Year: 1868




EXECUTIVE MANSION, Jan. 81, 1865.


GENERAL: 1 have received your COM
munication of the 28th inst, renewing
your request Of the 24th, that / should
repeat, in written form, my verbal


instructions of the 18th inst, viz; That
you obey no order from the Hon. Ed.
win N. Stanton, as Secretary of War,
unless you have information that it
was issued by the Presidents direction.
In submitting this request, with which
1 complied on the 29th inst, you take
occasion to allude to the recent publ
cation in reference to circumstances
connected with the vacation By your
self, of the Office of Secretary Of War,
za interim, and with view to correcting
the statements which you term gross
misrepresentations,' and give, at length,
your own recollection of the facts un-
der which, without the sanction Of the
President, from whom you had recsiY-
ed and accepted the appointment, you
yielded the Department of War to the
present incumbent. As stated in your
some time after you
had assumed the duties as Secretary Of
War ad interim, We interchanged views
the course that should be
pursued in event of the non concurrence
by the Senate in the suspeusion of Mr..
Stanton. l sought that Interview, call
ing myself at the War Dep2rtment:-
Ny sole object in then bringing the
subject to your attention, WAS to ascer-
tain what would be your own action,
should such an attempt be made, for
his restoration to the War Department.
That object was accomplished, for the
interview terminated with the distinct
that, if under reflection,
you should prefer not to become par
ty to the controversy, or should con-
clude il would be your duty to surren
der the Department to Mr.. Stanton
upon action in his favor by the Senate,
You were to return the office to me
prior to a decision by the Senate, in
order that, if 1 desired to do so, l might
designate some one to succeed you. II
must have been apparent to you, that
had not this understanding been reach
ed it was my purpose to relieve you
from further discharge of the duties as
of War al interim, and to ap-
point some other person in that capaci-
ty. c


Other conversation upon the subject
ensued all having, on my part, the
same object and leading to the same
conclusion as the first. 1t is not neces-
sary, however, to refer to any of them
excepting that Of the 11th inst, men
toned IN your communication. As it
was then known that the Senate had
proceeded in the case Of Mr.. Stanton,
was anxious to learn your determine
ton. After 8 protracted interview,
during which the provisions of the
Tenure of Office bill were fully discussed,
you said that as it had been agreed
upon in our FIRST conference you would
either return the Office to my possession
IN time to enable me to appoint q sue
cessor before final action by the Senate
upon Mr.. Stanton's suspension, or
would remain at its head, awaiting q
decision by judicial proceedings. 1t
was then understood there would be
further conference on Monday, BY
which time l supposed you would be
prepared to inform me Of your final de-
cision. You failed, however, to fulfill
the engagement, and on Tuesday noti-
fed me in writing, of the receipt OF
your official notification of the action of
the Senate in reference to Mr.. Stanton
and at the same time informed me that,
according to the act regulating the
tenure Of certain civil offices. your
functions Of Secretary of War ad i1atsriDl
ceased from the moment at the receipt
of the notice. You, thus, in disregard
of the understanding between us, vaca-
ted the Office without giving notice OF
your intent to do so. 1t Is but just to
say, however, that in your communica-
ton you claim that you did inform me
of your purpose, and thus fulfilled the
promise made in our last preceding
on the subject. Thu fact
that such promise existed is evidence
of an arrangement of the kind l have
You had found in our first
that the President was de
sirous of keeping Mr.. Stanton out of
office whether sustained in the suspen-
sion or not; you know what reasons
had induced the President to ask from
YOU o promise; you also knew that in
case your views Of duty did not accord
with his own convictions, it was his
purpose to fill your place by another
appoiutment. Even ignoring the ex-
isteuce of positiVesunderstanding be-
tween us, the conclusions were plainly
deducible from our various converse
tions. 1t is certain, however, that
even under these circumstances you
did not offer to return the pace tony
possession, but, according to your own
statement, placed yourself, in a position
where, could l have anticipated your
action, 1 would have been compelled
to ask of you, as was compelled to
ask of your predecessors in the War
Department, q letter Of resignation or
to resort to the more dissgreeable ex-
pedient of suspending you by appoint