Download On Lincoln`s Mind: Leading the Nation to the Gettysburg Address

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On Lincoln’s Mind
Leading the Nation to the Gettysburg Address
Christian McWhirter
Daniel W. Stowell
Stacy Pratt McDermott
Kelley B. Clausing
Marilyn Mueller
R. Boyd Murphree
Daniel E. Worthington
Edward A. Bradley
David J. Gerleman
With an Introduction by
Governor Pat Quinn
On Lincoln’s Mind
Leading the Nation to the Gettysburg Address
© 2013, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
Springfield, Illinois
ISBN 0-942579-26-7
In partnership with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation
Not printed using taxpayer dollars.
10/13 7.5M
IOCI 14-161
State of IllInoIS • offIce of the Governor • SprInGfIeld, IllInoIS 62706
Eighty-seven years and 272 words. Abraham
Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address delivered in
1863 took the nation back four score and seven years to
1776 and reminded us why the United States of
America was founded and why its principles were
worth fighting for.
It continues to be one of the most profound
speeches ever made by a head of state. But the
Gettysburg Address is even more amazing when you
realize that Lincoln wrote it while dealing with a myriad of other issues
that demanded his attention.
I know what that is like. When I’m not meeting with lawmakers, there
is legislation to sign or veto, or constituent concerns to address. Policy issues
arise within government agencies, crises need attention, public appearances
need to be scheduled, and a host of other demands occupy every day of my
life as Governor of Illinois. This pales in comparison with what a wartime
president had on his daily agenda. I often wonder how Lincoln ever did it.
And yet, the business of the Presidency had to continue. Besides the
conduct of the war, President Lincoln had to run a country, most of whose
citizens were not on the front lines. There were business and fiscal issues;
infrastructure building and maintenance; expanding railroads; declaring a
new national holiday, Thanksgiving; and on top of it all, seeking re-election.
This publication gives us a rare, private glimpse into the Lincoln
administration and the daily public and private issues the President had to
deal with during the weeks surrounding the delivery of his Gettysburg
Address. Based on original research and discoveries by the Papers of
Abraham Lincoln, it reminds us that our nation’s leaders can make their
mark on history through monumental speeches memorized by every
school child, or through a simple note that changes the course of history
for one individual.
I encourage you to join Illinois and the nation as we commemorate the
150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, and to use this publication to
gain a better insight into Abraham Lincoln.
Pat Quinn, Governor
State of Illinois
W
hen the last gun fired at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, few
understood what the battle meant to the conduct of the war
or the Union cause, including Abraham Lincoln. Surely, Lincoln
was elated to learn that his long-beleaguered Army of the Potomac
had finally won a significant victory against Robert E. Lee’s Army
of Northern Virginia but it would be 139 days until the President
visited that field and made his famous, cogent, and concise
summation of the war’s cost and promise for America.
During that time-span, Lincoln considered a host of issues and
contended with numerous voices competing for his attention. Indeed,
the hundreds of letters he received presented a perfect cacophony of
requests, reports, complaints, and commendations. The pages that
follow include examples of the correspondence sent to and by Lincoln
between July 4 and November 19, 1863. They illustrate how the nation
spoke to its leader in a time of crisis and how difficult it must have
been for Lincoln to navigate such a range of issues and still complete
the “unfinished work” of the men who died on that battlefield.
Riots in New York
The Battle of Gettysburg was notable for being one of the few
major Civil War battles fought on northern soil but a different sort
of violence broke out even deeper in the North only ten days later.
From July 13 to 16, fighting erupted on the streets of New York City
in the largest riot in American history. Desperate for assistance,
four of New York’s most prominent citizens (including the
grandson of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court)
telegraphed Lincoln for help:
Rioters and New York police clash in front of the New York Tribune offices.
On Lincoln’s Mind
1
John Jay and others to Abraham Lincoln – July 13, 1863
To The Prest of the U.S.
Washington
From New York Dated13th
Rec’d July 13 Evening 1863 M
Our City having given her militia at your call is at the mercy of
a mob which assembled this morning to resist the Draft & are now
spreading fire & outrage. Several buildings in different wards are in
flames & the “Times” & “Tribune” offices are at this moment
threatened. New York looks to you for instant help in troops & an
officer to Command them and to declare martial law
Telegraph wires cut in all directions
John Jay
Geo. T. Strong
Walcott Gibbs
James Wadsworth
The federal draft was the immediate cause of the riot but the
mob soon lashed out at everything anti-war New Yorkers hated
about the current state of affairs. They targeted African Americans
specifically, killing at least one hundred. Things calmed somewhat
on the 15th, when officials suspended the city’s draft. On the 16th,
the New York State Militia and Union soldiers fresh from the
battlefield at Gettysburg put a final stop to the chaos. Restoring the
Union was Lincoln’s primary goal but keeping the North unified
enough to fight remained a challenge.
Drawing names of draftees from a draft-wheel in New York.
2
On Lincoln’s Mind
A Plea for Help from the Frontier
Another potential powder-keg for Lincoln was growing tension
between the federal government and Native Americans on the
frontier. The federal government paid relatively close attention to
its relations with Native Americans before the war but the
rebellion in the South drew Lincoln’s attention away from the West.
As a result, the often-corrupt federal Indian Agents were free to
abuse their power even more than during peacetime, while the
Native Americans they were supposedly assisting grew increasingly
frustrated. Placed in federally-supervised reservations, many of
these tribes depended on the government for food and supplies. Any
dip in this support could cause serious repercussions.
This tension showed itself most notably in the Dakota rebellion
of 1862, which resulted in the largest mass execution in American
history. However, resentments
simmered in tribes all over the
frontier. In the petition below,
several leaders of the Kaw Tribe
in Kansas sought compensation
from Lincoln for items stolen
from or promised to them by the
federal government. Typically,
such calls went unanswered
during the war, as Lincoln
simply did not have time to A group of Kaw Indians meet with the
commissioner and chief clerk of Indian Affairs
address them thoroughly.
in 1867. The three on the far right were all
signers of the 1863 petition to Lincoln. From
right to left: Wah ti an gah, Kah he ga wa ti an
ga, and Alega wah ho.
Petition of Is-tata Sin and others to Abraham Lincoln –
July 17, 1863
Kansas Agency.
Council Grove July 17th 1863.
My Great Father.
I wanted to go to Washington to see you, but you did not want me
to come, and now as you told me, I ask my agent to write you a letter.
My Father! I am very poor and I want you to help me. I want to
have two payments each year, and about $20. for each person. I have
a big debt to pay and want some money left after paying it.
On Lincoln’s Mind
3
Agent Montgomery stole $2000. of our money. I want it. I send
you the papers proving it one year ago, and want you to examine
them and pay me the money. You owe us 300. cattle, 400 hogs, 400.
chickens 300. hoes, and 300 axes. We got carts once, and you owe
us six more. We dont want any of these things, but there value in
money. Major Harvey promised us some work horses. Our Great
Father told us we were. the richest of all the Indians; now we are
poor. Major Harey told us we should have $12000. as long as grass
grows and the Kaw river runs; now we get only $8000
We have had 150 horses stolen by your white children which by
the Treaty of 1825, you ought to pay us for.
My Great Father! White men tell us that you are going to drive
us off to another place. We dont want to go. We want our children
to have this place when we are dead. My Great Father! Your White
children have killed seven of my children, but I have listened to you
and done them no harm. I suppose we have got some land on the
Big Blue in Missouri. Which I think is worth a great deal of money,
which I want. I hear this money has been taken to pay for our stone
houses, and I want to know if there is any left. I don’t like the land
the commissioner gave to my Half Breed children, which is scattered
all over the Reserve; but I want it altogether on Rock Creek. I don’t
like my trader, I want my first trader, Choteau, and another besides.
We have some log-houses which need repairing very much.
The former Agent promised me a good house to live in besides
the kitchen which I now have. I have seen the houses of the Head
Chiefs of other tribes, and I am ashamed of my house. You owe us
six medles which you promised me more than a year ago, and I have
not received them yet. My braves would like to have nine small ones.
I need more cattle and farming tools.
I want a Blacksmith and a Carpenter.
The white man’s mill takes half my corn and wheat; I want my
own mill to grind for me.
Some of my men have no fields, and they want them. I have heard
that our last Agent took some of our money, I want you to write me
if this is so. and if it has been paid back.
You promised to listen to my requests just as if I came to Washington
and talked to you; and now my Great Father, I want you to attend to
this and answer me very soon. I am very poor and hope you will do
all you can for me and my people.
About 70 of my boys are fighting in the army of my Great Father,
and I rejoice to hear of his success
Signed in the presence of,
H. W. Farnsworth U.S. In Ag’t,
Joseph James U.S. Interpreter
his X mark
4
Is tata sin
Nopa wi a
On Lincoln’s Mind
his X mark
his X mark
Joseph Dunlap
Strong Sargent
A Reeve
Kah he ga wa ti an ga
Wah Shun Gah
E be sun ga
Pah hus ka lun ga
Alega wah ho
Kah he ga shun ga
Net he ga wah ches so
Wah hah na sun
Kah he gate she
Wah pah jah
Wah ti an gah
Shen ga wah Sa
On le Sha
Mah she tum wa
Pah hah na gah le
No bah gah ho
Pah du hol le
Che hah she wa ti en gah
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
his X mark
A member of the Kaw Tribe.
As the Kaw petitioners indicate, seventy of their tribesmen had
enlisted in the Union army. Nevertheless, this call for assistance
appears to have gone unanswered. Shortly after the Civil War, the
federal government had to allocate emergency funds to stave off
starvation among the Kaws. In 1872, the government removed the
tribe to Oklahoma to make room for white settlement on their
lands in Kansas.
Job Seekers
A more mundane distraction for Lincoln was the almost constant
stream of letters from job seekers or people recommending job
seekers. The stream was more of a torrent early in Lincoln’s
administration but it never died out completely as friends,
acquaintances, colleagues, and strangers continually came knocking.
Lincoln found wading through such paperwork particularly onerous
On Lincoln’s Mind
5
and distributing thousands of jobs induced
many headaches for the President.
This letter from New York judge Truman
Smith was typical; it was from a political
and professional colleague speaking for a job
seeker Lincoln knew from earlier in his
career. The applicant, John B. Fry, had been
the private secretary of Lincoln’s political
idol Henry Clay, which made it very likely
the
President
would
approve
his
appointment for a similar position in the
Judge Truman Smith.
Quartermaster’s Office. Lincoln’s response
was characteristically brief with a brief flash of wit – noting that
his approval was unnecessary because Fry was already doing the
job.
Truman Smith to Abraham Lincoln – July 27, 1863
New York city (61 Wm St)
July 27th/63
Mr President
You will doubtless recollect the Bearer Mr Jno B Fry who was
for several years the private Secy of the late Mr Clay and who (in
Washington) participated in our labors and Efforts during the
Canvass of 1848. Mr Fry has since experienced some thing of adverse
fortune but he has at all times retained my Confidence as a man of
honor & rectitude. The Hon Secy of War has recently at my instance
appointed him to a Clerkship in the Quater Master Genls Office. I
have said to him that he should renew his acquaintance with you
& this he will do by presenting this note. I have the honor to be Mr
President most faithfully & truly Yours
Truman Smith
[Endorsement]
Mr John B. Fry, named within, is an acquaintance of mine, whom
I first knew nearly twenty years ago. I shall be very glad to learn of his
being settled in the position, which he seems very nearly in already.
A. Lincoln
August 5. 1863.
6
On Lincoln’s Mind
In another job-seeking letter, written only a week
after Smith’s, former Pennsylvania Governor James
Pollock sought a government appointment for his
nephew, William Pollock Dougal, who had been
wounded at Gettysburg. While Smith requested a
clerkship for a previous acquaintance of Lincoln’s,
Pollock tried to draw on Lincoln’s sympathy for the
common soldier to grant Dougal a position as a
Brigade Commissary. Once again, Lincoln responded
Former Pennsylvania
with a brief but positive endorsement to the Secretary Governor James Pollock.
of War, Edwin M. Stanton. The national sacrifice
embodied by men like Dougal was a central theme of the Gettysburg
Address and such losses clearly weighed heavily on Lincoln’s mind.
Wounded Union soldiers convalesce with a nurse in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
James Pollock to Abraham Lincoln – August 4, 1863
United States Mint
Philadelphia Augst. 4/63.
His Excellency
Abraham Lincoln
Sir
My Nephew William Pollock Dougal, now Captain, Co. D. 150
Regt. P.A. desires the position of “Brigade Commissary”. He was
severely wounded at the battle of Getysburg, is a brave and
meritorious officer and, in any particular, well qualified for the
position he seeks to obtain. He is a man of unimpeachable honesty
On Lincoln’s Mind
7
and integrity, conscientious and upright in the discharge of any duty,
and would discharge faithfully and the duties of “Brigade
Commissary.” The nature of his wounds, and his apprehension of
his inability to endure the marches that may be required, have
prompted him to make this application. I do most cordially
commend him to your most favorable consideration
Yours with great respect.
Jas Pollock
[Endorsement]
Can the Secretary of War find a place for this
nephew of Gov. Pollock? I shall be glad if he can.
A. Lincoln
Aug. 22. 1863
While Fry secured his appointment as a clerk
in the Quartermaster’s Office, Dougal did not
become a Brigade Commissary. He resigned due
to “disability” on January 26, 1865, potentially
due to his Gettysburg wounds.
Secretary of War
Edwin M. Stanton.
The Plight of a Missouri Unionist
Claims like the one in this letter from John E. Bostick of
Harrisonville, Missouri, were also common throughout the later years
of the war. Citizens claiming to be Unionists repeatedly requested
compensation for damages inflicted on
them by the Rebels or by federal troops.
In this particular instance, Bostick
claimed a local, presumably Union,
militia was the culprit, highlighting
the questionable loyalty of some such
units. He also complained about the
prevalence of guerilla warfare in
Missouri, which was indeed pervasive
and brutal. Although Missouri stayed
loyal to the Union, the state’s
population was extremely divided and Colorful stationery expressed the
patriotic sentiments of the letter
violence by paramilitary groups on writer,
as in this letter by John E.
both sides was common.
Bostick to Abraham Lincoln.
8
On Lincoln’s Mind
John E. Bostick to Abraham Lincoln – July 29, 1863
Harrisonville, Cass Co Mo
July 29th 1863
Prest Abe Lincoln
Mr Abe Lincoln,
I thought that I would write to you about some things. I have
heard for some time ago, that you would pay all the losses of loyal
men and I thought I would state to you all of the things I have lost
during these troublesome times. Before the war began I bought a big
Bowie knife and a navy Revolver a colt Revolver for $30.00 and soon
lost all by robbery, though I bought them to fight the Rebels with if
I should have been called on to go to Battle with the union troops,
but I have never been called on yet. And the Enrolled Militia at
Butler, (Mo) took a very nice and excellent gun from me, which I
would have hardly took $200 for it; it cost $50.00 when I bought it.
They said that I should not have it any more and that I should not
be paid for it at all. They took it because it was so fine & good, or
rather because they were so mean and heartless men. They insult
loyal men just as much as they would insult disloyal men whenever
they say they have nothing to give them, when they ask for
anything. I do not see any reasons why you should allow such
outrages to be committed on some true loyal men by the militia and
other troops now in this state. I would be glad if you would put a
stop to it soon. I am as strong & true a loyal man as any of the best
loyal men in Kentucky. And I am infavor of freeing the poor and
abused slaves and almost every body about here are in the same wish
to free the negroes quickly. I lost two good Cows and two Calves
last spring, which I valued them at $28.00. The militia took them
for Beef Cattle and would not pay nothing for them. I went to
Clinton (Mo) last summer and then to Calhoun (Mo) and got $25.00
taken out of my pocket while I was asleep on my wagon and also a
very beautiful pocket Book. I know that some rebel thief or Robber
got it as there was no body with me to see or hear him at me. I wrote
a letter to Gov. Gamble last spring about it and wished him to pay
me for all I lost but I have never had any answer from him since and
I Can tell plainly that he cares for nothing of the losses of the loyal
men in this state. I learned from a good union man in this Co, that
if I could not get any pay for my losses in this state, he advised me
to write to you & tell you to pay it if you ever said the truth that
you would pay all such losses of the loyal men. I have asked several
others (I mean military leaders) to pay it, but have not had any of
them answered at all. I know they care nothing for me because I am
On Lincoln’s Mind
9
deaf & Dumb. I lost all these things I stated above, last summer and
last winter & last spring. I have done more for the Cause of the
Union, since the War broke out than anything else and will do as
much more for it as long as the war lasts.
There is no troops in this state so humane and good, than the
Iowa troops and I like them more than all the other troops because
they treat me well & because they are so polite and they are the
bravest troops I have ever seen with my eyes yet! They have been
scouring the County, of the Rebels, guerrilla men & Bush whackers
almost every week but they are so thick all round here, so that they
have not enough of troops to keep up scouring them out and I think
that it will take 25.000 troops to keep the Western part quiet & there
is not so much men in about here to make up 25000 and not quite
one thousand. I have no more to say but one thing & it is that I wish
you to pay me my losses of property if you Can do it immediately
and if you will, direct your letter to Harrisonville Mo Care of Capt
Blake
I am your obedient servant,
John Edwin Bostick,
Harrisonville Cass Co Mo.
[Postscript]
A loss of $133.00 in property. Send the money in U.S Banks if
you will pay me
Claims from men like Bostick were so numerous that the
federal government eventually made a conscientious effort to
review and repay them in what became known as the Southern
Claims Commission. Of course, the Union loyalty and support for
emancipation expressed in Bostick’s letter may not have been
genuine and sorting out such details for a host of claimants proved
to be a significant challenge for the claims commissioners.
Regardless, the fate of such men and the growing irregular violence
in the border states concerned Lincoln and other northern
commanders as they sought to end the rebellion.
10
On Lincoln’s Mind
The Rock Island Arsenal as it appeared following its completion after the war.
The Rock Island Arsenal and the Illinois Governor
Richard Yates to Abraham Lincoln – August 5, 1863
State of Illinois
Executive Department.
Springfield Augst 5 1863.
His Excellency
Abraham Lincoln President &c
Washington D.C.
Sir:
I desire to submit the within most important paper of Citizens of
Rock Island and to request your earnest attention. It certainly is of
the utmost importance that the Arsenal at R Island be at once
commenced and completed, and I trust that the transfer of the Island
of R. Island to the Iowa Military Department & jurisdiction will not
for a single moment be entertained, and that you will set the minds
of the people of R. Island and of the State easy by immediate
direction to Capt Reynolds A. Q. M. or in such manner as you may
deem best.
Very Respectfully,
Richd Yates
Governor
On Lincoln’s Mind
11
[Endorsement]
Respectfully referred to the Secretary of War.
A. Lincoln
Aug. 12. 1863.
This letter from Illinois governor Richard
Yates amply demonstrated one of Lincoln’s
other concerns: keeping all loyal state
governors happy, especially Republican
ones. Congress approved construction of the
Rock Island Arsenal in July 1862, and the
long delay clearly grated on Yates.
Construction began three weeks later with
the foundation of the Clock Tower but did
not conclude until after the war.
With
great
armies
marching
throughout the nation and the fate of the
American Union in the balance, the
construction and jurisdiction of an arsenal
deep within the North may seem
insignificant but the politics of such
Illinois Governor Richard Yates.
decisions gave them great importance.
Lincoln could not merely ignore or delegate such a matter, as an
incorrect decision could lose him vital political support or generate
unwanted strain in his party–less than a decade old when this letter
was written. Juggling competing personalities and interests was a
major concern, and a major distraction, for Lincoln.
Slaveholders in the Border States
One of the knottiest issues facing Lincoln throughout his
presidency was slavery in the Border States. Although they
remained loyal to the Union, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and
Delaware continued to sanction slavery throughout the war. Thus,
when Lincoln began moving toward emancipation in the summer
of 1862, he had to do so in such a way as not to offend slaveholders
in these states, lest they join the Confederacy.
12
On Lincoln’s Mind
The primary way Lincoln sought to do so was by offering
compensated emancipation. He repeatedly asked the governors of
these states to adopt such a policy but was just as frequently
rebuked. In West Virginia, the situation was even more
complicated. Having separated from Virginia in 1861, West Virginia
was admitted to the Union with slavery intact but Congress
mandated the inclusion of a gradual emancipation clause in the
state constitution. Regardless, military commanders became
increasingly comfortable emancipating and recruiting slaves in the
Border States and West Virginia was no exception. Complaints that
northern soldiers were luring away slaves, like the one below, were
troublesome for Lincoln because they placed his two war aims–
Union and emancipation–at odds. He would eventually reconcile
the two by supporting a constitutional amendment permanently
outlawing slavery in America, which resulted in Congress’s passage
of the Thirteenth Amendment on January 31, 1865.
The correspondent here, William E. Arnold, was a West Virginia
lawyer and owned seven slaves, most of whom he purchased within
the last decade. That a Union officer could so easily lure away his
recent investment clearly troubled him. Lincoln had to tread very
carefully when dealing with circumstances like this one, as the
wealth and status of men like Arnold carried significant weight in
their home states.
A group of African American "contrabands" with a Union officer.
On Lincoln’s Mind
13
William E. Arnold to Abraham Lincoln – August 18, 1863
Weston West Va
August 18th 1863
To.
Abraham Lincoln
President of U.S.
When Imboden & Jones made their raid into our part of the
Country in May last a negro boy of mine 19 years of age and who by
our new Constitution is free at 25 years of age, went to the Union
army then in command of Genl Roberts and he was taken by an
officer of the 8th Va Reg as a waiter who told him he was then free
and advised him not to return here to me. The consequence is, I
have lost his services altogether. I saw Genl Averill on the subject
and he was of opinion that the boy was freed by the act of Congress
and he had no control over him.
I wrote to Atty Genl Bates on the subject and he replied by
saying that the subject did not come under his department of the
govt, and therefore could give no opinion. It is proper I should say
that I voted for the union and for our new State Constitution, and
expected at least, that I would be allowed to have the use of such
of my slaves as were freed by our new State Constitution till the
time fixed in our fundamental law had arrived for their absolute
freedom. According to what I conceive a fair legal interpretation
of the Federal and State law upon this subject, the status of this
boy is changed from that of a slave, to that of an apprentice, bound
to me for a term of years as compensation for his absolute freedom
at his arriving at the age fixed in our State Constitution; and that
no Federal statute of which I am advised frees him, by his leaving
my house and going into the lines of the Federal army. The
emancipation proclamation does not reach his case, because the
48 Counties constituting West Va does not Come within its
operation. If I understand your position on this question, you are
an advocate of Compensated emancipation, and will at all times
aid in restoring this species of property to loyal owners. A number
of negroes whose status are similar to this boy of mine, have
within the last two months left their homes and gone into the lines
of our union army and their return prevented in the same manner
of mine. Therefore, I write to you, believing that you will give the
subject attention and Correct the wrong. I would gladly accept
compensation for all my negroes and let them go free at once. But
I greatly fear Congress will never pass another bill to Compensate
another owner for his slave. And surely if any people deserve
14
On Lincoln’s Mind
Compensation for their negro property freed by the war, it is the
loyal Slave owners of West Va. All we can hope for now, is to have
the services of such as are freed by our State Constitution until
they obtain the ages of freedom proscribed therein, and this we can
only do through you. Unless there is some general or Special order
on this subject by the President U.S. or Secy of War, we may soon
expect to loose all through the mistaken opinion (as I conceive) of
our union military officers.
I hope to be able to hear from you soon on the subject of this
letter.
Very Truly Yr friend
Wm E. Arnold
A Conspiracy in Mexico
Much like the wartime Native American
situation, tension between the United States
and Mexico also heightened during the Civil
War. France was eager to rebuild its empire in
the Western Hemisphere and installed
Maximilian I, a member of the Austrian royal
family, as Emperor of Mexico. This change in
government resulted in Mexico fighting a civil
war of its own, as Maximilian’s forces tried to
maintain their hold over the country against
those
favoring
a
republic.
Lincoln
sympathized with the Mexican rebels and
surely opposed such a large scale seizure of
territory by a European power but could do
nothing to stop it. He was preoccupied with
a rebellion in his own country and feared
Emperor Maximilian I
antagonizing France, lest the French crown
of Mexico.
throw its support behind the South.
While it was true that the French emperor, Napoleon III, came
dangerously close to recognizing the Confederacy during the war,
neither France nor Mexico ever formed an alliance with the
Confederate government like the one suggested in the following
letter from Stephen A. Hurlbut. Such misinformation was common
even among high-ranking military officers and Lincoln had to
constantly evaluate the validity of what he read. That France could
On Lincoln’s Mind
15
offer aid to the Confederacy in return for territorial concessions was
a real possibility and Lincoln surely had to take such scenarios
seriously, even if they proved false.
Stephen A. Hurlbut to Abraham Lincoln – August 18, 1863
Head Quarters
16th Army Corps
Aug. 18. 1863
Sir
By recent arrivals from the South I have
become satisfied that a perfect understanding
exists between the Confederate Government &
the French, both in reference to Mexico &
American affairs generally. It is believed that
concessions on the subject of Slavery are to be
made, and a Protectorate of the whole or a part
of the South recognized.
Some expect a surrender in fact to the
French of Texas and perhaps the Mouths of the
Miss.
Such a measure is no doubt being
canvassed at the South how far it has
proceeded no one yet knows, nor what effect
the recent successes of our army may have
Major General
upon the policy of the French Emperor.
Stephen A. Hurlbut.
The people of the South who discuss this are
much divided on the policy and so far as I can gather it will meet
with most determined opposition, many insisting that if they yield
nationality & reduce the tenure of Slaves they may as well do it for
and in the Union
I do not know that these statements can be certainly relied on
but I believe there is foundation for them
Very Respy
Your Obt Servt
S A Hurlbut
Maj Genl
His Excy
A. Lincoln
Prest U.S.
16
On Lincoln’s Mind
Grant and Lincoln Discuss Strategy after Vicksburg
The influence of Mexico’s civil war is also
evident in Lincoln’s correspondence with his
leading general, Ulysses S. Grant. As the two
considered the military situation following the
capture of Vicksburg on July 4, Grant favored a
campaign against Mobile, Alabama. However, in
an August 9 letter to the general, Lincoln
rejected the idea, instead favoring a movement
into Texas “in view of recent events in Mexico.”
For Lincoln, “re-establishing the national
authority in Western Texas” would hinder any
Confederate attempts to ally with France and
prevent the Mexican conflict from spreading into
Major General
American territory. The two men also discussed
Ulysses S. Grant.
the recruitment of African Americans into the
Union Army. Lincoln encouraged Grant to vigorously enlist black
soldiers along the Mississippi River, noting they were “a resource
which, if vigorously applied now, will soon close the contest.”
Ulysses S. Grant to Abraham Lincoln – August 23, 1863
Cairo Illinois
August 23d 1863.
His Excellency
A. Lincoln
President of the United States,
Sir:
Your letter of the 9th inst. reached me at Vicksburg just as I was
about starting for this place. Your letter of the 13th of July was also
duly received.
After the fall of Vicksburg I did incline very much to an
immediate move on Mobile. I believed then the place could be taken
with but little effort, and with the rivers debouching there, in our
possession, we would have such a base to opperate from on the very
center of the Confederacy as would make them abandon entirely
the states bound West by the Miss. I see however the importance of
a movement into Texas just at this time.
I have reinforced Gen. Banks with the 13th Army Corps
comprising ten Brigades of Infantry with a full proportion of Artillery.
On Lincoln’s Mind
17
I have given the subject of arming the negro my hearty support.
This, with the emancipation of the negro, is the heavyest blow yet
given the Confederacy. The South care a great deal about it and
profess to be very angry. But they were united in their action before
and with the negro under subjection could spare their entire white
population for the field. Now they complain that nothing can be got
out of their negroes.
There has been great difficulty in getting able bodied negroes to
fill up the colored regiments in consequence of the rebel cavalry
running off all that class to Georgia and Texas. This is especially the
case for a distance of fifteen or twenty miles on each side of the
river. I am now however sending two expeditions into Louisiana,
one from Natchez to Harrisonburg and one from Goodrich’s Landing
to Monroe, that I expect will bring back a large number. I have
ordered recruiting officers to accompany these expeditions. I am also
moving a Brigade of Cavalry from Tennessee to Vicksburg which
will enable me to move troops to a greater distance into the interior
and will facilitate materially the recruiting service.
Gen. Thomas is now with me and you may rely on it I will give
him all the aid in my power. I would do this whether the arming
the negro seemed to me a wise policy or not, because it is an order
that I am bound to obey and do not feel that in my position I have a
right to question any policy of the Government. In this particular
instance there is no objection however to my expressing an honest
conviction. That is, by arming the negro we have added a powerful
ally. They will make good soldiers and taking them from the enemy
weaken him in the same proportion they strengthen us. I am
therefore most decidedly in favor of pushing this policy to the
enlistment of a force sufficient to hold all the South falling into our
hands and to aid in capturing more.
Thanking you very kindly for the great favors you have ever
shown me I remain, very truly and respectfully
your obt. svt.
U. S. Grant
Maj. Gen.
Neither Lincoln’s nor Grant’s plans for the army at Vicksburg
ever came to fruition. Texas remained largely in Confederate
control throughout the war and the closest Grant’s old army in
Mississippi ever came to moving against it was the ill-starred Red
River Campaign in the spring of 1864. Mobile also remained in
Confederate hands and did not surrender until April 12, 1865–three
18
On Lincoln’s Mind
days after Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Grant at
Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.
However, Grant’s prediction that the enlistment of African
Americans into the Union Army was “the heavyest blow yet given
the Confederacy” proved true. Even as Lincoln and Grant discussed
the subject, numerous black regiments were being formed
throughout the North and South. Some were already in the field
proving themselves as able soldiers. By the end of the war, over
178,000 African Americans enlisted in the northern ranks,
comprising one-tenth of the total Union Army.
Some Medicinal Help from a Friend
Nathan Sargent to Abraham Lincoln – September 12, 1863
Sept 12, 1863
My dear Sir
This is the season when you & I are apt to be afflicted with
disordered bowels; & as my black berry cordial, like the rebellion,
is pretty well “played out”, or “used up”, I send you for trial, an
article which is highly reputed, but which I have not had occasion
to try since it appeared in the shops. I hope you will find it
beneficial. With good wishes & congratulations, I am
Most respectfully,
N Sargent
Patent medicine cures such as these were common during the
nineteenth century. The advertisement at left features a blackberry
concoction similar to the one Sargent sent Lincoln.
On Lincoln’s Mind
19
Nathan Sargent did not expressly provide his motivation for
sending something to relieve the President’s “disordered bowels”
but some of Lincoln’s contemporaries later claimed the President
suffered from constipation. Regardless, such elixirs and cures were
common in an age before the professionalization of medical science.
Sargent was a journalist, Sergeant-at-Arms for the House of
Representatives, and friend of Lincoln’s. He typically used colorful
language in his correspondence, as is evident here in his joke that
a previous cure, a “black berry cordial,” was “played out” like the
Confederacy. Sargent does not say if he manufactured these cures
himself or bought them from someone else but one suspects they
had as much medicinal value (or lack thereof) as other pseudomedicines in wide circulation at the time. Regardless, if Lincoln
did indeed suffer from such a surely uncomfortable condition, one
can imagine it preoccupied him as he struggled through the various
other concerns of his administration.
A Mother Asks for Her Son’s Body
The war’s toll on American families
was evident in a number of letters sent to
Lincoln from grieving family members
and loved ones seeking the return of a
serviceman’s body for burial. In this
instance, Sarah Davis Lincoln (no relation)
asked the President to send her the body
of her sixteen-year-old son, who had died
in Cuba while enlisted as a sailor. Whether
or not the request was granted is unknown
but the frustration and sadness of a
grieving mother is evident in the letter.
Sarah
Lincoln,
unlike
many
correspondents, seemed to be aware she
was one of numerous requests and
concerns placed upon Lincoln’s table.
That he provided no endorsement could
indicate that Lincoln did not have the
time she requested. The anti-Catholicism
present in the letter was prevalent among
some Americans at the time. Such
20
On Lincoln’s Mind
Unidentified sailor boy, who was
the same age as Sarah Davis
Lincoln's son when he died.
Teenaged boys were common in
nineteenth-century navies.
religious and racial prejudices were significant in Lincoln’s America
and could sometimes erupt with horrifying results, such as in the
New York riots.
Sarah Davis Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln – September 15, 1863
Titusville Crawford Co P.A.
Sept 15th /63.
Honored Sir:
Can you in the midst of your numerous cares, devote a moment
to an afflicted & troubled one? I will at once state my case.
Two years ago the 24th of last June, our youngest & darling child
Andrew Craswell Lincoln, at the age of sixteen years, died in the
Hospital at Matanzas Cuba, & through the severe indisposition of
the Capt of the Ship, at the time, the remains were deposited in a
Vault there, instead of being brought home, with a promise from the
Authorities that we could have it at the expiration of one year. After
that time had expired, we sent out an Agent for it, & were refused,
again we sent out early last Spring & were again refused. We have
written to the Consul there regarding it, but get no reply & as I
cannot give it up without making every possible effort, & as a final
resort, I appeal to you, & will you please tell me if there is any way
we can make a demand either individually, or through the
Goverment, that would be effectual.
God has bereaved me of any idol & I must submit, but cannot
to the barbarity of those Catholics.
If there is any way possible that we can recover that which is to
us invaluable & to them worthless, we wish to know, & accomplish
it as quickly as possible.
You have had my hearty sympathy in your recent affliction. Our
eldest, a promising youth of fourteen years, was taken from us sixteen
years ago, bearing the name of your departed one, Willie Lincoln, &
his remains rest in our native village in New England whither we
desire to remove the precious remains of our latest-born, that they
may rest together; & now my dear Sir if it will please you to give this
your attention & advice, you will confer an invaluable favor.
Please excuse the liberty I take in appealing to you in my
extremity & anxiety & believe me
Yours very respectfully
Mrs John C. Lincoln.
To Abraham Lincoln
President of our United States.
On Lincoln’s Mind
21
A Wounded Soldier Asks to Go Home
George W. Smith to Abraham Lincoln – September 18, 1863
Sept 18th 1863
Presd A. Lincon
sir
we had inspection this morning by Dr Greenleaf surg and order
our stands clean off and all the things that I had on was a Testament
and a portfolio and a comb and lookingglass and I have lost a leg In
the cose of the United States and I am reddy to loos my life in so
good a caus but I should like to be sent some whare so that I could
read the Testament for if they have to let me go home I have ben in
the survis 23 month with out a furlow and my leg is all heald up
and I would like to see my Dear Old Father & Mother and they say
it will be 9 month befor I can get a wooden leg but if you cant grant
me a furlow Pleas in the name of God send me to the State of New
York to a hosptal at Syracuse
and you shall have the prars of me and my parrents
And Oblige
Yours
Geo W. Smith
Blodgets mills Cortland Co N.Y. is whare I live Co F 76 Reg N.Y. V
Geo W. Smith U.S. Gen Hospt Chesnut hill ward 11. bed 39
Philadelphia is whare i be
A federal hospital in Alexandria, Virginia.
22
On Lincoln’s Mind
Furlough requests, like this one from a New York soldier who
had lost a leg, frequently crossed Lincoln’s desk. Although these
men did not need to write directly to the President, many did
believing their request had the best chance for success if it went
directly to the top of the command chain. Others had a paternal
view of the President as “Father Abraham,” believing he would
grant their requests out of a sense of charity. Whether Lincoln saw
all these letters is dubious but many included brief endorsements,
directing them to the Secretary of War for further action. This letter
does not have a presidential endorsement but Smith nevertheless
received his furlough on November 15, 1863.
The style of the letter was also common, as many soldiers came
from rural or working class backgrounds with limited education.
George W. Smith was literate enough to write the President but his
spelling and grammar were clearly lacking and indicated he did not
do much writing in his day to day life. Nevertheless, the fact that
a soldier was willing and able to ask the chief executive of his
government was a remarkable thing in the nineteenth century,
when many other nations were still ruled by monarchs and
aristocrats who had little contact with the general populace.
A Black Soldier Demands Equal Pay
One of the more famous letters written
to Lincoln during this period, James Henry
Gooding’s request that United States
Colored Troops (USCTs) receive the same
pay as white soldiers was an exemplar of
the African American struggle for social
and legal equality. Born into slavery,
Gooding acquired his freedom and went to
New York early in his life. With the
enactment
of
the
Emancipation
Proclamation, he enlisted in the renowned
fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment.
Having participated in that unit’s famous
July 18 assault on Battery Wagner, Gooding
wrote the President demanding that the
$10 paid to USCTs be increased to the $13
paid to white soldiers.
On Lincoln’s Mind
An unidentified USCT corporal
posing in uniform.
23
In doing so, Gooding joined with several other equal rights
advocates and newspaper columnists demanding that this
imbalance be rectified. Like Gooding, they believed any man who
was deemed good enough to enlist in the army was entitled to the
same pay as his fellow soldiers, regardless of race. Responding to
such pressure, Congress finally awarded equal pay to USCTs on
June 15, 1864, but Gooding could do little to celebrate. He was
imprisoned at Andersonville, Georgia, where he died on July 19.
James Henry Gooding to Abraham Lincoln – September
28, 1863
Camp of 54th Mass Colored Regt
Morris Island Dept of the South,
Sept 28th 1863.
Your Excelency Abraham Lincoln:
Your Excelency will pardon the presumtion of an humble
individual like myself, in addressig you, but the earnest Solicitation
of my Comrades in Arms, besides, the genuine interest felt by myself
in the matter is my excuse, for placing before the Executive head of
the Nation our Common Grievance: On the 6th of the last Month,
the Paymaster of the department, informed us, that if we would
decide to recieve the sum of $10 (ten dollars) per month, he would
come and pay us that sum, but, that, on the sitting of Congress, the
Regt would, in his opinion, be allowed the other 3 (three.) He did not
give us any guarantee that this would be, as he hoped, certainly he
had no authority for making any such guarantee, and we can not
supose him acting in any way interested. Now the main question is,
Are we Soldiers, or are we Labourers. We are fully armed, and
equipped, have done all the various Duties, pertaining to a Soldiers
life, have conducted ourselves, to the complete satisfaction of General
Officers, who, were if any, prejudiced against us, but who now accord
us all the encouragement, and honour due us: have shared the perils,
and Labour, of Reducing the first stronghold, that flaunted a Traitor
Flag: and more, Mr President. Today, the Anglo Saxon Mother, Wife,
or Sister, are not alone, in tears for departed Sons, Husbands, and
Brothers. The patient Trusting Decendants of Africs Clime, have dyed
the ground with blood, in defense of the Union, and Democracy. Men
too your Excellency, who know in a measure, the cruelties of the Ironheel of oppression, which in years gone by, the very Power, their blood
is now being spilled to maintain, ever ground them to the dust. But
When the war trumpet sounded o’er the land, when men knew not
24
On Lincoln’s Mind
the Friend from the Traitor, the Black man laid his life at the Altar of
the Nation, and he was refused. When the arms of the Union, were
beaten, in the first year of the War, And the Executive called more
food, for its ravaging maw; again the black man begged, the privelege
of Aiding his Country in her need; to be again refused, And now, he
is in the War: and how has he conducted himself? Let their dusky
forms, rise up, out the mires of James Island, and give the answer. Let
the rich mould around Wagners parapets be upturned, and there will
be found an Eloquent answer. Obedient and patient, and Solid as a
wall are they. all we lack, is a paler hue, and a better aquaintance with
the Alphabet. Now Your Excellency, We have done a Soldiers Duty.
Why cant we have a Soldiers pay? You caution the Rebel Chieftain,
that the United States, knows, no distinction, in her Soldiers: She
insists on having all her Soldiers, of whatever, creed or Color, to be
treated, according to the usages of War. Now if the United States,
exacts uniformity of treatment of her Soldiers, from the Insurgents,
would it not be well, and consistent, to set the example; herself, by
paying all her Soldiers alike? We of this Regt, were not enlisted under
any “contraband” act. But we do not wish to be understood, as rating
our Service, of more Value to the Government, than the service of the
exslave, Their Service is undoubtedly worth much to the Nation, but
Congress made express, provision touching their case as slaves freed
by Military necessity, and assuming the Government, to be their
The 54th Massachusetts Regiment attacks Battery Wagner.
On Lincoln’s Mind
25
temporary Gaurdian: Not so with us. Freemen by birth, and
consequently, having the advantage of thinking, and acting for
ourselves, so far as the Laws would allow us. We do not consider
ourselves, fit subjects for the Contraband act, We appeal to You, Sir:
as the Executive of the Nation, to have us Justly Dealt with. The Regt,
do pray, that they be assured their service will be fairly appreciated,
by paying them as american Soldiers, not as menial hierlings. Black
men You may well know, are poor, three dollars per month, for a year,
will suply their needy Wives, and little ones, with fuel. If you, as chief
Magistrate of the Nation, will assure us, of our whole pay. We are
content, our Patriotism, our enthusiasm will have a new impetus, to
exert our energy more and more to aid Our Country.
Not that our hearts ever flagged, in Devotion, spite the evident
apathy displayed in our behalf, but We feel as though, our Country
spurned us, now we are sworn to serve her.
Please give this a moments attention
Corporal James Henry Gooding
Co. C. 54th Mass, Regt
Morris Island S.C.
Members of the 54th Massachusetts march in the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial.
26
On Lincoln’s Mind
Thanksgiving is Born
Another of Lincoln’s most famous correspondents was Sarah J.
Hale, who sent him the following letter after writing a series of
editorials in Godey’s Lady’s Book (a popular women’s periodical at
the time, which she edited) on the need for a national day of
Thanksgiving. Americans already celebrated the holiday at different
times in different places but Hale wanted a specific national day of
giving thanks to God for the blessings received during the past year.
The civil war context made such a day even more necessary, as both
sides occasionally proclaimed days of thanksgiving to recognize and
potentially foster divine support for their respective causes.
Lincoln proved receptive to Hale’s ideas
and officially declared the last Thursday in
November “as a day of Thanksgiving and
Praise to our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the Heavens.” He added (in an
October 3 proclamation written by
Secretary of State William H. Seward) that
Americans should “with humble penitence
for our national perverseness and
disobedience, commend to His tender care
all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners or sufferers in the
lamentable civil strife in which we are
unavoidably engaged, and fervently
implore the interposition of the Almighty
Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and
Editor Sarah J. Hale.
to restore it as soon as may be consistent
with the Divine purposes to the full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.” The holiday
has been celebrated nationally on the same day ever since.
Proclamations like this one were distributed throughout the North to announce the new
Thanksgiving holiday.
On Lincoln’s Mind
27
Sarah J. Hale to Abraham Lincoln – September 28, 1863
private
Philadelphia, Sept. 28th 1863.
Hon. Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States
Sir:
Permit me, as Editress of the “Lady’s Book,” to request a few
minutes of your precious time, while laying before you a subject of
deep interest to myself and—as I trust—even to the President of our
Republic, of some importance. This subject is to have the day of our
annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival.
You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been
an increasing interest felt in our land to have the Thanksgiving held
on the same day, in all the States; it now needs National recognition
and authoritive fixation only, to become permanently, an American
custom and institution.
Enclosed are three papers (being printed these are easily read)
which will make the idea and its progress clear and show also the
popularity of the plan.
For the last fifteen years I have set forth this idea in the “Lady’s
Book”, and placed the papers before the Governors of all the States
and Territories; also I have sent these to our Ministers abroad, and
our Missionaries to the heathen, and commanders in the Navy.
From the recipients I have received, uniformly the most kind
approval. Two of these letters: one from Governor (now General)
Banks and one from Governor Morgan are enclosed; both gentlemen,
as you will see, have nobly aided to bring about the desired
Thanksgiving Union.
But I find there are obstacles not possible to be overcome
without legislative aid: that each State should, by statute, make it
obligatory on the Governor to appoint the last Thursday of
November, annually, as Thanksgiving Day; or, as this way would
require years to be realized, it has occurred to me that a
proclamation from the President of the United States would be the
best, surest and most fitting method of National appointment.
I have written to my friend, Hon. Wm. H. Seward, and requested
him to confer with President Lincoln on this subject. As the
President of the United States has the power of appointment for the
District of Columbia and the Territories; also for the Army and Navy
and all American citizens abroad who claim protection from the U.S.
Flag, could he not, with right as well as duty, issue his proclamation
for a Day of National Thanksgiving for all the above classes of
28
On Lincoln’s Mind
persons? And would it not be fitting and patriotic for him to appeal
to the Governors of all the States, inviting and commending these
to unite in issuing proclamations for the last Thursday in November
as the Day of Thanksgiving for the people of each State? Thus the
great Union Festival of America would be established.
Now the purpose of this letter is to entreat President Lincoln to
put forth his Proclamation, appointing the last Thursday in
November (which falls this year on the 26th) as the National
Thanksgiving for all those classes of people who are under the
National Government particularly, and commending this Union
Thanksgiving to each State Executive: thus, by the noble example
and action of the President of the United States, the permanency
and unity of our Great American Festival of Thanksgiving would be
forever secured.
An immediate proclamation would be necessary, so as to reach
all the States in season for State appointments, also to anticipate
the early appointments by Governors.
Excuse the liberty I have taken.
With profound respect
Yrs truly
Sarah Josepha Hale,
Editress of the “Ladys Book”
Popular depictions of Union soldiers
and sailors celebrating Thanksgiving
in 1864.
On Lincoln’s Mind
29
Recruiting Black Troops
USCTs in camp.
The official enlistment of
African Americans into the
Union Army was a new
practice during the Civil
War. Its novelty and need
for expediency sometimes
clashed as overzealous or
unscrupulous recruiters
pushed the boundaries of
acceptable
practice.
Lincoln appreciated the
efficiency of his recruiters
as was evident in this
endorsement of John A.
Nelson.
Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton – September 29, 1863
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Sep. 29., 1863.
Hon. Sec. of War
Sir:
The bearer of this, John A. Nelson, is represented to me, truly I
believe, to be the first, and most efficient work day man, in raising
colored troops in Louisiana. He wishes to engage in the same
service, but wishes not to go back to that department. Can we not
put him to it somewhere? Why not appoint him a Colonel and send
him to Gen. Barnes, at Norfolk? Please see & hear him.
Yours truly
A. Lincoln
However, Nelson’s efficiency also proved to be a significant
problem. He was not simply offering military jobs to runaways and
free blacks in the Deep South but was forcibly impressing African
Americans into service. Nelson’s productivity surely made his work
appear effective to someone as far removed as Lincoln but it was
also morally questionable at best or illegal at worst. Nelson
received his transfer but was soon dismissed by his commanding
30
On Lincoln’s Mind
officer for the same ruthless tactics he adopted in Louisiana. Again,
Lincoln defended the recruiter but a military examination proved
Nelson’s guilt and confirmed his dismissal. Examples like Nelson’s
show the potential complications when men who possibly viewed
African Americans as racially and intellectually inferior supervised
their recruitment. Lincoln’s defense of Nelson showed how the
myriad responsibilities the President faced may have obscured
harsh realities on the ground.
Letter of Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton regarding John A. Nelson.
On Lincoln’s Mind
31
Andrews continued to work
on his Aereon after the war.
This illustration depicts one
of his later models.
Air Superiority
Another matter that frequently crossed Lincoln’s desk
throughout the Civil War was inventions, particularly of the
military variety. Lincoln was himself an inventor and remains the
only president to hold a patent. The potential for a single innovative
idea to break the stalemate between North and South and
potentially yield vast profits for the inventor motivated many of
these men to contact Lincoln directly. Here Hamilton Fonda wrote
Lincoln on behalf of dirigible inventor Solomon Andrews offering
his new airship (called the Aereon by Andrews) for military use.
Andrews himself followed-up the next day, making the same offer.
Both men would have had good reason to expect a positive
response. Hot air balloons were already in use in the Union Army,
primarily as a tool for observing Confederate troop movements.
Andrews’ hopes proved to be somewhat justified. He had
successfully tested his Aereon on June 1 and the War Department
was intrigued enough to arrange a demonstration of the invention
at the Smithsonian in 1864. Apparently the dirigible did not
impress Lincoln or his Cabinet and they passed on Andrews’ offer.
It is nevertheless remarkable that the inventor was able to get as
far as he did. Lincoln and the War Department generally ignored
those who made similar offers.
Hamilton Fonda to Abraham Lincoln – October 11, 1863
Perth Amboy. N.J. Oct 11th 1863
Sir
Dr Andrews requests me to write to you about his air Ship and what
I saw of his experiments.
32
On Lincoln’s Mind
I saw the Ship inside and out. I helped
to build her and to fill her with gas
evry time and aided in all the
experiments, but I had no faith in the
sucess of the thing till after the first
experiment. I assisted to attach the
car in the last trial on the 4th of Sept
and to send him off in it.
She went upward and forward against
the wind then blowing from the
north not less than ten miles an hour.
She minded her helm perfectly & the
rudder was verry small for so large a
vessel. He turned her around, came
back to the place of starting & came
Balloons were frequently used by the
down to the ground. then He went
Union
Army during the Civil War for
off to the westward and turned her
reconnaissance. The Intrepid, shown
head to the East and came down
here, was one of the most famous.
again. Then he tied one of the rudder
cords to the side of the car, got out and took out several 7 lbs bags of
ballast & sent her off in spiral course. She went off very swiftly in a
circle not less than three quarters of a mile in diamater the circle
increasing in size till She was lost to sight in the upper clouds, I saw
her go into first clouds and came out again when she was still
describing circles in the air. She had a blue jack on the rudder staff at
the stern, and a streamer 30 feet long on the tail or rudder,
as long as I could see these colors they stood out in a straight line
behind her and I could see no differance in them when she went
acrost the wind or before the wind when she was going to the north
against the wind I could not see them because they was above the
stern of the Ship, but as soon as she came around to the west I saw
them distinctly before she had reached half way to the first clouds I
saw her go in the same directions with them and mooving in the
same direction faster than they did. When she went against the wind
she past the clouds like two trains of cars passing each other. I have
never seen anything but a sky rockett or a cannon ball go so fast.
My onely regrett is that I did not go up with the Dr when he invited
me to git into his car and that he destroyed the Ship.
Hamilton Fonda
Ex Ord Sargt 3d Conn Vols
Foreman U.S. Ml Lck Factory
Abram Linclon
President, U.S.
On Lincoln’s Mind
33
Lincoln Helps the
Ladies’ National Army Relief Association
In a time before female military service, women who wanted to
help the war effort had to find other ways to become directly
involved. During the Civil War, serving as nurses and sending
medical supplies were two of the primary ways they did so. Many
worked for the North’s two major charitable medical organizations,
the U.S. Sanitary Commission and the U.S. Christian Commission,
but the Ladies’ National Army Relief Association was a similar, if
smaller, body. Comprised entirely of volunteers, it assisted in the
care of wounded soldiers through nursing and other means, which
was sorely needed in a war that created casualty numbers far higher
than the military’s actual medical corps could handle.
Sarah Edson, a Civil War nurse and the organization’s founder,
likely solicited Lincoln’s endorsement. The warmth Lincoln
expressed shows how he appreciated the efforts of these
organizations and would make time to help them and their
members whenever he could.
United States Sanitary Commission workers in the South.
34
On Lincoln’s Mind
Abraham Lincoln to Whom It May Concern – October 12, 1863
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Oct 12, 1863.
Whom it may concern:
The objects of the “Ladies’ National Army Relief Association”
as set forth on the attached newspaper slip, are most worthy, and
meet my hearts approval, and highest commendation. Yet to avoid
injurious interferences and collisions, I must leave to those in more
immediate control of our armies, to determine how far the services
of the Society can be profitably employed, and to regulate all details
in relation thereto.
Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln's
endorsement of the
Ladies' National Army
Relief Association.
On Lincoln’s Mind
35
Gearing Up for the 1864 Campaign
Lincoln was a politician and, as 1863 ground to a close, he had
to start thinking about his prospects for reelection the following
year. He is often commended for not suspending the election due
to the national crisis but, in doing so, he added yet another critical
issue to his already overflowing workload. Fortunately for Lincoln,
he lived at a time when American presidents did far less personal
campaigning, so he could still devote the majority of his time to
managing the war. Nevertheless, electoral concerns surely occupied
his attention more and more as he moved toward the
November 1864 election.
However, Lincoln was still over a year away
from that day when he received this letter
from Illinois Congressman and political ally,
Elihu B. Washburne, reminding him that the
election was forthcoming. Of course,
Lincoln secured the Republican presidential
nomination and won a second term but
neither prospect (especially the latter)
appeared inevitable in late 1863. The war was
going well for the President and the Union but
not well enough to guarantee popular support.
Congressman
Elihu B. Washburne.
Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln – October 12, 1863
Galena, Illinois,
Oct. 12. 1863.
Mr. Lincoln:
Notwithstanding the troubles that surround us, the time has come
when we must confront the question of our next Presidential candidate.
I think you ought to let some of your confidential friends know your
wishes and feelings in that regard. I write you now on this subject
because I have a recent letter from Hon. Thompson Campbell touching
the question of our candidacy. He was one of the most effective and
vigorous champions of our cause in California, before the late election,
and is a member of the Legislature from San Francisco. Speaking of the
Presidential candidate, he says: “If he wishes the nomination, I am
clearly for your friend, Mr. Lincoln.” He says he consented to go into
the Legislature for the purpose of being better able to shape things in
regard to the delegates to the National Convention next year. He says
36
On Lincoln’s Mind
further, and it is well to heed it, that if he be not greatly mistaken, the
whole patronage of the Government in California will be wielded
against you next summer. Campbell has done more to sustain your
administration for the last six months, than all the office-holders in the
State put together, and if he only knew your wishes and views I think
he can be relied upon for an equally efficient service hereafter.
Should you deem it best to make any suggestions to me in
regard to these things, you know me well enough to be assured they
will be properly and discreetly used.
I enclose you a private letter from my brother, Maj. Genl
Washburne, and you will see what he says about a leave of absence.
He went into the service at the sacrifice of immense business
interests, and he has served faithfully and acceptably in the most
sickly climates for the last two years. His business imperatively
requires his presence at home for a short time, and I think under the
circumstances his request is not unreasonable. A longer leave than
twenty days must be granted by Genl. Halleck. Twenty days would
not more than enable him to get home from where he now is. If you
will ask that such leave be given and transmitted to me here, at
Galena, Illinois, it will be a favor for which I will feel very grateful
to you, and which shall be more than reciprocated by me.
Yrs. Truly,
E B Washburne
Thompson Campbell, whose correspondence
with Washburne inspired this letter, was a
former Illinois Secretary of State and a state
representative in California during the war.
One might suspect the political opponents he
referenced in this letter were Democrats but it
was likely Republicans that concerned him. As
the party began preparing for the 1864 contest,
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase angled
to replace Lincoln as the Republican nominee. California Representative
The state patronage that Campbell warned would Thompson Campbell.
be “wielded against” Lincoln was the result of the
Secretary’s attempting to replace one of Lincoln’s California
treasury department appointments with someone loyal to Chase.
Lincoln eventually learned of Chase’s plan and instead appointed
Frederick F. Low, who became governor of the state at the end of
the year. As for the presidential election, Lincoln carried California
with 59 percent of the vote.
On Lincoln’s Mind
37
A freed African-American woman near a South Carolina wharf with a federal warship
near the horizon.
Clearing Charleston Harbor by Any Means
Inventors were not the only correspondents offering new or
unorthodox ways to subdue the South. With stalemate the order of
the day, many citizens and friends offered Lincoln unsolicited
advice on solving some of the military’s most vexing problems.
Case in point: Charleston Harbor. Charleston’s political and
economic importance to the war effort was clear to both sides: it
was the birthplace of secession and a hotbed for blockade-running.
However, the massive harbor was extremely difficult to invade due
to its formidable fortifications (the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts’s
famous charge at Battery Wagner was also part of the larger
campaign to take Charleston) and the preponderance of Confederate
mines or “torpedoes.” Here is one potential solution:
Logan U. Reavis to Abraham Lincoln – October 19, 1863
Central Illinoian Office
Beardstown Ill. Oct 19, 63
President Lincoln
Dear sir:
As difficulties naturally suggest remedies, the ingenuity of the
war department is brought to bear upon the difficulties in Charleston
Harbor, and as the difficulties consist in the rebel Torpedoes and their
removal would insure the success of our arms, may I not suggest one
thing of a novel nature to you, that you may consider whether their
38
On Lincoln’s Mind
can be any thing made of it. You are aware that there are a kind of
people in the world which owing to some freek of nature can see
better in the night than they can in the daytime. now might not some
of those kind of men be hunted up and taken to gen. Gilmore and let
him arrange some small boats say not much larger than canoes, then
let ropes be prepared with hooks tied down in the manner of anchors,
then let these night seers quietly go out at night and pay out these
ropes in the manner of a sein, and then by dragging them in, the
hooks will catch the Torpedoes and the ropes holding them and that
way a good work may be done for our cause. Of course the idea is a
novel one, but may their not be some good in it. some of those kind
of people lived at Greenville Bond co. some years ago. If such couild
be used I suppose plenty could be found.
Respectfully
L. U. Reavis
Torpedoes gathered from Charleston Harbor after the city fell into Union hands in 1865.
Reavis was an Illinois lawyer and newspaper editor. His plan to
use the supposed “night seeers” of Greenville in Bond County was
certainly bizarre but was far from the strangest military idea offered
to Lincoln. Regardless, the desperation to capture Charleston that
undergirds Reavis’s scheme was very real. Indeed, Union soldiers
did not occupy the city until February 1865, and then only after
almost a full year of constant artillery bombardment combined
with the approach of William T. Sherman’s army from the rear.
Nevertheless, propositions like Reavis’s surely did not hold the key
to Charleston harbor and Lincoln likely condemned this letter to
the same file that was home to numerous other discarded
supposedly war-winning ideas.
On Lincoln’s Mind
39
Kidnapping Free Blacks
As with the earlier letter about runaway slaves in West Virginia,
the following one from David L. Phillips of Lincoln’s hometown in
Springfield, Illinois, demonstrated how fragile freedom could be for
African Americans. Phillips, a Republican and friend of Lincoln’s,
described an elaborate scheme (which he also reported to Governor
Yates) in which southerners kidnapped free and freed blacks from
St. Louis to sell back into slavery in Louisville, Kentucky.
David L. Phillips to Abraham Lincoln – October 23, 1863
Springfield Ill. Oct. 23. 1863.
Dear Sir,
I have just received a letter from Hon. Chauncy I. Filley, Mayor
of St Louis, enclosing an open letter from Major Eastern U. S. Army,
addressed to Gov. Yates, both relating to, what Seems to be, a very
extensive Scheme of Kidnapping of free Negroes, and Negroes freed
by the proclamation, and their removal to Kentucky through Illinois
and Indiana by the Ohio and Miss. R. R. to Seymour and thence by
the Jeffersonville R. R. to Louisville where they are Sold for from
$200, to $300, each into Slavery. It is said that the parties who are
engaged in this nefarious traffic, generally, have permits from Some
one in or about the Provost Marshal’s office in St Louis.
Downtown Springfield, Illinois.
40
On Lincoln’s Mind
You know the law of Illinois touching such a traffic and
therefore I will say nothing as to the legal questions of the case. That
the traffic is going on to quite an extent, seems beyond any
reasonable question.
I enclose to you a Slip from the Chicago Tribune which I have
just Seen. It explains itself. I do not know what evidence the Tribune
people have in their possession. Gov. Yates being in Washington I
have, taken the liberty of calling attention to the matter, knowing
that you alone can, by an order to Gen. Schofield, Stop a trade which
is not only legally a crime, but an outrage on humanity and an insult
to the States of Illinois and Indiana.
Very truly yours
D. L. Phillips
Hon. A. Lincoln
Prest. U.S.A.
Washington
D.C.
The validity of this particular claim seems dubious, as it would
have required a fairly extensive conspiracy to operate, but the
capture and re-enslavement of freedpeople was a very real
possibility during the Civil War. When Confederate armies invaded
northern territory or the Border States, they frequently sent out
patrols to capture African Americans and forcibly move them into
A slave auction in Alabama, 1861.
On Lincoln’s Mind
41
the South and slavery. Furthermore, there was a long history of
individual kidnappings of free blacks in Illinois and other northern
states to be sold into slavery in the South. Indeed, as long as slavery
remained legal in all or part of the United States, African Americans
could not guarantee their freedom due to this sort of illegal
behavior. Examples like this one did not go unnoticed by Lincoln
and provided much of the motivation for his support of the
Thirteenth Amendment.
The Gettysburg Dead
Dead Union soldiers on the Gettysburg battlefield.
Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle ever fought on American
soil. This letter–which arrived only five days before Lincoln’s
invitation to speak at the battlefield–may have weighed on his
mind as he considered what he would say on that hallowed ground.
Here, a New York postmaster wrote on behalf of an impoverished
couple asking that the government pay for the transportation of
their son, William Morgan’s, body from Gettysburg to his
hometown in Canandaigua. Morgan remained in Gettysburg and is
buried there in the National Cemetery. Providing a proper eulogy
for this fallen soldier and hundreds of others like him at the
dedication of that cemetery would soon be one of the many tasks
set before Lincoln.
42
On Lincoln’s Mind
Edward S. Dixon to Abraham Lincoln – October 28, 1863
Halls Corners N.Y.
Oct 28th 1863
To His Excellence the Hon Abraham Lincoln
President United States
In behalf of Mr & Mrs Morgan who had the misfortune to loose
a son at Gettesburgh, I write to ask if your honor will provide
Government Transportation for their dead son from there to
Canandaigua the place of enlistment. They would not ask your
intercession, but their extreme poverty makes it impossible for
them to defray the expenses of exhuming & bringing the body,
home. they have now their last and only son in the Army of the
Potomac, thus their last & only hope of comfort, or support, hangs
on the uncertainty of a Soldiers life, & now too in the last years of
their life. Will you not? send their son to these bereaved parents if
refference to my statements herein made is needed I will gladly send
any number of Vouchers. His name is William Morgan, Company K
126 Reg. N. Y. S V. under Captain Wheeler Candaigua. Praying you
will grant the relief asked or any other your honer may dictate.
I remain Your Obt Servant
E. S. Dixon
P. Master Halls Corners
Ontario County N.Y.
The grave of William
Morgan at Gettysburg
National Cemetery.
On Lincoln’s Mind
43
Invitation to Gettysburg
David Wills to Abraham Lincoln – November 2, 1863
Gettysburg Nov. 2nd 1863
To His Excellency,
A. Lincoln,
President of the United States,
Sir,
The several States having soldiers in the Army of the Potomac,
who were killed at the Battle of Gettysburg, or have since died at
the various hospitals which were established in the vicinity, have
procured grounds on a prominent part of the Battle Field for a
Cemetery, and are having the dead removed to there and properly
buried.
These Grounds will be Consecrated and set apart to this sacred
purpose, by appropriate Ceremonies, on Thursday, the 19th instant.
Hon Edward Everett will deliver the Oration.
I am authorized by the Governors of the different States to
invite you to be present, and participate in these ceremonies, which
will doubtless be verry imposing and solemnly impressive.
It is the desire that, after the Oration, You, as Chief Executive
of the Nation, formally set apart these grounds to their sacred use
by a few appropriate remarks.
It will be a source of great gratification to the many widows and
orphans that have been made almost friendless by the Great Battle
here, to have you here personally; and it will kindle anew in the
breasts of the Comrades of these brave dead, who are now in the
tented field or nobly meeting the foe in the front, a confidence that
they who sleep in death on the Battle Field are not forgotten
by those highest in Authority; and they will feel that,
should their fate be the same, their remains will not
be uncared for.
We hope you will be able to be present to
perform this last solemn act to the Soldier dead
on this Battle Field.
Gettysburg Attorney
David Wills.
44
I am with great
Respect, Your Excellency’s
Obedient Servant,
David Wills
Agent for
A. G. Curtin Gov. of Penna
and acting for all the States
On Lincoln’s Mind
David Wills to Abraham Lincoln – November 2, 1863
Gettysburg Nov. 2nd 1863
To His Excellency
A. Lincoln
President U.S.
Sir,
As the Hotels in our town will be crowded and in confusion at
the time referred to in the enclosed invitation, I write to invite you
to stop with me. I hope you will feel it your duty to lay aside
pressing business for a day to come on here to perform this last sad
rite to our brave soldier dead on the 19th instant.
Governor Curtin and Hon Edward Everett will be my guests at
that time and if you come you will please join them at my home.
You will confer a favor if you advise me early of your intentions.
With great Respect
Your Obedient Servant
David Wills
The previous pair of letters from David Wills to Lincoln
constituted the immediate impetus for the Gettysburg Address.
Wills was the primary force behind the establishment of a National
Cemetery–the nation’s first–at Gettysburg, where he was a
prominent lawyer and businessman. The main orator scheduled for
the event was one of the nation’s renowned speakers, Edward
Everett, and the limited role expected for Lincoln was evident in
Wills’s request. Lincoln agreed to speak and to stay at Wills’s
home (which still stands)
but the brevity of his
comments reflects Wills's
modest request.
The Wills House.
On Lincoln’s Mind
45
Reconstructing Louisiana
Preparing the Gettysburg Address was far from the only thing
on Lincoln’s mind between the invitation on November 2nd and
the dedication on the 19th. As this letter from Louisiana
demonstrates, Lincoln still had plenty of knots to untangle in this
one occupied state alone.
John E. Tallon to Abraham Lincoln – November 12, 1863
Donaldsonville, La.
Nov 12. 1863.
His Excellency
The President of the United States.
Honble Sir,
As you are our common Father, I presume to write a few lines to
you respecting the political condition of things here, humbly hoping
you will pardon the liberty.
1st Rebel Generals and others who have held commissions in the
Rebel army are urgent to get back their Plantations, I most
respectfully entreat that the Plantations shall not be returned unless
said parties give pecuniary security to the
Government for future loyalty; the oath is
absolutely a dead letter: they think the
violation of it, no crime. In truth I would prefer
a settlement on the Plantations of Northern
men, for I have no confidence in the loyalty of
the Creoles.
2nd The French or rather Creole Rebels down
along the Bayou near Napoleonville have sent
into the City and bought shoes, clothing for
their sons and then sent them back again to
the Rebel army. The coloured people in the
neighborhood volunteer their services to
report such cases to the Provostmarshall.
Shall they be permitted?
3d Major General Banks, I have been
informed, issued an order for the recall of
Major General Nathaniel
Soldier-overseers, back again to their
Banks, who commanded the
respective Regiments. as you are the
Department of the Gulf
(which included Louisiana)
Protector of the poor slaves, I entreat of you
when Tallon wrote his letter
to use your influence with General Banks
to Lincoln.
46
On Lincoln’s Mind
that his order may be carried into immediate execution. General
Banks is a humane man, and doubtless cannot be aware of the usage
the poor downtrodden coloured people have received and are now
receiving at the hands of such infamous wretches. Trusting in your
Kindness to forgive this liberty
I have the honor to be your most
respectful and most devoted
wellwisher and St
John. E. Tallon M. D
Government Physician for the Sick
Contrabands at Donaldsonville and
vicinity.
Tallon’s concerns here were
legitimate, as Louisiana’s occupation
became increasingly complicated for
Lincoln and the army. Indeed, the
former Confederate state was
quickly turning into a sort of
laboratory for federal plans to
rebuild the South after the war.
With the tides of war favoring the
Union at last, Lincoln began
formulating his reconstruction
policy. He made his first attempt a
month later with his ten percent
plan,
which
was
partially
motivated by events in Louisiana.
How a postwar America would
look was certainly one of Lincoln’s
many considerations as he sat to
write the Gettysburg Address.
African American "contrabands"
from Louisiana.
On Lincoln’s Mind
47
A Family Illness
Lincoln thought about more than war and politics, and here,
only a day before his address at Gettysburg, his son Tad’s health
occupied a prominent place in Lincoln’s correspondence. By this
time, the Lincolns had already lost two children–Eddie in 1850 and
Willie in 1862–and Tad’s recurrent health problems constantly
worried his parents. That Mary Lincoln telegraphed this news to
her husband during what was sure to be a relatively short trip
speaks to the concern both shared for Tad’s welfare. The President
was devoted to his children and the thought of losing another
haunted him. Tad Lincoln eventually succumbed to tuberculosis
six years after his father’s assassination.
Mary Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln – November 18, 1863
War Dept.
Nov 18th “63.
Hon. A. Lincoln
Gettysburg Pa.
The Dr has just left. We hope dear Taddie is slightly better. Will
send you a telegram in the morning.
Mrs Lincoln
Abraham, Mary, and Tad Lincoln.
48
On Lincoln’s Mind
The Dedicatory
And finally, on November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his nowfamous speech at Gettysburg National Cemetery. Despite the
steady stream of voices and concerns he faced every day, Lincoln
constructed this concise statement of purpose and remorse that
became one of the greatest political speeches in history. There is a
longstanding myth that Lincoln wrote the address during a quiet
period on the train headed for Gettysburg (sometimes it is said he
did so on the back of an envelope). Regardless, Lincoln surely
needed a few moments of clarity to push through the clutter of
issues bearing on his mind and focus directly on explaining why so
many men died on that battlefield. The Civil War was not just a
chess match between generals nor was it only a political crusade
against slavery. It encompassed every facet of American life and
Lincoln, as the nation’s leader, had to be conscious of the potential
repercussions of every decision and every action. Such a heavy
burden showed on his face and aged him prematurely but it did not
weaken his mind. Here, in the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln let the
soldiers who lost their lives consecrate the ground and ennobled a
war that would create a more free and enduring America.
Abraham Lincoln, taken by
Alexander Gardner on
November 8, 1863, only eleven
days before Lincoln delivered
the Gettysburg Address.
On Lincoln’s Mind
49
Address Delivered at the Dedication of the
Cemetery at Gettysburg (Everett Copy)
November 19, 1863
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon
this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to
the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long
endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come
to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those
who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not
consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living
and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long
remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here, have, thus far, so
nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great
task remaining before us: that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last
full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have
a new birth of freedom; and that, government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
50
On Lincoln’s Mind
A crowd gathering on Cemetery Hill in Gettysburg for the dedication. A bare-headed
Lincoln is seated and looking down just to the upper-left of the image's center.
On Lincoln’s Mind
51
52
On Lincoln’s Mind
On Lincoln’s Mind
53
Document Citations
John Jay and others to Abraham Lincoln, July 13, 1863, Volume 117, Abraham Lincoln
Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Petition of Is-tata Sin and others to Abraham Lincoln, July 17, 1863, Box 442, Record
Group 75, Entry 79, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, General Records, 18241907, Letters Received, 1824-1880, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Truman Smith to Abraham Lincoln, July 27, 1863, Box 639, Record Group 92, Entry
225, Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1792-1929, Correspondence,
1818-1926, Consolidated Correspondence File, 1794-1890, National Archives,
Washington, DC.
James Pollock to Abraham Lincoln, August 4, 1863, U.S. Presidents, Northwestern
University, Evanston, IL.
John E. Bostick to Abraham Lincoln, July 29, 1863, Box 240, Record Group 107, Entry
18, Records of the Secretary of War, Record Series Originating During The Period 17891889, Correspondence, Letters Received, Letters Received (Main Series), 1801-1889,
National Archives, Washington, DC.
Richard Yates to Abraham Lincoln, August 5, 1863, Henry Horner Lincoln Collection,
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, IL.
William E. Arnold to Abraham Lincoln, August 18, 1863, Box 239, Record Group 107,
Entry 18, Records of the Secretary of War, Record Series Originating During the Period
1789-1889, Correspondence, Letters Received, Letters Received (Main Series), 18011889, National Archives, Washington DC.
Stephen A. Hurlbut to Abraham Lincoln, August 18, 1863, Volume 121, Abraham
Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Ulysses S. Grant to Abraham Lincoln, August 23, 1863, Volume 121, Abraham Lincoln
Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Nathan Sargent to Abraham Lincoln, September 12, 1863, Volume 123, Abraham
Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Sarah Davis Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln, September 15, 1863, Volume 392, Record
Group 59, Entry 113, General Records of the Department of State, Miscellaneous
Correspondence, 1784-1906, Miscellaneous Letters, National Archives, College Park,
MD.
George W. Smith to Abraham Lincoln, September 18, 1863, Box 243, Record Group
107, Entry 18, Records of the Secretary of War, Record Series Originating During the
Period 1789-1889, Correspondence, Letters Received, Letters Received (Main Series),
1801-1889, National Archives, Washington, DC.
James Henry Gooding to Abraham Lincoln, September 28, 1863, Box 21, Record Group
94, Entry 360, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1800-1947, Records of
Divisions of the Adjutant General’s Office, Colored Troops Division, 1863-1889,
Letters Received, 1863-1888, National Archives, Washington, DC.
54
On Lincoln’s Mind
Sarah J. Hale to Abraham Lincoln, September 28, 1863, Volume 125, Abraham Lincoln
Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton, September 29, 1863, Box 29, Record Group
94, Entry 360, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1800-1947, Records of
Divisions of the Adjutant General’s Office, Colored Troops Division, 1863-1889,
Letters Received, 1863-1888, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Hamilton Fonda to Abraham Lincoln, October 11, 1863, Box 272, Record Group 107,
Entry 18, Records of the Secretary of War, Record Series Originating During the Period
1789-1889, Correspondence, Letters Received, Letters Received (Main Series), 18011889, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Abraham Lincoln to Whom It May Concern, October 12, 1863, Box 10, Record Group
46, Entry 761, Records of the United States Senate, Fifty-First Congress, 1889-1891,
Records of Legislative Proceedings, Papers Supporting Specific Bills and Resolutions,
1889-1891, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Elihu B. Washburne to Abraham Lincoln, October 12, 1863, Volume 128, Abraham
Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington DC.
Logan U. Reavis to Abraham Lincoln, October 19, 1863, Volume 2, Record Group 45,
Entry 36, Naval Records Collection of the Office of Naval Records and Library, 18821946, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, 1798-1921, Correspondence,
1798-1918, Miscellaneous Letters Received, 1801-1884, National Archives,
Washington, DC.
David L. Phillips to Abraham Lincoln, October 23, 1863, Volume 129, Abraham
Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Edward S. Dixon to Abraham Lincoln, October 28, 1863, Box 697, Record Group 92,
Entry 225, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1800-1947, Records of the Office
of the Quartermaster General, 1792-1929, Correspondence, 1818-1926, Consolidated
Correspondence File, 1794-1915, National Archives, Washington, DC.
David Wills to Abraham Lincoln, November 2, 1863, Volume 130, Abraham Lincoln
Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
David Wills to Abraham Lincoln, November 2, 1863, Volume 130, Abraham Lincoln
Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
John E. Tallon to Abraham Lincoln, November 12, 1863, Box 249, Record Group 107,
Entry 18, Records of the Secretary of War, Record Series Originating During the Period
1789-1889, Correspondence, Letters Received, Letters Received (Main Series), 18011889, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Mary Lincoln to Abraham Lincoln, November 18, 1863, Gettysburg National Military
Park, Gettysburg, PA.
Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg (Everett Copy),
Henry Horner Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum,
Springfield, IL.
On Lincoln’s Mind
55
Illustration Credits
The Library of Congress: front cover, pp. 1 (facing), 6, 7 (bottom), 19, 25, 27 (top), 32,
34, 48-49, 51, back cover.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum: pp. 1-2. 5, 8 (top), 11-13, 1617, 20, 22-23, 27 (bottom), 29-30, 33, 36, 38, 40-42, 46-47, 52-53.
Public domain: p. 3.
The Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee: p. 7 (top).
The National Archives and Records Administration: pp. 8 (bottom), 31, 35, 39.
Chapultepec Castle, Mexico: p. 15.
The National Gallery of Art: p. 26.
Dennis Segelquist: p. 37.
Dr. Allen Guelzo: p. 43.
Gettysburg National Military Park: p. 44.
The Gettysburg Foundation: p. 45.
56
On Lincoln’s Mind
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