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.
The dispute will be between the European and the American branches of the
British race. All who belong to that race will especially deprecate it,
as they ought. It may well be believed that men of every race and kindred
will deplore it. A war not unlike it between the same parties occurred at
the close of the last century. Europe atoned by forty years of suffering
for the error that Great Britain committed in provoking that contest. If
that nation shall now repeat the same great error, the social convulsions
which will follow may not be so long, but they will be more general. When
they shall have ceased, it will, we think, be seen, whatever may have been
the fortunes of other nations, that it is not the United States that
will have come out of them with its precious Constitution altered or its
honestly obtained dominion in any degree abridged. Great Britain has but
to wait a few months and all her present inconveniences will cease with
all our own troubles. If she take a different course, she will calculate
for herself the ultimate as well as the immediate consequences, and will
consider what position she will hold when she shall have forever lost the
sympathies and the affections of the only nation on whose sympathies and
affections she has a natural claim. In making that calculation she will do
well to remember that in the controversy she proposes to open we shall be
actuated by neither pride, nor passion, nor cupidity, nor ambition; but
we shall stand simply on the principle of self-preservation, and that our
cause will involve the independence of nations and the rights of human
nature.
I am, Sir, respectfully your obedient servant, W. H. S.
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., etc,
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR,
EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 21, 1861.
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. MY DEAR SIR:--Why cannot Colonel Small's
Philadelphia regiment be received? I sincerely wish it could. There is
something strange about it. Give these gentlemen an interview, and take
their regiment.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO GOVERNOR MORGAN.
WASHINGTON, May 12, 1861
GOVERNOR E. D. MORGAN, Albany, N.Y.
I wish to see you face to face to clear these difficulties about
forwarding troops from New York.
A. LINCOLN.
TO CAPTAIN DAHLGREEN.
EXECUTIVE, MANSION, May 23, 1863.
CAPT. DAHLGREEN.
MY DEAR SIR:--Allow me to introduce Col. J. A. McLernand, M.C. of my own
district in Illinois. If he should desire to visit Fortress Monroe, please
introduce him to the captain of one of the vessels in our service, and
pass him down and back.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
LETTER OF CONDOLENCE TO ONE OF FIRST CASUALTIES
TO COLONEL ELLSWORTH'S PARENTS, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 1861
TO THE FATHER AND MOTHER OF COL. ELMER E. ELLSWORTH.
MY DEAR SIR AND MADAME:--In the untimely loss of your noble son, our
affliction here is scarcely less than your own. So much of promised
usefulness to one's country, and of bright hopes for one's self and
friends, have never been so suddenly dashed as in his fall. In size, in
years, and in youthful appearance a boy only, his power to command men
was surpassingly great. This power, combined with a fine intellectual and
indomitable energy, and a taste altogether military, constituted in him,
as seemed to me, the best natural talent in that department I ever knew.
And yet he was singularly modest and deferential in social intercourse.
My acquaintance with him began less than two years ago; yet, through the
latter half of the intervening period, it was as intense as the disparity
of our ages and my engrossing engagements would permit. To me he appeared
to have no indulgences or pastimes, and I never heard him utter a profane
or an intemperate word. What was conclusive of his good heart, he never
forgot his parents. The honors he labored for so laudably, and for which,
in the sad end, he so gallantly gave his life, he meant for them no less
than for himself.
In the hope that it may be no intrusion upon the sacredness of your
sorrow, I have ventured to address you this tribute to the memory of my
young friend and your brave and early fallen son.
May God give you the consolation which is beyond all early power.
Sincerely your friend in common affliction,
A. LINCOLN.
TO COLONEL BARTLETT.
WASHINGTON, May 27, 1861
COL. W. A. BARTLETT, New York.
The Naval Brigade was to go to Fort Monroe without trouble to the
government, and must so go or not at all.
A. LINCOLN.
MEMORANDUM ABOUT INDIANA REGIMENTS.
WASHINGTON, JUNE 11, 1861
The government has already accepted ten regiments from the State of
Indiana. I think at least six more ought to be received from that State,
two to be those of Colonel James W. McMillan and Colonel William L.
Brown, and the other four to be designated by the Governor of the State
of Indiana, and to be received into the volunteer service of the United
States according to the "Plan of Organization" in the General Orders of
the War Department, No.15. When they report to Major-General McClellan in
condition to pass muster according to that order, and with the approval of
the Secretary of War to be indorsed hereon, and left in his department,
I direct that the whole six, or any smaller number of such regiments, be
received.
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, JUNE 13, 1861
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
MY DEAR SIR:--There is, it seems, a regiment in Massachusetts commanded
by Fletcher Webster, and which HON. Daniel Webster's old friends very much
wish to get into the service. If it can be received with the approval of
your department and the consent of the Governor of Massachusetts I shall
indeed be much gratified. Give Mr. Ashmun a chance to explain fully.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, JUNE 13, 1861 HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
MY DEAR SIR--I think it is entirely safe to accept a fifth regiment from
Michigan, and with your approbation I should say a regiment presented by
Col. T. B. W. Stockton, ready for service within two weeks from now, will
be received. Look at Colonel Stockton's testimonials.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 17, 1861
HON. SECRETARY Of WAR.
MY DEAR SIR:--With your concurrence, and that of the Governor of Indiana,
I am in favor of accepting into what we call the three years' service any
number not exceeding four additional regiments from that State. Probably
they should come from the triangular region between the Ohio and Wabash
Rivers, including my own old boyhood home. Please see HON. C. M. Allen,
Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and unless you perceive
good reason to the contrary, draw up an order for him according to the
above.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, JUNE 17,1861
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. MY DEAR SIR:--With your concurrence, and that of
the Governor of Ohio, I am in favor of receiving into what we call the
three years' service any number not exceeding six additional regiments
from that State, unless you perceive good reasons to the contrary. Please
see HON. John A. Gurley, who bears this, and make an order corresponding
with the above.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO N. W. EDWARDS
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 19, 1861
Hon. N. W. EDWARDS MY DEAR SIR:
....When you wrote me some time ago in reference to looking up something
in the departments here, I thought I would inquire into the thing and
write you, but the extraordinary pressure upon me diverted me from it, and
soon it passed out of my mind. The thing you proposed, it seemed to me, I
ought to understand myself before it was set on foot by my direction or
permission; and I really had no time to make myself acquainted with it.
Nor have I yet. And yet I am unwilling, of course, that you should be
deprived of a chance to make something, if it can be done without
injustice to the Government, or to any individual. If you choose to come
here and point out to me how this can be done I shall not only not object,
but shall be gratified to be able to oblige you.
Your friend as ever
A. LINCOLN.
TO SECRETARY CAMERON.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 20, 1861.
MY DEAR SIR:--Since you spoke to me yesterday about General J. H. Lane, of
Kansas, I have been reflecting upon the subject, and have concluded that
we need the service of such a man out there at once; that we had better
appoint him a brigadier-general of volunteers to-day, and send him off
with such authority to raise a force (I think two regiments better than
three, but as to this I am not particular) as you think will get him into
actual work quickest. Tell him, when he starts, to put it through not to
be writing or telegraphing back here, but put it through.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
HON. SECRETARY OF WAR.
[Indorsement.]
General Lane has been authorized to raise two additional regiments of
volunteers.
SIMON CAMERON, Secretary o f War.
TO THE KENTUCKY DELEGATION.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, June 29, 1861.
GENTLEMEN OF THE KENTUCKY DELEGATION WHO ARE FOR THE UNION:
I somewhat wish to authorize my friend Jesse Bayles to raise a Kentucky
regiment, but I do not wish to do it without your consent. If you consent,
please write so at the bottom of this.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
We consent:
R. MALLORY.
H. GRIDER.
G. W. DUNLAP.
J. S. JACKSON.
C. A. WICKLIFFE.
August 5, 1861.
I repeat, I would like for Col. Bayles to raise a regiment of cavalry
whenever the Union men of Kentucky desire or consent to it.
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER AUTHORIZING GENERAL SCOTT TO SUSPEND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS, JULY
2, 1861
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 New York 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 where resistance occurs,
are authorized to suspend that writ.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States at the city of
Washington, this second day of July, A.D. 1861, and of the independence of
the United States the eighty-fifth.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TO SECRETARY SEWARD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, JULY 3, 1861
HON. SECRETARY OF STATE.