EDWIN M. STANTON.
Rebel Advantages at Opening of War--They knew all about the
Army Officers--Early Contrast of Rebel Enthusiasm and Union
Indifference--Importance of Mr. Stanton's Post--His Birth
and Ancestry--His Education and Law Studies--County Attorney
--State Reporter--Defends Mr. McNulty--Removes to Pittsburg
--His Line of Business--The Wheeling Case--He Removes
to Washington--His Qualifications as a Lawyer--He Enters
Buchanan's Cabinet--His Unexpected Patriotism--His Own Account
of the Cabinet at News of Anderson's Move to Sumter--The Lion
before the Old Red Dragon--Appointed Secretary of War--"Bricks
in his Pockets"--Stanton's Habitual Reserve--His Wrath--"The
Angel Gabriel as Paymaster"--Anecdotes of Lincoln's Confidence in
Stanton--Lincoln's Affection for him--The Burdens of his Office
--His Kindness of Heart within a Rough Outside--The Country his
Debtor.
Mr. Greeley, in his History of the American Conflict, gives a survey
of the advantages possessed by the rebels at the commencement of the
war, in the martial character of their leaders. Jefferson Davis was a
regularly educated graduate of West Point, who had been five years at
the head of the War Department of the United States, and while in that
situation had matured his future plans. He and his successor, Floyd,
up to the year 1861, had arranged the United States military service
to suit themselves, and left it in precisely the best condition for
their designs. "They knew every officer in the United States service,
knew the military value of each, whom to call away and organize to lead
their own forces, and who, even if loyal, would serve their purposes
better being left in our armies than taken into theirs."
"On the other hand, President Lincoln, without military education or
experience, found himself suddenly plunged into a gigantic and to him
unexpected war, with no single member of his cabinet even pretending to
military genius or experience, and with the offices of his army filled
to his hand by the chiefs of the rebellion. Whereas the whole rebel
officers were enthusiasts who had forsaken all old connections to join
the new army, the officers remaining were some of them old and feeble,
like Scott, and others of that moderate kind of nature which inclines
to remain stationary with the old institutions, rather than to make a
fiery forward movement. Some two hundred of the very bravest and most
skilful of our army officers went over to the new cause, to which they
carried all the enthusiasm of youth and hope. Lincoln, in fact, was in
the condition of a man who should be put to a naval race in an old ship
from which his competitors had taken their pick of all the best sails,
spars and hands.
"It is notorious that during the first year or two of the war, while
with every Confederate officer the rebellion was an enthusiasm and a
religion, for which he was willing at any moment to die, there were on
the Union side many officers, and those of quite high rank, who seemed
to take matters with extreme coolness, and to have no very particular
enthusiasm for fighting at all. These officers seemed to consider
secession as a great and unlucky mistake--a mistake, too, for which
they seemed to think the intemperate zeal of the Black Republicans was
particularly in fault, and their great object seemed to be to conduct
the war with as little fighting as possible, using most conciliatory
language, and always being sure to return fugitive slaves whenever
they could get a good opportunity, thus apparently expecting in some
favorable hour to terminate hostilities with another of those grand
compromises which had been tried with such signal success in years
past."
The advancement of Stanton to the post of Secretary of War, was a
movement made after it became somewhat more a settled point than at
first appeared, that war should mean war.
His position during the whole war was, next to that of the President,
the most important, responsible and influential civil post in the
United States, and his services as an organizer, an administrative and
executive officer, and as a fearless, energetic, resolute, powerful,
and patriotic citizen, were perhaps as nearly indispensable to the
success of the nation in the war as those of any other one man. Yet
the recorded materials for preparing an account of him are excessively
scanty; far more so than for any of his companions in the chief offices
of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet. This fact is in a certain sense a very
creditable one to him; since it is the result of his lifelong practice
not to talk about himself, and not to talk about his work, but only to
do it.
Edwin M. Stanton was born at Steubenville, in Ohio, in the year 1815.
His ancestors were of the Quaker persuasion, as were those of Mr.
Lincoln and Attorney General Bates. His parents removed to Ohio from
Culpepper county, in the mountain region of Virginia. Stanton received
the usual school training of a country boy, became a student of Kenyon
College, in 1833, but only remained a year and left. This was the
end of his scholastic education. It is easy, to those who know the
decisive, impetuous, self-reliant nature of the man, and who remember
the rough, plain, independent atmosphere of the backwoods country where
he grew up, to imagine how easily any supposed indignity from his
instructors would drive him out of their precincts, or how readily he
would give up the idea of further studies as unnecessary, if his supply
of money failed. However this was, he took up an employment which
allowed him to continue some kind of mental training, for he became
a bookseller's clerk at Columbus. He also studied law, and in 1836
was admitted to the bar. He first opened an office at Cadiz, Harrison
county, Ohio, and his robust force and direct sense quickly gave him
the best of whatever practice the country afforded. He became the
county prosecuting attorney in about a year; in another he had removed
to the larger business center of his native place, Steubenville. His
practice rapidly increased, and during three years from 1839 he was
Reporter of the Ohio Supreme Court decisions. During his career at
Steubenville, he was the counsel of Caleb J. McNulty, clerk of the
House of Representatives, on his trial for embezzling public money, and
cleared him. This case made a good deal of noise in its day.
In 1848, his business still increasing, Mr. Stanton removed again,
this time to Pittsburg, where he remained until 1857, becoming without
question the first lawyer at that bar, and beginning to be employed in
many of that important and vigorously contested class of cases which
are carried up to the United States Supreme Court at Washington.
One of these, the Wheeling Bridge case, is perhaps that in which Mr.
Stanton gained his greatest reputation as a lawyer. It is a curious
illustration of his carelessness about his reputation, that not long
ago, when an intimate personal friend of Mr. Stanton wanted a copy
of his argument in this case to use in a biographical sketch, the
Secretary was unable to furnish it.
In 1857 he removed once more, to Washington, still following his
business. This now began to consist largely of heavy patent cases, a
peculiar and difficult but very gainful department of legal practice.
It is observable that the class of cases in which Mr. Stanton has
been prominent, are those in which the executive mental faculties
have most to do with the subject-matter--patent cases, land cases,
vigorous controversies between great corporations about travelled
routes or conflicting rights. Such cases arise among executive men, and
Mr. Stanton's immense endowment of executive energy qualified him to
succeed easily in dealing with them.
Mr. Stanton was naturally a Democrat; the vigorous traits of his
character harmonizing spontaneously with the rough, aggressive energy
of the Jacksonians. Probably his politics may have had some influence
in causing Attorney-General Black to employ him, in 1858, to go to
California and argue for the United States some very important land
claim cases there. At any rate, if he had not been a Democrat, and a
thoroughgoing one, he would not have been selected by Mr. Buchanan in
December, 1860, to succeed Mr. Black as Attorney-General, when on Mr.
Cass' resignation Mr. Black became Secretary of State.
The gang of treasonable schemers who were in those days using their
high positions to bind the country hand and foot, as securely as they
could, in preparation for secession, undoubtedly had reckoned that in
the new Attorney-General, if they did not find an ally, they would
not encounter an obstacle. But his patriotism was of a very different
kind from that of too many of his party. When the question before
him, instead of being one of high or low tariff, or of one or another
sort of currency, became a question whether he should go with his
party in permitting his country to be ruined, or should join with all
true patriots irrespective of party considerations, to preserve his
country, he did not hesitate at all. He neither made allowances for the
disreputable fright of old Mr. Buchanan, nor the far more disreputable
schemes of the traitors who were bullying the feeble and helpless Old
Public Functionary; but stood firmly amongst them all, a fearless and
determined defender of the rights of the national government.
Mr. Stanton once gave a curious and striking sketch of the manners of
Mr. Buchanan's cabinet in those days. While speaking of the results of
Anderson's move to Sumter, he remarked:
"This little incident was the crisis of our history--the pivot upon
which everything turned. Had he remained in Fort Moultrie, a very
different combination of circumstances would have arisen. The attack
on Sumter, commenced by the South, united the North, and made the
success of the Confederacy impossible. I shall never forget our coming
together by special summons that night. Buchanan sat in his arm chair
in a corner of the room, white as a sheet, with the stump of a cigar
in his mouth. The dispatches were laid before us; and so much violence
ensued that he had to turn us all out of doors."
What sort of a scene, and what sort of language and goings on are
covered under that phrase of Mr. Stanton's, those who are familiar
with the manners of the old Red Dragon of slavery, under moments
of excitement, may imagine. Oaths and curses, threats of cutting
out hearts and tearing out bowels, were usual amenities, forms of
argumentation and statement quite familiar, on such occasions. Mr.
Stanton, as any one may see by a glance at his head, is one of those
men built on the lion pattern, a man who never knew what fear was--a
man, also, awful and tremendous in powers of wrath and combativeness,
and we may be sure at this moment the lion stood at bay, and that his
roar in answer to the dragon's hiss, was something to shake the cabinet
and frighten poor Mr. Buchanan quite out of his proprieties. We may be
sure the traitors did not go without a full piece of Stanton's mind,
stormed after them with shot and shell, worthy a future Secretary of
the War Department.
Mr. Stanton's appointment as Secretary of War was January 20,
1862; his predecessor, Mr. Cameron, having resigned a week before.
This appointment was probably in a great measure due to the fresh
recollection of the fearless vigor with which Mr. Stanton, along with
Messrs. Dix and Holt, had asserted the rights of the nation under
Buchanan. Mr. Lincoln, in making his selection, had the double good
fortune of appointing a man of first-class merit for the position, and
one whose "section" was in the right part of the country. It is on
record that "in answering some questions on the subject, he observed
that his first wish had been to choose a man from a border state, but
that he knew New England would object; that on the other hand he would
have also been glad to choose a New Englander, but he knew the Border
States would object. So on the whole he concluded to select from some
intervening territory, 'and to tell you the truth, gentlemen,' he
added, 'I don't believe Stanton knows where he belongs himself!' Some
of the company now said something about Mr. Stanton's impulsiveness, to
which Mr. Lincoln replied with one of those queer stories with which
he used to answer friends and enemies alike; 'Well,' said he, 'we may
have to treat him as they are sometimes obliged to treat a Methodist
minister I know of out West. He gets wrought up so high in his prayers
and exhortations that they are obliged to put bricks in his pockets to
keep him down. We may be obliged to serve Stanton the same way, but I
guess we'll let him jump a while first!'"
The existence of the country was bound up in the war, and it was a
matter of course that the War Department should attract the greatest
part of Mr. Lincoln's solicitude and attention, and that he should be
more frequently and confidentially in intercourse with its Secretary,
than with the other Departments of the Government. Mr. Lincoln and Mr.
Stanton had never met, it is said, until when the Secretary received
his commission from the President; nor had Mr. Stanton any knowledge
of the intention to appoint him until the day before the nomination.
Mr. Stanton's Secretaryship is a noble record of vast energy, untiring
labor, thorough patriotism, and fervent and unfailing courage. Mr.
Lincoln, a shrewd and wise judge of men, knew him familiarly, and
loved and valued him more and more the longer and closer was their
intercourse. Indeed, Mr. Stanton is probably a man closely shut up and
inexpressive of his good and loveable traits and sentiments, beyond
almost any one living; and it must have required the whole tremendous
pressure and heat of the war, to soften his iron crust sufficiently
to let even the keen eyed President find out how human and noble a
heart was silently beating inside. The most interesting of the scanty
anecdotes which are in existence about the Secretary are such as show
the unlimited trust which Mr. Lincoln came to bestow upon him, or the
rough and vigorous utterances by which he customarily revealed when he
revealed at all, anything in the nature of feelings on his official
duties or in reference to the war. Like many other men of real goodness
hidden beneath a rugged outside, Mr. Stanton's most utterable sentiment
was wrath, and he often, as it were, shot out a sentiment of goodness
inside of a bullet of anger, as a gruff benefactor might fling a gift
at his intended beneficiary. Such was the "jumping" which Mr. Lincoln
proposed to allow, before keeping down his energetic Secretary with
bricks in his pockets. Such was the strong figure in which one day he
conveyed to a brother Secretary his views on the fitness of appointees.
Mr. Usher, when Secretary of the Interior, once asked Mr. Stanton
to appoint a "young friend," paymaster in the army. "How old is he?"
asked Stanton, in his curt manner. "About twenty-one, I believe," said
Mr. Usher; "he is of good family and of excellent character." "Usher,"
exclaimed Mr. Stanton, in peremptory reply, "I would not appoint the
Angel Gabriel a paymaster if he was only twenty-one!"
There was just as much unceremoniousness, and even very much more
peremptory force and earnestness in the vigorous rebuke which Mr.
Stanton administered to Mr. Lincoln on the night of March 30, 1865, for
the unseasonable favors which he was inclined to offer to the rebels,
to the detriment of justice and of the paramount rights of the nation.
On this occasion, while the last bills of the session were under
examination for signing, and while the President and all with him were
enjoying the expectation of to-morrow's inauguration, a dispatch came
in from Grant, which stated his confidence that a few days must now end
the business with Lee and Richmond, and spoke of an application made by
Lee for an interview to negotiate about peace. Mr. Lincoln intimated
pretty clearly an intention to permit extremely favorable terms, and
to let his General-in-Chief negotiate them; even to an extent that
overpowered the reticent habits of his Secretary of War, who, after
holding his tongue as long as he could, broke out sternly:
"Mr. President, to-morrow is inauguration day. If you are not to be
the President of an obedient and united people, _you had better not be
inaugurated_. Your work is already done, if any other authority than
yours is for one moment to be recognized, or any terms made that do
not signify that you are the supreme head of the nation. If generals in
the field are to negotiate peace, or any other chief magistrate is to
be acknowledged on this continent, _then you are not needed and you had
better not take the oath of office_."
"Stanton, you are right," said the President, his whole tone changing.
"Let me have a pen."
Mr. Lincoln sat down at the table, and wrote as follows:
"The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no
conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of Lee's
army, or on some minor or purely military matter. He instructs me to
say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political
question; such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will
submit them to no military conference or conventions. In the mean time
you are to press to the utmost your military advantages."
The President then read over what he had written, and then said:
"Now Stanton, date and sign this paper, and send it to Grant. We'll see
about this peace business."
An account which appeared in a Cincinnati paper during the war, of a
curious transaction at Washington, shows that Mr. Lincoln was as steady
in trusting to Mr. Stanton's own wisdom in action, as he was ready to
acknowledge the justice of the Secretary's reproofs on a question of
constitutional propriety. This account is as follows:
"While the President was on his way back from Richmond, and at a
point where no telegraph could reach the steamer upon which he was,
a dispatch of the utmost importance reached Washington, demanding
the immediate decision of the President himself. The dispatch was
received by a confidential staff officer, who at once ascertained that
Mr. Lincoln could not be reached. Delay was out of the question, as
important army movements were involved. The officer having the dispatch
went with it directly to Mr. Stanton's office, but the Secretary
could not be found. Messengers were hastily dispatched for him in
all directions. Their search was useless, and a positive answer had
been already too much delayed by the time it had occupied. With great
reluctance the staff officer sent a reply in the President's name. Soon
after, Mr. Stanton entered himself, having learned of the efforts made
to find him. The dispatch was produced, and he was informed by the
officer sending the answer, of what had been done.
"'Did I do right?' said the officer to the Secretary.
"'Yes, Major,' replied Mr. Stanton, 'I think you have sent the correct
reply, but I should hardly have dared to take the responsibility.'
"At this the whole magnitude of the office and the great responsibility
he had taken upon himself, seemed to fall upon the officer, and almost
overcame him; and he asked Mr. Stanton what he had better do, and was
advised to go directly to the President, on his return, and state the
case frankly to him. It was a sleepless night to the officer, and at
the very earliest hour consistent with propriety he went to the White
House."
Here the officer, scarcely even by the accidental interposition of the
President's son, was able to reach him, as there were strict orders for
his privacy just then. At last, he entered the President's room, and,
the story continues,
"The dispatch was shown him, and the action upon it stated frankly and
briefly. The President thought a moment and then said, 'Did you consult
the Secretary of War, Major?' The absence of the Secretary at the
important moment was then related to Mr. Lincoln, with the subsequent
remark of Mr. Stanton, that he thought the right answer had been given,
but that himself would have shrunk from the responsibility.
"Mr. Lincoln, on hearing the story, rose, crossed the room, and taking
the officer by the hand, thanked him cordially, and then spoke of Mr.
Stanton as follows:
"'Hereafter, Major, when you have Mr. Stanton's sanction in any matter,
you have mine, for so great is my confidence in his judgment and
patriotism, that I never wish to take an important step myself without
first consulting him.'"
Only a few days before his death, Mr. Lincoln gave a still more
striking testimony of the affectionate nature of his regard for Mr.
Stanton. This was when Mr. Stanton tendered him his resignation of the
War Department, on the ground that the work for whose sake he had taken
it, was now done.
"Mr. Lincoln," says a witness, "was greatly moved by the Secretary's
words, and tearing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and
throwing his arms about the Secretary, he said, 'Stanton, you have been
a good friend and a faithful public servant, and it is not for you to
say when you will no longer be needed here.' Several friends of both
parties were present on this occasion, and there was not a dry eye
that witnessed the scene."
Mr. Stanton occupied a situation of torturing responsibility and
distracting cares. He bore burdens of perplexity and doubt and
apprehension such as might tax the stoutest nerves. His only mode of
meeting and repelling the dashing waves of hourly solicitations and
the thousand agencies which beset a man in his position, was to make
himself externally as rugged and stern as a rock.
But those who knew him intimately, as did Lincoln, and as did many
others who were drawn towards him, interiorly, during the wrench of
the great struggle, knew that deep within there was a heart, warm,
kind, true and humbly religious--deeply feeling his responsibilities to
God, and seeking with honest purpose to fulfil his duties in the awful
straits in which he was placed. To a lady for whom he had performed in
the way of his office some kindness, and who expressed gratitude, he
writes:
"In respect to the matter in which you feel a personal interest and
refer to with kind expressions of gratitude towards myself, I am glad
that in the discharge of simple duty I have been able to relieve an
anxious care in the heart of any one, and much more in the hearts of
persons, who although personally unknown to me, I have been accustomed
from early youth to reverence.
"In my official station I have tried to do my duty as I shall answer
to God at the Great Day, but it is the misfortune of that station--a
misfortune that no one else can comprehend the magnitude of, that most
of my duties are harsh and painful to some one, so that I rejoice at
an opportunity, however rare, of combining duty with kindly offices."
It remains to be seen what further services, if any, Mr. Stanton will
render to his country in a public capacity. Should he again be a public
servant, it will be as it has been, the United States, and not he, who
will be the obliged party.
[Illustration: Frederick Douglass]