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].

Rich, White Republicans can't go to jail...!

Ah, the screams of injustice from the ruling class. The double standard isn't working this time... how can this be? Amidst death threats and a barrage of angry letters from the rich, white Republican establishment, Judge Reggie B. Walton is sending Scooter off to jail, right on schedule.

"Unfair!" the Republicans screamed.

Yes, Libby was found guilty on four felony accounts... but come on, he's our buddy! He's a 'good guy!' And he's one of us... you can't lock us up, like common criminals! (Shades of Paris Hilton here?)

BILL MOYERS: Attempting to trash critics of the war, Libby and his pals in high places - including his boss Dick Cheney - outed a covert CIA agent. Libby then lied to cover their tracks. He kicked sand in the eyes of truth, to throw investigators off the trail. Said the Chief Prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald: "Libby lied about nearly everything that mattered." The jury agreed and found him guilty on four felony counts. The judge - Reggie B. Walton - a no-nonsense lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key type appointed to the bench by none other than George W. Bush - called the evidence ‘overwhelming' and threw the book at Libby. You would have thought their man had been ordered to Guantanamo, so intense was the reaction from his defenders. They flooded the judge's chambers with letters of support for their comrade and took to the airwaves in a campaign to free Scooter Libby.

Alas, poor Scooter, a 'casualty' of partisan politics. Never mind that he lied and obstructed justice. These rules don't apply in the Beltway, I mean do they really?

BILL MOYERS: One beltway insider is quoted saying the neo-cons are "weighted down by the sheer, glaring unfairness" of Libby's sentence. And there's the rub. None seem the least weighted down by the sheer, glaring unfairness of sentencing soldiers to repeated and longer tours of duty in a war induced by deception. It was left to the hawkish academic Fouad Ajami to state it baldly, as he pleaded on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal for Bush to pardon Libby. For believing "in the nobility of this war," wrote Ajami, Scooter Libby had himself become a "casualty" -- a fallen soldier the president dare not leave behind on the beltway battlefield. Not a word in the entire article about the real fallen soldiers. The honest-to-god dead and dying and wounded. Not a word about the chaos or the cost. All the beltway warriors can muster is a plea of mercy for one of their own who lied to cover their tracks.

In the end, it is the loss of their double standard that seems most troubling to the Washington establishment. But as one honest conservative, former Governor of Virginia James Gilmore put it rather bluntly: "If the public believes there's one law for a certain group of people in high places and another law for regular people, then you will destroy the law and destroy the system."

I wish I believed this wasn't their intention.