The Writings of Abraham Lincoln, v6
by
Abraham Lincoln
Part 5 out of 9
TO SECRETARY WELLES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 4, 1863.
HON. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy.
DEAR SIR:--As many persons who come well recommended for loyalty and
service to the Union cause, and who are refugees from rebel
oppression in the State of Virginia, make application to me for
authority and permission to remove their families and property to
protection within the Union lines, by means of our armed gunboats on
the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, you are hereby requested to
hear and consider all such applications, and to grant such assistance
to this class of persons as in your judgment their merits may render
proper, and as may in each case be consistent with the perfect and
complete efficiency of the naval service and with military
expediency.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL S. L CURTIS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 5, 1863
MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS.
MY DEAR SIR:--I am having a good deal of trouble with Missouri
matters, and I now sit down to write you particularly about it. One
class of friends believe in greater severity and another in greater
leniency in regard to arrests, banishments, and assessments. As
usual in such cases, each questions the other's motives. On the one
hand, it is insisted that Governor Gamble's unionism, at most, is not
better than a secondary spring of action; that hunkerism and a wish
for political influence stand before Unionism with him. On the other
hand, it is urged that arrests, banishments, and assessments are made
more for private malice, revenge, and pecuniary interest than for the
public good. This morning I was told, by a gentleman who I have no
doubt believes what he says, that in one case of assessments for
$10,000 the different persons who paid compared receipts, and found
they had paid $30,000. If this be true, the inference is that the
collecting agents pocketed the odd $20,000. And true or not in the
instance, nothing but the sternest necessity can justify the making
and maintaining of a system so liable to such abuses. Doubtless the
necessity for the making of the system in Missouri did exist, and
whether it continues for the maintenance of it is now a practical and
very important question. Some days ago Governor Gamble telegraphed
me, asking that the assessments outside of St. Louis County might be
suspended, as they already have been within it, and this morning all
the members of Congress here from Missouri but one laid a paper
before me asking the same thing. Now, my belief is that Governor
Gamble is an honest and true man, not less so than yourself; that you
and he could confer together on this and other Missouri questions
with great advantage to the public; that each knows something which
the other does not; and that acting together you could about double
your stock of pertinent information. May I not hope that you and he
will attempt this? I could at once safely do (or you could safely do
without me) whatever you and he agree upon. There is absolutely no
reason why you should not agree.
Yours as ever,
A. LINCOLN.
P. S.--I forgot to say that Hon. James S. Rollins, member of Congress
from one of the Missouri districts, wishes that, upon his personal
responsibility, Rev. John M. Robinson, of Columbia, Missouri; James
L. Matthews, of Boone County, Missouri; and James L. Stephens, also
of Boone County, Missouri, may be allowed to return to their
respective homes. Major Rollins leaves with me very strong papers
from the neighbors of these men, whom he says he knows to be true
men. He also says he has many constituents who he thinks are rightly
exiled, but that he thinks these three should be allowed to return.
Please look into the case, and oblige Major Rollins if you
consistently can.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
[Copy sent to Governor Gamble.]
TO CALEB RUSSELL AND SALLIE A. FENTON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 5, 1863.
MY GOOD FRIENDS:
The Honorable Senator Harlan has just placed in my hands your letter
of the 27th of December, which I have read with pleasure and
gratitude.
It is most cheering and encouraging for me to know that in the
efforts which I have made and am making for the restoration of a
righteous peace to our country, I am upheld and sustained by the good
wishes and prayers of God's people. No one is more deeply than
myself aware that without His favor our highest wisdom is but as
foolishness and that our most strenuous efforts would avail nothing
in the shadow of His displeasure.
I am conscious of no desire for my country's welfare that is not in
consonance with His will, and of no plan upon which we may not ask
His blessing. It seems to me that if there be one subject upon which
all good men may unitedly agree, it is imploring the gracious favor
of the God of Nations upon the struggles our people are making for
the preservation of their precious birthright of civil and religious
liberty.
Very truly your friend;
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL ROSECRANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 5. 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS, Murfreesborough, Tenn.:
Your despatch announcing retreat of enemy has just reached here. God
bless you and all with you! Please tender to all, and accept for
yourself, the nation's gratitude for your and their skill, endurance,
and dauntless courage.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DIX.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D.C., January 7, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL DIX, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Do Richmond papers of 6th say nothing about Vicksburg, or if
anything, what?
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON
January 7, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK.
MY DEAR SIR:--What think you of forming a reserve cavalry corps of,
say, 6000 for the Army of the Potomac? Might not such a corps be
constituted from the cavalry of Sigel's and Slocum's corps, with
scraps we could pick up here and there?
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO B. G. BROWN.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 7, 1863. 5.30 P.M.
HON. B. GRATZ BROWN, Jefferson City, Mo.:
Yours of to-day just received. The administration takes no part
between its friends in Missouri, of whom I, at least, consider you
one; and I have never before had an intimation that appointees there
were interfering, or were inclined to interfere.
A. LINCOLN.
CORRESPONDENCE WITH GENERAL A. E. BURNSIDE,
JANUARY 8, 1863.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
January 5, 1863.
HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Since my return to the army I have become more than ever convinced
that the general officers of this command are almost unanimously
opposed to another crossing of the river; but I am still of the
opinion that the, crossing should be attempted, and I have
accordingly issued orders to the engineers and artillery to prepare
for it. There is much hazard in it, as there always is in the
majority of military movements, and I cannot begin the movement
without giving you notice of it, particularly as I know so little of
the effect that it may have upon other movements of distant armies.
The influence of your telegram the other day is still upon me, and
has impressed me with the idea that there are many parts of the
problem which influence you that are not known to me.
In order to relieve you from all embarrassment in my case, I inclose
with this my resignation of my commission as major-general of
volunteers, which you can have accepted if my movement is not in
accordance with the views of yourself and your military advisers.
I have taken the liberty to write to you personally upon this
subject, because it was necessary, as I learned from General Halleck,
for you to approve of my general plan, written at Warrenton, before I
could commence the movement; and I think it quite as necessary that
you should know of the important movement I am about to make,
particularly as it will have to be made in opposition to the views of
nearly all my general officers, and after the receipt of a despatch
from you informing me of the opinion of some of them who had visited
you.
In conversation with you on New Year's morning I was led to express
some opinions which I afterward felt it my duty to place on paper,
and to express them verbally to the gentleman of whom we were
speaking, which I did in your presence, after handing you the letter.
You were not disposed then, as I saw, to retain the letter, and I
took it back, but I now return it to you for record. if you wish it.
I beg leave to say that my resignation is not sent in in any spirit
of insubordination, but, as I before said, simply to relieve you from
any embarrassment in changing commanders where lack of confidence may
have rendered it necessary.
The bearer of this will bring me any answer, or I should be glad to
hear from you by telegraph in cipher.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. E. BURNSIDE,
Major-General, Commanding Army of the Potomac.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON,
January 7, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Commanding, etc., Falmouth:
GENERAL:--Your communication of the 5th was delivered to me by your
aide-de-camp at 12 M. to-day.
In all my communications and interviews with you since you took
command of the Army of the Potomac I have advised a forward movement
across the Rappahannock. At our interview at Warrenton I urged that
you should cross by the fords above Fredericksburg rather than to
fall down to that place; and when I left you at Warrenton it was
understood that at least a considerable part of your army would cross
by the fords, and I so represented to the President. It was this
modification of the plan proposed by you that I telegraphed you had
received his approval. When the attempt at Fredericksburg was
abandoned, I advised you to renew the attempt at some other point,
either in whole or in part, to turn the enemy's works, or to threaten
their wings or communications; in other words, to keep the enemy
occupied till a favorable opportunity offered to strike a decisive
blow. I particularly advised you to use your cavalry and light
artillery upon his communications, and attempt to cut off his
supplies and engage him at an advantage.
In all our interviews I have urged that our first object was, not
Richmond, but the defeat or scattering of Lee's army, which
threatened Washington and the line of the upper Potomac. I now recur
to these things simply to remind you of the general views which I
have expressed, and which I still hold.
The circumstances of the case, however, have somewhat changed since
the early part of November. The chances of an extended line of
operations are now, on account of the advanced season, much less than
then. But the chances are still in our favor to meet and defeat the
enemy on the Rappahannock, if we can effect a crossing in a position
where we can meet the enemy on favorable or even equal terms.
I therefore still advise a movement against him. The character of
that movement, however, must depend upon circumstances which may
change any day and almost any hour. If the enemy should concentrate
his forces at the place you have selected for a crossing, make it a
feint and try another place. Again, the circumstances at the time
may be such as to render an attempt to cross the entire army not
advisable. In that case, theory suggests that, while the enemy
concentrates at that point, advantages can be gained by crossing
smaller forces at other points to cut off his lines, destroy his
communication, and capture his rear-guards, outposts, etc. The great
object is to occupy the enemy to prevent his making large detachments
or distant raids, and to injure him all you can with the least injury
to yourself. If this can be best accomplished by feints of a general
crossing and detached real crossings, take that course; if by an
actual general crossing, with feints on other points, adopt that
course. There seem to me to be many reasons why a crossing at some
point should be attempted. It will not do to keep your large army
inactive. As you yourself admit, it devolves on you to decide upon
the time, place, and character of the crossing which you may attempt.
I can only advise that an attempt be made, and as early as possible.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
[Indorsement.]
January 8, 1863.
GENERAL BURNSIDE:
I understand General Halleck has sent you a letter of which this is a
copy. I approve this letter. I deplore the want of concurrence with
you in opinion by your general officers, but I do not see the remedy.
Be cautious, and do not understand that the government or country is
driving you. I do not yet see how I could profit by changing the
command of the Army of the Potomac; and if I did, I should not wish
to do it by accepting the resignation of your commission.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 8, 1863.
GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville Tenn.:
A dispatch of yesterday from Nashville says the body of Captain Todd,
of the Sixth Kentucky, was brought in to-day.
Please tell me what was his Christian name, and whether he was in our
service or that of the enemy. I shall also be glad to have your
impression as to the effect the late operations about Murfreesborough
will have on the prospects of Tennessee.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL S. R. CURTIS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 10, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS, St. Louis, MO.:
I understand there is considerable trouble with the slaves in
Missouri. Please do your best to keep peace on the question for two
or three weeks, by which time we hope to do something here toward
settling the question in Missouri.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 10, 1863
GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.:
Yours received. I presume the remains of Captain Todd are in the
hands of his family and friends, and I wish to give no order on the
subject; but I do wish your opinion of the effects of the late
battles about Murfreesborough upon the prospects of Tennessee.
A. LINCOLN.
INSTRUCTION TO THE JUDGE-ADVOCATE-GENERAL.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY,
January 12, 1863.
The Judge-Advocate-General is instructed to revise the proceedings of
the court-martial in the case of Major-General Fitz-John Porter, and
to report fully upon any legal questions that may have arisen in
them, and upon the bearing of the testimony in reference to the
charges and specifications exhibited against the accused, and upon
which he was tried.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
JANUARY 14, 1863.
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The Secretary of State has submitted to me a resolution of the House
of Representatives of the 5th instant, which has been delivered to
him, and which is in the following words:
"Resolved, That the Secretary of State be requested to communicate to
this House, if not, in his judgment, incompatible with the public
interest, why our Minister in New Granada has not presented his
credentials to the actual government of that country; also the
reasons for which Senor Murillo is not recognized by the United
States as the diplomatic representative of the Mosquera government of
that country; also, what negotiations have been had, if any, with
General Herran as the representative of Ospina's government in New
Granada since it went into existence."
On the 12th day of December, 1846, a treaty of amity, peace, and
concord was concluded between the United States of America and the
Republic of New Granada, which is still in force. On the 7th day of
December, 1847, General Pedro Alcantara Herran, who had been duly
accredited, was received here as the envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary of that, republic. On the 30th day of August, 1849,
Senor Don Rafael Rivas was received by this government as charge
d'affaires of the same republic. On the 5th day of December, 1851, a
consular convention was concluded between that republic and the
United States, which treaty was signed on behalf of the Republic of
Granada by the same Senor Rivas. This treaty is still in force. On
the 27th of April, 1852, Senor Don Victoriano de Diego Paredes was
received as charge d'affaires of the Republic of New Granada. On the
20th of June, 1855, General Pedro Alcantara Herran was again received
as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, duly accredited
by the Republic of New Granada, and he has ever since remained, under
the same credentials, as the representative of that republic near the
Government of the United States. On the 10th of September, 1857, a
claims convention was concluded between the United States and the
Republic of Granada. This convention is still in force, and has in
part been executed. In May, 1858, the constitution of the republic
was remodelled; and the nation assumed the political title of "The
Granadian Confederacy." This fact was formally announced to this
Government, but without any change in their representative here.
Previously to the 4th day of March, 1861, a revolutionary war against
the Republic of New Granada, which had thus been recognized and
treated with by the United States, broke out in New Granada, assuming
to set up a new government under the name of "United States of
Colombia." This war has had various vicissitudes, sometimes
favorable, sometimes adverse, to the revolutionary movements. The
revolutionary organization has hitherto been simply a military
provisionary power, and no definitive constitution of government has
yet been established in New Granada in place of that organized by the
constitution of 1858. The minister of the United States to the
Granadian Confederacy, who was appointed on the 29th day of May,
1861, was directed, in view of the occupation of the capital by the
revolutionary party and of the uncertainty of the civil war, not to
present his credentials to either the government of the Granadian
Confederacy or to the provisional military government, but to conduct
his affairs informally, as is customary in such cases, and to report
the progress of events and await the instructions of this Government.
The advices which have been received from him have not hitherto, been
sufficiently conclusive to determine me to recognize the
revolutionary government. General Herran being here, with full
authority from the Government of New Canada, which has been so long
recognized by the United States, I have not received any
representative from the revolutionary government, which has not yet
been recognized, because such a proceeding would be in itself an act
of recognition.
Official communications have been had on various incidental and
occasional questions with General Herran as the minister
plenipotentiary and envoy extraordinary of the Granadian Confederacy,
but in no other character. No definitive measure or proceeding has
resulted from these communications, and a communication of them at
present would not, in my judgment, be compatible with the public
interest.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO SECRETARY OF WAR.
WASHINGTON, January 15, 1863.
SECRETARY OF WAR:
Please see Mr. Stafford, who wants to assist in raising colored
troops in Missouri.
A. LINCOLN.
PRINTING MONEY
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
January 17, 1863.
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the immediate
payment of the army and navy of the United States, passed by the
House of Representatives on the 14th and by the Senate on the 15th
instant.
The joint resolution is a simple authority, amounting, however, under
existing circumstances, to a direction, to the Secretary of the
Treasury to make an additional issue of $100,000,000 in United States
notes, if so much money is needed, for the payment of the army and
navy.
My approval is given in order that every possible facility may be
afforded for the prompt discharge of all arrears of pay due to our
soldiers and our sailors.
While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to express my
sincere regret that it has been found necessary to authorize so large
an additional issue of United States notes, when this circulation and
that of the suspended banks together have become already so redundant
as to increase prices beyond real values, thereby augmenting the cost
of living to the injury of labor, and the cost of supplies to the
injury of the whole country.
It seems very plain that continued issues of United States notes
without any check to the issues of suspended banks, and without
adequate provision for the raising of money by loans and for funding
the issues so as to keep them within due limits, must soon produce
disastrous consequences; and this matter appears to me so important
that I feel bound to avail myself of this occasion to ask the special
attention of Congress to it.
That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the country can
hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious measure to prevent the
deterioration of this currency, by a seasonable taxation of bank
circulation or otherwise, is needed seems equally clear.
Independently of this general consideration, it would be unjust to
the people at large to exempt banks enjoying the special privilege of
circulation from their just proportion of the public burdens.
In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and cheaply, it
is clearly necessary to give every possible support to the public
credit. To that end a uniform currency, in which taxes,
subscriptions to loans, and all other ordinary public dues as well as
all private dues may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensable.
Such a currency can be furnished by banking associations organized
under a general act of Congress, as suggested in my message at the
beginning of the present session. The securing of this circulation
by the pledge of United States bonds, as therein suggested, would
still further facilitate loans, by increasing the present and causing
a future demand for such bonds.
In view of the actual financial embarrassments of the government, and
of the greater embarrassment sure to come if the necessary means of
relief be not afforded, I feel that I should not perform my duty by a
simple announcement of my approval of the joint resolution, which
proposes relief only by increased circulation, without expressing my
earnest desire that measures such in substance as those I have just
referred to may receive the early sanction of Congress. By such
measures, in my opinion, will payment be most certainly secured, not
only to the army and navy, but to all honest creditors of the
government, and satisfactory provision made for future demands on the
treasury.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO THE WORKING-MEN OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January, 1863.
TO THE WORKING-MEN OF MANCHESTER:
I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the address and
resolutions which you sent me on the eve of the new year. When I
came, on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitutional
election to fireside in the Government of the United States, the
country was found at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have
been the cause, or whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount to all
others, was before me, namely, to maintain and preserve at once the
Constitution and the integrity of the Federal Republic.
A conscientious purpose to perform this duty is the key to all the
measures of administration which have been and to all which will
hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of government and my official
oath, I could not depart from this purpose if I would. It is not
always in the power of governments to enlarge or restrict the scope
of moral results which follow the policies that they may deem it
necessary for the public safety from time to time to adopt.
I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests
solely with the American people; but I have at the same time been
aware that favor or disfavor of foreign nations might have a material
influence in enlarging or prolonging the struggle with disloyal men
in which the country is engaged. A fair examination of history has
served to authorize a belief that the past actions and influences of
the United States were generally regarded as having been beneficial
toward mankind. I have, therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of
nations. Circumstances--to some of which you kindly allude--induce
me especially to expect that if justice and good faith should be
practised by the United States, they would encounter no hostile
influence on the part of Great Britain. It is now a pleasant duty to
acknowledge the demonstration you have given of your desire that a
spirit of amity and peace toward this country may prevail in the
councils of your Queen, who is respected and esteemed in your own
country only more than she is by the kindred nation which has its
home on this side of the Atlantic.
I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at
Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis.
It has been often and studiously represented that the attempt to
overthrow this government, which was built upon the foundation of
human rights, and to substitute for it one which should rest
exclusively on the basis of human slavery, was likely to obtain the
favor of Europe. Through the action of our disloyal citizens, the
working-men of Europe have been subjected to severe trials, for the
purpose of forcing their sanction to that attempt. Under the
circumstance, I cannot but regard your decisive utterances upon the
question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not
been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an
energetic and inspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth and
of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity, and
freedom. I do not doubt that the sentiments, you have expressed will
be sustained by your great nation; and, on the other hand, I have no
hesitation in assuring you that they will excite admiration, esteem,
and the most reciprocal feelings of friendship among the American
people.
I hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that
whatever else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country
or my own, the peace and friendship which now exist between the two
nations will be, as it shall be my desire to make them, perpetual.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, January 21, 1863.
GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I submit herewith for your consideration the joint resolutions of the
corporate authorities of the city of Washington, adopted September a
7, 1862, and a memorial of the same under date of October 28, 1862,
both relating to and urging the construction of certain railroads
concentrating upon the city of Washington.
In presenting this memorial and the joint resolutions to you, I am
not prepared to say more than that the subject is one of great
practical importance, and that I hope it will receive the attention
of Congress.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
INDORSEMENT ON THE PROCEEDINGS AND SENTENCE OF THE FITZ-JOHN PORTER
COURT-MARTIAL.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON,
January 13, 1863.
In compliance with the Sixty-fifth Article of War, these whole
proceedings are transmitted to the Secretary of War, to be laid
before the President of the United States.
H. W. HALLECK,
General-in-Chief.
January 21, 1863.
The foregoing proceedings, findings, and sentence in the foregoing
case of Major-General Fitz-John Porter are approved and confirmed,
and it is ordered that the said Fitz-John Porter be, and he hereby
is, cashiered and dismissed from the service of the United States as
a major-general of volunteers, and as colonel and brevet
brigadier-general in the regular service of the United States, and
forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under
the Government of the United States.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
FROM GENERAL HALLECK TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY, WASHINGTON
January 21, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL GRANT, Memphis.
GENERAL:--The President has directed that so much of Arkansas as you
may desire to control be temporarily attached to your department.
This will give you control of both banks of the river.
In your operations down the Mississippi you must not rely too
confidently upon any direct co-operation of General Banks and the
lower flotilla, as it is possible that they may not be able to pass
or reduce Port Hudson. They, however, will do everything in their
power to form a junction with you at Vicksburg. If they should not
be able to effect this, they will at least occupy a portion of the
enemy's forces, and prevent them from reinforcing Vicksburg. I hope,
however, that they will do still better and be able to join you.
It may be proper to give you some explanation of the revocation of
your order expelling all Jews from your department. The President
has no objection to your expelling traitors and Jew peddlers, which,
I suppose, was the object of your order; but as it in terms
proscribed an entire religious class, some of whom are fighting in
our ranks, the President deemed it necessary to revoke it.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BURNSIDE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 23, 1863
GENERAL BURNSIDE:
Will see you any moment when you come.
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER RELIEVING GENERAL A. E. BURNSIDE AND MAKING OTHER CHANGES.
(General Orders No.20.)
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 25, 1863.
I. The President of the United States has directed:
1st. That Major-General A. E. Burnside, at his own request, be
relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac.
2d. That Major-General E. V. Sumner, at his own request, be relieved
from duty in the Army of the Potomac.
3d. That Major-General W. B. Franklin be relieved from duty in the
Army of the Potomac.
4th. That Major-General J. Hooker be assigned to the command of the
Army of the Potomac.
II. The officers relieved as above will report in person to the
adjutant-general of the army.
By order of the Secretary of War:
D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General
TO GENERAL J. HOOKER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C.,
January 26, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER.
GENERAL:--I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac.
Of course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient
reasons, and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some
things in regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I
believe you to be a brave and skillful soldier, which of course I
like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession,
in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a
valuable if not an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which
within reasonable bounds does good rather than harm; but I think that
during General Burnside's command of the army you have taken counsel
of your ambition and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you
did a great wrong to the country and to a most meritorious and
honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way as to believe
it, of your recently saying that both the army and the government
needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of
it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain
successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military
success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will
support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor
less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear
that the spirit that you have aided to infuse into the army, of
criticizing their commander and withholding confidence from him, will
now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it
down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get
any good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now
beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy and
sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON CITY, January 28,1863,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend
that Commander David D. Porter, United States Navy, acting
rear-admiral, commanding the Mississippi Squadron, receive a vote of
thanks of Congress for the bravery and skill displayed in the attack
on the post of Arkansas, which surrendered to the combined military
and naval forces on the 10th instant.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BUTLER
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 28, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Lowell, Mass.:
Please come here immediately. Telegraph me about what time you will
arrive.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DIX.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 29, 1863
MAJOR-GENERAL DIx, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Do Richmond papers have anything from Vicksburg?
A. LINCOLN.
TO THURLOW WEED.
WASHINGTON, January 29, 1863.
HON. THURLOW WEED.
DEAR SIR:--Your valedictory to the patrons of the Albany Evening
journal brings me a good deal of uneasiness. What does it mean?
Truly Yours,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DIX.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY,
January 30, 1863. 5.45 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
What iron-clads, if any, have gone out of Hampton Roads within the
last two days?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DIX.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.,
January 31, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL Dix, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Corcoran's and Pryor's battle terminated. Have you any news through
Richmond papers or otherwise?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL SCHENCK.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D. C.,
January 31, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.:
I do not take jurisdiction of the pass question. Exercise your own
discretion as to whether Judge Pettis shall have a pass.
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE WORKING-MEN OF LONDON, ENGLAND.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, February 1, 1863.
TO THE WORKING-MEN OF LONDON:
I have received the New Year's address which you have sent me, with a
sincere appreciation of the exalted and humane sentiments by which it
was inspired.
As these sentiments are manifestly the enduring support of the free
institutions of England, so I am sure also that they constitute the
only reliable basis for free institutions throughout the world.
The resources, advantages, and powers of the American people are very
great, and they have consequently succeeded to equally great
responsibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to test
whether a government established on the principles of human freedom
can be maintained against an effort to build one upon the exclusive
foundation of human bondage. They will rejoice with me in the new
evidences which your proceedings furnish that the magnanimity they
are exhibiting is justly estimated by the true friends of freedom and
humanity in foreign countries.
Accept my best wishes for your individual welfare, and for the
welfare and happiness of the whole British people.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL SCHENCK.
[Cipher.]
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.,
February 4, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.:
I hear of some difficulty in the streets of Baltimore yesterday. What
is the amount of it?
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO THE SENATE.
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
February 12, 1863.
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
On the 4th of September, 1862, Commander George Henry Preble, United
States Navy, then senior officer in command of the naval force off
the harbor of Mobile, was guilty of inexcusable neglect in permitting
the armed steamer Oreto in open daylight to run the blockade. For
his omission to perform his whole duty on that occasion, and the
injury thereby inflicted on the service and the country, his name was
stricken from the list of naval officers and he was dismissed [from]
the service.
Since his dismissal earnest application has been made for his
restoration to his former position by senators and naval officers, on
the ground that his fault was an error of judgment, and that the
example in his case has already had its effect in preventing a
repetition of similar neglect.
I therefore on this application and representation, and in
consideration of his previous fair record, do hereby nominate George
Henry Preble to be a commander in the navy from the 16th July, 1862,
to take rank on the active list next after Commander Edward
Donaldson, and to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Commander
J. M. Wainwright.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO THE SENATE.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 12, 1863.
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
On the 24th August, 1861, Commander Roger Perry, United. States Navy,
was dismissed from the service under a misapprehension in regard to
his loyalty to the Government, from the circumstance that several
oaths were transmitted to him and the Navy Department failed to
receive any recognition of them. After his dismissal, and upon his
assurance that the oath failed to reach him and his readiness to
execute it, he was recommissioned to his original position on the 4th
September following. On the same day, 4th September, he was ordered
to command the sloop of war Vandalia; on the 22d this order was
revoked and he was ordered to duty in the Mississippi Squadron, and
on the 23d January, 1862, was detached sick, and has since remained
unemployed. The advisory board under the act of 16th July, 1862, did
not recommend him for further promotion.
This last commission, having been issued during the recess of the
Senate, expired at the end of the succeeding session, 17th July,
1862, from which date, not having been nominated to the Senate, he
ceased to be a commander in the navy.
To correct the omission to nominate this officer to the Senate at its
last session, I now nominate Commander Roger Perry to be a commander
in the navy from the 14th September, 1855, to take his relative
position on the list of commanders not recommended for further
promotion.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 12,1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS,
Murfreesborough, Tenn.:
Your despatch about "river patrolling" received. I have called the
Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of War, and General-in-Chief
together, and submitted it to them, who promise to do their very best
in the case. I cannot take it into my own hands without producing
inextricable confusion.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO SIMON CAMERON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 13, 1863.
HON. SIMON CAMERON, Harrisburg, Pa.:
General Clay is here and I suppose the matter we spoke of will have
to be definitely settled now. Please answer.
A. LINCOLN.
TO ALEXANDER REED.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 22, 1863.
REV. ALEXANDER REED.
MY DEAR SIR:--Your note, by which you, as General Superintendent of
the United States Christian Commission, invite me to preside at a
meeting to be held this day at the hall of the House of
Representatives in this city, is received.
While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must decline to
preside, I cannot withhold my approval of the meeting and its worthy
objects.
Whatever shall be, sincerely and in God's name, devised for the good
of the soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres of duty, can
scarcely fail to be blessed; and whatever shall tend to turn our
thoughts from the unreasoning and uncharitable passions, prejudices,
and jealousies incident to a great national trouble such as ours, and
to fix them on the vast and long enduring consequences, for weal or
for woe, which are to result from the struggle, and especially to
strengthen our reliance on the Supreme Being for the final triumph of
the right, cannot but be well for us all.
The birthday of Washington and the Christian Sabbath coinciding this
year, and suggesting together the highest interests of this life and
of that to come, is most propitious for the meeting proposed.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO J. K. DUBOIS.
[Cipher]
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.
February 26,1863.
HON. J. K. DuBois, Springfield, Ill.:
General Rosecrans respectfully urges the appointment of William P.
Caslin as a brigadier-general, What say you?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HOOKER
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 27,1863
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
If it will be no detriment to the service I will be obliged for Capt.
Henry A. Marchant, of Company I, Twenty-third Pennsylvania
Volunteers, to come here and remain four or five days.
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION CONVENING THE SENATE,
FEBRUARY 28, 1863
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A Proclamation.
Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the
Senate should be convened at 12 o'clock on the 4th of March next to
receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the
part of the Executive:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
have considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation,
declaring that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the
United States to convene for the transaction of business at the
Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at
12 o'clock at noon on that day, of which all who shall at that time
be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to
take notice.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washington,
the twenty eighth day of February A.D. 1863, and of the independence
of the United States of America, the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary o f State.
TO SECRETARY SEWARD.
WASHINGTON, March, 7,1863.
Mr. M. is now with me on the question of the Honolulu Commissioner.
It pains me some that this tilt for the place of Colonel Baker's
friend grows so fierce, now that the Colonel is no longer alive to
defend him. I presume, however, we shall have no rest from it. In
self-defense I am disposed to say, "Make a selection and send it to
me."
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR TOD,
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 9, 1863.
GOVERNOR DAVID TOD, Columbus, Ohio:
I think your advice with that of others would be valuable in the
selection of provost-marshals for Ohio.
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION RECALLING SOLDIERS TO THEIR REGIMENTS
MARCH 10, 1863
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
A Proclamation
In pursuance of the twenty-sixth section of the act of Congress
entitled "An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces,
and for other purposes," approved on the 3d day of March, 1863, I,
Abraham Lincoln, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and
Navy of the United States, do hereby order and command that all
soldiers enlisted or drafted in the service of the United States now
absent from their regiments without leave shall forthwith return to
their respective regiments.
And I do hereby declare and proclaim that all soldiers now absent
from their respective regiments without leave who shall, on or before
the first day of April, 1863, report themselves at any rendezvous
designated by the general orders of the War Department No. 58,
hereto annexed, may be restored to their respective regiments without
punishment, except the forfeiture of pay and allowances during their
absence; and all who do not return within the time above specified
shall be arrested as deserters and punished as the law provides; and
Whereas evil-disposed and disloyal persons at sundry places have
enticed and procured soldiers to desert and absent themselves from
their regiments, thereby weakening the strength of the armies and
prolonging the war, giving aid arid comfort to the enemy, and cruelly
exposing the gallant and faithful soldiers remaining in the ranks to
increased hardships and danger:
I do therefore call upon all patriotic and faithful citizens to
oppose and resist the aforementioned dangerous and treasonable
crimes, and to aid in restoring to their regiments all soldiers
absent without leave, and to assist in the execution of the act of
Congress "for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for
other purposes," and to support the proper authorities in the
prosecution and punishment of offenders against said act and in
suppressing tile insurrection and rebellion.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. Done at the city
of Washington, this tenth day of March, A.D. 1863, and of the
independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HOOKER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 13, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
General Stahel wishes to be assigned to General Heintzelman and
General Heintzelman also desires it. I would like to oblige both if
it would not injure the service in your army, or incommode you. What
say you?
A. LINCOLN.
TO SECRETARY SEWARD.
WASHINGTON, Match 15, 1863.
I am very glad of your note saying "recent despatches from him are
able, judicious, and loyal," and that if I agree; we will leave him
there. I am glad to agree, so long as the public interest does not
seem to require his removal.
TELEGRAM TO J. O. MORTON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 16, 1863.
HON. J. O. MORTON, Joliet, Ill.:
William Chumasero is proposed for provost-marshal of your district.
What think you of it? I understand he is a good man.
A. LINCOLN.
GRANT'S EXCLUSION OF A NEWSPAPER REPORTER
REVOCATION OF SENTENCE OF T. W. KNOX.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 20, 1863.
WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:--Whereas, it appears to my satisfaction that
Thomas W. Knox, a correspondent of the New York Herald, has been by
the sentence of a court-martial excluded from the military department
under command of Major-General Grant, and also that General Thayer,
president of the court-martial which rendered the sentence, and
Major-General McClernand, in command of a corps of that department,
and many other respectable persons, are of opinion that Mr. Knox's
offense was technical rather than wilfully wrong, and that the
sentence should be revoked: now, therefore, said sentence is hereby
so far revoked as to allow Mr. Knox to return to General Grant's
headquarters, and to remain if General Grant shall give his express
assent, and to again leave the department if General Grant shall
refuse such assent.
A. LINCOLN.
TO BENJAMIN GRATZ.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 25,1863.
Mr. BENJAMIN GRATZ, Lexington, Ky.:
Show this to whom it may concern as your authority for allowing Mrs.
Selby to remain at your house, so long as you choose to be
responsible for what she may do.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL ROSECRANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, March 25, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Murfreesborough, Tenn.:
Your dispatches about General Davis and General Mitchell are
received. General Davis' case is not particular, being simply one of
a great many recommended and not nominated because they would
transcend the number allowed by law. General Mitchell (was)
nominated and rejected by the Senate and I do not think it proper for
me to renominate him without a change of circumstances such as the
performance of additional service, or an expressed change of purpose
on the part of at least some senators who opposed him.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL S. A. HURLBUT.
WASHINGTON, March 25, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HURLBUT, Memphis:
What news have you? What from Vicksburg? What from Yazoo Pass?
What from Lake Providence? What generally?
A. LINCOLN.
QUESTION OF RAISING NEGRO TROOPS
TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
(Private.)
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON
March 26, 1863.
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON.
MY DEAR SIR:--I am told you have at least thought of raising a negro
military force. In my opinion the country now needs no specific
thing so much as some man of your ability and position to go to this
work. When I speak of your position, I mean that of an eminent
citizen of a slave State and himself a slaveholder. The colored
population is the great available and yet unavailed of force for
restoring the Union. The bare sight of fifty thousand armed and
drilled black soldiers upon the banks of the Mississippi would end
the rebellion at once; and who doubts that we can present that sight
if we but take hold in earnest? If you have been thinking of it,
please do not dismiss the thought.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION APPOINTING A NATIONAL FAST-DAY.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
March 30, 1863.
Whereas the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the
supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the
affairs of men and of nations, has by a resolution requested the
President to designate and set apart a day for national prayer and
humiliation:
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as men to own their
dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins
and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that
genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize
the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all
history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:
And insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like
individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this
world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war
which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon
us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national
reformation as a whole people? We have been the recipients of the
choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many
years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth,
and power as no other nation has ever grown; but we have forgotten
God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace,
and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly
imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these
blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our
own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-
sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace,
too proud to pray to the God that made us:
It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power,
to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and
forgiveness:
Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring
in the views, of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate
and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of
national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. And I do hereby request
all the people to abstain on that day from their ordinary secular
pursuits, and to unite at their several places of public worship and
their respective homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and
devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to
that solemn occasion. All this being done in sincerity and truth,
let us then rest humbly in the hope, authorized by the divine
teachings, that the united cry of the nation will be heard on high,
and answered with blessings no less than the pardon of our national
sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering country to
its former happy condition of unity and peace.
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 thirtieth day of March, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of
the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
LICENSE OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
March 31, 1863.
Whereas by the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861, entitled "An
act to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other
purposes," all commercial intercourse between the inhabitants of such
States as should by proclamation be declared in insurrection against
the United States and the citizens of the rest of the United States
was prohibited so long as such condition of hostility should
continue, except as the same shall be licensed and permitted by the
President to be conducted and carried on only in pursuance of rules
and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; and:
Whereas it appears that a partial restoration of such intercourse
between the inhabitants of sundry places and sections heretofore
declared in insurrection in pursuance of said act and the citizens of
the rest of the United States will favorably affect the public
interests:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
exercising the authority and discretion confided to me by the said
act of Congress, do hereby license and permit such commercial
intercourse between the citizens of loyal States and the inhabitants
of such insurrectionary States in the cases and under the
restrictions described and expressed in the regulations prescribed by
the Secretary of the Treasury bearing even date with these presents,
or in such other regulations as he may hereafter, with my approval,
prescribe.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL D. HUNTER.
(Private.)
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C
April 1, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER.
MY DEAR SIR:--I am glad to see the accounts of your colored force at
Jacksonville, Florida. I see the enemy are driving at them fiercely,
as is to be expected. It is important to the enemy that such a force
shall not take shape and grow and thrive in the South, and in
precisely the same proportion it is important to us that it shall.
Hence the utmost caution and vigilance is necessary on our part. The
enemy will make extra efforts to destroy them, and we should do the
same to preserve and increase them.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION ABOUT COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE,
APRIL 2, 1863
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved July 13, 1861,
I did, by proclamation dated August 16, 1861, declare that the
inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas,
Mississippi, and Florida (except the inhabitants of that part of
Virginia lying west of the Alleghany Mountains, and of such other
parts of that State and the other States hereinbefore named as might
maintain a legal adhesion to the Union and the Constitution or might
be from time to time occupied and controlled by forces of the United
States engaged in the dispersion of said insurgents) were in a state
of insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial
intercourse between the same and the inhabitants thereof, with the
exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other
parts of the United States was unlawful and would remain unlawful
until such insurrection should cease or be suppressed, and that all
goods and chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from any of said
States, with the exceptions aforesaid, into other parts of the United
States without the license and permission of the President, through
the Secretary of the Treasury, or proceeding to any of said States,
with the exceptions aforesaid, by land or water, together with the
vessel or vehicle conveying the same to or from said States, with the
exceptions aforesaid, would be forfeited to the United States, and:
Whereas experience has shown that the exceptions made in and by said
proclamation embarrass the due enforcement of said act of July 13,
1861, and the proper regulation of the commercial intercourse
authorized by said act with the loyal citizens of said States:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,
do hereby revoke the said exceptions, and declare that the
inhabitants of the States of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida,
and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties of Virginia designated
as West Virginia, and except also the ports of New Orleans, Key West;
Port Royal, and Beaufort in North Carolina) are in a state of
insurrection against the United States, and that all commercial
intercourse not licensed and conducted as provided in said act
between the said States and the inhabitants thereof, with the
exceptions aforesaid, and the citizens of other States and other
parts of the United States is unlawful and will remain unlawful until
such insurrection shall cease or has been suppressed and notice
thereof has been duly given by proclamation; and all cotton, tobacco,
and other products, and all other goods and chattels, wares and
merchandise, coming from any of said States, with the exceptions
aforesaid, into other parts of the United States, or proceeding to
any of said States, with the exceptions aforesaid, without the
license and permission of the President, through the Secretary of the
Treasury, will together with the vessel or vehicle conveying the
same, be forfeited to the United States.
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 second day of April, A.D. 1863,
and of the independence of the United States of America the
eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
Secretary of State.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HOOKER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 3, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
Our plan is to pass Saturday night on the boat, go over from Aquia
Creek to your camp Sunday morning, remain with you till Tuesday
morning, and then return. Our party will probably not exceed six
persons of all sorts.
A. LINCOLN.
OPINION ON HARBOR DEFENSE.
April 4, 1863.
On this general subject I respectfully refer Mr.________ to the
Secretaries of War and Navy for conference and consultation. I have
a single idea of my own about harbor defense. It is a steam ram,
built so as to sacrifice nearly all capacity for carrying to those of
speed and strength, so as to be able to split any vessel having
hollow enough in her to carry supplies for a voyage of any distance.
Such ram, of course, could not herself carry supplies for a voyage of
considerable distance, and her business would be to guard a
particular harbor as a bulldog guards his master's door.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
HEADQUARTERS ARMY POTOMAC,
April 9, 1863.
HON. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY:
Richmond Whig of the 8th has no telegraphic despatches from
Charleston, but has the following as editorial:
"All thoughts are now centred upon Charleston. Official intelligence
was made public early yesterday morning that the enemy's iron-clad
fleet had attempted to cross the bar and failed, but later in the day
it was announced that the gunboats and transports had succeeded in
crossing and were at anchor. Our iron-clads lay between the forts
quietly awaiting the attack. Further intelligence is looked for with
eager anxiety. The Yankees have made no secret of this vast
preparation for an attack on Charleston, and we may well anticipate a
desperate conflict. At last the hour of trial has come for
Charleston, the hour of deliverance or destruction, for no one
believes the other alternative, surrender, possible. The heart of
the whole country yearns toward the beleaguered city with intense
solicitude, yet with hopes amounting to confidence. Charleston knows
what is expected of her, and which is due to her fame, and to the
relation she sustains to the cause. The devoted, the heroic, the
great-hearted Beauregard is there, and he, too, knows what is
expected of him and will not disappoint that expectation. We predict
a Saragossa defense, and that if Charleston is taken it will be only
a heap of ruins."
The rebel pickets are reported as calling over to our pickets today
that we had taken some rebel fort. This is not very intelligible,
and I think is entirely unreliable.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO OFFICER IN COMMAND AT NASHVILLE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 11,1863.
OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn:
Is there a soldier by the name of John R. Minnick of Wynkoop's
cavalry under sentence of death, by a court-martial or military
commission, in Nashville? And if so what was his offense, and when
is he to be executed?
A. LINCOLN.
If necessary let the execution be staid till I can be heard from
again.
A. LINCOLN.
[President Lincoln sent many telegrams similar in form to this one in
order to avoid tiresome repetition the editor has omitted all those
without especial interest. Hardly a day went by that there were not
people in the White House begging mercy for a sentenced soldier. A
mother one day, pleaded with Lincoln to remit the sentence of
execution on her son. "I don't think it will do him a bit of good"
said Mr. Lincoln--"Pardoned." D.W.]
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HOOKER.
WASHINGTON D.C., April 12, 1863
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
Your letter by the hand of General Butterfield is received, and will
be conformed to. The thing you dispense with would have been ready
by mid-day to-morrow.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO ADMIRAL S. P. DUPONT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 13, 1863
ADMIRAL DUPONT:
Hold your position inside the bar near Charleston; or, if you shall
have left it, return to it, and hold it until further orders. Do not
allow the enemy to erect new batteries or defenses on Morris Island.
If he has begun it, drive him out. I do not herein order you to
renew the general attack. That is to depend on your own discretion
or a further order.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL D. HUNTER AND ADMIRAL S. F. DUPONT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
April 54, 1863.
GENERAL HUNTER AND ADMIRAL DUPONT:
This is intended to clear up an apparent inconsistency between the
recent order to continue operations before Charleston and the former
one to remove to another point in a certain contingency. No censure
upon you, or either of you, is intended. We still hope that by
cordial and judicious co-operation you can take the batteries on
Morris Island and Sullivan's Island and Fort Sumter. But whether you
can or not, we wish the demonstration kept up for a time, for a
collateral and very important object. We wish the attempt to be a
real one, though not a desperate one, if it affords any considerable
chance of success. But if prosecuted as a demonstration only, this
must not become public, or the whole effect will be lost. Once again
before Charleston, do not leave until further orders from here. Of
course this is not intended to force you to leave unduly exposed
Hilton Head or other near points in your charge.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
P. S.--Whoever receives this first, please send a copy to the other
immediately.
A.L.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL S. HOOKER.
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 15, 1863. 10.15 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
It is now 10.15 P.M. An hour ago I received your letter of this
morning, and a few moments later your despatch of this evening. The
latter gives me considerable uneasiness. The rain and mud of course
were to be calculated upon. General S. is not moving rapidly enough
to make the expedition come to anything. He has now been out three
days, two of which were unusually fair weather, and all three without
hindrance from the enemy, and yet he is not twenty-five miles from
where he started. To reach his point he still has sixty to go,
another river (the Rapidan) to cross, and will be hindered by the
enemy. By arithmetic, how many days will it take him to do it? I do
not know that any better can be done, but I greatly fear it is
another failure already. Write me often. I am very anxious.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
ON COLONIZATION ARRANGEMENTS
REPUDIATION OF AN AGREEMENT WITH BERNARD KOCK
APRIL 16, 1863.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, TO ALL TO WHOM THESE
PRESENTS SHALL COME,
GREETING:
Know ye that, whereas a paper bearing date the 3rst day of December
last, purporting to be an agreement between the United States and one
Bernard Kock for immigration of persons of African extraction to a
dependency of the Republic of Haiti, was signed by me on behalf of
the party of the first part; but whereas the said instrument was and
has since remained incomplete in consequence of the seal of the
United States not having been thereunto affixed; and whereas I have
been moved by considerations by me deemed sufficient to withhold my
authority for affixing the said seal:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, do hereby authorize the Secretary of State to cancel
my signature to the instrument aforesaid.
Done at Washington, this sixteenth day of April, A.D. 1863.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
STATEHOOD FOR WEST VIRGINIA
PROCLAMATION ADMITTING WEST VIRGINIA INTO THE UNION,
APRIL 20, 1863.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas by the act of Congress approved the 31st day of December last
the State of West Virginia was declared to be one of the United
States of America, and was admitted into the Union on an equal
footing with the original States in all respects whatever, upon the
condition that certain changes should be duly made in the proposed
constitution for that State; and
Whereas proof of a compliance with that condition, as required by the
second section of the act aforesaid, has been submitted to me:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States, do hereby, in pursuance of the act of Congress
aforesaid, declare and proclaim that the said act shall take effect
and be in force from and after sixty days from the date hereof.
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 twentieth day of April, A.D.
1863, and of the independence of the United States the
eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, APRIL 23, 1863 10.10am
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, Murfreesborough, Tenn.:
Your despatch of the 21st received. I really cannot say that I have
heard any complaint of you. I have heard complaint of a police corps
at Nashville, but your name was not mentioned in connection with it,
so far as I remember. It may be that by inference you are connected
with it, but my attention has never been drawn to it in that light.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. HOOKER.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 27, 1863. 3.30 P.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL HOOKER:
How does it look now?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR CURTIN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, April 28, 1863.
HON. A. O. CURTIN, Harrisburg, Penn.:
I do not think the people of Pennsylvania should be uneasy about an
invasion. Doubtless a small force of the enemy is flourishing about
in the northern part of Virginia, on the "skewhorn" principle, on
purpose to divert us in another quarter. I believe it is nothing
more. We think we have adequate force close after them.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO W. A. NEWELL.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 29, 1863.
HON. W. A. NEWELL, Allentown, N.J.:
I have some trouble about provost-marshal in your first district.
Please procure HON. Mr, Starr to come with you and see me, or come to
an agreement with him and telegraph me the result.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR CURTIN,
EXECUTIVE MANSION, MAY 1, 1863
GOVERNOR CURTIN, Harrisburg, Penn.:
The whole disposable force at Baltimore and else where in reach have
already been sent after the enemy which alarms you. The worst thing
the enemy could do for himself would be to weaken himself before
Hooker, and therefore it is safe to believe he is not doing it; and
the best thing he could do for himself would be to get us so scared
as to bring part of Hooker's force away, and that is just what he is
trying to do. I will telegraph you in the morning about calling out
the militia.
A. LINCOLN,
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR CURTIN
EXECUTIVE MANSION, MAY 2, 1863
GOVERNOR CURTIN, Harrisburg, Penn.:
General Halleck tells me he has a despatch from General Schenck this
morning, informing him that our forces have joined, and that the
enemy menacing Pennsylvania will have to fight or run today. I hope
I am not less anxious to do my duty to Pennsylvania than yourself,
but I really do not yet see the justification for incurring the
trouble and expense of calling out the militia. I shall keep watch,
and try to do my duty.
A. LINCOLN
P. S.--Our forces are exactly between the enemy and Pennsylvania.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL D. BUTTERFIELD.
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 3, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTTERFIELD, Chief of Staff:
The President thanks you for your telegrams, and hopes you will keep
him advised as rapidly as any information reaches you.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
GENERALS LOST
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL D. BUTTERFIELD.
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 3, 1863. 4.35 P.M.
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