The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1896-09-12

AnOtntr, eNlttntly intended as
thrust at the red tape which seemed to
have wound itself about everything in
the departments is as follows
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WAsHINGToN, Nov. l., 1853
Hon. Secretary Of War:
personally wish Jacob Freese Of New .Jer
sey to be appointed colonel for colorcd regi
ment. and this regardless Of whether he can
tell the exact shade of Julius Ca.sars 5 hair.
Yours, etc, a. LINCOLN.
In IA telegram to General Hooker,
June II, 1868, he displayed military
acumen Il good deal kcencr than some Of
his experienced military advisers when
he inquired: IF the head Of Lees army
is at MartinSburg and the tail of il on
the plank road between Fredericksburg
and Charlottesville, the animal must
be very slim somewhere. Could you not
break him.
John H. Littlcficld, who was law
student in the office of Lincoln &
Herndon in 1858, in letter written to
Mr. Hcrndon in 1866, tells this incident
i'll connection with the president no
tion Of the noted Yazoo pass expedition:
''One evening in 1862 Pet Halstcad,
several others and | called on Mr.. Lin
coin, but found him out Of the room,
the explanation being that he was Suf-
fering with the to0thache. We sat
/ down i'll tho private secretary : room
and remained but IL few moments, in
tending 10 depart, when Mr.. Lincoln,
hearing our voices, came iii, sat down
beside me, just as he used to in the old
office in Springfield, and notwithstand-
ing the pain that afflicted him chattcd
humorously, with here and there a flash
of real logic, which showed that he
comprehended the military situation
The YaZoo river expedition, he said
had been receiving IA good deal If his
attention Of late. He announced, bv
way of preamble, that he had found it
necessary to yield little here and
there in order TO keep peace in the mil
itary family: that if he interfered in a
matter not essentially vital the so called
West Pointers--regular army officers
who had the execution of all plans,
| would i'll some way CT other defeat or
obstruct his scheme, and that therefore,
inasmuch as they had to be depended
on at last, he found it best to trust them
at first and rely on events and the pow
er of persuasion to rectify errors. I'm
regard to the Yazoo river expedition, =
he said. pointing to large map hang
ing on the wall, chow can force go
down a river which is only few rods
wide when it cannot descend another
river mile wide: And in this case, if
it leaves the larger river, it will only
wind about in the small stream and
come out again into the same river
Following the YazoO will bring us into
the Mississippi, and then what has been
accomplished: Nothing has been gained.
l can't make this clear, he said with
merry twinkle in his eye, better
than to relate an incident that came
under my own observation. Out in III
diana, when | was a boy, one of our
neighbors was troubled with an old sow
and her pigs, who i'll some strange way
would break into his cornfield. Again
and again the old man and his boys
would drive them ont, but the family
would soon be found back in the field
again. One day, after thorough
search, the old man found hollow log
through which the old SOW had made
her way i'll. The log was at once taken
out, and when replaced in the fence
was so adjusted that nothing could
through it gain an entrance to the field.
What was the astonishment of the old
lady next day TO find that she and her
family, entering the same log as Of old,
emerged from it outside of the fence i'll
stead of inside. 1t is just So" laughed
the president, with the Yazoo river
expedition. 1t comes out of the same
side of the fence
When appealed to to pardon soldier