The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-03-22
4 SCRAP or HISTORY.
ALeoer from President Lincoln 70 fish'n0
Zoe Hooker.

Tho Washington correspondent OF the
9, Ions Rsp,tjlican has obtained copy
Of n letter written by President Lincoln on
the occasion OF his appointing noose. "
the command Of the army. Inns ies'ei W Vas
given Colonel Robert n. Scott, OF ,ee mm
Department, by Hooker himseni tne
original Is now In the archives IL Is one
OF the most notable productions ever VIII y,
ten by President Lincoln. Some parts o,
II are fairly Shakspearian In dictioh anu
thought. II Is as follows:
"ExEcUrryE MANSION, WASHINGTON, u;
q. January 26. 1S63.-MdJor- Generdt
Hooker: General,-I have placed you az
the head OF the Army Of the Potomac. vi
course | have done this upon what appears
10 me 10 be sufficient reasons, ana YET l.
think IL best for you to know that tnere
are some things in regard to when l aiii
not quite satisfied with you. l believe you
10 be brave and. skiliul soldier, whicn, Oh
course, like. | also believe that you 90
not mix politics with your profession, IN
which you are right. You have conn.,
dence in Yourself. which Is a yalua-
Bile, II not indispensable, quality. You
are ambitious, which, within reasonable
bounds, does good rather than harm. But
/ think that during General Burnsides
command OF the army you have taken
counsel OF your amb'tiOu and thwarted
him as much as you could, 10 which you
did a great wrong, both to the country and
n most merltorious and honorable brother
officer. | have heard in such way as 10
believe it OF your recently saying that you
thought the army and the Government
needed dictator. OF course 1t was not
for this, but in spite OF 1t, that / have
given you command. Only those
generals who gain successes can set
up as dctators. What | ask OF you
is military success, and l VIII FISK
the dictatorship. The Government Will
support you to the utmost OF its abil-
| itv, which is neither more nor less than 1t
has done and will do for all commanders.
| much fear that the spirit you have aided
to infuse into the army. OF criticising their
commander and withholding confidence
from him, will now turn upon you. i shall
assist you rs far as / can to put 1t down.
Neither you nor Napoleon III ne were alive
again) could get any good out OF an army
while such a spirit prevails in it. And
now, beware OF rashness-beware OF rash-
ness; but with energy and sleepless vigil
lance go forward and give us victories.
Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN"
The most vindictive Of Fitz John Por-
ter's enemies cannot be so bold as to claim
thai Porter was ever so dIsloyal to Pope as
Hooker was to Burnside, and yet HoOker's
offences in this regard were waived by
President Lincoln. and the disloyal subor-
dnate was put at the head OF the army.
But for twenty years Porter's disloyalty to
Pope has been made the chief ground OF
opposition to removing the stigma put
upon him by the finding OF the cOurt-mar-
tial which tried him in the midst Of the
heat and passions Of the war, when he fell
victim to his personal enemies.
In the speeches in the Senate the alleged
disloyalty of Porter to Pope was presented
as an important element in the case.