is difficult to answer so ugly a letter in good temper. I am, as you
intimate, losing much of the great confidence I placed in you, not from
any act or omission of yours touching the public service, up to the time
you were sent to Leavenworth, but from the flood of grumbling despatches
and letters I have seen from you since. I knew you were being ordered
to Leavenworth at the time it was done; and I aver that with as tender a
regard for your honor and your sensibilities as I had for my own, it never
occurred to me that you were being "humiliated, insulted, and disgraced";
nor have I, up to this day, heard an intimation that you have been
wronged, coming from any one but yourself. No one has blamed you for the
retrograde movement from Springfield, nor for the information you gave
General Cameron; and this you could readily understand, if it were not
for your unwarranted assumption that the ordering you to Leavenworth must
necessarily have been done as a punishment for some fault. I thought then,
and think yet, the position assigned to you is as responsible, and as
honorable, as that assigned to Buell--I know that General McClellan
expected more important results from it. My impression is that at the
time you were assigned to the new Western Department, it had not been
determined to replace General Sherman in Kentucky; but of this I am not
certain, because the idea that a command in Kentucky was very desirable,
and one in the farther West undesirable, had never occurred to me. You
constantly speak of being placed in command of only 3000. Now, tell me, is
this not mere impatience? Have you not known all the while that you are to
command four or five times that many.
I have been, and am sincerely your friend; and if, as such, I dare to make
a suggestion, I would say you are adopting the best possible way to ruin
yourself. "Act well your part, there all the honor lies." He who does
something at the head of one regiment, will eclipse him who does nothing
at the head of a hundred.
Your friend, as ever,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL HALLECK.
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 31, 1861
GENERAL H. W. HALLECK, St. Louis, Missouri:
General McClellan is sick. Are General Buell and yourself in concert? When
he moves on Bowling Green, what hinders it being reinforced from Columbus?
A simultaneous movement by you on Columbus might prevent it.
A. LINCOLN.
[Similar despatch to Buell same date.]
1862
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL D. C. BUELL.
WASHINGTON CITY, January 1, 1862
BRIGADIER-GENERAL BUELL, Louisville:
General McClellan should not yet be disturbed with business. I think you
better get in concert with General Halleck at once. I write you to-night.
I also telegraph and write Halleck.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, January 1, 1862
DEAR GENERAL HALLECK:
General McClellan is not dangerously ill, as I hope, but would better not
be disturbed with business. I am very anxious that, in case of General
Buell's moving toward Nashville, the enemy shall not be greatly
reinforced, and I think there is danger he will be from Columbus. It seems
to me that a real or feigned attack upon Columbus from up the river at
the same time would either prevent this or compensate for it by throwing
Columbus into our hands. I wrote General Buell a letter similar to this,
meaning that he and you shall communicate and act in concert, unless it be
your judgment and his that there is no necessity for it. You and he will
understand much better than I how to do it. Please do not lose time in
this matter.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE PEOPLE OF MARYLAND,
In view of the recent declaration of the people of Maryland of their
adhesion to the Union, so distinctly made in their recent election,
the President directs that all the prisoners who having heretofore
been arrested in that State are now detained in military custody by
the President's authority, be released from their imprisonment on the
following conditions, namely: that if they were holding any civil or
military offices when arrested, the terms of which have expired, they
shall not resume or reclaim such office; and secondly, all persons
availing themselves of this proclamation shall engage by oath or parole of
honor to maintain the Union and the Constitution of the United States, and
in no way to aid or abet by arms, counsel, conversation, or information
of any kind the existing insurrection against the Government of the United
States.
To guard against misapprehension it is proper to state that this
proclamation does not apply to prisoners of war.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, January 2, 1862
To THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
I transmit to Congress a copy of a letter to the Secretary of State
from James R. Partridge, secretary to the executive committee to the in
exhibition to be held in London in the course present year, and a copy
of the correspond which it refers, relative to a vessel for the of taking
such articles as persons in this country may wish to exhibit on that
occasion. As it appears no naval vessel can be spared for the purpose, I
recommend that authority be given to charter a suitable merchant vessel,
in order that facilities similar to those afforded by the government
exhibition of 1851 may also be extended to citizens of the United States
who may desire to contribute to the exhibition of this year.
A. LINCOLN
MESSAGES OF DISAPPOINTMENT WITH HIS GENERALS
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL D. C. BUELL.
WASHINGTON, January 4, 1862.
GENERAL BUELL:
Have arms gone forward for East Tennessee? Please tell me the progress and
condition of the movement in that direction. Answer.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL D. C. BUELL.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
January 6, 1862.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL BUELL.
MY DEAR SIR:--Your despatch of yesterday has been received, and it
disappoints and distresses me. I have shown it to General McClellan, who
says he will write you to-day. I am not competent to criticize your views,
and therefore what I offer is in justification of myself. Of the two, I
would rather have a point on the railroad south of Cumberland Gap
than Nashville. First, because it cuts a great artery of the enemy's
communication, which Nashville does not; and secondly, because it is in
the midst of loyal people who would rally around it, while Nashville is
not. Again, I cannot see why the movement on East Tennessee would not be
a diversion in your favor rather than a disadvantage, assuming that a
movement toward Nashville is the main object. But my distress is that our
friends in East Tennessee are being hanged and driven to despair, and even
now, I fear, are thinking of taking rebel arms for the sake of personal
protection. In this we lose the most valuable stake we have in the South.
My despatch, to which yours is an answer, was sent with the knowledge of
Senator Johnson and Representative Maynard of East Tennessee, and they
will be upon me to know the answer, which I cannot safely show them. They
would despair, possibly resign to go and save their families somehow,
or die with them. I do not intend this to be an order in any sense, but
merely, as intimated before, to show you the grounds of my anxiety.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BUELL.
WASHINGTON, January 7, 1862.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL D.C. BUELL, Louisville:
Please name as early a day as you safely can on or before which you can
be ready to move southward in concert with Major-General Halleck. Delay is
ruining us, and it is indispensable for me to have something definite. I
send a like despatch to Major-General Halleck.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, January 10, 1862
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I transmit to Congress a translation of an instruction to the minister of
his Majesty the Emperor of Austria accredited to this government, and a
copy of a note to that minister from the Secretary of State relative to
the questions involved in the taking from the British steamer Trent of
certain citizens of the United States by order of Captain Wilkes of the
United States Navy. This correspondence may be considered as a sequel to
that previously communicated to Congress relating to the same subject.
A. LINCOLN.
INDORSEMENT ON LETTER FROM GENERAL HALLECK,
JANUARY 10, 1862.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI ST. Louis, January 6, 1862.
To His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT:
In reply to your Excellency's letter of the 1st instant, I have to state
that on receiving your telegram I immediately communicated with General
Buell and have since sent him all the information I could obtain of the
enemy's movements about Columbus and Camp Beauregard. No considerable
force has been sent from those places to Bowling Green. They have about
22,000 men at Columbus, and the place is strongly fortified. I have at
Cairo, Port Holt, and Paducah only about 15,000, which, after leaving
guards at these places, would give me but little over 10,000 men with
which to assist General Buell. It would be madness to attempt anything
serious with such a force, and I cannot at the present time withdraw any
from Missouri without risking the loss of this State. The troops recently
raised in other States of this department have, without my knowledge, been
sent to Kentucky and Kansas.
I am satisfied that the authorities at Washington do not appreciate the
difficulties with which we have to contend here. The operations of Lane,
Jennison, and others have so enraged the people of Missouri that it is
estimated that there is a majority of 80,000 against the government. We
are virtually in an enemy's country. Price and others have a considerable
army in the southwest, against which I am operating with all my available
force.
This city and most of the middle and northern counties are
insurrectionary,--burning bridges, destroying telegraph lines, etc.,--and
can be kept down only by the presence of troops. A large portion of the
foreign troops organized by General Fremont are unreliable; indeed, many
of them are already mutinous. They have been tampered with by politicians,
and made to believe that if they get up a mutiny and demand Fremont's
return the government will be forced to restore him to duty here. It
is believed that some high officers are in the plot I have already been
obliged to disarm several of these organizations, and I am daily expecting
more serious outbreaks. Another grave difficulty is the want of proper
general officers to command the troops and enforce order and discipline,
and especially to protect public property from robbery and plunder.
Some of the brigadier-generals assigned to this department are entirely
ignorant of their duties and unfit for any command. I assure you, Mr.
President, it is very difficult to accomplish much with such means. I am
in the condition of a carpenter who is required to build a bridge with
a dull axe, a broken saw, and rotten timber. It is true that I have some
very good green timber, which will answer the purpose as soon as I can get
it into shape and season it a little.
I know nothing of General Buell's intended operations, never having
received any information in regard to the general plan of campaign. If
it be intended that his column shall move on Bowling Green while another
moves from Cairo or Paducah on Columbus or Camp Beauregard, it will be a
repetition of the same strategic error which produced the disaster of Bull
Run. To operate on exterior lines against an enemy occupying a central
position will fail, as it always has failed, in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred. It is condemned by every military authority I have ever read.
General Buell's army and the forces at Paducah occupy precisely the same
position in relation to each other and to the enemy as did the armies of
McDowell and Patterson before the battle of Bull Run.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. W. HALLECK, Major-General
[Indorsement]
The within is a copy of a letter just received from General Halleck. It is
exceedingly discouraging. As everywhere else, nothing can be done.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR ANDREW.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 11, 1862
GOVERNOR JOHN A. ANDREW, Boston:
I will be greatly obliged if you will arrange; somehow with General Butler
to officer his two un-officered regiments.
A. LINCOLN
TO GENERAL D. C. BUELL.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 13, 1861
BRIGADIER-GENERAL BUELL.
MY DEAR SIR--Your despatch of yesterday is received, in which you say, "I
received your letter and General McClellan's, and will at once devote my
efforts to your views and his." In the midst of my many cares I have not
seen, nor asked to see, General McClellan's letter to you. For my own
views, I have not offered and do not now offer them as orders; and while I
am glad to have them respectfully considered, I would blame you to follow
them contrary to your own clear judgment, unless I should put them in the
form of orders. As to General McClellan's views, you understand your duty
in regard to them better than I do.
With this preliminary I state my general idea of this war to be, that
we have the greater numbers and the enemy has the greater facility of
concentrating forces upon points of collision; that we must fail unless we
can find some way of making our advantage an overmatch for his; and that
this can only be done by menacing him with superior forces at different
points at the same time, so that we can safely attack one or both if he
makes no change; and if he weakens one to strengthen the other, forbear to
attack the strengthened one, but seize and hold the weakened one, gaining
so much.
To illustrate: Suppose last summer, when Winchester ran away to reinforce
Manassas, we had forborne to attack Manassas, but had seized and held
Winchester. I mention this to illustrate and not to criticise. I did not
lose confidence in McDowell, and I think less harshly of Patterson than
some others seem to.... Applying the principle to your case, my idea is
that Halleck shall menace Columbus and "down river" generally, while you
menace Bowling Green and East Tennessee. If the enemy shall concentrate
at Bowling Green, do not retire from his front, yet do not fight him there
either, but seize Columbus and East Tennessee, one or both, left exposed
by the concentration at Bowling Green. It is a matter of no small anxiety
to me, and which I am sure you will not overlook, that the East Tennessee
line is so long and over so bad a road.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
(Indorsement.)
Having to-day written General Buell a letter, it occurs to me to send
General Halleck a copy of it.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 1, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK.
MY DEAR SIR:--The Germans are true and patriotic and so far as they have
got cross in Missouri it is upon mistake and misunderstanding. Without a
knowledge of its contents, Governor Koerner, of Illinois, will hand you
this letter. He is an educated and talented German gentleman, as true a
man as lives. With his assistance you can set everything right with
the Germans.... My clear judgment is that, with reference to the German
element in your command, you should have Governor Koerner with you; and if
agreeable to you and him, I will make him a brigadier-general, so that
he can afford to give his time. He does not wish to command in the field,
though he has more military knowledge than some who do. If he goes
into the place, he will simply be an efficient, zealous, and unselfish
assistant to you. I say all this upon intimate personal acquaintance with
Governor Koerner.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, January 17, 1862
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I transmit to Congress a translation of an instruction to the minister of
his Majesty the King of Prussia accredited to this government, and a copy
of a note to that minister from the Secretary of State relating to the
capture and detention of certain citizens of the United States, passengers
on board the British steamer Trent, by order of Captain Wilkes of the
United States Navy.
A. LINCOLN
TO GENERAL McCLELLAN.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON.
January 20, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN,
Commanding Armies of the United States:
You or any officer you may designate will in your discretion suspend the
writ of habeas corpus so far as may relate to Major Chase, lately of the
Engineer Corps of the Army of the United States, now alleged to be guilty
of treasonable practices against this government.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
PRESIDENT'S GENERAL WAR ORDER NO. 1
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 27, 1862.
Ordered, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day for a general
movement of the land and the naval forces of the United States against the
insurgent forces.
That especially the army at and about Fortress Monroe, the Army of
the Potomac, the Army of Western Virginia, the army near Munfordville,
Kentucky, the army and flotilla at Cairo, and a naval force in the Gulf of
Mexico, be ready for a movement on that day.
That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective
commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and be ready to obey
additional orders when duly given.
That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of War and
of the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-chief, with
all other commanders and subordinates of land and naval forces, will
severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for the prompt
execution of this order.
A. LINCOLN.
TO SECRETARY STANTON,
EXECUTIVE MANSION WASHINGTON, January 31, 1862
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
MY DEAR SIR:--It is my wish that the expedition commonly called the
"Lane Expedition" shall be, as much as has been promised at the
adjutant-general's office, under the supervision of General McClellan, and
not any more. I have not intended, and do not now intend, that it shall be
a great, exhausting affair, but a snug, sober column of 10,000 or 15,000.
General Lane has been told by me many times that he is under the command
of General Hunter, and assented to it as often as told. It was the
distinct agreement between him and me, when I appointed him, that he was
to be under Hunter.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL WAR ORDER NO. 1.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 31, 1862.
Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac,
after providing safely for the defence of Washington, be formed into an
expedition for the immediate object of seizing and occupying a point upon
the railroad southwestward of what is known as Manassas Junction, all
details to be in the discretion of the commander-in-chief, and the
expedition to move before or on the 22d day of February next.
A. LINCOLN.
OPPOSITION TO McCLELLAN'S PLANS
TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN,
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 3, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL MCCLELLAN.
DEAR SIR--You and I have distinct and different plans for a movement
of the Army of the Potomac--yours to be down the Chesapeake, up the
Rappahannock to Urbana, and across land to the terminus of the railroad on
the York River; mine to move directly to a point on the railroad southwest
of Manassas.
If you will give me satisfactory answers to the following questions, I
shall gladly yield my plan to yours.
First. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time and
money than mine?
Second. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine?
Third. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine?
Fourth. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this, that it would
break no great line of the enemy's communications, while mine would?
Fifth. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your
plan than mine?
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
Memorandum accompanying Letter of President Lincoln to General McClellan,
dated February 3,1862.
First. Suppose the enemy should attack us in force before we reach the
Occoquan, what?
Second. Suppose the enemy in force shall dispute the crossing of the
Occoquan, what? In view of this, might it not be safest for us to cross
the Occoquan at Coichester, rather than at the village of Occoquan? This
would cost the enemy two miles of travel to meet us, but would, on the
contrary, leave us two miles farther from our ultimate destination.
Third. Suppose we reach Maple Valley without an attack, will we not be
attacked there in force by the enemy marching by the several roads from
Manassas; and if so, what?
TO WM. H. HERNDON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, February 3, 1862.
DEAR WILLIAM:--Yours of January 30th just received. Do just as you say
about the money matter.
As you well know, I have not time to write a letter of respectable length.
God bless you, says
Your friend,
A. LINCOLN.
RESPITE FOR NATHANIEL GORDON
February 4, 1862
A. LINCOLN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:
Whereas it appears that at a term of the Circuit Court of the United
States of America for the Southern District of New York held in the month
of November, A.D. 1861, Nathaniel Gordon was indicted and convicted for
being engaged in the slave trade, and was by the said court sentenced to
be put to death by hanging by the neck, on Friday the 7th day of February,
AD. 1862:
And whereas a large number of respectable citizens have earnestly besought
me to commute the said sentence of the said Nathaniel Gordon to a term of
imprisonment for life, which application I have felt it to be my duty to
refuse:
And whereas it has seemed to me probable that the unsuccessful application
made for the commutation of his sentence may have prevented the said
Nathaniel Gordon from making the necessary preparation for the awful
change which awaits him;
Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the
United States of America, have granted and do hereby grant unto him, the
said Nathaniel Gordon, a respite of the above recited sentence, until
Friday the twenty-first day of February, A.D. 1862, between the hours of
twelve o'clock at noon and three o'clock in the afternoon of the said day,
when the said sentence shall be executed.
In granting this respite, it becomes my painful duty to admonish the
prisoner that, relinquishing all expectation of pardon by human authority,
he refer himself alone to the mercy of the common God and Father of all
men.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this fourth day of February, A.D. 1862,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
MESSAGE TO THE SENATE.
WASHINGTON CITY, February 4. 1862
To THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
The third section of the "Act further to promote the efficiency of the
Navy," approved December 21, 1862, provides:
"That the President of the United States, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, shall have the authority to detail from the retired
list of the navy for the command of squadrons and single ships such
officers as he may believe that the good of the service requires to be
thus placed in command; and such officers may, if upon the recommendation
of the President of the United States they shall receive a vote of thanks
of Congress for their services and gallantry in action against an enemy,
be restored to the active list, and not otherwise."
In conformity with this law, Captain Samuel F. Du Pont, of the navy, was
nominated to the Senate for continuance as the flag-officer in command of
the squadron which recently rendered such important service to the Union
in the expedition to the coast of South Carolina.
Believing that no occasion could arise which would more fully correspond
with the intention of the law, or be more pregnant with happy influence as
an example, I cordially recommend that Captain Samuel F. Du Pont receive a
vote of thanks of Congress for his services and gallantry displayed in the
capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, commanding the entrance of Port
Royal Harbor, on the 7th of November, 1861.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERALS D. HUNTER AND J. H. LANE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 4, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER AND BRIGADIER-GENERAL LANE, Leavenworth, Kansas:
My wish has been and is to avail the government of the services of both
General Hunter and General Lane, and, so far as possible, to personally
oblige both. General Hunter is the senior officer, and must command when
they serve together; though in so far as he can consistently with the
public service and his own honor oblige General Lane, he will also oblige
me. If they cannot come to an amicable understanding, General Lane must
report to General Hunter for duty, according to the rules, or decline the
service.
A. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1, RELATING TO POLITICAL PRISONERS.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, February 14,1862.
The breaking out of a formidable insurrection based on a conflict of
political ideas, being an event without precedent in the United States,
was necessarily attended by great confusion and perplexity of the public
mind. Disloyalty before unsuspected suddenly became bold, and treason
astonished the world by bringing at once into the field military forces
superior in number to the standing army of the United States.