Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-05-12
LINcoLN's GLIDING.
His Gentle Reproof In Reply to General
Hunters Ugly Letter.

hunJeTS Ugly LctGefs
Another remarkable evidence of the
great kindliness of heart of Abraham
Lincoln has been brought TO light in
the form of long lost letter which the
martyred president wrote to General
Daniel Hunter in 1861.
General Hunter was in command of
the department of Kansas at the time
this particular letter was written. 1t
seems he considered himself dishonored
by an appointment to the rather OBJ
scure military post, and be wrote to the
president protesting against it. Lin
coins characteristic reply was as fol
lows:
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WAsHINGToN, Dec 81, 1861. {
Major General Hunter:
DEAR SIR-Yours of the 23d is received, and
am constrained TO say it is difficult to answer
SO ugly letter in good temper. am, as you
intimate, losing much of the great confidence
1 placed in you, not from any act or commits
sion of yours touching he public service up to
the time you sent to Leavenworth, but
from the flood of grumbling dispatches and let
tors have seen from You since. | knew you
were being ordered to Leavenworth at the
time it was done, ard l aver that with as ten
der a regard for your honor and your sensi-
bilities MS had for my own.it never occurred
to that you were being "huniliated in
suited and disgrsced," nor have 1 up to this
day heard any intimaticn that you have been
wronged coming from any one but yourself.
No one has blamed you for the retrograde
movement from Springfield, nor for the infor
nation you gave General Cameron, and this
you could readily understand if it were not
for your unwarranted assumption that the or
7
been done as punishment for some fault.
thought then, and / think yet, the position as
signed to you is as responsible and as honor
able as that assigned to BUELL. know that
General Mcclellan expected more important
results from if. Ny impression is that at the
time you were assigned to the now western
department it had not been determined to re-
place General Sherman in Kentucky, but of
this 1 am not certain because the idea that
command in Kentucky was very desirable, and
one in the farther west undesirable, had never
occurred to me. You constantly speak of be-
ing placed i'll command of only 1900. Now, tell
me- is not this mere impotence? Have you
not known all the while that you are to COM
mand four or five times that many?
have been and am sincerely your friend,
and if as such dare to make suggestion
would say you are adopting the best possible
way to ruin yourself. Act well your part
There all The honor lies He who does some
thing at The head of one regiment will eclipse
him who does nothing at the head of 100. Your
friend as ever, A. LINCOLN.
Nothing could have been better cal
culated to allay the feelings of personal
wrong which must have possessed
Hunter at the time That he thought so
himself is shown by the following
words, written by the dissatisfied gen
eral on the big yellow envelope i'll
which the letter had been sent:
1.-THE presidents reply to my ugly
letter. This lay Oh his table a month
after it was written, and when finally
sent was by special conveyance, with
the direction that it was only to be
given to me when was i'll good hu-
NOR. New York Sun.