sherman
was
one
of
the
few
generals who
at the outbreak of the war realized
its magnitude.
He was
called "Crazy
Billy" because
of
his
forebodings.
He was
a
favorite
of Grant, who made him
his
successor
in
the
West when he became Lieutenant-General, and was greatly-
trusted by Lincoln.
344
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
sense an order, nor
is
it even a request that you
will do anything which
in
the
least
shall
be
a
drawback
upon
your
military
operations,
but
anything
you
can
do
consistently
with
those
operations
for those suffering people
I
shall be
glad of.
A. Lincoln.
Executive Mansion, July
i8, 1864.
Major-General
Sherman,
Chattahoochee
River,
Georgia.
I
have
seen
your
despatches,
objecting
to
agents
of
Northern
States
opening
recruiting
stations ^ near your camps.
An act of Congress authorizes this, giving the
appointment of agents to the
States, and not to
the executive government.
It is not for the War
Department or myself to
restrain or modify the
law in
its execution further than actual necessity
may require.
To be
candid,
I was
for the passage
of
the
law, not apprehending at the time that
it would
produce such inconvenience to the armies
in the
field,
as you now
cause me
to
fear.
Many
of
the States were very anxious for
it, and
I hoped
that, with
their
State bounties, and active exer-
tions,
they would
get
out
substantial
additions
to
our
colored
forces,
which,
unlike
white
re-
cruits, help us where they come from, as well as
where they go
to.
I
still hope advantage from
the
law
;
and, being
a
law,
it must be
treated
as such by all of us.
We here
will do what we
consistently can
to
save you from
difficulties arising out of
it.
May
I ask therefore
that you
will give your
hearty cooperation?
A. Lincoln.
^ For
negroes.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
345
Washington, D. C, July 26,
1864.
Major-General Sherman, near Atlanta.
I have just seen yours complaining of the ap-
pointment of Hovey and Osterhaus.
The point
you make
is unquestionably a good one, and yet,
please hear a word from us.
My recollection
is
that
both
General
Grant
and
yourself
recom-
mended both Hovey and Osterhaus
for promo-
tion, and
these, with other strong recommenda-
tions, drew committals from us which we could
neither
honorably
nor
safely
disregard.
We
blamed Hovey
for coming away
in the manner
in which he
did, but we knew he had apparent
reason
to
feel
disappointed and
mortified, and
we
felt that
it was
not
best
to crush one who
certainly had been a good
soldier.
As to Oster-
haus, we
did
not know
of
his
leaving,
at
the
time we made the appointment, and do not now
know the terms on which he
left.
Not to have
appointed him, as the case appeared to us at the
time, would
have
been
almost,
if
not
quite,
a
violation of our word.
The word was given on
what we thought was high merit, and somewhat
on
his
nationality.
I beg you to believe we do
not
act
in
a
spirit
of
disregarding
merit; we
expect
to
await
your
program
for
further
changes and promotions in your army.
My pro-
foundest
thanks
to you
and
your
whole army
for the present campaign so
far.
A.
Lincoln.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C., September 17, 1864.
10 a. m.
Major-General Sherman, Atlanta, Georgia.
I feel great interest in the subjects of your de-
346
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
spatch
mentioning
corn and
sorghum,
and
the
contemplated visit to you.
A. Lincoln,
President of the United
States.
Executive Mansion, September
19,
1864.
Major-General
Sherman.
The
State
election
of
Indiana
occurs on
the
nth of October, and the loss of
it, to the friends
of the Government, would go far toward losing
the whole Union cause.
The bad effect upon the
November election, and especially the giving the
State government
to those who
will oppose the
war in every possible way, are too much to
risk,
if
it
can
possibly be
avoided.
The
draft
pro-
ceeds, notwithstanding
its strong tendency to lose
us
the
State.
Indiana
is
the
only
important
State, voting
in October, whose
soldiers cannot
vote
in the
field.
Anything you can
safely do
to let her soldiers, or any part of them, go home
and vote
at the State election will be greatly
in
point.
They need not remain
for the presiden-
tial
election,
but may
return
to
you
at
once.
This
is
in no sense an
order, but
is merely
in-
tended
to
impress you
with
the
importance,
to
the army
itself, of your doing all you safely can,
yourself being the judge of what you can safely
do.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.]
Washington, D.
C., September
2y,
1864.
Major-General Sherman, Atlanta, Georgia.
You say Jefferson Davis
is on a visit to Hood.
I judge that Brown and Stephens are the objects
of his
visit.
A. Lincoln.
1 LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
347
Executive Mansion, 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 under-
taking 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 ob-
vious
and
immediate
military
advantages
;
but
in showing to the world that your army could be
divided, putting the stronger part to an impor-
tant new service, and yet leaving enough to van-
quish
the
old
opposing
force
of
the
whole
Hood's army—it brings those who
sat
in
dark-
ness
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.
Mrs. Sarah
B. Meconkey.
Executive Mansion, 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 anxious
for
some days
in regard
to our armies
in
the
field.
348
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
but am considerably cheered, just now, by favor-
able news from them.
I am sure
that you
will
join me
in
the hope
for
their
further
success;
while
yourself, and
other good mothers,
wives,
sisters, and daughters, do
all you and they can
to
relieve and comfort the gallant
soldiers who
compose them.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Samuel
C. Pomeroy.^
Executive Mansion, May
12, 1864.
Hon. Senator Pomeroy.
Sir:
I
did not doubt yesterday
that you
de-
sired to see me about the appointment of asses-
sor
in
Kansas.
I
wish
you
and
Lane would
make a sincere effort to get out of the mood you
are
in.
It
does
neither
of you
any
good.
It
gives you the means
of tormenting my
life out
of me, and nothing
else.
Yours,
etc.,
A.
Lincoln.
Alfred Mackay.
[Telegram.]
Executive Mansion, May 20,
1864.
Alfred Mackay,
Secretary of Fair,
St. Louis, Missouri.
Your
despatch
received.
Thanks
for
your
greeting, and congratulations
for the
successful
opening
of your
fair.
Our
soldiers
are
doing
well, and must and
will be done well by.
A. Lincoln.
^ Mr. Pomeroy and James H. Lane were
senators from
Kansas.
Pomeroy was an opponent
of
Lincoln's renomi-
nation.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
349
I. N. Arnold.^
Executive Mansion, May 25,
1864.
Hon.
I. N. Arnold.
My dear
Sir: In regard to the order of Gen-
eral
Burnside
suspending
the
Chicago
Times,
now
nearly
a year
ago,
I can
only
say
I was
embarrassed
with
the
question
between
what
was due to the military service on the one hand,
and the liberty of the press on the other, and
I
believe
it was the despatch of Senator Trumbull
and
yourself, added
to
the proceedings
of
the
meeting which
it brought me,
that
turned
the
scale in favor of my revoking the order.
I am far from certain to-day that the revoca-
tion was not right
; and I am very sure the small
part you took
in
it
is no just ground to dispar-
age your judgment, much
less
to impugn your
motives.
I
take
it
that your
devotion
to
the
Union and
the Administration cannot be ques-
tioned by any
sincere man.
Yours
truly,
A. Lincoln.
For
Lincoln's
opinion
of
Arnold,
see
his
letter
to
Robert Boal of December 25,
1856.
Baptist Home Mission
Society.
Executive Mansion, May
30,
1864.
Rev. Dr. Ide, Hon.
J. R. Doolittle,'and Hon. A.
Hubbell,
Committee.
In response to the preamble and resolutions of
the
American
Baptist Home
Mission
Society,
which you
did me the honor
to
present,
I can
^ Arnold was
a lawyer on the
circuit with
Lincoln, and
a
member
of
Congress
during
the
war.
He
wrote
an
excellent biography of
Lincoln.
350
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
only thank you
for thus adding to the
effective
and ahiiost unanimous support which the Chris-
tian communities
are so zealously giving to the
country and
to
liberty.
Indeed,
it
is
difficult to
conceive how
it could be otherwise with any one
professing Christianity, or even having ordinary
perceptions of right and wrong.
To read in the
Bible, as the word of God himself, that "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," and to
preach therefrom
that,
''In
the
sweat
of
other
men's
faces
shalt thou
eat bread,"
to my mind
can scarcely be reconciled with honest
sincerity.
When
brought
to my
final
reckoning, may
I
have to answer for robbing no man of his goods
;
yet more
tolerable even
this, than
for robbing
one
of himself and
all that was
his.
When,
a
year or two ago, those professedly holy men of
the South met
in
the semblance
of prayer and
devotion,
and,
in
the name
of him who
said,
''As ye would
all men should do unto you, do
ye even so unto them," appealed to the Christian
world to
aid them
in doing to a whole race of
men as they would have no man do unto them-
selves,
to my thinking they contemned and
in-
sulted God and
his
church
far more
than
did
Satan when
he tempted
the
Saviour
with
the
kingdoms of the earth.
The devil's attempt was
no more false, and far less hypocritical.
But let
me
forbear,
remembering
it
is
also
written,
"Judge not lest ye be judged."
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
351
J. H. Bryant.
Executive Mansion, May 30,
1864.
Hon. John H. Bryant.
My
dear
Sir: Yours
of
the
14th
instant
in-
closing
a
card
of
invitation
to
a
preliminary
meeting contemplating the
erection of a monu-
ment
to
the memory
of
Hon. Owen Lovejoy
was duly received.
As you anticipate,
it will be
out of my power to attend.
Many of you have
known Mr. Lovejoy longer than
I have, and are
better
able than
I
to
do
his memory
complete
justice.
My
personal
acquaintance
with
him
commenced only about ten years ago, since when
it has been quite
intimate, and every
step
in
it
has been one
of
increasing
respect and
esteem,
ending,
with
his
life,
in no
less than
affection
on my
part.
It can truly be
said
of him
that
while
he was
personally
ambitious
he
bravely
endured
the
obscurity
which
the
unpopularity
of
his
principles
imposed,
and
never
accepted
official honors
until those honors were ready to
admit his principles with him.
Throughout very
heavy and perplexing responsibilities here to the
day of
his
death,
it would
scarcely wrong any
other to say he was my most generous friend.
Let him
have
the
marble
monument
along
with the well-assured and more enduring one in
the
hearts
of those who
love
liberty
unselfishly
for all men.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
New York Mass-Meeting.
Executive Mansion, June
3,
1864.
Hon. F. A. Conkling and Others.
Gentlemen:
Your
letter
inviting me
to
be
352
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
present
at a mass-meeting ^
of
loyal
citizens
to
be held at New York on the fourth instant, for
the purpose of expressing gratitude to Lieuten-
ant-General
Grant
for
his
signal
services, was
received yesterday.
It
is impossible
for me
to
attend.
I approve, nevertheless, whatever may tend to
strengthen and
sustain
General
Grant and
the
noble
armies
now
under
his
direction.
My
previous
high
estimate
of
General
Grant
has
been
maintained
and
heightened
by
what
has
occurred
in the remarkable campaign he
is now
conducting,
while
the magnitude and
difficulty
of
the
task before him do not prove
less than
I expected.
He and
his brave soldiers are now
in the midst of their great trial, and I trust that
at your meeting you
will
so
shape your good
words
that
they may
turn
to men and
guns,
moving to
his and
their support.
Yours
truly,
A. Lincoln.
John Hay.
On June
5,
1864, J. G. Nicolay, the President's private
secretary, wrote from Baltimore, where he was attend-
ing
the
National
Union
[Republican]
convention,
to
Major
John
Hay,
assistant
private
secretary
to
the
President,
a
letter
relating
to
a
conversation
he had
had with B.
C. Cook, the head of the Illinois delegates.
Cook was
"suspicious
that
Swett ^ may
be
untrue
to
Lincoln."
One of the straws which led him
to this be-
lief
was
that
Swett had
telegraphed
urging
the
Illi-
nois
delegation
to go
for Joseph
Holt
for
Vice-Presi-
^ This meeting was intended by certain Radicals opposed
to
Lincoln's renomination
to
launch
a boom
for
General
Grant's nomination for the presidency.
By this letter Lin-
coln
diverted
it
into
a
meeting
for
the
support
of
the
Union.
^ Leonard
Swett,
really
the
only one
in the
President's
confidence.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
353
dent.
"I
told
Cook,"
says
Nicolay,
"that
I
thought
Lincoln would
not wish even
to
indicate
a
preference
for
Vice-President,
as
the
rival
candidates
were
all
friendly to him.
.
.
. Cook wants to know confidentially
whether
Swett
is
all
right
;
whether
in
urging
Holt
for
Vice-President
he
reflects
the
President's
wishes;
whether
the
President
has any
preference,
either
per-
sonally or on the score of policy, or whether he wishes
not even
to
interfere by
a
confidential
indication."
Upon
this
letter
the
President
wrote
the
following
indorsement
:
Swett
is
unquestionably
all
right.
Mr.
Holt
is a good man, but
I had not heard or thought
of him
for Vice-President.
Wish not
to
inter-
fere
about
Vice-President.
Cannot
interfere
about platform.
Convention must judge for
it-
self.
William D. Kelley.
{Memorandum
of an
Interviezu
zvith
the
Post-
master of Philadelphia.]
What I said to Postmaster of Philadelphia on
this day—June
20,
1864:
Complaint
is made
to me that you
are using
your
official power to defeat Judge Kelley's
re-
nomination to Congress.
I am
well
satisfied
with Judge
Kelley
as
a
member of Congress, and
I do not know that the
man who might supplant him would be as
satis-
factory
; but the correct principle,
I think,
is that
all our friends should have absolute freedom of
choice among our
friends.
My wish, therefore,
is 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.
3 54
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
This
is precisely the rule
I inculcated and ad-
hered to on my part when a certain other nom-
ination now recently made was being canvassed
for.
See letter of August
5, 1864,
to Morton McMichael.
Clement
C. Clay and Others.
On
July
13,
1864,
Mr.
Greeley,
editor
of
the New
York Tribune, wrote Lincoln
: "I have now information,
on
which
I
can
rely,
that two
persons,
duly commis-
sioned and empowered
to
negotiate
for
peace,
are
.
.
.
not far from Niagara Falls
in Canada, and are desirous
of conferring with
yourself."
The following pass was
given
in reply
:
[Safe-Conduct.'\
Executive Mansion, July
16,
1864.
The
President
of
the
United
States
directs
that
the
four
persons whose names
follow,
to
wit: Hon. Clement C. Clay, Hon. Jacob Thomp-
son, Prof. James B. Holcombe, George N. San-
ders, shall have safe conduct to the city of Wash-
ington in company with the Hon. Horace Greeley,
and
shall be exempt from
arrest or annoyance
of any kind from any officer of the United States
during their journey to the said city of Washing-
ton.
By order of the President.
John Hay, Major and A. A. G.
Abram Wakeman.
[Private.'\
Executive Mansion, July 25, 1864.
Abram Wakeman, Esq.
My
dear
Sir:
I
feel
that
the
subject which
you
pressed
upon my
attention
in
our
recent
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
355
conversation
is an important
one.
The men of
the South recently (and perhaps
still) at Niagara
Falls
tell us
distinctly that they are
in the con-
fidential employment of the rebellion
; and they
tell us as distinctly that they are not empowered
to offer terms of peace.
Does any one doubt that
what they
are empowered
to do
is
to
assist
in
selecting and arranging a candidate and a plat-
form
for the Chicago convention?
Who could
have
given
them
this
confidential
employment
but he ^ who, only a week
since, declared to Ja-
quess and Gilmore, that he had no terms of peace
but the independence of the South—the dissolu-
tion of the Union?
Thus, the present presiden-
tial contest will almost certainly be no other than
a contest between a union - and a disunion ^ can-
didate,
disunion
certainly
following the
success
of the
latter.
The issue
is a mighty one, for all
people, and all times
; and whoever aids the right
will be appreciated and remembered.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
J.
C. Welling.
Executive Mansion, July 25,
1864.
J. C. Welling, Esq.
Sir:
According
to
the
request
contained
in
your note,
I have placed Mr.
Gibson's
letter of
resignation
in the hands of
the
President.
He
has read the letter, and says he accepts the resig-
nation, as he will be glad to do with any other,
which may be tendered,
as
this
is,
for the pur-
pose
of
taking an
attitude
of
hostility
against
him.
^ Jefferson Davis.
* Abraham
Lincoln.
2 George
B.
McClellan.
356
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
He
says he was not aware
that he was
so
much indebted to Mr. Gibson for having accepted
the
office at
first, not remembering that he ever
pressed him to do so, or that he gave
it otherwise
than as was usual, upon request made on behalf
of Mr. Gibson.
He
thanks
Mr.
Gibson
for
his
acknowledg-
ment that he has been treated with personal kind-
ness and
consideration, and he
says he knows
of but two small drawbacks upon Mr. Gibson's
right to still receive such treatment, one of which
is that he never could learn of his giving much
attention to the duties of his office, and the other
is
this studied attempt of Mr.
Gibson's
to
stab
him.
I am, very truly.
Your obedient servant,
John Hay.
Morton McMichael.
[Private.]
Executive Mansion, August
5,
1864.
Hon. Morton McMichael.
.
.
.
I am now told that, of the two or three hun-
dred
employees
in
the
Post-office,
not
one
of
them
is openly for Judge Kelley.
This,
if true,
is not accidental.
Left to their free choice, there
can be no doubt that a
large number of them,
probably as much or more than
half, would be
for
Kelley.
And
if they are
for him, and are
not restrained, they can put
it beyond question
by publicly saying so.
Please tell the postmaster
he must find a way to relieve me from the sus-
picion that he
is not keeping his promise to me
in good faith.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
357
S.
G. BURBRIDGE.
Washington, D. C, August 8,
1864.
Major-General Burbridge, Lexington, Kentucky.
Last December
Mrs.
Emily
T.
Helm,
half-
sister of Mrs. Lincoln, and widow of the rebel
general, Ben Hardin Helm, stopped here on her
way from Georgia to Kentucky, and
I gave her
a paper
as
I remember,
to
protect her
against
the
mere
fact
of
her
being
General
Helm's
widow.
I hear a rumor to-day that you recently
sought to arrest her, but were prevented by her
presenting the paper from me.
I do not intend
to
protect
her
from
the
consequences
of
dis-
loyal words or acts, spoken or done by her since
her return to Kentucky, and
if the paper given
her by me can be construed
to give her protec-
tion for such words or acts,
it is hereby revoked
pro
tanto.
Deal with her
for
current
conduct
just as you would with any other.
A. Lincoln.
\^ndorsement of Application for Employment.]
August
15,
1864.
I am always for the man who wishes to work
;
and
I
shall be glad for this man
to get suitable
employment at Cavalry Depot, or elsewhere.
A. Lincoln.
W. Hunt.
Executive Mansion, August
16, 1864.
Hon. Ward Hunt. ...
My dear Sir
:
I am for the regular nominee in
all
cases, and no
one
could
be more
satisfac-
tory
to me
as the nominee
in that
district than
3 58
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Mr.
[Roscoe']
Conkling.
I do not mean to say
there
[are}
not others as good as he in the dis-
trict
; but I think
I know him to be at least good
enough.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
D.
S. D. Baldwin.
On August
19,
1864, through
his
secretary, John
G.
Nicolay,
the President returned an application
for mil-
itary
promotion
from
one
D.
S.
D.
Baldwin,
saying
that he "never
interfered with
the
details of army
or-
ganization,"
and
recommending
Baldwin
to
apply
to
General M. R.
Patrick.
Abraham Lincoln.
[Memorandum.']
Executive Mansion, August 23,
1864.
This morning, as for some days past,
it seems
exceedingly
probable
that
this
Administration
will not be reelected.
Then
it will be my duty to
so cooperate with the President
elect as to save
the Union between the election and the inaugu-
ration; as he
will have secured
his
election on
such ground that he cannot possibly save
it aftef-
ward.
A. Lincoln.
I. M. SCHERMERHORN.
[Private.']
Executive Mansion, September 12, 1864.
Isaac M. Schermerhorn, Buffalo, New York.
My dear
Sir: Your
letter, mentioned
in your
two telegrams, has not yet reached me,
so that
I am
without knowledge
of
its
particulars.
I
beg you to patdon me for having concluded that
it is not best for me now to write a general letter
to a political meeting.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
359
First,
I
believe
it
is
not customary
for one
holding the
office, and being a candidate for re-
election, to do so; and, secondly, a public letter
must be
written
with some
care, and
at some
expense of time, so that having begun with your
meeting,
I could not well refuse others, and yet
could
not
get
through
with
all
having
equal
claims.
Please tender to those you represent, my
sin-
cere
thanks
for
the
invitation, and my
appeal
to their indulgence for having declined their re-
quest.
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
See
letter
of December
10,
1862,
to
S.
R.
Curtis.
Philip H. Sheridan.^
[Telegram.^
Executive Mansion, September 20, 1864.
Major-General Sheridan, Winchester, Virginia.
Have just heard of your great victory.
God
bless you all, officers and men.
Strongly inclined
to come up and see you.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.']
Executive Mansion, October 22, 1864.
Major-General Sheridan.
With great pleasure
I tender to you and your
brave army
the thanks
of
the
nation,
and my
own personal admiration and gratitude,
for the
month's
operations
in
the
Shenandoah
Valley
;
and especially for the splendid work of October
19, 1864.
Your obedient servant,
Abraham Lincoln.
* General
Sheridan,
the
greatest
cavalry
general
of
the
war, won the battle
of Winchester on September
19,
1864.
On
October
he
turned
defeat
into
victory
at
Cedar
Creek by his famous ride.
36o
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
H. W. Hoffman.
Executive Mansion, October lo, 1864.
Hon. Henry W. Hoffman.
My dear Sir: A convention of Maryland has
framed a new constitution for the State
; a pubHc
meeting
is
called
for
this evening
at Baltimore
to aid
in securing
its
ratification by the
people,
and you ask a word from me for the occasion.
I
presume the only feature of the instrument about
which there
is serious controversy
is that which
provides for the extinction of slavery.
It needs
not to be a secret, and I presume
it is no secret,
that I wish success to this provision.
I desire
it
on
every
consideration.
I wish
all men
to be
free.
I wish the material prosperity of the
al-
ready
free, which
I
feel
sure
the
extinction of
slavery would bring.
I wish to see in process of
disappearing
that
only
thing which
ever
could
bring this nation to civil war.
I attempt no argu-
ment.
Argument upon the
question
is
already
exhausted by the abler, better informed, and more
immediately interested sons of Maryland herself.
I only add that
I
shall be
gratified exceedingly
if the good
people
of
the
State
shall, by
their
votes, ratify the new constitution.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Wm.
B. Campbell and Others.
Executive Mansion, October 22,
1864.
Messrs. Wm.
B. Campbell [and others].
Gentlemen
:
.
.
.
The movement
set on
foot by
the
\_Union]
convention and Governor Johnson
does
not,
as
seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
361
national
Executive.
In no proper
sense can
it
be
considered
other
than
as
an
independent
movement of at least a portion of the loyal peo-
ple of Tennessee.
I do not perceive
in
the plan any menace of
violence or coercion toward any one.
Governor
Johnson,
like
any
other
loyal
citizen
of
Ten-
nessee, has the right to favor any political plan
he
chooses, and,
as
military governor,
it
is
his
duty to keep the peace among and for the loyal
people of the
State.
I cannot
discern
that by
this plan he purposes any more.
But you object to the plan.
Leaving
it alone
will be your perfect security against
it.
Do as
you please on your own account, peacefully and
loyally, and Governor Johnson
will
not molest
you, but will protect you against violence so far
as in his power.
I presume that the conducting of a presidential
election
in Tennessee
in
strict accordance with
the old code of the State is not now a possibility.
It
is
scarcely
necessary
to add
that
if
any
election
shall
be
held,
and any
votes
shall
be
cast in the State of Tennessee for President and
Vice-President of the United
States,
it
will be-
long, not to the military agents, nor yet to the
Executive Department, but exclusively to another
department
of
the
Government,
to
determine
whether they are entitled to be counted
in con-
formity with
the
Constitution and laws
of
the
United
States.
Except
it be
to
give
protection
against
vio-
lence,
I
decline
to
interfere
in
any way
with
any presidential election.
Abraham Lincoln.
362
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
Sailors' Fair at Boston.
[Telegram.^
Washington, D. C, November
8, 1864.
To the Managing Committee of the Sailors' Fair,
Boston, Massachusetts.
Allow me to wish you a great success.
With
the old fame of the navy made brighter
in the
present war you cannot
fail.
I name none
lest
I wrong others by omission.
To
all, from rear-
admiral
to
honest
Jack,
I
tender
the
nation's
admiration and gratitude.
A. Lincoln.
Mrs. Bixby.
Executive Mansion, November 21, 1864.
Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Massachusetts.
Dear Madam
:
I have been shown
in the
files
of the War Department a statement of the Ad-
jutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on
the
field of
battle.
I
feel how weak and
fruit-
less must be any words
of mine which
should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss
so
overwhelming.
But
I
cannot
refrain
from
tendering
to you
the
consolation
that may
be
found
in the thanks of
the Republic they
died
to
save.
I pray that our heavenly Father may
assuage
the
anguish
of your bereavement, and
leave
you
only
the
cherished memory
of
the
loved and
lost, and the solemn pride that must
be yours to have
laid so
costly a
sacrifice upon
the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
363
John Phillips.^
Executive Mansion, November 21, 1864.
Deacon John
Phillips.
My dear Sir:
I have heard of the incident at
the
polls
in your town,
in which you
acted
so
honorable a part, and
I take the liberty of writ-
ing to you to express my personal gratitude for
the
compliment paid me by
the
suffrage
of
a
citizen so venerable.
.
The example of such devotion to
civic duties
in one whose days have already been extended
an average lifetime beyond the
Psalmist's
limit,
cannot but be valuable and
fruitful.
It
is
not
for myself only, but for the country which you
have
in your sphere served so long and so well,
that I thank you.
Your friend and servant,
Abraham Lincoln.
James
Speed.^
•
[Telegram.^
Executive Mansion, December
I, 1864.
Hon. James Speed, Louisville, Kentucky.
I appoint you to be Attorney-General.^
Please
come on at once.
A. Lincoln.
1 Deacon John
Phillips,
of
Sturbridge,
Mass.,
aged one
hundred and four years, having voted
at every Presidential
election from
the adoption
of the Constitution, tottered to
the
noils
to vote
for
Lincoln.
r
•
j
t
•
' James Speed was the brother of the closest friend Lin-
coln
ever
had,
Joshua
F.
Speed,
through whom
Lincoln
met James, and Acquired a high opinion of his legal ability.
364
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
William
B. Gushing.
[Message
to Congress.^
To the Senate and House of Representatives.
In conformity to the law of
[the]
i6th of July,
1862,
I
most
cordially recommend
that
Lieu-
tenant William B. Gushing, United States Navy,
receive a vote of thanks from Gongress
for his
important,
gallant, and
perilous achievement
in
destroying the rebel iron-clad steamer Albemarle,
on
the night
of
the 27th
of October,
1864,
at
Plymouth, North
Garolina.
The destruction of
so
formidable
a
vessel, which had
resisted the
continued attacks of a number of our vessels on
former
occasions,
is an important event touch-
ing
our
future
naval
and
military
operations,
and would
reflect honor on any
officer, and
re-
dounds
to
the
credit
of
this young
officer and
the few brave comrades who assisted in this suc-
cessful and daring undertaking.
Abraham Lincoln.
Washington, December
5,
1864.
John A. Winslow.
[Message
to
Congress.']
To the Senate and House of Representatives.
In
conformity
to
the law
of
July
16,
1862,
I
most cordially recommend that Gaptain John A.
Winslow, United States Navy, receive a vote of
thanks from Gongress for the
skill and gallantry
exhibited by him in the brilliant action whilst in
command
of
the United
States
steamer Kear-
sarge, which led
to the
total
destruction of the
piratical
craft Alabama,
on
the
19th
of
June,
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
3^5
1864,
a
vessel
superior
In tonnage,
superior
in
number
of
guns,
and
superior
in
number
of
crew.
.
.
.
Abraham
Lincoln.
Washington, December
5,
1864.
Edward R.
S. Canby.
Executive Mansion, December 12, 1864.
jMajor-General Canby.
I
think
it
is probable
that you
are
laboring
under some misapprehension
as
to the purpose,
or rather the motive, of the Government on two
points—cotton, and the new Louisiana State gov-
ernment.
It
is conceded that the military operations are
the
first in importance
; and as to what
is indis-
pensable
to
these
operations,
the
department
commander must be judge and master.
But the other matters mentioned
I suppose to
be of public importance
also; and
w^liat
I have
attempted in regard to them is not merely a con-
cession to private
interest and pecuniary
greed.
As
to
cotton.
By the external blockade, the
price
is made
certainly
six times
as great as
it
w^as.
And yet the enemy gets through
at
least
one-sixth part as much
in a given period, say a
year, as
if there were no blockade, and receives
as much for it as he would for a full crop in time
of
peace.
The
effect
in
substance
is,
that we
give him six ordinary crops without the trouble
of producing any but the
first; and at the same
time
leave
his
fields
and
his
laborers
free
to
produce provisions.
You know how
this keeps
up
his
armies
at home and
procures
supplies
from abroad.
For other reasons we cannot give
up the blockade, and hence
it becomes immensely
Z66
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
important
to
ns
to
get
the
cotton away
from
him.
Better give him guns for
it than
let him,
as now,
get both guns and ammunition
for
it.
But even
this
only
presents
part of
the
public
interest
to
get
out
cotton.
Our
finances
are
greatly involved
in
the
matter.
The way
cot-
ton goes now
carries
so much
gold out of the
country as to leave us paper currency only, and
that
so
far
depreciated
as
that
for
every hard
dollar's worth of supplies we obtain, we contract
to pay two and
a
half hard
dollars
hereafter.
This is much to be regretted
; and, while I believe
we can
live through
it,
at
all events
it demands
an
earnest
effort on
the
part
of
all
to
correct
it.
And
if pecuniary greed can be made to aid
us in such effort,
let us be thankful that so much
good can be got out of pecuniary greed.
As to the new State government of Louisiana.
Most certainly there
is no worthy object in get-
ting up a piece of machinery merely to pay
sal-
aries and give
political
consideration
to
certain
men.
But
it
is
a
worthy
object
to
again
get
Louisiana
into
proper
practical
relations
with
the
nation, and we can never
finish
this
if we
never begin
it.
Much good work is already done,
and surely nothing can be gained by throwing
it
away.
I do not wish
either cotton or the new State
government
to
take precedence
of
the
military
while the necessity for the military remains
; but
there
is a strong public reason for treating each
with so much favor as may not be substantially
detrimental to the military.
Allow me
a word
of
explanation
in
regard
to the telegram which you kindly forwarded
to
Admiral Farragut for me.
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
367
That
telegram was
prompted
by
a
piece
of
secret information inducing me
to
suspect
that
the use of a
forged paper might be
attempted
on the admiral, in order to base a claim that we
had raised our own blockade.
I am happy
in the hope that you
are almost
well of your
late and severe wound.^
Yours very truly,
A. Lincoln.
George H. Thomas.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C,
December 16, 1864.
11.30 a.m.
Major-General Thomas,
Nashville, Tennessee.
Please accept for yourself,
officers, and men,
the nation's thanks for your good work of yes-
terday.2
You made a magnificent beginning; a
grand consummation
is within your easy
reach.
Do not let
it
slip.
A. Lincoln.
Joseph H. Choate.
Executive Mansion, December
19,
1864.
Joseph H. Choate, Esq.
My dear
Sir:
I
have the honor
to acknowl-
edge
the
reception
of
your
kind
invitation
to
be
present
at
the
annual
festival
of
the New
England
Society
to commemorate
the
landing
of
the
Pilgrims, on Thursday,
the 22d
of
this
month.
^ While
on
a tour
of inspection
on White
River,
Ark.,
General Canby was severely wounded by guerrillas
Later,
on
April
12,
1865. with
the
assistance
of Admiral Farra-
gut
he captured
Mobile.
After the war he became
noted
as an Indian fighter.
He was treacherously killed, April
ii,
1873, by Modoc Indians.
- Defeat of General John
B. Hood.
268
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
My
duties
will not allow me
to
avail myself
of your kindness.
I cannot but congratulate you and the coun-
try,
however,
upon
the
spectacle
of
devoted
unanimity presented by the people
at home,
the
citizens
that form
our marching columns, and
the
citizens
that
fill our
squadrons on
the
sea,
all animated by the same determination to com-
plete
the
work
our
fathers
began
and
trans-
mitted.
The work of the Plymouth emigrants was the
glory
of
their
age.
While we
reverence
their
memory,
let
us
not
forget how
vastly
greater
is our opportunity.
I am, very truly.
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
John Maclean.
On
December
20,
1864,
the
College
of New
Jersey
at
Princeton
conferred
on
President
Lincoln
the
de-
gree
of
Doctor
of
Laws.
On December
27,
1864,
he
acknowledged the compliment
to President Maclean
:
The assurance conveyed by
this high compli^
ment, that the course of the Government which
I represent has received the approval of a body
of gentlemen of such character and
intelligence,
in this time of public trial is most grateful to me.
Thoughtful men
must
feel
that
the
fate
of
civilization upon this continent
is involved in the
issue of our contest.
Among the most gratify-
ing proofs
of
this
conviction
is
the hearty
de-
votion everywhere exhibited by our schools and
colleges
to the national cause.
I am most thankful
if my labors have seemed
to conduce
to the preservation
of
those
institu-
tions
under
which
alone we
can
expect
good
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
3^9
government—and
in
Its
train,
sound
learning
and the progress of the Uberal
arts.
I am,
sir, very truly, your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Lyman Trumbull.^
Executive Mansion, January
9,
1865.
Hon. Lyman Trumbull. ...
If
I
shall neither take sides nor argue,
will
it
be out of place for me to make what
I think
is
the true statement of your question as to the pro-
posed Louisiana senators?
"Can Louisiana be brought into proper practi-
cal relations with the Union sooner by admitting
or by rejecting the proposed senators?"
Yours
truly,
A. Lincoln.
G. M. Dodge.
[Telegram.]
Executive Mansion, January
15,
1865.
Major-General Dodge,
St. Louis, Missouri.
It
is represented to me that there
is so much
irregular violence
in northern Missouri
as to be
driving
away
the
people
and
almost
depopu-
lating
it.
Please
gather information,
and
con-
sider whether an
appeal
to
the people there
to
go
to
their homes and
let one another alone-
recognizing as a full right of protection for each
that he
lets others
alone, and banning only him
who refuses to
let others alone—may not enab e
you to withdraw the troops, their presence
itself
1 Mr
Trumbull, an
Illinois Republican, had been
elected
to the
Senate
at
a time when Lincoln expected to
receive
the Republican nomination.
3 70
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
[being]
a cause of irritation and constant appre-
hension, and thus
restore peace and
quiet, and
returning
prosperity.
Please
consider
this and
telegraph or write me.
A. Lincoln.
William Lloyd Garrison.
Washington, January 24,
1865.
My dear Mr. Garrison:
I have your kind
let-
ter of the 2ist of January, and can only beg that
you
will pardon the seeming neglect occasioned
by my constant engagements.
When
I received
the
spirited
and
admirable
painting,
"Waiting
for
the Hour,"
I
directed my
secretary not to
acknowledge
its
arrival
at
once,
preferring
to
make
my
personal
acknowledgments
of
the
thoughtful kindness of the donors; and waiting
for some leisure hour,
I have committed the dis-
courtesy of not replying at
all.
I hope you will
believe
that my
thanks,
though
late,
are most
cordial, and request
that you
will convey them
to
those
associated
with you
in
this
flattering
and generous gift.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Thomas T. Eckert.
[Instructions.']
Executive Mansion, January 30,
1865.
Major T. T. Eckert.
Sir: You
will
proceed
with
the
documents
placed
in your hands, and on reaching General
Ord will deliver him the letter addressed to him
by
the
Secretary
of War.
Then, by
General
Ord's
assistance,
procure
an
interview
with
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
371
Messrs.
Stephens,
Hunter,
and
Campbell,^
or
any of them, deHver to him or them the paper on
which your own
letter
is
written.
Note on the
copy which you
retain the time of deHvery and
to whom
dehvered.
Receive
their
answer
in
writing,
waiting
a
reasonable
time
for
it,
and
which,
if
it
contain
their
decision
to
come
through without further condition,
will be your
warrant
to
ask
General
Ord
to
pass
them
through as directed in the letter of the Secretary
of War to him.
If by their answer they decline
to
come,
or
propose
other
terms, do
not have
them pass through.
And
this being your whole
duty,
return and
report to me.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Lieutenant-Colonel Glenn.
Executive Mansion, February
7,
1865.
Lieutenant-Colonel Glenn, Commanding Post at
Henderson, Kentucky.
Complaint
is made to me that you are forcing
negroes
into the military
service, and even tor-
turing them—riding them on rails and the like
to
extort
their
consent.
I hope
this may be a
mistake.
The
like must not be done by you, or
any one under you.
You must not force negroes
any more than white men.
Answer me on
this,
A.
Lincoln.
Alexander H. Stephens.
Executive Mansion, February
10,
1865.
Hon. A. H. Stephens.
According
to
our
agreement,
your
nephew.
Lieutenant
Stephens,
goes
to you
bearing
this
^ The Confederate Peace Commissioners.
372
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
note.
Please, in return, to select and send to me
that officer of the same rank imprisoned at Rich-
mond,
whose
physical
condition most
urgently
requires his release.
Respectfully,
A. Lincoln.
Thomas
C. Fletcher.
Executive Mansion, February 20,
1865.
His Excellency Governor Fletcher.
It seems that there
is now no organized mili-
tary
force
of
the enemy
in
Missouri,
and
yet
that destruction of property and
life
is rampant
everywhere.
Is not the cure for this within easy
reach
of
the people themselves?
It cannot but
be that every man not naturally a robber or cut-
throat would gladly put an end to
this
state of
things.
A large majority in every locality must
feel alike upon this subject
; and
if
so, they only
need
to
reach
an
understanding,
one
with
an-
other.
Each leaving
all others alone solves the
problem; and surely each would do this but for
his apprehension that others
will not leave him
alone.
Cannot
this mischievous
distrust be
re-
moved?
Let neighborhood meetings
be
every-
where called and held, of
all entertaining a
sin-
cere purpose
for mutual
security
in
the
future,
whatever they may heretofore have thought, said
or done about the war, or about anything
else.
Let
all such meet, and, waiving
all
else, pledge
each to cease harassing others, and to make com-
mon cause
against whoever
persists
in making,
aiding, or encouraging further disturbance.
The
practical
means
they
will
best
know
how
to
adopt and apply.
At such meetings old
friend-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
373
ships
will
cross
the
memory,
and
honor
and
Christian charity will come in to help.
Please consider whether
it may not be well to
suggest
this to the now
afflicted people of Mis-
souri.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
James Gordon Bennett.
Executive Mansion, February 20,
1865.
James G. Bennett,
Esq.
Dear
Sir:
I propose,
at some convenient and\
not
distant day,
to nominate you
to the United
i
States Senate as Minister to France.
*
Your obedient servant,
A. Lincoln.
Benjamin
G. Smith and Franklin W.
Smith.
[Order Annulling
Sentence.']
I am unwilling for the sentence to stand, and
be executed, to any extent
in
this
case.
In the
absence of a more adequate motive than the evi-
dence discloses,
I am wholly unable to believe in
the
existence
of
criminal
or
fraudulent
intent
on the part of men of such well established good
character.
If the evidence went as far to estab-
lish a guilty profit of one or two hundred thou-
sand
dollars,
as
it does of one or two hundred
dollars, the case would, on the question of guilt,
bear a
far
different
aspect.
That on
this con-
tract,
involving some twelve himdred thousand
dollars, the contractors would plan, and attempt
to
execute
a
fraud,
which,
at
the
most,
could
profit them only one or two hundred, or even one
thousand
dollars,
is
to my
mind
beyond
the
3 74
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
power of rational
belief.
That they did not, in
such a case, make far greater gains, proves that
they
did
not,
with
guilty
or
fraudulent
intent,
make
[any}
at
all.
The judgment and sentence
are disapproved and
declared
null, and the
de-
fendants
fully discharged.
A.
Lincoln.
March 18/1865.
Godfrey Weitzel.
[Telegram.']
Headquarters Armies of the United States,
City
Point, April
6,
1865.
Major-General Weitzel, Richmond, Virginia.
It has been intimated
to me
that the
gentle-
men who have
acted
as
the
legislature of Vir-
ginia in siipport of the rebellion may now desire
to assemble
at Richmond and take measures to
withdraw the Virginia troops and other support
from resistance to the General Government.
If
they attempt
it, give them permission and pro-
tection,
until,
if
at
all, they attempt some action
hostile
to the United
States,
in which case you
will
notify them,
give them
reasonable time
to
leave, and
at the end
of which time arrest any
who remain.
Allow Judge Campbell to see this,
but do not make
it public.
A. Lincoln.
See
letter to U.
S. Grant of April
6,
1865.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C, April
12,
1865.
Major-General Weitzel, Richmond,
Virginia.
I have seen your despatch
to Colonel Hardie
about the matter of prayers.
I do not remember
hearing prayers spoken of while
I was
in Rich-
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
,
375
mond
; but
I have no doubt you have
acted
in
v^hat appeared to you to be the spirit and temper
manifested by me
while
there.^
Is
there
any
sign of the rebel legislature coming together on
the understanding of my letter to you?
If there
is any such
sign, inform me what
it
is;
if there
is no such sign, you may withdraw the offer.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.']
Washington, D. C, April
12,
1865.
Major-General Weitzel, Richmond, Virginia.
I
have
just
seen Judge
Campbell's
letter
to
you of the 7th.
He assumes, as appears to me,
that
I
have
called
the
insurgent
legislature
of
Virginia together,
as the
rightful legislature of
the State, to settle all differences with the United
States.
I have done no such thing.
I spoke of
them, not as a legislature, but as "the gentlemen
who have acted as the legislature of Virginia in
support of the rebellion."
I did this on purpose
to exclude the assumption that
I was recogniz-
ing them as a rightful body.
I dealt with them
as men having power de facto
to do
a
specific
thing, to wit
: "To withdraw the Virginia troops
and other support from resistance to the General
Government,"
for
which,
in
the
paper handed
Judge Campbell,
I promised a specific equivalent,
to
wit
:
a
remission
to the people
of the
State,
except
in
certain
cases,
of
the
confiscation
of
their property.
I meant this, and no more.
In-
asmuch,
however,
as
Judge
Campbell
miscon-
strues
this, and
is
still pressing for an armistice,
^ Secretary
Stanton
had
rebuked
General
Weitzel
for
neglect
to
require
the
pastors
of Richmond
churches
to
pray
for
President
Lincoln,
as
they had done
for
Presi-
dent Davis before the
city's capture.
Z']6
LETTERS AND TELEGRAMS
contrary to the explicit statement of the paper I j
gave him, and particularly as General Grant has^^
since captured the Virginia troops,
so
that
giv-"'
ing
a
consideration
for
their withdrawal
is no
longer
applicable,
let my
letter
to you and
the
paper to Judge Campbell both be withdrawn, or
countermanded, and he be notified of
it.
Do not
now
allow them
to
assemble,
but
if any have
come, allow them safe return to their homes.
A.
Lincoln.
George Ashmun.
Washington, D.
C., April
14,
1865.
Allow Mr. Ashmun and
his
friends
to come
in at 9
a. m. to-morrow.
A. Lincoln.
These were the last words written by Abraham Lin-
coln.
He
wrote
this
direction
on
a
card
just
before
leaving the White House
for Ford's Theatre, where he
was assassinated.
LbD"l3
,..../)