, 1862-03-08
Documentary EvfAAmca

zen. Fremont publishes long list Of tele-
grams, military reports, dispatches, orders,
private letters, and other papers, between
| scores Of persons. These documents begin
June 18th, five weeks before Fremont took
command, and end September 23d, the day
after he heard the news Of the capture of Null
Igan.
As they would ill three pages Of this paper,
VIC have not space for their Insertion here.
| The great bulk of them are Of no interest to
the general reader We select 8 few Of the
most important Of the letters in the published
collection Wc begin with the famous letter
Of Postmaster General Blair to Gen. Fremont
of WHICH SO much has been rumored:
+. n. GENERAL BLAIR TO GEN. FREMONT.
WASHINGTON, Aug. q, 1861.
DEAR GENERAL Don't suppose that
t don't sttcnd to your nlattcrs und do all can
| to forward them, because I do not write fire.
quently. / am to be interrupted if take up
pen, By people that have the run Of my office
| or house, and so keep out Of both, and 20
after your business in person, and effect it if
can.
I write now, to-day, in reply to your letter
about Melgs, that you must not suppose that
he intended by his telegram to Tnrnley to re-
ncct upon you; Far from it: I happened in
III,
and he remarked to me, substantially, what
be telegraphed to Turnkey But he did not
know that Turnkey had any instructions from
yoq to get horses Of any superior quality. No
such suggestion accompanied the requisi1ion,
and I will guarantee that if Turn1ey makes any
explanation, which puts the responsibility on
you, it Will be satisfactory to Meigs.
say this without having seen him at ali
since the receipt Of yours on the subject; but
l think understand him fully. 1heard him
say 70 Gen. Scott some time ago, that if he
would name day when he must have horses
they should be ready. If next week, they
would cost $50; if the week after, s135. Tie
price was nothing. A horse might be worth
the price many times to the Government, if
ready when wanted, aud Of course Of no value
II not Ibis is the style Of man he IS, and
you will have, and believe have not had any
delay or difficulty from him. The trouble is
elsewhere. Chase has more horror OF seeing
Treasury notes below par than OF seeing SOL
diers killed, and therefore has held back too
mich, think. don't believe at all in that
on the war, and it is better to get ready and
beat the enemy by selling stocks at so per
cent discount than wait to negotiate aud lose
battle I have got you q splendid officer for
your Navy Department, and guns. He will
be en- route for you in . day OF two, when he
viii be posted up and cali for what you want.
fou will have credit at the Navy Department
When you get him under you
1showcd the President Billings's letter, and
read him yours about Adams. He said TINT
voted TO his money bags.
Schuyler had already gone to Europe about
arms when wrote and te1egraphed you, and
your letter in reply WIS handed to Mr. Sew
ard, to be forwarded to him. suppose it
would put him in relation with Billings, which
would bring about your wishes. If 7 had
kIown when you were here what you conlmu-
nicated to my father, think, from my knowl-
| edge Of Mejgs, with your endorsement,
| could have TUNED the whole matter over to
him. At the same time, you must not expect
too much Of me in the Cabinet. I have, as
when the policy have advocated from the
first is being inauguratcd, it docs not
seem to bring mc any great power over
the Administrations. This, I can see, is
partly my own fault. have heen too
and men do not like those who have exposed
| their mistakes beforehand, and taunt them
with them aftcrward. The main difficulty is,
however, with Lincoln himself Hc is Of the
Wing school, and that brings him naturally
Wings, hut to give his confidence to such ad-
yisers. It costs ne great deal of labor to
get anythiug done because Of the inclination
Of mind on the part Of the President or lead
ing members Of the Cabinet, including Chase,
who never voted Democratic ticket in his
life. But you have the people at your back,
and am doing all can to cut red-tape and
get things done. I will be more civil aud pa
ticnt 1hin heretofore, and see if that won't
Work. Yours, truly, II. BLAIR.
The next letter in the collection Of most in
tercst to the general reader is the following
from the President:
PRESIDENT LINCOLN ON FnEstoSr's PRocLA-
NATION.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. :, 1851.
To Major-General Fremont
NI DEAR SIR: Two points in -FOUR procla-
nation Of August 80 give me some anxiety.
First: Shonld you shoot man, according
to the proclamation, the Confederates would
yerT certainly shoot our best men in their
bands, in retaliation; and so, man for man, in-
definitely. It is, therefore, my order that you
allow no man to be shot, under the proclama-
ton, without first having my appreciation or
consent.
|. Second: think there is great danger that
the closing paragraph, in relation to the CON
fscation Of properly, and the liberatiug slaves
O. traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern
Union friends, and turn them against us--per-
hapE ruin our rather fair prospect for Ken
tucky. Allow me, therefore, to ask that you
will, as OF your own motion, modify that par
asraph go as to conform to the first and fourth
sections Of the Act OF Congress, entitled 'tA An
Act to Confiscate Property used for Iusurrec-
tlonary Purposes" approved August 6, 1861,
IL
This letter is written in spirit Of caution and
rot Of ceDsure. I send it by special nesscn-
ger, in order that it may certaiuly and speedily
i. .IINcoLN.
The following is Fremont's reply to the
above:
HEADQUARTERS WEsrERS DEPARTMENT.
Tothe President:
Ny DEAR S1E:-Yout letter Of the I'd, by
special messenger, know to have been writ
ten before you had received my letter, and be-
fore my telegraphic dispatches, and tic rapid
development Of critical conditions here, had
informed yCu Of affairs in this quarter. had
not written to you fully and frequently; first,
because IN the incessant change Of affairs
would be exposed to give you contra
dictoTJ accounts and secondly, because
the amount Of the subjects to be 1aid
before you would demand too much Of your
time Trusting to have your confidence, I
have been leaving it TO events themee1ves to
show you whether or not was shaping affiirs
here according to your ideas Tie Shortest
communication between Washington and St.
Lonis generally involves two days, and the
employment Of two days in time Of WAT goes
largely toward 6ucccss Or disaster: there
fore went along according to my own jndg-
ment, leaving the result Of my movements to
justify me With you. And so in regard to nv
proclamation OF the 30th. Between the rebel
armies, the Provisional Government, and
bone traitors, I felt the position bad, and saw
danger. In the night I decided upon the
proclamation, and the form Of It. wrote it