Only three of us at the Cabinet meeting, and no special
business matters were brought forward. I submitted to the President a dispatch
from Commander Watson Smith at Pensacola relative to the disturbed condition of
the people at Warrington. The port is blockaded, and the Rebels cut off from
all shore supplies. In the mean time the Treasury agent has cut off the little
communication that had been previously maintained by a few small dealers. The
President requested me to consult with Chase, and any conclusion that we should
come to he would affirm. Some little conversation followed as to the opening of
additional ports. I remarked to the President that in my opinion it would be
well to take some decisive and more general ground indicating progress towards
peace. New Orleans being an open port, I asked, why might not the whole
trans-Mississippi country above that place be thrown open to commerce? I told
him my own convictions — and I had given the subject reflection — were
favorable to the measure, and against the farther blockade of Red River and the
country above that river on the west bank of the Mississippi. The President
said the subject was worth considering and we must take it up.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 509-10
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