TELEGRAM TO GENERAL LEW WALLACE.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 10, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL WALLACE, Baltimore:
Please tell me what is the trouble with Dr. Hawks. Also please ask Bishop Whittington to give me his view of the case.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS,
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 11, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, St. Louis, Missouri:
Complaints are coming to me of disturbances in Canoll, Platte, and Buchanan counties. Please ascertain the truth, correct what is found wrong, and telegraph me.
TO P. B. LOOMIS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 12, 1864
F. B. LOOMIS, ESQ.
MY DEAR SIR:—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 28th April, in which you offer to replace the present garrison at Port Trumbull with volunteers, which you propose to raise at your own expense. While it seems inexpedient at this time to accept this proposition on account of the special duties now devolving upon the garrison mentioned, I cannot pass unnoticed such a meritorious instance of individual patriotism. Permit me, for the Government, to express my cordial thanks to you for this generous and public-spirited offer, which is worthy of note among the many called forth in these times of national trial.
I am very truly, your obedient servant,
RESPONSE TO A METHODIST DELEGATION, MAY 14, 1864.
GENTLEMEN:-In response to your address, allow me to attest the accuracy of its historical statements, indorse the sentiments it expresses, and thank you in the nation's name for the sure promise it gives. Nobly sustained, as the Government has been, by all the churches, I would utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. Yet without this, it may fairly be said, that the Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted than the best, is by its greatest numbers the most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more prayers to Heaven than—any other. God bless the Methodist Church Bless all the churches; and blessed be God, who in this our great trial giveth us the churches.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR YATES. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 18, 1864.
His EXCELLENCY RICHARD YATES, Springfield, Ill.:
If any such proclamation has appeared, it is a forgery.
ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF IRRESPONSIBLE NEWSPAPER REPORTERS AND EDITORS
ORDER TO GENERAL J. A. DIX.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 18, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN A. DIX, Commanding at New York:
Whereas there has been wickedly and traitorously printed and published this morning in the New York World and New York Journal of Commerce, newspapers printed and published in the city of New York, a false and spurious proclamation purporting to be signed by the President and to be countersigned by the Secretary of State, which publication is of a treasonable nature, designed to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and to the rebels now at war against the Government and their aiders and abettors, you are therefore hereby commanded forthwith to arrest and imprison in any fort or military prison in your command, the editors, proprietors, and publishers of the aforesaid newspapers, and all such persons as, after public notice has been given of the falsehood of said publication, print and publish the same with intent to give aid and comfort to the enemy; and you will hold the persons so arrested in close custody until they can be brought to trial before a military commission for their offense. You will also take possession by military force of the printing establishments of the New York World and Journal of Commerce, and hold the same until further orders, and prohibit any further publication therefrom.
A. LINCOLN.
[On the morning of May 18, 3864, a forged proclamation was published in the World, and Journal of Commerce, of New York. The proclamation named a day for fasting and prayer, called for 400,000 fresh troops, and purposed to raise by an "immediate and peremptory draft," whatever quotas were not furnished on the day specified. Ed.]
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL B. P. BUTLER.
(Cipher.)
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 18, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Bermuda Hundred, Va.:
Until receiving your dispatch of yesterday, the idea of commissions in the volunteers expiring at the end of three years had not occurred to me. I think no trouble will come of it; and, at all events, I shall take care of it so far as in me lies. As to the major-generalships in the regular army, I think I shall not dispose of another, at least until the combined operations now in progress, under direction of General Grant, and within which yourself and command are included, shall be terminated.
Meanwhile, on behalf of yourself, officers, and men, please accept my hearty thanks for what you and they have so far done.
ORDER CONCERNING THE EXEMPTION OF AMERICAN CONSULS FROM MILITARY SERVICE
MAY 19, 1864.
It is officially announced by the State Department that citizens of the United States holding commissions and recognized as Consuls of foreign powers, are not by law exempt from military service if drafted:
Therefore the mere enrolment of a citizen holding a foreign consulate will not be held to vacate his commission, but if he shall be drafted his exequatur will be revoked unless he shall have previously resigned in order that another Consul may be received.
An exequatur bearing date the 3d day of May, 1858, having been issued to Charles Hunt, a citizen of the United States, recognizing him as a Consul of Belgium for St. Louis, Missouri, and declaring him free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as are allowed to the Consuls of the most favored nations in the United States, and the said Hunt having sought to screen himself from his military duty to his country, in consequence of thus being invested with the consular functions of a foreign power in the United States, it is deemed advisable that the said Charles Hunt should no longer be permitted to continue in the exercise of said functions, powers, and privileges.
These are therefore to declare that I no longer recognize the said Hunt as Consul of Belgium, for St. Louis, Missouri, and will not permit him to exercise or enjoy any of the functions, powers or privileges allowed to consuls of that nation, and that I do hereby wholly revoke and annul the said exequatur heretofore given, and do declare the same to be absolutely null and void from this day forward.
In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, and the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed................
A. LINCOLN.
By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR MORTON AND OTHERS. EXECUTIVE MANSION, May 21, 1864
GOVERNOR O. P. MORTON:
The getting forward of hundred-day troops to sustain General Sherman's lengthening lines promises much good. Please put your best efforts into the work.
A. LINCOLN.
Same to Governor Yates, Springfield, Illinois; Governor Stone, Davenport, Iowa; Governor Lewis, Madison, Wisconsin.
TELEGRAM TO CHRISTIANA A. SACK. WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, D. C., May 21,
1864
CHRISTIANA A. SACK, Baltimore, Md.:
I cannot postpone the execution of a convicted spy on a mere telegraphic despatch signed with a name I never heard before. General Wallace may give you a pass to see him if he chooses.
TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR BROUGH. WASHINGTON CITY, May 24, 1864.
GOVERNOR BROUGH, Columbus, Ohio:
Yours to Secretary of War [received] asking for something cheering. We have nothing bad from anywhere. I have just seen a despatch of Grant, of 11 P.M., May 23, on the North Anna and partly across it, which ends as follows: "Everything looks exceedingly favorable for us." We have nothing later from him.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 25,1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of Potomac:
Mr. J. C. Swift wishes a pass from me to follow your army to pick up rags and cast-off clothing. I will give it to him if you say so, otherwise not.
A. LINCOLN.
["No job to big or too small" for this president—not even a request from a Rag Picker. D.W.]
MEMORANDUM CONCERNING THE TRANSPORTATION OF THE NEW YORK NAVAL BRIGADE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, May 26, 1864.
WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
I am again pressed with the claim of Mr. Marshall O. Roberts, for transportation of what was called the Naval Brigade from New York to Fortress Monroe. This force was a special organization got up by one Bartlett, in pretended pursuance of written authority from me, but in fact, pursuing the authority in scarcely anything whatever. The credit given him by Mr. Roberts, was given in the teeth of the express declaration that the Government would not be responsible for the class of expenses to which it belonged. After all some part of the transportation became useful to the Government, and equitably should be paid for; but I have neither time nor means to ascertain this equitable amount, or any appropriation to pay it with if ascertained. If the Quartermaster at New York can ascertain what would compensate for so much of the transportation as did result usefully to the Government, it might be a step towards reaching justice. I write this from memory, but I believe it is substantially correct.
TO P. A. CONKLING AND OTHERS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, June 3, 1864.
HON. F. A. CONKLING AND OTHERS.
GENTLEMEN:—Your letter, inviting me to be present at a mass meeting of loyal citizens, to be held at New York on the 4th instant, for the purpose of expressing gratitude to Lieutenant-General Grant for his signal services, was received yesterday. It is impossible for me to attend. I approve, nevertheless, of whatever may tend to strengthen and sustain General Grant and the noble armies now under his direction. My previous high estimate of General Grant has been maintained and heightened by what has occurred in the remarkable campaign he is now conducting, while the magnitude and difficulty of the task before him does not prove less than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now in the midst of their great trial, and I trust that at your meeting you will so shape your good words that they may turn to men and guns, moving to his and their support.
Yours truly,
INDORSEMENT ON A LETTER TOUCHING THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION.
JUNE 5, 1864.
(Indorsement.)
Swett is unquestionably all right. Mr. Holt is a good man, but I had not heard or thought of him for Vice-President. Wish not to interfere about Vice-President. Cannot interfere about platform. Convention must judge for itself.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL MEADE. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 6, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE, Army of the Potomac:
Private James McCarthy, of the One-hundred and fortieth New York Volunteers, is here under sentence to the Dry Tortugas for an attempt to desert. His friends appeal to me and if his colonel and you consent, I will send him to his regiment. Please answer.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS. WASHINGTON, June 8, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, St. Louis, Missouri:
Yours of to-day received. I am unable to conceive how a message can be less safe by the express than by a staff-officer. If you send a verbal message, the messenger is one additional person let into the secret.
REPLY TO THE COMMITTEE NOTIFYING PRESIDENT LINCOLN OF HIS RENOMINATION,
JUNE 9, 1864.
Mr. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF THE COMMITTEE:
I will neither conceal my gratification nor restrain the expression of my gratitude that the Union people, through their convention, in their continued effort to save and advance the nation, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in my present position. I know no reason to doubt that I shall accept the nomination tendered; and yet perhaps I should not declare definitely before reading and considering what is called the platform. I will say now, however, I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation. When the people in revolt, with a hundred days of explicit notice that they could within those days resume their allegiance without the overthrow of their institution, and that they could not so resume it afterward, elected to stand out, such amendment of the Constitution as now proposed became a fitting and necessary conclusion to the final success of the Union cause. Such alone can meet and cover all cavils. Now the unconditional Union men, North and South, perceive its importance and embrace it. In the joint names of Liberty and Union, let us labor to give it legal form and practical effect.
PLATFORM OF THE UNION NATIONAL CONVENTION HELD IN BALTIMORE, MD., JUNE 7
AND 8, 1864.
1. Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States; and that, laying aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge ourselves, as Union men, animated by a common sentiment and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.
2. Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer them any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that we call upon the Government to maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their Country and its free institutions.
3. Resolved, That as slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be, always and everywhere, hostile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the republic; and that while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defense, has aimed a death-blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States.
4. Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the Army and Navy, who have periled their lives in defense of their country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the service of the country; and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defense shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance.
5. Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the unselfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the principles of American liberty, with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we approve and indorse as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; that we approve, especially, the Proclamation of Emancipation, and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other constitutional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete effect.
6. Resolved, That we deem it essential to the General welfare that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially indorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.
7. Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war, and that any violation of these laws, or of the usages of civilized nations in time of war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of prompt and full redress.
8. Resolved, That foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power to this nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
9. Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific coast.
10. Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public debt, must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just system of taxation: and that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency.
11. Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the Government that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force or to supplant by fraud the institutions of any republican government on the Western Continent, and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of their own country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical governments, sustained by foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States.
REPLY TO A DELEGATION FROM THE NATIONAL UNION LEAGUE,
JUNE 9, 1864.
GENTLEMEN—I can only say in response to the remarks of your chairman, that I am very grateful for the renewed confidence which has been accorded to me, both by the convention and by the National League. I am not insensible at all to the personal compliment there is in this, yet I do not allow myself to believe that any but a small portion of it is to be appropriated as a personal compliment to me. The convention and the nation, I am assured, are alike animated by a higher view of the interests of the country, for the present and the great future, and the part I am entitled to appropriate as a compliment is only that part which I may lay hold of as being the opinion of the convention and of the League, that I am not entirely unworthy to be intrusted with the place I have occupied for the last three years. I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude that I am the best man in the country; but I am reminded in this connection of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that "it was not best to swap horses when crossing a stream."
REPLY TO A DELEGATION FROM OHIO,
JUNE 9, 1864.
GENTLEMEN:—I am very much obliged to you for this compliment. I have just been saying, and will repeat it, that the hardest of all speeches I have to answer is a serenade. I never know what to say on these occasions. I suppose that you have done me this kindness in connection with the action of the Baltimore convention, which has recently taken place, and with which, of course, I am very well satisfied. What we want still more than Baltimore conventions, or Presidential elections, is success under General Grant. I propose that you constantly bear in mind that the support you owe to the brave officers and soldiers in the field is of the very first importance, and we should therefore bend all our energies to that point. Now without detaining you any longer, I propose that you help me to close up what I am now saying with three rousing cheers for General Grant and the officers and soldiers under his command.
ADDRESS TO THE ENVOY FROM THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS,
JUNE 11, 1864.
SIR:—In every light in which the State of the Hawaiian Islands can be contemplated, it is an object of profound interest for the United States. Virtually it was once a colony. It is now a near and intimate neighbor. It is a haven of shelter and refreshment for our merchants, fishermen, seamen, and other citizens, when on their lawful occasions they are navigating the eastern seas and oceans. Its people are free, and its laws, language, and religion are largely the fruit of our own teaching and example. The distinguished part which you, Mr. Minister, have acted in the history of that interesting country, is well known here. It gives me pleasure to assure you of my sincere desire to do what I can to render now your sojourn in the United States agreeable to yourself, satisfactory to your sovereign, and beneficial to the Hawaiian people.
REMARKS TO AN OHIO REGIMENT,
JUNE 11, 1864.
Soldiers! I understand you have just come from Ohio; come to help us in this the nation's day of trial, and also of its hopes. I thank you for your promptness in responding to the call for troops. Your services were never needed more than now. I know not where you are going. You may stay here and take the places of those who will be sent to the front, or you may go there yourselves. Wherever you go I know you will do your best. Again I thank you. Good-by.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL L. THOMAS. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 13,
1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS, Louisville, Kentucky:
Complaint is made to me that in the vicinity of Henderson, our militia is seizing negroes and carrying them off without their own consent, and according to no rules whatever, except those of absolute violence. I wish you would look into this and inform me, and see that the making soldiers of negroes is done according to the rules you are acting upon, so that unnecessary provocation and irritation be avoided.
TELEGRAM TO THOMAS WEBSTER. WASHINGTON, D. C., June 13, 1864.
THOMAS WEBSTER, Philadelphia:
Will try to leave here Wednesday afternoon, say at 4 P.M., remain till Thursday afternoon and then return. This subject to events.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT. WASHINGTON, June 15, 1864. 7 A.M.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, Headquarters Army of the Potomac:
I have just received your dispatch of 1 P.M. yesterday. I begin to see it: you will succeed. God bless you all.
ADDRESS AT A SANITARY FAIR IN PHILADELPHIA,
JUNE 16, 1864.
I suppose that this toast is intended to open the way for me to say something. War at the best is terrible, and this of ours in its magnitude and duration is one of the most terrible the world has ever known. It has deranged business totally in many places, and perhaps in all. It has destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes. It has produced a national debt and a degree of taxation unprecedented in the history of this country. It has caused mourning among us until the heavens may almost be said to be hung in black. And yet it continues. It has had accompaniments not before known in the history of the world. I mean the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, with their labors for the relief of the soldiers, and the Volunteer Refreshment Saloons, understood better by those who hear me than by myself, and these fairs, first begun at Chicago and next held in Boston, Cincinnati, and other cities. The motive and object that lie at the bottom of them are worthy of the most that we can do for the soldier who goes to fight the battles of his country. From the fair and tender hand of women is much, very much, done for the soldier, continually reminding him of the care and thought for him at home. The knowledge that he is not forgotten is grateful to his heart. Another view of these institutions is worthy of thought. They are voluntary contributions, giving proof that the national resources are not at all exhausted, and that the national patriotism will sustain us through all. It is a pertinent question, When is this war to end? I do not wish to name the day when it will end, lest the end should not come at the given time. We accepted this war, and did not begin it. We accepted it for an object, and when that object is accomplished the war will end, and I hope to God that it will never end until that object is accomplished. We are going through with our task, so far as I am concerned, if it takes us three years longer. I have not been in the habit of making predictions, but I am almost tempted now to hazard one. I will. It is, that Grant is this evening in a position, with Meade and Hancock, of Pennsylvania, whence he can never be dislodged by the enemy until Richmond is taken. If I shall discover that General Grant may be greatly facilitated in the capture of Richmond by rapidly pouring to him a large number of armed men at the briefest notice, will you go? Will you march on with him? [Cries of "Yes, yes."] Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary.
TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL BATES.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, Jun. 24, 1864
HONORABLE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
SIR:—By authority of the Constitution, and moved thereto by the fourth section of the act of Congress, entitled "An act making appropriations for the support of the army for the year ending the thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and for other purposes, approved June is, 1864," I require your opinion in writing as to what pay, bounty, and clothing are allowed by law to persons of color who were free on the nineteenth day of April, 1861, and who have been enlisted and mustered into the military service of the United States between the month of December, 1862, and the sixteenth of June, 1864.
Please answer as you would do, on my requirement, if the act of June 15, 1864, had not been passed, and I will so use your opinion as to satisfy that act.
Your obedient servant,
TELEGRAM TO MRS. LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 24, 1864.
MRS. A. LINCOLN, Boston, Massachusetts:
All well and very warm. Tad and I have been to General Grant's army. Returned yesterday safe and sound.
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL W. S. ROSECRANS. WASHINGTON, June 24, 1864.
MAJOR-GENERAL ROSECRANS, St. Louis, Missouri:
Complaint is made to me that General Brown does not do his best to suppress bushwhackers. Please ascertain and report to me.
LETTER ACCEPTING THE NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 27, 1864.
HON. WILLIAM DENNISON AND OTHERS, a Committee of the Union National Convention.
GENTLEMEN:—Your letter of the 14th inst.., formally notifying me that I have been nominated by the convention you represent for the Presidency of the United States for four years from the 4th of March next, has been received. The nomination is gratefully accepted, as the resolutions of the convention, called the platform, are heartily approved.
While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of republican government upon the Western Continent is fully concurred in, there might be misunderstanding were I not to say that the position of the Government in relation to the action of France in Mexico, as assumed through the State Department and indorsed by the convention among the measures and acts of the Executive, will be faithfully maintained so long as the state of facts shall leave that position pertinent and applicable.
I am especially gratified that the soldier and seaman were not forgotten by the convention, as they forever must and will be remembered by the grateful country for whose salvation they devote their lives.
Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the convention, I subscribe myself,
Your obedient servant,
TO GENERAL P. STEELE.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 29, 1864
MAJOR-GENERAL STEELE:
I understand that Congress declines to admit to seats the persons sent as Senators and Representatives from Arkansas. These persons apprehend that, in consequence, you may not support the new State government there as you otherwise would. My wish is that you give that government and the people there the same support and protection that you would if the members had been admitted, because in no event, nor in any view of the case, can this do any harm, while it will be the best you can do toward suppressing the rebellion.
Yours truly,
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL GRANT. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, June 29, 1864.
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, City Point:
Dr. Worster wishes to visit you with a view of getting your permission to introduce into the army "Harmon's Sandal Sock." Shall I give him a pass for that object?
TELEGRAM TO DAVID TOD.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., June 30, 1864.
HON. DAVID TOD, Youngstown, Ohio: I have nominated you to be Secretary of the Treasury, in place of Governor Chase, who has resigned. Please come without a moment's delay.
TO J. L. SCRIPPS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 4, 1864.
To JOHN L. SCRIPPS, ESQ.
DEAR SIR:—Complaint is made to me that you are using your official power to defeat Mr. Arnold's nomination to Congress. I am well satisfied with Mr. Arnold as a member of Congress, and I do not know that the man who might supplant him would be as satisfactory; but the correct principle, I think, is that all our friends should have absolute freedom of choice among our friends. My wish, therefore, is that you will do just as you think fit with your own suffrage in the case, and not constrain any of your subordinates to [do] other than [as] he thinks fit with his. This is precisely the rule I inculcated and adhered to on my part, when a certain other nomination, now recently made, was being canvassed for.
Yours very truly,
A. LINCOLN.
TELEGRAM TO J. W. GARRETT. WASHINGTON, July 5, 1864.
J. W. GARRETT, President [B. & 0. R. R.], Camden Station:
You say telegraphic communication is re-established with Sandy Hook. Well, what does Sandy Hook say about operations of enemy and of Sigel during to-day?
FROM SECRETARY STANTON TO GOVERNOR SEYMOUR.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, July 5, 1864.
HIS EXCELLENCY HORATIO SEYMOUR, Governor of New York, Albany:
The President directs me to inform you that a rebel force, variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty thousand men, have invaded the State of Maryland, and have taken Martinsburg and Harper's Ferry, and are threatening other points; that the public safety requires him to call upon the State executives for a militia force to repel this invasion. He therefore directs me to call on you for a militia force of twelve thousand men from your State to serve not more than one hundred days, and to request that you will with the utmost despatch forward the troops to Washington by rail or steamboat as may be most expeditious.
Please favor me with an answer at your earliest convenience.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
PROCLAMATION SUSPENDING THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS,
JULY 5, 1864.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
A Proclamation.
Whereas, by a proclamation which was issued on the 15th day of April, 1861, the President of the United States announced and declared that the laws of the United States had been for some time past, and then were, opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in certain States therein mentioned, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the power vested in the marshals by law; and
Whereas, immediately after the issuing of the said proclamation the land and naval forces of the United States were put into activity to suppress the said insurrections and rebellion; and
Whereas, the Congress of the United States, by an act approved on the third day of March, 1863, did enact that during the said rebellion the President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public safety may require it, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or any part thereof; and
Whereas, the said insurrection and rebellion still continue, endangering the existence of the Constitution and Government of the United States; and
Whereas, the military forces of the United States are now actively engaged in suppressing the said insurrection and rebellion in various parts of the States where the said rebellion has been successful in obstructing the laws and public authorities, especially in the States of Virginia and Georgia; and
Whereas, on the fifteenth day of September last, the President of the United States duly issued his proclamation, wherein he declared that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus should be suspended throughout the United States, in Cases whereby the authority of the President of the United States, the military, naval, and civil officers of the United States, or any of them, hold persons under their command or in their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled or drafted, or mustered, or enlisted in, or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law, or the rules and articles of war, or the rules and regulations prescribed for the military and naval service by authority of the President of the United States, or for resisting a draft, or for any other offence against the military or naval service; and
Whereas, many citizens of the State of Kentucky have joined the forces of the insurgents, who have on several occasions entered the said State of Kentucky in large force and not without aid and comfort furnished by disaffected and disloyal citizens of the United States residing therein, have not only greatly disturbed the public peace but have overborne the civil authorities and made flagrant civil war, destroying property and life in various parts of the State; and
Whereas, it has been made known to the President of the United States, by the officers commanding the National armies, that combinations have been formed in the said State of Kentucky, with a purpose of inciting the rebel forces to renew the said operations of civil war within the said State, and thereby to embarrass the United States armies now operating in the said States of Virginia and Georgia, and even to endanger their safety.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws, do hereby declare that in my judgment the public safety especially requires that the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus so proclaimed in the said proclamation of the 15th of September, 1863, be made effectual and be duly enforced in and throughout the said State of Kentucky, and that martial law be for the present declared therein. I do therefore hereby require of the military officers of the said State that the privilege of the habeas corpus be effectually suspended within the said State, according to the aforesaid proclamation, and that martial law be established therein to take effect from the date of this proclamation, the said suspension and establishment of martial law to continue until this proclamation shall be revoked or modified, but not beyond the period when the said rebellion shall have been suppressed or come to an end. And I do hereby require and command, as well as military officers, all civil officers and authorities existing or found within the said State of Kentucky, to take notice of this proclamation and to give full effect to the same. The martial laws herein proclaimed and the things in that respect herein ordered will not be deemed or taken to interfere with the holding of lawful elections, or with the proceedings of the constitutional Legislature of Kentucky, or with the administration of justice in the courts of law existing therein between citizens of the United States in suits or proceedings which do not affect the military operations or the constituted authorities of the government of the United States.
In testimony 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 5th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1864, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
A. LINCOLN. By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.