bringing them through Baltimore. Without any military knowledge myself, of
course I must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this morning
in the presence of these gentlemen, "March them around Baltimore, and
not through it." I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflection, will
consider this practical and proper, and that you will not object to it.
By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops will be
avoided, unless they go out of their way to seek it. I hope you will exert
your influence to prevent this.
Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently with the
maintenance of the Government.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
TO GOVERNOR HICKS.
WASHINGTON, April 20, 1861
GOVERNOR HICKS:
I desire to consult with you and the Mayor of Baltimore relative to
preserving the peace of Maryland. Please come immediately by special
train, which you can take at Baltimore; or, if necessary, one can be sent
from here. Answer forthwith.
LINCOLN.
ORDER TO DEFEND FROM A MARYLAND INSURRECTION
ORDER TO GENERAL SCOTT. WASHINGTON, April 25, 1861
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SCOTT.
MY DEAR SIR--The Maryland Legislature assembles to-morrow at Annapolis,
and not improbably will take action to arm the people of that State
against the United States. The question has been submitted to and
considered by me whether it would not be justifiable, upon the ground of
necessary defense, for you, as General in Chief of the United States Army,
to arrest or disperse the members of that body. I think it would not be
justifiable nor efficient for the desired object.
First. They have a clearly legal right to assemble, and we cannot know in
advance that their action will not be lawful and peaceful, and if we wait
until they shall have acted their arrest or dispersion will not lessen the
effect of their action.
Secondly. We cannot permanently prevent their action. If we arrest them,
we cannot long hold them as prisoners, and when liberated they will
immediately reassemble and take their action; and precisely the same if
we simply disperse them--they will immediately reassemble in some other
place.
I therefore conclude that it is only left to the Commanding General to
watch and await their action, which, if it shall be to arm their people
against the United States, he is to adopt the most prompt and efficient
means to counteract, even, if necessary, to the bombardment of their
cities and, in the extremist necessity, the suspension of the writ of
habeas corpus.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION OF BLOCKADE, APRIL 27, 1861
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, for the reasons assigned in my proclamation of the nineteenth
instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of South Carolina, Georgia,
Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas was ordered to be
established:
And whereas, since that date, public property of the United States
has been seized, the collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly
commissioned officers of the United States, while engaged in executing
the orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in custody as
prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their official duties,
without due legal process, by persons claiming to act under authorities of
the States of Virginia and North Carolina:
An efficient blockade of the ports of those States will also be
established.
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 twenty seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the
independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.
A. LINCOLN.
REMARKS TO A MILITARY COMPANY, WASHINGTON, APRIL 27, 1861
I have desired as sincerely as any man, and I sometimes think more than
any other man, that our present difficulties might be settled without the
shedding of blood. I will not say that all hope has yet gone; but if the
alternative is presented whether the Union is to be broken in fragments
and the liberties of the people lost, or blood be shed, you will probably
make the choice with which I shall not be dissatisfied.
LOCALIZED REPEAL OF WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS
TO GENERAL SCOTT.
TO THE COMMANDING GENERAL, ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.
You are engaged in suppressing an insurrection against the laws of the
United States. If at any point on or in the vicinity of any military line
which is now or which shall be used between the City of Philadelphia and
the city of Washington you find resistance which renders it necessary to
suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public safety, you personally,
or through the officer in command at the point at which resistance occurs,
are authorized to suspend that writ.
A. LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, April 17, 1861
MILITARY ENROLLMENT OF ST. LOUIS CITIZENS
FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR WAR DEPARTMENT, April 30, 1861
TO CAPTAIN NATHANIEL LYON.
CAPT. NATHANIEL LYON, Commanding Department of the West.
SIR:--The President of the United States directs that you enroll in the
military service of the United States the loyal citizens of Saint Louis
and vicinity, not exceeding, with those heretofore enlisted, ten thousand
in number, for the purpose of maintaining the authority of the United
States; for the protection of the peaceful inhabitants of Missouri; and
you will, if deemed necessary for that purpose by yourself, by Messrs.
Oliver F. Ferny, John How, James O. Broadhead, Samuel T. Glover, J.
Wilzie, Francis P. Blair, Jr., proclaim martial law in the city of Saint
Louis.
The additional force hereby authorized shall be discharged in part or in
whole, if enlisted. As soon as it appears to you and the gentlemen above
mentioned that there is no danger of an attempt on the part of the enemies
of the Government to take military possession of the city of Saint Louis,
or put the city in control of the combination against the Government of
the United States; and whilst such additional force remains in the service
the same shall be governed by the Rules and Articles of War, and such
special regulations as you may prescribe. I shall like the force hereafter
directed to be enrolled to be under your command.
The arms and other military stores in the Saint Louis Arsenal not needed
for the forces of the United States in Missouri must be removed to
Springfield, or some other safe place of deposit in the State of Illinois,
as speedily as practicable, by the ordnance officers in charge at Saint
Louis.
(Indorsement.)
It is revolutionary times, and therefore I do not object to the
irregularity of this. W. S.
Approved, April 30, 1861.
A. LINCOLN.
Colonel Thomas will make this order. SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War.
CONDOLENCE OVER FAILURE OF FT. SUMTER RELIEF
TO GUSTAVUS V. FOX.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 1861
CAPTAIN G. V. Fox.
MY DEAR SIR:--I sincerely regret that the failure of the late attempt to
provision Fort Sumter should be the source of any annoyance to you.
The practicability of your plan was not, in fact, brought to a test. By
reason of a gale, well known in advance to be possible and not improbable,
the tugs, an essential part of the plan, never reached the ground; while,
by an accident for which you were in no wise responsible, and possibly I
to some extent was, you were deprived of a war vessel, with her men, which
you deemed of great importance to the enterprise.
I most cheerfully and truly declare that the failure of the undertaking
has not lowered you a particle, while the qualities you developed in the
effort have greatly heightened you in my estimation.
For a daring and dangerous enterprise of a similar character you would
to-day be the man of all my acquaintances whom I would select. You and I
both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making
the attempt to provision Fort Sumter, even if it should fail; and it is
no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the
result.
Very truly your friend,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION CALLING FOR 42,034 VOLUNTEERS,
MAY 3, 1861
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A Proclamation..
Whereas existing exigencies demand immediate and adequate measures for
the protection of the National Constitution and the preservation of the
National Union by the suppression of the insurrectionary combinations
now existing in several States for opposing the laws of the Union and
obstructing the execution thereof, to which end a military force in
addition to that called forth by my proclamation of the 15th day of April
in the present year appears to be indispensably necessary:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States and
Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy thereof and of the militia of the
several States when called into actual service, do hereby call into the
service of the United States 42,034 volunteers to serve for the period of
three years, unless sooner discharged, and to be mustered into service
as infantry and cavalry. The proportions of each arm and the details of
enrollment and organization will be made known through the Department of
War.
And I also direct that the Regular Army of the United States be increased
by the addition of eight regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry,
and one regiment of artillery, making altogether a maximum aggregate
increase of 22,714 officers and enlisted men, the details of which
increase will also be made known through the Department of War.
And I further direct the enlistment for not less than one or more than
three years of 18,000 seamen, in addition to the present force, for the
naval service of the United States. The details of the enlistment and
organization will be made known through the Department of the Navy.
The call for volunteers hereby made and the direction for the increase of
the Regular Army and for the enlistment of seamen hereby given, together
with the plan of organization adopted for the volunteer and for the
regular forces hereby authorized, will be submitted to Congress as soon as
assembled.
In the meantime I earnestly invoke the co-operation of all good citizens
in the measures hereby adopted for the effectual suppression of unlawful
violence, for the impartial enforcement of constitutional laws, and for
the speediest possible restoration of peace and order, and with these of
happiness and prosperity, throughout our country.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my band and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed................
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
COMMUNICATION WITH VICE-PRESIDENT
TO VICE-PRESIDENT HAMLIN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 6, 1861
HON. H. HAMLIN, New York.
MY DEAR SIR:-Please advise me at the close of each day what troops left
during the day, where going, and by what route; what remaining at New
York, and what expected in the next day. Give the numbers, as near as
convenient, and what corps they are. This information, reaching us daily,
will be very useful as well as satisfactory.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER TO COLONEL ANDERSON,
MAY 7, 1861
TO ALL WHO SHALL SEE THESE PRESENTS, GREETING:
Know ye that, reposing special trust and confidence in the patriotism,
valor, fidelity, and ability of Colonel Robert Anderson, U. S. Army, I
have empowered him, and do hereby empower him, to receive into the army of
the United States as many regiments of volunteer troops from the State of
Kentucky and from the western part of the State of Virginia as shall be
willing to engage in the Service of the United States for the term of
three years, upon the terms and according to the plan proposed by the
proclamation of May 3, 1861, and General Orders No. 15, from the War
Department, of May 4, 1861.
The troops whom he receives shall be on the same footing in every respect
as those of the like kind called for in the proclamation above cited,
except that the officers shall be commissioned by the United States. He is
therefore carefully and diligently to discharge the duty hereby devolved
upon him by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging.
Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, this 7th day of May, A.
D. 1861, and in the eighty-fifth year of the independence of the United
States.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War,
PROCLAMATION SUSPENDING THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS IN FLORIDA,
MAY 10, 1861.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas an insurrection exists in the State of Florida, by which the
lives, liberty, and property of loyal citizens of the United States are
endangered:
And whereas it is deemed proper that all needful measures should be taken
for the protection of such citizens and all officers of the United States
in the discharge of their public duties in the State aforesaid:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham LINCOLN, President of the
United States, do hereby direct the commander of the forces of the United
States on the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any office
or authority upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, and Santa Rosa,
which may be inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the United
States, authorizing him at the same time, if he shall find it necessary,
to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus, and to remove from the
vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspected
persons.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.....................
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TO SECRETARY WELLES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 11, 1861
TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
SIR:-Lieut. D. D. Porter was placed in command of the steamer Powhatan,
and Captain Samuel Mercer was detached therefrom, by my special order, and
neither of them is responsible for any apparent or real irregularity on
their part or in connection with that vessel.
Hereafter Captain Porter is relieved from that special service and placed
under the direction of the Navy Department, from which he will receive
instructions and to which he will report.
Very respectfully,
A. LINCOLN.
PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S CORRECTIONS OF A DIPLOMATIC DESPATCH
WRITTEN BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO MINISTER ADAMS
NO. 10.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE. WASHINGTON, May 21, 1861
SIR:---Mr. Dallas, in a brief despatch of May 2d (No. 333), tells us that
Lord John Russell recently requested an interview with him on account of
the solicitude which his lordship felt concerning the effect of certain
measures represented as likely to be adopted by the President. In
that conversation the British secretary told Mr. Dallas that the three
representatives of the Southern Confederacy were then in London, that Lord
John Russell had not yet seen them, but that he was not unwilling to see
them unofficially. He further informed Mr. Dallas that an understanding
exists between the British and French governments which would lead both to
take one and the same course as to recognition. His lordship then referred
to the rumor of a meditated blockade by us of Southern ports, and a
discontinuance of them as ports of entry. Mr. Dallas answered that he knew
nothing on those topics, and therefore
(The President's corrections, both in notes and text, are in
caps. All matter between brackets was to be marked out.)
could say nothing. He added that you were expected to arrive in two weeks.
Upon this statement Lord John Russell acquiesced in the expediency of
waiting for the full knowledge you were expected to bring.
Mr. Dallas transmitted to us some newspaper reports of ministerial
explanations made in Parliament.
You will base no proceedings on parliamentary debates further than to seek
explanations when necessary and communicate them to this department.
[We intend to have a clear and simple record of whatever issue may arise
between us and Great Britain.]
The President [is surprised and grieved] regrets that Mr. Dallas did not
protest against the proposed unofficial intercourse between the British
Government and the missionaries of the insurgents [as well as against
the demand for explanations made by the British Government]. It is due,
however, to Mr. Dallas to say that our instructions had been given only to
you and not to him, and that his loyalty and fidelity, too rare in these
times [among our late representatives abroad, are confessed and] are
appreciated.
Intercourse of any kind with the so-called commissioners is liable to be
construed as a recognition of the authority which appointed them. Such
intercourse would be none the less [wrongful] hurtful to us for being
called unofficial, and it might be even more injurious, because we should
have no means of knowing what points might be resolved by it. Moreover,
unofficial intercourse is useless and meaningless if it is not expected
to ripen into official intercourse and direct recognition. It is left
doubtful here whether the proposed unofficial intercourse has yet actually
begun. Your own [present] antecedent instructions are deemed explicit
enough, and it is hoped that you have not misunderstood them. You will
in any event desist from all intercourse whatever, unofficial as well
as official, with the British Government, so long as it shall continue
intercourse of either kind with the domestic enemies of this country
[confining yourself to a delivery of a copy of this paper to the Secretary
of State. After doing this.] When intercourse shall have been arrested for
this cause, you will communicate with this department and receive further
directions.
Lord John Russell has informed us of an understanding between the British
and French governments that they will act together in regard to our
affairs. This communication, however, loses something of its value from
the circumstance that the communication was withheld until after knowledge
of the fact had been acquired by us from other sources. We know also
another fact that has not yet been officially communicated to us--namely,
that other European States are apprised by France and England of their
agreement, and are expected to concur with or follow them in whatever
measures they adopt on the subject of recognition. The United States have
been impartial and just in all their conduct toward the several nations of
Europe. They will not complain, however, of the combination now announced
by the two leading powers, although they think they had a right to expect
a more independent, if not a more friendly, course from each of them. You
will take no notice of that or any other alliance. Whenever the European
governments shall see fit to communicate directly with us, we shall be, as
heretofore, frank and explicit in our reply.
As to the blockade, you will say that by [the] our own laws [of nature]
and the laws of nature and the laws of nations, this Government has
a clear right to suppress insurrection. An exclusion of commerce from
national ports which have been seized by the insurgents, in the equitable
form of blockade, is the proper means to that end. You will [admit] not
insist that our blockade is [not] to be respected if it be not maintained
by a competent force; but passing by that question as not now a practical,
or at least an urgent, one, you will add that [it] the blockade is now,
and it will continue to be so maintained, and therefore we expect it to be
respected by Great Britain. You will add that we have already revoked the
exequatur of a Russian consul who had enlisted in the military service of
the insurgents, and we shall dismiss or demand the recall of every foreign
agent, consular or diplomatic, who shall either disobey the Federal laws
or disown the Federal authority.
As to the recognition of the so-called Southern Confederacy, it is not
to be made a subject of technical definition. It is, of course, [quasi]
direct recognition to publish an acknowledgment of the sovereignty and
independence of a new power. It is [quasi] direct recognition to receive
its ambassadors, ministers, agents, or commissioners officially.
A concession of belligerent rights is liable to be construed as a
recognition of them. No one of these proceedings will [be borne] pass
[unnoticed] unquestioned by the United States in this case.
Hitherto recognition has been moved only on the assumption that the
so-called Confederate States are de facto a self-sustaining power. Now,
after long forbearance, designed to soothe discontent and avert the need
of civil war, the land and naval forces of the United States have been put
in motion to repress the insurrection. The true character of the pretended
new State is at once revealed. It is seen to be a power existing in
pronunciamento only, It has never won a field. It has obtained no forts
that were not virtually betrayed into its hands or seized in breach of
trust. It commands not a single port on the coast nor any highway out from
its pretended capital by land. Under these circumstances Great Britain is
called upon to intervene and give it body and independence by resisting
our measures of suppression. British recognition would be British
intervention to create within our own territory a hostile state by
overthrowing this republic itself. [When this act of intervention is
distinctly performed, we from that hour shall cease to be friends, and
become once more, as we have twice before been forced to be, enemies of
Great Britain.]
As to the treatment of privateers in the insurgent service, you will say
that this is a question exclusively our own. We treat them as pirates.
They are our own citizens, or persons employed by our citizens, preying
on the commerce of our country. If Great Britain shall choose to recognize
them as lawful belligerents, and give them shelter from our pursuit and
punishment, the laws of nations afford an adequate and proper remedy
[and we shall avail ourselves of it. And while you need not say this in
advance, be sure that you say nothing inconsistent with it.]
Happily, however, her Britannic Majesty's government can avoid all these
difficulties. It invited us in 1856 to accede to the declaration of the
Congress of Paris, of which body Great Britain was herself a member,
abolishing privateering everywhere in all cases and forever. You already
have our authority to propose to her our accession to that declaration. If
she refuse to receive it, it can only be because she is willing to become
the patron of privateering when aimed at our devastation.
These positions are not elaborately defended now, because to vindicate
them would imply a possibility of our waiving them.
1 We are not insensible of the grave importance of
1 (Drop all from this line to the end, and in lieu of it write, "This
paper is for your own guidance only, and not [sic] to be read or shown to
any one.")
(Secretary Seward, when the despatch was returned to him, added
an introductory paragraph stating that the document was strictly
confidential. For this reason these last two paragraphs remained as they
are here printed.)
this occasion. We see how, upon the result of the debate in which we are
engaged, a war may ensue between the United States and one, two, or even
more European nations. War in any case is as exceptionable from the habits
as it is revolting from the sentiments of the American people. But if
it come, it will be fully seen that it results from the action of Great
Britain, not our own; that Great Britain will have decided to fraternize
with our domestic enemy, either without waiting to hear from you our
remonstrances and our warnings, or after having heard them. War in defense
of national life is not immoral, and war in defense of independence is an
inevitable part of the discipline of nations.