Diary of George Mifflin Dallas, January 20, 1861

If we are in turmoil on the western side of the Atlantic, they are not much better off on this eastern side. The King of Prussia has just said to his general officers in Berlin: “The aspect of the times is very serious, and menaces great dangers. Gentlemen, there is a distinct prospect of struggles in which I shall need the entire devotion of your hearts. If I and those other sovereigns wishing for peace do not succeed in dissipating beforehand the coming thunder-storm, we shall want the whole of our strength in order to stand our ground. You will have to strain every nerve if you wish to render the army adequate to the future calls of the country. Gentlemen, do not allow yourselves to be subject to any self-delusion respecting the magnitude of coming struggles. If I do not succeed in obviating war, the war will be one in which we shall have either to conquer or be lost to our position in the world!” What convulsion is it that thus thunders in the index? We hear the cry of “Peace, peace,” in every direction, but we see specially dark clouds in various quarters. Hungary is on the eve of revolt, Denmark is arming to maintain her rights in Schleswig and Holstein, Italy, under the magical inspiration of Garibaldi, will insist upon having, as parts of the temporal sovereignty of Victor Emmanuel, both Rome and Venice. War upon Austria then would seem inevitable, and it cannot fail to draw into its vortex Russia, Prussia, Germany, and, not impossibly, Turkey. But the words of solemnity used by the monarch involve a deeper meaning. They refer to the military avalanche which a breath from Louis Napoleon may precipitate across the Rhine,—his vast force of six or eight hundred thousand, his numerous and formidable ships of war, and his actual position as the chief of the revolutionary movement. The language is portentous, infinitely more so than the address of Baron Hubner on 1st of January, 1859. Where on the face of the earth can the stranger, Peace, take up her permanent abode?

The news from home during this week has been deplorable. On the 10th inst. the President sent a message to Congress which depicts the state of things in the gloomiest colours. South Carolina, at Charleston, has fired repeated volleys at a United States transport carrying troops for Major Anderson at Fort Sumter, and has compelled her to retire. The Brooklyn, a second-class screw steamer of fourteen guns, and the revenue cutter Harriet Lane are about to convoy the troops back again to Charleston on board the Star of the West, and we may expect our next news to announce a bloody fight, possibly a bombardment of the city. Seward has made a speech in the Senate which the Times calls “grand and conciliatory,” but which obviously asserts a determination to enforce the laws. Servile insurrection, too, seems. contemplated in Virginia, some twenty-five barrels of gunpowder having been disinterred from secret hiding places.

SOURCE: George Mifflin Dallas, Diary of George Mifflin Dallas, While United States Minister to Russia 1837 to 1839, and to England 1856 to 1861, Volume 3, p. 430-2

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, March 20, 1865

Seward sends me a half-scary letter from Sanford, who is in Paris, that Page intends coming out of Ferrol and fighting the Niagara. I do not believe it, though, were Page a desperate and fighting man, it would be probable. But Page wants power. Not unlikely his associates have come to the conclusion that there is no alternative, and that he must make up his mind to fight. Under this stimulant he may do so, but I have my doubts.

Craven is a good officer, though a little timid and inert by nature. The occasion is a great one for him and will rouse his energies. I wish he had smooth-bores instead of rifles on his vessel, provided they have a conflict; wish he was more of a rifle himself.

I apprehend Seward has been cheated and humbugged in regard to this vessel by the Rebels and the French, and I am not satisfied with the part Denmark has played. Our Minister does not appear to have been efficient in the matter, or if so, it has not been disclosed. The State Department is mum, troubled.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 261

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, March 10, 1865

At the Cabinet to-day Seward could not suppress his delight over intelligence, just received, that the Danish-French ironclad sold to the Rebels was stopped at Corunna. We have had multitudinous and various pieces of intelligence respecting this vessel, none of them reliable. The next arrival may bring statements in direct opposition to those we now have.

Each of the Departments finished up their matters with the Senate, which will doubtless adjourn to-morrow.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 254-5

A New Lesson on Dying in the Last Ditch, September 15, 1864

Why didn’t Denmark die in the last ditch? Plucky as she has been she happens to be made of flesh and blood, and this sort of dying is not a thing for flesh and blood to do.  It may be talked about; all mankind has a weakness that way; but it never has happened, and never will.  Of course we refer to people collectively, and not to individuals.  A person here and there, seized with some sublime phrenzy may take death sooner than yield.  A people never dies thus, not even the bravest.  A man my commit suicide; a people cannot.  “Give me liberty, or give me death,” is a very fine sentiment, and ought, we suppose, to be universally adopted, and either lived, or died, up to.  But it isn’t done.  Men in general, somehow can’t overcome the instinct of self-preservation.  They’ll take any measure of wrong sooner than death.  “Better a living dog than a dead lion,” is a maxim that, we are afraid, commends itself to our pour nature now as much as ever.  Are there braver men on earth than Hungarians, or the Poles, or the Cireassians?  And yet have we not lately seen them all, as we now see the brave Danes, bow themselves to their conqueror, sooner than to fight to extermination?  They did this not in any want of courage.  They had courage enough.  It was precisely that no courage could help them that they stopped fighting.  Courage is of no avail without strength; and when their strength had been broken up by their enemies, submission came. Cowards yield because they won’t help themselves.  Brave men yield because they can’t help themselves.  That is just the difference between them.

The Danes never protested so loudly that they would fight to the death, as for a week or two before they gave in.  Nothing is more common than this.  We saw it in the late Crimean war.  When the reverses and discomfitures of two campaigns culminated in the overthrow of Sebastopol itself, Russia had nothing to answer but an order for a new levy of 100,000 men.  From the Czar to the lowest serf, there was an outburst of continued defiance, so imposing that even the cool Richard Cobden who had once declared in Parliament that “Russia might be crumbled up like a sheet of brown paper,” issued a pamphlet maintaining that Russia was unconquerable, and that peace must be made with her own terms.  Yet a month did not collapse before the Czar made known his readiness to accept terms which not only conceded all the points originally in dispute, but others of a yet more humiliating character.  Just so did the Mexicans.  One of their last acts before submission was to create a Dictator, with absolute power for everything except submission; and a proclamation to the provinces, declaring resistance to the death.  This access of new defiance just before succumbing is perfectly natural.  The pride of the worsted party is always the last quality to yield.  It rallies when the strength no longer can.  It is the return of the spirit upon itself when the arm droops—a self-assertion, or self-protest of the soul, Necessarily incident, perhaps to its superiority over the flesh, but for all that, perfectly useless.  We don’t call such exhibitions mere bravado.  They are not.  On the contrary, they are the most apt to be seen in those who are most truly brave.  The higher in the spirit, the sharper the recoil.  At no time have our rebels protested stronger that they will never submit than they are now doing.  Jeff. Davis said the other day with unusual emphasis that “We will have extermination or independence.”  He felt so, undoubtedly; but the truth is, he neither.  His people will not take the one, and we have no intentions to give the other.  Precisely as Tennessee and Louisiana, and Arkansas have neither extermination of independence, so will it be with all the remaining eight States of the so-called Confederacy.  The twenty five millions of loyal states have the ability to overcome the remaining strength of this rebellion.  They mean to do it.  When it is done these people will do precisely what every other people at war have done when their strength was gone—they will submit.  They will yield when exhausted—will stop fighting when they can fight no longer.  All this talk about “extermination” is natural enough, and, after a fashion, credible, but it amounts to nothing.  It will not give these rebels on breath the more or less.  “The thing which hath been, it is that which shall be, and there is no new thing under the sun”—not even under this remarkable southern sun of ours.  We attempt no prediction when this submission will come through it sometimes seems to us that it cannot be far at farthest.  If it is certain that the rebellion has been greatly weakened in fighting material, and that the disparity between its available force and our own is daily becoming greater.  There are those who believe that even now it is sustained only by the hope the last draft ordered by President Lincoln will not be sustained by the Northern people and that he himself will be repudiated at the election in November.  It is expected by some who call themselves close observers, that the rebels will give up the fight next Winter, if this hope of theirs is not realized.  The submission my occur than, and it may not.  It is impossible to tell.  But the particular time is of no essential consequence.  It is enough to know that it must come sooner or later: and just as soon as the warning strength of the rebels comes to the point of exhaustion.  It would appear that we ought to expect an earlier submission than in the other wars we have averted to, because that submission involves no hard terms—nothing but a resumption of equal rights under the same broad Constitution.  But perhaps this rational inducement may have no such effect.  We do not calculate upon it.  We simply affirm that these rebels will succumb sooner than be exterminated, and that this yielding will be preceded by strong talk, and be sudden when it comes.  N. Y. Times.

SOURCES: “A New Lesson on Dying in the Last Ditch,” Janesville Daily Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, Thursday, September 15, 1864, p. 2; “A New Lesson on Dying in the Last Ditch,” The Tiffin Tribune, Tiffin, Ohio, Thursday, September 22, 1864, p. 1, “Highly Pertinent,” Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, Saturday, August 27, 1864, p. 2.

Henry Clay to John J. Crittenden, May 11, 1826

Washington, May 11, 1826.

Dear Crittenden,—I have received your acceptable favor of the 27th. The affair with Mr. R[andolph], to which you refer with so much kindness, was unavoidable (according to that standard, my own feelings and judgment, to which its decision exclusively belonged). I rejoiced at its harmless issue. In regard to its effect upon me, with the public, I have not the smallest apprehension. The general effect will not be bad. I believe it is the only similar occurrence which is likely to take place here. As to McDuffie and Trimble, the general opinion here is that Trimble obtained a decided advantage, and in that opinion I understand some of the friends of McDuffie concur. You will not doubt it when you read Trimble's speech, who really appears on that occasion to have been inspired. Mr. Gallatin is appointed to England, and there is general acquiescence in the propriety of his appointment. Our senator, Mr. R., made a violent opposition to Trimble's nomination, and prevailed upon four other senators to record their negatives with him. He is perfectly impotent in the Senate, and has fallen even below the standard of his talents, of which, I think, he has some for mischief, if not for good. The judiciary bill will most probably be lost by the disagreement between the two Houses as to its arrangements. This day will decide. My office is very laborious. Amidst sundry negotiations and interminable correspondence, I have, nevertheless, found time during the winter and spring to conclude two commercial treaties,—one with Denmark and one with Guatemala, which have had the fortune to be unanimously approved by the Senate. Publication deferred till ratified by the other parties. I am rejoiced at the prospect you describe of the settlement of our local differences. It will be as I have ever anticipated. I think, with deference to our friends, there has been all along too much doubt and despair. On the other hand, you should not repose in an inactive confidence. I believe with you, that some of the Relief party have been alienated from me. Not so, however, I trust with Blair, to whom I pray you to communicate my best respects.

Yours, faithfully,

Henry Clay.

SOURCES: Mrs. Chapman Coleman, The Life of John J. Crittenden, Volume 1, p. 65; C. N. Feamster, Calendar of the Papers of John Jordan Crittenden, p. 32

John L. Motley to Lady William Russell, March 17, 1864

Vienna, March 17, 1864.

Dear Lady William: A thousand thanks for your letter, which gave us inexpressible delight, not alone for its wit and its wisdom, which would have made it charming to read even if it had been addressed to any one else, but because it brings a fresh assurance that we are not quite forgotten yet by one of whom we think and speak every day. I should write oftener, dear Lady William, but for two reasons: one, that I am grown such a dull and dismal eremite, although always in a crowd, that I consider it polizeiwidrig to expose any one to the contagion of such complaints; secondly, because yours is an answer to my last, after the interval of a year, and I never venture to write a second letter till the first one has been completed by its answer. It is an old superstition of mine that a correspondence can't go on one leg. I always think of letters in pairs, like scissors, inexpressibles, lovers, what you will. This is a serious statement, not an excuse, for I have often wished to write, and have been repelled by the thought. It was most charitable of you, therefore, to send me one of your green leaves fluttering out of the bowers of Mayfair as the first welcome harbinger of spring after this very fierce winter:

Frigora mitescunt zephyris: ver proterit restas.

How well I remember that sequestered village of Mayfair, and the charming simplicity of its unsophisticated population! “Auch ich war in Arcadien geboren.” I, too, once hired a house in Hertford Street, as you will observe. Would that I could walk out of it to No. 2 Audley Square, as it was once my privilege to do! I infer from what you say, and from what I hear others say, that you are on the whole better in regard to the consequences of that horrible accident in Rome, and I rejoice in the thought that you are enjoying so much, notwithstanding, for a most brilliant planetary system is plainly revolving around you, as the center of light and warmth. I am so glad you see so much of the Hugheses. They are among our eternal regrets. I echo everything you say about both, and am alternately jealous of them that they can see you every day, and almost envious of you for having so much of them. So you see that I am full of evil passions. Nevertheless, I shall ever love perfidious Albion for the sake of such friends as these, notwithstanding her high crimes and misdemeanors toward a certain republic in difficulties which shall be nameless. What can I say to you that can possibly amuse you from this place?

Perhaps I had better go into the haute politique. We live, of course, in an atmosphere of Schleswig-Holsteinismus, which is as good as a London fog in this dry climate. I don't attribute so much influence as you do to the “early associations with Hamlet on the British mind.” Rather do I think it an ancient instinct of the British mind to prefer a small power in that important little peninsula, that it may be perpetually under the British thumb. For myself, I take great comfort in being comparatively indifferent to the results of the contest. As to its being decided on the merits, that is of course out of the question. A war about Poland was saved, after a most heroic effusion of ink in all the chanceries of Europe, by knocking Poland on the head. And a war about Denmark may be saved by knocking Denmark on the head. As to the merits of Schleswig-Holstein, are there any? Considered as private property, these eligible little estates may be proved to belong to almost anybody. Early in the ninth century the sand-banks of the Elbe were incorporated in the Germanic empires, while those beyond the Eider were under the suzerainty of Denmark. In the first half of the eleventh century all Schleswig was Danish, and at the beginning of the thirteenth Holstein, including Lübeck and Dithmarschen, was incorporated in the kingdom of Denmark. Then there were revolutions, shindies of all kinds, republics, que sais-je? Then came 1460, the election of King Christian I. of Denmark as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. There is much virtue in the hyphen. The patent of that excellent monarch is extant, written in choice Plattdeutsch, by which he declares the hyphen eternal. The provinces shall remain eternally together, undivided, says the patent. What a pity the king, too, couldn't have been eternal! The bon Roi d'Yvetot himself could n't have settled matters in his domain more comfortably for all future times.

But I forbear. Who can help approving the pluck with which little Denmark stands up to her two gigantic antagonists? But I am afraid there has been too much judicious bottle-holding. Anyhow, it is amusing to watch the chaos in the councils at Frankfort. The Diet is at its last gasp. Everybody has a different proposition of' “combination” to make every day; everybody is defeated, and yet there are no conquerors. The Bund means mischief, and wriggles about, full of the most insane excitement, to the thirty-fourth joint of its tail, but can do no harm to any one. Decidedly the poor old Bund is moribund. What do you think of your young friend Maximilian, Montezuma I.? I was never a great admirer of the much-admired sagacity of Louis Napoleon. But I have been forced to give in at last. The way in which he has bamboozled that poor young man is one of the neatest pieces of escamotage ever performed. If he does succeed in getting the archduke in, and his own troops out, and the costs of his expedition paid, certainly it will be a Kunststiick. The priest party, who called in the French, are now most furiously denouncing them, and swear that they have been more cruelly despoiled by them than by Juarez and his friends. So poor Maximilian will put his foot in a hornets' nest as soon as he gets there. Such a swarm of black, venomous insects haven't been seen since the good old days of the Inquisition. Now, irritare crabrones is a good rule, and so Max is to have the Pope's blessing before he goes. But if the priests are against him, and the Liberals are for a republic, who is for the empire?

Meantime he has had smart new liveries made at Brussels, to amaze the Mexican heart. Likewise he has been seen trying on an imperial crown of gilt pasteboard, to see in the glass if it is becoming. This I believe to be authentic. But I am told he hasn't got a penny. Louis Napoleon is squeezing everything out of him that he may have in prospect. In one of the collections of curiosities in Vienna there is a staff or scepter of Montezuma, but I believe his successor is not even to have that, which is, I think, unjust. The celebrated bed of roses is, however, airing for him, I doubt not. I put into this envelop a wedding-card of Rechberg and Bismarck,¹ which has been thought rather a good joke here, so much so as to be suppressed by the police. It has occurred to me, too, that it might amuse you to look over a few of the Vienna “Punches.” “Figaro” is the name of the chief Witzblatt here, and sometimes the fooling is good enough. The caricatures of Rechberg are very like; those of Bismarck less so.

Julian Fane has been shut up a good while, but, I am happy to say, is almost himself again. I saw him a few days ago, and he bid fair to be soon perfectly well, and he is as handsome and fascinating as ever. Dear Lady William, can't you send me your photograph? You promised it me many times. We have no picture of you of any kind. We should like much to have your three sons. We have one of Odo, however. Likewise we should exceedingly like to have one of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, if you think you could get it for us, with his autograph written below. He once promised it. Will you remember us most sincerely and respectfully to him, and prefer this request? I shall venture also to ask you sometimes to give our earnest remembrances to Lord and Lady Palmerston. We never forget all their kindness to us. But if I begin to recall myself to the memory of those I never forget, I should fill another sheet, so I shall trust to you to do this to all who remember us. And pray do not forget us.

Most sincerely yours,

J. L. M.

_______________

¹ Caricature of the time.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley, Volume III, p. 9-14

John L. Motley to Anna Lothrop Motley, December 29, 1863

December 29, 1863.

My Dearest Mother: We wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We are very well satisfied with recent American news. In a military point of view, thank Heaven, the “coming man,” for whom we have so long been waiting, seems really to have come. So far as I can understand the subject, Ulysses Grant is at least equal to any general now living in any part of the world, and by far the first that our war has produced on either side. I expect that when the Vicksburg and Tennessee campaigns come to be written, many years hence, it will appear that they are masterpieces of military art. A correspondent of a widely circulated German newspaper (the "Augsburg Gazette"), very far from friendly to America, writing from the seat of war in Tennessee, speaks of the battle of Chattanooga as an action which, both for scientific combination and bravery in execution, is equal to any battle of modern times from the days of Frederick the Great downward. I am also much pleased with the Message, and my respect for the character and ability of the President increases every day. It was an immense good fortune for us in this emergency to have a man in his responsible place whose integrity has never been impeached, so far as I know, by friend or foe. The ferment in Europe does not subside, and I cannot understand how the German-Danish quarrel can be quietly settled. I rather expect to see a popular outbreak in Copenhagen, to be suppressed, perhaps, by foreign powers; but that Denmark will be dismembered seems to me very probable. However, I have no intention of prophesying as to events to be expected during the coming year.

Ever your affectionate son,

J. L. M.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 351-2

John L. Motley to Anna Lothrop Motley, November 17, 1863

November 17, 1863.

My Dearest Mother: . . . I shall say nothing of our home affairs save that I am overjoyed at the results of the elections in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, without being at all surprised. As to Massachusetts, of course I should as soon have thought of the sun's forgetting to rise as of her joining the pro-slavery Copperheads. The result of the elections in Missouri and Maryland has not yet reached me, but I entertain a strong hope that the latter State has elected an emancipation legislature, and that before next summer the accursed institution will be wiped out of "my Maryland."

The elections I consider of far more consequence than the battles, or rather the success of the antislavery party and its steadily increasing strength make it a mathematical certainty that, however the tide of battle may ebb and flow with varying results, the progress of the war is steadily in one direction. The peculiar institution will be washed away, and with it the only possible dissolvent of the Union.

We are in a great mess in Europe. The Emperor of the French, whom the littleness of his contemporaries has converted into a species of great man, which will much amuse posterity, is proceeding in his self-appointed capacity of European dictator. His last dodge is to call a Congress of Sovereigns, without telling them what they are to do when they have obeyed his summons. All sorts of tremendous things are anticipated, for when you have a professional conspirator on the most important throne in Christendom, there is no dark intrigue that doesn't seem possible. Our poor people in Vienna are in an awful fidget, and the telegraph-wires between London, St. Petersburg, and Paris are quivering hourly with the distracted messages which are speeding to and fro, and people go about telling each other the most insane stories. If Austria doesn't go to the Congress out of deference to England, then France, Russia, Prussia, and Italy are to meet together and make a new map of Europe. France is to take the provinces of the Rhine from Prussia, and give her in exchange the kingdom of Hanover, the duchy of Brunswick, and other little bits of property to round off her estate. Austria is to be deprived of Venice, which is to be given to Victor Emmanuel. Russia is to set up Poland as a kind of kingdom in leading-strings, when she has finished her Warsaw massacres, and is to take possession of the Danubian Principalities in exchange. These schemes are absolutely broached and believed in. Meantime the Schleswig-Holstein question, which has been whisking its long tail about through the European system, and shaking war from its horrid hair till the guns were ready to fire, has suddenly taken a new turn. Day before yesterday the King of Denmark, in the most melodramatic manner, died unexpectedly, just as he was about to sign the new constitution, which made war with the Germanic Confederation certain. Then everybody breathed again. The new king would wait, would turn out all the old ministers, would repudiate the new constitution, would shake hands with the German Bund, and be at peace, when, lo! just as the innocent bigwigs were making sure of this consummation so devoutly wished, comes a telegram that his new Majesty has sworn to the new constitution and kept in the old ministers.

Our weather has become gray, sullen, and wintry, but not cold. There has hardly been a frost yet, but the days are short and fires indispensable. The festivities will begin before long. Thus far I have been able to work steadily and get on pretty well.

Ever your most affectionate son,

J. L. M.

SOURCE: George William Curtis, editor, The Correspondence of John Lothrop Motley in Two Volumes, Library Edition, Volume 2, p. 348-50

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, June 8, 1863

Wrote Secretary of State on the subject of the complaints of the Danish Government against Wilkes, who is charged with abusing hospitality at St. Thomas. Made the best statement I could without censuring Wilkes, who is coming home, partly from these causes.

Have a letter from Foote, who is not ready to relieve Du Pont. Speaks of bad health and disability. It must be real, for whatever his regard for, or tenderness to D., Foote promptly obeys orders.

Spoke to the President regarding weekly performances of the Marine Band. It has been customary for them to play in the public grounds south of the Mansion once a week in summer, for many years. Last year it was intermitted, because Mrs. Lincoln objected in consequence of the death of her son. There was grumbling and discontent, and there will be more this year if the public are denied the privilege for private reasons. The public will not sympathize in sorrows which are obtrusive and assigned as a reason for depriving them of enjoyments to which they have been accustomed, and it is a mistake to persist in it. When I introduced the subject to-day, the President said Mrs. L. would not consent, certainly not until after the 4th of July. I stated the case pretty frankly, although the subject is delicate, and suggested that the band could play in Lafayette Square. Seward and Usher, who were present, advised that course. The President told me to do what I thought best.

Count Adam Gurowski, who is splenetic and querulous, a strange mixture of good and evil, always growling and discontented, who loves to say harsh things and speak good of but few, seldom makes right estimates and correct discrimination of character, but means to be truthful if not just, tells me my selection for the Cabinet was acquiesced in by the radical circle to which he belongs because they felt confident my influence with the President would be good, and that I would be a safeguard against the scheming and plotting of Weed and Seward, whose intrigues they understood and watched. When I came here, just preceding the inauguration in 1861, I first met this Polish exile, and was amused and interested in him, though I could not be intimate with one of his rough, coarse, ardent, and violent partisan temperament. His associates were then Greeley, D. D. Field, Opdyke, and men of that phase of party. I have no doubt that what he says is true of his associates, colored to some extent by his intense prejudices. He was for a year or two in the State Department as a clerk under Seward, and does not conceal that he was really a spy upon him, or, as he says, watched him. He says that when Seward became aware that the radicals relied upon me as a friend to check the loose notions and ultraism of the State Department, he (S.) went to work with the President to destroy my influence; that by persisting he so far succeeded as to induce the President to go against me on some important measures, where his opinion leaned to mine; that in this way, Seward had intrenched himself. There is doubtless some truth — probably some error — in the Count's story. I give the outlines. Eames, with whom he is intimate, has told me these things before. The Count makes him his confidant.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 325-6

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, June 4, 1863

Only a sense of duty would have led me to relieve Du Pont and Wilkes. With D. my relations have been kind and pleasant, on my part confiding. Latterly he has disappointed me, and given indication that my confidence was not returned. Wilkes is a different man and of an entirely different temperament. Du Pont is pleasant in manner and one of the most popular officers in the Navy; Wilkes is arbitrary and one of the most unpopular. There are exceptions in both cases. Du Pont is scrupulous to obey orders; Wilkes often disregards and recklessly breaks them. The Governments of Great Britain, Denmark, Mexico, and Spain have each complained of Wilkes, but, except in the case of Denmark, it appears to me without much cause, and even in the case of Denmark the cause was aggravated. There was some mismanagement in the Mexican case that might not stand close scrutiny. As regards the rights of neutrals, he has so far as I yet know, deported himself correctly, and better than I feared so far as England is concerned, after the affair of the Trent and with his intense animosity towards that government. His position has doubtless been cause of jealousy and irritation on the part of Great Britain, and in that respect his selection from the beginning had its troubles. He has accomplished less than I expected; has been constantly grumbling and complaining, which was expected; has captured a few blockade-runners, but not an armed cruiser, which was his special duty, and has probably defeated the well-devised plan of the Navy Department to take the Alabama. At the last advices most of his squadron was concentrated at St. Thomas, including the Vanderbilt, which should then have been on the equator, by specific orders. To-day Mrs. Wilkes, with whom we have been sociable, and I might almost say intimate, writes Mrs. Welles a note asking if any change has been made in the command of the West India Squadron. This note was on my table as I came out from breakfast. The answer of Mrs. Welles was, I suppose, not sufficiently definite, for I received a note with similar inquiries in the midst of pressing duties, and the messenger was directed to await an answer. I frankly informed her of the change. Alienation and probably anger will follow, but I could not do differently, though this necessary official act will, not unlikely, be resented as a personal wrong.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 322-3

Francis Lieber to Senator Chares Sumner, April 10, 1863

New York, April 10,1863.

. . . I do not think that your remarks concerning foreign ministers having intercourse with the opposition apply to the case of Lord Lyons. Would or would not the premier of England have sent word to a monarch that his minister was no longer agreeable to his majesty, if this minister in London, a century ago, had held covert intercourse with Scottish sympathizers or adherents of the Stuarts? I believe that a minister must be very circumspect in his intercourse with the opposition, — as opposition, and in excited times. Depend upon it, Pitt would not have allowed a foreign minister to be closeted with Fox and Sheridan, discussing high politics of England, without making complaint. I give you an anecdote which will be interesting to the chairman of Foreign Affairs. President King tells me that when his father, Rufus King, was American Minister in London, he paid a visit to Paris after the Peace of Amiens, when Fox likewise went. Fox went to see Consul Bonaparte. The latter desired that King would have himself presented, or the chief officers of the consul told King that they would gladly present him. King, who was then engaged in making a treaty with England, declined, because he knew that Bonaparte was very disagreeable to George III., and he thought he had no right to do anything that could interfere with his relation to the British court or ministry. When he returned to England and went to court, George III. went up to him and said: “Mr. King, I am very much obliged to you; you have treated me like a gentleman, which is more than I can say of all my subjects.” I give the words exactly as President King gave them to me, and he says that he gave the words to me as exactly as he could remember them, the anecdote being in lively remembrance in the family. He thinks he can now repeat the very words in which his father told the affair immediately after his return from court, and that they are the ipsissima verba of George III.

My belief is that, had we to consider nothing but diplomatic propriety, Lord Lyons's case is one which not only would authorize the President, but ought to cause him to declare to the Queen of England that Lord Lyons “was no longer agreeable to the American Government.” This occurrence belongs to the large class of facts which show, and have shown for the last two hundred and fifty years, that monarchies always treat republics as incomplete governments, unless guns and bayonets and commercial advantages prevent them from doing so. You remember the Netherlands? Lord Palmerston would not have spoken of a puny kingkin as he did of us in the recent Alabama discussion. Do you believe that the course of England toward us at present would have been anything like what it has been, and continues to be, had we had a monarch, though there had been an Anne or a Louis XV, or a Philip on our throne? Unfortunately, I must add that it is a psychological phenomenon which is not restricted to monarchists. The insolence of the South would have presented itself as rank rebellion to the grossest mind, had we had a monarch, or a president for life. Man is a very coarse creature. I can never forget that I found in Crabbe's “Dictionary of Synonyms,” that “properly speaking rebellion cannot be committed in republics, because there is no monarch to rebel against.” What does my senator and publicist think of this? A girl, “not of an age at which any respectable millinery establishment would be intrusted to her,”as Lord Brougham expressed it, is a more striking name, figure, sign, to swear allegiance to, than a country, a constitution, and their history, or the great continuous society to which men belong, let them be ever so old or glorious. Five hundred years hence it may be somewhat different. For the present, it is true that, could you extinguish the whole royal family in England, but keep the nation ignorant of the fact, and rule England by a ministry and parliament in the name of Peter or John, Bull would be far warmer in his allegiance than he would prove to the State, or Old England, or Great Britain. Observe how degrading for our species the beggarly appointment of a king of Greece is, — a Danish collateral prince! Our race worships as yet the Daimio as much as the Japanese do. Though a perfect Roi fainéant, it is a Roi, — an entity, a thing, and therefore better than an idea, however noble,— gross creatures that we are! . . .

SOURCE: Thomas Sergeant Perry, Editor, The Life and Letters of Francis Lieber, p. 331-3

Congressman William B. Allison to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, March 15, 1863

Dubuque, March 15th, 1863.

Dear Governor: — I congratulate you on your confirmation as Resident Minister to Denmark. I regret very much that you are called to leave the State at so critical a period in its history. Your State administration has been successful and impartial. You have won the esteem and affection of the people. I fear very much that we shall find difficulty in choosing a successor who will sustain our good name and fame. I would like very much to see you before you leave the State. Could you not hold the position in abeyance, until your term expires, or very nearly so? We will have a bitter contest this fall, and will need all the wisdom, influence and ability we have to confront the rebels at home. You can be of great service to us, and thereby to the country, by remaining here most of the summer, if no longer. Whenever you go however, you will bear with you the best wishes of the loyal people of Iowa, whom you have so well and faithfully served.

Sincerely your friend and servant,

WM. B. ALLISON.

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 279

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to William H. Seward, April 13, 1863

Executive Office, Iowa,

Iowa City, April 13, 1863.

Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State,

Washington City, D. C.

Sir: — The next regular session of the General Assembly of this State will commence on the second Monday (the 11th day of January), 1864, and my term of service as Governor will close as soon thereafter as the votes can be counted and my successor inaugurated. It will be very agreeable to me to accept the Mission to Denmark, if I can be permitted to do so at the expiration of my term of service as Governor, and after examining the matter carefully I cannot, consistently with my sense of duty to the people of my State, accept it on any other terms, at this time.

It is possible, that a few months hence, the condition of affairs here will be so changed, that I may feel at liberty to leave the State at an earlier date, but, it is I presume desirable to have the question of my acceptance definitely settled and I therefore say that, if I can be permitted to remain at home until the expiration of the term of my present office I will be glad to accept the position, and if not, that I very respectfully decline it. Of course, if my acceptance on this condition can be permitted in view of the public interests, my compensation as Minister Resident to Denmark will not commence until the expiration of the term of my present office.

I am unwilling to have you suppose that I sought this position and then hesitated as to its acceptance after having it tendered to me. I was informed in December last by the delegation in Congress, from this State, that my name had been submitted to the President, and early in January I wrote them that I could not, for the reasons above stated accept the position tendered. I heard nothing more of the matter until I saw in the newspapers the announcement of my nomination and confirmation.

I very much regret that I am compelled to send you what I presume is substantially a declination of a position which, under other circumstances it would be very agreeable to me to accept.

Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD.

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 278

William H. Seward to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, April 18, 1863

Department Of State,

Washington, April 18th, 1863.

Samuel J. Kirkwood, Esq.,

Governor of Iowa, Iowa City.

Sir:—Your letter of the 13th instant has been received, and the reasons you assign for declining to accept the mission to Denmark, which has been tendered to you, until the expiration of your term of service as Governor of Iowa, are entirely satisfactory. You intimate, however, that it is possible these reasons may have less weight with you some few months hence, and that you may then, perhaps, feel at liberty to accept the appointment and to proceed to Copenhagen before the close of your gubernatorial term. Under these circumstances, I see no objection to your holding the appointment under consideration for a few months at least.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 277-8

Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood to William H. Seward, March 20, 1863

Executive Office, Iowa,

Iowa City, March 20th, 1863.

Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 18th inst., announcing to me my appointment as Minister Resident of the United States to Denmark, and enquiring how soon, in case of my acceptance, I will be prepared to proceed to Copenhagen.

I beg leave to tender my thanks for the honor conferred upon me by this appointment.

The tender of this position to me was wholly unexpected, and consequently I desire a short delay and some information before I make my determination. My principal reason for asking delay is this: The condition of affairs in this State at this time is somewhat critical and many of our people have expressed to me a strong desire that I shall continue in the discharge of my present official duties for a few months longer. Will you be kind enough to inform me how long I can be permitted to remain here in case I accept the appointment? I also wish to know what attaches, if any, belong to this mission and how they are appointed and paid.

Upon receiving this information I will immediately determine the question of acceptance. Very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD.

Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State,

Washington City, D. C.

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 276-7

William H. Seward to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, March 18, 1863

Department Of State,

Washington, March 18th, 1863.

Samuel J. Kirkwood Esq.,

Iowa City, Iowa.

Sir:—The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate having appointed you to be Minister Resident of the United States to Denmark, I have the honor to announce the same to you, and to request that you will inform this department how soon, in the event of your accepting the appointment, you will be prepared to proceed to Copenhagen.

I am, sir,

Your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 276

The Princess Alexandra

The Princess Alexandra, of Denmark, betrothed to the Prince of Wales is considered the prettiest girl in Europe.  She is just out of her short-clothes.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 3

From Washington

WASHINGTON, April 25.

Com. Foote, owing to the wound received in the battle of Fort Henry, has asked to be released from the command of the Western Fleet, but the Department has, it is understood, ordered Capt. Chas. H. Davis to repair to the squadron as his second in command, thus relieving him of much of the physical labor of his responsible position.

In addition to what has heretofore been asserted in contradiction of the false statement of the Richmond papers, there is good authority for stating that Count Mercier, the French Minister, had no official communication whatever with the Southern authorities.

The Navy Department is quietly though effectually at work increasing the means of the national defense.

The Atlantic [Works] and Harrison Loring, of Boston, have been awarded contracts for building iron-clad vessels under the recent law.

The Senate to-day in executive session confirmed the nomination of Gen. Cadwallader, of Pa. and Geo. H. Thomas, of Va., as Major Generals, and Col. Alfred H. Terry of Conn., Miles S. Haskell, of Indiana, Maj. Henry W. Wessels, of the 9th Infantry, Col. John W. Geary, Major Samuel W. Crawford, of the 13th Infantry, and Leonard F. Ross of Indiana, as Brigadier Generals of volunteers, Brig. Gen. Jas. W. Ripley, to be Chief of Ordnance, W. A. Hammond as Surgeon General, with the rank of Brig. Gen. Also Chas. F. Garrett, as Assistant Quartermaster, and Harvy A. Smith, of Kansas, as Commissary of Subsistence. The Senate, it is stated, rejected Nathan Reeve as Quartermaster, and the following as Brig. Gen’ls: J. Cochrane, H. H. Lockwood, Chas. F. Clark, and Chas. Dana. J. Trumble, of Tenn., was confirmed as U. S. attorney, for the Middle District of that State. Owing to a misapprehension which cause the rejection of Daniel E. Sickles, the President to-day renominated him to be Brig. Gen. The Prospect of his confirmation is favorable.

Col. Rooslaff, the Danish, and Count Piper, the Swedish Ministers, have gone to Fort Monroe. It is believed they intend to follow the French Minister’s example and extend their tour to Norfolk and Richmond.

The judiciary committee of the House will report adversely to the memorial of citizens of Chicago in favor of Gen. McKinstry. The committee have determined not to make public the letter of Secretary Stanton to the committee.

Letters from before Yorktown give a sort of confirmation to the reported refusal of an Irish brigade in the rebel army to serve and the surrender of their arms.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, April 28, 1862, p. 1

Arrival of the Steamer City of New York

NEW YORK, April 22.

The steamer City of New York, with four days later European news, has arrived.

LIVERPOOL, 9th. – Breadstuffs dull but steady.

The Sumter was still at Gibraltar and the Tuscarora at Algiers.

On the 3d the sloop of war Karsage [sic], after a two day’s visit to Gibraltar, left for the west.

In parliament D’Israeli made an attack on Gladstone’s financial policy in the Budget. The latter spoke strongly in defiance. A general debate ensued, in the course of which Bentwick attributed the distress of the country to its incompetent and inhuman policy in refusing to recognize the Confederate States.

The question of shielded ships and floating batteries continues to occupy the attention of the government.

The shipwrights have all been transferred from the wooden to iron vessels in course of construction.

A proposition was before the common council of London to confer the freedom of the city in a gold box to Mr. Peabody, for his [tounificence].

The crops of England and France are reported as most favorable. French manufacturing accounts also show more animation.

Latest rumors assert that Gen. Guion will not be recalled from Rome.

The Paris Bourse was flat 69{90c.

The Italian ministry had ordered an increase in iron-plated ships.

The question of brigandage and the removal of the ex-King of Maples from Rome was debated in the Italian chamber.

Roltazzi said the Italian government persisted in pointing out that the presence of Francis II at Rome is the source of disorders, and he believed Napoleon also shares the conviction and perceives the necessity from providing against its continuance, but difficulties can’t all be vanquished at a single blow.

The Spanish government had again reiterated its firm determination to abstain from any demonstration prejudicial to the independence of Mexico.

The Danish Regziaad voted an extraordinary credit of one million rix dollars for iron-plated vessels.


SANDY HOOK, April 22.

The New iron steamer Oviet, built for war purposes, left Liverpool for Palermo. It is believed she goes to Bermuda for armament, and takes the Atlantic as a southern privateer.

The schooner Sophia ran the Charleston blockade and arrived at Liverpool with 900 bales of cotton.

Politics unimportant.

Manchester market firmer, tending upward. Breadstuffs steady and unchanged. Provisions upward.


QUEENSTOWN, April 10.

Government has contracted for an iron cupola ship under Capt. Coles’ invention, to be ready for sea June 1st, 1863.

Experiments with a gun of large sized showed the best and hitherto considered invulnerable forms of iron sides, were so to speak, almost as easily penetrable by a shot as if targets had been timber.

Sir Wm. Armstrong says that a gun of 12 tons weight fired with a charge of 50 pounds of powder will break through the sides of the Warrior or the strongest ship afloat. A target like the Warrior’s side was shattered into crumbs at a trial. The Times says a weapon of offense or defense it seems none is left us now so effective as large armor clad and very swift rams.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 23, 1862, p. 1