Looking back at Lincoln: On this day, 1861

On this day in 1861, London Times reporter William Russell wrote this account in his diary after an encounter with President Abraham Lincoln at the residence of General George McClellan:

"October 9

Calling on the General (McClellan - commander of the Army of the Potomac) the other night at his usual time of return, I was told by the orderly, who was closing the door, 'The General's gone to bed tired, and can see no one. He sent the same message to the President, who came inquiring after him ten minutes ago.'

This poor President! He is to be pitied; surrounded by such scenes, and trying with all his might to understand strategy, naval warfare, big guns, the movements of troops, military maps, reconnaissances, occupations, interior and exterior lines, and all the technical details of the art of slaying. He runs from one house to another, armed with plans, papers, reports, recommendations, sometimes good humoured, never angry, occasionally dejected, and always a little fussy. The other night, as I was sitting in the parlour at headquarters, with an English friend who had come to see his old acquaintance the General, walked in a tall man with a navy's cap, and an ill-made shooting suit, from the pockets of which protruded paper and bundles. 'Well,' said he to Brigadier Van Vliet, who rose to receive him, 'is George in?'

'Yes, sir. He's come back, but is lying down, very much fatigued. I'll send up, sir, and inform him you wish to see him.'

'Oh, no; I can wait. I think I'll take supper with him. Well, and what are you now, - I forget your name - are you a major, or a colonel, or a general?' 'Whatever you like to make me, sir.'

Seeing that General McClellan would be occupied, I walked out with my friend, who asked me when I got into the street why I stood up when that tall fellow came into the room.

'Because it was the President.'

'The President of what?'

'Of the United States.'

'Oh! come, now you're humbugging me. Let me have another look at him.'

He came back more incredulous than ever, but when I assured him I was quite serious, he exclaimed, 'I give up the United States after this.'

But for all that, there have been many more courtly presidents who, in a similar crisis, would have displayed less capacity, honesty, and plain dealing than Abraham Lincoln."

Looking back at Lincoln: On April 15, 1861 & 1865

On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died in a bed at the Peterson boarding house across the street from Ford's Theater at 7:22 a.m., after being shot in the back of the head at close range by famous actor John Wilkes Booth. He was 56.

Pandemonium broke out in Washington as the news of the attack on the president spread through the city. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton took over organization of the manhunt for Booth and his fellow conspirators. Ailing Secretary of State Seward, who was recovering from a carriage accident, had also been viciously attacked in his bed by conspirator Thomas Paine, but somehow lived. Vice President Johnson was on the conspirators' hit list, but slept soundly through the night at the Kirkwood hotel when his assigned assassin, George Atzerodt, spent the night drinking instead of killing.

Booth had meanwhile had made it across the Navy Yard bridge before news of the assassination reached the army guards. The guards posted at the bridge questioned Booth briefly, but with no reason (as of yet) to stop him, they waved him through. Booth, hampered by a broken leg that he suffered by landing badly on the stage after he shot the president (he apparently caught his spur on the presidential bunting as he leaped from the box,) rode into Maryland, where he met up with fellow conspirator David Herold.

After the president died, his body was carried out of the Peterson House in a temporary coffin, and an autopsy was performed:

Edward Curtis, an Army surgeon in attendance, later wrote that, during the autopsy, while he removed Lincoln's brain, a bullet “dropped out through my fingers” into a basin with a clatter. The doctors stopped to stare at the offending bullet, “the cause of such mighty changes in the world's history as we may perhaps never realize.” During the autopsy, Mary Lincoln sent the surgeons a note requesting they cut a lock of Lincoln's hair for her.

News of the president's death traveled quickly and, by the end of the day, flags across the country flew at half-staff, businesses were closed and people who had recently rejoiced at the end of the Civil War mourned Lincoln's shocking assassination.

Four years before: on this day in 1861, newly elected President Lincoln issued the Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress.

April 15, 1861

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past, and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the Marshals by law,

Now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details, for this object, will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department.

I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government; and to redress wrongs already long enough endured.

I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to re-possess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event, the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country.

And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date.

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers, at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July, next, then and there to consider and determine, such measures, as, in their wisdom, the public safety, and interest may seem to demand.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand, Eight hundred and Sixtyone, and of the Independence the United States the Eightyfifth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

Looking back at Lincoln: On April 12, 1861 and 1865

On this day in 1861, at 4:30 a.m., Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina; the first shots fired in the Civil War.

Four years and hundreds of thousands of deaths later, Lincoln was negotiating with the 'Rebel Legislature' of Virginia after the conflict had officially come to an end with the surrender of Lee's army several days before.

Lincoln wrote to General Godfrey Weitzel, the officer in command of Richmond, in his continued negotiations with 'Judge Campbell' - the man who was apparently designated spokesmen for the Rebel government body in Virginia.

In this response Lincoln appears frustrated... no doubt wondering what it will take to pull not only Virginia, but the entire Confederacy back into the Union. The differences in ideology between the two sides, the two halves of the country had not changed; one side had simply beaten the other in armed conflict.

War Department,
Washington, D.C., April 12. 1865

``Cypher'' Office U.S. Military Telegraph,
Major General Weitzel
Richmond, Va

I have just seen Judge Campbell's letter to you of the 7th. He assumes as appears to me that I have called the insurgent Legislature of Virginia together, as the rightful Legislature of the State, to settle all differences with the United States. I have done no such thing. I spoke of them not as a Legislature, but as ``the gentlemen who have acted as the Legislature of Virginia in support of the rebellion.'' I did this on purpose to exclude the assumption that I was recognizing them as a rightful body. I dealt with them as men having power de facto to do a specific thing, towit, ``to withdraw the Virginia troops, and other support from resistance to the General Government,'' for which in the paper handed Judge Campbell I promised a specific equivalent, to wit, a remission to the people of the State, except in certain cases, the confiscation of their property. I meant this and no more. In as much however as Judge Campbell misconstrues this, and is still pressing for an armistice, contrary to the explicit statement of the paper I gave him; and particularly as Gen. Grant has since captured the Virginia troops, so that giving a consideration for their withdrawal is no longer applicable, let my letter to you, and the paper to Judge Campbell both be withdrawn or, counter-manded, and he be notified of it. Do not now allow them to assemble; but if any have come, allow them safe-return to their homes. A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS, DNA WR RG 107, Presidential Telegrams, I, 386-87. The time of this telegram is marked by the clerk as 6 P.M. See Lincoln's memorandum to Campbell, April 5, and communications to Grant and to Weitzel, April 6, supra. On April 7, Judge Campbell wrote Weitzel:

``The events of the war have placed under the military control of the United States the natural and artificial channels of communication of the Confederate States, their emporiums of commerce and intercourse, and all the places that have any special importance in a military point of view. The armies of the Confederacy are diminished in point of numbers, and debilitated from the want of adequate equipments, transportation, and supplies. The spirit of the people is not broken and the resources of the country allow of a prolonged and embarrassing resistance. Humanity as well as patriotism requires that such a contest, which must be in the end fruitless, should be averted. To do this is the province of enlarged and [wise] statesmanship. The obstacles to an immediate accommodation arise [from the] condition of the Confederate Government and nature of the questions involved [in] the war. The Confederate Government has made no provision [for] the possibility of its failure. Its functionaries don't understand how [they] can negotiate for the subversion or overthrow of their [Government]. All the powers of negotiation are in the hands of the [President], and he is not willing to employ them for such [a] result. The affections and hopes of the people are concentrated [in] the Army, and it will be difficult to bring them [to] take action without the co-operation and counsel of their [brethren] of the army. Thus while reflecting persons are convinced that the [cause] of the Confederate States can't be achieved, and they are predisposed [to] an adjustment, there is a great difficulty in obtaining an [acknowledgment] of this conviction from a legally constituted authority. I [think] that an armistice would obviate much of this difficulty, nor [do] I believe that there would be any danger of a [delay] in securing peace by this temporary cessation of hostilities. The [disbanding] of the armies would be the probable, I may say the [certain], result of such a measure.

``The legislature of Virginia [will or should] be immediately convened. The legislature of South Carolina will meet according [to] adjournment in May.

``The President of the United States in his memorandum left with [me] states three indispensable conditions to peace, which when examined are [all] included in the single one of the restoration of the Union by [the] consent of the seceding States. If his proclamations upon the subject of slavery have the force of law I suppose that it became operative when it was issued, and that rights were vested under it. I do not presume that his revocation of that proclamation could destroy the rights thus acquired.

``The acceptance of the Union involves acceptance of his proclamation, if it be valid as a law. In Virginia the question of limits is one of great concern and interest, and in both States the averages of taxes, the confiscation acts, the bills of pains and penalties, the oaths of allegiance, the right to representation in Congress, and the condition of the slave population, are subjects of importance. I do not very well see how these matters can be adjusted without a very grave, important, and patient inquiry between the parties; that is, the United States and the authorities of the States. I have stated that the regular session of the legislature of South Carolina will be held in May. I would recommend that all the facilities offered in Virginia to the assembling of their legislature be extended to that State, and that it be invited to send commissioners to adjust the questions that are supposed to require adjustment.

``I have made a statement of the practical difficulties that exist in order to encourage you to persevere in the course of patience, moderation, forbearance, and conciliation that has marked your conduct since you entered Richmond. Many of the difficulties will be removed or lessened by such a course, and I do not know of any that will not be aggravated by the adoption of the opposite.'' (OR, I, XLVI, III, 657. Brackets are in the source.)

An even crazier exchange of telegrams between Weitzel and Lincoln concerned Sunday services, and even the prayers being said in Richmond.

A piece of advice when working through this: read the annotation first.

War Department
Washington, D.C., April 12. 1865

``Cypher'' Office U.S. Military Telegraph,
Major General Weitzel,
Richmond, Va.

I have seen your despatch to Col. Hardie about the matter of prayers. I do not remember hearing prayers spoken of while I was in Richmond; but I have no doubt you have acted in what appeared to you to be the spirit and temper manifested by me while there.

Is there any sign of the rebel Legislature coming together on the understanding of my letter to you? If there is any such sign, inform me what it is; if there is no such sign you may as [well] withdraw the offer. A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS, DNA WR RG 107, Presidential Telegrams, I, 385. The time of this telegram is marked by the clerk as 9 A.M. On April 9, Charles A. Dana had telegraphed Stanton from Richmond: ``On Friday evening I asked Weitzel . . . what he was going to do about opening the churches on Sunday. He answered that all were to be allowed to be opened on condition that no disloyalty should be uttered and that the Episcopal ministers would be required to read the prayer for the President. . . . I told him this was all right. Last evening he sent [George F.] Shepley to me to ask that this order might be relaxed, so that the clergy would only be required not to pray for Jeff. Davis. Shepley said this was what had been determined on by . . . Weitzel before I gave orders to the contrary. I answered I had given no orders at all . . . and that Weitzel must act in the matter entirely on his own judgment. It appears that Judge Campbell thought it very desirable that a loyal prayer should not be exacted, and that Weitzel had consented to it; but when I asked him the question . . . he gave me an answer opposite to the reality. I report the fact, confessing that it shakes a good deal my confidence in Weitzel. . . .'' (OR, I, XLVI, III, 677).

Whereupon Stanton telegraphed Weitzel: ``It has just been reported to this Department that you have, at the instance of Mr. Campbell, consented that service should be performed in the Episcopal churches of Richmond to-day without the usual prayer said in loyal churches of that denomination for the President . . . and that you have even agreed to waive that condition. If such has been your action it is strongly condemned by this Department . . . you are directed immediately to report by telegraph your action in relation to religious services in Richmond . . . and also to state what took place between you and Mr. Campbell on the subject. . . .'' (Ibid., p. 678).

Weitzel replied the next day: ``The orders in relation to religious services in Richmond were verbal, and were applicable alike to all religious denominations. . . . They were, in substance, that no expression would be allowed in any part of the church service . . . which in any way implied a recognition of any other authority than that of the United States. . . . No orders were given as to what would be preached or prayed for, but only as to what would not be permitted. . . . I have had personally but three interviews with Judge Campbell---two of them in the presence of, and the other by the written command of, the President. In neither of these interviews was any question discussed in relation to church or prayers. . . .'' (Ibid., pp. 696-97).

On April 11, James A. Hardie telegraphed Weitzel: ``The Secretary of War directs me to say that your explanation . . . is not satisfactory. . . . The Secretary also directs me to instruct you that officers commanding in Richmond are expected to require from all religious denominations in that city, in regard to their rituals and prayers, no less respect for the President . . . than they practiced toward the rebel chief . . . before he was driven from the capital.'' (Ibid., p. 711).

Weitzel's reply to Lincoln's telegram of April 12 was received at 3 P.M.: ``You spoke of not pressing little points. You said you would not order me, but if you were in my place you would not press them. The passports have gone out for the legislature, and it is common talk that they will come together.'' (Ibid., p. 724).

April 1865 through Tad Lincoln's eyes

One of the last photos ever taken of Abraham Lincoln. The president with his son Tad, taken April 10th, 1865.

What a bittersweet month this was for the Lincolns. The seemingly endless, brutal war was finally drawing to a victorious close -- everyone was so happy right before Lincoln was shot.

Even now, nearly 150 years later, it seems so unfair. I've dreaded even writing about this month.

I keep thinking about what it must have been like... how the world and April of 1865 must have looked through the eyes of young Tad Lincoln.

His family - his parents - never really recovered from the death of his older brother Willie. I doubt that Tad did either, but hardly anyone ever talks about that. Living as he did in the White House, he probably didn't have many other young boys his age to play with. From all of the stories told about the two boys, he and Willie were inseparable.

Willie, by all accounts, was an exceptional child. He is often described as his parents' favorite. A parent's grief can be a heavy load for a surviving child... and Tad had been ill with the same disease that struck his brother down. Tad lived; the 'perfect child' Willie died. I often wonder how Tad felt when he saw his parents grieve and heard them talking endlessly about his dead brother as though he were a saint. I wonder if Tad experienced survivor guilt.

But before, and especially after Willie's death, Tad and his father were very close. Lincoln allowed Tad the run of the White House, and refused to discipline him or force him to study (most of his tutors quit in frustration, and Tad didn't learn to read until after Lincoln's death.)

Imagine if you were Tad Lincoln... and your father took you to the front lines to see the soldiers, to recently conquered Southern cities where citizens - African Americans at least - were hailing your father as a savior. Imagine that you, like young Tad, were right there surrounded by all of this history and sharing it with your doting father... who just happened to be the president of the United States. At the close of the war, Tad's father was hailed as a hero. He was 'Honest Abe,' and 'Father Abraham' to a nation of relieved survivors. Tad had a little Union uniform, and a much older brother who was a captain in the Army.

The beginning of April must have been a terrific time to be Tad Lincoln. Midway through the month it became a nightmare. When his parents were at Ford's Theater watching "Our American Cousin" the night of April 14th, Tad was at the Grover Theater watching "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp." In the chaos after the president was shot, someone apparently leaped onto the stage of Grover Theater and announced that Lincoln had been shot and killed by an assassin -- apparently without realizing that Tad was even in the audience. Tad arrived at his father's bedside just as he died.

Tad lost both of his parents the night Lincoln was assassinated. His mother, Mary Todd, never recovered. She didn't attend any of the public viewings, locked herself away and refused to ride with the president's body on the long train ride back to Springfield. I doubt she was able to be much of a mother to the grieving child who watched both his father and his brother carried away on a flag-draped train.

Happy Valentine's Day

From the cover of Harper's Weekly, February 16th, 1861.

Looking back at Lincoln: On February 3, 1862

One of the great frustrations of Lincoln's first term in office (and undoubtedly of the war) was his inability to push, coerce, goad or force General 'Little Mac' McClellan into engaging the Confederate army.

Little Mac was by all accounts an excellent organizer when it came to training and drilling green troops. He enjoyed pageantry, parades, drilling and military maneuvers. But he was reluctant to engage the South in battle. He continually overestimated the strength of enemy forces, failed to seize tactical opportunities when they were presented, and missed several opportunities to win decisive victories that were well within his grasp.

Once, in growing frustration, Lincoln wryly noted that "If General McClellan isn't going to use his army, I'd like to borrow it for a time."

On one occasion, McClellan kept Lincoln waiting at his house for 30 minutes. When McClellan finally arrived, he walked past Lincoln without speaking, climbed the stairs and proceeded directly to bed.

Many people were outraged by this snub, but Lincoln continued trying to reason with his insubordinate general (who was very popular with the soldiers) in the hope that the Union would eventually see results. Lincoln later commented that he would gladly "hold McClellan's horse if he will only bring us success."

Executive Mansion,
Major General McClellan Washington, Feb. 3, 1862.

My dear Sir: You and I have distinct, and different plans for a movement of the Army of the Potomac---yours to be down the Chesapeake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and across land to the terminus of the Railroad on the York River---, mine to move directly to a point on the Railroad South West of Manassas.

If you will give me satisfactory answers to the following questions, I shall gladly yield my plan to yours.

1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time, and money than mine?

2nd. Wherein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine?

3rd. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine?

4th. In fact, would it not be less valuable, in this, that it would break no great line of the enemie's communications, while mine would?

5th. In case of disaster, would not a safe retreat be more difficult by your plan than by mine?

Yours truly A. LINCOLN

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 31, 1862

On this day in 1862, Lincoln issued 'Special War Order No. 1:'

Executive Mansion
Presidents special} Washington January 31, 1862

War Order, No. 1.

Ordered that all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, after providing safely for the defense of Washington, be formed into an expedition, for the immediate object of siezing and occupying a point upon the Rail Road South Westward of what is known of Manassas Junction, all details to be in the discretion of the general-in-chief, and the expedition to move before, or on, the 22nd. day of February next. ABRAHAM LINCOLN

This was a follow-up to the 'General War Order No. 1' that was issued on January 27th, and which stated the following:

Executive Mansion,
President's general} Washington, January 27, 1862.

War Order No. 1 }

Ordered that the 22nd. day of February 1862, be the day for a general movement of the Land and Naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces.

That especially---

The Army at & about, Fortress Monroe.

The Army of the Potomac.

The Army of Western Virginia

The Army near Munfordsville [sic], Ky.

The Army and Flotilla at Cairo.

And a Naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready for a movement on that day.

That all other forces, both Land and Naval, with their respective commanders, obey existing orders, for the time, and be ready to obey additional orders when duly given.

That the Heads of Departments, and especially the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates; and the General-in-Chief, with all other commanders and subordinates, of Land and Naval forces, will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities, for the prompt execution of this order.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

It appears that February 22nd will be a busy day.

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 29, 1861

On this day in 1861, after much bloodshed, 'Bleeding Kansas' entered the Union as a free state (meaning that slavery was not allowed, as it had been in neighboring Missouri.) A few weeks later, to commemorate the event, President Lincoln made the following speech in Philadelphia:

Speech at the Flag-raising before Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

February 22, 1861

FELLOW CITIZENS:---I am invited and called before you to participate in raising above Independence Hall the flag of our country, with an additional star upon it. (Cheers.) I propose now, in advance of performing this very pleasant and complimentary duty, to say a few words. I propose to say that when that flag was originally raised here it had but thirteen stars. I wish to call your attention to the fact, that, under the blessing of God, each additional star added to that flag has given additional prosperity and happiness to this country until it has advanced to its present condition; and its welfare in the future, as well as in the past, is in your hands. (Cheers.) Cultivating the spirit that animated our fathers, who gave renown and celebrity to this Hall, cherishing that fraternal feeling which has so long characterized us as a nation, excluding passion, ill-temper and precipitate action on all occasions, I think we may promise ourselves that not only the new star placed upon that flag shall be permitted to remain there to our permanent prosperity for years to come, but additional ones shall from time to time be placed there, until we shall number as was anticipated by the great historian, five hundred millions of happy and prosperous people. (Great applause.) With these few remarks, I proceed to the very agreeable duty assigned me.

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 28, 1864

Update on the status of Robert Gill, sentenced to death for desertion.

To Edwin M. Stanton
Hon. Sec. of War. Executive Mansion,
Sir Washington, Jan. 28. 1864.

Col. Thomas C. Devin represents that Robert Gill, now of Co. D. 6th. N.Y. Cavalry, of which he Col. D. is the Colonel, is under sentence of death for desertion & that since his desertion, he has fought at Gettysburg and in several other battles, & has otherwise behaved well; and he asks that said Gill may be pardoned and sent to his Regiment. Let it be done. Yours truly A. LINCOLN

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 26, 1863 and 1864

On this day in 1863, President Lincoln wrote the following letter to General Joseph Hooker, after handing him the reigns of the great Army of the Potomac (formerly under the command of General Ambrose Burnside.)

Executive Mansion
Washington, January 26, 1863

Major General Hooker:

General,

I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons. And yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in regard to which, I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a brave and a skillful soldier, which, of course, I like. I also believe you do not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have confidence in yourself, which is a valuable, if not an indispensable quality. You are ambitious, which, within reasonable bounds, does good rather than harm. But I think that during Gen. Burnside's command of the Army, you have taken counsel of your ambition, and thwarted him as much as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country, and to a most meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such way as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the Army and the Government needed a Dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain successes, can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the Army, of criticizing their Commander, and withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can, to put it down. Neither you, nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any good out of an army, while such a spirit prevails in it.

And now, beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with energy, and sleepless vigilance, go forward, and give us victories. Yours very truly,

A. Lincoln

On this day in 1864, Lincoln followed up on a previous order; checking on the status of a pardon he issued for an enlisted Union solder who was sentenced to die for desertion.

To Benjamin F. Butler [1]
Major General Butler Executive Mansion,
Fort-Monroe Washington, Jan. 26. 1864.

Some days ago a despatch was sent to stay execution of James C. Gratton, & perhaps some others, which has not been answered. Please answer. A. LINCOLN
Annotation

[1] ALS, RPB. No reply has been discovered. See Lincoln to Butler, January 21, supra.

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 25, 1864

One of many pardons Lincoln signed on behalf of Union soldiers previously tried and sentenced to death for desertion. Some were sent back to their regiments, others home, depending on their situation.

To George G. Meade
Executive Mansion, Washington,
Major-General Meade: January 25, 1864.

Suspend execution of death sentence of Robert Gill, ordered to be shot on the 29th instant, and forward record for examination.

A. LINCOLN.

Major Eckert:

Please send above dispatch. JNO. G. NICOLAY.

Looking back at Lincoln: On January 21, 1864

Presidential pardon for a Union deserter. (There were many.)

To Benjamin F. Butler [1]
Major General Butler Executive Mansion,
Fort-Monroe, Va Washington, Jan. 21. 1864.

Suspend until further order, the execution of James C. Gratton, of Co. F. 11th. Penn. Cavalry, and send record of his case.

A. LINCOLN
Annotation

[1] ALS, RPB. See Lincoln to Butler, January 26, infra. The roster of Company F, Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry lists James C. Gratton as deserted on August 7, 1863, returned on October 30, 1863, wounded May 14, 1864, and discharged August 26, 1864. AGO Special Orders No. 55, February 4, 1864, announced the president's pardon of ``James C. Grattan'' [sic].

Peace on earth, good will every day

Every year - in this nation, at least - we sing songs about 'peace on earth, good will towards man.' We watch movies like 'It's a Wonderful Life,' and spend anywhere from 2-24 hours espousing peaceful themes of love, peace, generosity and tolerance that spring from the core teachings in our respective religions.

Would that this could last all year. Peace on earth; in style, once a year.

I posted this last year and I'll post it every year, I guess, until we stop the madness.


I heard the bells on Christmas day

("I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the poem "Christmas Bells," composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) in 1864, in the midst of the Civil War. My favorite recording is by Placido Domingo.)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Merry Christmas

I heard the bells on Christmas day

("I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the poem "Christmas Bells," composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) in 1864, in the midst of the Civil War. My favorite recording is by Placido Domingo.)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

The cost

Nobody is ever 'home by Christmas.'

Iraqi Parliament votes to throw us out; al-Maliki may veto

Well this surely looks familiar.

The Iraqi people want us to leave, but their 'leader' says no. Their parliament is now attempting to throw us out, and their 'leader' may veto. We Americans want to leave Iraq, but our 'leader' says no. Our Congress attempted to get us out, but our 'leader' vetoed our attempt to leave.

Representative government, eh? So much for democracy. It appears we exported our current, broken one, rather than the original.

The parliament today passed a binding resolution that will guarantee lawmakers an opportunity to block the extension of the U.N. mandate under which coalition troops now remain in Iraq when it comes up for renewal in December. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose cabinet is dominated by Iraqi separatists, may veto the measure.

The law requires the parliament's approval of any future extensions of the mandate, which have previously been made by Iraq's prime minister. It is an enormous development; lawmakers reached in Baghdad today said that they do in fact plan on blocking the extension of the coalition's mandate when it comes up for renewal six months from now.

Ironic and sad.

So what next? Will Bush disband the Iraqi Parliament, over-rule their Constitution and declare martial law? Its obvious al-Maliki can't pull that off, he is outnumbered without our armed support. Will Bush now undermine the parliament, or overthrow this elected government as well?

You see... the Iraqi Parliament still hasn't passed that Iraq Hydrocarbon bill. And until they pass that bill, our troops aren't going anywhere.

As Dennis Kucinich pointed out on the House floor:

"A new oil law set to go before the Iraqi Parliament this month would, if passed, go a long way toward helping the oil companies achieve their goal. The Iraq hydrocarbon law would take the majority of Iraq's oil out of the exclusive hands of the Iraqi Government and open it to international oil companies for a generation or more.

"In March, 2001," continuing to quote from this article, "the National Energy Policy Development Group, better known as Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, which included executives of America's largest energy companies, recommended that the United States Government support initiatives by Middle Eastern countries 'to open up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment.' One invasion and a great deal of political engineering ..." later, this is exactly what the Iraq oil law would achieve. It does so to the benefit of oil companies but to the great detriment of Iraq's economy, democracy, and sovereignty.

"Since the invasion of Iraq, the administration has been aggressive in shepherding the oil law toward passage. It is one of the administration's benchmarks for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a fact that" the administration officials "are publicly emphasizing with increasing urgency." And, that is that these are the benchmarks of the administration.

"The administration has highlighted the law's revenue sharing plan, under which the central government would distribute oil revenues throughout the nation on a per capita basis. But the benefits of this excellent proposal are radically undercut by the law's many other provisions. These allow much, if not most, of Iraq's oil revenues to flow out of the country and into the pockets of international oil companies."

In the end, it will be obvious to all but the very stubbornest of partisans, that this war is, was and has always been... entirely about the oil.

I cannot be impartial

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Anger... or anguish? Or does one morph into the other? Are there times when anger is appropriate, and if so, how to keep it from eating us alive? How to remain impartial when the issues at hand are the survival of our democracy, the sanctity of our Constitution - and the survival of life on our planet? When faced with very real abuse of power and a total lack of regard for the will and the good of the people... how can one remain unmoved?

Some days anguish, some days anger. I am tired of this emotional roller coaster. The biggest drawback to digging deeply into current events, and given my background in history, is that I find myself very afraid for my country. I know Lincoln experienced these feelings, and I'm sure many other American citizens - and congressmen - also experience them today.

How do we deal with this anxiety, fear and yes... outrage? How do we overcome these growing partisan hatreds and divisions between us, and pull together again as one nation? When is anger simply 'flailing around' or 'ranting' and how can it instead be funneled into positive action?

Or is it already too late? I wish I knew.

Lately I've felt an eerie kinship with those who lived through WWII. The gnawing worry, the necessity of living every day without any guarantee of a happily-ever-after ending. History is being created and lived as we speak. We are history, and it is unfolding all around us. But it isn't history yet: it is the now. History in many ways is 'safe,' because the outcome is already ascertained. Real life is much more frightening.

After the 2000 election, I confess that I was so horrified - and felt so betrayed - that I turned my back on government and politics. I felt, and I have heard others echo this sentiment, that perhaps we deserved what we would get. I was angry with Al Gore for not demanding a total recount in Florida, and felt a very real darkness closing in on our nation. I couldn't perceive the nature of that darkness at the time, but I did know that our election process had been gravely compromised; and that this election process is the basis, the vehicle, for our participation in our 'government of the people.' I was disgusted; most especially by our media.

And so I walked away.

Katrina brought me back, and with a vengeance. I was outraged, but more than this... I was wracked with guilt. I saw the residents of New Orleans standing on their rooftops waving American flags, and holding signs that said "save me" and I saw the faces of America: the people who were paying the price, and no, they did NOT deserve what they got.

Since Katrina, I have tried to make up for lost time; first by angry blogging (I deleted my first ongoing blog because I decided it was turning into a partisan rant, and this is not who I am or want to be.) I signed petitions, I wrote weekly, sometimes daily letters to my representatives. I started digging out whatever 'real' investigative journalism I could find online. I vowed to make a difference, somehow, if only in some small way.

But I underestimated how painful, how hard it would be to look deeply into the state of our government today.

The truth is a nightmare. It now appears that every one of our mechanisms for citizen protection and corporate oversight has been compromised: FEMA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice, the FDA, the EPA, the USDA, the Department of Agriculture... all are now run by partisan Bush insiders and corporate cronies.

Americans are still living under a misconception that we are 'safe' and protected by this government, and with collective memories of greater presidents like FDR and Eisenhower, we still believe our government actually cares about our best interests and wellbeing. As each of us awakens to this new reality, one by one, city by city, state by state, I wonder -- what will remain in the wreckage?

Lincoln once said:

"If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem."

Will we ever trust again? Should we ever trust again?

One minute fear. Then anguish. Then anger.

It is impossible to be impartial. Too many have died and are dying -- and too many ancestors have a stake in what we do or allow to happen on our watch.

I often find myself remembering an evening a few years ago, when I happened to arrive at the Antietam battleground just before sunset.

No one else was there; not a park ranger in sight, and so I started walking out across the fields, through the gathering dusk.

A feeling of heaviness, of gloom hung over the place, and it was unnaturally quiet and still. The air was thick, and it was hard to breathe. I actually felt the hair rise on the back of my neck, as though someone was watching me. I have to admit, the place gave me the creeps; and yet I felt no danger there. The sensation of the place is hard to capture in words. Perhaps a great sadness; or perhaps an endless grief.

I wandered over to Burnside's bridge, through a silvery mist that was rising from the banks of Antietam creek. I walked out onto the middle of the old, stone bridge and stood there for a long time in the growing darkness, watching the swirling mist form shapes in the shadows under the hanging branches of the trees. I waited there for some unknown length of time, lost in thought, until a lone park ranger emerged from the present, and told me I would need to leave the park at dark.

As we walked back to the parking lot, he told me stories about his experiences as a battlefield 'local;' a long time resident of an old, Civil War home on the battlefield grounds. He spoke of soft, unintelligible voices murmuring under his window, occasional shouts and horses whinnying. He told me how he, and apparently many locals, would find some excuse each year to leave the area on September 17th, the anniversary of the great battle.

It would seem that he, and many from that area, shared personal experiences and a connection with those who fought and died on that ground. I pondered that idea... that perhaps the Union and Confederate solders who bled and died on those fields were in effect fighting there still; locked in endless, mortal combat in some other twilight dreamscape. War without end.

At the time and in that place, these stories didn't really surprise me. To walk the fields of Antietam at dusk, is to feel the presence of the dead.

I cannot seem to shake that memory. It rises up in my thoughts these days, unbidden but not unheeded.

When I ponder our Constitution and our freedom as Americans, I think about the sacrifices that these 23,000 men made in the course of one September day, on the fields of Sharpsburg, Maryland. They died for an idea: soldiers on each side fought for freedom and for liberty, for themselves and for future generations.

We owe them something... our best, our citizen oversight. I think at the very least, we owe them our vigilance.

My own question is, simply... how to do this without succumbing to grief, or without being torn apart by anger and partisan hostility? How do I walk away from partisan attacks when words of warning are (obviously) unwelcome? These are the questions that I struggle with daily.

I don't want to be an angry person, I have never been a partisan 'hater,' and it is not my nature to be endlessly sad. At times I walk away from the computer and say, NO MORE.

Then I recall the ravages of Katrina, and my shock when days, then weeks went by without any apparent Federal aid or presence other than the heroic efforts of our Coast Guard; not even water bottles. I remember watching Harry Connick Jr. walk into the New Orleans Convention Center and pray by the body of an elderly woman in a wheelchair. I recall watching an anguished and outraged Anderson Cooper, no longer able to sustain his journalistic impartiality, demanding an answer to the lack of Federal response.

How could this have happened in America?

I cannot forget what I have seen, and I cannot shake my sense of shared responsibility. As I type these words, American soldiers and Iraqi citizens are bleeding and dying... and for what? Certainly not to 'make us free.' Not while habeas corpus is suspended and the Patriot Act remains in effect, mocking the sacrifices and unheeded warnings of our nations' founders.

I'm tired of arguing with hate-filled, partisan hardliners; I believe that all of us are victims of a hostile, government takeover. It is in the best interest of those who remove our freedoms that we fight amongst ourselves. What a waste of time... we should be working together for our common good.

We sink or swim together. Unfortunately - even under a flag of truce - we cannot talk to one another if everyone is screaming and no one is listening. We are, once again, a house divided; this time along partisan lines. Apparently the media fear-mongers and religious intolerants were quite effective.

I cannot walk away from my belief that each of us has a responsibility to speak out in a free society, if there is any hope that we are to remain a democracy. And so I stay, I grieve and I write; an unwilling participant in a dark and living history. And I try each day to find a little solace, a little hope and patience, and a little common ground with my neighbors as I await some sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

I am loathe to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861