of the United States at Alexandria, a full account of the liberal,
enlightened, and energetic proceedings which, on his complaint, you have
adopted in bringing to speedy and condign punishment the parties, subjects
of your Highness in Upper Egypt, who were concerned in an act of criminal
persecution against Faris, an agent of certain Christian missionaries in
Upper Egypt. I pray your Highness to be assured that these proceedings,
at once so prompt and so just, will be regarded as a new and unmistakable
proof equally of your Highness's friendship for the United States and
of the firmness, integrity and wisdom, with which the government of your
Highness is conducted. Wishing you great prosperity and success, I am your
friend,
A. LINCOLN.
HIS HIGHNESS MOHAMMED SAID PACHA, Viceroy of Egypt and its Dependencies,
etc.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
ORDER AUTHORIZING SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS.
October 14 1861
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT:
The military line of the United States for the suppression of the
insurrection may be extended so far as Bangor, in Maine. You and any
officer acting under your authority are hereby authorized to suspend the
writ of habeas corpus in any place between that place and the city of
Washington.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TO SECRETARY OF INTERIOR.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 14, 1861
HON. SEC. OF INTERIOR.
DEAR SIR:--How is this? I supposed I was appointing for register of wills
a citizen of this District. Now the commission comes to me "Moses Kelly,
of New Hampshire." I do not like this.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TWO SONS WHO WANT TO WORK
TO MAJOR RAMSEY.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, October 17, 1861
MAJOR RAMSEY.
MY DEAR SIR:--The lady bearer of this says she has two sons who want to
work. Set them at it if possible. Wanting to work is so rare a want that
it should be encouraged.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL THOMAS W. SHERMAN.
WASHINGTON, October 18, 1861.
GENERAL THOMAS SHERMAN, Annapolis, Md.:
Your despatch of yesterday received and shown to General McClellan. I have
promised him not to direct his army here without his consent. I do not
think I shall come to Annapolis.
A. LINCOLN.
TO GENERAL CURTIS, WITH INCLOSURES.
WASHINGTON, October 24, 1861
BRIGADIER-GENERAL S. R. CURTIS.
MY DEAR SIR:--Herewith is a document--half letter, half order--which,
wishing you to see, but not to make public, I send unsealed. Please
read it and then inclose it to the officer who may be in command of the
Department of the West at the time it reaches him. I cannot now know
whether Fremont or Hunter will then be in command.
Yours truly,
A. LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, October 24, 1861
BRIGADIER-GENERAL S. R. CURTIS.
DEAR SIR:--On receipt of this, with the accompanying inclosures, you will
take safe, certain, and suitable measures to have the inclosure addressed
to Major-General Fremont delivered to him with all reasonable despatch,
subject to these conditions only: that if, when General Fremont shall be
reached by the messenger--yourself or any one sent by you--he shall then
have, in personal command, fought and won a battle, or shall then be
actually in a battle, or shall then be in the immediate presence of the
enemy in expectation of a battle, it is not to be delivered, but held
for further orders. After, and not till after, the delivery to General
Fremont, let the inclosure addressed to General Hunter be delivered to
him.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
(General Orders No. 18.) HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
WASHINGTON, October 24, 1861
Major-General Fremont, of the United States Army, the present commander
of the Western Department of the same, will, on the receipt of this order,
call Major-General Hunter, of the United States Volunteers, to relieve him
temporarily in that command, when he (Major-General Fremont) will report
to general headquarters by letter for further orders.
WINFIELD SCOTT. By command: E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant-General.
WASHINGTON, October 24, 1861
TO THE COMMANDER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE WEST.
SIR:--The command of the Department of the West having devolved upon you,
I propose to offer you a few suggestions. Knowing how hazardous it is
to bind down a distant commander in the field to specific lines and
operations, as so much always depends on a knowledge of localities and
passing events, it is intended, therefore, to leave a considerable margin
for the exercise of your judgment and discretion.
The main rebel army (Price's) west of the Mississippi is believed to have
passed Dade County in full retreat upon northwestern Arkansas, leaving
Missouri almost freed from the enemy, excepting in the southeast of the
State. Assuming this basis of fact, it seems desirable, as you are not
likely to overtake Price, and are in danger of making too long a line from
your own base of supplies and reinforcements, that you should give up the
pursuit, halt your main army, divide it into two corps of observation, one
occupying Sedalia and the other Rolla, the present termini of railroads;
then recruit the condition of both corps by re-establishing and improving
their discipline and instructions, perfecting their clothing and
equipments, and providing less uncomfortable quarters. Of course, both
railroads must be guarded and kept open, judiciously employing just so
much force as is necessary for this. From these two points, Sedalia and
Rolla, and especially in judicious cooperation with Lane on the Kansas
border, it would be so easy to concentrate and repel any army of the enemy
returning on Missouri from the southwest, that it is not probable any such
attempt will be made before or during the approaching cold weather. Before
spring the people of Missouri will probably be in no favorable mood
to renew for next year the troubles which have so much afflicted and
impoverished them during this. If you adopt this line of policy, and if,
as I anticipate, you will see no enemy in great force approaching, you
will have a surplus of force which you can withdraw from these points and
direct to others as may be needed, the railroads furnishing ready means
of reinforcing these main points if occasion requires. Doubtless local
uprisings will for a time continue to occur, but these can be met by
detachments and local forces of our own, and will ere long tire out of
themselves.
While, as stated in the beginning of the letter, a large discretion must
be and is left with yourself, I feel sure that an indefinite pursuit of
Price or an attempt by this long and circuitous route to reach Memphis
will be exhaustive beyond endurance, and will end in the loss of the whole
force engaged in it.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER RETIRING GENERAL SCOTT AND APPOINTING
GENERAL McCLELLAN HIS SUCCESSOR. (General Orders, No.94.)
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE
WASHINGTON, November 1, 1861
The following order from the President of the United States, announcing
the retirement from active command of the honored veteran Lieutenant
general Winfield Scott, will be read by the army with profound regret:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON.
November 1, 1861
On the 1st day of November, A.D. 1861, upon his own application to the
President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott
is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired
officers of the army of the United States, without reduction in his
current pay, subsistence, or allowances.
The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that General
Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the army, while the
President and a unanimous Cabinet express their own and the nation's
sympathy in his personal affliction and their profound sense of the
important public services rendered by him to his country during his long
and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully distinguished
his faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the flag when
assailed by parricidal rebellion.
A. LINCOLN
The President is pleased to direct that Major general George B. McClellan
assume the command of the army of the United States. The headquarters of
the army will be established in the city of Washington. All communications
intended for the commanding general will hereafter be addressed direct
to the adjutant-general. The duplicate returns, orders, and other papers
heretofore sent to the assistant adjutant-general, headquarters of the
army, will be discontinued.
By order of the Secretary of War: L. THOMAS, Adjutant General.
ORDER APPROVING THE PLAN OF GOVERNOR GAMBLE OF MISSOURI.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
November 5, 1861.
The Governor of the State of Missouri, acting under the direction of the
convention of that State, proposes to the Government of the United States
that he will raise a military force to serve within the State as State
militia during the war there, to cooperate with the troops in the
service of the United States in repelling the invasion of the State and
suppressing rebellion therein; the said State militia to be embodied
and to be held in the camp and in the field, drilled, disciplined, and
governed according to the Army Regulations and subject to the Articles of
War; the said State militia not to be ordered out of the State except for
the immediate defense of the State of Missouri, but to co-operate with the
troops in the service of the United States in military operations within
the State or necessary to its defense, and when officers of the State
militia act with officers in the service of the United States of the same
grade the officers of the United States service shall command the combined
force; the State militia to be armed, equipped, clothed, subsisted,
transported, and paid by the United States during such time as they shall
be actually engaged as an embodied military force in service in accordance
with regulations of the United States Army or general orders as issued
from time to time.
In order that the Treasury of the United States may not be burdened with
the pay of unnecessary officers, the governor proposes that, although
the State law requires him to appoint upon the general staff an
adjutant-general, a commissary-general, an inspector-general, a
quartermaster-general, a paymaster-general, and a surgeon-general, each
with the rank of colonel of cavalry, yet he proposes that the
Government of the United States pay only the adjutant-general, the
quartermaster-general, and inspector-general, their services being
necessary in the relations which would exist between the State militia and
the United States. The governor further proposes that while he is
allowed by the State law to appoint aides-de-camp to the governor at his
discretion, with the rank of colonel, three only shall be reported to the
United States for payment. He also proposes that the State militia
shall be commanded by a single major-general and by such number of
brigadier-generals as shall allow one for a brigade of not less than four
regiments, and that no greater number of staff officers shall be appointed
for regimental, brigade, and division duties than as provided for in the
act of Congress of the 22d July, 1861; and that, whatever be the rank of
such officers as fixed by the law of the State, the compensation that they
shall receive from the United States shall only be that which belongs to
the rank given by said act of Congress to officers in the United States
service performing the same duties.
The field officers of a regiment in the State militia are one colonel, one
lieutenant-colonel, and one major, and the company officers are a captain,
a first lieutenant, and a second lieutenant. The governor proposes that,
as the money to be disbursed is the money of the United States, such staff
officers in the service of the United States as may be necessary to act
as disbursing officers for the State militia shall be assigned by the War
Department for that duty; or, if such cannot be spared from their present
duty, he will appoint such persons disbursing officers for the State
militia as the President of the United States may designate. Such
regulations as may be required, in the judgment of the President, to
insure regularity of returns and to protect the United States from any
fraudulent practices shall be observed and obeyed by all in office in the
State militia.
The above propositions are accepted on the part of the United States, and
the Secretary of War is directed to make the necessary orders upon the
Ordnance, Quartermaster's, Commissary, Pay, and Medical departments
to carry this agreement into effect. He will cause the necessary
staff officers in the United States service to be detailed for duty in
connection with the Missouri State militia, and will order them to make
the necessary provision in their respective offices for fulfilling this
agreement. All requisitions upon the different officers of the United
States under this agreement to be made in substance in the same mode for
the Missouri State militia as similar requisitions are made for troops in
the service of the United States; and the Secretary of War will cause
any additional regulations that may be necessary to insure regularity
and economy in carrying this agreement into effect to be adopted and
communicated to the Governor of Missouri for the government of the
Missouri State militia.
[Indorsement.]
November 6, 1861.
This plan approved, with the modification that the governor stipulates
that when he commissions a major-general of militia it shall be the same
person at the time in command of the United States Department of the
West; and in case the United States shall change such commander of the
department, he (the governor) will revoke the State commission given to
the person relieved and give one to the person substituted to the United
States command of said department.
A. LINCOLN.
REPLY TO THE MINISTER FROM SWEDEN.
November 8, 1861.
SIR:--I receive with great pleasure a Minister from Sweden. That pleasure
is enhanced by the information which preceded your arrival here, that his
Majesty, your sovereign, had selected you to fill the mission upon the
grounds of your derivation from an ancestral stock identified with the
most glorious era of your country's noble history, and your own eminent
social and political standing in Sweden. This country, sir, maintains, and
means to maintain, the rights of human nature, and the capacity of men for
self-government. The history of Sweden proves that this is the faith of
the people of Sweden, and we know that it is the faith and practice of
their respected sovereign. Rest assured, therefore, that we shall be found
always just and paternal in our transactions with your government, and
that nothing will be omitted on my part to make your residence in this
capital agreeable to yourself and satisfactory to your government.
INDORSEMENT AUTHORIZING MARTIAL LAW IN SAINT LOUIS.
St. Louis, November 20, 1861. (Received Nov. 20th.)
GENERAL McCLELLAN,
For the President of the United States.
No written authority is found here to declare and enforce martial law in
this department. Please send me such written authority and telegraph me
that it has been sent by mail.
H. W. HALLECK, Major-General.
[Indorsement.] November 21, 1861.
If General McClellan and General Halleck deem it necessary to declare and
maintain martial law in Saint Louis, the same is hereby authorized.
A. LINCOLN.
OFFER TO COOPERATE AND GIVE SPECIAL LINE OF INFORMATION TO HORACE GREELEY
TO GOVERNOR WALKER.
WASHINGTON, November 21, 1861
DEAR GOVERNOR:--I have thought over the interview which Mr. Gilmore has
had with Mr. Greeley, and the proposal that Greeley has made to Gilmore,
namely, that he [Gilmore] shall communicate to him [Greeley] all that he
learns from you of the inner workings of the administration, in return
for his [Greeley's] giving such aid as he can to the new magazine, and
allowing you [Walker] from time to time the use of his [Greeley's] columns
when it is desirable to feel of, or forestall, public opinion on important
subjects. The arrangement meets my unqualified approval, and I shall
further it to the extent of my ability, by opening to you--as I do
now--fully the policy of the Government,--its present views and future
intentions when formed, giving you permission to communicate them to
Gilmore for Greeley; and in case you go to Europe I will give these
things direct to Gilmore. But all this must be on the express and explicit
understanding that the fact of these communications coming from me shall
be absolutely confidential,--not to be disclosed by Greeley to his nearest
friend, or any of his subordinates. He will be, in effect, my mouthpiece,
but I must not be known to be the speaker.
I need not tell you that I have the highest confidence in Mr. Greeley. He
is a great power. Having him firmly behind me will be as helpful to me as
an army of one hundred thousand men.
This was to be most severely regretted, when Greeley became a traitor
to the cause, editorialized for compromise and separation--and promoted
McClellan as Democratic candidate for the Presidency.
That he has ever kicked the traces has been owing to his not being fully
informed. Tell Gilmore to say to him that, if he ever objects to my
policy, I shall be glad to have him state to me his views frankly and
fully. I shall adopt his if I can. If I cannot, I will at least tell him
why. He and I should stand together, and let no minor differences come
between us; for we both seek one end, which is the saving of our
country. Now, Governor, this is a longer letter than I have written in
a month,--longer than I would have written for any other man than Horace
Greeley.
Your friend, truly,
A. LINCOLN.
P. S.--The sooner Gilmore sees Greeley the better, as you may before long
think it wise to ventilate our policy on the Trent affair.
ORDER AUTHORIZING GENERAL HALLECK TO SUSPEND THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS,
DECEMBER 2, 1861.
MAJOR-GENERAL H. W. HALLECK, Commanding in the Department of Missouri.
GENERAL:--As an insurrection exists in the United States, and is in arms
in the State of Missouri, you are hereby authorized and empowered to
suspend the writ of habeas corpus within the limits of the military
division under your command, and to exercise martial law as you find it
necessary in your discretion to secure the public safety and the authority
of the United States.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed at Washington, this second day of December,
A.D. 1861.
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
ANNUAL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, December 3, 1861
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:--In the midst
of unprecedented political troubles we have cause of great gratitude to
God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests.
You will not be surprised to learn that in the peculiar exigencies of the
times our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with profound
solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs.
A disloyal portion of the American people have during the whole year been
engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union. A nation which
endures factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect abroad,
and one party, if not both, is sure sooner or later to invoke foreign
intervention.
Nations thus tempted to interfere are not always able to resist the
counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, although measures
adopted under such influences seldom fail to be unfortunate and injurious
to those adopting them.
The disloyal citizens of the United States who have offered the ruin of
our country in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked
abroad have received less patronage and encouragement than they probably
expected. If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed to
assume, that foreign nations in this case, discarding all moral, social,
and treaty obligations, would act solely and selfishly for the most speedy
restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of cotton,
those nations appear as yet not to have seen their way to their object
more directly or clearly through the destruction than through the
preservation of the Union. If we could dare to believe that foreign
nations are actuated by no higher principle than this, I am quite sure a
sound argument could be made to show them that they can reach their aim
more readily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion than by giving
encouragement to it.
The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting foreign
nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is the
embarrassment of commerce. Those nations, however, not improbably saw
from the first that it was the Union which made as well our foreign as
our domestic commerce. They can scarcely have failed to perceive that the
effort for disunion produces the existing difficulty, and that one strong
nation promises more durable peace and a more extensive, valuable, and
reliable commerce than can the same nation broken into hostile fragments.
It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states,
because, whatever might be their wishes or dispositions, the integrity
of our country and the stability of our government mainly depend not upon
them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of the
American people. The correspondence itself, with the usual reservations,
is herewith submitted.
I venture to hope it will appear that we have practiced prudence and
liberality toward foreign powers, averting causes of irritation and with
firmness maintaining our own rights and honor.
Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other state,
foreign dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend that
adequate and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the public defenses
on every side. While under this general recommendation provision for
defending our seacoast line readily occurs to the mind, I also in the same
connection ask the attention of Congress to our great lakes and rivers.
It is believed that some fortifications and depots of arms and munitions,
with harbor and navigation improvements, all at well-selected points
upon these, would be of great importance to the national defense and
preservation I ask attention to the views of the Secretary of War,
expressed in his report, upon the same general subject.
I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of east Tennessee and
western North Carolina should be connected with Kentucky and other
faithful parts of the Union by rail-road. I therefore recommend, as a
military measure, that Congress provide for the construction of such
rail-road as speedily as possible. Kentucky will no doubt co-operate, and
through her Legislature make the most judicious selection of a line. The
northern terminus must connect with some existing railroad, and whether
the route shall be from Lexington or Nicholasville to the Cumberland Gap,
or from Lebanon to the Tennessee line, in the direction of Knoxville, or
on some still different line, can easily be determined. Kentucky and the
General Government co-operating, the work can be completed in a very short
time, and when done it will be not only of vast present usefulness but
also a valuable permanent improvement, worth its cost in all the future.
Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, and having
no grave political importance, have been negotiated, and will be submitted
to the Senate for their consideration.
Although we have failed to induce some of the commercial powers to adopt
a desirable melioration of the rigor of maritime war, we have removed all
obstructions from the way of this humane reform except such as are merely
of temporary and accidental occurrence.
I invite your attention to the correspondence between her Britannic
Majesty's minister accredited to this government and the Secretary of
State relative to the detention of the British ship Perthshire in June
last by the United States steamer Massachusetts for a supposed breach
of the blockade. As this detention was occasioned by an obvious
misapprehension of the facts, and as justice requires that we should
commit no belligerent act not founded in strict right as sanctioned by
public law, I recommend that an appropriation be made to satisfy the
reasonable demand of the owners of the vessel for her detention.