the country.
GENERAL KEYES: I think it could if done quickly.
GENERAL PORTER: Impossible--move the army and ruin the country.
GENERAL FRANKLIN: I think we could, and that we had better--think
Rappahannock the true line.
THE PRESIDENT: [to the corps commanders] Is the army secure in its present
position?
GENERAL SUMNER: Perfectly so, in my judgment.
GENERAL HEINTZELMAN: I think it is safe.
GENERAL KEYES: With help of General B. [Burnside] can hold position.
GENERAL PORTER: Perfectly so. Not only, but we are ready to begin
moving forward.
GENERAL FRANKLIN: Unless river can be closed it is.
ORDER MAKING HALLECK GENERAL-IN-CHIEF.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 11,1862.
Ordered, That Major-General Henry W. Halleck be assigned to command the
whole land forces of the United States, as general-in-chief, and that he
repair to this capital so soon as he can with safety to the positions and
operations within the department now under his charge.
A. LINCOLN
ORDER CONCERNING THE SOUTHWEST BRANCH OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Whereas, in the judgment of the President, the public safety does require
that the railroad line called and known as the Southwest Branch of the
Pacific Railroad in the State of Missouri be repaired, extended, and
completed from Rolla to Lebanon, in the direction to Springfield, in the
said State, the same being necessary to the successful and economical
conduct of the war and to the maintenance of the authority of the
government in the Southwest:
Therefore, under and in virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An act
to authorize the President of the United States in certain cases to take
possession of railroad and telegraph lines, and for other purposes,"
approved January 31, 1862, it is ordered, That the portion of the said
railroad line which reaches from Rolla to Lebanon be repaired, extended,
and completed, so as to be made available for the military uses of the
government, as speedily as may be. And, inasmuch as upon the part of the
said line from Rolla to the stream called Little Piney a considerable
portion of the necessary work has already been done by the railroad
company, and the road to this extent may be completed at comparatively
small cost, it is ordered that the said line from Rolla to and across
Little Piney be first completed, and as soon as possible.
The Secretary of War is charged with the execution of this order. And
to facilitate the speedy execution of the work, he is directed, at his
discretion, to take possession and control of the whole or such part of
the said railroad line, and the whole or such part of the rolling stock,
offices, shops, buildings, and all their appendages and appurtenances, as
he may judge necessary or convenient for the early completion of the road
from Rolla to Lebanon.
Done at the city of WASHINGTON, July 11, 1862.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON, D C., July 11, 1862
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I recommend that the thanks of Congress be given to the following officers
of the United States Navy:
Captain James L. Lardner, for meritorious conduct at the battle of Port
Royal and distinguished services on the coast of the United States against
the enemy.
Captain Charles Henry Davis, for distinguished services in conflict with
the enemy at Fort Pillow, at Memphis, and for successful operations at
other points in the waters of the Mississippi River.
Commander John A. Dahlgren, for distinguished services in the line of his
profession, improvements in ordnance, and zealous and efficient labors in
the ordnance branch of the service.
Commander Stephen C. Rowan, for distinguished services in the waters of
North Carolina, and particularly in the capture of Newbern, being in chief
command of the naval forces.
Commander David D. Porter, for distinguished services in the conception
and preparation of the means used for the capture of the forts below
New Orleans, and for highly meritorious conduct in the management of the
mortar flotilla during the bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip.
Captain Silas H. Stringharn, now on the retired list, for distinguished
services in the capture of Forts Hatteras and Clark.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON. WAR DEPARTMENT, July 11, 1862.
HON. ANDREW JOHNSON.
MY DEAR SIR:--Yours of yesterday is received. Do you not, my good friend,
perceive that what you ask is simply to put you in command in the West?
I do not suppose you desire this. You only wish to control in your own
localities; but this you must know may derange all other posts. Can
you not, and will you not, have a full conference with General Halleck?
Telegraph him, and meet him at such place as he and you can agree upon. I
telegraph him to meet you and confer fully with you.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK. WAR DEPARTMENT, July 11, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Corinth:
Governor Johnson, at Nashville, is in great trouble and anxiety about a
raid into Kentucky. The governor is a true and valuable man--indispensable
to us in Tennessee. Will you please get in communication with him,
and have a full conference with him before you leave for here? I have
telegraphed him on the subject.
A. LINCOLN.
APPEAL TO BORDER-STATES IN FAVOR OF COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION.
July 12, 1862.
GENTLEMEN:--After the adjournment of Congress now very near, I shall have
no opportunity of seeing you for several months. Believing that you of
the border States hold more power for good than any other equal number of
members, I feel it a duty which I cannot justifiably waive to make this
appeal to you. I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you
that, in my opinion, if you all had voted for the resolution in the
gradual-emancipation message of last March, the war would now be
substantially ended. And the plan therein proposed is yet one of the most
potent and swift means of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion
see definitely and certainly that in no event will the States you
represent ever join their proposed confederacy, and they cannot much
longer maintain the contest. But you cannot divest them of their hope
to ultimately have you with them so long as you show a determination to
perpetuate the institution within your own States. Beat them at elections,
as you have overwhelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, they still claim
you as their own. You and I know what the lever of their power is. Break
that lever before their faces, and they can shake you no more forever.
Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration and I trust
you will not now think I improperly touch what is exclusively your own,
when, for the sake of the whole country, I ask, Can you, for your States,
do better than to take the course I urge? Discarding punctilio and maxims
adapted to more manageable times, and looking only to the unprecedentedly
stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible event? You
prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the nation shall
be practically restored without disturbance of the institution; and if
this were done, my whole duty in this respect, under the Constitution
and my oath of office, would be performed. But it is not done, and we
are trying to accomplish it by war. The incidents of the war cannot be
avoided. If the war continues long, as it must if the object be not sooner
attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by mere
friction and abrasion--by the mere incidents of the war. It will be gone,
and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value is
gone already. How much better for you and for your people to take the step
which at once shortens the war and secures substantial compensation for
that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other event! How much better
to thus save the money which else we sink forever in war! How much better
to do it while we can, lest the war ere long render us pecuniarily unable
to do it! How much better for you as seller, and the nation as buyer, to
sell out and buy out that without which the war could never have been,
than to sink both the thing to be sold and the price of it in cutting
one another's throats! I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of
a decision at once to emancipate gradually. Room in South America for
colonization can be obtained cheaply and in abundance, and when numbers
shall be large enough to be company and encouragement for one another, the
freed people will not be so reluctant to go.
I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned--one which threatens
division among those who, united, are none too strong. An instance of it
is known to you. General Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I hope still
is, my friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with me in the
general wish that all men everywhere could be free. He proclaimed all men
free within certain States, and I repudiated the proclamation. He expected
more good and less harm from the measure than I could believe would
follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, if not offence, to
many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. And this is not
the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still upon me, and is
increasing. By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, and, much
more, can relieve the country in this important point.
Upon these considerations, I have again begged your attention to the
message of March last. Before leaving the Capital, consider and discuss it
among yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray
you consider this proposition; and, at the least, commend it to the
consideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular
government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do
in nowise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding the
loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once relieved,
its form of government is saved to the world; its beloved history and
cherished memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully assured
and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any others, the
privilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that grandeur, and
to link your own names therewith forever.
TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 13, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
MY DEAR SIR:--I am told that over 160,000 men have gone into your army
on the Peninsula. When I was with you the other day we made out 86,500
remaining, leaving 73,500 to be accounted for. I believe 23,500 will cover
all the killed, wounded, and missing in all your battles and skirmishes,
leaving 50,000 who have left otherwise. No more than 5000 of these have
died, leaving 45,000 of your army still alive and not with it. I believe
half or two-thirds of them are fit for duty to-day. Have you any more
perfect knowledge of this than I have? If I am right, and you had these
men with you, you could go into Richmond in the next three days. How can
they be got to you, and how can they be prevented from getting away in
such numbers for the future?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
WAR DEPARTMENT, July 13, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Corinth, Mississippi:
They are having a stampede in Kentucky. Please look to it.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. T. BOYLE.
WASHINGTON, July 13, 1862.
GENERAL J. T. BOYLE, Louisville, Kentucky:
Your several despatches received. You should call on General Halleck.
Telegraph him at once. I have telegraphed him that you are in trouble.
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL J. T. BOYLE.
WAR DEPARTMENT, July 13, 1862.
GENERAL J. T. BOYLE, Louisville, Kentucky:
We cannot venture to order troops from General Buell. We know not what
condition he is in. He maybe attacked himself. You must call on General
Halleck, who commands, and whose business it is to understand and care for
the whole field If you cannot telegraph to him, send a messenger to him. A
dispatch has this moment come from Halleck at Tuscombia, Alabama.
A. LINCOLN.
ACT OF COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.
July 4, 1862.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
Herewith is the draft of the bill to compensate any State which may
abolish slavery within its limits, the passage of which, substantially as
presented, I respectfully and earnestly recommend.
A. LINCOLN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled:--That whenever the President of
the United States shall be satisfied that any State shall have lawfully
abolished slavery within and through-out such State, either immediately
or gradually, it shall be the duty of the President, assisted by the
Secretary of the Treasury, to prepare and deliver to each State an amount
of six per cent. interest-bearing bonds of the United States equal to the
aggregate value at ------ dollars per head of all the slaves within such
State, as reported by the census of 1860; the whole amount for any one
State to be delivered at once if the abolishment be immediate, or in equal
annual instalments if it be gradual, interest to begin running on each
bond at the time of delivery, and not before.
And be it further enacted, That if any State, having so received any such
bonds, shall at any time afterwards by law reintroduce or tolerate slavery
within its limits, contrary to the act of abolishment upon which such
bonds shall have been received, said bonds so received by said State shall
at once be null and void, in whosesoever hands they may be, and such State
shall refund to the United States all interest which may have been paid on
such bonds.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL H. W. HALLECK.
WAR DEPARTMENT, July 14, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL HALLECK, Corinth, Mississippi:
I am very anxious--almost impatient--to have you here. Have due regard to
what you leave behind. When can you reach here?
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, July 14, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
General Burnside's force is at Newport News, ready to move, on short
notice, one way or the other, when ordered.
A. LINCOLN.
TO SOLOMON FOOT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 15, 1862.
HON. SOLOMON FOOT, President pro tempore of the Senate.
SIR:--Please inform the Senate that I shall be obliged if they will
postpone the adjournment at least one day beyond the time which I
understand to be now fixed for it.
Your obedient servant,
A. LINCOLN.
[The same message was addressed to Hon. Galusha A. Grow Speaker of the
House of Representatives.]
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. July 17, 1862.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I have inadvertently omitted so long to inform you that in March last Mr.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, of New York, gratuitously presented to the United
States the ocean steamer Vanderbilt, by many esteemed the finest merchant
ship in the world. She has ever since been and still is doing valuable
service to the government. For the patriotic act of making this
magnificent and valuable present to the country I recommend that some
suitable acknowledgment be made.
A. LINCOLN.
MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. July 17, 1862.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
Considering the bill for "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish
treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and
for other purposes," and the joint resolution explanatory of said act as
being substantially one, I have approved and signed both.
Before I was informed of the passage of the resolution I had prepared the
draft of a message stating objections to the bill becoming a law, a copy
of which draft is herewith transmitted.
A. LINCOLN.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
I herewith return to your honorable body, in which it originated, the bill
for an act entitled "An act to suppress treason and rebellion, to seize
and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," together
with my objections to its becoming a law.
There is much in the bill to which I perceive no objection. It is wholly
prospective, and touches neither person nor property of any loyal citizen,
in which particulars it is just and proper. The first and second sections
provide for the conviction and punishment of persons Who shall be guilty
of treason and persons who shall "incite, set on foot, assist, or engage
in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United
States or the laws thereof, or shall give aid and comfort thereto, or
shall engage in or give aid and comfort to any such existing rebellion or
insurrection." By fair construction persons within these sections are not
to be punished without regular trials in duly constituted courts,
under the forms and all the substantial provisions of law and of the
Constitution applicable to their several cases. To this I perceive
no objection, especially as such persons would be within the general
pardoning power and also the special provision for pardon and amnesty
contained in this act.
It is also provided that the slaves of persons convicted under these
sections shall be free. I think there is an unfortunate form of expression
rather than a substantial objection in this. It is startling to say that
Congress can free a slave within a State, and yet if it were said the
ownership of the slave had first been transferred to the nation and that
Congress had then liberated him the difficulty would at once vanish. And
this is the real case. The traitor against the General Government forfeits
his slave at least as justly as he does any other property, and he
forfeits both to the government against which be offends. The government,
so far as there can be ownership, thus owns the forfeited slaves, and the
question for Congress in regard to them is, "Shall they be made free or
be sold to new masters?" I perceive no objection to Congress deciding in
advance that they shall be free. To the high honor of Kentucky, as I am
informed, she is the owner of some slaves by escheat, and has sold none,
but liberated all. I hope the same is true of some other States. Indeed,
I do not believe it will be physically possible for the General Government
to return persons so circumstanced to actual slavery. I believe there
would be physical resistance to it which could neither be turned aside
by argument nor driven away by force. In this view I have no objection to
this feature of the bill. Another matter involved in these two sections,
and running through other parts of the act, will be noticed hereafter.
I perceive no objection to the third or fourth sections.
So far as I wish to notice the fifth and sixth sections, they may be
considered together. That the enforcement of these sections would do no
injustice to the persons embraced within them, is clear. That those who
make a causeless war should be compelled to pay the cost of it, is too
obviously just to be called in question. To give governmental protection
to the property of persons who have abandoned it, and gone on a crusade to
overthrow the same government, is absurd, if considered in the mere light
of justice. The severest justice may not always be the best policy.
The principle of seizing and appropriating the property of the persons
embraced within these sections is certainly not very objectionable, but a
justly discriminating application of it would be very difficult and, to
a great extent, impossible. And would it not be wise to place a power of
remission somewhere, so that these persons may know they have something to
lose by persisting and something to gain by desisting?
[A man without hope is a most dangerous man--he has nothing to lose!]
I am not sure whether such power of remission is or is not in section
thirteen. Without any special act of Congress, I think our military
commanders, when--in military phrase, "they are within the enemy's
country," should, in an orderly manner, seize and use whatever of real or
personal property may be necessary or convenient for their commands; at
the same time preserving, in some way, the evidence of what they do.
What I have said in regard to slaves, while commenting on the first and
second sections, is applicable to the ninth, with the difference that no
provision is made in the whole act for determining whether a particular
individual slave does or does not fall within the classes defined in
that section. He is to be free upon certain conditions but whether
those conditions do or do not pertain to him no mode of ascertaining is
provided. This could be easily supplied.
To the tenth section I make no objection. The oath therein required seems
to be proper, and the remainder of the section is substantially identical
with a law already existing.
The eleventh section simply assumes to confer discretionary power upon
the executive. Without the law, I have no hesitation to go as far in the
direction indicated as I may at any time deem expedient. And I am ready
to say now--I think it is proper for our military commanders to employ, as
laborers, as many persons of African descent as can be used to advantage.
The twelfth and thirteenth sections are something better than
unobjectionable; and the fourteenth is entirely proper, if all other parts
of the act shall stand.
That to which I chiefly object pervades most parts of the act, but more
distinctly appears in the first, second, seventh, and eighth sections.
It is the sum of those provisions which results in the divesting of title
forever.
For the causes of treason and ingredients of treason, not amounting to
the full crime, it declares forfeiture extending beyond the lives of the
guilty parties; whereas the Constitution of the United States declares
that "no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture
except during the life of the person attainted." True, there is to be
no formal attainder in this case; still, I think the greater punishment
cannot be constitutionally inflicted, in a different form, for the same
offence.
With great respect I am constrained to say I think this feature of the act
is unconstitutional. It would not be difficult to modify it.
I may remark that the provision of the Constitution, put in language
borrowed from Great Britain, applies only in this country, as I
understand, to real or landed estate.
Again, this act in rem forfeits property for the ingredients of treason
without a conviction of the supposed criminal, or a personal hearing given
him in any proceeding. That we may not touch property lying within our
reach, because we cannot give personal notice to an owner who is absent
endeavoring to destroy the government, is certainly not satisfactory.
Still, the owner may not be thus engaged; and I think a reasonable time
should be provided for such parties to appear and have personal hearings.
Similar provisions are not uncommon in connection with proceedings in rem.
For the reasons stated, I return the bill to the House in which it
originated.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL G. B. McCLELLAN.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, D.C., July 21, 1862.
MAJOR-GENERAL McCLELLAN:
This is Monday. I hope to be able to tell you on Thursday what is to be
done with Burnside.
A. LINCOLN.
ORDER IN REGARD TO BEHAVIOR OF ALIENS
WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, July 21, 1862.
The following order has been received from the President of the United
States: