Diary of Gideon Welles, Thursday, June 21, 1866

Senator Doolittle took tea with me. He wished me to go with him to the President, where some friends were to assemble to consider and decide in relation to the proposed call for a national convention. Senator Cowan, Browning,¹ Randall,² and three other persons whom I did not know, but who seemed attachés of Randall, and who, I understood, belonged to the National Union Johnson Club, composed the sitting. The call, which had been modified in slight respects, still omitted any allusion to the Constitutional changes, the really important question before the country. This I thought a great and radical defect, and Cowan and Browning concurred with me, as did McCulloch. Randall, who is flattered and used by Seward, opposed this, and his principal reason was that he would leave something for the convention to do. I asked why the convention was called, if not on this great issue which stood prominent beyond any other. "Well," he said, "it would hasten the calling of the State Legislatures to pass upon it." That, I told him, if properly used might be made to weaken them and strengthen us, we would demand an expression of popular sentiment through the instrumentality of an election, and thereby expose the recent hasty action which was intended to stifle public opinion.

Much of the conversation between eight and eleven o'clock was on this point, during which I became satisfied that Randall was prompted by Seward and unwittingly used for party purposes of Weed and Seward. The President evidently was with me in his convictions but forbore taking an active part. My impressions are that Seward has, in his way, indicated objections to making the Constitutional question a part of the call; that it would prevent Raymond and others from uniting in the movement. Finally, Browning and then McCulloch and Cowan yielded. They probably saw, as I did, that it was a foregone conclusion, was predetermined, that the meeting had been cunningly contrived and pushed by Randall.

Doolittle stated his purpose of having the members of the Cabinet sign the call. Both McCulloch and myself had doubts of its expediency and effect. The President, without expressing an opinion, showed that he concurred in Doolittle's suggestion.

McCulloch asked if Seward would put his name to it, and two or three undertook to vouch for him. I expressed my readiness to unite in what would be best for the Administration and the cause. If it was to have official significance, a proclamation I thought best. Seward, I am satisfied, would not sign it if the Constitutional point was presented, and I doubt if he will under any circumstances.

Something was said respecting Thurlow Weed, and the President remarked that Weed would be here to-morrow, but he knew Weed approved this movement and would sign the call. All this pained me. Seward and Weed are manifestly controlling the whole thing in an underhand way; they have possession of the President and are using the Administration for themselves and party rather than the President and country. They have eviscerated the call and will dissect and, I fear, destroy the effect of this move. Randall is a man of lax political morality, and I think his influence with the President is not always in the right direction. Seward knows his influence and intimacy in that quarter and has captured him, probably without R.'s being aware of it. The President finds that R. agrees with Seward, and it carries him in that direction. While R. means to reflect the President's wishes, he is really the tool of Seward and Weed, and is doing harm to the cause and to the President himself. But this matter cannot be corrected and will, I fear, prove ruinous.

I left soon after eleven and came home, desponding and unhappy. The cause is in bad and over-cunning if not treacherous hands, I fear. The proposed convention has no basis of principles. It will be denounced as a mere union with Rebels.

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¹ O. H. Browning, who shortly succeeded Harlan as Secretary of the Interior.

² A. W. Randall, soon to succeed Dennison as Postmaster-General.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, pp. 533-5

Diary of Dr. Alfred L. Castleman, November 29, 1861

Since the order of the early part of this month, that my directions in reference to the sanitary measures could be disregarded, I have not visited the camp, or given any directions in regard to cleaning, ventilating, &c., and though it is now but three weeks since that order was made, the sick list, which had decreased in two weeks from about two hundred to thirty-nine, has suddenly run up again to one hundred and sixty, and the diseases are assuming a low typhoid type. So foul are the tents that if a soldier, with simple intermittent, remains three days in his quarters, he is sent to hospital in a condition approximating ship-fever. The seeds of disease are now sown in our regiment, which, in despite of the greatest care, will not fail to yield rich harvests of sickness all winter. Our Governor has been in camp to-day. He has no doubt seen the effect of this military interference, for he has called on me to know if something cannot be done to arrest the trouble. I have laid the whole matter fully before him, and I have no doubt that what is in his power to do, will be done to avert the evil.

SOURCE: Alfred L. Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B. McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day January, 1863, pp. 56-7

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to Senator James W. Grimes, December 26, 1861

Executive Office, Iowa, Dec. 26, 1861.

Hon. James W. Grimes, Washington City, D. C:

Dear Sir: — Herewith find copy of a letter from Gov. Randall, of Wisconsin. In view of the great labor and responsibility of the governors of the northern states, I do not know but the suggestion of the Governor of Wisconsin is a timely one, had the general government the money to spare. We have all been doing labor as great as belongs to offices much better paid than ours have been, and have been bestowing offices all summer, the salaries of which are much higher than ours. And certainly our labor has been as important as any that has been done, and as it has been done for the United States, there would not be any impropriety in so acknowledging its value. But the government needs all its money and more, and there are other better uses to which to put the money. I am painfully impressed with the conviction that our regiments have not enough medical aid, and I would much rather congress would give an additional assistant surgeon to each regiment from Iowa than any pay to its Governor.

Very truly,

Samuel J. Kirkwood.

SOURCE: State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Historical Record, Volumes 1-3, Volume 2, No. 3, July 1886, p. 323

Governor Alexander W. Randall to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, December 23, 1861

Executive Office, Madison, Dec. 23, 1861.

His Excy. Gov. Kirkwood, Iowa:

Dear Sir: — It seems to me that the large amount of labor and responsibility thrown upon the executives of the several states during the past season entitle them to some consideration at the hands of congress. In all cases where forces enough have been sent from any state to entitle the state to an appointment of a Major-General, the Governor ought to be paid the compensation of a Major-General. In all other cases to be paid the compensation of a Brigadier-General, and congress ought to make an appropriation for the purpose. I propose that we make common cause with our members of congress to favor such an act. If the idea meets your approval, please write your members on the subject.

Very respectfully,

Alex. W. Randall.

SOURCE: State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Historical Record, Volumes 1-3, Volume 2, No. 3, July 1886, p. 322-3

Proclamation of Alexander W. Randall, Governor of Wisconsin, April 16, 1861

To The Loyal People of Wisconsin:

For the first time in the history of this Federal Government, organized treason has manifested itself within several States of the Union, and armed rebels are making war against it. The Proclamation of the President of the United States tells of unlawful combinations too powerful to be suppressed in the ordinary manner, and calls for military forces to suppress such combinations, and to sustain him in executing the laws. The treasures of the country must no longer be plundered; the public property must be protected from aggressive violence; that already seized, must be retaken, and the laws must be executed in every State of the Union alike.

A demand made upon Wisconsin by the President of the United States, for aid to sustain the Federal Arm, must meet with a prompt response. One Regiment of the Militia of this State, will be required for immediate service, and further services will be required as the exigencies of the Government may demand. It is a time when, against the civil and religious liberties of the people, and against the integrity of the Government of the United States, parties and politicians and platforms must be as dust in the balance. All good citizens, everywhere, must join in making common cause against a common enemy.

Opportunities will be immediately offered to all existing military companies, under the direction of the proper authorities of the State, for enlistment to fill the demand of the Federal Government, and I hereby invite the patriotic citizens of the State to enroll themselves into companies of seventy-eight men each, and to advise the Executive of their readiness to be mustered into service immediately. Detailed instructions will be furnished on the acceptance of companies, and the commissioned officers of each regiment will nominate their own field officers.

In times of public danger bad men grow bold and reckless. The property of the citizen becomes unsafe, and both public and private rights liable to be jeopardized. I enjoin upon all administrative and peace officers within the State renewed vigilance in the maintenance and execution of the laws, and in guarding against excesses leading to disorder among the people.

Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin, this 16th day of April A. D. 1861.

By the Governor,

ALEX. W. RANDALL

L. P. Harvey, Secretary of State,

SOURCE: Edwin Bentley Quiner, The Military History of Wisconsin, p.47