Part 23
I have just received the despatch which follows, from two very influential citizens of Kansas, whose names I omit. The severe blow they have received naturally enough makes them intemperate even without there being any just cause for blame. Please do your utmost to give them future security and to punish their invaders.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. G. MEADE.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., August 27, 1863 9 A.M.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.:
Walter, Rionese, Folancy, Lai, and Kuhn appealed to me for mercy, without giving any ground for it whatever. I understand these are very flagrant cases, and that you deem their punishment as being indispensable to the service. If I am not mistaken in this, please let them know at once that their appeal is denied.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO F. C. SHERMAN AND J. S. HAYES.
WASHINGTON, August 27, 1863.
F. C. SHERMAN, Mayor, J. S. HAVES, Comptroller, Chicago, Ill.:
Yours of the 24th, in relation to the draft, is received. It seems to me the Government here will be overwhelmed if it undertakes to conduct these matters with the authorities of cities and counties. They must be conducted with the governors of States, who will, of course, represent their cities and counties. Meanwhile you need not be uneasy until you again hear from here.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL FOSTER.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, August 28, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL FOSTER, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Please notify, if you can, Senator Bowden, Mr. Segar, and Mr. Chandler, all or any of them, that I now have the record in Dr. Wright's case, and am ready to hear them. When you shall have got the notice to them, please let me know.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL CRAWFORD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., August 28, 1863.
GENERAL CRAWFORD, Rappahannock Station, Va.:
I regret that I cannot be present to witness the presentation of a sword by the gallant Pennsylvania Reserve Corps to one so worthy to receive it as General Meade.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO L. SWETT.
WASHINGTON, D. C., August 29, 1863.
HON. L. SWETT, San Francisco, Cal.: If the Government's rights are reserved, the Government will be satisfied, and at all events it will consider.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO MRS. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C. August 29, 1863.
MRS. A. LINCOLN, Manchester, N. H.:
All quite well. Fort Sumter is certainly battered down and utterly useless to the enemy, and it is believed here, but not entirely certain, that both Sumter and Fort Wagner are occupied by our forces. It is also certain that General Gilmore has thrown some shot into the city of Charleston.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO J. C. CONKLING.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
August 31, 1863.
HON. JAMES C. CONKLING, Springfield, Ill.:
In my letter of the 26th insert between the sentence ending "since the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation as before" and the next, commencing "You say you will not fight, etc.," what follows below my signature hereto.
A. LINCOLN.
"I know as fully as one can know the opinions of others that some of the commanders of our armies in the field, who have given us our most important successes, believe the emancipation policy and the use of colored troops constitute the heaviest blow yet dealt to the rebellion, and that at least one of those important successes could not have been achieved when it was, but for the aid of black soldiers. Among the commanders holding these views are some who have never had any affinity with what is called abolitionism, or with Republican party politics, but who hold them purely as military opinions. I submit these opinions as being entitled to some weight against the objections, often urged, that emancipation and arming the blacks are unwise as military measures and were not adopted as such in good faith."
TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, August 31, 1863.
MY DEAR GENERAL ROSECRANS:
Yours of the 22d was received yesterday. When I wrote you before, I did not intend, nor do I now, to engage in an argument with you on military questions. You had informed me you were impressed through General Halleck that I was dissatisfied with you, and I could not bluntly deny that I was without unjustly implicating him. I therefore concluded to tell you the plain truth, being satisfied the matter would thus appear much smaller than it would if seen by mere glimpses. I repeat that my appreciation of you has not abated. I can never forget whilst I remember anything, that about the end of last year and the beginning of this, you gave us a hard-earned victory, which, had there been a defeat instead, the nation could hardly have lived over. Neither can I forget the check you so opportunely gave to a dangerous sentiment which was spreading in the North.
Yours, as ever,
A. LINCOLN
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
August 31, 1863
It is not improbable that retaliation for the recent great outrage at Lawrence, in Kansas, may extend to indiscriminate slaughter on the Missouri border, unless averted by very judicious action. I shall be obliged if the general-in-chief can make any suggestions to General Schofield upon the subject.
A. LINCOLN.
POLITICAL MOTIVATED MISQUOTATION IN NEWSPAPER
TELEGRAM TO J. C. CONKLING.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 3, 1863.
HON. JAMES C. CONKLING, Springfield, Ill.:
I am mortified this morning to find the letter to you botched up in the Eastern papers, telegraphed from Chicago. How did this happen?
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER CONCERNING COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 4, 1863.
Ordered, That the executive order dated November 21, 1862, prohibiting the exportation from the United States of arms, ammunition, or munitions of war, under which the commandants of departments were, by order of the Secretary of War dated May 13, 1863, directed to prohibit the purchase and sale, for exportation from the United States, of all horses and mules within their respective commands, and to take and appropriate for the use of the United States any horses, mules, and live stock designed for exportation, be so far modified that any arms heretofore imported into the United States may be re-exported to the place of original shipment, and that any live stock raised in any State or Territory bounded by the Pacific Ocean may be exported from, any port of such State or Territory.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO J. SEGAR.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C.. September 5, 1863.
HON. JOSEPH SEGAR, Fort Monroe, Va.:
I have just seen your despatch to the Secretary of War, who is absent. I also send a despatch from Major Hayner of the 3d showing that he had notice of my order, and stating that the people were jubilant over it, as a victory over the Government extorted by fear, and that he had already collected about $4000 of the money. If he has proceeded since, I shall hold him accountable for his contumacy. On the contrary, no dollar shall be refunded by my order until it shall appear that my act in the case has been accepted in the right spirit.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO MRS. LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON. D. C. September 6, 1863.
MRS. A. LINCOLN, Manchester, Vt.:
All well and no news except that General Burnside has Knoxville, Ten.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO SECRETARY STANTON.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, September 6, 1863. 6 P.M.
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR, Bedford, Pa.:
Burnside has Kingston and Knoxville, and drove the enemy across the river at Loudon, the enemy destroying the bridge there; captured some stores and one or two trains; very little fighting; few wounded and none killed. No other news of consequence.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO F. C. SHERMAN AND J. S. HAYES.
WASHINGTON, September 7, 1863.
Yours of August 29 just received. I suppose it was intended by Congress that this government should execute the act in question without dependence upon any other government, State, city, or county. It is, however, within the range of practical convenience to confer with the governments of States, while it is quite beyond that range to have correspondence on the subject with counties and cities. They are too numerous. As instances, I have corresponded with Governor Seymour, but Not with Mayor Opdyke; with Governor Curtin, but not with Mayor Henry.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 8, 1863. 9.30
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tenn.:
Despatch of yesterday just received. I shall try to find the paper you mention and carefully consider it. In the meantime let me urge that you do your utmost to get every man you can, black and white, under arms at the very earliest moment, to guard roads, bridges, and trains, allowing all the better trained soldiers to go forward to Rosecrans. Of course I mean for you to act in co-operation with and not independently of, the military authorities.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 9, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.:
It would be a generous thing to give General Wheaton a leave of absence for ten or fifteen days, and if you can do so without injury to the service, please do it.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL WHEATON.
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 10, 1863.
GENERAL WHEATON, Army of Potomac:
Yesterday at the instance of Mr. Blair, senator, I telegraphed General Meade asking him to grant you a leave of absence, to which he replied that you had not applied for such leave, and that you can have it when you do apply. I suppose it is proper for you to know this.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER, 11, 1863
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON.
MY DEAR SIR:--All Tennessee is now clear of armed insurrectionists. You need not to be reminded that it is the nick of time for reinaugurating a loyal State government. Not a moment should be lost. You and the co-operating friends there can better judge of the ways and means than can be judged by any here. I only offer a few suggestions. The reinauguration must not be such as to give control of the State and its representation in Congress to the enemies of the Union, driving its friends there into political exile. The whole struggle for Tennessee will have been profitless to both State and nation if it so ends that Governor Johnson is put down and Governor Harris put up. It must not be so. You must have it otherwise. Let the reconstruction be the work of such men only as can be trusted for the Union. Exclude all others, and trust that your government so organized will be recognized here as being the one of republican form to be guaranteed to the State, and to be protected against invasion and domestic violence. It is something on the question of time to remember that it cannot be known who is next to occupy the position I now hold, nor what he will do. I see that you have declared in favor of emancipation in Tennessee, for which may God bless you. Get emancipation into your new State government constitution and there will be no such word as fail for your cause. The raising of colored troops, I think, will greatly help every way.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL A. E. BURNSIDE.
WASHINGTON, September 11, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cumberland Gap:
Yours received. A thousand thanks for the late successes you have given us. We cannot allow you to resign until things shall be a little more settled in East Tennessee. If then, purely on your own account, you wish to resign, we will not further refuse you.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 11, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.:
It is represented to me that Thomas Edds, in your army, is under sentence of death for desertion, to be executed next Monday. It is also said his supposed desertion is comprised in an absence commencing with his falling behind last winter, being captured and paroled by the enemy, and then going home. If this be near the truth, please suspend the execution till further order and send in the record of the trial.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEAD, Warrenton, Va.:
The name is "Thomas Edds" not "Eddies" as in your despatch. The papers left with me do not designate the regiment to which he belongs. The man who gave me the papers, I do not know how to find again. He only told me that Edds is in the Army of the Potomac, and that he fell out of the ranks during Burnside's mud march last winter. If I get further information I will telegraph again.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO H. H. SCOTT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 13, 1863.
Dr. WILLIAM H. H. SCOTT, Danville, Ill.:
Your niece, Mrs. Kate Sharp, can now have no difficulty in going to Knoxville, Tenn., as that place is within our military lines.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO J. G. BLAINE.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., September 25, 1863.
J. G. BLAINE, Augusta, Me.: Thanks both for the good news you send and for the sending of it.
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION SUSPENDING WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, SEPTEMBER 15, 1863.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas the Constitution of the United States has ordained that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it; and:
Whereas a rebellion was existing on the third day of March, 1863, which rebellion is still existing; and:
Whereas by a statute which was approved on that day it was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled that during the present insurrection the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States or any part thereof; and:
Whereas, in the judgment of the President, the public safety does require that the privilege of the said writ shall new be suspended throughout the United States in the cases where, by the authority of the President of the United States, military, naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their command or in their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled or drafted or mustered or enlisted in or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law or the rules and articles of war or the rules or regulations prescribed for the military or naval services by authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or for any other offense against the military or naval service.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim and make known to all whom it may concern that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended throughout the United States in the several cases before mentioned, and that this suspension will continue throughout the duration of the said rebellion or until this proclamation shall, by a subsequent one to be issued by the President of the United States, be modified or revoked. And I do hereby require all magistrates, attorneys, and other civil officers within the United States and all officers and others in the military and naval services of the United States to take distinct notice of this suspension and to give it full effect, and all citizens of the United States to conduct and govern themselves accordingly and in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Congress in such case made and provided.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed, this fifteenth day of September, A.D. 1863, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 13, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK:
If I did not misunderstand General Meade's last despatch, he posts you on facts as well as he can, and desires your views and those of the Government as to what he shall do. My opinion is that he should move upon Lee at once in manner of general attack, leaving to developments whether he will make it a real attack. I think this would develop Lee's real condition and purposes better than the cavalry alone can do. Of course my opinion is not to control you and General Meade.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO MRS. SPEED.
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 16, 1862.
MRS. J. F. SPEED, Louisville, Ky.:
Mr. Holman will not be jostled from his place with my knowledge and consent.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 16, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Warrenton, Va.:
Is Albert Jones of Company K, Third Maryland Volunteers, to be shot on Friday next? If so please state to me the general features of the case.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL SCHENCK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 17, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL SCHENCK, Baltimore, Md.:
Major Haynor left here several days ago under a promise to put down in writing, in detail, the facts in relation to the misconduct of the people on the eastern shore of Virginia. He has not returned. Please send him over.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 17, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Headquarters Army of Potomac:
Yours in relation to Albert Jones is received. I am appealed to in behalf of Richard M. Abrams of Company A, Sixth New Jersey Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-General Frelinghuysen, Governor Newell, Hon. Mr. Middleton, M. C., of the district, and the marshal who arrested him. I am also appealed to in behalf of Joseph S. Smith, of Company A, Eleventh New Jersey Volunteers, by Governor Parker, Attorney-General Frelinghuysen, and Hon. Marcus C. Ward. Please state the circumstances of their cases to me.
A. LINCOLN.
REQUEST TO SUGGEST NAME FOR A BABY
TELEGRAM TO C. M. SMITH.
WASHINGTON, D. C., September 18, 1863.
C.M. SMITH, Esq., Springfield, Ill.:
Why not name him for the general you fancy most? This is my suggestion.
A. LINCOLN
TELEGRAM TO MRS. ARMSTRONG.
WASHINGTON, September 18, 1863.
MRS. HANNAH ARMSTRONG, Petersburg, Ill.:
I have just ordered the discharge of your boy William, as you say, now at Louisville, Ky.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
(Private.)
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., September 19.1863.
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON.
MY DEAR SIR:--Herewith I send you a paper, substantially the same as the one drawn up by yourself and mentioned in your despatch, but slightly changed in two particulars: First, yours was so drawn as that I authorized you to carry into effect the fourth section, etc., whereas I so modify it as to authorize you to so act as to require the United States to carry into effect that section.
Secondly, you had a clause committing me in some sort to the State constitution of Tennessee, which I feared might embarrass you in making a new constitution, if you desire; so I dropped that clause.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
[Inclosure.]
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C.,
September 19, 1863.
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Military Governor of Tennessee:
In addition to the matters contained in the orders and instructions given you by the Secretary of War, you are hereby authorized to exercise such powers as may be necessary and proper to enable the loyal people of Tennessee to present such a republican form of State government as will entitle the State to the guaranty of the United States therefor, and to be protected under such State government by the United States against invasion and domestic violence, all according to the fourth Section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States.
A. LINCOLN
MILITARY STRATEGY
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON D.C. September 19, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK:
By General Meade's despatch to you of yesterday it appears that he desires your views and those of the government as to whether he shall advance upon the enemy. I am not prepared to order, or even advise, an advance in this case, wherein I know so little of particulars, and wherein he, in the field, thinks the risk is so great and the promise of advantage so small.
And yet the case presents matter for very serious consideration in another aspect. These two armies confront each other across a small river, substantially midway between the two capitals, each defending its own capital, and menacing the other. General Meade estimates the enemy's infantry in front of him at not less than 40,000. Suppose we add fifty per cent. to this for cavalry, artillery, and extra-duty men stretching as far as Richmond, making the whole force of the enemy 60,000.
General Meade, as shown by the returns, has with him, and between him and Washington, of the same classes, of well men, over 90,000. Neither can bring the whole of his men into a battle; but each can bring as large a percentage in as the other. For a battle, then, General Meade has three men to General Lee's two. Yet, it having been determined that choosing ground and standing on the defensive gives so great advantage that the three cannot safely attack the two, the three are left simply standing on the defensive also.
If the enemy's 60,000 are sufficient to keep our 90,000 away from Richmond, why, by the same rule, may not 40,000 of ours keep their 60,000 away from Washington, leaving us 50,000 to put to some other use? Having practically come to the mere defensive, it seems to be no economy at all to employ twice as many men for that object as are needed. With no object, certainly, to mislead myself, I can perceive no fault in this statement, unless we admit we are not the equal of the enemy, man for man. I hope you will consider it.
To avoid misunderstanding, let me say that to attempt to fight the enemy slowly back into his entrenchments at Richmond, and then to capture him, is an idea I have been trying to repudiate for quite a year.
My judgment is so clear against it that I would scarcely allow the attempt to be made if the general in command should desire to make it. My last attempt upon Richmond was to get McClellan, when he was nearer there than the enemy was, to run in ahead of him. Since then I have constantly desired the Army of the Potomac to make Lee's army, and not Richmond, its objective point. If our army cannot fall upon the enemy and hurt him where he is, it is plain to me it can gain nothing by attempting to follow him over a succession of intrenched lines into a fortified city.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO MRS. LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., September 20, 1863.
MRS. A. LINCOLN, New York:
I neither see nor hear anything of sickness here now, though there may be much without my knowing it. I wish you to stay or come just as is most agreeable to yourself.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO MRS. LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C, September 21, 1863.
MRS. A. LINCOLN. Fifth Avenue Hotel. New York:
The air is so clear and cool and apparently healthy that I would be glad for you to come. Nothing very particular, but I would be glad to see you and Tad.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION WASHINGTON, D. C., September 21, 1863.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK: