286
LETTERS
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, Washington City,
October 24, 1862.
Major-General McClellan
:
I
have
just
read
your
despatch
about
sore-
tongued and fatigued
horses.
Will you pardon
me for asking what the horses of your army have
done
since the
battle
of Antietam
that
fatigues
anything ?
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.]
Executive Mansion, Washington,
October 26,
1862.
11.30
a. m.
Major-General McClellan:
Yours, in reply to mine about horses, received.
Of course you know the facts better than
I
;
still,
two
considerations
remain.
Stuart's
cavalry
outmarched
ours,
having
certainly
done
more
marked service on the Peninsula and everywhere
since.
Secondly,
will
not
a movement
of
our
army be
a
relief
to the cavalry, compelling the
enemy
to
concentrate
instead
of
foraging
in
squads everywhere?
But
I am
so
rejoiced
to
learn
from
your
despatch
to
General
Halleck
that you begin crossing the river this morning.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.']
Executive Mansion, Washington,
October 27, 1862.
12.10 p. m.
Major-General McClellan
:
Yours
of yesterday
received.
Most
certainly
I intend no injustice to any, and
if
I have done
any
I deeply regret
it.
To be
told,
after more
than
five weeks'
total inaction of the army, and
'McCLELLAN, GEORGE B.
287
during which period we have
sent to the army
every
fresh horse we possibly could, amounting
in the whole to 7918, that the cavalry horses were
too much fatigued to move, presents a very cheer-
less,
almost
hopeless,
prospect
for
the
future,
and
it may have forced something of impatience
in my despatch.
If not recruited and rested then,
when could they ever be?
I suppose the river
is
rising, and I am glad to believe you are crossing.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram.]
Executive Mansion, Washington,
October 27, 1862.
3.25 p. m.
Major-General McClellan
:
Your despatch of 3
p. m. to-day,
in regard to
filling up old regiments with drafted men,
is re-
ceived, and the request therein shall be complied
with as far as practicable.
And now
I ask a distinct answer to the ques-
tion, Is
it your purpose not to go into action again
until
the men now being
drafted
in
the
States
are incorporated
into the old regiments?
A. Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Executive Mansion,
Washington, October 29, 1862.
Major-General McClellan:
Your despatches of night before last, yesterday,,
and
last night
all received.
I am much pleased
with the movement of the army.
When you get
entirely across the river
let me know.
What do
you know of the enemy?
A. Lincoln.
238
LETTERS
[Order.]
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November
5, 1862.
By
direction
of
the
President,
it
is
ordered
that Major-General McClellan be
relieved from
the command of the Army of the Potomac, and
that Major-General Burnside take the command
of that army.
Also that Major-General Hunter
take command of the corps
in said army which
is now commanded by General Burnside.
That
Major-General Fitz-John Porter be relieved from
command of the corps he now commands in said
army, and that Major-General Hooker take com-
mand of said Corps.
The
general-in-chief
is
authorized,
in
[his]
discretion, to issue an order substantially as the
above,
forthwith,
or
so
soon
as
he may deem
proper.
A.
Lincoln.
McClernand, John A.
Washington, November
10, 1861.
Brigadier-General McClernand.
My
dear
Sir
:
This
is
not
an
official,
but
a
social
letter.
You have had a
battle, and with-
out being able to judge as to the precise measure
of
its
value,
I
think
it
is
safe
to say that you
and
all with you have done honor to yourselves
and the
flag, and service to the country.
Most
gratefully
do
I
thank
you
and
them.
In my
present
position
I must care
for the whole na-
tion; but
I hope
it
will be no
injustice
to any
other State for me to indulge a
little home pride
that Illinois does not disappoint us.
I have just
closed a long interview with Mr. Washburne, in
McCLERNAND, JOHN A.
289
which he has
detailed the many
difficulties you
and those with you labor under.
Be assured we
do not forget or neglect you.
Much, very much,
goes undone
; but
it
is because we have not the
power to do
it faster than we do.
Some of your
forces
are
without
arms, but
the same
is
true
here and
at
every
other
place where we have
considerable
bodies
of
troops.
The
plain mat-
ter of
fact
is, our good people have rushed to
the
rescue
of
the
government
faster
than
the
government can find arms to put into their hands.
It would
be
agreeable
to
each
division
of
the
army
to know
its own
precise
destination
; but
the government cannot immediately, nor
inflexi-
bly at any time, determine as to
all
; nor,
if de-
termined, can
it
tell
its
friends without
at the
same time telling
its enemies.
We know you do
all as wisely and well as you can; and you will
not be deceived
if you conclude the same
is true
of
us.
Please
give my
respects and thanks to
all.
Yours very truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January
8,
1863.
Major-General McClernand.
My
dear
Sir
: Your
interesting communica-
tion by
the hand
of Major
Scates
is
received.
I never
did ask more, nor ever was willing to
accept less, than for
all the
States, and the peo-
ple
thereof,
to
take and
hold
their
places and
their rights in the Union, under the Constitution
of the United States.
For this alone have
I
felt
authorized to
struggle, and
I
seek neither more
nor
less now.
Still, to use a coarse but an ex-
290
LETTERS
pressive figure, "broken eggs cannot be mended."
I
have
issued
the
Emancipation
Proclamation,
and
I cannot
retract
it.
After
the commence-
ment of hostilities,
I struggled nearly a year and
a half to get along without touching the
"insti-
tution"
; and when
finally
I
conditionally
deter-
mined to touch
it,
I gave
a hundred
days'
fair
notice of my purpose to
all the States and peo-
ple,
within which time they
could have turned
it wholly aside by simply again becoming good
citizens of the United
States.
They
chose
to
disregard
it, and
I made
the
peremptory proclamation on what appeared to me
to be a military
necessity.
And being made,
it
must stand.
As to the States not included in
it,
of course they can have their rights in the Union
as
of
old.
Even
the people
of
the
States
in-
cluded,
if they
choose, need not
to be hurt by
it.
Let them
adopt
systems
of
apprenticeship
for the colored people, conforming substantially
to the most approved plans of gradual emanci-
pation; and with
the
aid
they can have
from
the General Government they may be nearly as
well
off,
in
this
respect,
as
if the present trou-
ble had not occurred, and much better off than
they can possibly be if the contest continues per-
sistently.
As
to
any
dread
of my
having
a
"purpose
to
enslave
or
exterminate
the
whites
of
the
South,"
I can
scarcely
believe
that such dread
exists.
It
is too absurd.
I believe you can be
my personal
witness
that no man
is
less
to be
dreaded for undue severity in any case.
If the friends you mention really wish to have
peace
upon
the
old
terms,
they
should
act
at
once.
Every day makes the case more difficult.
McCLERNAND, JOHN A.
291
They can so act with
entire
safety, so far as
I am concerned.
I
think you had
better
not make
this
letter
public
; but you may rely confidently on my stand-
ing by whatever
I have said in
it.
Please write
me
if anything more comes to light.
Yours very truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, January 22,
1863.
Major-General McClernand.
My dear
Sir: Yours of the 7th was
received
yesterday.
I need not recite because you remem-
ber the contents.
The charges in their nature are
such that
I must know as much about the
facts
involved
as you
can.
I have too many
family
controversies, so to speak, already on my hands
to voluntarily, or so long as
I can avoid
it, take
up another.
You are now doing well—well for
the country, and well for yourself—much better
than you
could possibly be
if engaged
in open
war with General Halleck.
Allow me to beg that,
for your
sake,
for my
sake, and
for the coun-
try's sake, you give your whole attention to the
better work.
Your success upon the Arkansas was both bril-
liant and
valuable, and
is
fully
appreciated by
the country and government.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Executive
Mansion,
Washington, August 12, 1863.
Major-General McClernand.
My dear Sir: Our
friend, William G. Greene,
292
LETTERS
has just presented a kind letter in regard to your-
self, addressed to me by our other friends, Yates,
Hatch, and Dubois.
I doubt whether your present position
is more
painful to you than to myself.
Grateful for the
patriotic stand so early taken by you in this life-
and-death
struggle
of
the
nation,
I have done
whatever has appeared practicable to advance you
and
the
public
interest
together.
No
charges,
with a view to a trial, have been preferred against
you by any one; nor do
I suppose any will
be.
All there
is, so far as
I have heard,
is General
Grant's
statement
of
his
reasons
for
relieving
you.
And even
this
I have not seen or sought
to
see; because
it
is
a
case,
as appears
to me,
in
which
I
could
do
nothing
without
doing
harm.
General
Grant
and
yourself
have
been
conspicuous
in
our
most
important
successes
;
and
for me
to
interfere
and
thus
magnify
a
breach
between
you
could
not
but
be
of
evil
effect.
Better leave
it where the law of the case
has placed
it.
For me
to
force you back upon
General Grant would be forcing him
to
resign.
I
cannot
give
you
a
new
command,
because
we have no
forces except such as already have
commanders.
I am constantly pressed by those who scold be-
fore they think, or without thinking at all, to give
commands
respectively
to
Fremont,
McClellan,
Butler,
Sigel,
Curtis, Hunter, Hooker, and per-
haps others, when,
all else out of the way,
I have
no commands
to
give them.
This
is now your
case
; which, as I have said, pains me not less than
it does you.
My belief is that the permanent esti-
mate of what a general does
in the
field
is fixed
by the "cloud of witnesses" who have been with
McCLERNAND, JOHN
293
him
in the
field; and
that relying on
these, he
who has the right needs not to
fear.
Your friend as
ever,
A.
Lincoln.
War Department,
Washington City, September 14, 1863.
Major-General
John
A.
McClernand,
Spring-
field,
Illinois.
General: Your
letter
of
the
5th
instant
has
been submitted to the President, who directs me
to say that a court of inquiry embracing any one
of the subjects specified in that letter would neces-
sarily
withdraw
from
the
field
many
officers
whose
presence
with
their commands
is
abso-
lutely indispensable to the service, and whose ab-
sence might cause irreparable injury to the suc-
cess of operations now
in active progress.
For
these reasons he declines
at present your appli-
cation, but
if
hereafter
it can be done without
prejudice to the service, he will, in view of your
anxiety upon the subject, order a court.
Your obedient servant,
Edwin M. Stanton,
Secretary of War.
McClernand, John.
[Telegram,.]
Executive
Mansion,
Washington, December 24,
1864.
John McClernand,
Nashville, Tenn.
A
letter of yours
is
laid before me,
in which
you seek to have John S. Young, James Mallory,
and R. T. Bridges released, adding:
"My word
for
it, they are innocent."
It
is
fair to presume
294
LETTERS
that you would
not
say
this
without knowing
what you say to be true; but a telegraphic de-
spatch
of
Governor
Johnson, now
before
me,
says this very man Mallory "has been guilty of
the
most
outrageous
and
atrocious
murders
known to civilization," and that the "punishment
of
death
is
not
half atonement
for
the crimes
he
has
committed on
the
defenseless
and
un-
offending Union men of the county."
As
I know
Governor Johnson would not purposely mislead
me, I think it will be well for you to communicate
the particulars of your information to him.
A.
Lincoln.
McClure, A. K.
War Department,
Washington City, June
30,
1863.
A. K. McClure, Philadelphia:
Do we gain anything by opening one leak to
stop another ?
Do we gain anything by quieting
one clamor merely to open another, and probably
a larger one?
A.
Lincoln.
McCullough, Miss Fanny.
Executive
Mansion,
Washington, December
23,
1862.
Dear Fanny:
It
is with
deep
regret
that
I
learn of the death of your kind and brave father,
and
especially
that
it
is
affecting
your young
heart beyond what
is common in such cases.
In
this sad world of ours sorrow comes to
all, and
to the young
it comes with
bitterer agony
be-
cause
it takes them unawares.
The older have
learned ever to expect
it.
I am anxious to afford
McDOUGALL,
7. A.
295
some
alleviation
to your present
distress.
Per-
fect relief is not possible, except with time.
You
cannot now
realize
that you
will ever
feel
bet-
ter.
Is
not
this so?
And yet
it
is
a mistake.
You are sure to be happy again.
To know this,
which
is certainly true, will make you some less
miserable now.
I have had experience enough
to know what
I
say, and you need only
to be-
lieve
it to
feel better
at once.
The memory of
your dear father, instead of an agony, will yet be
a sad, sweet feeling in your heart of a purer and
holier sort than you have known before.
Please
present my
kind
regards
to your
af-
flicted mother.
Your sincere friend,
A.
Lincoln.
McDougall,
J. A.
Executive
Mansion,
Washington, March
14,
1862.
Hon. James A.
McDougall, United
States Sen-
ate:
My dear
Sir: As
to the expensiveness of the
plan of gradual emancipation with compensation,
proposed in the late message, please allow me one
or two brief suggestions.
Less than one-half day's cost of this war would
pay for
all the
slaves
in Delaware
at four hun-
dred
dollars per head.
Thus,
all the slaves in Delaware by
the census of i860, are
1,798
400
Cost of the slaves
$719,200
One
day's
cost of the war
2,000,000
296
LETTERS
Again, less than eighty-seven days' cost of this
war would, at the same price, pay for all in Dela-
ware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Kentucky,
and Missouri.
Thus, slaves in Delaware
1,798
Maryland
87,188
Dist.
of Columbia.
3,181
Kentucky
225,490
Missouri
114,965
432,622
400
Cost
of slaves
$173,048,800
Eighty-seven days' cost of the war.
174,000,000
Do you doubt that taking the
initiatory steps
on
the
part
of
those
States
and
this
District
would
shorten
the war more than
eighty-seven
days, and thus be an actual saving of expense?
A word as to the time and manner of incurring
the expense.
Suppose,
for instance, a State de-
vises and adopts a system by which the
institu-
tion absolutely ceases therein by a named day
say January
1,
1882.
Then
let
the sum
to be
paid
to
such
a
State by
the
United
States
be
ascertained by
taking from
the
census of
i860
the number of slaves within the State, and mul-
tiplying
that
number
by
four
hundred—the
United
States
to pay such sums to the State
in
twenty equal annual instalments, in six per cent,
bonds
of
the United
States.
The sum thus
given,
as
to time and manner,
I
think, would not be half as onerous as would
be an
equal sum
raised now
for
the
indefinite
prosecution
of
the
war;
but
of
this
you
can
Mcdowell, irvin
297
judge as well as
I.
I inclose a census table for
your convenience.
Yours very truly,
A.
Lincoln.
McDowell, Irvin.
[Telegram.]
Washington, May 16, 1862.
Major-General McDowell
:
What
is the strength of your force now actu-
ally with you?
A.
Lincoln.
[Memorandum.]
May
17,
1862.
You
will
retain the separate command of the
forces
taken
with
you;
but
while
co-operating
with General McClellan you will obey his orders,
except that you are to judge, and are not to allow
your force
to be disposed otherwise than
so as
to
give
the
greatest
protection
to
this
capital
which may be possible from that distance.
[Indorsement.]
To the Secretary of War.
The President having shown this to me, I suggest that
it
is dangerous
to
direct
a subordinate not
to obey the
orders of
his superior
in any
case, and that to give
in-
structions
to
General
McClellan
to
this same end and
furnish
General McDowell
with
a copy
thereof would
effect
the object
desired by the
President.
He desired
me to say that the sketch of instructions to General Mc-
Clellan herewith he thought made this addition unneces-
sary.
Respectfully,
M.
C. M.
[Quartermaster-General Meigs.]
c 9 8
LETTERS
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, May 24,
1862.
p. m.
Major-General McDowell,
Fredericksburg:
General Fremont
has
been
ordered by
tele-
graph
to move from Franklin on Harrisonburg
to relieve General Banks, and capture or destroy
Jackson's and Ewell's
forces.
You are instructed, laying aside for the pres-
ent
the movement on Richmond,
to put 20,000
men in motion at once for the Shenandoah, mov-
ing on the
line or in advance of the line of the
Manassas Gap
Railroad.
Your
object
will
be
to
capture
the
forces
of
Jackson
and
Ewell,
either in co-operation with General Fremont, or,
in case want of supplies or of transportation in-
terferes with
his movements,
it
is believed that
the
force which you move
will be
sufficient
to
accomplish
this
object
alone.
The
information
thus
far
received
here makes
it
probable
that
if
the enemy
operate
actively
against
General
Banks, you will not be able to count upon much
assistance from him, but may even have to
re-
lease him.
Reports received this moment are that Banks
is
fighting
with
Ewell
eight
miles from Win-
chester.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, May
24,
1862.
Major-General McDowell, Falmouth:
In view
of
the
operations
of
the enemy on
the
line of General Banks, the President thinks
the
whole
force
you
designed
to
move
from
Fredericksburg should
not be taken away, and
he therefore directs that one brigade in addition
Mcdowell, irvin
299
to what you designed to leave at Fredericksburg
should be
left there
: this brigade to be the least
effective of your command.
Edwin M.
Stanton.
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, Washington
City, D. C,
May 24, 1862.
8 p. m.
Major-General McDowell:
I am highly gratified by your alacrity in obey-
ing my order.
The change was as painful to me
as
it can possibly be to you or to any one.
Everything now depends upon the celerity and
vigor of your movement.
A.
Lincoln.
[Telegram.]
W
Tar Department, May 26,
1862.
p. m.
Major-General McDowell, Falmouth, Virginia
:
Despatches
from
Geary
just
received
have
been
sent
you.
Should
not
the
remainder
of
your
forces,
except
sufficient
to hold
the
point
at Fredericksburg, move this way—to Manassas
Junction or Alexandria?
As commander of this
department, should you not be here ?
I ask these
questions.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May
28,
1862.
p. m.
General McDowell, Manassas Junction
:
General
McClellan
at
6.30
p.
m.
yesterday
telegraphed that Fitz-John Porter's division had
fought and
driven
13,000
of the enemy, under
General Branch, from Hanover Court House, and
was driving them from
a stand they had made
on the
railroad
at
the time
the messenger
left.
3oo
LETTERS
Two hours
later he telegraphed that Stoneman
had
captured
an
engine
and
six
cars
on
the
Virginia Central, which he
at once sent to com-
municate
with
F.
J.
Porter.
Nothing
further
from McClellan.
If Porter effects a lodgment on both railroads
near Hanover
Court
House,
consider
whether
your forces in front of Fredericksburg should not
push through and join him.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May
28,
1862.
p. m.
General McDowell, Manassas Junction
:
You
say
General
Geary's
scouts
report
that
they find no enemy this side of the Blue Ridge.
Neither do
I.
Have they been to the Blue Ridge
looking
for them?
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May
28,
1862.
5.40
p.
m.
General McDowell, Manassas Junction
:
I think the
evidence now preponderates
that
Ewell and
Jackson
are
still
about
Winchester.
Assuming this,
it
is
for you
a question of legs.
Put in
all the speed you can.
I have told Fre-
mont as much, and directed him to drive at them
as
fast as possible.
By the way,
I suppose you
know Fremont has got up to Moorefield, instead
of going to Harrisonburg.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May 29, 1862.
12 m.
Major-General McDowell, Manassas Junction
:
General Fremont's force should, and probably
Mcdowell, irvin
3oi
will, be at or near Strasburg by twelve (noon)
to-morrow.
Try to have your
force, or the ad-
vance of
it, at Front Royal as soon.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, Washington
City,
May 30,
1862.
9.30 p. m.
Major-General McDowell, Rectortown, Virginia
:
I send you a despatch just received from Sax-
ton at Harper's Ferry
:
The rebels are
in
line of battle
in
front of our
lines.
They have nine pieces of artillery, and
in position, and
cavalry.
I
shelled
the woods
in which they were, and
they
in return threw
a
large number of
shells
into the
lines and
tents from which
I moved
last night
to take
up a stronger position.
I expect a great deal from the
battery on the mountain, having there 9-inch Dahlgren
bearing directly on the enemy's approaches.
The enemy
appeared this morning and then retired, with the inten-
tion of drawing us
on.
I
shall act on the defensive, as
my position
is a strong one.
In a skirmish which took
place
this afternoon
I took one horse.
The enemy lost
two men killed and seven wounded.
R.
Saxton, Brigadier-General.
It seems the game
is before you.
Have sent a
copy to General Fremont.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May 30, 1862.
10 a. m.
Major-General McDowell, Manassas Junction
:
I somewhat apprehend that Fremont's force, in
its
present
condition, may
not
be
quite
strong
enough in case
it comes in collision with the ene-
my.
For
this
additional
reason
I wish you to
3 o2
LETTERS
push forward your column
as
rapidly
as
possi-
ble.
Tell me what number your force reaching
Front Royal
will amount
to.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May 30, 1862.
12.40.
Major-General McDowell, Rectortown
:
Your despatch of to-day received and
is satis-
factory.
Fremont has nominally
22,000,
really
about
17,000.
Blenker's
division
is
part
of
it.
I have a despatch from Fremont
this morning,
not telling me where he
is
; but he says
:
Scouts and men from Winchester represent Jackson's
force variously at 30,000 to 60,000.
With him Generals
Ewell and Longstreet.
The
high
figures
erroneous,
of
course.
Do
you know where Longstreet
is ?
Corinth is evac-
uated and occupied by
us.
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, May
30,
1862.
2.30
p. m.
Major-General McDowell
:
Herewith I send a telegram just received from
General Fremont.
The despatch
is dated of last
night, and
the
point he says he
will be
at
five
o'clock Saturday afternoon
is "Strasburg, or as
near it as
it may be to the enemy at that time."
I direct Fremont to come to time as fixed by
himself, and you will act your discretion, taking
this information into your calculation.
A.
Lincoln.
Mclean, john
303
[Telegram.]
Washington, June 3, 1862.
6.15 p. m.
Major-General
McDowell,
Front
Royal,
Vir-
ginia
:
Anxious to know whether Shields can head or
flank Jackson.
Please
tell about where
Shields
and
Jackson,
respectively,
are
at
the
time
this
reaches you.
A. Lincoln.
[Telegram in Cipher.]
Washington, June
6, 1862.
Major-General McDowell
:
The
President
directs
that
McCall's
division
be
sent by water
to
General
McClellan imme-
diately, and that you
place such
force
at Fred-
ericksburg by
the time McCall
leaves
there
as
may, in your judgment, be necessary to hold that
place.
In respect to the operations of the
resi-
due of your
force, the President reserves direc-
tions, to be given as soon as he determines.
Transportation has been ordered up the Rap-
pahannock from here and from Fortress Monroe.
Adjutant-General
shall
issue
the
order.
Edwin M. Stanton.
McLean, John.
Springfield,
Illinois, December 6, 1854.
Hon. Justice McLean.
Sir
:
I
understand
it
is
in
contemplation
to
displace the present clerk, and appoint a new one,
for
the
Circuit and
District Courts
of
Illinois.
I am very friendly to the present incumbent, and
both for his own sake and that of his
family,
I
304
LETTERS
wish him to be retained so long as
it
is possible
for the court to do so.
In the contingency of his
removal, however,
I have recommended William
Butler as his successor, and
I do not wish what
I write now to be taken as any abatement of that
recommendation.
William
J. Black
is
also an applicant for the
appointment, and
I write
this
at the
solicitation
of his friends to say that he
is every way worthy
of the office, and that I doubt not the conferring
it upon him will give great satisfaction.
Your obedient servant,
A.
Lincoln.
McMichael, Morton.
[Private.]
Executive
Mansion,
Washington, August
5,
1864.
Hon. Morton McMichael.
My
dear
Sir: When
the
Philadelphia
post-
master was here on the 20th of June
last, I read
to him a paper in the following words
:
Complaint
is made to me that you are using your
offi-
cial
power
to
defeat
Judge
Kelley's
renomination
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
satisfactory
;
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.
This
is precisely the
rule
I
in-
culcated and
adhered
to
on my
part, when
a
certain
other
nomination, now
recently made, was
being
can-
vassed
for.
McNEIL,
C. F.
305
He promised me to strictly follow this.
I am
now told
that, of the two or three hundred em-
ployees in the Post-office, not one of them is open-
ly for Judge Kelley.
This, if true, is not acciden-
tal.
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 suspicion that he
is
not keeping his promise to me in good faith.
Yours truly,
A.
Lincoln.
McNeil, C. F.
Springfield, April
6,
i860.
C.
F. McNeil, Esq.
Dear Sir
:
Reaching home yesterday,
I found
yours
of the 23d March,
inclosing a
slip from
the
Middleport
"Press."
It
is
not
true
that
I
ever charged anything
for
a
political speech
in
my
life
; but
this much
is true
:
Last October
I was requested by letter to deliver some sort of
speech
in Mr.
Beecher's church,
in Brooklyn—
two hundred dollars being offered in the first let-
ter.
I wrote that
I could do
it in February, pro-
vided they would take a political speech if I could
find time to get up no other.
They agreed
; and
subsequently
I informed them the speech would
have to be a political one.
When
I reached New
York,
I
for the
first time learned that the place
was changed to "Cooper Institute."
I made the
speech, and
left
for New Hampshire, where
I
have a son at school, neither asking for pay, nor
306
LETTERS
having any offered me.
Three days after a check
for two hundred dollars was sent to me
at New
Hampshire
; and
I took
it, and
did not know
it
was wrong.
My understanding now
is—though
I knew nothing of
it at the time—that they did
charge
for
admittance
to
the Cooper
Institute,
and
that they took in more than twice two hun-
dred
dollars.
I have made this explanation to you as a friend
;
but
I wish no explanation made to our enemies.
What
they want
is
a
squabble and
a
fuss, and
thai
they can have
if we explain; and they can-
not have
it
if we don't.
When
I
returned
through New York
from
New England,
I was told by the gentlemen who
sent me the check that a drunken vagabond in the
club,
having
learned
something
about
the two
hundred dollars, made the exhibition out of which
the "Herald" manufactured the article quoted by
the ''Press" of your town.
My judgment
is, and therefore my request. is,
that you
give no denial and no explanation.
Thanking you
for your
kind
interest
in
the
matter,
I remain,
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
McPheeters, Samuel S.
[fan.
2,
1863.
See
Curtis,
S.
R.
See
also
Filley,
O. D|
[Indorsement on Petition.]
The
assumptions
of
this
paper,
so
far
as
I
know, or believe, arc entirely false.
I have never
deprived Doctor McPheeters of any ecclesiastical
MEADE, GEORGE G.
307
right, or authorized or excused
its being 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 was to
be
arrested, or remain
at
large, upon the same
rule as any one
else
; and that
in no event was
any one to interfere, by my authority, as to who
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 doctor
is kept
out by the majority of his own parishioners, and
my
official power
is sought to force him in over
their heads,
I decline that also.
A.
Lincoln.
December 22,
1863.
Meade, George G.
[Telegram.]
Washington,
D.
C.
July
7,
1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of the Potomac:
I
have
received
from
the
President
the
following
note,
which
I
respectfully communicate
:
Major-General Halleck:
We
have
certain
information
that
Vicksburg
sur-
rendered 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.
3o8
LETTERS
[Telegram.]
Washington, D. C, July
8,
1863.
Major-General Meade,
Frederick, Maryland:
There
is
reliable information that the enemy
is cross-
ing
at
Williamsport.
The
opportunity
to
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,
Washington, July 27, 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 breadth against
your own feelings, or your judgment of the public
service, on the idea of gratifying me.
Yours truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, 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.
MEADE, GEORGE G.
309
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
1 st 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.
[ Telegram. ]
War Department, Washington, D. C,
August 2J,
1863.
a. m.
Major-General Meade, Warrenton, Virginia:
Walter, Rionese, Folancy, Lai, and Kuhn ap-
pealed
to me
for
mercy,
without
giving any
ground for
it whatever.
I understand these are
very flagrant cases, and that you deem their pun-
ishment as being indispensable to the service.
If
I am not mistaken
in this, please
let them know
at once that their appeal
is denied.
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, September 9, 1863.
Major-General Meade, Warrenton, Va.
:
It would be a generous thing to give General
Wheaton
a
leave
of absence
for
ten
or
fifteen
days, and
if you can do so without injury to the
service, please do
it.
A. Lincoln.
War Department,
Washington, D. C., September 25, 1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac:
Owing to the press
in behalf of Daniel
Sulli-
van, Company E, Thirteenth Massachusetts, and
3 io
LETTERS
the doubt though small, which you express of his
guilty intention,
I have concluded to say
let his
execution
be
suspended
till
further
order,
and
copy of record sent me.
A.
Lincoln.
War Department,
Washington, D. C, October 8, 1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac:
I am appealed to in behalf of August Blitters-
dorf,
at
Mitchell's
Station,
Va.,
to be
shot
to-
morrow as
a
deserter.
I am unwilling for any
boy under
eighteen
to
be
shot, and
his
father
affirms that he
is yet under sixteen.
Please an-
swer.
His regiment or company not given me.
A.
Lincoln.
[Telegram.]
Washington, October
10, 1863.
4.55
p. m.
General Meade
:
Am
interested
with your
despatch
of
noon.
How
is
it now?
A.
Lincoln.
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, October
12,
1863.
a. m.
Major-General Meade
:
What news
this morning?
A despatch from
Rosecrans, leaving him
at 7.30
p. m. yesterday,
says
:
Rebel
rumors
that
head
of
Ewell's
column
reached
Dalton yesterday.
I send
this for what
it
is worth.
A.
Lincoln.
MEADE, GEORGE G.
311
Executive Mansion,
Washington,
October
12,
1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac
:
The father and mother of John Murphy, of the
One Hundred and Nineteenth Pennsylvania Vol-
unteers, have
filed
their own
affidavits
that he
was born June
22,
1846, and
also the
affidavits
of
three
other persons who
all swear
that they
remembered the circumstances
of
his
birth and
that
it was in the year 1846, though they do not
remember
the
particular
day.
I
therefore,
on
account
of
his
tender
age,
have
concluded
to
pardon him, and to leave
it to yourself, whether
to discharge him or continue him in the service.
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 3, 1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac
:
Samuel Wellers, private in Company B, Forty-
ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers, writes that he
is
to be shot for desertion on the 6th instant.
His
own story
is rather a bad one, and yet he
tells
it
so
frankly that
I am somewhat
interested
in
him.
Has he been a good soldier except the de-
sertion ?
About how old
is he ?
A.
Lincoln.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, D.
C., November
5,
1863.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac
:
Please suspend the execution of Samuel Wel-
lers, Forty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteers,
until
further orders.
A.
Lincoln.
3 I2
LETTERS
[ Telegram. ]
Washington, November 9, 1863.
7.30 p. m.
Major-General Meade
:
I have seen your despatches about operations
on the Rappahannock on Saturday, and I wish to
say, "Well done!"
Do
the
1500
prisoners
re-
ported by General Sedgwick include the 400 taken
by General French, or do the whole amount to
1900?
A. Lincoln.
[Mar.
10,
1864.
See Grant, Ulysses
S.]
Executive Mansion,
Washington, March
29,
1864.
Major-General Meade.
My
dear
Sir: Your
letter
to
Colonel Town-
send, inclosing a slip from the "Herald," and ask-
ing a court of inquiry, has been laid before me
by the Secretary of War, with the
request that
I would consider
it.
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 de-
mands, or the public interest demands, such an in-
quiry.
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 en-
gaged in trying to do more, than to be diverted,
as you
necessarily would
be, by
a court
of
in-
quiry.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
Washington City, April 25, 1864.
Major-General Meade, Army of Potomac
:
A Mr. Corby brought you a note from me at
MECONKEY, MRS. SARAH B.
313
the
foot
of
a
petition
I
believe,
in the
case
of
Dawson, to be executed to-day.
The record has
been examined here, and
it shows too strong a
case
for
a pardon or commutation,
unless there
is something in the poor man's favor outside of
the record, which you on the ground may know,
but
I do not.
My note to you only means that
if you know of any such thing rendering a sus-
pension
of the execution
proper, on your own
judgment, you are at liberty to suspend
it.
Other-
wise
I do not
interfere.
A. Lincoln.
Meagher, T. Francis.
War Department,
Washington, D. C, June
16,
1863.
General T. Francis Meagher, New York
:
Your dispatch received.
Shall be very glad for
you to raise 3,000 Irish troops if done by the con-
sent of, and in concert with, Governor Seymour.
A.
Lincoln.
Meconkey, Mrs. Sarah B.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, May
9,
1864.
Mrs. Sarah B. Meconkey, West Chester, Pa.
Madam
:
Our
mutual
friend,
Judge
Lewis,
tells me you do me the honor to inquire for my
personal welfare.
I have been very anxious for
some days
in regard to our armies
in the
field,
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,
LETTERS
sisters, and
daughters, do
all you and they can
to
relieve and comfort the gallant
soldiers who
compose them.
Yours
truly,
A.
Lincoln.
Mercer, Samuel.
[Order.]
(Confidential)
Washington City, April 2, 1861.
Sir
• Circumstances render
it necessary to place
in command of your ship (and for a special pur-
pose)
an
officer who
is
fully informed and
in-
structed in relation to the wishes of the govern-
ment
and you
will
therefore
consider
yourself
detached.
But in taking this step the government
does not
in the least
reflect upon your efficiency
or
patriotism; on the
contrary, have the
fullest
confidence
in your
ability
to
perfbrm any duty
required of you.
Hoping soon to be able to give
you a better command than the one you now en-
joy, and
trusting
that you
will have
full
con-
fidence
in the disposition of the government
to-
ward you,
I remain,
etc.
.
y
Abraham Lincoln.
Captain S. Mercer, United States Navy.
[See also Welles, Gideon, May
4,
1861.]