Showing posts with label Horace Greeley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horace Greeley. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

General William T. Sherman to Senator John Sherman, July 16, 1872

PARIS, FRANCE, July 16, 1872.

Dear Brother: . . . Of course I have watched the progress of political events as they appear from this standpoint, and feel amazed to see the turn things have taken. Grant, who never was a Republican, is your candidate; and Greeley, who never was a Democrat but quite the reverse, is the Democratic candidate. I infer that Grant will be re-elected, though several shrewd judges insist that Greeley will be our next President. . . . There are a great many Americans located here in business or prolonged stay, that constitute a society in themselves. They try to monopolize my spare time, yet I have managed to see M. Thiers, and the officers of Versailles, having dined with the President, and I am this moment back from a tour of the southern line of forts, Valérien, D'Issy, Vanves, and Montrouge, guided by a staff-officer especially appointed; and I have appointed another day of next week to complete the circuit. En route to Paris I saw Strasbourg, Wissembourg, Saarbruck, Metz, and Sedan, so that I shall be able to understand the angry controversies that are sure to arise in the progress of the trials that I see it is resolved to put Bazaine and others through. . . Choosing between the two candidates on national grounds, I surely prefer Grant; as to platforms and parties, of course I regard these as mere traps to catch flies, but with General Grant as President, there will likely be more stability and quietude, which the country needs. . . .

Truly yours,
W. T. SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 337-8

Senator John Sherman to General William T. Sherman, August 4, 1872

MANSFIELD, OHIO, Aug. 4, 1872.

Dear Brother: . . . Just now all interest is centred upon the Presidential election. As you say, the Republicans are running a Democrat, and the Democrats a Republican. And there is not an essential difference in the platform of principle. The chief interest I feel in the canvass is the preservation of the Republican party, which I think essential to secure the fair enforcement of the results of the war. General Grant has so managed matters as to gain the very bitter and active hostility of many of the leading Republicans, and the personal indifference of most of the residue. He will, however, be fairly supported by the great mass of the Republicans, and I still hope and believe will be elected. The defections among Republicans will be made up by Democrats, who will not vote for Greeley.

The whole canvass is so extraordinary, that no result can be anticipated. You will notice that Sumner, Thurman, Banks, and others are for Greeley, who is probably the most unfit man for President, except Train, that has ever been mentioned. I intend to support Grant fairly and fully, as best for the country and Republican party.

Affectionately yours,
JOHN SHERMAN.

SOURCE: Rachel Sherman Thorndike, Editor, The Sherman Letters: Correspondence Between General and Senator Sherman from 1837 to 1891, p. 338-9

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, June 23, 1865

Rear-Admiral Dahlgren returned this morning from Charleston. Two years since he left. Simultaneous with his return come tidings of the death of Rear-Admiral Du Pont, whom he relieved, and who died this A.M. in Philadelphia. Du Pont possessed ability, had acquirements, was a scholar rather than a hero. He was a courtier, given to intrigue, was selfish, adroit, and skillful. Most of the Navy were attached to him and considered his the leading cultured mind in the service. He nursed cliques. There are many intelligent and excellent officers, however, who look upon him with exceeding dislike; yet Du Pont had, two and three years ago, greater personal influence than any man in the service. He knew it, and intended to make it available in a controversy with the Department on the subject of the monitor vessels, to which he took a dislike. Although very proud, he was not physically brave. Pride would have impelled him to go into action, but he had not innate daring courage. He was determined not to retain his force or any portion of it in Charleston Harbor, insisted it could not be done, disobeyed orders, was relieved, and expected to rally the Navy and country with him, but was disappointed. Some of his best friends condemned his course. He sought a controversy with the Department, and was not successful. Disappointed and chagrined, he has been unhappy and dissatisfied. I believe I appreciated and did justice to his good qualities, and am not conscious that I have been at any time provoked to do him wrong. He challenged me to remove him, and felt confident I would not do it. I would not have done it had he obeyed orders and been zealous for operations against Charleston. As it was, I made no haste, and only ordered Foote and Dahlgren when I got ready. Then the step was taken. Du Pont was amazed, yet had no doubt the Navy would be roused in his favor, and that he should overpower the Department. Months passed. He procured two or three papers to speak for him, but there was no partisanship in the Navy for him, except with about half a dozen young officers, whom he had petted and trained, and a few mischievous politicians.

Returning to Delaware, he went into absolute retirement. None missed or called for him. This seclusion did not please him and became insupportable, but he saw no extrication. He therefore prepared a very adroit letter in the latter part of October, 1863, ostensibly an answer to a dispatch of mine written the preceding June. This skillful letter, I have reason to believe, was prepared in concert with H. Winter Davis, and was intended to be used in an assault on me at the session of Congress then approaching. Although much engaged, I immediately replied, and in such a manner as to close up Du Pont. Davis, however, made his attack in Congress, but in such a way as not to draw out the correspondence. Others remedied that deficiency, and Davis got more than he asked. Du Pont sank. He could rally no force, and the skill and tact at intrigue which had distinguished him in earlier years and in lower rank was gone. He felt that he was feeble and it annoyed him. Still, his talent was not wholly idle. False issues were put forth, and doubtless some have been deceived by them.

Admiral Porter is ordered to superintend the Naval School. In some respects a good officer, but is extravagant in expenditure sometimes, and I am apprehensive has a tendency to be partial. I trust, however, he may prove successful.

A letter of General Grant, urging the necessity of prompt action against the Imperial Government of Mexico, was read in Cabinet. Differences of opinion were expressed, but there was not a general concurrence in the apprehensions expressed by General Grant, who, naturally perhaps, desires to retain a large military force in service.

In a long conversation with Blair this evening he told me he had put himself in communication with some of the New York editors. Greeley had disappointed him, and was unreliable. Marble of the World he commends highly. I incline to think he has ability and he, or some of his writers, exhibits more comprehension of the true principles and structure of the government than in other journals. There is in the World more sound doctrine in these days than in most papers.

Blair still holds on to McClellan, — stronger, I think, than he did a year ago. Perhaps Marble and his New York friends have influenced him more than he supposes, and that he, instead of, or as well as they, may have been at least partially converted.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 320-22

Monday, January 17, 2022

Silas A. Hudson

Hon. Silas A. Hudson, deceased, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Des Moines county, and became a man of decisive character, serving as minister to Central America, and exerting no unimportant influence upon the people with whom he came in contact, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, Dec. 13, 1815. His father, Bailey Washington Hudson, was a native of Fauquier county, Virginia, born April 15, 1782. He was descended from one of the old families of England that was established in Virginia in colonial days. He served with distinction in the War of 1812, participating under General Harrison in the battles of Tippecanoe, the River Raisin, and the Thames. He and his brother Samuel had previously settled in Mason county, Kentucky, where they jointly purchased seven hundred and sixty acres of land, known as the family homestead. There Bailey W. Hudson married Miss Susan A. Grant, a sister of Jesse R. and a daughter of Noah Grant. The last named, one of the patriots of New England, belonged to the party of seventeen men who, disguised as Indians, threw the tea overboard in Boston harbor, and thus instituted what has since been known in history as the Boston tea-party. Several years after his marriage Mr. Hudson entered into partnership with Noah Grant, Jr., his brother-in-law, under the firm style of Noah Grant & Company, and they conducted one of the leading mercantile enterprises of Maysville, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson became the parents of seven children: Silas A.; Noah Grant, born June 23, 1817; John Y., born July 2, 1819: Frances A., March 20, 1821; Walter Warder, June 11, 1823: and Peter Todd, Oct. 26, 1825. The two last named were among the early settlers of Burlington, and aided in molding the pioneer history of this part of the State. Walter W. Hudson came to Burlington with his brother Silas in 1839. He was a soldier of the Mexican War, serving with the Fifteenth Regiment under Colonel Howard, and he participated in the engagements at National Bridge, Pueblo. Churubusco, Molino del Rey, and Chapultepec. At the last named he was the first to carry the flag over the walls, and the lone Iowa Company was given the credit of running up the first United States flag over Chapultepec and garrisoning the fort. Following the close of the Mexican War, and upon the commendation of Colonel Howard, Walter W. Hudson was appointed a lieutenant of the First United Slates Regular Infantry by President Polk. He was then sent to the Rio Grande, where he had charge of the troops that were protecting the line of forts then being built along the frontier. In an engagement with the Indians he was wounded at Fort Hudson (which had been named in his honor), and he died at McIntosh near Lorado, Texas, April 9, 1850. In his death the United States Army lost one of its most promising, energetic, and efficient officers. Peter Todd Hudson came to Burlington in 1845, and made his home with his brother Silas until after the discovery of gold in California, when, hoping to realize a fortune in the mines on the Pacific Coast, his brother fitted him out with teams and sufficient means to go to the far West. He remained for two years, taking advantage of various business opportunities, and then because of failing health he returned to Burlington. In 1857 Silas A. Hudson sent him to Denver, Colo., where he opened a supply store, being one of the first settlers in that place. He was among the discoverers and aided in the early development of the mines at Breckenridge, and in fact was the founder of that place, naming it in honor of J. C. Breckenridge, a personal friend of the Hudson family. During the first year of the war of the rebellion he was driven away by the Indians, and he returned to Burlington to join General Grant's staff. He entered the service with the rank of captain, and was subsequently promoted to that of lieutenant-colonel. He served with General Grant, taking part in all the battles fought by that intrepid commander, from Vicksburg to Appomattox, and was offered by General Grant the position of senior major in the regular army, but declined to accept this military position. He remained on General Grant's staff until 1867, when he resigned and went to California, where he was engaged in the stock business. He was afterward offered by General Grant the office of United States marshal of California, but also declined to serve in that capacity. He is now living in Colusa county, California.

Silas A. Hudson acquired a liberal education in the Maysville Academy, at Maysville, Ky., and largely supplemented his intellectual training by private study. Through travel he gained the culture and knowledge which can be obtained in no other way. He left home when seventeen years of age, and spent the succeeding year in travel, visiting the leading cities of America. He first visited Burlington in 1837, and also touched at other points on the Mississippi River, but returned to St. Louis, where he continued to reside until 1839, after which he made a permanent settlement in Des Moines county. He purchased a lot on Jefferson Street in Burlington, and in 1840 erected two brick houses, which at that time were superior to any dwelling of the city. Becoming a factor in mercantile circles, he engaged in the stove, tin, and hardware business, with which he was identified for more than twenty years, having a large jobbing trade and also conducting a number of branch houses in other Western towns. He possessed marked business capacity, unfaltering energy, and with keen foresight understood the conditions of the West and its probable development, which enabled him to anticipate future needs and to meet them in a manner that resulted beneficially to his community, and at the same time brought him desirable prosperity. Thus he contributed to the material welfare of the localities with which he was connected in mercantile lines, but he probably became best known through his activity in political work.

From his youth Mr. Hudson was deeply interested in the question of politics, and read everything that he could find bearing upon such subjects, so that when he reached manhood he was well informed concerning the political history of his country, and had intimate knowledge of the leading questions of the day, as well as of the careers and records of all of the prominent public men. The first national election in which he took part was in the presidential campaign of 1836, when he gave his support to General Harrison, casting his first ballot at Louisville, Ky. He was an ardent supporter of the Whig party, and after his arrival at Burlington he wrote the call that organized the Whig party in this territory, giving his support to its nominees during the existence of that great political organization.

Mr. Hudson left his impress upon the political history of Iowa, being very influential in her affairs. He was clerk of the Territorial Legislature and also first chief clerk of the House in the State organization. During the legislative session of 1842-43 the territorial laws were revised by the general assembly, and in this work Mr. Hudson largely assisted, as he did when the laws were again revised in 1846-47, being adapted to the State organization. In 1862 he rendered valuable service because of his intimate knowledge of the needs and conditions of the commonwealth. He was the author of the city charter of Burlington and its principal ordinances under which the city was governed for more than thirty years, preparing these documents in 1845. He used the charter and ordinances of the city of Cincinnati as a basis upon which to work, and the papers were so correct as to construction and so adequate to the city's needs that there was no change made in three decades. In community affairs Mr. Hudson was actively interested, holding many important offices. He was a member of the city council for fourteen years, and was mayor of Burlington in 1855-56, holding that position at the time the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad was constructed to this city. He was also acting mayor during the two previous terms. He filled a number of minor offices, serving for some time as a member of the school board. At the time of the establishment of the New York Tribune Mr. Hudson became one of its subscribers, and for more than twenty years was an influential and valued contributor to its columns, as he was also to the Louisville Journal, its editor being George D. Prentice. He was from early life an intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln: and, recognizing his great qualities, he became a champion of his cause in connection with the presidency when the subject of the choice of a candidate was being discussed by the people in 1860. He used the columns of these influential journals to bring the name of Lincoln prominently before the public, and in connection with Horace Greeley he arranged to have Mr. Lincoln go to New York, where he made the great speech that so seriously hurt Mr. Steward's chance for the presidency. Mr. Hudson was also instrumental in having Mr. Lincoln come to Burlington, where he was listened to by many citizens who still reside here. This was the only time that the martyred president ever spoke in this city, and his subsequent election and reelection were largely aided by the voice and pen of his old friend. The cordial relation existing between them was never interrupted until the assassin did his deadly work and the nation mourned a martyred president.

Mr. Hudson was always a stanch friend and admirer of General Grant, who was an own cousin, and with whom he had been in a measure in close relationship in his youth, each living at different periods at the home of the other. Naturally Mr. Hudson was an ardent supporter of the war, and was among the first to take an active and prominent part in raising and forwarding troops. During the war he spent a part of the time in the field with General Grant, and at the siege of Vicksburg he had a narrow escape. Raising his head above the breastworks, several rebel bullets instantly whistled about his head, one cutting a crease in his scalp; and because of his injury he was almost a constant sufferer afterward. He never wavered in his allegiance to the Union cause until its preservation was an established fact. Outside of offices connected with the municipal government he did not seek political prominence, yet in March, 1869, he was appointed by President Grant to the position of United States minister to Central America. On that mission he was eminently successful. Previous to his residence there the commerce between the United States and Central America was very limited. He devoted himself to increasing the trade with the states there, and soon after his arrival he arranged for the landing of the vessels of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, running between San Francisco and Panama. According to the terms of the treaty these were to stop at five ports of Central America. These and other means which he employed led largely to diverting the trade of Central America to this country, and the immense commerce which succeeded was the legitimate outgrowth of his efforts. He not only rendered valuable service to the United States during his ministry, but also did able work for the people of Central America as well. That country was in a state of constant revolution at the time, and the friendly offices of tile legation were being constantly employed in behalf of foreign residents coming under the displeasure of the government. The creditable manner in which his services were rendered to all parties led to the government's consenting that he should represent foreign residents in Central America, In this way he represented nine different nationalities, including Switzerland, which country has ever since confided to the American ministry, elsewhere as well as in Central America, the protection of her citizens abroad.

In 1871, after five successive battles, the rebels won their way to the city of Guatemala, and demanded its surrender. On this occasion the government placed Mr. Hudson at the head of a commission, investing him with the power to treat with the rebel general and his forces for a change of government, and this commission was successfully concluded. Owing to the bitter opposition of General Barrios, second in command, the commission met with almost total failure. The bloody-minded half-breed chief had enlisted and led the advance columns, and held them under promise that the plunder of the city should be given up to them for their services, and he would listen to no other terms. When the commission had advanced within about a furlong of the rebel forces, they were met and halted by the officer commanding, and informed by him that he was ordered to turn back all parties seeking personal interviews with the general-in-chief, and to fire upon them it they refused. Mr. Hudson stated to him the object of the commission; that it was made up of the representatives of friendly powers, and that in their quality as such they could accept no such answer, especially from a lesser officer than the general-in-chief: that the commission expected, and would give him a reasonable time to furnish, a fitting escort to the camp of the general-in-chief, and should he fail to do so they would undertake to find their way unaided. After much parley with him by others, and no movement being made toward providing an escort. Mr. Hudson, announcing his purpose, and accompanied by the United States consul, rode forward, while all the others sought cover outside the sweep of the battery planted in front of them. They were allowed to approach within forty or fifty yards of the guns, while every demonstration of a purpose to fire upon them was being made. At length the commander ordered the gunners not to fire, and came forward, meeting Mr. Hudson and his companion, declaring that he could not execute the order, and that he would furnish an escort as requested and go with them himself to insure their safety and freedom from unpleasant stoppages. Here they were again joined by their colleagues. Mr. Hudson afterward learned that this officer was a nephew of General Granados, the rebel commander, and that in employing the friendly offices of the United States legation in behalf of political suspects a short time before he had secured the release of his brother, who had been condemned to be shot as a spy, and that this brother was present with the commander, pleading with him in Mr. Hudson’s behalf until he was successful in his attempt to have the life of Mr. Hudson spared. In company with both parties they proceeded to the camp of General Granados, reaching there about 10 P.M. The greater part of the night was spent in arranging the terms by which the personnel of the government could be changed peacefully and further loss of life and properly be avoided, and not offend the mercenary Barrios and his followers. By the terms of the compact the rebel troops were commanded to stack their arms four miles outside of the city, which they did to the number of about twenty-four thousand, and to enter Guatemala as private citizens. The next morning at ten o'clock they met on the government plaza and elected, viva voce. General Granados provisional president: who, as such, by the terms of the treaty was required and did issue writs of election to the several departments for the election of new members of congress and the organization of the government under the existing law. This put an end to the revolutionary troubles during the residence of Mr. Hudson in that city.

In 1873 Mr. Hudson resigned, and returned to his home in Burlington, where he lived until his death. In his domestic relations he was happy. In 1844 he married Miss Ann Caldwell, a native of Kentucky, born Jan. 14, 1826. Of this marriage there were three children: Virginia, born Oct. 25, 1845; Marietta, born June 25, 1848: and Walter Werder, born Aug. 25, 1850. The second daughter died Jan. 11, 1874. Mrs. Hudson died on the 13th of March, 1851, and on Jan. 11, 1853, Mr. Hudson was again married, his second union being with Serena Griffey, who was born at Morgantown, W. Va., July 23. 1825, and was the fifth in a family of twelve children, ten of whom reached adult age, nine daughters and a son coming to Burlington. Her father, William Griffey, was born July 4, 1787, and was of English descent. He was a successful merchant at Morgantown, and was an iron manufacturer. He was married Oct. 28, 1810, to Miss Mary Spitzer, a native of Winchester, Va., and of German descent. Mr. Griffey was obliged to pay a large security debt, and nearly all of his property was swept away in this manner. He had to take as partial indemnity for his loss the negroes that had belonged to the man who failed, and these he allowed to purchase their freedom as they were able to do so. Mr. Griffey came to Iowa in May, 1837, proceeding down the Ohio and up the Mississippi rivers by steamer to where the village of Burlington stood. It then contained only a few houses. Mr. Griffey took up land, and in connection with Mr. Sherfy operated a saw mill on Flint Creek and one in Illinois. Later he opened a clothing store on Jefferson and Main Streets, where he remained until his death, which occurred Jan, 11, 1848. His wife, who was born June 15, 1795, died in 1850. Their children were Leanna, who married Charles Medara, and died in the spring of 1838: Henry, who went South, and was not heard from after a time; Levara, who married David Rice, and died leaving a family: Mary, the wife of John Johnson, of Denver; Mrs. Hudson; Delia, who married Capt. Thomas French, and is a widow, living at Cripple Creek, Colo.; Ellen, who is the widow of Daniel Cox, and resides in Burlington, Iowa: Laura, deceased; Martha, the widow of William Hillhouse, and now living with her mother; and Caroline, who died after attaining early womanhood.

During the last ten years of his life Mr. Hudson was an invalid, suffering from paralysis. His mind was very clear and alert, and he maintained a deep interest in public affairs until his demise, which occurred Dec. 19, 1897. In the management of his varied enterprises Mr. Hudson was successful, and he acquired a competency, enabling himself and family to live in ease and comfort. His was, indeed, a well-spent, active, and useful career, characterized by unfaltering devotion to the general good as well as to his individual interests. He was a co-laborer and colleague of many of the eminent men of the nation, and the labor which he did when serving as minister to Central America still finds its fruition in the national trade relations which have since existed between the two countries.

SOURCE: Hobart Publishing Company, Biographical Review of Des Moines County, Iowa, p. 94-101

Monday, January 3, 2022

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, April 1, 1865

The President yet remains with the army, and the indications are that a great and perhaps final battle is near. Tom writes me, dating his letter “Headquarters Army of the James, near Hatcher's Run,” saying he had scarcely slept for forty-eight hours, the army having commenced moving on the evening of the 27th, and his letter was dated the evening of the 29th. General Ord must, therefore, have moved his army from before Richmond, crossed the James, and got below Petersburg. I infer, therefore, that the demonstration will be on that plan, and I trust defeat and capture of Lee and his army.

Greeley's letter of last summer to the President, urging peace for our “bleeding, bankrupt, ruined country” has been published in England. This was the letter which led to the Niagara conference. I advised its publication and the whole correspondence at the time, but the President was unwilling just then, unless Greeley would consent to omit the passage concerning our ruined country, but to this Greeley would not consent, and in that exhibited weakness, for it was the most offensive and objectionable part of his letter.

How it comes now to be published in England I do not understand. I should have preferred its appearance at home in the first instance. Poor Greeley is nearly played out. He has a morbid appetite for notoriety. Wishes to be noted and forward in all shows. Four years ago was zeal or willing — to let the States secede if they wished. Six months later was vociferating, “On to Richmond.” Has been scolding and urging forward hostile operations. Suddenly is for peace, and ready to pay the Rebels four hundred millions or more to get it, he being allowed to figure in it. He craves public attention. Does not exhibit a high regard for principle. I doubt his honesty about as much as his consistency. It is put on for effect. He is a greedy office-hunter.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 271-2

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, September 3, 1864

New York City is shouting for McClellan, and there is a forced effort elsewhere to get a favorable response to the almost traitorous proceeding at Chicago. As usual, some timid Union men are alarmed, and there are some, like Raymond, Chairman of the National Committee, who have no fixed and reliable principles to inspire confidence, who falter, and another set, like Greeley, who have an uneasy, lingering hope that they can yet have an opportunity to make a new candidate. But this will soon be over. The Chicago platform is unpatriotic, almost treasonable to the Union. The issue is made up. It is whether a war shall be made against Lincoln to get peace with Jeff Davis. Those who met at Chicago prefer hostility to Lincoln rather than to Davis. Such is extreme partisanism.

We have to-day word that Atlanta is in our possession, but we have yet no particulars. It has been a hard, long struggle, continued through weary months. This intelligence will not be gratifying to the zealous partisans who have just committed the mistake of sending out a peace platform, and declared the war a failure. It is a melancholy and sorrowful reflection that there are among us so many who so give way to party as not to rejoice in the success of the Union arms. They feel a conscious guilt, and affect not to be dejected, but discomfort is in their countenances, deportment, and tone. While the true Unionists are cheerful and joyous, greeting all whom they meet over the recent news, the Rebel sympathizers shun company and are dolorous. This is the demon of party, — the days of its worst form, - a terrible spirit, which in its excess leads men to rejoice in the calamities of their country and to mourn its triumphs. Strange, and wayward, and unaccountable are men. While the facts are as I have stated, I cannot think these men are destitute of love of country; but they permit party prejudices and party antagonisms to absorb their better natures. The leaders want power. All men crave it. Few, comparatively, expect to attain high position, but each hopes to be benefited within a certain circle which limits, perhaps, his present ambition. There is fatuity in nominating a general and warrior in time of war on a peace platform.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 135-6

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, September 13, 1864

 Had an interesting half-hour talk with J. M. Forbes, a sensible man and true patriot. He wishes the President to make the issue before the country distinctly perceptible to all as democratic and aristocratic. The whole object and purpose of the leaders in the Rebellion is the establishment of an aristocracy, although not distinctly avowed. Were it avowed, they would have few followers. Mr. Forbes wishes me to urge this subject upon the President. It is not in my nature to obtrude my opinions upon others. Perhaps I err in the other extreme. In the course of the conversation he related a violent and strange assault that was made upon him by Mr. Seward some time since, in the railroad cars or on the platform at a stopping-place, denouncing him for trying to postpone the nominating convention. Mr. Blair, in walking over with me, took the opportunity of stating his conviction that there was a deep intrigue going forward on the part of the "little villain” using Greeley's epithet to Raymond – to effect a change of Cabinet next March. The grumbling and the complaint about the employĂ©s in the Navy Yards meant more than was expressed. It is to gradually work upon the President and get him, if possible, dissatisfied with me and with the administration of the Navy Department. I doubt if this is so and yet should not be at all surprised to find Blair to be right in his conjectures. I know that the managers are very much dissatisfied because I do not make the yards bitterly partisan, and permit levies for money to be made on the workmen for party purposes. This is particularly the case at the Brooklyn yard. Raymond has in party matters neither honesty nor principle himself, and believes that no one else has. He would compel men to vote, and would buy up leaders. Money and office, not argument and reason, are the means which he would use. This fellow, trained in the vicious New York school of politics, is Chairman of the Republican National Committee; is spending much of his time in Washington, working upon the President secretly, trying to poison his mind and induce him to take steps that would forever injure him. Weed, worse than Seward, is Raymond's prompter, and the debaucher of New York politics.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 141-2

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, August 31, 1864

The complaints in regard to recruiting are severe and prolonged. They come in numbers. It seems to be taken for granted that we can open a rendezvous in every county. I have no doubt that the rendezvous are overcrowded and that abuses are practiced in consequence. The impending draft for the army indirectly benefits the Navy, or induces persons to enter it. Their doing so relieves them and their localities from the draft. Hence the crowd and competition. Then come in the enormous bounties from the State and municipal authorities over which naval officers have no control, and which lead to bounty-jumping and corruption.

Admiral Porter came by order. Says he prefers remaining in his present command. In a long interview our interchange of opinion concerning men and naval matters was on the whole satisfactory.

General McClellan was to-day nominated as the candidate of the so-called Democratic party. It has for some days been evident that it was a foregone conclusion and the best and only nomination the opposition could make. The preliminary arrangements have been made with tact and skill, and there will probably be liberality, judgment, and sense exhibited in launching and supporting the nominee, which it would become the Union men to imitate. That factious, narrow, faultfinding illiberality of radicals in Congress which has disgraced the press ostensibly of the Administration party, particularly the press of New York City, has given strength to their opponents. McClellan will be supported by War Democrats and Peace Democrats, by men of every shade and opinion; all discordant elements will be made to harmonize, and all differences will be suppressed. Whether certain Republican leaders in Congress, who have been assailing and deceiving the Administration, and the faultfinding journals of New York have, or will, become conscious of their folly, we shall soon know. They have done all that was in their power to destroy confidence in the President and injure those with whom they were associated. If, therefore, the reëlection of Mr. Lincoln is not defeated, it will not be owing to them.

In some respects I think the President, though usually shrewd and sensible, has mismanaged. His mistakes, I think, are attributable to Mr. Seward almost exclusively. It has been a misfortune to retain Stanton and Halleck. He might have brought McClellan into the place of the latter, and Blair had once effected the arrangement, but Seward defeated it. As I have not been in the close confidence of the President in his party personal selections and movements, I am left to judge of many things, as are all the Cabinet except Mr. Seward and to some extent Mr. Stanton, who is in the Seward interest. It has seemed to me a great misfortune that the President should have been so much under the influence of these men, but New York State is a power and Seward makes the most of it. I have regretted that the President should have yielded so much to Greeley in many things and treated him with so much consideration. Chase and Wade, though not in accord, have by their ambition and disappointments done harm, and, in less degree, the same may be said of Mr. Sumner. Others of less note might be named. Most of them will now cease grumbling, go to work to retrieve their folly so far as they can. Possibly the New York editors may be perverse a few weeks longer, sufficiently so to give that city overwhelmingly to the opposition, and perhaps lose the State.

Seward will, unintentionally, help them by over-refined intrigues and assumptions and blunders. It has sometimes seemed to me that he was almost in complicity with his enemies, and that they were using him. I am not certain that the latter is not true.

It is an infirmity of the President that he permits the little newsmongers to come around him and be intimate, and in this he is encouraged by Seward, who does the same, and even courts the corrupt and the vicious, which the President does not. He has great inquisitiveness. Likes to hear all the political gossip as much as Seward. But the President is honest, sincere, and confiding, — traits which are not so prominent in some by whom he is surrounded.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 129-31

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, August 9, 1864

At the Cabinet to-day there was no special business. Seward and Stanton were not present. Mr. Fessenden is absent in Maine. Governor Hahn of Louisiana was present a short time.

Alluding to the Niagara peace proceedings, the President expressed a willingness that all should be published. Greeley had asked it, and when I went into the President's room Defrees1 was reading the proof of the correspondence. I have advised its entire publication from the first moment I had knowledge of it. Whether it was wise or expedient for the President to have assented to Greeley's appeal, or given his assent to any such irregular proceedings, is another thing, not necessary to discuss. Mr. Seward was consulted in this matter, and no other one was called in that I am aware. Mr. Fessenden says he happened, accidentally and uninvited, to come in and was knowing to it. No other member of the Cabinet was consulted, or advised with, until after the meeting took place at Niagara.

Fox left this p.m. for his annual vacation in New Hampshire. Faxon returned last Wednesday. The absence of either of them makes my duties more arduous.

General Averill is reported to have thrashed the raiders on the upper Potomac.

News of Farragut's having passed Forts Morgan and Gaines was received last night, and sent a thrill of joy through all true hearts. It is not, however, appreciated as it should be by the military. The President, I was sorry, spoke of it as important because it would tend to relieve Sherman. This is the narrow view of General Halleck, whom I tried to induce to make a joint demonstration against Mobile one year ago. He has done nothing new and only speaks of the naval achievement as a step for the army. While I regard the acts and opinions of Halleck as of little worth, I regret that from constant daily intercourse he should be able to imbue the President at times with false and erroneous notions. Halleck never awarded honest credit to the Navy; the President never knowingly deprived them of any merit. Yet I have mentioned the result.

Passing from the Executive Mansion to the Navy Department, I met the Count Gurowski, a Polish exile and a very singular man of most unhappy manners and temper. He has made himself obnoxious to almost everybody by constant and everlasting faultfinding and denunciation of almost everybody. Yet he has a strong but fragmentary mind with quite a retentive memory. Violent, self-opinionated, acrimonious, dissatisfied, he nevertheless has had great experience and often expresses opinions on questions that have passed and been disposed of that are sound and striking. They are, however, rather reminiscences of the opinions of others, reflections of their views, than original thoughts on his part. At least, such have been my conclusions of him. So far as I can judge, he has no proper discriminating powers, no just perceptions of character, is a creature of violent impulses and hatreds. Easily flattered, and as easily offended. A rough, uncouth bear, with no nice sense of honor, and when his prejudices are enlisted, has not a very great regard for truth, I fear.

He has just put out two volumes of a diary, in horrid style and bad English, commenting with great freedom on men and things, abusing in clumsy language almost all public characters. It so happens that I am one of the few that have escaped his assaults, without ever having courted favor, or, it seems, offended him. But shortly after the appearance of the last volume, a party was given by me to the Cabinet and to Congress. All my associates except Stanton he had coarsely abused and very many of the members. I did not think proper to invite the Count to meet these men, and he has exhibited unmistakable rage and disgust at the supposed slight. Of course, no cause of offense having been given, there is no way of appeasing this Polish bear. I have, therefore, not attempted it nor noticed his indignation. Meeting him to-day, as I have stated, he saw and recognized me, seemed to be embarrassed and to hesitate, then dropped his head and, turning off when within about fifty feet, he went far around, with his head bent over, shame and passion in his countenance. Poor Gurowski!
_______________ 

1 John D. Defrees, the government printer.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 99-101

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, August 13, 1864

Had some talk with Senator Lot Morrill, who is a good deal excited, not to say alarmed. The slow progress of our armies, the mismanagement of military affairs exemplified in the recent raids, the factious and discontented spirit manifested by Wade, Winter Davis, and others, have generated a feeling of despondency in which he participates. Others express to me similar feelings.

There is no doubt a wide discouragement prevails, from the causes adverted to, and others which have contributed. A want of homogeneity exists among the old Whigs, who are distrustful and complaining. It is much more natural for them to denounce than to approve, — to pull down than to build up. Their leaders and their followers, to a considerable extent, have little confidence in themselves or their cause, and hence it is a ceaseless labor with them to assail the Administration of which they are professed supporters.

The worst specimens of these wretched politicians are in New York City and State, though they are to be found everywhere. There is not an honest, fair-dealing Administration journal in New York City. A majority of them profess to be Administration, and yet it is without sincerity. The New York Herald with a deservedly bad name, gives tone and direction to the New York press, particularly those of Whig antecedents and which profess to support the Administration. It is not, of course, acknowledged by them, nor are they conscious of the leadership, but it is nevertheless obvious and clear. When the Herald has in view to defame or put a mark upon a man, it commences and persists in its course against him. He may be the friend of the Tribune and Times. Of course, they do not at first assent to what is said by the Herald. Sometimes they will make a defense, — perhaps an earnest and strong one, but the Herald does not regard it and goes on attacking, ridiculing, abusing, and defaming. Gradually one of the journals gives way, echoes slightly the slanders of the Herald, and having once commenced, it follows up the work. The other journals, when things have proceeded to that length, also acquiesce. This is a truthful statement of the standing and course and conduct of the papers I have named.

The Times is a stipendiary sheet; its principal editor, Raymond, mercenary, possessing talent but a subservient follower of Weed and Seward. At present, the paper being in the hands of Thurlow Weed and sic, it will not for the campaign openly attack the President, who is the candidate. But it will, under the lead of the Herald, attack any and every member of the Cabinet but Seward, unless Seward through Weed restrains him.

The Tribune is owned by a company which really desired to give a fair support to the Administration, but Greeley, the editor, is erratic, unreliable, without stability, an enemy of the Administration because he hates Seward, a creature of sentiment or impulse, not of reason nor professed principle. Having gone to extremes in the measures that fermented and brought on this war, he would now go to extremes to quell it. I am prepared to see him acquiesce in a division of the Union, or the continuance of slavery, to accomplish his personal party schemes. There are no men or measures to which he will adhere faithfully. He is ambitious, talented, but not considerate, persistent, or profound.

The Evening Post is a journal of a different description and still retains some of its former character for ability and sense. Bryant, I am inclined to believe, means well, and of himself would do well. But he is getting on in years, and his son-in-law Godwin attempts to wield the political bludgeon. In him the mercenary and unscrupulous partisan is apparent. I was compelled to expose Henderson, the publisher, for malfeasance, and the commission before whom he was arraigned held him to bail for embezzlement. The Post blackguarded the witness, and Godwin said that if the Navy Department could afford to do without the Evening Post, the Evening Post could afford to do without the Navy Department. This Colonel Olcott tells me Godwin said to Wilson, the attorney for the Department.

These are the Administration journals in the city of New York. Thurlow Weed has control of the Evening Journal of Albany and to a considerable extent of the press of the State of Whig antecedents. He is sagacious, unscrupulous, has ability and great courage, with little honest principle, is fertile in resources, a keen party tactician, but cannot win respect and confidence, for he does not deserve them. For some time past he has been ingratiating himself with the Copperhead journals and leaders, and by his skill has made fools of their editors, but I apprehend has not fooled their leading managers. He evidently believes, not without reason, he is using them; they know they are using him; to some extent each may deceive the other. There is a feigned difference between him and Seward, or there has been, but no one is misled by it. Weed is indispensable to Seward and the master mind of the two. This is as well known to the Copperhead leaders as to any persons. Re cently Weed has been here and has had interviews with the President, to what purpose, whether of his own volition or by invitation, I have never inquired. I have noticed that Seward endeavors to impress on the President the value of Weed's opinion, especially in party matters.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 102-5

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, August 19, 1864

Much pressed with duties. A pleasant hour at the Cabinet, but no special subject. Fessenden still absent. Stanton did not attend. Blair inquired about the Niagara peace correspondence. The President went over the particulars. Had sent the whole correspondence to Greeley for publication, excepting one or two passages in Greeley's letters which spoke of a bankrupted country and awful calamities. But Greeley replied he would not consent to any suppression of his letters or any part of them; and the President remarked that, though G. had put him (the President) in a false attitude, he thought it better he should bear it, than that the country should be distressed by such a howl, from such a person, on such an occasion. Concerning Greeley, to whom the President has clung too long and confidingly, he said to-day that Greeley is an old shoe, good for nothing now, whatever he has been. "In early life, and with few mechanics and but little means in the West, we used,” said he, “to make our shoes last a great while with much mending, and sometimes, when far gone, we found the leather so rotten the stitches would not hold. Greeley is so rotten that nothing can be done with him. He is not truthful; the stitches all tear out."

Both Blair and myself concurred in regret that the President should consult only Seward in so important a matter, and that he should dabble with Greeley, Saunders, and company. But Blair expresses to me confidence that the President is approaching the period when he will cast off Seward as he has done Chase. I doubt it. That he may relieve himself of Stanton is possible, though I see as yet no evidence of it. To me it is clear that the two S.'s have an understanding, and yet I think each is wary of the other while there is a common purpose to influence the President. The President listens and often defers to Seward, who is ever present and companionable. Stanton makes himself convenient, and is not only tolerated but, it appears to me, is really liked as a convenience.

Seward said to-day that Mr. Raymond, Chairman of the National Executive Committee, had spoken to him concerning the Treasury, the War, the Navy, and the Post-Office Departments connected with the approaching election; that he had said to Mr. Raymond that he had better reduce his ideas to writing, and he had sent him certain papers; but that he, Seward, had told him it would be better, or that he thought it would be better, to call in some other person, and he had therefore sent for Governor Morgan, who would be here, he presumed, on Monday. All which means an assessment is to be laid on certain officials and employees of the government for party purposes. Likely the scheme will not be as successful as anticipated, for the depreciation of money has been such that neither can afford to contribute. Good clerks are somewhat indifferent about remaining, and so with mechanics. I cannot, for one, consent to be an instrument in this business, and I think they must go elsewhere for funds. To a great extent the money so raised is misused, misapplied, and perverted and prostituted. A set of harpies and adventurers pocket a large portion of the money extorted. It is wanted now for Indiana, a State which has hosts of corrupt and mischievous political partisans who take to themselves large pay for professed party services without contributing anything themselves.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 111-3

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, July 26, 1864

Fessenden has got out an advertisement for a new loan and an address to the people in its behalf. Am not certain that the latter is judicious. Capitalists will not as a general thing loan or invest for patriotism, but for good returns. The advertisement gives high interest, but accompanied by the appeal will excite doubt, rather than inspire confidence among the money-lenders. I am inclined to think he will get funds, for his plan is sensible and much wiser than anything of his predecessor. The idea with Chase seemed to be to pay low interest in money but high prices in irredeemable paper, a scheme that might have temporary success in getting friends and popularity with speculators but is ruinous to the country. The errors of Chase in this respect Mr. Fessenden seems inclined to correct, but other measures are wanted and I trust we shall have them.

Only Bates, Usher, and myself were at the Cabinet to day. Stanton sent over to inquire if his attendance was necessary.

There are rumors that the retreating Rebels have turned upon our troops in the valley, and that our forces, badly weakened by the withdrawal of the Sixth Army Corps, are retreating towards Harper's Ferry. This is not improbable. They may have been strengthened as our forces were weakened.

Rode out this evening, accompanied by Mrs. Welles, and spent an hour with the President and Mrs. Lincoln at the Soldiers' Home.

The papers contain a letter from Governor Letcher stating that General Hunter gave the order for burning his (L.'s) house. I shall wish to hear from H. before believing that he could give such an order, and yet I confess I am not without apprehensions, for Hunter is not always possessed of so much prudence as one should have who holds so responsible a position. The burning of the Institute at the same place and time was not creditable to the army, and if there is any justification or ameliorating circumstances, they should be made to appear. The crude and indefensible notions of some of our people, however, are not general. Indiscriminate warfare on all in the insurrectionary region is not general, and few would destroy private property wantonly.

The New York papers are engaged in a covert and systematic attack on the Navy Department, — covert so far as the Republican or Administration press is concerned. Greeley of the Tribune is secretly hostile to the President and assails him indirectly in this way; so of the Evening Post, a paper hitherto friendly but whose publisher is under bail for embezzlement and fraud which the Navy Department would not conceal. The Times is a profligate Seward and Weed organ, wholly unreliable and in these matters regardless of truth or principle. It supports the President because it is the present policy of Seward. The principal editor, Raymond, is an unscrupulous soldier of fortune, yet recently appointed Chairman of the Republican National Executive Committee. He and some of his colleagues are not to be trusted, yet these political vagabonds are the managers of the party organization. His paper, as well as others, are in a combination with Norman Wiard and pretenders like him against the monitors. Let the poor devils work at that question. The people will not be duped or misled to any great extent by them.

There are demonstrations for a new raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania. I told the President I trusted there would be some energy and decision in getting behind them, cutting them off, and not permitting them to go back, instead of a scare and getting forces to drive them back with their plunder. He said those were precisely his views and he had just been to see and say as much to Halleck. I inquired how H. responded to the suggestion. The President said he was considering it, and was now wanting to ascertain where they had crossed the Potomac and the direction they had taken.

I apprehend it is not a large force, but a cavalry raid, which will move rapidly and create alarm. Likely they will go into the Cumberland Valley and then west, for they will scarcely take the old route to return. But these are crude speculations of mine. I get nothing from Halleck, and I doubt if he has any plan, purpose, or suggestion. Before he will come to a conclusion the raiders will have passed beyond his reach.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 86-8

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, August 6, 1864

I had a telegram from Tom this morning, stating that Colonel Stedman was mortally wounded and would probably not survive the night, that General Ord desired his promotion without delay, that it might be received before his death, and wishing me to call at once on the President. I did so, who responded readily to the recommendation, and I then, at his request, saw Secretary Stanton, who met me in the right spirit.

While at the President's Blair came in, and the President informed us he had a telegram from Greeley, desiring the publication of the whole peace correspondence. Both Blair and myself advised it, but the President said he had telegraphed Greeley to come on, for he desired him to erase some of the lamentations in his longest letter. I told him while I regretted it was there, the whole had better be published. Blair said it would have to come to that ultimately. But the President thought it better that that part should be omitted.

I remarked that I had seen the Wade and Winter Davis protest. He said, Well, let them wriggle, but it was strange that Greeley, whom they made their organ in publishing the protest, approved his course and therein differed from the protestants. The protest is violent and abusive of the President, who is denounced with malignity for what I deem the prudent and wise omission to sign a law prescribing how and in what way the Union shall be reconstructed. There are many offensive features in the law, which is, in itself, a usurpation and abuse of authority. How or in what way or ways the several States are to put themselves right — retrieve their position - is in the future and cannot well be specified. There must be latitude given, and not a stiff and too stringent policy pursued in this respect by either the Executive or Congress. We have a Constitution, and there is still something in popular government.

In getting up this law it was as much an object of Mr. Winter Davis and some others to pull down the Administration as to reconstruct the Union. I think they had the former more directly in view than the latter. Davis's conduct is not surprising, but I should not have expected that Wade, who has a good deal of patriotic feeling, common sense, and a strong, though coarse and vulgar, mind, would have lent himself to such a despicable assault on the President.

There is, however, an infinity of party and personal intrigue just at this time. A Presidential election is approaching, and there are many aspirants, not only for Presidential but other honors or positions. H. Winter Davis has a good deal of talent but is rash and uncertain. There is scarcely a more ambitious man, and no one that cannot be more safely trusted. He is impulsive and mad and has been acute and contriving in this whole measure and has drawn Wade, who is ardent, and others into it. Sumner, I perceived, was bitten before he left Washington. Whether he has improved I am not informed. Sumner is not a constitutionalist, but more of a centralist than the generality of our people, and would be likely to sanction what seem to me some of the more offensive features of this bill. Consolidating makes it more a government of the people than of the States.

The assaults of these men on the Administration may break it down. They are, in their earnest zeal on the part of some, and ambition and malignity on the part of others, doing an injury that they cannot repair. I do not think Winter Davis is troubled in that respect, or like to be, but I cannot believe otherwise of Wade and others; yet the conduct of Wade for some time past, commencing with the organization of the present Congress in December last, has, after the amnesty proclamation and conciliatory policy of reconstruction, been in some respects strange and difficult to be accounted for, except as an aspiring factionist. I am inclined to believe that he has been bitten with the Presidential fever, is disappointed, and, in his disappointment, with a vague, indefinite hope that he may be successful, prompted and stimulated not only by Davis but Colfax, he has been flattered to do a foolish act.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 94-6

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Diary of Caroline Cowles Richards: March 4, 1862

John B. Gough lectured in Bemis Hall last night and was entertained by Governor Clark. I told Grandfather that I had an invitation to the lecture and he asked me who from. I told him from Mr. Noah T. Clarke's brother. He did not make the least objection and I was awfully glad, because he has asked me to the whole course. Wendell Phillips and Horace Greeley, E. H. Chapin and John G. Saxe and Bayard Taylor are expected. John B. Gough's lecture was fine. He can make an audience laugh as much by wagging his coat tails as some men can by talking an hour.

SOURCE: Caroline Cowles Richards, Village Life in America, 1852-1872, p. 139-40

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, July 22, 1864

At the Cabinet-meeting the President read his correspondence with Horace Greeley on the subject of peace propositions from George Saunders and others at Niagara Falls. The President has acquitted himself very well, — if he was to engage in the matter at all, — but I am sorry that he permits himself, in this irregular way, to be induced to engage in correspondence with irresponsible parties like Saunders and Clay or scheming busybodies like Greeley. There is no doubt that the President and the whole Administration are misrepresented and misunderstood on the subject of peace, and Greeley is one of those who has done and is doing great harm and injustice in this matter. In this instance he was evidently anxious to thrust himself forward as an actor, and yet when once engaged he began to be alarmed; he failed to honestly and frankly communicate the President's first letters, as was his duty, but sent a letter of his own, which was not true and correct, and found himself involved in the meshes of his own frail net.

Colonel Jaquess is another specimen of inconsiderate and unwise, meddlesome interference. The President assented to his measure and gave him a card, or passport, to go beyond our lines. There is no doubt that the Colonel was sincere, but he found himself unequal to the task he had undertaken. Instead of persuading Jeff Davis to change his course, Davis succeeded in persuading poor Jaquess that the true course to be pursued was to let Davis & Co. do as they pleased. The result was that Jaquess and his friend Gilmore (alias Kirke), who went to Richmond to shear, came back shorn.

In these peace movements, the President has pursued his usual singular course. Seward was his only confidant and adviser, as usual in matters of the greatest importance. He says that Mr. Fessenden accidentally came in on other business while he was showing Seward the Greeley correspondence, and he was let into a knowledge of what was going on, but no one else. John Hay was subsequently told, before going off, and now, to-day, the Cabinet are made acquainted with what has been done. The President, instead of holding himself open to receive propositions, has imposed conditions and restrictions that will embarrass the parties.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 83-4

Saturday, May 16, 2020

From the World.

Peace, on the basis of a restored Union, is a consummation so devoutly to be wished that the people will watch with intense interest the faintest indications of its return.  Now that the Government, by authorizing Mr. Greeley’s mission, has turned the public mind in that direction, the country will hardly let the occasion pass without a free expression of opinion on the possibility, method, conditions, and probable consequences of the peace which all but army contractors and abolitionists so ardently desire.  The President having sanctioned the Niagara negotiations, the subject is fairly before the public for such discussion as may seem appropriate.

We are bound to say that we expect no results from the breaking of the diplomatic ice across the Niagara river.  It is, probably, on one side and on the other, a mere politician’s trick.  But it wears the external form of duly authorized preliminaries to a more formal negotiation   On the same side, the presence of the private secretary of the President of the United States is as valid an authentication of Mr. Greeley’s mission as would be a written letter of credentials; and it is to be presumed that the President would not have given the affair this degree of countenance had he not been satisfied that the alleged commissioners on the other side were duly authorized.  The selection of Mr. Greeley as an intermediary was on many accounts politic, and especially as protecting Mr. Lincoln from the kind of imputations put upon Secretary Seward for his informal intercourse with rebel commissioners in the first days of the Administration, previous to the attempt to provision Fort Sumter.

P. S. Since writing the above we have received the papers that passed in this odd negotiation; and, if the subject were not to serious for laughter, we should go into convulsions.  That dancing wind-bag of popinjay conceit, William Cornell Jewett, has achieved the immortality he covets; he has reversed the adage about the mountain in labor bringing forth a ridiculous mouse—the mouse has brought forth this ridiculous mountain of diplomacy.  This is Jewett’s doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes!  He got Greeley and the President’s private secretary to the Falls on a fool’s errand, and made even the President an actor in this comedy; he has bade each of them play the part so well suited to himself, of

———“A tool
That knaves do work with, called a fool.”

Sublime impudence of George Sanders!  Enchanting simplicity of Colorado Jewett!  “But—ah!—him”—how, oh benevolent Horace, shall we struggle with the emotions (of the ridiculous) that choke the utterance of THY name?  Greeley and Jewett—Jewett and Greeley; which is Don Quixote and which is Sancho Panza?

SOURCE: The Daily True Delta, New Orleans, Louisiana, Tuesday, August 2, 1864, p. 1

What Is Said Of The Peace Negotiations

The New York World, in commenting on the Niagra correspondence, closes an article as follows:

We are convinced that there is no sincerity in any of the parties to this singular transaction.  The rebels naturally feel a deep interest in our presidential election, and their emissaries are in Canada with a view to influence its result.  The unflinching purpose of their leaders is separation, and to this end they are plotting to divide the Democratic party at Chicago, as they divided it at Charleston in 1860.

P. S. Since writing the above we have received the papers that passed in this odd negotiation; and, if the subject were not to serious for laughter, we should go into convulsions.  That dancing wind-bag of popinjay conceit, William Cornell Jewett, has achieved the immortality he covets; he has reversed the adage about the mountain in labor bringing forth a ridiculous mouse—the mouse has brought forth this ridiculous mountain of diplomacy.  This is Jewett’s doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes!  He got Greeley and the President’s private secretary to the Falls on a fool’s errand, and made even the President an actor in this comedy; he has bade each of them play the part so well suited to himself, of

—“A tool
That knaves do work with, called a fool.”

Sublime impudence of George Sanders!  Enchanting simplicity of Colorado Jewett!  “But—ah!—him”—how, oh benevolent Horace, shall we struggle with the emotions (of the ridiculous) that choke the utterance of THY name?  Greeley and Jewett—Jewett and Greeley; which is Don Quixote and which is Sancho Panza?


SOURCE: The Mount Vernon Republican, Mount Vernon, Ohio, Tuesday, August 9, 1864, p. 2

Friday, May 15, 2020

The N. Y. World on the Peace Plotters.


The Copperhead press out west bloviated in favor of peace, and, and endorsed the Peace Commissioners and the peace programme of the loafing diplomats at Niagara, and denounced the President without stint. But the New York World—which has more sense if not more patriotism than these Copperhead thumb-wipers of Jeff. Davis’s myrmidons—was not to be caught in such a transparent net.  It saw through the rebel scheme of Sanders & Co. to strengthen the peace wing of the party at Chicago, and denounces and ridicules it in unsparing terms.  The World says:

We are convinced that there is no sincerity in any of the parties to this singular transaction.  The rebels naturally feel a deep interest in our presidential election, and their emissaries are in Canada with a view to influence its result.  The unflinching purpose of their leaders is separation, and to this end they are plotting to divide the Democratic party at Chicago, as they divided it at Charleston in 1860.

And the World is anxious to repudiate the entire transaction, and to place the odium of the negotiation upon other parties, and thus closes its editorial on the transaction which constitutes the chief stock in trade of the dunderhead, copperbottomed politicians hereabouts.  The editor of the World says:

Since writing the above we have received the papers that passed in this odd negotiation; and, if the subject were not to serious for laughter, we should go into convulsions.  That dancing wind-bag of popinjay conceit, William Cornell Jewett, has achieved the immortality he covets; he has reversed the adage about the mountain in labor bringing forth a ridiculous mouse—the mouse has brought forth this ridiculous mountain of diplomacy.  This is Jewett’s doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes!  He got Greeley and the President’s private secretary to the Falls on a fool’s errand, and made even the President an actor in this comedy; he has bade each of them play the part so well suited to himself, of

—“A tool
That knaves do work with, called a fool.”

Sublime impudence of George Sanders!  Enchanting simplicity of Colorado Jewett!  “But—ah!—him”—how, oh benevolent Horace, shall we struggle with the emotions (of the ridiculous) that choke the utterance of THY name?  Greeley and Jewett—Jewett and Greeley; which is Don Quixote and which is Sancho Panza?

SOURCE: The Daily Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa, Tuesday, July 26, 1864, p. 1

Diary of Edward Bates: July 22, 1864

In C.[abinet] C[ouncil]—present, Welles, Usher, Blair, Bates, and part of the time, Fessenden. absent Seward and Stanton—

The Prest. gave a minute account of the (pretended) attempt to negotiate for peace, thro' George [N.] Sanders, Clem. C. Clay and Holcolm[be] by the agency of that meddlesome blockhead, Jewitt [Jewett] and Horace Greel[e]y. He read us all the letters.

I am surprised to find the Prest. green enough to be entrapped into such a correspondence; but being in, his letters seem to me cautious and prudent.

Jewitt [Jewett] a crack-brained simpleton (who aspires to be a knave, while he really belongs to a lower order of entities) opens the affair, by a letter and telegram to Greel[e]y; and Greel[e]y carries on the play, by writing to the President, to draw him out, and, if possible, commit him, to his hurt — while the pretended Confederate Commissioners play dumby, — wa[i]ting to avail themselves of some probable blunder, on this side.

I noticed that the gentlemen present were, at first, very chary, in speaking of Greel[e]y, evidently afraid of him and his paper, the Tribune; and so, I said “I cant [sic] yet see the color of the cat, but there is certainly a cat in that mealtub.” The contrivers of the plot counted largely on the Presidents [sic] gullibility, else they never would have started it by the agency of such a mad fellow as Jewitt [Jewett] — perhaps they used him prudently, thinking that if bluffed off, at the start, they might pass it off as a joke.

I consider it a very serious affair — a double trick. — On the part of the Rebel Commissioners (now at Niagara, on the Canada side) the hope might have been entertained that a show of negotiation for peace might produce a truce, relax the war, and give them a breathing spell, at this critical moment of their fate. And as for Greel[e]y, I think he was cunningly seeking to make a pretext for bolting the Baltimore nomination.

The President, I fear, is afraid of the Tribune, and thinks he cant [sic] afford to have it for an enemy. And Usher tries to deepen that impression. But Blair says there is no danger of that; that Greel[e]y is restrained by Hall,1 who controls the paper, and Greel[e]y too, owning 6/10 of the stock, and is a fast friend of the President — (of that? [I question.])

<[Note.] Oct [ ]. It appears that Greel[e]y is now ruled in, as Blair said. He is now a sound (?) Lincoln man — Elector at large, for the State of N. Y! Having, vainly, exhausted his strength against Mr. Lincoln's candidacy, he now, adopts the candidate (manifestly forced upon him, by popular demonstration) and plays the next best game, i. e. tries to convert him to his own use, by making him as great a Radical as himself. >
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1 Henry Hall, son of a leading New York jurist, was connected with the Tribune for twenty-six years during eighteen of which he was business manager.

SOURCE: Edward Bates, Diary of Edward Bates, p. 388-9

Clement C. Clay Jr. to Judah P. Benjamin, August 11, 1864

SAINT CATHERINES, CANADA WEST,            
August 11, 1864.
Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN,
Secretary of State Confed. States of America, Richmond, Va.:

SIR: I deem it due to Mr. Holcombe and myself to address you in explanation of the circumstances leading to and attending our correspondence with Hon. Horace Greeley,* which has been the subject of so much misrepresentation in the United States, and, if they are correctly copied, of at least two papers in the Confederate States.

We addressed a joint and informal note to the President on this subject, but as it was sent by a messenger under peculiar embarrassments it was couched in very guarded terms and was not so full or explicit as we originally intended or desired to make it. I hope he has already delivered it and has explained its purpose and supplied what was wanting to do us full justice.

Soon after the arrival of Mr. Holcombe, Mr. Thompson, and myself in Canada West it was known in the United States and was the subject of much speculation there as to the object of our visit. Some politicians of more or less fame and representing all parties in the United States came to see Mr. Holcombe and myself—Mr. Thompson being at Toronto and less accessible than we were at the Falls—either through curiosity or some better or worse motive.

They found that our conversation was mainly directed to the mutual injury we were inflicting on each other by war, the necessity for peace in order to preserve whatever was valuable to both sections, and probability of foreign intervention when we were thoroughly exhausted and unable to injure others, and the dictation of a peace less advantageous to both belligerents than they might now make if there was an armistice of sufficient duration to allow passion to subside and reason to resume its sway.

In the meantime Mr. George N. Sanders, who had preceded us to the Falls, was addressing, directly or indirectly, his ancient and intimate party friends and others in the United States supposed to be favorably inclined, assuring them that a peace mutually advantageous to the North and the South might be made, and inviting them to visit us that we might consider and discuss the subject. He informed us that Mr. Greeley would visit us if we would be pleased to see him. Believing from his antecedents that he was a sincere friend of peace, even with separation if necessary, we authorized Mr. Sanders to say that we would be glad to receive him. Mr. Greeley replied, as we were told, through Mr. Jewett, who had been an active and useful agent for communicating with citizens of the United States, that he would prefer to accompany us to Washington City to talk of peace, and would do so if we would go. We did not then believe that Mr. Greeley had authorized this proposal in his name, for neither we nor Mr. Sanders had seen it in any telegram or letter from Mr. Greeley, but had it only from the lips of Mr. Jewett, who is reported to be a man of fervid and fruitful imagination and very credulous of what he wishes to be true. Notwithstanding, after calm deliberation and consultation we thought that we could not in duty to the Confederate States decline the invitation, and directed Mr. Sanders to say that we would go to Washington if complete and unqualified protection was given us.

We did not feel authorized to speak for Mr. Thompson, who was absent, and we moreover deemed it necessary that he or I should remain here to promote the objects that the Secretary of War had given us and another in charge.

Mr. Sanders responded in his own peculiar style, as you have seen, or will see by the inclosed copy of the correspondence, which was published under my supervision. We did not expect to hear from Mr. Greeley again upon the subject, and were greatly surprised by his note from the U.S. side of the Falls, addressed to us as “duly accredited from Richmond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace.”

How or by whom that character was imputed to us we do not know. We suspect, however, that we are indebted for the attribution of the high and responsible office to Mr. Jewett, or to that yet more credulous and inventive personage, Dame Rumor. Certainly we are not justly chargeable with having assumed or affected that character, or with having given any one sufficient grounds to infer that we came clothed with any such powers. We never sought or desired a safe-conduct to Washington, or an interview with Mr. Lincoln. We never proposed, suggested, or intimated any terms of peace to any person that did not embrace the independence of the Confederate States. We have been as jealous of the rights, interest, and power of our Government as any of its citizens can be, and have never wittingly compromised them by act, word, or sign. We have not felt it our duty to declare to all who have approached us upon the subject that reunion was impossible under any change of the Constitution or abridgment of the powers of the Federal Government. We have not dispelled the fond delusion of most of those with whom we have conversed—that some kind of common government might at some time hereafter be re-established. But we have not induced or encouraged this idea. On the contrary, when obliged to answer the question—“Will the Southern States consent to reunion?”—I have answered:

Not now. You have shed so much of their best blood, have desolated so many homes, inflicted so much injury, caused so much physical and mental agony, and have threatened and attempted such irreparable wrongs, without justification or excuse, as their believe, that they would now prefer extermination to your embraces as friends and fellow-citizens of the same government. You must wait till the blood of our slaughtered people has exhaled from the soil, till the homes which you have destroyed have been rebuilt, till our badges of mourning have been laid aside, and the memorials of our wrongs are no longer visible on every hand, before you propose to rebuild a joint and common government. But I think the South Will agree to an armistice of six or more months and to a treaty of amity and commerce, securing peculiar and exclusive privileges to both sections, and possibly to an alliance defensive, or even, for some purposes, both defensive and offensive.

If we can credit the asseverations of both peace and war Democrats, uttered to us in person or through the presses of the United States, our correspondence with Mr. Greeley has been promotive of our wishes. It has impressed all but fanatical Abolitionists with the opinion that there can be no peace while Mr. Lincoln presides at the head of the Government of the United States. All concede that we will not accept his terms, and scarcely any Democrat and not all the Republicans will insist on them. They are not willing to pay the price his terms exact of the North. They see that he can reach peace only through subjugation of the South, which but few think practicable; through universal bankruptcy of the North; through seas of their own blood as well as ours; through the utter demoralization of their people, and destruction of their Republican Government; through anarchy and moral chaos—all of which is more repulsive and intolerable than even the separation and independence of the South.

All the Democrat presses denounce Mr. Lincoln's manifesto in strong terms, and many Republican presses (and among them the New York Tribune) admit it was a blunder. Mr. Greeley was chagrined and incensed by it, as his articles clearly show. I am told by those who profess to have heard his private expressions of opinion and feeling, that he curses all fools in high places and regards himself as deceived and maltreated by the Administration. From all that I can see or hear, I am satisfied that the correspondence has tended strongly toward consolidating the Democracy and dividing the Republicans and encouraging the desire for peace. Many prominent politicians of the United States assure us that it is the most opportune and efficient moral instrumentality for stopping the war that could have been conceived or exerted, and beg us to refrain from any vindication of our course or explanation of our purposes.

At all events, we have developed what we desired to in the eyes of our people—that war, with-all its horrors, is less terrible and hateful than the alternative offered by Mr. Lincoln. We hope that none will hereafter be found in North Carolina, or in any other part of the Confederate States, so base as to insist that we shall make any more advances to him in behalf of peace, but that all of our citizens will gird themselves with renewed and redoubled energy and resolution to battle against our foes until our utter extermination, rather than halt to ponder the terms which he haughtily proclaims as his ultimatum. If such be the effect of our correspondence, we shall be amply indemnified for all the misrepresentations which we have incurred or ever can incur.

Mr. Greeley's purpose may have been merely to find out our conditions of peace, but we give him credit for seeking higher objects. While we contemplated and desired something more, yet it was part of our purpose to ascertain Mr. Lincoln's condition of peace. We have achieved our purpose in part; Mr. Greeley has failed altogether. He correctly reports us as having proposed no terms. We never intended to propose any until instructed by our Government. We have suffered ourselves to be falsely reported as proposing certain terms—among them reunion—for reasons that our judgment approved, hoping that we would in due time be fully vindicated at home.

If there is no more wisdom in our country than is displayed in the malignant articles of the Richmond Examiner and Petersburg Register, approving of the ukase of Mr. Lincoln, the war must continue until neutral nations interfere and command the peace. Such articles are copied into all the Republican presses of the United States, and help them more in encouraging the prosecution of the war than anything they can themselves utter.

If I am not deceived, the elements of convulsion and revolution existing in the North have been greatly agitated by the pronunciamento of the autocrat of the White House. Not only Democrats, but Republicans are protesting against a draft to swell an army to fight to free negroes, and are declaring more boldly for State rights and the Union as it was. Many say the draft cannot and shall not be enforced. The Democracy are beginning to learn that they must endure persecution, outrage, and tyranny at the hands of the Republicans, just as soon as they can bring back their armed legions from the South. They read their own fate in that of the people of Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland. They are beginning to lean more on the side of our people as their natural allies and as the champions of State rights and of popular liberty. Many of them would gladly lock arms with our soldiers in crushing their common enemy, the Abolitionists. Many of them would fall into our lines if our armies occupied any States north of the Ohio for a month, or even a week. Many of them are looking to the time when they must flee their country, or fight for their inalienable rights. They are preparing for the latter alternative.

The instructions of the Secretary of War to us and the officer detailed for special service have not been neglected. We have been arranging for the indispensable co-operation. It is promised, and we hope will soon be furnished. Then we will act. We have been disappointed and delayed by causes which I cannot now explain.

I fondly trust that our efforts will not be defeated or hindered by unwise and intemperate declarations of public opinion, by newspaper editors or others who are regarded as its exponents.
We have a difficult role to play, and must be judged with charity until heard in our own defense.
I am much indebted to Mr. Holcombe, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Tucker for the earnest and active aid they have given me in promoting the objects of Mr. Thompson's and my mission.

Mr. Thompson is at Toronto and Mr. Holcombe is at the Falls. If here, or if I could delay the transmission of this communication, I should submit it to them for some expression of their opinions.

As I expect this to reach the Confederate States by a safe hand, I do not take the time and labor necessary to put it in cipher—if, indeed, there is anything worth concealing from our enemies.

I have the honor to be, &c.,
C. C. CLAY, JR.
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* See Series III, Vol. IV.
† Not found.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series IV, Volume 3 (Serial No. 129), p. 584-7