The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-07
Did Lincoln Contemplate Suicide


! It was told to him by Secretary of War
Edwin NJ. Stanton in the presence of SEN
ators Roscoe Conkling and Edwin D. Nor
gan, of New York, and the entire New
| York congressional delegation, one night
/ in the war department at the time of
| SJantons struggle with President John
| s9r:
Mr.. Stanton had been relating to US ma
| ny incidents of the funny side of Mr..
1 Lincoln't character. when suddenly he
stopped, and after remaining silent for
probably a minute, looking in a vacant
way at some manuscript lying on the desk
before him. ne turned in his chair and
| said: Gentlemen, there is nothing that
gives me so much pain as the opinion that
seems prevalent, judging from the news
papers, that Mr.. Lincoln was habitual
! joker; that il was an impossibility for him
to be serious, no matter how grave the &C.
casion might be. Nothing is further from
the truth. His heart was big and good,
his nature warm and sunny; hence he nat
urally looked at the bright side of events;
but no man Of my acquaintance was more
serious than he when the surroundings Of
| the case warranted thai he should be. 1
will give you point IN instance:
| " Mr.. Lincoln, during the war, was very
sensitive of the criticisms on his admin
| istration, of the newspaper press, believ-
| ing 1t to be, as he asserted, the true voice
of the people. The failures of Mcdowell,
Mcclellan, Burnside and Pope with the
army of the Potomac and the criticisms
made thereon by the newspapers almost
crazed him. Time and again he would
free himself from the executive mansion
and seek my little office, the only place
| in Washington, he often said, where he
could be absolutely free from Interrupt
ton. When he became closeted with me
on these visits Mr.. Lincoln would I'M
bosom himself and talk of his cares and
woes. Several times he insisted that he
ought to resign. and thus give the coun-
try an opportunity to secure some one bet
ter fitted to accomplish the great task
expected of the president. Or. If he did
not resign, he thought he ought to i'm
press upon congress the propriety of CIV
ing the absolute control of the army to
some purely military man. 1t was during
one of these moods that he conceived the
idea OF placing Hooker in command of the
army of the Potomac and of vesting him
with such power that, in his opinion,
he could not fail of success. He had
great idea of Hooker's ability as a soldier.
and In addition he believed him to be an
honest man and a sincere patriot. He
wanted him to fight what he intended
should be, and he felt would be, the clos
ing battle of the war. Accordingly, when
Hooker got under way and the news came
that at Charlottesville he would make his
fight Mr.. Lincoln was in the greatest
state Of mental excitement. From the time
that Rockers army began its march until
the smoke of battle had cleared from the
fatal field of Charlottesville he scarcely
knew what it was to sleep.
"Tt will be remembered that the fight
lasted three days. During the first two
days 1t looked as IL Hooker was about to
accomplish what so many generals before
him had failed to do; but, early on the
third day, the usual half hour dispatches
began to make matters look dark and ON
nous of defeat. That whole day Mr.. Lin
coin was miserable. He ate nothing, and
would see no one but me. As 1t grew
dark the dispatches ceased coming at all.
Mr.. Lincoln would walk from the White
House to my department, and anxiously
inquire for news from Hooker. With the
going down of the sun cold, drenching
rain set in, which lasted through the
night At about o'clock Mr.. Lincoln
ceased his visits to my department, and
gave orders at the executive mansion that
he would see no one before morning. An
hour afterward a dispatch of an indefinite
character was received from Hooker, and
1 hurried with 1t to Mr.. Lincoln's apart
ments When ] entered I found him walk
ing the floor, and his agonized appearance
so terrified me that 1t was with difficulty
that I could speak. Mr.. Lincoln approach
ed me like a man wild with anxiety and
excitement, and seized the dispatch from
my hand. read it, and, his face slightly
Frightening, remarked: stanton, there Is
hope yeti" At my solicitation. Mr. Lin
coin accompanied me to the war depart
ment, where he agreed to spend the night,
or until something definite was heard
from Hooker. For five hours, the longest
and most wearisome of my life, l waited
before a dispatch was received. When
Mr. Lincoln read it. he threw up his hands
and exclaimed: My God Stanton, our
cause IS lostl We are ruined-we are ru-
ined; and such a fearful loss of lifel My
God this is more than l can endure"
He stood trembling visibly. his face OF a
CHASTITY hue, the perspiration standing out
in big spots on bis brow. He put out his
hat and coat, and began to pace the floor
For four or five minutes he was silent,
and then, turning to me, he said: IF
| am not about early tomorrow, do not send
! for me. nor allow any one to disturb me.
Defeated again, and so many OF our no.
BILE countrymen killed. What will the peo-
pie say