Showing posts with label Lincoln's Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln's Stories. Show all posts

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Two Instances Where The President Was Not reminded Of A Story.

The President is naturally enough a good deal bantered about his habit of story-telling.

Dr. Hovey, of Dansville, N. Y., called at the White House, and found the occupant on horseback, ready for a ride.  He approached and said:—“President Lincoln, I thought I would call and see you before leaving the city, and here you tell a story.” The president greeted him pleasantly, and asked where he was from.  The reply was, “From Western New York.  “Well that’s a good enough country without stories, replied the president, and on he rode.

Some moral Philosopher was telling the President one day about the undercurrent of public opinion.  He went on to explain it at length and drew an illustration from the Mediterranean Sea.  The current seemed very curiously to flow in both from the Black Sea and the Atlantic Ocean: but a shrewd Yankee, by means of a contrivance of floats, had discovered that at the outlet into the Atlantic only about thirty feet of the surface water flowed inward, while there was a tremendous current under that flowing out.  “Well,” said Mr. Lincoln, much bored, “that doesn’t remind me of any story I ever heard of.”  The philosopher despaired of making a serious impression by his argument and left.

SOURCE: New York Daily Herald, New York, New York, Friday, February 19, 1864, p. 5, and copied from the New York Evening Post, New York, New York, Wednesday, February 17, 1864.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

A Story For Mr. Bates.

One day when Mr. Bates was remonstrating with Mr. Lincoln against the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the President interposed with, “Come, now, Bates, he’s not half so bad as you think.  Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a good turn long ago.  When I took to the law, I was going to court one morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and I had no horse.  The Judge overtook me in his wagon.  ‘Hello, Lincoln, are you not going to the court house? Come in, and I’ll give you a seat.’  Well, I got in, and the Judge went on reading his papers.  Presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other  I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat; so, says I, ‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little drop too much this morning.’  ‘Well, I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not much wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen times since starting.’  So putting his head out of the window, he shouted, ‘Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk!’  Upon which pulling up his horses and turning round with great gravity, the coachman said, ‘By gorra! That’s the first rightful decision you have given for the last twelvemonth.”

SOURCE: New York Daily Herald, New York, New York, Friday, February 19, 1864, p. 5, and copied from the New York Evening Post, New York, New York, Wednesday, February 17, 1864.

A Rebuke To People Asking Trivial Favors.

A Virginia farmer, not over patriotic, probably, importuned the President to use his influence to have a claim for damage done to his farm by soldiers considered immediately.  “Why, my dear sir,” replied Mr. Lincoln blandly, “I couldn’t think of such a thing.  If I considered individual cases, I should find work enough for twenty Presidents”  “But,” said the persevering sufferer, “couldn’t you just give me a line to Colonel —— about it, just one line?”  “Ha, ha, ha!” responded Old Abe, “you remind me of old Jock Chase out in Illinois.”  At this the crowd huddled forward to listen.  “You see Jock—I knew him like a brother—used to be a lumberman on the Illinois, and he was steady and sober, and the best raftsman on the river.  It was quite a trick twenty-five years ago to take the logs over the rapids; but he was skillful with a raft and always kept her straight in the channel.  Finally a steamboat was put on, and Jock—he’s dead now, poor fellow—was made captain of her.  He always used to take the wheel going through the rapids.  One day, when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the boiling current, and Jock’s utmost vigilance was being exercised to keep here in the narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat tail and hailed him with “Say, Mister captain!  I wish you’d just stop your boat a minute—I’ve lost my apple overboard!”

SOURCE: New York Daily Herald, New York, New York, Friday, February 19, 1864, p. 5, and copied from the New York Evening Post, New York, New York, Wednesday, February 17, 1864.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

About The Negro Question

The story will be remembered, perhaps, of Mr. Lincoln’s reply to a Springfield (Ill.) clergyman, who asked him what was to be his policy on the slavery question.

“Well, your question is rather a cool one, but I will answer it by telling you a story.  You know Father B. the old Methodist preacher?  and you know Fox river and its freshets?  Well, once in the presence of Father B. a young Methodist was worrying about Fox river, and expressing fears that he should be prevented from fulfilling some of his appointments by a freshet in the river.  Father B. checked him in his gravest manner.  Said he—‘Young man I have always made it a rule in my life not to cross Fox river till I get to it.’ And,” said the President, “I am not going to worry myself over the slavery question till I get to it.”  A few days afterwards a Methodist minister called on the President, and on being presented to him, said simply:—“Mr. President, I have come to tell you that I think we have got to Fox river.”  Mr. Lincoln thanked the clergyman and laughed heartily.

One day, it is said, a distinguished New York official was at Washington, and in an interview with the President, introduced the question of emancipation.  “Well, you see,” said Mr. Lincoln, “we’ve got to be mighty cautious how we manage the negro question.  If we’re not, we shall be like the barber out in Illinois, who was shaving a fellow with a hatchet face and lantern jaws like mine.  The barber put his finger in his customer’s mouth, to make his cheek stick out; but while shaving away he cut through the fellow’s cheek and cut off his own finger.  If we don’t play smart about the negro we shall do as the barber did.”

It is greatly to the credit of the President that he has since unlearned many of his Kentucky prejudices on the subject of freedom, and is now able to do what is just and right.

SOURCE: New York Daily Herald, New York, New York, Friday, February 19, 1864, p. 5, and copied from the New York Evening Post, New York, New York, Wednesday, February 17, 1864.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, February 2, 1864

Senator Grimes made a very good speech to-day in the Senate on naval affairs, in which he introduced a letter from Donald McKay, the eminent shipbuilder of Boston, complimenting our naval vessels and doing justice to the Bureau of Construction and Engineering, which have been of late so much abused. Truth will vindicate itself, though slowly. The persistent assault on the Navy Department is not without a purpose. There is design in it. The contractors, the claim agents, the corrupt portion of newspaper correspondents, and unprincipled Members of Congress are all engaged in this business. I am not mistaken in the fact that there is villainy in the scheme, for villains are combining in it. There is a conviction in my mind, although I cannot cite a tangible or certain fact to establish it, that the War Department had secretly instigated these attacks. I am, however, impressed with an earnest belief that there is a mischievous design to divert attention from the acts and doings of the military branch of the service by starting off with a hue and cry against the Navy.

But little of importance was done at the Cabinet-meeting. Several subjects discussed. Seward was embarrassed about the Dominican question. To move either way threatened difficulty. On one side Spain, on the other side the negro. The President remarked that the dilemma reminded him of the interview between two negroes, one of whom was a preacher endeavoring to admonish and enlighten the other. “There are,” said Josh, the preacher, “two roads for you, Joe. Be careful which you take. One ob dem leads straight to hell, de odder go right to damnation.” Joe opened his eyes under the impressive eloquence and awful future and exclaimed, “Josh, take which road you please; I go troo de wood.” “I am not disposed to take any new trouble,” said the President, “just at this time, and shall neither go for Spain nor the negro in this matter, but shall take to the woods.”

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 519-20

Friday, March 23, 2018

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, January 5, 1864

Congress reassembled after a fortnight's vacation, or rather were to have assembled but there was not a quorum in either house. At the Cabinet council only a portion were present. The President in discussion narrated some stories, very apt, exhibiting wisdom and sense. He requested me to read an article in the North American Review,1 just received, on the policy of the Administration, which he thought very excellent, except that it gave him over-much credit.
_______________

1 An article by James Russell Lowell which was widely quoted.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 504

Monday, March 19, 2018

Captain William Thompson Lusk to Elizabeth Adams Lusk, December 16, 1862

Camp Near Falmouth, Va.
Dec. 16th, 1862.
My dear Mother:

Back again once more in the old camp, sound as a dollar. Would that 10,000 lying on the field across the river, or stretched on rude soldiers' beds in pain and some in mortal agony, could say as much! Gone are the proud hopes, the high aspirations that swelled our bosoms a few days ago. Once more unsuccessful, and only a bloody record to show our men were brave. This cannot heal the broken hearts this pitiful record is to cause. That God must do! Alas, my poor country! It has strong limbs to march, and meet the foe, stout arms to strike heavy blows, brave hearts to dare — but the brains, the brains — have we no brains to use the arms and limbs and eager hearts with cunning? Perhaps Old Abe has some funny story to tell appropriate to the occasion. Alas, let us await the wise words of Father Abraham! I say I am back, having recrossed the river about two o'clock this morning. Yesterday evening I was sent out with a couple of hundred sharpshooters to cover the front until the troops were all withdrawn. There I lay supporting the pickets within two or three hundred yards of the enemy while our troops crossed the river. Then word was sent us, and in silence we fell back, crossed ourselves, and then the pontoons were removed. Now we are in the old camp, and I am happy to write myself down in the number of those who have narrowly escaped. In the battle of Saturday, troops were thrown into the fight without any seeming regularity. Many were not under fire at all. Among the latter were the First, and a part of the Second Division of Wilcox's Corps. You know I belong to the First Division. Our position gave me a fine opportunity to witness the battle. It was a bonnie sight though, and thrillingly exciting. From the crests of the hills frowned the enemy's batteries. The city was gay with our troops. Beyond the city and below the batteries was open country giving no cover to advancing troops. Over this expanse our men were marched. The pennons fluttered gaily in the sunshine. Then suddenly the hills seemed to vomit forth smoke wreathing them in obscurity. Then followed the thunder of the cannon, intermingled with the screaming of the bursting shells. The ordeal was a terrible one. Some Regiments marched on without flinching; others fell back. To the left, running diagonally, was a stone-wall. A portion of our troops drew near it. This suddenly is likewise jetting with curls of smoke, followed by the sharp crack of the rifle and the angry humming of the conical balls. Now the troops are shaken. Stragglers run rapidly to the rear, then whole Regiments fall back with torn colors and broken ranks. It is of no use. That terrible stonewall is alive with death. Many Regiments try to reach it. Their efforts avail nothing though. Nearly in the center of the hill, west, there stands a fine old Virginia mansion of red brick with a stately colonnade running along its front. It was here that Col. Farnsworth had his headquarters last summer. This point was often attacked by our troops, but the house was like a hornet's nest. The enemy was strongly posted about it, in its alcoves, outbuildings and windows. There was death only, for those who tried to reach it. Our troops found some partial cover at a point below the house at the foot of the hill, where a small white house stood. Here two American banners were planted, the dear old thirteen stripes! How breathlessly we watched them! Though often attacked, when the smoke wreathed upward, our hearts were happy to see the colors still floating defiantly near the small white house. At length night closed on the scene. We believed the bloody day was done. There was one scene yet bloodier to be enacted. A final night attack was decided upon. We could not see our troops advancing in the darkness, but we heard a yell along the rebel line. Then a rapid musketry fire ran along the heights — a more terrible fire I never have seen. Forked tongues of flame such as old artists paint issuing from the mouths of the serpents to whom is given the tormenting of the damned, flashed in the night with a brilliant effect as the fire was delivered from man to man. Then darkness followed. Then silence. And we knew that more blood had been shed and nothing won. The next morning we were told that the 9th Army Corps was expected to storm the heights. It was Sunday morning. The Regiment was drawn up in line. The Chaplain read a chapter from the Bible, then said a short prayer. The men followed the prayer with their hearts, as men do who may never pray again. Then the word was given, “Forward,” and we started on the march, few hoping to survive. Then we were ordered to halt. We lay long in a state of expectancy. Meanwhile a new council of Generals was being held. There had been enough blood fruitlessly shed, said the most. No more of the madness and folly which will only result in the certain destruction of our army. Ten thousand men lost and the enemy sits unharmed in his trenches. Burnside says he will lead his own corps in person. But finally reason prevails in the council. The attack is postponed and finally abandoned. Last night the troops crossed the river, and to-day we are counting on our fingers the thousands of men the events of the past few days have cost us.

There are impossibilities in warfare — things that no troops can accomplish, however brave they may be. They cannot for one thing cross long stretches of open country without any cover in the face of an artillery fire of any magnitude, and then clamber up a hill-side exposed to the musketry of a concealed foe, and then cross the ditches and scale the earthworks of the enemy, driving the latter from their position with the bayonet. Men fight in masses. To be brave they must be inspired by the feeling of fellowship. Shoulder must touch shoulder. As gaps are opened the men close together, and remain formidable. But when the ranks are torn by artillery, the cohesion begins to fail. Then expose the men for several hundred yards to a murderous fire of musketry, and front rank man is gone, rear rank man is gone, comrades in battle are gone too. A few men struggle along together, but the whole mass has become diluent. Little streams of men pour in various directions. They no longer are amenable to command. The colors must be drawn to a place of safety, and in time the men will gather around it again. Numbers can effect little under such circumstances, provided they have no means of touching the enemy. The latter, lying under cover, firing from a place of safety, may murder your men. You may try again and again the experiment, but each repetition only lengthens the butcher's bill. Now I have written all this to show that success, as the attack was made, was impossible. In the same way we butchered the Confederates at Malvern Hill.

Well, I have seen McDonald, and felt quite happy to meet one who had been so lately among my friends at home. He told me of Uncle Phelps' offer of a horse, of his efforts for me and their probable success, and brought me some liquor and cigars from him and Cousin Henry. Give them my thanks, and say I delay acknowledging their kindness in a special manner, until I can learn all particulars from the Doctor. Arriving here the day of the battle, he has been so busy in the hospitals since, that I have barely learned the above facts as they were hurriedly repeated by him. I will write Uncle Phelps as soon as McDonald has time to tell me anything more than the general result of his visit.

I am so cold, that though I have much more that I would like to write, I must close and go to the fire. I may write again to-morrow. Love to all.

Affec'y.,
Will.

SOURCE: William Chittenden Lusk, Editor, War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, p. 244-8

Sunday, January 21, 2018

In The Review Queue: Lincoln’s Sense of Humor

by Richard Carwardine

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to make storytelling, jokes, and laughter tools of the office, and his natural sense of humor has become legendary. Lincoln’s Sense of Humor registers the variety, complexity of purpose, and ethical dimension of Lincoln’s humor and pinpoints the political risks Lincoln ran in telling jokes while the nation was engaged in a bloody struggle for existence.

Complete with amusing anecdotes, this book shows how Lincoln’s uses of humor evolved as he matured and explores its versatility, range of expressions, and multiple sources: western tall tales, morality stories, bawdy jokes, linguistic tricks, absurdities, political satire, and sharp wit. While Lincoln excelled at self-mockery, nothing gave him greater pleasure than satirical work lampooning hypocrisy and ethical double standards. He particularly enjoyed David R. Locke’s satiric writings by Petroleum V. Nasby, a fictional bigoted secessionist preacher, and the book explores the nuances of Lincoln’s enthusiasm for what he called Locke’s genius, showing the moral springs of Lincoln’s humor.

Richard Carwardine methodically demonstrates that Lincoln’s funny stories were the means of securing political or personal advantage, sometimes by frontal assault on opponents but more often by depiction through parable, obfuscation through hilarity, refusal through wit, and diversion through cunning. Throughout his life Lincoln worked to develop the humorist’s craft and hone the art of storytelling. His jokes were valuable in advancing his careers as politician and lawyer and in navigating his course during a storm-tossed presidency. His merriness, however, coexisted with self-absorbed contemplation and melancholy. Humor was his lifeline; dark levity acted as a tonic, giving Lincoln strength to tackle the severe challenges he faced. At the same time, a reputation for unrestrained, uncontrollable humor gave welcome ammunition to his political foes. In fact, Lincoln’s jocularity elicited waves of criticism during his presidency. He was dismissed as a “smutty joker,” a “first rate second rate man,” and a “joke incarnated.”

Since his death, Lincoln’s anecdotes and jokes have become detached from the context that had given them their political and cultural bite, losing much of the ironic and satiric meaning that he had intended. With incisive analysis and laugh-inducing examples, Carwardine helps to recapture a strong component of Lincoln’s character and reanimates the good humor of our sixteenth president.


About the Author

Richard Carwardine is a professor emeritus at Oxford University, where he served as Rhodes Professor of American History from 2002 to 2009 and as president of Corpus Christi College from 2010 to 2016. His analytical biography Lincoln won the Lincoln Prize in 2004 and was subsequently published in the United States as Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. His other work includes Transatlantic Revivalism: Popular Evangelicalism in Britain and America, 1790–1865; Evangelicals and Politics in Antebellum America; and (with Jay Sexton) The Global Lincoln.

ISBN 978-0809336142, Southern Illinois University Press, © 2017, Hardcover, 184 pages, Illustrations, End Notes, and Index. $24.93.  To purchase this book click HERE.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Diary of Salmon P. Chase: September 23, 1863

I shall not soon forget the events of the night of this day.  Our news from Chattanooga was more hopeful – but it was evident that Rosecrans’s army was in great peril. Meade was in the neighborhood of [Manassas], following Lee, and it was hoped, about to win a decisive victory over him– But he was cautious & it was uncertain if he would strike at all.  I went home from the Department thinking over the state of things – with great anxiety. It was about midnight, and I had just retired when the door bell rang and the message was brought to me, “The Secretary of War desires that you will come to the Department immediately and has sent a carriage for you.”

“What can be the matter?” I said to myself as I hastily rose and dressed. “Has the enemy attacked Rosecrans? Has he captured him and his army? Has he driven our men across the Tennessee?”

When I reached the War Department I found Mr. Stanton there, silent and stern.

“Is there any bad news?” I asked

“None,” was the brief reply. General Halleck was present, and the President either was there already or soon came in; Mr. Seward also came.

At length when we five were assembled Mr. Stanton began:

“I have invited this meeting because I am thoroughly convinced that something must be done, and done immediately, to insure the safety of the army under Rosecrans, and wish to have it considered and decided whether anything, and if anything, what shall be done?”

Then turning to Gen. Halleck he asked:

“What forces can Burnside send to Rosecrans at Chattanooga?”

Gen. Halleck replied, “20,000 men.”

Stanton — “How soon?”

Halleck — “In ten days if not interruped.”

President — “Before ten days Burnside can put in enough to hold the place.”

Halleck — “He can bring up 12,000 perhaps in eight days.”

President — “When Burnside's men begin to arrive the place will be safe, but the pinch is now.”

Stanton — “If the enemy presses or attacks Burnside, what then?”

Halleck — “Burnside must take his measures accordingly — fight or act defensively.”

Stanton — “If the enemy has enough to detach a force against Burnside, and also attack Rosecrans?”

Halleck — “Rosecrans must be relieved otherwise.”

Stanton — “When can Sherman relieve him?”

Halleck — “In about ten days, if already marched from Vicksburg. If not marched should come up the river and overland from Memphis. He has 20,000 or 25,000 men. Every available man is ordered forward and boats have gone down the river from Cairo to bring them up.”

Stanton — “Then your estimate of what can be done by Sherman is only conjectural?”

Halleck — “Of course it is impossible to speak definitely in such a matter.”

Stanton —“Can men be had from any other quarter?”

Halleck — “Perhaps a few from Kentucky — don't know how many. All are already ordered to Rosecrans.”

Stanton — “Mr. President, I think it perfectly clear from what has been said that certain or even probable relief will reach Rosecrans from any quarter that has been named. I do not believe a man will get to him from Burnside or Sherman in time to be of any use in the emergency which is upon us. The army of the Potomac is doing nothing important, nor is it likely to be more actively employed. I propose therefore, to send 20,000 men from the army of the Potomac to Chattanooga under the command of General Hooker.”

This proposition was objected to quite strongly by General Halleck and the President. Both expressed the belief that the troops could not be got through to Chattanooga, or near enough to be of essential service to the army of Rosecrans as soon as troops could be furnished from Burnside's or Sherman's command, and both were unwilling to withdraw troops from Meade. Mr. Stanton said that he had fully considered the question of practicability and should not have submitted his proposition had he not fully satisfied himself on that head by conference with the ablest railroad men of the country. General Halleck had given no definite assurance as to the time in which relief could be given by Sherman or Burnside. His nearest approach to definiteness was eight days by Burnside if uninterrupted by the enemy. Was not the enemy sure to interrupt? And was it not well known that activity by Burnside would involve the abandonment of east Tennessee, to which Burnside was strongly opposed and therefore extremely unwilling to move? Whereas if it should be determined to send men from the Army of the Potomac the order for the two corps could be given in the morning — by night the column would be entering Washington, the troops could be put in cars at once and in five days the advance might be entering Nashville.

“Why,” said the President, “You can't get one corps into Washington in the time you fix for reaching Nashville”; and he illustrated his idea of the impossibility by some story which I have forgotten.

Stanton was greatly annoyed & made some remark to the effect that the danger was too imminent & the occasion to serious for jokes; but added that as he saw himself overruled he would give up the point; and invited us all into the adjoining room where he had caused a light collation to he prepared.

I then remarked that I hoped the proposition would not be abandoned: that it seemed to me exceedingly important; & that we could resume its consideration with advantage after a little refreshment.  I added a very brief resume of Mr. Stantons arguments already urged – expressed my entire confidence in his ability to do what he proposed–& declared it to be my deliberate judgment that to refuse to adopt it was to refuse to adopt the only plan [by] which the Army of Rosecrans [w]ould with any certainty be saved.

We, then, went to the collation.  On returning to the Secretarys room Mr. Seward took up the subject & supported Mr. Stantons proposition with excellent arguments.

The scale was now turned. Every objection was abandoned except that of weakening Meade & finally the President said that he wd. telegraph Meade in the morning & if he did not propose an immediate movement, the order for the two corps to move should be given at once by Gen Halleck.  It was near morning when we went home.  Two or three hours later the telegram was sent – the answer recd – the order for the movement given.

The result is well known.  The advance of Hooker’s command reached Nashville in a week – frustrated the attempt to break up Rosecrans’ communications; & his army was saved; and Chattanooga was saved; & the future was saved.  Neither Shermans column nor Burnsides came up in time to be of any use in this special work.  Burnsides did not come up at all.  Sherman’s came; but came after the peril was past; though in time for the glorious achievements which soon afterwards electrified the country.  The country does not know how much it owes Edwin M. Stanton for that nights work.

SOURCES: Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, “A Midnight Confrence and Other Passages from the Papers of Secretary Salmon P. Chase,” Scribner’s Magazine, Volume XLV, No. 2, February 1900, p. 144-50; The Salmon P. Chase Papers, Volume 1: Journals, 1829-1872, p. 450-3

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, May 26, 1863

Much of the time at the Cabinet meeting was consumed in endeavoring to make it appear that one Cuniston, tried and condemned as a spy, was not exactly a spy, and that he might be let off. I did not participate in the discussion. It appeared to me, from the statement on all hands and from the finding of the court, that he was clearly and beyond question a spy, and I should have said so, had my opinion been asked, but I did not care to volunteer, unsolicited and without a thorough knowledge of all the facts, to argue away the life of a fellow being.

There was a sharp controversy between Chase and Blair on the subject of the Fugitive Slave Law, as attempted to be executed on one Hall here in the district. Both were earnest, Blair for executing the law, Chase for permitting the man to enter the service of the United States instead of being remanded into slavery. The President said this was one of those questions that always embarrassed him. It reminded him of a man in Illinois who was in debt and terribly annoyed by a pressing creditor, until finally the debtor assumed to be crazy whenever the creditor broached the subject. “I,” said the President, “have on more than one occasion, in this room, when beset by extremists on this question, been compelled to appear to be very mad. I think,” he continued, “none of you will ever dispose of this subject without getting mad.”

I am by no means certain that it is wise or best to commence immediate operations upon Charleston. It is a much more difficult task now than it was before the late undertaking. Our own men have less confidence, while our opponents have much more. The place has no strategic importance, yet there is not another place our anxious countrymen would so rejoice to see taken as this original seat of the great wickedness that has befallen our country. The moral effect of its capture would be great.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 313-4

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Diary of Mary Boykin Chesnut: July 12, 1862

At McMahan's our small colonel, Paul Hayne's son, came into my room. To amuse the child I gave him a photograph album to look over. “You have Lincoln in your book!” said he. “I am astonished at you. I hate him!” And he placed the book on the floor and struck Old Abe in the face with his fist.

An Englishman told me Lincoln has said that had he known such a war would follow his election he never would have set foot in Washington, nor have been inaugurated. He had never dreamed of this awful fratricidal bloodshed. That does not seem like the true John Brown spirit. I was very glad to hear it — to hear something from the President of the United States which was not merely a vulgar joke, and usually a joke so vulgar that you were ashamed to laugh, funny though it was. They say Seward has gone to England and his wily tongue will turn all hearts against us.

Browne told us there was a son of the Duke of Somerset in Richmond. He laughed his fill at our ragged, dirty soldiers, but he stopped his laughing when he saw them under fire. Our men strip the Yankee dead of their shoes, but will not touch the shoes of a comrade. Poor fellows, they are nearly barefoot.

Alex has come. I saw him ride up about dusk and go into the graveyard. I shut up my windows on that side. Poor fellow!

SOURCE: Mary Boykin Chesnut, Edited by Isabella D. Martin and Myrta Lockett Avary, A Diary From Dixie, p. 202-3

Monday, March 2, 2015

Diary of William Howard Russell: March 28, 1861

I was honored to-day by visits from a great number of Members of Congress, journalists, and others. Judging from the expressions of most of the Washington people, they would gladly see a Southern Cabinet installed in their city. The cold shoulder is given to Mr. Lincoln, and all kinds of stories and jokes are circulated at his expense. People take particular pleasure in telling how he came towards the seat of his Government disguised in a Scotch cap and cloak, whatever that may mean.

In the evening I repaired to the White House. The servant who took my hat and coat was particularly inquisitive as to my name and condition in life; and when he heard I was not a minister, he seemed inclined to question my right to be there at all: “for,” said he, “there are none but members of the cabinet, and their wives and daughters, dining here today.” Eventually he relaxed, — instructed me how to place my hat so that it would be exposed to no indignity, and informed me that I was about to participate in a prandial enjoyment of no ordinary character. There was no parade or display, no announcement, — no gilded staircase, with its liveried heralds, transmitting and translating one's name from landing to landing. From the unpretending ante-chamber, a walk across the lofty hall led us to the reception-room, which was the same as that in which the President held his interview yesterday.

Mrs. Lincoln was already seated to receive her guests. She is of the middle age and height, of a plumpness degenerating to the embonpoint natural to her years; her features are plain, her nose and mouth of an ordinary type, and her manners and appearance homely, stiffened, however, by the consciousness that her position requires her to be something more than plain Mrs. Lincoln, the wife of the Illinois lawyer; she is profuse in the introduction of the word “sir” in every sentence, which is now almost an Americanism confined to certain classes, although it was once as common in England. Her dress I shall not attempt to describe, though it was very gorgeous and highly colored. She handled a fan with much energy, displaying a round, well-proportioned arm, and was adorned with some simple jewelry. Mrs. Lincoln struck me as being desirous of making herself agreeable; and I own I was agreeably disappointed, as the Secessionist ladies at Washington had been amusing themselves by anecdotes which could scarcely have been founded on fact.

Several of the Ministers had already arrived; by and by all had come, and the party only waited for General Scott, who seemed to be the representative man in Washington of the monarchical idea, and to absorb some of the feeling which is lavished on the pictures and memory, if not on the monument, of Washington. Whilst we were waiting, Mr. Seward took me round, and introduced me to the Ministers, and to their wives and daughters, among the latter, Miss Chase, who is very attractive, agreeable, and sprightly. Her father, the Finance Minister, struck me as one of the most intelligent and distinguished persons in the whole assemblage, — tall, of a good presence, with a well-formed head, fine forehead, and a face indicating energy and power. There is a peculiar droop and motion of the lid of one eye, which seems to have suffered from some injury, that detracts from the agreeable effect of his face; but, on the whole, he is one who would not pass quite unnoticed in a European crowd of the same description.

In the whole assemblage there was not a scrap of lace or a piece of ribbon, except the gorgeous epaulettes of an old naval officer who had served against us in the last war, and who represented some branch of the naval department. Nor were the Ministers by any means remarkable for their personal appearance.

Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War, a slight man, above the middle height, with gray hair, deep-set keen gray eyes, and a thin mouth, gave me the idea of a person of ability and adroitness. His colleague, the Secretary of the Navy, a small man, with a great long gray beard and spectacles, did not look like one of much originality or ability; but people who know Mr. Welles declare that he is possessed of administrative power, although they admit that he does not know the stem from the stern of a ship, and are in doubt whether he ever saw the sea in his life. Mr. Smith, the Minister of the Interior, is a bright-eyed, smart (I use the word in the English sense) gentleman, with the reputation of being one of the most conservative members of the cabinet. Mr. Blair, the Postmaster-General, is a person of much greater influence than his position would indicate. He has the reputation of being one of the most determined Republicans in the Ministry; but he held peculiar notions with reference to the black and the white races, which, if carried out, would not by any means conduce to the comfort or happiness of free negroes in the United States. He is a tall, lean man, with a hard, Scotch, practical-looking head — an anvil for ideas to be hammered on. His eyes are small and deeply set, and have a rat-like expression; and he speaks with caution, as though he weighed every word before he uttered it. The last of the Ministers is Mr. Bates, a stout, thick-set, common-looking man, with a large beard, who fills the office of Attorney-General. Some of the gentlemen were in evening dress; others wore black frock-coats, which it seems, as in Turkey, are considered to be en regle at a Republican Ministerial dinner.

In the conversation which occurred before dinner, I was amused to observe the manner in which Mr. Lincoln used the anecdotes for which he is famous. Where men bred in courts, accustomed to the world, or versed in diplomacy, would use some subterfuge, or would make a polite speech, or give a shrug of the shoulders as the means of getting out of an embarrassing position, Mr. Lincoln raises a laugh by some bold west-country anecdote, and moves off in the cloud of merriment produced by his joke. Thus, when Mr. Bates was remonstrating apparently against the appointment of some indifferent lawyer to a place of judicial importance, the President interposed with, “Come now, Bates, he's not half as bad as you think. Besides that, I must tell you, he did me a good turn long ago. When I took to the law, I was going to court one morning, with some ten or twelve miles of bad road before me, and I had no horse. The judge overtook me in his wagon. ‘Hollo, Lincoln! Are you not going to the court-house? Come in, and I'll give you a seat.’ Well, I got in, and the judge went on reading his papers. Presently the wagon struck a stump on one side of the road; then it hopped off to the other. I looked out, and I saw the driver was jerking from side to side in his seat; so says I, ‘Judge, I think your coachman has been taking a little drop too much this morning.’ ‘Well I declare, Lincoln,’ said he, ‘I should not wonder if you are right, for he has nearly upset me half a dozen of times since starting.’ So, putting his head out of the window, he shouted, ‘Why, you infernal scoundrel, you are drunk!’ Upon which, pulling up his horses, and turning round with great gravity, the coachman said, ‘By gorra! that's the first rightful decision you have given for the last twelvemonth.’” Whilst the company were laughing, the President beat a quiet retreat from the neighborhood of the Attorney-General.

It was at last announced that General Scott was unable to be present, and that, although actually in the house, he had been compelled to retire from indisposition, and we moved in to the banqueting-hall. The first “state dinner,” as it is called, of the President, was not remarkable for ostentation. No liveried servants, no Persic splendor of ancient plate, or chefs d'Å“uvre of art, glittered round the board. Vases of flowers decorated the table, combined with dishes in what may be called the “Gallo-American” style, with wines which owed their parentage to France, and their rearing and education to the United States, which abounds in cunning nurses for such productions. The conversation was suited to the state dinner of a cabinet at which women and strangers were present. I was seated next Mr. Bates, and the very agreeable and lively Secretary of the President, Mr. Hay, and except when there was an attentive silence caused by one of the President's stories, there was a Babel of small talk round the table, in which I was surprised to find a diversity of accent almost as great as if a number of foreigners had been speaking English. I omitted the name of Mr. Hamlin, the Vice-President, as well as those of less remarkable people who were present; but it would not be becoming to pass over a man distinguished for nothing so much as his persistent and unvarying adhesion to one political doctrine, which has made him, in combination with the belief in his honesty, the occupant of a post which leads to the Presidency, in event of any occurrence which may remove Mr. Lincoln.

After dinner the ladies and gentlemen retired to the drawingroom, and the circle was increased by the addition of several politicians. I had an opportunity of conversing with some of the Ministers, if not with all, from time to time, and I was struck by the uniform tendency of their remarks in reference to the policy of Great Britain. They seemed to think that England was bound by her anti-slavery antecedents to discourage to the utmost any attempts of the South to establish its independence on a basis of slavery, and to assume that they were the representatives of an active war of emancipation. As the veteran Commodore Stewart passed the chair of the young lady to whom I was speaking, she said, “I suppose, Mr. Russell, you do not admire that officer?” “On the contrary,” I said, “I think he is a very fine-looking old man.” “I don't mean that,” she replied; “but you know he can't be very much liked by you, because he fought so gallantly against you in the last war, as you must know.” I had not the courage to confess ignorance of the captain's antecedents. There is a delusion among more than the fair American who spoke to me, that we entertain in England the sort of feeling, morbid or wholesome as it may be, in reference to our reverses at New Orleans and elsewhere, that is attributed to Frenchmen respecting Waterloo.

On returning to Willard's Hotel, I was accosted by a gentleman who came out from the crowd in front of the office. “Sir,” he said, “you have been dining with our President tonight.” I bowed. “Was it an agreeable party?” said he. “What do you think of Mr. Lincoln?” “May I ask to whom I have the pleasure of speaking?” “My name is Mr. –––, and I am the correspondent of the New York ––––.” “Then, sir,” I replied, “it gives me satisfaction to tell you that I think a great deal of Mr. Lincoln, and that I am equally pleased with my dinner. I have the honor to bid you good evening.” The same gentleman informed me afterwards that he had created the office of Washington Correspondent to the New York papers. “At first,” said he, “I merely wrote news, and no one cared much; then I spiced it up, squibbed a little, and let off stories of my own. Congressmen contradicted me, — issued cards, — said they were not facts. The public attention was attracted, and I was told to go on; and so the Washington correspondence became a feature in all the New York papers by degrees.” The hum and bustle in the hotel to-night were wonderful. All the office-seekers were in the passages, hungering after senators and representatives, and the ladies in any way related to influential people, had an entourage of courtiers sedulously paying their respects. Miss Chase, indeed, laughingly told me that she was pestered by applicants for her father's good offices, and by persons seeking introduction to her as a means of making demands on “Uncle Sam.”

As I was visiting a book-shop to-day, a pert, smiling young fellow, of slight figure and boyish appearance came up and introduced himself to me as an artist who had contributed to an illustrated London paper during the Prince of Wales's tour, and who had become acquainted with some of my friends; and he requested permission to call on me, which I gave without difficulty or hesitation. He visited me this evening, poor lad! and told me a sad story of his struggles, and of the dependence of his family on his efforts, as a prelude to a request that I would allow him to go South when I was making the tour there, of which he had heard. He was under an engagement with the London paper, and had no doubt that if he was with me his sketches would all be received as illustrations of the places to which my letters were attracting public interest in England at the time. There was no reason why I should be averse to his travelling with me in the same train. He could certainly go if he pleased. At the same time I intimated that I was in no way to be connected with or responsible for him.

SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 41-6

Thursday, March 21, 2013

An old friend from Springfield . . .

. . . lately called to see the President.  After the usual greetings, etc., ‘Lincoln,’ said he, ‘when you turned out Cameron why didn’t you turn out all the rest of your Cabinet?’  ‘That,’ said the President, ‘makes me think of something that took place near home in Illinois.  An old man had been pestered with a colony of skunks, that depredated nightly upon his poultry.  He determined to be rid of them, and finally succeeded in getting them into one hole, where he could kill them at his pleasure.  He drew one forth by the tail and executed him, but, said he, in telling the story, this caused such an infernal stench that he was glad to let the rest run.’

– Published in The Cedar Valley Times, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Thursday, April 17, 1862, p. 1