The Entire Writings of Lincoln
by
Abraham Lincoln
Part 21 out of 36
In granting this respite, it becomes my painful duty to admonish the
prisoner that, relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human
authority, he refer himself alone to the mercy of the common God and
Father of all men.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this fourth day of February, A.D.
1862, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
MESSAGE TO THE SENATE.
WASHINGTON CITY, February 4. 1862
To THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of
the Navy," approved December 21, 1862, provides:
"That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single
ships such officers as he may believe that the good of the service
requires to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon
the recommendation of the President of the United States they shall
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry
in action against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not
otherwise."
In conformity with this law, Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, of the navy,
was nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in
command of the squadron which recently rendered such important
service to the Union in the expedition to the coast of South
Carolina.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully
correspond with the intention of the law, or be more pregnant with
happy influence as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain
Samuel F. Du Pont receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his
services and gallantry displayed in the capture of Forts Walker and
Beauregard, commanding the entrance of Port Royal Harbor, on the 7th
of November, 1861.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO GENERALS D. HUNTER AND J. H. LANE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 4, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER AND BRIGADIER-GENERAL LANE,
Leavenworth, Kansas:
My wish has been and is to avail the government of the services of
both General Hunter and General Lane, and, so far as possible, to
personally oblige both. General Hunter is the senior officer, and
must command when they serve together; though in so far as he can
consistently with the public service and his own honor oblige General
Lane, he will also oblige me. If they cannot come to an amicable
understanding, General Lane must report to General Hunter for duty,
according to the rules, or decline the service.
A. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1, RELATING TO POLITICAL
PRISONERS.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON,
February 14,1862.
The breaking out of a formidable insurrection based on a conflict of
political ideas, being an event without precedent in the United
States, was necessarily attended by great confusion and perplexity of
the public mind. Disloyalty before unsuspected suddenly became bold,
and treason astonished the world by bringing at once into the field
military forces superior in number to the standing army of the United
States.
Every department of the government was paralyzed by treason.
Defection appeared in the Senate, in the House of Representatives, in
the Cabinet, in the Federal courts; ministers and consuls returned
from foreign countries to enter the insurrectionary councils of land
or naval forces; commanding and other officers of the army and in the
navy betrayed our councils or deserted their posts for commands in
the insurgent forces. Treason was flagrant in the revenue and in the
post-office service, as well as in the Territorial governments and in
the Indian reserves.
Not only governors, judges, legislators, and ministerial officers in
the States, but even whole States rushed one after another with
apparent unanimity into rebellion. The capital was besieged and its
connection with all the States cut off. Even in the portions of the
country which were most loyal, political combinations and secret
societies were formed furthering tile work of disunion, while, from
motives of disloyalty or cupidity or from excited passions or
perverted sympathies, individuals were found furnishing men, money,
and materials of war and supplies to the insurgents' military and
naval forces. Armies, ships, fortifications, navy yards, arsenals,
military posts, and garrisons one after another were betrayed or
abandoned to the insurgents.
Congress had not anticipated, and so had not provided for, the
emergency. The municipal authorities were powerless and inactive.
The judicial machinery seemed as if it had been designed, not to
sustain the government, but to embarrass and betray it.
Foreign intervention, openly invited and industriously instigated by
the abettors of the insurrection, became imminent, and has only been
prevented by the practice of strict and impartial justice, with the
most perfect moderation, in our intercourse with nations.
The public mind was alarmed and apprehensive, though fortunately not
distracted or disheartened. It seemed to be doubtful whether the
Federal Government, which one year before had been thought a model
worthy of universal acceptance, had indeed the ability to defend and
maintain itself.
Some reverses, which, perhaps, were unavoidable, suffered by newly
levied and inefficient forces, discouraged the loyal and gave new
hopes to the insurgents. Voluntary enlistments seemed about to cease
and desertions commenced. Parties speculated upon the question
whether conscription had not become necessary to fill up the armies
of the United States.
In this emergency the President felt it his duty to employ with
energy the extraordinary powers which the Constitution confides to
him in cases of insurrection. He called into the field such military
and naval forces, unauthorized by the existing laws, as seemed
necessary. He directed measures to prevent the use of the post-
office for treasonable correspondence. He subjected passengers to
and from foreign countries to new passport regulations, and he
instituted a blockade, suspended the writ of habeas corpus in various
places, and caused persons who were represented to him as being or
about to engage in disloyal and treasonable practices to be arrested
by special civil as well as military agencies and detained in
military custody when necessary to prevent them and deter others from
such practices. Examinations of such cases were instituted, and some
of the persons so arrested have been discharged from time to time
under circumstances or upon conditions compatible, as was thought,
with the public safety.
Meantime a favorable change of public opinion has occurred. The line
between loyalty and disloyalty is plainly defined. The whole
structure of the government is firm and stable. Apprehension of
public danger and facilities for treasonable practices have
diminished with the passions which prompted heedless persons to adopt
them. The insurrection is believed to have culminated and to be
declining.
The President, in view of these facts, and anxious to favor a return
to the normal course of the administration as far as regard for the
public welfare will allow, directs that all political prisoners or
state prisoners now held in military custody be released on their
subscribing to a parole engaging them to render no aid or comfort to
the enemies in hostility to the United States.
The Secretary of War will, however, in his discretion, except from
the effect of this order any persons detained as spies in the service
of the insurgents, or others whose release at the present moment may
be deemed incompatible with the public safety.
To all persons who shall be so released, and who shall keep their
parole, the President grants an amnesty for any past offences of
treason or disloyalty which they may have comminuted.
Extraordinary arrests will hereafter be made under the direction of
the military authorities alone.
By order of the President
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON CITY, February 15, 1862
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of
the Navy," approved December 21, 1861, provides
"That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single
ships such officers as he may believe that the good of the service
requires to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon
the recommendation of the President of the United States they shall
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry
in action against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not
otherwise."
In conformity with this law, Captain Louis M. Goldsborough, of the
navy, was nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer
in command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which recently
rendered such important service to the Union in the expedition to the
coast of North Carolina.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully
correspond with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with
happy influence as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain
Louis M. Goldsborough receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his
services and gallantry displayed in the combined attack of the forces
commanded by him and Brigadier-General Burnside in the capture of
Roanoke Island and the destruction of rebel gunboats On the 7th, 8th,
and 10th of February, 1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
FIRST WRITTEN NOTICE OF GRANT
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 16, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, St. Louis, Missouri:
You have Fort Donelson safe, unless Grant shall be overwhelmed from
outside; to prevent which latter will, I think, require all the
vigilance, energy, and skill of yourself and Buell, acting in full
co-operation. Columbus will not get at Grant, but the force from
Bowling Green will. They hold the railroad from Bowling Green to
within a few miles of Fort Donelson, with the bridge at Clarksville
undisturbed. It is unsafe to rely that they will not dare to expose
Nashville to Buell. A small part of their force can retire slowly
toward Nashville, breaking up the railroad as they go, and keep Buell
out of that city twenty days. Meanwhile Nashville will be abundantly
defended by forces from all South and perhaps from hers at Manassas.
Could not a cavalry force from General Thomas on the upper Cumberland
dash across, almost unresisted, and cut the railroad at or near
Knoxville, Tennessee? In the midst 6f a bombardment at Fort
Donelson, why could not a gunboat run up and destroy the bridge at
Clarksville? Our success or failure at Fort Donelson is vastly
important, and I beg you to put your soul in the effort. I send a
copy of this to Buell.
A. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 2.--IN RELATION TO STATE PRISONERS.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY,
FEBRUARY 27, 1862
It is ordered:
First. That a special commission of two persons, one of military
rank and the other in civil life, be appointed to examine the cases
of the state prisoners remaining in the military custody of the
United States, and to determine whether in view of the public Safety
and the existing rebellion they should be discharged, or remain in
military custody, or be remitted to the civil tribunals for trial.
Second. That Major-General John A. Dix, commanding in Baltimore, and
the HON. Edwards Pierrepont, of New York, be, and they are hereby,
appointed commissioners for the purpose above mentioned; and they are
authorized to examine, hear, and determine the cases aforesaid ex
parte and in a summary manner, at such times and places as in their
discretion they may appoint, and make full report to the War
Department.
By order of the President
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
ORDER RELATING TO COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE.
Considering that the existing circumstances of the country allow a
partial restoration of commercial intercourse between the inhabitants
of those parts of the United States heretofore declared to be in
insurrection and the citizens of the loyal States of the Union, and
exercising the authority and discretion confided to me by the act of
Congress, approved July 13, 1861, entitled "An act further to provide
for the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes," I
hereby license and permit such commercial intercourse in all cases
within the rules and regulations which have been or may be prescribed
by the Secretary of the Treasury for conducting and carrying on the
same on the inland waters arid ways of the United States.
WASHINGTON, February 28, 1862.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
SPEECH TO THE PERUVIAN MINISTER,
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
MARCH 4, 1862
The United States have no enmities, animosities, or rivalries, and no
interests which conflict with the welfare, safety, and rights or
interests of any other nation. Their own prosperity, happiness, and
aggrandizement are sought most safely and advantageously through the
preservation not only of peace on their own part, but peace among all
other nations. But while the United States are thus a friend to all
other nations, they do not seek to conceal the fact that they cherish
especial sentiments of friendship for, and sympathies with, those
who, like themselves, have founded their institutions on the
principle of the equal rights of men; and such nations being more
prominently neighbors of the United States, the latter are
co-operating with them in establishing civilization and culture on
the American continent. Such being the general principles which
govern the United States in their foreign relations, you may be
assured, sir, that in all things this government will deal justly,
frankly, and, if it be possible, even liberally with Peru, whose
liberal sentiments toward us you have so kindly expressed.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS RECOMMENDING COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION.
March 6, 1862
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--
I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable
bodies which shall be substantially as follows:
"Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State
which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to
compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by
such change of system."
If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the
approval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but if it
does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States
and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly
notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to
accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its highest
interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of
self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection
entertain the hope that this government will ultimately be forced to
acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region,
and that all the slave States north of such part will then say, "The
Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose
to go with the Southern section." To deprive them of this hope
substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation
completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it.
The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very
soon, if at all, initiate emancipation; but that, while the offer is
equally made to all, the more northern shall by such initiation make
it certain to the more southern that in no event will the former ever
join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say "initiation"
because, in my judgment, gradual and not sudden emancipation is
better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member
of Congress with the census tables and treasury reports before him
can readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of
this war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any
named State. Such a proposition on the part of the General
Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to
interfere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does,
the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its
people immediately interested. It is proposed as a matter of
perfectly free choice with them.
In the annual message last December, I thought fit to say, "The Union
must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be
employed." I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been
made and continues to be an indispensable means to this end. A
practical reacknowledgment of the national authority would render the
war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. If, however, resistance
continues, the war must also continue; and it is impossible to
foresee all the incidents which may attend and all the ruin which may
follow it. Such as may seem indispensable or may obviously promise
great efficiency toward ending the struggle must and will come.
The proposition now made (though an offer only), I hope it may be
esteemed no offense to ask whether the pecuniary consideration
tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons
concerned than are the institution and property in it in the present
aspect of affairs.
While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would
be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it
is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important
practical results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God
and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the
people to the subject.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
INDORSEMENT ON LETTER FROM GOVERNOR YATES.
STATE OF ILLINOIS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., March 1, 1862
HON. EDWIN M. STANTON,
SECRETARY OF WAR, Washington, D. C.
SIR:--The government at my special request a few months since
contracted for fourteen batteries of the James rifled gun, 6-pounder
calibre, and a limited quantity of the James projectiles, weighing
about fourteen pounds each. The reports showing the superiority of
this gun and projectile, both as regards range, accuracy, and
execution, for field service over that of all others at the battle of
Fort Donelson, leads me to request that there be furnished to the
State of Illinois in the shortest time practicable seven batteries of
12-pounder calibre James rifled guns, with carriages, harness,
implements, etc., complete and ready for field service, together with
the following fixed ammunition to each gun, viz., 225 shells, 225
canister, and 50 solid projectiles, weighing about 24 pounds each,
and also 200 shells, 100 canister, and 100 solid projectiles for each
of the guns of the fourteen batteries named above, weighing about
14 pounds each, all to be of the James model.
Very respectfully,
RICHARD YATES,
Governor of Illinois.
[Indorsement.]
March 8, 1862.
The within is from the Governor of Illinois. I understand the seven
additional batteries now sought are to be 6-gun batteries, and the
object is to mix them with the fourteen batteries they already have
so as to make each battery consist of four 6-pounders and two
12-pounders. I shall be very glad to have the requisition filled if
it can be without detriment to the service.
A. LINCOLN.
PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER NO.2.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON
March 8, 1862.
Ordered:
1. That the major-general commanding the Army of the Potomac proceed
forthwith to organize that part of the said army destined to enter
upon active operations (including the reserve, but excluding the
troops to be left in the fortifications about Washington) into four
army corps, to be commanded according to seniority of rank, as
follows:
First Corps to consist of four divisions, and to be commanded by
Major-General I. McDowell.
Second Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by
Brigadier-General E. V. Sumner.
Third Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by
Brigadier-General S. P. Heintzelman.
Fourth Corps to consist of three divisions, and to be commanded by
Brigadier-General E. D. Keyes.
2. That the divisions now commanded by the officers above assigned
to the commands of army corps shall be embraced in and form part of
their respective corps.
3. The forces left for the defense of Washington will be placed in
command of Brigadier-General James S. Wadsworth, who shall also be
military governor of the District of Columbia.
4. That this order be executed with such promptness and dispatch as
not to delay the commencement of the operations already directed to
be underwritten by the Army of the Potomac.
5. A fifth army corps, to be commanded by Major general N. P. Banks,
will be formed from his own and General Shields's (late General
Lander's) divisions.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER NO.3.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, MARCH 8,1862
Ordered: That no change of the base of operations of the Army of the
Potomac shall be made without leaving in and about Washington such a
force as in the opinion of the general-in-chief and the commanders of
all the army corps shall leave said city entirely secure.
That no more than two army corps (about 50,000 troops) of said Army
of the Potomac shall be moved en route for a new base of operations
until the navigation of the Potomac from Washington to the Chesapeake
Bay shall be freed from enemy's batteries and other obstructions, or
until the President shall hereafter give express permission.
That any movements as aforesaid en route for a new base of operations
which may be ordered by the general-in-chief, and which may be
intended to move upon the Chesapeake Bay, shall begin to move upon
the bay as early as the 18th day of March instant, and the
general-in-chief shall be responsible that it so move as early as
that day.
Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an immediate effort to
capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between Washington and
the Chesapeake Bay.
A. LINCOLN
MEMORANDUM OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND SOME BORDER
SLAVE STATE REPRESENTATIVES, BY HON. J. W. CRISFIELD.
"DEAR SIR:--I called, at the request of the President, to ask you to
come to the White House tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock, and bring
such of your colleagues as are in town."
WASHINGTON, March 10, 1862.
Yesterday, on my return from church, I found Mr. Postmaster-General
Blair in my room, writing the above note, which he immediately
suspended, and verbally communicated the President's invitation, and
stated that the President's purpose was to have some conversation
with the delegations of Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Virginia, and
Delaware, in explanation of his message of the 6th instant.
This morning these delegations, or such of them as were in town,
assembled at the White House at the appointed time, and after some
little delay were admitted to an audience. Mr. Leary and myself were
the only members from Maryland present, and, I think, were the only
members of the delegation at that time in the city. I know that Mr.
Pearoe, of the Senate, and Messrs. Webster and Calvert, of the
House, were absent.
After the usual salutations, and we were seated, the President said,
in substance, that he had invited us to meet him to have some
conversation with us in explanation of his message of the 6th; that
since he had sent it in several of the gentlemen then present had
visited him, but had avoided any allusion to the message, and he
therefore inferred that the import of the message had been
misunderstood, and was regarded as inimical to the interests we
represented; and he had resolved he would talk with us, and disabuse
our minds of that erroneous opinion.
The President then disclaimed any intent to injure the interests or
wound the sensibilities of the slave States. On the contrary, his
purpose was to protect the one and respect the other; that we were
engaged in a terrible, wasting, and tedious war; immense armies were
in the field, and must continue in the field as long as the war
lasts; that these armies must, of necessity, be brought into contact
with slaves in the States we represented and in other States as they
advanced; that slaves would come to the camps, and continual
irritation was kept up; that he was constantly annoyed by conflicting
and antagonistic complaints: on the one side a certain class
complained if the slave was not protected by the army; persons were
frequently found who, participating in these views, acted in a way
unfriendly to the slaveholder; on the other hand, slaveholders
complained that their rights were interfered with, their slaves
induced to abscond and protected within the lines; these complaints
were numerous, loud and deep; were a serious annoyance to him and
embarrassing to the progress of the war; that it kept alive a spirit
hostile to the government in the States we represented; strengthened
the hopes of the Confederates that at some day the border States
would unite with them, and thus tend to prolong the war; and he was
of opinion, if this resolution should be adopted by Congress and
accepted by our States, these causes of irritation and these hopes
would be removed, and more would be accomplished toward shortening
the war than could be hoped from the greatest victory achieved by
Union armies; that he made this proposition in good faith, and
desired it to be accepted, if at all, voluntarily, and in the same
patriotic spirit in which it was made; that emancipation was a
subject exclusively under the control of the States, and must be
adopted or rejected by each for itself; that he did not claim nor had
this government any right to coerce them for that purpose; that such
was no part of his purpose in making this proposition, and he wished
it to be clearly understood; that he did not expect us there to be
prepared to give him an answer, but he hoped we would take the
subject into serious consideration, confer with one another, and then
take such course as we felt our duty and the interests of our
constituents required of us.
Mr. Noell, of Missouri, said that in his State slavery was not
considered a permanent institution; that natural causes were there in
operation which would at no distant day extinguish it, and he did not
think that this proposition was necessary for that; and, besides
that, he and his friends felt solicitous as to the message on account
of the different constructions which the resolution and message had
received. The New York Tribune was for it, and understood it to mean
that we must accept gradual emancipation according to the plan
suggested, or get something worse.
The President replied that he must not be expected to quarrel with
the New York Tribune before the right time; he hoped never to have to
do it; he would not anticipate events. In respect to emancipation in
Missouri, he said that what had been observed by Mr. Noell was
probably true, but the operation of these natural causes had not
prevented the irritating conduct to which he had referred, or
destroyed the hopes of the Confederates that Missouri would at some
time merge herself alongside of them, which, in his judgment, the
passage of this resolution by Congress and its acceptance by Missouri
would accomplish.
Mr. Crisfield, of Maryland, asked what would be the effect of the
refusal of the State to accept this proposal, and he desired to know
if the President looked to any policy beyond the acceptance or
rejection of this scheme.
The President replied that he had no designs beyond the actions of
the States on this particular subject. He should lament their
refusal to accept it, but he had no designs beyond their refusal of
it.
Mr. Menzies, of Kentucky, inquired if the President thought there was
any power except in the States themselves to carry out his scheme of
emancipation.
The President replied that he thought there could not be. He then
went off into a course of remarks not qualifying the foregoing
declaration nor material to be repeated to a just understanding of
his meaning.
Mr. Crisfield said he did not think the people of Maryland looked
upon slavery as a permanent institution; and he did not know that
they would be very reluctant to give it up if provision was made to
meet the loss and they could be rid of the race; but they did not
like to be coerced into emancipation, either by the direct action of
the government or by indirection, as through the emancipation of
slaves in this District, or the confiscation of Southern property as
now threatened; and he thought before they would consent to consider
this proposition they would require to be informed on these points.
The President replied that, unless he was expelled by the act of God
or the Confederate armies he should occupy that house for three
years; and as long as he remained there Maryland had nothing to fear
either for her institutions or her interests on the points referred
to.
Mr. Crisfield immediately added: "Mr. President, if what you now say
could be heard by the people of Maryland, they would consider your
proposition with a much better feeling than I fear without it they
will be inclined to do."
The President: "That [meaning a publication of what he said] will not
do; it would force me into a quarrel before the proper time "; and,
again intimating, as he had before done, that a quarrel with the
"Greeley faction" was impending, he said he did not wish to encounter
it before the proper time, nor at all if it could be avoided.
[The Greely faction wanted an immediate Emancipation Proclamation.
D.W.]
Governor Wickliffe, of Kentucky, then asked him respecting the
constitutionality of his scheme.
The President replied: "As you may suppose, I have considered that;
and the proposition now submitted does not encounter any
constitutional difficulty. It proposes simply to co-operate with any
State by giving such State pecuniary aid"; and he thought that the
resolution, as proposed by him, would be considered rather as the
expression of a sentiment than as involving any constitutional
question.
Mr. Hall, of Missouri, thought that if this proposition was adopted
at all it should be by the votes of the free States, and come as a
proposition from them to the slave States, affording them an
inducement to put aside this subject of discord; that it ought not to
be expected that members representing slaveholding constituencies
should declare at once, and in advance of any proposition to them,
for the emancipation of slavery.
The President said he saw and felt the force of the objection; it was
a fearful responsibility, and every gentleman must do as he thought
best; that he did not know how this scheme was received by the
members from the free States; some of them had spoken to him and
received it kindly; but for the most part they were as reserved and
chary as we had been, and he could not tell how they would vote. And
in reply to some expression of Mr. Hall as to his own opinion
regarding slavery, he said he did not pretend to disguise his anti-
slavery feeling; that he thought it was wrong, and should continue to
think so; but that was not the question we had to deal with now.
Slavery existed, and that, too, as well by the act of the North as of
the South; and in any scheme to get rid of it the North as well as
the South was morally bound to do its full and equal share. He
thought the institution wrong and ought never to have existed; but
yet he recognized the rights of property which had grown out of it,
and would respect those rights as fully as similar rights in any
other property; that property can exist and does legally exist. He
thought such a law wrong, but the rights of property resulting must
be respected; he would get rid of the odious law, not by violating
the rights, but by encouraging the proposition and offering
inducements to give it up.
Here the interview, so far as this subject is concerned, terminated
by Mr. Crittenden's assuring the President that, whatever might be
our final action, we all thought him solely moved by a high
patriotism and sincere devotion to the happiness and glory of his
country; and with that conviction we should consider respectfully the
important suggestions he had made.
After some conversation on the current war news, we retired, and I
immediately proceeded to my room and wrote out this paper.
J. W. CRISFIELD.
We were present at the interview described in the foregoing paper of
Mr. Crisfield, and we certify that the substance of what passed on
the occasion is in this paper faithfully and fully given.
J. W. MENZIES,
J. J. CRITTENDEN,
R. MALLORY.
March 10, 1862.
PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL WAR ORDER NO.3.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, March 11, 1862.
Major-General McClellan having personally taken the field at the head
of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered he is relieved
from the command of the other military departments, he retaining
command of the Department of the Potomac.
Ordered further, That the departments now under the respective
commands of Generals Halleck and Hunter, together with so much of
that under General Buell as lies west of a north and south line
indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tenn., be consolidated and
designated the Department of the Mississippi, and that until
otherwise ordered Major General Halleck have command of said
department.
Ordered also, That the country west of the Department of the Potomac
and east of the Department of the Mississippi be a military
department, to be called the Mountain Department, and that the same
be commanded by Major-General Fremont.
That all the commanders of departments, after the receipt of this
order by them, respectively report severally and directly to the
Secretary of War, and that prompt, full, and frequent reports will be
expected of all and each of them.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
FROM SECRETARY STANTON TO GENERAL MCCLELLAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, March 13, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN:
The President, having considered the plan of operations agreed upon
by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to
the same but gives the following directions as to its execution:
1. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely
certain that the enemy shall no repossess himself of that position
and line of communication.
2. Leave Washington entirely secure.
3. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a new
base at Fortress Monroe or anywhere between here and there, or, at
all events, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit of the
enemy by some route.
EDWARD M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
SPEECH TO A PARTY OF MASSACHUSETTS GENTLEMAN
WASHINGTON, MARCH 13, 1862
I thank you, Mr. Train, for your kindness in presenting me with this
truly elegant and highly creditable specimen of the handiwork of the
mechanics of your State of Massachusetts, and I beg of you to express
my hearty thanks to the donors. It displays a perfection of
workmanship which I really wish I had time to acknowledge in more
fitting words, and I might then follow your idea that it is
suggestive, for it is evidently expected that a good deal of whipping
is to be done. But as we meet here socially let us not think only of
whipping rebels, or of those who seem to think only of whipping
negroes, but of those pleasant days, which it is to be hoped are in
store for us, when seated behind a good pair of horses we can crack
our whips and drive through a peaceful, happy, and prosperous land.
With this idea, gentlemen, I must leave you for my business duties.
[It was likely a Buggy-Whip D.W.]
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON CITY, March 20, 1862.
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of
the Navy, " approved December21, 1861, provides:
"That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single
ships such officers as he may believe the good of the service
requires to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon
the recommendation of the President of the United States they shall
receive a vote of thanks cf Congress for their services and gallantry
in action against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not
otherwise."
In conformity with this law, Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, of the navy,
was nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in
command of the squadron which recently rendered such important
service to the Union in the expedition to the coasts of South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully
correspond with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with
happy influence as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain
Samuel F. Du Pont receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his
service and gallantry displayed in the capture since the 21st
December, 1861, of various ports on the coasts of Georgia and
Florida, particularly Brunswick, Cumberland Island and Sound, Amelia
Island, the towns of St. Mary's, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville and
Fernandina.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, MARCH 31, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN.
MY DEAR SIR:-This morning I felt constrained to order Blenker's
division to Fremont, and I write this to assure you I did so with
great pain, understanding that you would wish it otherwise. If you
could know the full pressure of the case, I am confident that you
would justify it, even beyond a mere acknowledgment that the
commander-in-chief may order what he pleases.
Yours very truly,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
GIFT OF SOME RABBITS
TO MICHAEL CROCK.
360 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 2, 1862.
MY DEAR SIR:-Allow me to thank you in behalf of my little son for
your present of white rabbits. He is very much pleased with them.
Yours truly,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
INSTRUCTION TO SECRETARY STANTON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, April 3, 1862.
The Secretary of War will order that one or the other of the corps of
General McDowell and General Sumner remain in front of Washington
until further orders from the department, to operate at or in the
direction of Manassas Junction, or otherwise, as occasion may
require; that the other Corps not so ordered to remain go forward to
General McClellan as speedily as possible; that General McClellan
commence his forward movements from his new base at once, and that
such incidental modifications as the foregoing may render proper be
also made.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, April 6, 1862.
GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN:
Yours of 11 A. M. today received. Secretary of War informs me that
the forwarding of transportation, ammunition, and Woodbury's brigade,
under your orders, is not, and will not be, interfered with. You now
have over one hundred thousand troops with you, independent of
General Wool's command. I think you better break the enemy's line
from Yorktown to Warwick River at once. This will probably use time
as advantageously as you can.
A. LINCOLN, President
TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, April 9, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN.
MY DEAR SIR+--Your despatches, complaining that you are not properly
sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much.
Blenker's division was withdrawn from you before you left here, and
you knew the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought,
acquiesced in it certainly not without reluctance.
After you left I ascertained that less than 20,000 unorganized men,
without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left for
the defense of Washington and Manassas Junction, and part of this
even to go to General Hooker's old position; General Banks's corps,
once designed for Manassas Junction, was divided and tied up on the
line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without
again exposing the upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
This presented (or would present when McDowell and Sumner should be
gone) a great temptation to the enemy to turn back from the
Rappahannock and sack Washington. My explicit order that Washington
should, by the judgment of all the Commanders of corps, be left
entirely secure, had been neglected. It was precisely this that
drove me to detain McDowell.
I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave
Banks at Manassas Junction; but when that arrangement was broken up
and nothing substituted for it, of course I was not satisfied. I was
constrained to substitute something for it myself.
And now allow me to ask, do you really think I should permit the line
from Richmond via Manaasas Junction to this city to be entirely open,
except what resistance could be presented by less than 20,000
unorganized troops? This is a question which the country will not
allow me to evade.
There is a curious mystery about the number of the troops now with
you. When I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying you had over 100,000
with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a statement,
taken as he said from your own returns, making 108,000 then with you
and en route to you. You now say you will have but 85,000 when all
enroute to you shall have reached you. How can this discrepancy of
23,000 be accounted for?
As to General Wool's command, I understand it is doing for you
precisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that
command was away. I suppose the whole force which has gone forward
to you is with you by this time; and if so, I think it is the precise
time for you to strike a blow. By delay the enemy will relatively
gain upon you--that is, he will gain faster by fortifications and
reinforcements than you can by reinforcements alone.
And once more let me tell you it is indispensable to you that you
strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will do me the
justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay in
search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only
shifting and not surmounting a difficulty; that we would find the
same enemy and the same or equal entrenchments at either place. The
country will not fail to note--is noting now--that the present
hesitation to move upon an entrenched enemy is but the story of
Manassas repeated.
I beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in
greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to
sustain you, so far as in my most anxious judgment I consistently
can; but you must act.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 9, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Saint Louis, Mo.:
If the rigor of the confinement of Magoffin (Governor of Kentucky) at
Alton is endangering his life, or materially impairing his health, I
wish it mitigated as far as it can be consistently with his safe
detention.
A. LINCOLN.
Please send above, by order of the President.
JOHN HAY.
PROCLAMATION RECOMMENDING THANKSGIVING FOR VICTORIES,
APRIL 10, 1862.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation
It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land
and naval forces engaged in suppressing, an internal rebellion, and
at the same time to avert from our country the dangers of foreign
intervention and invasion.
It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States that
at their next weekly assemblages in their accustomed places of public
worship which shall occur after notice of this proclamation shall
have been received, they especially acknowledge and render thanks to
our Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings, that they then
and there implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all who have
been brought into affliction by the casualties and calamities of
sedition and civil war, and that they reverently invoke the divine
guidance for our national counsels, to the end that they may speedily
result in the restoration of peace, harmony, and unity throughout our
borders and hasten the establishment of fraternal relations among all
the countries of the earth.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of April, A.D. 1862,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
ABOLISHING SLAVERY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
April 16, 1862.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The act entitled "An act for the relief of certain persons held to
service or labor in the District of Columbia" has this day been
approved and signed.
I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to
abolish slavery in this District, and I have ever desired to see the
national capital freed from the institution in some satisfactory way.
Hence there has never been in my mind any question on the subject
except the one of expediency, arising in view of all the
circumstances. If there be matters within and about this act which
might have taken a course or shape more satisfactory to my judgment,
I do not attempt to specify them. I am gratified that the two
principles of compensation and colonization are both recognized and
practically applied in the act.
In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims may be
presented within ninety days from the passage of the act, "but not
thereafter"; and there is no saving for minors, femmes covert, insane
or absent persons. I presume this is an omission by mere oversight,
and I recommend that it be supplied by an amendatory or supplemental
act.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, April 21, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
Your despatch of the 19th was received that day. Fredericksburg is
evacuated and the bridges destroyed by the enemy, and a small part of
McDowell's command occupies this side of the Rappahannock, opposite
the town. He purposes moving his whole force to that point.
A. LINCOLN.
TO POSTMASTER-GENERAL
A. LINCOLN. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 24, 1862.
Hon. POSTMASTER-GENERAL.
MY DEAR SIR:--The member of Congress from the district including
Tiffin, O., calls on me about the postmaster at that place.
I believe I turned over a despatch to you from some persons there,
asking a suspension, so as for them to be heard, or something of the
sort. If nothing, or nothing amounting to anything, has been done, I
think the suspension might now be suspended, and the commission go
forward.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, April 29, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
Would it derange or embarrass your operations if I were to appoint
Captain Charles Griffin a brigadier-general of volunteers? Please
answer.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO THE SENATE, MAY 1, 1862.
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
In answer to the resolution of the Senate [of April 22] in relation
to Brigadier-General Stone, I have the honor to state that he was
arrested and imprisoned under my general authority, and upon evidence
which whether he be guilty or innocent, required, as appears to me,
such proceedings to be had against him for the public safety. I
deem it incompatible with the public interest, as also, perhaps,
unjust to General Stone, to make a more particular statement of the
evidence.
He has not been tried because, in the state of military operations at
the time of his arrest and since, the officers to constitute a court
martial and for witnesses could not be withdrawn from duty without
serious injury to the service. He will be allowed a trial without
any unnecessary delay; the charges and specifications will be
furnished him in due season, and every facility for his defense will
be afforded him by the War Department.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
WASHINGTON, MAY 1, 1862
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL McCLELLAN
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, MAY 1, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
Your call for Parrott guns from Washington alarms me, chiefly because
it argues indefinite procrastination. Is anything to be done?
A LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
WAR DEPARTMENT, MAY 1, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Pittsburgh Landing, Tennessee:
I am pressed by the Missouri members of Congress to give General
Schofield independent command in Missouri. They insist that for want
of this their local troubles gradually grow worse. I have forborne,
so far, for fear of interfering with and embarrassing your
operations. Please answer telling me whether anything, and what, I
can do for them without injuriously interfering with you.
A. LINCOLN.
RESPONSE TO EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS, MAY 6, 1862
GENTLEMEN:--I welcome here the representatives of the Evangelical
Lutherans of the United States. I accept with gratitude their
assurances of the sympathy and support of that enlightened,
influential, and loyal class of my fellow citizens in an important
crisis which involves, in my judgment, not only the civil and
religious liberties of our own dear land, but in a large degree the
civil and religious liberties of mankind in many countries and
through many ages. You well know, gentlemen, and the world knows,
how reluctantly I accepted this issue of battle forced upon me on my
advent to this place by the internal enemies of our country. You all
know, the world knows, the forces and the resources the public agents
have brought into employment to sustain a government against which
there has been brought not one complaint of real injury committed
against society at home or abroad. You all may recollect that in
taking up the sword thus forced into our hands this government
appealed to the prayers of the pious and the good, and declared that
it placed its whole dependence on the favor of God. I now humbly and
reverently, in your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that
dependence, not doubting that, if it shall please the Divine Being
who determines the destinies of nations, this shall remain a united
people, and that they will, humbly seeking the divine guidance, make
their prolonged national existence a source of new benefits to
themselves and their successors, and to all classes and conditions of
mankind.
TELEGRAM TO FLAG-OFFICER L. M. GOLDSBOROUGH.
FORT MONROE, VIRGINIA, MAY 7, 1862
FLAG-OFFICER GOLDSBOROUGH.
SIR:--Major-General McClellan telegraphs that he has ascertained by a
reconnaissance that the battery at Jamestown has been abandoned, and
he again requests that gunboats may be sent up the James River.
If you have tolerable confidence that you can successfully contend
with the Merrimac without the help of the Galena and two accompanying
gunboats, send the Galena and two gunboats up the James River at
once. Please report your action on this to me at once. I shall be
found either at General Wool's headquarters or on board the Miami.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
FURTHER REPRIMAND OF McCLELLAN
TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
FORT MONROE, VIRGINIA, May 9, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
MY DEAR SIR:--I have just assisted the Secretary of War in framing
part of a despatch to you relating to army corps, which despatch, of
course, will have reached you long before this will. I wish to say a
few words to you privately on this subject. I ordered the army corps
organization not only on the unanimous opinion of the twelve generals
whom you had selected and assigned as generals of divisions, but also
on the unanimous opinion of every military man I could get an opinion
from, and every modern military book, yourself only excepted. Of
course, I did not on my own judgment pretend to understand the
subject. I now think it indispensable for you to know how your
struggle against it is received in quarters which we cannot entirely
disregard. It is looked upon as merely an effort to pamper one or
two pets, and to persecute and degrade their supposed rivals. I have
had no word from Sumner, Heintzleman, or Keyes the commanders of
these corps are, of course, the three highest officers with you; but
I am constantly told that you have no consultation or communication
with them; that you consult and communicate with nobody but General
Fitz John Porter, and perhaps General Franklin. I do not say these
complaints are true or just; but at all events, it is proper you
should know of their existence. Do the commanders of corps disobey
your orders in anything?
When you relieved General Hamilton of his command the other day, you
thereby lost the confidence of at least one of your best friends in
the Senate. And here let me say, not as applicable to you
personally, that Senators and Representatives speak of me in their
places without question, and that officers of the army must cease
addressing insulting letters to them for taking no greater liberty
with them.
But to return. Are you strong enough--are you strong enough even
with my help--to set your foot upon the necks of Sumner, Heintzelman,
and Keyes all at once? This is a practical and very serious question
to you?
The success of your army and the cause of the country are the same,
and, of course, I only desire the good of the cause.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO FLAG-OFFICER L. M. GOLDSBOROUGH,
FORT MONROE, VIRGINIA, May 10, 1862
FLAG-OFFICER GOLDSBOROUGH.
MY DEAR SIR:--I send you this copy of your report of yesterday for
the purpose of saying to you in writing that you are quite right in
supposing the movement made by you and therein reported was made in
accordance with my wishes verbally expressed to you in advance. I
avail myself of the occasion to thank you for your courtesy and all
your conduct, so far as known to me, during my brief visit here.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION RAISING THE BLOCKADE OF CERTAIN
PORTS., May 12, 1862.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, by my proclamation of the 19th of April, one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one, it was declared that the ports of certain
States, including those of Beaufort, in the State of North Carolina,
Port Royal, in the State of South Carolina, and New Orleans, in the
State of Louisiana, were, for reasons therein set forth, intended to
be placed under blockade; and whereas the said ports of Beaufort,
Port Royal, and New Orleans have since been blockaded; but as the
blockade of the same ports may now be safely relaxed with advantage
to the interests of commerce:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth
section of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July last,
entitled "An act further to provide for the collection of duties on
imports, and for other purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade
of the said ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans shall so
far cease and determine, from and after the first day of June next,
that commercial intercourse with those ports, except as to persons,
things, and information contraband of war, may from that time be
carried on, subject to the laws of the United States, and to the
limitations and in pursuance of the regulations which are prescribed
by the Secretary of the Treasury in his order of this date, which is
appended to this proclamation.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twelfth day of May, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the
independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
1862-1863
RECOMMENDATION OF NAVAL OFFICERS
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 1862.
TO SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of
the Navy," approved 21st of December, 1861, provides:
"That the President of the United States by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the
retired list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single
ships such officers as he may believe that the good of the service
requires to be thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon
the recommendation of the President of the United States they shall
receive a vote of thanks of Congress for their services and gallantry
in action against an enemy, be restored to the active list, and not
otherwise."
In conformity with this law, Captain David G. Farragut was nominated
to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in command of the
squadron which recently rendered such important service to the Union
by his successful operations on the lower Mississippi and capture of
New Orleans.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully
correspond with the intention of the law or be more pregnant with
happy influence as an example, I cordially recommend that Captain D.
G. Farragut receive a vote of thanks of Congress for his services and
gallantry displayed in the capture since 21st December, 1861, of
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, city of New Orleans, and the
destruction of various rebel gunboats, rams, etc............
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I submit herewith a list of naval officers who commanded vessels
engaged in the recent brilliant operations of the squadron commanded
by Flag-officer Farragut which led to the capture of Forts Jackson
and St. Philip, city of New Orleans, and the destruction of rebel
gunboats, rams, etc., in April 1862. For their services and
gallantry on those occasions I cordially recommend that they should,
by name, receive a vote of thanks of Congress:
LIST:
Captain Theodorus Bailey.
Captain Henry W. Morris.
Captain Thomas T. Craven.
Commander Henry H. Bell.
Commander Samuel Phillips Lee.
Commander Samuel Swartwout.
Commander Melancton Smith.
Commander Charles Stewart Boggs
Commander John De Camp
Commander James Alden.
Commander David D. Porter.
Commander Richard Wainwright.
Commander William B. Renshaw.
Lieutenant Commanding Abram D. Harrell.
Lieutenant Commanding Edward Donaldson.
Lieutenant Commanding George H. Preble.
Lieutenant Commanding Edward T. Nichols.
Lieutenant Commanding Jonathan M. Wainwright.
Lieutenant Commanding John Guest.
Lieutenant Commanding Charles H. B. Caldwell.
Lieutenant Commanding Napoleon B. Harrison.
Lieutenant Commanding Albert N. Smith.
Lieutenant Commanding Pierce Crosby.
Lieutenant Commanding George M. Ransom.
Lieutenant Commanding Watson Smith.
Lieutenant Commanding John H. Russell.
Lieutenant Commanding Walter W. Queen.
Lieutenant Commanding K. Randolph Breese.
Acting Lieutenant Commanding Seliin E. Woolworth.
Acting Lieutenant Commanding Charles H. Baldwin.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 14, 1862
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON CITY, May 15, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN, Cumberland, Virginia:
Your long despatch of yesterday is just received. I will answer more
fully soon. Will say now that all your despatches to the Secretary
of War have been promptly shown to me. Have done and shall do all I
could and can to sustain you. Hoped that the opening of James River
and putting Wool and Burnside in communication, with an open road to
Richmond, or to you, had effected something in that direction. I am
still unwilling to take all our force off the direct line between
Richmond and here.
A. LINCOLN.
SPEECH TO THE 12TH INDIANA REGIMENT,
MAY [15?] 1862
SOLDIERS, OF THE TWELFTH INDIANA REGIMENT: It
has not been customary heretofore, nor will it be hereafter, for me
to say something to every regiment passing in review. It occurs too
frequently for me to have speeches ready on all occasions. As you
have paid such a mark of respect to the chief magistrate, it appears
that I should say a word or two in reply. Your colonel has thought
fit, on his own account and in your name, to say that you are
satisfied with the manner in which I have performed my part in the
difficulties which have surrounded the nation. For your kind
expressions I am extremely grateful, but on the other hand I assure
you that the nation is more indebted to you, and such as you, than to
me. It is upon the brave hearts and strong arms of the people of the
country that our reliance has been placed in support of free
government and free institutions.
For the part which you and the brave army of which you are a part
have, under Providence, performed in this great struggle, I tender
more thanks especially to this regiment, which has been the subject
of good report. The thanks of the nation will follow you, and may
God's blessing rest upon you now and forever. I hope that upon your
return to your homes you will find your friends and loved ones well
and happy. I bid you farewell.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL I. McDOWELL.
WASHINGTON, May 16, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McDOWELL:
What is the strength of your force now actually with you?
A. LINCOLN.
MEMORANDUM OF PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO INSTRUCTIONS OF ABOVE DATE TO
GENERAL McDOWELL, AND GENERAL MEIGS'S INDORSEMENT THEREON.
May 17, 1862.
You will retain the separate command of the forces taken with you;
but while co-operating with General McClellan you will obey his
orders, except that you are to judge, and are not to allow your force
to be disposed otherwise than so as to give the greatest protection
to this capital which may be possible from that distance.
[Indorsement.]
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR:
The President having shown this to me, I suggested that it is
dangerous to direct a subordinate not to obey the orders of his
superior in any case, and that to give instructions to General
McClellan to this same end and furnish General McDowell with a copy
thereof would effect the object desired by the President. He desired
me to say that the sketch of instructions to General McClellan
herewith he thought made this addition unnecessary.
Respectfully,
M. C. M.
INDORSEMENT RELATING TO GENERAL DAVID HUNTER'S
ORDER OF MILITARY EMANCIPATION,
MAY 17, 1862
No commanding general shall do such a thing upon my responsibility
without consulting me.
A. LINCOLN.
FROM SECRETARY STANTON TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, May 18, 1862.
GENERAL:
Your despatch to the President, asking reinforcements, has been
received and carefully considered.
The President is not willing to uncover the capital entirely; and it
is believed that, even if this were prudent, it would require more
time to effect a junction between your army and that of the
Rappahannock by the way of the Potomac and York rivers than by a land
march. In order, therefore, to increase the strength of the attack
upon Richmond at the earliest moment, General McDowell has been
ordered to march upon that city by the shortest route. He is
ordered, keeping himself always in position to save the capital from
all possible attack, so to operate as to put his left wing in
communication with your right wing, and you are instructed to co-
operate so as to establish this communication as soon as possible by
extending your right-wing to the north of Richmond.
It is believed that this communication can be safely established
either north or south of the Pamunkey River.
In any event, you will be able to prevent the main body of the
enemy's forces from leaving Richmond and falling in overwhelming
force upon General McDowell. He will move with between thirty-five
and forty thousand men.
A copy of the instructions to General McDowell are with this. The
specific task assigned to his command has been to provide against any
danger to the capital of the nation.
At your earnest call for reinforcements, he is sent forward to co-
operate in the reduction of Richmond, but charged, in attempting
this, not to uncover the city of Washington; and you will give no
order, either before or after your junction, which can put him out of
position to cover this city. You and he will communicate with each
other by telegraph or otherwise as frequently as may be necessary for
efficient cooperation. When General McDowell is in position on your
right, his supplies must be drawn from West Point, and you will
instruct your staff-officers to be prepared to supply him by that
route.
The President desires that General McDowell retain the command of the
Department of the Rappahannock and of the forces with which he moves
forward.
By order of the President:
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN,
Commanding Army of the Potomac, before Richmond.
PROCLAMATION REVOKING
GENERAL HUNTER'S ORDER
OF MILITARY EMANCIPATION, MAY 19, 1862.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation
Whereas there appears in the public prints what purports to be a
proclamation of Major general Hunter, in the words and figures
following, to wit:
(General Orders No. 11)
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, HILTON HEAD, PORT ROYAL, S. C.,
May 9, 1862.
"The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, comprising
the military department of the South, having deliberately declared
themselves no longer under the protection of the United States of
America, and having taken up arms against the said United States, it
became a military necessity to declare martial law. This was
accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. Slavery and martial
law in a free country are altogether incompatible. The persons in
these three States: Georgia Florida, and South Carolina--heretofore
held as slaves are therefore declared forever free.
"By command of Major-General D. Hunter:
"(Official.)ED. W. SMITH,
"Acting Assistant Adjutant-General."
And whereas the same is producing some excitement and
misunderstanding: therefore,
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, proclaim and
declare that the Government of the United States, had no knowledge,
information, or belief of an intention on the part of General Hunter
to issue such a proclamation; nor has it yet any authentic
information that the document is genuine. And further, that neither
General Hunter nor any other commander or person has been authorized
by the Government of the United States to make a proclamation
declaring the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed
proclamation now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether
void so far as respects such a declaration.
I further make known that whether it be competent for me, as
commander-in-chief of the army and navy, to declare the slaves of any
State or States free, and whether, at any time, in any case, it shall
have become a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the
government to exercise such supposed power, are questions which under
my responsibility I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel
justified in leaving to the decision of commanders in the field.
These are totally different questions from those of police
regulations in armies and camps.
On the sixth day of March last, by special message, I recommended to
Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, to be substantially as
follows:
Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State
which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State
pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to
compensate for the inconvenience, public and private, produced by
such change of system.
The resolution in the language above quoted was adopted by large
majorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic,
definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people
most immediately interested in the subject-matter. To the people of
those States I now earnestly appeal. I do not argue--I beseech you
to make arguments for yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind
to the signs of the times. I beg of you a calm and enlarged
consideration of them, ranging, if it may be, far above personal and
partisan politics. This proposal makes common cause for a common
object, casting no reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee.
The change it contemplates would come gently as the dews of heaven,
not rending or wrecking anything. Will you not embrace it? So much
good has not been done, by one effort, in all past time, as in the
providence of God it is now your high privilege to do. May the vast
future not have to lament that you have neglected it.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this nineteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of
the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. E. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, May 21, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
I have just been waited on by a large committee who present a
petition signed by twenty-three senators and eighty-four
representatives asking me to restore General Hamilton to his
division. I wish to do this, and yet I do not wish to be understood
as rebuking you. Please answer at once.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON CITY, May 22, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
Your long despatch of yesterday just received. You will have just
such control of General McDowell and his forces as you therein
indicate. McDowell can reach you by land sooner than he could get
aboard of boats, if the boats were ready at Fredericksburg, unless
his march shall be resisted, in which case the force resisting him
will certainly not be confronting you at Richmond. By land he can
reach you in five days after starting, whereas by water he would not
reach you in two weeks, judging by past experience. Franklin's
single division did not reach you in ten days after I ordered it.
A. LINCOLN,
President United States.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, May 24, 1862. 4 PM.
MAJOR-GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN:
In consequence of General Banks's critical position, I have been
compelled to suspend General McDowell's movements to join you. The
enemy are making a desperate push upon Harper's Ferry, and we are
trying to throw General Fremont's force and part of General
McDowell's in their rear.
A. LINCOLN, President.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL McCLELLAN
WASHINGTON May 24, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN:
I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening. Shields's
command is there, but it is so worn that he cannot move before Monday
morning, the 26th. We have so thinned our line to get troops for
other places that it was broken yesterday at Front Royal, with a
probable loss to us of one regiment infantry, two Companies cavalry,
putting General Banks in some peril.
The enemy's forces under General Anderson now opposing General
McDowell's advance have as their line of supply and retreat the road
to Richmond.
If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against Anderson, you
could send a force from your right to cut off the enemy's supplies
from Richmond, preserve the railroad bridges across the two forks of
the Pamunkey, and intercept the enemy's retreat, you will prevent the
army now opposed to you from receiving an accession of numbers of
nearly 15,000 men; and if you succeed in saving the bridges you will
secure a line of railroad for supplies in addition to the one you now
have. Can you not do this almost as well as not while you are
building the Chickahominy bridges? McDowell and Shields both say
they can, and positively will, move Monday morning. I wish you to
move cautiously and safely.
You will have command of McDowell, after he joins you, precisely as
you indicated in your long despatch to us of the 21st.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL RUFUS SAXTON.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May, 24 1862. 2 P.M.
GENERAL SAXTON:
Geary reports Jackson with 20,000 moving from Ashby's Gap by the
Little River turnpike, through Aldie, toward Centreville. This he
says is reliable. He is also informed of large forces south of him.
We know a force of some 15,000 broke up Saturday night from in front
of Fredericksburg and went we know not where. Please inform us, if
possible, what has become of the force which pursued Banks yesterday;
also any other information you have.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO COLONEL D. S. MILES.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 24, 1862. 1.30 P.M.
COLONEL MILES, Harper's Ferry, Virginia
Could you not send scouts from Winchester who would tell whether
enemy are north of Banks, moving on Winchester? What is the latest
you have?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. C. FREMONT.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 24, 1862. 4 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL FREMONT, Franklin:
You are authorized to purchase the 400 horses, or take them wherever
or however you can get them. The exposed condition of General Banks
makes his immediate relief a point of paramount importance. You are
therefore directed by the President to move against Jackson at
Harrisonburg and operate against the enemy in such way as to relieve
Banks. This movement must be made immediately. You will acknowledge
the receipt of this order, and specify the hour it is received by
you.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. C. FREMONT.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 24, 1862. 7.15 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL FREMONT, Franklin, Virginia:
Many thanks for the promptness with which you have answered that you
will execute the order. Much--perhaps all--depends upon the celerity
with which you can execute it. Put the utmost speed into it. Do not
lose a minute.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 24, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, near Corinth, Mississippi:
Several despatches from Assistant Secretary Scott and one from
Governor Morton asking reinforcements for you have been received. I
beg you to be assured we do the best we can. I mean to cast no blame
where I tell you each of our commanders along our line from Richmond
to Corinth supposes himself to be confronted by numbers superior to
his own. Under this pressure We thinned the line on the upper
Potomac, until yesterday it was broken with heavy loss to us, and
General Banks put in great peril, out of which he is not yet
extricated, and may be actually captured. We need men to repair this
breach, and have them not at hand. My dear General, I feel justified
to rely very much on you. I believe you and the brave officers and
men with you can and will get the victory at Corinth.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL I. McDOWELL
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 24, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McDOWELL, Fredricksburg:
General Fremont has been ordered by telegraph to move from Franklin
on Harrisonburg to relieve General Banks, and capture or destroy
Jackson's and Ewell's forces. You are instructed, laying aside for
the present the movement on Richmond, to put 20,000 men in motion at
once for the Shenandoah, moving on the line or in advance of the line
of the Manassas Gap railroad. Your object will be to capture the
forces of Jackson and Ewell, either in co-operation with General
Fremont, or, in case want of supplies or of transportation,
interferes with his movements, it is believed that the force which
you move will be sufficient to accomplish this object alone. The
information thus far received here makes it probable that if the
enemy operate actively against General Banks, you will not be able to
count upon much assistance from him, but may even have to release
him. Reports received this moment are that Banks is fighting with
Ewell eight miles from Winchester.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL McDOWELL.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., May 24, 1862
MAJOR-GENERAL I. McDOWELL:
I am highly gratified by your alacrity in obeying my order. The
change was as painful to me as it can possibly be to you or to any
one. Everything now depends upon the celerity and vigor of your
movement.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. W. GEARY.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 25, 1862 1.45 P.M.
GENERAL GEARY, White Plains:
Please give us your best present impression as to the number of the
enemy's forces north of Strasburg and Front Royal. Are the forces
still moving north through the gap at Front Royal and between you and
there?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WASHINGTON, May 25, 1862. 2 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
The enemy is moving north in sufficient force to drive General Banks
before him--precisely in what force we cannot tell. He is also
threatening Leesburg and Geary, on the Manassas Gap railroad, from
both north and south--in precisely what force we cannot tell. I
think the movement is a general and concerted one, such as would not
be if he was acting upon the purpose of a very desperate defense of
Richmond. I think the time is near when you must either attack
Richmond or give up the job and come to the defense of Washington.
Let me hear from you instantly.
A. LINCOLN, President.
ORDER TAKING MILITARY POSSESSION OF RAILROADS.
WAR DEPARTMENT, May 25, 1862.
Ordered: By virtue of the authority vested by act of Congress, the
President takes military possession of all the railroads in the
United States from and after this date until further order, and
directs that the respective railroad companies, their officers and
servants, shall hold themselves in readiness for the transportation
of such troops and munitions of war as may be ordered by the military
authorities, to the exclusion of all other business.
By order of the Secretary of War.
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