In the conduct of the war and in his purpose to maintain the Union,
Abraham Lincoln exhibited a will of iron and determination that could
not be shaken, but in his daily contact with the mothers, wives and
daughters begging for the life of some soldier who had been condemned to
death for desertion or sleeping on duty he was as gentle and weak as a
woman.
It was a difficult matter for him to refuse a pardon if the slightest
excuse could be found for granting it.
Secretary Stanton and the commanding generals were loud in declaring
that Mr. Lincoln would destroy the discipline of the army by his
wholesale pardoning of condemned soldiers, but when we come to examine
the individual cases we find that Lincoln was nearly always right, and
when he erred it was always on the side of humanity.
During the four years of the long struggle for the preservation of
the Union, Mr. Lincoln kept “open shop,” as he expressed it, where
the general public could always see him and make known their wants and
complaints. Even the private soldier was not denied admittance to the
President’s private office, and no request or complaint was too small or
trivial to enlist his sympathy and interest.