the insurrection I have been anxious and careful that the inevitable
conflict for this purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and
remorseless revolutionary struggle. I have therefore in every case thought
it proper to keep the integrity of the Union prominent as the primary
object of the contest on our part, leaving all questions which are not
of vital military importance to the more deliberate action of the
Legislature.
In the exercise of my best discretion I have adhered to the blockade
of the ports held by the insurgents, instead of putting in force by
proclamation the law of Congress enacted at the late session for closing
those ports.
So also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the obligations
of law, instead of transcending I have adhered to the act of Congress to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. If a new law upon
the same subject shall be proposed, its propriety will be duly considered.
The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be
employed. We should not be in haste to determine that radical and
extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are
indispensable.
The inaugural address at the beginning of the Administration and the
message to Congress at the late special session were both mainly
devoted to topics domestic controversy out of which the insurrection and
consequent war have sprung. Nothing now occurs to add or subtract to or
from the principles or general purposes stated and expressed in those
documents.
The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably expired at the
assault upon Fort Sumter, and a general review of what has occurred since
may not be unprofitable. What was painfully uncertain then is much better
defined and more distinct now, and the progress of events is plainly in
the right direction. The insurgents confidently claimed a strong support
from north of Mason and Dixon's line, and the friends of the Union were
not free from apprehension on the point. This, however, was soon settled
definitely, and on the right side. South of the line noble little Delaware
led off right from the first. Maryland was made to seem against the Union.
Our soldiers were assaulted, bridges were burned, and railroads torn up
within her limits, and we were many days at one time without the ability
to bring a single regiment over her soil to the capital. Now her bridges
and railroads are repaired and open to the government; she already gives
seven regiments to the cause of the Union, and none to the enemy; and
her people, at a regular election, have sustained the Union by a larger
majority and a larger aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any
candidate or any question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now
decidedly and, I think, unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union.
Missouri is comparatively quiet, and, I believe, can, not again be overrun
by the insurrectionists. These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and
Missouri, neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have
now an aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field for the
Union, while of their citizens certainly not more than a third of that
number, and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in
arms against us. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closes
on the Union people of western Virginia, leaving them masters of their own
country.
An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for months dominating
the narrow peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac and
Northampton, and known as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with some
contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms, and the people
there have renewed their allegiance to and accepted the protection of the
old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the Potomac or
east of the Chesapeake.
Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on the
southern coast of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island (near Savannah),
and Ship Island; and we likewise have some general accounts of popular
movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee.
These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing steadily
and certainly southward.
Since your last adjournment Lieutenant-General Scott has retired from the
head of the army. During his long life the nation has not been unmindful
of his merit; yet on calling to mind how faithfully, ably, and brilliantly
he has served the country, from a time far back in our history, when few
of the now living had been born, and thenceforward continually, I
cannot but think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, for your
consideration what further mark of recognition is due to him, and to
ourselves as a grateful people.
With the retirement of General Scott came the Executive duty of
appointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is a fortunate
circumstance that neither in council nor country was there, so far as I
know, any difference of opinion as to the proper person to be selected.
The retiring chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor of General
McClellan for the position, and in this the nation seemed to give a
unanimous concurrence. The designation of General McClellan is therefore
in considerable degree the selection of the country as well as of the
Executive, and hence there is better reason to hope there will be given
him the confidence and cordial support thus by fair implication promised,
and without which he cannot with so full efficiency serve the country.
It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones, and
the saying is true if taken to mean no more than that an army is better
directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior ones at
variance and cross-purposes with each other.
And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can
have none but a common end in view and can differ only as to the choice
of means. In a storm at sea no one on hoard can wish the ship to sink, and
yet not unfrequently all go down together because too many will direct and
no single mind can be allowed to control.
It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not
exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government--the
rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most
grave and maturely considered public documents, as well as in the general
tone of the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of the
existing right of suffrage and the denial to the people of all right to
participate in the selection of public officers except the legislative
boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large control of
the people in government is the source of all political evil. Monarchy
itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the
people.
In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit
raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism. It
is not needed nor fitting here that a general argument should be made
in favor of popular institutions, but there is one point, with its
connections, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief
attention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if
not above, labor in the structure of government. It is assumed that labor
is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless
somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to
labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital
shall hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or
buy them and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded so
far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers
or what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a
hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life.
Now there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor is
there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition
of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences
from them are groundless.
Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of
labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor
is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other
rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a
relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits. The error is
in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within that relation.
A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor themselves, and with their
capital hire or buy another few to labor for them. A large majority belong
to neither class--neither work for others nor have others working for
them. In most of the Southern States a majority of the whole people of
all colors are neither slaves nor masters, while in the Northern a large
majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with their families--wives,
sons, and daughters,--work for themselves on their farms, in their houses,
and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no
favors of capital on the one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the
other. It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle
their own labor with capital; that is, they labor with their own hands and
also buy or hire others to labor for them; but this is only a mixed and
not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of
this mixed class.
Again, as has already been said, there is not of necessity any such thing
as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. Many
independent men everywhere in these States a few years back in their lives
were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors
for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for
himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length
hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and generous
and prosperous system which opens the way to all, gives hope to all, and
consequent energy and progress and improvement of condition to all. No men
living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty;
none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not honestly
earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they
already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the
door of advancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and
burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost.
From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy
years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times as
great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things which
men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have at one view what
the popular principle, applied to government through the machinery of
the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what if
firmly maintained it promises for the future. There are already among
us those who if the Union be preserved will live to see it contain
200,000,000. The struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day; it is
for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm
and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved
upon us.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, December 20, 1861.
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I transmit to Congress a letter from the secretary of the executive
committee of the commission appointed to represent the interests of those
American citizens who may desire to become exhibitors at the industrial
exhibition to be held in London in 1862, and a memorial of that
commission, with a report of the executive committee thereof and copies
of circulars announcing the decisions of Her Majesty's commissioners in
London, giving directions to be observed in regard to articles intended
for exhibition, and also of circular forms of application, demands for
space, approvals, etc., according to the rules prescribed by the British
commissioners.
As these papers fully set forth the requirements necessary to enable those
citizens of the United States who may wish to become exhibitors to avail
themselves of the privileges of the exhibition, I commend them to your
early consideration, especially in view of the near approach of the time
when the exhibition will begin.
A. LINCOLN.
LETTER OF REPRIMAND TO GENERAL HUNTER
TO GENERAL HUNTER.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
Dec.31, 1861
MAJOR-GENERAL HUNTER.
DEAR SIR:--Yours of the 23d is received, and I am constrained to say it
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.