to all except certain designated classes, and it was at the same time made
known that the excepted classes were still within contemplation of
special clemency. During the year many availed themselves of the general
provision, and many more would, only that the signs of bad faith in some
led to such precautionary measures as rendered the practical process less
easy and certain. During the same time also special pardons have
been granted to individuals of the excepted classes, and no voluntary
application has been denied. Thus practically the door has been for a full
year open to all except such as were not in condition to make free choice;
that is, such as were in custody or under constraint. It is still so open
to all. But the time may come, probably will come, when public duty shall
demand that it be closed and that in lieu more rigorous measures than
heretofore shall be adopted.
In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the national
authority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable
condition to ending the war on the part of the Government, I retract
nothing heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a
year ago, that "while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt
to retract or modify the emancipation proclamation, nor shall I return to
slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation or by any
of the acts of Congress." If the people should, by whatever mode or means,
make it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I,
must be their instrument to perform it.
In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply to say that the war
will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on
the part of those who began it.
A. LINCOLN.
RESPONSE TO A SERENADE, DECEMBER 6, 1864.
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I believe I shall never be old enough to
speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to talk about. I have no
good news to tell you, and yet I have no bad news to tell. We have talked
of elections until there is nothing more to say about them. The most
interesting news now we have is from Sherman. We all know where he went
in at, but I can't tell where he will come out at. I will now close by
proposing three cheers for General Sherman and his army.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR HALL.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 7, 1864.
GOVERNOR HALL, Jefferson City, Mo.:
Complaint is made to me of the doings of a man at Hannibal, Mo., by the
name of Haywood, who, as I am told, has charge of some militia force, and
is not in the United States service. Please inquire into the matter and
correct anything you may find amiss if in your power.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO COLONEL FASLEIGH.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., December 8, 1864.
COLONEL FASLEIGH, Louisville, Ky.:
I am appealed to in behalf of a man by the name of Frank Fairbairns, said
to have been for a long time and still in prison, without any definite
ground stated. How is it?
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER APPOINTING COMMISSIONERS
TO INVESTIGATE THE MILITARY DIVISION WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, December 10, 1864.
ORDERED, First, that Major-General William P. Smith and the Hon. Henry
Stanbery be, and they are hereby, appointed special commissioners to
investigate and report, for the information of the President; upon the
civil and military administration in the military division bordering upon
and west of the Mississippi, under such instructions as shall be issued by
authority of the President and the War Department.
Second, said commissioners shall have power to examine witnesses
upon oath, and to take such proofs orally or in writing, upon the
subject-matters of investigation as they may deem expedient, and return
the same together with their report.
Third, all officers and persons in the military, naval and revenue
services, or in any branch of the public service under the authority
of the United States Government, are required, upon subpoena issued by
direction of the said commissioners, to appear before them at such time
and place as may be designated in said subpoena and to give testimony on
oath touching such matters as may be inquired of by the commissioners,
and to produce such books, papers, writings, and documents as they may
be notified or required to produce by the commissioners, and as may be in
their possession.
Fourth, said special commissioners shall also investigate and report upon
any other matters that may hereafter be directed by the Secretary of War,
and shall with all convenient dispatch make report to him in writing of
their investigation, and shall also from time to time make special reports
to the Secretary of War upon such matters as they may deem of importance
to the public interests.
Fifth, the Secretary of War shall assign to the said commissioners such
aid and assistance as may be required for the performance of their duties,
and make such just and reasonable allowances and compensation for the said
commissioners and for the persons employed by them as he may deem proper.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G, H. THOMAS. WASHINGTON, D.C., December 16, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Nashville, Tennessee:
Please accept for yourself, officers, and men, the nation's thanks for
your good work of yesterday. You made a magnificent beginning; a grand
consummation is within your easy reach. Do not let it slip.
A. LINCOLN,
ORIGIN OF THE "GREENBACK" CURRENCY
TO COLONEL B. D. TAYLOR
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December [16?], 1864.
DEAR COLONEL DICK:--I have long determined to make public the origin of
the greenback and tell the world that it is Dick Taylor's creation. You
had always been friendly to me, and when troublous times fell on us, and
my shoulders, though broad and willing, were weak, and myself surrounded
by such circumstances and such people that I knew not whom to trust, then
I said in my extremity: "I will send for Colonel Taylor; he will know what
to do." I think it was in January, 1862, on or about the 16th, that I did
so. You came, and I said to you:
"What can we do?" Said you, "Why, issue Treasury notes bearing no
interest, printed on the best banking paper. Issue enough to pay off the
Army expenses and declare it legal tender."
Chase thought it a hazardous thing, but we finally accomplished it,
and gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they ever
had--their own paper to pay their own debts.
It is due to you, the father of the present greenback, that the people
should know it, and I take great pleasure in making it known. How many
times have I laughed at you telling me plainly that I was too lazy to be
anything but a lawyer.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO OFFICER IN COMMAND AT CHATTANOOGA. EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, December 16, 1864
OFFICER IN COMMAND at Chattanooga, Tenn.:
It is said that Harry Walters, a private in the Anderson cavalry, is now
and for a long time has been in prison at Chattanooga. Please report to me
what is his condition, and for what he is imprisoned.
A. LINCOLN.
CALL FOR 300,000 VOLUNTEERS, DECEMBER 19, 1864.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
A Proclamation
Whereas, by the act approved July 4, 1864, entitled "An act further
to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national
forces, and for other purposes," it is provided that the President of the
United States may, "at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for
any number of men, as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, and
three years for military service," and "that in case the quota or any
part thereof of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election
district, or of any country not so subdivided, shall not be filled
within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall
immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota or any part
thereof which may be unfilled;" and
Whereas, by the credits allowed in accordance with the act of Congress
on the call for 500,000 men, made July 18, 1864, the number of men to be
obtained under that call was reduced to 280,000; and
Whereas, the operations of the enemy in certain States have rendered it
impracticable to procure from them their full quotas of troops under said
call; and
Whereas, from the foregoing causes but 240,000 men have been put into the
Army, Navy, and Marine Corps under the said call of July 18, 1864, leaving
a deficiency on that call of two hundred and sixty thousand (260,000):
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, in order to supply the aforesaid deficiency and to provide for
casualties in the military and naval service of the United States, do
issue this my call for three hundred thousand (300,000) volunteers to
serve for one, two, or three years. The quotas of the States, districts,
and subdistricts under this call will be assigned by the War Department
through the bureau of the Provost-Marshal General of the United States,
and "in case the quota or any part thereof of any town, township, ward
of a city, precinct, or election district, or of any county not so
subdivided, shall not be filled" before the fifteenth of February, 1865,
then a draft shall be made to fill such quota or any part thereof under
this call which may be unfilled on said fifteenth day of February, 1865.
In testimony 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.
SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA
TO GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 26, 1864
MY DEAR GENERAL SHERMAN:--Many, many thanks for your Christmas gift, the
capture of Savannah.
When you were about leaving Atlanta for the Atlantic coast, I was
anxious, if not fearful; but feeling that you were the better judge, and
remembering that "nothing risked, nothing gained," I did not interfere.
Now, the undertaking being a success, the honor is all yours; for I
believe none of us went further than to acquiesce.
And taking the work of General Thomas into the count, as it should be
taken, it is indeed a great success. Not only does it afford the obvious
and immediate military advantages; but in showing to the world that your
army could be divided, putting the stronger part to an important new
service, and yet leaving enough to vanquish the old opposing force of the
whole,--Hood's army,--it brings those who sat in darkness to see a great
light. But what next?
I suppose it will be safe if I leave General Grant and yourself to decide.
Please make my grateful acknowledgments to your whole army of officers and
men.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO OFFICER IN COMMAND AT LEXINGTON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 27, 1864.
OFFICER IN COMMAND at Lexington, Ky.:
If within your power send me the particulars of the causes for which
Lieutenant-Governor Jacob was arrested and sent away.
A. LINCOLN.
TO J. MACLEAN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 27, 1864.
Dr. JOHN MACLEAN:
MY DEAR SIR:--I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your note
of the twentieth of December, conveying the announcement that the Trustees
of the College of New Jersey had conferred upon me the degree of Doctor of
Laws.
The assurance conveyed by this high compliment, that the course of the
Government which I represent, has received the approval of a body of
gentlemen of such character and intelligence, in this time of public
trial, is most grateful to me.
Thoughtful men must feel that the fate of civilization upon this continent
is involved in the issue of our contest. Among the most gratifying proofs
of this conviction is the hearty devotion everywhere exhibited by our
schools and colleges to the national cause.
I am most thankful if my labors have seemed to conduct to the preservation
of those institutions, under which alone we can expect good government and
in its train sound learning, and the progress of the liberal arts.
I am, sir, very truly, your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO OFFICER IN COMMAND AT NASHVILLE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 28, 1864.
OFFICER IN COMMAND at Nashville, Tenn.:
Suspend execution of James R. Mallory, for six weeks from Friday the
thirtieth of this month, which time I have given his friends to make
proof, if they can, upon certain points.
A. LINCOLN,
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT.
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 28, 1864. 5.30 p.m.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.:
If there be no objection, please tell me what you now understand of the
Wilmington expedition, present and prospective.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BUTLER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 29, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER:
There is a man in Company I, Eleventh Connecticut Volunteers, First
Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, at Chapin's Farm, Va.;
under the assumed name of William Stanley, but whose real name is Frank
R. Judd, and who is under arrest, and probably about to be tried for
desertion. He is the son of our present minister to Prussia, who is a
close personal friend of Senator Trumbull and myself. We are not willing
for the boy to be shot, but we think it as well that his trial go
regularly on, suspending execution until further order from me and
reporting to me.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO COLONEL WARNER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, December 30, 1864.
COLONEL WARNER, Indianapolis, Ind.:
It is said that you were on the court-martial that tried John Lennon,
and that you are disposed to advise his being pardoned and sent to his
regiment. If this be true, telegraph me to that effect at once.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO J. WILLIAMS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 4, 1865.
JOHN WILLIAMS, Springfield, Ill.:
Let Trumbo's substitute be regularly mustered in, send me the evidence
that it is done and I will then discharge Trumbo.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
WASHINGTON, January 5, 1865.
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES:
I herewith return to your honorable body, in which it originated, a "joint
resolution to correct certain clerical errors in the internal revenue
act," without my approval.
My reason for so doing is that I am informed that this joint resolution
was prepared during the last moments of the last session of Congress for
the purpose of correcting certain errors of reference in the internal
revenue act, which were discovered on an examination of an official
copy procured from the State Department a few hours only before the
adjournment. It passed the House and went to the Senate, where a vote was
taken upon it, but by some accident it was not presented to the President
of the Senate for his signature.
Since the adjournment of the last session of Congress, other errors of a
kind similar to those which this resolution was designed to correct,
have been discovered in the law, and it is now thought most expedient to
include all the necessary corrections in one act or resolution.
The attention of the proper committee of the House has, I am informed,
been already directed to the preparation of a bill for this purpose.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 5, 1865.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point, Va.:
Richard T. Jacob, Lieutenant-Governor of Kentucky, is at the Spotswood
House, in Richmond, under an order of General Burbridge not to return to
Kentucky. Please communicate leave to him to pass our lines, and come to
me here at Washington.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL GRANT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, January 6, 1865, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point:
If there is a man at City Point by the name of Waterman Thornton who is in
trouble about desertion, please have his case briefly stated to me and do
not let him be executed meantime.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS,
WASHINGTON, January 9, 1865.
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I transmit to Congress a
copy of two treaties between the United States and Belgium, for the
extinguishment of the Scheldt dues, etc., concluded on the twentieth of
May, 1863, and twentieth of July, 1863, respectively, the ratifications of
which were exchanged at Brussels on the twenty-fourth of June last; and
I recommend an appropriation to carry into effect the provisions thereof
relative to the payment of the proportion of the United States toward the
capitalization of the said dues.
A. LINCOLN.
TO SCHUYLER COLFAX.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 9, 1865.
HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SIR:--I transmit herewith the letter of the Secretary of War, with
accompanying report of the Adjutant-General, in reply to the resolution
of the House of Representatives, dated December 7, 1864, requesting me
"to communicate to the House the report made by Col. Thomas M. Key of an
interview between himself and General Howell Cobb on the fourteenth [15th]
day of June, 1862, on the banks of the Chickahominy, on the subject of the
exchange of prisoners of war."
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATION CONCERNING COMMERCE, JANUARY 10, 1865.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A Proclamation.
Whereas the act of Congress of the twenty-eighth of September, 1850,
entitled "An act to create additional collection districts in the State
of California, and to change the existing districts therein, and to
modify the existing collection districts in the United States," extends to
merchandise warehoused under bond the privilege of being exported to
the British North American provinces adjoining the United States, in the
manner prescribed in the act of Congress of the third of March, 1845,
which designates certain frontier ports through which merchandise may
be exported, and further provides "that such other ports situated on
the frontiers of the United States, adjoining the British North American
provinces, as may hereafter be found expedient, may have extended to
them the like privileges on the recommendation of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and proclamation duly made by the President of the United
States, specially designating the ports to which the aforesaid privileges
are to be extended;"
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America, in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of the
Treasury, do hereby declare and proclaim that the port of St. Albans, in
the State of Vermont, is, and shall be, entitled to all the privileges
in regard to the exportation of merchandise in bond to the British North
American provinces adjoining the United States, which are extended to
the ports enumerated in the seventh section of the act of Congress of
the third of March, 1845, aforesaid, from and after the date of this
proclamation.
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 tenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred-and sixty-five, and of the
independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL B. F. BUTLER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 10, 1865.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.:
No principal report of yours on the Wilmington expedition has ever reached
the War Department, as I am informed there. A preliminary report did reach
here, but was returned to General Grant at his request. Of course, leave
to publish cannot be given without inspection of the paper, and not then
if it should be deemed to be detrimental to the public service.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL B. F. BUTLER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 13, 1865.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Fort Monroe, Va.:
Yours asking leave to come to Washington is received. You have been
summoned by the Committee on the Conduct of the War to attend here, which,
of course, you will do.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 15, 1865.
GOVERNOR JOHNSON, Nashville, Tennessee:
Yours announcing ordinance of emancipation received. Thanks to the
convention and to you. When do you expect to be here? Would be glad to
have your suggestion as to supplying your place of military governor.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. M. DODGE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January
15, 1865.
MAJOR-GENERAL DODGE, St. Louis, Missouri:
It is represented to me that there is so much irregular violence in
northern Missouri as to be driving away the people and almost depopulating
it. Please gather information, and consider whether an appeal to the
people there to go to their homes and let one another alone recognizing as
a full right of protection for each that he lets others alone, and banning
only him who refuses to let others alone may not enable you to withdraw
the troops, their presence itself [being] a cause of irritation and
constant apprehension, and thus restore peace and quiet, and returning
prosperity. Please consider this and telegraph or write me.
A. LINCOLN.
FIRST OVERTURES FOR SURRENDER FROM DAVIS
TO P. P. BLAIR, SR.
WASHINGTON, January 18, 1865.
F. P. BLAIR, ESQ.
SIR:-You having shown me Mr. Davis's letter to you of the twelfth
instant, you may say to him that I have constantly been, am now, and shall
continue, ready to receive any agent whom he or any other influential
person now resisting the national authority may informally send to me with
the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country.
Yours, etc.,
A. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, January 19, 1865.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT:
Please read and answer this letter as though I was not President, but
only a friend. My son, now in his twenty-second year, having graduated at
Harvard, wishes to see something of the war before it ends. I do not wish
to put him in the ranks, nor yet to give him a commission, to which those
who have already served long are better entitled and better qualified to
hold. Could he, without embarrassment to you, or detriment to the service,
go into your military family with some nominal rank, I, and not the
public, furnishing his necessary means? If no, say so without the least
hesitation, because I am as anxious and as deeply interested that you
shall not be encumbered as you can be yourself.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL DODGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 19, 1865.
MAJOR-GENERAL DODGE, Saint Louis, Mo.:
If Mrs. Beattie, alias Mrs. Wolff, shall be sentenced to death, notify me,
and postpone the execution till further order.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL ORD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 19, 1864
MAJOR-GENERAL ORD:
You have a man in arrest for desertion passing by the name of Stanley.
William Stanley, I think, but whose real name is different. He is the son
of so close a friend of mine that I must not let him be executed. Please
let me know what is his present and prospective condition.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. M. DODGE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 24, 1865.
MAJOR-GENERAL DODGE, St. Louis, Mo.:
It is said an old lady in Clay County, Missouri, by name Mrs. Winifred
B. Price, is about being sent South. If she is not misbehaving let her
remain.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 24, 1865.
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON, Nashville, Tennessee:
Several members of the Cabinet, with myself, considered the question,
to-day, as to the time of your coming on here. While we fully appreciate
your wish to remain in Tennessee until her State government shall be
completely reinaugurated, it is our unanimous conclusion that it is unsafe
for you to not be here on the 4th of March. Be sure to reach here by that
time.
A. LINCOLN.
REPLY TO A COMMITTEE, JANUARY 24, 1865.
REVEREND SIR, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: