Martha Glover to Richard Glover, December 30, 1863

Mexico Mo    Dec 30^th 1863

My Dear Husband   I have received your last kind letter a few days ago and was much pleased to hear from you once more.  It seems like a long time since you left me.  I have had nothing but trouble since you left.  You recollect what I told you how they would do after you was gone.  they abuse me because you went & say they will not take care of our children & do nothing but quarrel with me all the time and beat me scandalously the day before yesterday–  Oh I never thought you would give me so much trouble as I have got to bear now.  You ought not to left me in the fix I am in & all these little helpless children to take care of.  I was invited to a party to night but I could not go   I am in too much trouble to want to go to parties.  the children talk about you all the time.  I wish you could get a furlough & come to see us once more.  We want to see you worse than we ever did before.  Remember all I told you about how they would do me after you left–for they do worse than they ever did & I do not know what will become of me & my poor little children.  Oh I wish you had staid with me & not gone till I could go with you for I do nothing but grieve all the time about you.  write & tell me when you are coming.

Tell Isaac that his mother come & got his clothes   she was so sorry he went.  You need not tell me to beg any more married men to go.  I see too much trouble to try to get any more into trouble too–  Write to me & do not forget me & my children–  farewell my dear husband from your wife

Martha

SOURCE: Ira Berlin & Leslie S. Rowland, Editors, Families and Freedom: A Documentary History of African-American Kinship in the Civil War, p. 97

Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General William T. Sherman, December 18, 1864

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,              

Washington, December 18, 1864. (Via Hilton Head.)

Maj. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN,

Savannah:

My DEAR GENERAL: Yours of the 13th, by Major Anderson, is just received. I congratulate you on your splendid success, and shall very soon expect to hear of the crowning work of your new campaign in the capture of Savannah. Your march will stand out prominently as the great one of this great war. When Savannah falls, then for another raid south through the center of the Confederacy. But I will not anticipate. General Grant is expected here this morning, and will probably write you his own views. I do not learn from your letter or from Major Anderson that you are in want of anything which we have not provided at Hilton Head. Thinking it possible that you might want more field artillery, I had prepared several batteries, but the great difficulty of foraging horses on the coast will prevent our sending any unless you actually need them. The hay crop this year is short, and the Quartermaster's Department has great difficulty in procuriug a supply for our animals. General Thomas has defeated Hood near Nashville, and it is hoped that he will completely crush his army. Breckinridge, at last accounts, was trying to form a junction near Murfreesborough; but as Thomas is between them Breckinridge must either retreat or be defeated. General Rosecrans made very bad work of it in Missouri, allowing Price with a small force to overrun the State and destroy millions of property. Orders have been issued for all officers and detachments having three months or more to serve to rejoin your army via Savannah; those having less than three months to serve will be retained by General Thomas. Should you capture Charleston, I hope that by some accident the place may be destroyed, and if a little salt should be sown upon its site it may prevent the growth of future crops of nullification and secession.

Yours, truly,

 H. W. HALLECK,   

 Major-General and Chief of Staff.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 44 (Serial No. 92), p. 741

Diary of Private Daniel L. Ambrose: Between July 4 & August 31, 1861

After remaining in Camp at Mound City, Illinois, a few days, we proceeded down the Ohio as far as Cairo, where again the regiment goes into Camp Defiance. And whilst here, from morning until night, the officers’ voices are heard in command on the drill ground, bringing the regiment up to a high standard, preparing them that they may play well their part in the coming drama.

Remaining in Camp Defiance two weeks, we take passage on board the steamer “New Uncle Sam,” and are soon passing up the Mississippi river, accompanied by other steamers, loaded with troops from Bird's Point and Cairo. It is rumored that we will land at some point and enter Missouri. The Seventh are now standing on the deck of the steamer as she moves proudly up the river, and as we look over into Missouri, where wicked men have assailed the flag and freedom, our hearts beat high, and we long to be there, that we may unfurl our flag and give it freedom to wave on that side the river as well as on this.

After a pleasant trip the regiment lands at Sulphur Springs, Missouri, and in a measure the wishes of the men are gratified, for they are now on rebel soil. From this point we proceed by rail to Ironton, and upon our arrival there, we are met by General Prentiss, who makes the regiment a speech, telling them that they have been ordered there to help him drive Jeff. Thompson from Missouri. We go into camp in the vicinity of Ironton. The scenery around here is grand. Pilot Knob looms up peerlessly, close to where we are camped. The Seventh boys are often seen on its summits (standing as it were amid the clouds) looking down in the valley. While here the regiment is uniformed—and the Seventh's boys will remember those striped uniforms which made them look like convicts late from Jefferson City.

SOURCES: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 12-4

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: May 27, 1865

Still raining. Folks concluded to go to Richmond today. Went to camp on 8:30 train. Nettleton went down. Regiment ordered to Missouri. Too late for Richmond. Great feeling among the boys. Disappointed. Q. M. rations.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 165

Diary of Captain Luman Harris Tenney: May 28, 1865

In camp. Worked on my ordnance papers. Got them ready to send off. Nettleton went to town. Welch and Sloan in camp. Recruits not to go to Missouri. Paper circulating.

SOURCE: Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 165

Diary of William Howard Russell: July 10, 1861

To-day was spent in a lengthy excursion along the front of the camp in Virginia, round by the chain bridge which crosses the Potomac, about four miles from Washington.

The Government have been coerced, as they say, by the safety of the Republic, to destroy the liberty of the press, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and this is not the first instance in which the Constitution of the United States will be made nominis umbra. The telegraph, according to General Scott's order, confirmed by the Minister of War, Simon Cameron, is to convey no dispatches respecting military movements not permitted by the General; and to-day the newspaper correspondents have agreed to yield obedience to the order, reserving to themselves a certain freedom of detail in writing their despatches, and relying on the Government to publish the official accounts of all battles very speedily. They will break this agreement if they can, and the Government will not observe their part of the bargain. The freedom of the press, as I take it, does not include the right to publish news hostile to the cause of the country in which it is published; neither can it involve any obligation on the part of Government to publish despatches which may be injurious to the party they represent. There is a wide distinction between the publication of news which is known to the enemy as soon as to the friends of the transmitters, and the utmost freedom of expression concerning the acts of the Government or the conduct of past events; but it will be difficult to establish any rule to limit or extend the boundaries to which discussion can go without mischief, and in effect the only solution of the difficulty in a free country seems to be to grant the press free license, in consideration of the enormous aid it affords in warning the people of their danger, in animating them with the news of their successes, and in sustaining the Government in their efforts to conduct the war.

The most important event to-day is the passage of the Loan Bill, which authorizes Mr. Chase to borrow, in the next year, a sum of £50,000,000, on coupons, with interest at seven per cent., and irredeemable for twenty years — the interest being guaranteed on a pledge of the Customs duties. I just got into the House in time to hear Mr. Vallandigham, who is an ultra Democrat, and very nearly a Secessionist, conclude a well-delivered argumentative address. He is a tall, slight man, of a bilious temperament, with light flashing eyes, dark hair and complexion, and considerable oratorical power. “Deem me ef I wouldn't just ride that Vallaridiggaim on a real,” quoth a citizen to his friend, as the speaker sat down, amid a few feeble expressions of assent. Mr. Chase has also obtained the consent of the Lower House to his bill for closing the Southern ports by the decree of the President, but I hear some more substantial measures are in contemplation for that purpose. Whilst the House is finding the money the Government are preparing to spend it, and they have obtained the approval of the Senate to the enrolment of half a million of men, and the expenditure of one hundred millions of dollars to carry on the war.

I called on Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War. The small brick house of two stories, with long passages, in which the American Mars prepares his bolts, was, no doubt, large enough for the 20,000 men who constituted the armed force on land of the great Republic, but it is not sufficient to contain a tithe of the contractors who haunt its precincts, fill all the .lobbies, and crowd into every room. With some risk to coattails, I squeezed through iron-masters, gun-makers, clothiers, shoemakers, inventors, bakers, and all that genus which fattens on the desolation caused by an army in the field, and was introduced to Mr. Cameron's room, where he was seated at a desk surrounded by people, who were also grouped round two gentlemen as clerks in the same small room. “I tell you, General Cameron, that the way in which, the loyal men of Missouri have been treated is a disgrace to this Government,” shouted out a big, black, burly man — “I tell you so, sir.” “Well, General,” responded Mr. Cameron, quietly, “so you have several times. Will you, once for all, condescend to particulars?” “Yes, sir; you and the Government have disregarded our appeals. You have left us to fight our own battles. You have not sent us a cent ———” “There, General, I interrupt you. You say we have sent you no money,” said Mr. Cameron, very quietly. “Mr. Jones will be good enough to ask Mr. Smith to step in here.” Before Mr. Smith came in, however, the General, possibly thinking some member of the press was present, rolled his eyes in a Nicotian frenzy, and perorated: “The people of the State of Missouri, sir, will power-out every drop of the blood which only flows to warm patriotic hearts in defence of the great Union, which offers freedom to the enslaved of mankind, and a home to persecuted progress, and a few-ture to civil-zation. We demand, General Cameron, in the neame of the great Western State ———” Here Mr. Smith came in, and Mr. Cameron said, “I want you to tell me what disbursements, if any, have been sent by this department to the State of Missouri.” Mr. Smith was quick at figures, and up in his accounts, for he drew out a little memorandum book, and replied (of course, I can't tell the exact sum), “General, there has been sent, as by vouchers, to Missouri, since the beginning of the levies, six hundred and seventy thousand dollars and twenty-three cents.” “The General looked crestfallen, but he was equal to the occasion, “These sums may have been sent, sir, but they have not been received. I declare in the face of ———” “Mr. Smith will show you the vouchers, General, and you can then take any steps needful against the parties who have misappropriated them.”

“That is only a small specimen of what we have to go through with our people,” said the Minister, as the General went off with a lofty toss of his head, and then gave me a pleasant sketch of the nature of the applications and interviews which take up the time and clog the movements of an American statesman. “These State organizations give us a great deal of trouble.” I could fully understand that they did so. The immediate business that I had with Mr. Cameron — he is rarely called General now that he is Minister of War ——— was to ask him to give me authority to draw rations at cost price, in case the army took the field before I could make arrangements, and he seemed very well disposed to accede; “but I must think about it, for I shall have all our papers down upon me if I grant you any facility which they do not get themselves.” After I left the War Department, I took a walk to Mr. Seward's, who was out. In passing by President's Square, I saw a respectably-dressed man up in one of the trees, cutting off pieces of the bark, which his friends beneath caught up eagerly. I could not help stopping to ask what was the object of the proceeding. “Why, sir, this is the tree Dan Sickles shot Mr. ——— under. I think it's quite a remarkable spot.”

SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, Vol. 1, p. 399-401

Journal of Amos A. Lawrence, May 28, 1859

Captain John Brown of Osawatomie called to see me with one of his rangers. He has been stealing negroes and running them off from Missouri. He has a monomania on that subject, I think, and would be hanged if he were taken in a slave State. He has allowed his beard to grow since I saw him last, which changes his appearance entirely, as it is almost white and very long. He and his companion both have the fever and ague, somewhat, probably a righteous visitation for their fanaticism

SOURCE: William Lawrence, Life of Amos A. Lawrence: With Extracts from His Diary and Correspondence, p. 130

George L. Stearns to Mary Elizabeth Preston Stearns, May 16, 1861

[May 16, 1861.]

Yesterday afternoon, in furtherance of my plans, I went to Silver Spring to see old Mr. Blair. He received me very cordially, and, talking about the war, I asked him, “What news from Missouri?” He told me that he was afraid his son Frank had gone to Jefferson City with troops, and there was danger that the Missourians would rise and be too strong for them, but he hoped to hear that Jim Lane had gone to Arkansas with two regiments of Kansas troops to make a diversion. When I told him that no troops had been equipped in Kansas, and Jim Lane was sick at Altoona, Pennsylvania, on his way to Washington, he said something should be done immediately and we must go to the President. I then laid before him the requests of Collamore and also of Stewart, for regiments, and we agreed to meet at ten to-morrow and see what could be done.

SOURCE: Preston Stearns, The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns, p. 248-9

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: October 11, 1863

I attended a meeting of “mechanics” and citizens at the City Hall last night. The prime mover of this organization is E. B. Robinson, some twenty years ago one of my printers in the Madisonian office. It was fully attended, and although not so boisterous as might have been expected, was, nevertheless, earnest and determined in its spirit. Resolutions instructing Mr. Randolph (State Senator, and late Secretary of War) to vote for a bill before the General Assembly reducing and fixing the prices of the necessities of life, were passed unanimously; also one demanding his resignation, in the event of his hesitating to obey. He was bitterly denounced by the speakers.

I understood yesterday, from the butchers, that they have been buying beef cattle, not from the producers, but from a Mr. Moffitt (they say a commissary agent), at from 45 to 55 cents gross; and hence they are compelled to retail it (net) at from 75 cents to $1.25 per pound to the people. If this be so, and the commissary buys at government prices, 18 to 22 cents, a great profit is realized by the government or its agent at the expense of a suffering people. How long will the people suffer thus? This community is even now in an inflammable condition, and may be ignited by a single spark. The flames of insurrection may at any moment wrap this slumbering government in its destructive folds; and yet the cabinet cannot be awakened to a sense of the danger. Mr. Seddon (who may be better informed than others), deeply sunken in his easy chair, seems perfectly composed; but he cannot know that his agents are permitted to prey upon the people: and the complaints and charges sent to him are acted upon by his subordinates, who have orders not to permit business of secondary importance to engage his attention; and his door-keepers have instructions to refuse admittance to persons below a certain rank.

Nothing but the generous and brave men in the army could have saved us from destruction long ago, and nothing else can save us hereafter. If our independence shall be achieved, it will be done in spite of the obstructions with which the cause has been burdened by the stupidity or mismanagement of incompetent or dishonest men.

“the Sufferings Of The Border Missourians. — The people of Missouri, on the Kansas border, are being slaughtered without mercy under the authority of the Yankee commander of that department, Schofield. A letter to the St. Louis Republican (Yankee) says:

“On Sunday last the desire for blood manifested itself in the southeastern part of Jackson County, not far from the village of Lone Jack. Although it was Sunday, the people of that region, alarmed and terror-stricken by threats from Kansas, and cruel edicts, from headquarters of the district, were hard at work straining every nerve to get ready to leave their homes before this memorable 9th day of September, 1863.

“One party of these unfortunate victims of a cruel order had almost completed their preparations, and within half an hour's time would have commenced their weary wanderings in search of a home. It consisted of Benjamin Potter, aged seventy-five; John S. Cave, aged fifty; William Hunter, aged forty-seven; David Hunter, aged thirty-five; William C. Tate, aged thirty; Andrew Owsley, aged seventeen; and Martin Rice and his son. While thus engaged in loading their wagons with such effects as they supposed would. be most useful to them, a detachment of Kansas troops (said to be part of the Kansas 9th, though this may be a mistake), under command of Lieut.-Col. Clark and Capt. Coleman, came up and took them all prisoners.

“After a little parleying, Mr. Rice and his son were released and ordered to leave; which they did, of course. They had not gone much over three-fourths of a mile before they heard firing at the point at which they had left the soldiers with the remaining prisoners. In a short time the command moved on, and the wives and other relatives of the prisoners rushed up to ascertain their fate. It was a horrid spectacle.

“There lay six lifeless forms — mangled corpses — so shockingly mangled that it was difficult, my informant stated, to identify some of them. They were buried where they were murdered, without coffins, by a few friends who had expected to join them on that day, with their families, and journey in search of a home.

“These are the unvarnished facts with reference to an isolated transaction. There are many, very many others of a similar character that I might mention, but I will not. The unwritten and secret history of our border would amaze the civilized world, and would stagger the faith of the most credulous. In the case just mentioned, we find an old man who had passed his threescore and ten, and a youth who had not yet reached his score, falling victims to this thirsty cry for blood.

“The world will doubtless be told that six more bushwhackers have been cut off, etc. But believe it not, sir; it is not true. These six men never were in arms, neither in the bush or elsewhere, I have been told by one who has known them for years past. The widows and orphans of some of them passed through this city yesterday, heart-broken, homeless wanderers.”

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 2, p. 67-70

Salmon P. Chase to Judge Milton Sutliff,* May 1, 1861

Private.

Treasury Department,         

May 1, 1861.

My Dear Judge: I thank you for your letter. The response of the States to the appeal of the Government is, indeed, most gratifying. Maryland, you will see, is rapidly returning to her loyalty. Kentucky and Missouri, I hope, will not be far behind her. You may be very sure there will be no negotiation with the Disunionists, though the return of the States which have been precipitated into disunion to their loyalty will be hailed, of course, with pleasure. The most energetic measures our means allow will be taken, and I think all impartial men will in the end be satisfied with the course of the Administration.

I thank you personally for your kind expressions towards me, and I hope you will never have occasion to withdraw your confidence.

My despatches to the Western Collectors, I see, have produced their intended effect, though they were not exactly what they ought to have been, in as much as no clearances are required on Western waters. Instructions will be forwarded immediately to all Collectors to prevent, by all proper means, shipments of arms, munitions, provisions and other commodities to States now in hostility to the Union.

_______________

* Lent by Mr. Homer E. Stewart, Warren, Ohio.

SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 295-6

George L. Stearns to Mary Hall Stearns, May 17, 1860

[May 17, 1860.]

I have to-day two letters from you and one from Frank — your letter, May 9 and Frank's May 12, and have telegraphed that I am here and will leave for Philadelphia to-night.

I found on arrival at Lawrence some earnest men, who are desirous to use active measures if they could have the means. Among them a Mr. Stewart, who tells me he formerly lived with Mr. Henry A. Page. S. has several colored people on his farm, one a good-looking young girl who, when her master tried to take improper liberties with her, knocked him down and ran off.

He, with others I saw, assured me that it was the wish of the majority of the people of Kansas to make it a “free state” for blacks as well as whites, and they would do so if the means could be procured to effect an organization.

If I had returned home my work would only have been half developed, and of course half done. I now feel confident that we can make the whole of Kansas a place of rest for the “panting fugitive,” and that done, Missouri, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory can be cleared of slaves.

Montgomery is a splendid man. I will tell you lots of stories about him when I get home.

SOURCE: Preston Stearns, The Life and Public Services of George Luther Stearns, p. 225-6

John Brown’s Last Speech, November 2, 1859

I have, may it please the Court, a few words to say.

In the first place, I deny everything but what I have all along admitted, — the design on my part to free the slaves. I intended certainly to have made a clean thing of that matter, as I did last winter, when I went into Missouri and there took slaves without the snapping of a gun on either side, moved them through the country, and finally left them in Canada. I designed to have done the same thing again, on a larger scale.¹ That was all I intended. I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection.

I have another objection: and that is, it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty. Had I interfered in the manner which I admit, and which I admit has been fairly proved (for I admire the truthfulness and candor of the greater portion of the witnesses who have testified in this case), — had I so interfered in behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, the so-called great, or in behalf of any of their friends, — either father, mother, brother, sister, wife, or children, or any of that class, — and suffered and sacrificed what I have in this interference, it would have been all right; and every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.

This court acknowledges, as I suppose, the validity of the law of God. I see a book kissed here which I suppose to be the Bible, or at least the New Testament. That teaches me that all things whatsoever I would that men should do to me, I should do even so to them. It teaches me, further, to “remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” I endeavored to act up to that instruction. I say, I am yet too young to understand that God is any respecter of persons. I believe that to have interfered as I have done — as I have always freely admitted I have done — in behalf of His despised poor, was not wrong, but right. Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice, and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, — I submit; so let it be done!

Let me say one word further.

I feel entirely satisfied with the treatment I have received on my trial. Considering all the circumstances, it has been more generous than I expected. But I feel no consciousness of guilt. I have stated from the first what was my intention, and what was not. I never had any design against the life of any person, nor any disposition to commit treason, or excite slaves to rebel, or make any general insurrection. I never encouraged any man to do so, but always discouraged any idea of that kind.

Let me say, also, a word in regard to the statements made by some of those connected with me. I hear it has been stated by some of them that I have induced them to join me. But the contrary is true. I do not say this to injure them, but as regretting their weakness. There is not one of them but joined me of his own accord, and the greater part of them at their own expense. A number of them I never saw, and never had a word of conversation with, till the day they came to me; and that was for the purpose I have stated.

Now I have done.

_______________

¹ In explanation of this passage, Brown three weeks afterward handed to Mr. Hunter this letter:

• John Brown to Andrew Hunter, November 22, 1859

SOURCES: Franklin B. Sanborn, The Life and Letters of John Brown, p. 584-5

Amos A. Lawrence to Franklin Pierce, July 15, 1855

Boston, July 15, 1855.

My Dear Sir, — It is evident that there is a body of men in Missouri who are determined to drive our people from Kansas, if they dare to do so; and for the reason that the settlers from the “free States” are opposed to the introduction of slave trade there. Up to this time the government has kept so far aloof as to force the settlers to the conclusion that if they would be safe, they must defend themselves; and therefore many persons here who refused at first (myself included) have rendered them assistance, by furnishing them the means of defense.

Yours with regard,

A. A. L.

SOURCE: William Lawrence, Life of Amos A. Lawrence: With Extracts from His Diary and Correspondence, p. 95

Thomas Hart Benton to James Patton Preston, December 20, 1820

Washington City, Dec. 20th, 1820.

My Dear Sir:

I could not have forgiven myself for crossing the Allegheny without calling at your house, if it had been any way in my power to have done otherwise. But the vortex of business in which I was swallowed up in St. Louis detained me there to the last moment, and when I sat out it was to go by the shortest road to see one whom I find inexpressibly dear to me under every circumstance of my life, and thence to this place to attend to my duties. In the spring I shall take your house in my way home, and anticipate a great deal of pleasure from the happiness of being again for some days under your roof. Since coming here I stole a few days (during the progress of a battle in which I found myself a soldier without arms) to go back to Col. McDowell's, where I learnt that you had gone to Norfolk, and would remain there for a month. I also learnt from Mrs. McDowell a circumstance which I regret that I had not known sooner, that is, that you think seriously of going to Missouri, and that some appointment there would be agreeable to you. Two had just been disposed, those of Receiver and Register of the land Office in St. Louis. You could have had either from Mr. Monroe (I am certain) by naming it, and we could easily have made the appointment acceptable to the people.

I wish you to do me the justice to believe that I shall take the greatest satisfaction in discharging a part of the obligation which your uniform kindness to me has laid me under, by promoting any object that will contribute to your happiness and prosperity; and if any thing suggests itself to you which my present situation would enable me to do for you I hope that you will write to me and command me without reserve.

The fate of Missouri is not decided, nor will not be until some time in January: the members who inhabit the neighboring states are dispersing at the approach of the Christmas holidays, and a full house is not expected again for some weeks. — I believe that the Resolution * from the Senate will pass.

Yours truly,

Tho. H. Benton.

Gov. Preston.

_______________

*This resolution, which passed the Senate on December 11, was for the admission of Missouri, provided that such admission should not be construed as giving the assent of Congress to any provision in her constitution, “f any such there be,” which contravened the clause as to the rights of citizens in different States. It failed at once in the House.

SOURCE: William Montgomery Meigs, The Life of Thomas Hart Benton, p. 128-9

Senator Salmon P. Chase to Edward L. Pierce, July 4, 1853

Chicago, July 4, 1853.

My Dear Sir: I have just returned from Missouri. Your letter reached me I think at St. Louis. I regret not seeing your brother, or yourself. You have seen that I did not speak at St. Louis and why it was best that I could not; I believe the correspondence will do more than a speech would have done.

Chicago is a flourishing place but the total ensemble did not please me. I should prefer Cincinnati or St. Louis to live in.

What would you think of the life editorial and taking charge of a paper here" or at Chicago? [sic] 1 am pretty certain you could succeed, and win reputation and fortune as well as at the bar.

Yours truly,

[SALMON P. CHASE.]

SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 251-2

Senator Salmon P. Chase to Senator Charles Sumner, June 13, 1853

St. Louis, June 13, 1853.

Dear Sumner: I enclose you a part of the St. Louis Democrat, in which you will find a part of the correspondence which will interest you at least as showing that in this Slave State, at least, there is no such prejudice as prevents a recognition, and at a rate vastly beyond their value of services rendered by an Antislavery man. I find in it a most unexpected but most gratifying result of my action last winter, which I prize the more for its ultimate bearing on our great Cause. You would be surprised to find what liberality of sentiment prevails here and especially among the democrats. Most of those I have met avow themselves antislavery men, — some of them most decidedly so.

I am here on private matters; trying to serve two widowed ladies, one of them my niece the other my sister-in-law. I expect to leave for Chicago tomorrow.

Perhaps our cause will be benefited by the republication of this correspondence in the Boston papers. The Commonwealth and Traveller will cheerfully reprint; will not others?

Give my best regards to Wilson and other friends.

Yours truly and faithfully,

[SALMON P. CHASE.]

SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 251

Major-General Henry W. Halleck to Major-General William T. Sherman, December 18, 1864

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,         

Washington, December 18, 1864. (Via Hilton Head.)

Maj. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN,

Savannah:

My DEAR GENERAL: Yours of the 13th, by Major Anderson, is just received. I congratulate you on your splendid success, and shall very soon expect to hear of the crowning work of your new campaign in the capture of Savannah. Your march will stand out prominently as the great one of this great war. When Savannah falls, then for another raid south through the center of the Confederacy. But I will not anticipate. General Grant is expected here this morning, and will probably write you his own views. I do not learn from your letter or from Major Anderson that you are in want of anything which we have not provided at Hilton Head. Thinking it possible that you might want more field artillery, I had prepared several batteries, but the great difficulty of foraging horses on the coast will prevent our sending any unless you actually need them. The hay crop this year is short, and the Quartermaster's Department has great difficulty in procuring a supply for our animals. General Thomas has defeated Hood near Nashville, and it is hoped that he will completely crush his army. Breckinridge, at last accounts, was trying to form a junction near Murfreesborough; but as Thomas is between them Breckinridge must either retreat or be defeated. General Rosecrans made very bad work of it in Missouri, allowing Price with a small force to overrun the State and destroy millions of property. Orders have been issued for all officers and detachments having three months or more to serve to rejoin your army via Savannah; those having less than three months to serve will be retained by General Thomas. Should you capture Charleston, I hope that by some accident the place may be destroyed, and if a little salt should be sown upon its site it may prevent the growth of future crops of nullification and secession.

Yours, truly,

 H. W. HALLECK,   

 Major-General and Chief of Staff.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 44 (Serial No. 92), p. 741

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, October 23, 1863

Only a portion of the Cabinet present and but little done. The Missouri difficulty discussed, etc.

Late this afternoon the Secretary of State made me a formal visit and introduced Mr. Bruzual, who comes to this country as Minister Extraordinary from Venezuela, and the Secretary of the Legation. Mr. Seward proceeded to say that the disturbances in Venezuela prevented our Government from recognizing Mr. B. for the present, but that he would soon be accredited. In the mean time he wishes to purchase a naval vessel for the use of his government. Mr. Seward said Venezuela was at peace with all the world, the purchase therefore would be proper and did not, in any way, compromise our Government, and he wished me to give Mr. B. a letter to Commodore Stribling at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to assist him, or to designate an officer who would. I made a suggestion or two in regard to the propriety of this proceeding, but Mr. Seward, who had to dispose of his as yet unaccredited minister, who is to receive official assistance, said it was all correct, perfectly proper, wrote me the address desired, that there should be no recognition or mention of Mr. B. as minister.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 474

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, October 16, 1863

The President read to the Cabinet his letter to the Missouri radicals, and also a letter to General Schofield. Both exhibit tact, shrewdness, and good sense, on a difficult and troublesome subject. There is no cause for dissension among the friends of the Administration in Missouri, and the President does not commit himself to either faction in this controversy, but, like some of us, has little respect for the wild vagaries of the radical portion.

The President also read a confidential dispatch to General Meade, urging him not to lose the opportunity to bring on a battle, assuring him that all the honors of a victory should be exclusively his (Meade's), while in case of a defeat he (the President) would take the entire responsibility. This is tasking Meade beyond his ability. If the President could tell him how and when to fight, his orders would be faithfully carried out, but the President is overtasking Meade's capability and powers. Where is Halleck, General-in-Chief, who should, if he has the capacity, attend to these things, and if he has not should be got out of the way.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 471-2

Diary of Edward Bates: November 27, 1861

And now (Nov 27) Count Gurouski⁶⁵ tells me  that Prentice⁶⁶ has come out, in bitter denunciation of Cameron — in  shape of a Washington correspondent of the Louisville Journal. The Count assumes, very reasonably, that Prentis is the author.

[Marginal Note.] Since then, I learn that Prentice disclaims the authorship of the letter, and says that Cameron was misunderstood.

Note, in this connexion — The other day, Mr. Blair joked Cameron  with a newspaper quotation (real or suppositious [sic] ) to the effect that he (C.[ameron]) had fairly elbowed Fremont⁶⁷ out of his place, and himself quietly taken his seat in [the] stern-sheets of the Abolition boat!

Nov 27. No news yet from Pensecola [sic], beyond the first rumor that our forces were bombarding the rebel forts.⁶⁸

From Mo. — a telegram from Gov Gamble⁶⁹ confirms the report [that] Genl. Price⁷⁰ has turned and is moving north towards the centre of the State. This movement is, I think not prompted by Price himself, as a separate enterprise agst. Mo., but is part of the genl. plan of the enemy. As long ago as last March, I told the Cabinet that the real struggle must be in the valley of the Mississippi.⁷¹ And now, that it is apparent that the rebel army of the Potomac can do nothing but hold the Capitol [sic] in siege, and that the enemy cannot defend the seaboard, it is the obvious policy of the enemy to [strengthen] the defence of the Mississippi, and to that end, they must fortify the river, and for that purpose they must have time to remove men and artillery, and therefore it is wise in him to keep us fully occupied in Mo. and Kentucky.

That is clearly the policy of the enemy. And as clearly it is our policy to assume the aggressive, and, at almost any hazard, to cut his communications, and prevent as far as possible, the removal of heavy guns from the East to the west — from Va. and the coast to the Missi[ssippi].

Today I spent chiefly in business preliminary to the coming session of the S.[upreme] C.[ourt] called at the clerk's office, ex[amine]d. the docket, the C[our]t. room, my own closet, and recd, many kind suggestions from Mr. Carroll,⁷² the clerk, about the details of business. Called on C.[hief] J.[ustice] Taney,⁷³ and had a conversation much more pleasant than I expected. Called also on Judge Wayne⁷⁴ and had an agreeable talk. I infer from the remarks of both the judges that, probably, but little business will be done, and that not in as strict order as is usual.

At night, Count Gurouski called to see me, and talked, as usual, very freely — quite as bitter and censorious as ever. Just now, he seems to have a special spite against the diplomatic corps — all of them except Baron Gerolt of Prussia, and Mr. Tassara of Spain — He says all of them except Gerolt, were in a furious flutter about the capture of Slidell and Mason⁷⁵ — declaring that it was an outrage and that England would be roused to the war-point, &c. that Gerolt quietly said — pish! the thing is right in itself, and if it were not, England wd. no[t] go to war for it —

The Count gave me a short biographical [sketch] of most of the ministers — e g

1. L[or]d. Lyons,⁷⁶ son of the Admiral who won the peerage. Of a respectable but humble family — L[or]d. L.[yons] he says, has an uncle who is a farmer near Chicago.

2. Mr. Mercier⁷⁷ (of France) only plainly respectable. Born in Baltimore, where his father was French consul[.]

3. Mr. Tassara⁷⁸ of Spain — really a great man — a wonderful genius — of respectable but not noble origin — at first a news-paper writer — then a distinguished member of the Cortes, and secretary thereof (the 2d. office in its gift)[.]

4. Mr. Stoekel⁷⁹ (of Russia) nobody in Russian society, though personally worthy. As a minister, admitted of course to court, but not recd, at all in the aristocratic society of Petersburg. His wife is American — A Yankee — a very clever lady[.]

5. Count Piper,⁸⁰ of Sweden, the only genuine aristocrat, of ancient and high descent. He is the lineal descendant of the famous Count Piper, Minister of State of king Charles XII⁸¹ — a man of no great talents, but of high and honorable principles[.]

6. Baron Gerolt⁸² of Prussia. A very amiable and learned gentleman. Of noble connexion, but not himself noble, until the last few years, when he was made a baron, by the influence of Humboldt,⁸³ who was his friend and patron.

Gerolt was well-learned in mineralogy and mining, and (upon Humboldt's recommendation) served some years in Mexico, as director of silver mines for an English company. He is skilled in various sciences, and is the only foreign diplomat who maintains close relations with American savan[t]s.

7. Chivalier [sic] Bertenatti,⁸⁴ of Italy. Of no high connexions. Educated for the priesthood, but not ordained. For sometime a journalist. A man of fair talents, but not at all distinguished by the gifts of nature or fortune, except that he is minister of the rising state of Italy.

[Marginal] Note. In this same conversation the Count said that it was well enough to give Capt Wilkes⁸⁵ the credit of originality and boldness in seising Mason and Slidell, but, in fact, the Secy, of State sent orders to the consul at Havanna [sic] , to notify Wilkes and tell him what to do.⁸⁶

­_______________

⁶⁵ Adam, Count Gurowski, Polish revolutionist and author who had lived in the United States since 1849; translator in the State Department.

⁶⁶ Supra, Nov. 20, 1861, note 60.

⁶⁷ Frémont had tried to free slaves and confiscate Confederate property by a military order revoked by Lincoln. Supra, Oct. 22, 1S61, note 24.

⁶⁸ On November 22 Fort Pickens and the men-of-war Niagara and Richmond began a two days’ bombardment of Fort McRee and other Confederate fortifications. On January 1, 1862, there was another artillery exchange. But it was not until May 9, 1862, that the Confederates burned and evacuated the forts and the Navy Yard at Pensacola.

⁶⁹ Supra, July 23, 1859, note 39.

⁷⁰ Sterling Price: Democratic congressman, 1845—1846 ; brigadier-general of volunteers in the Mexican War; governor of Missouri, 1853-1857 ; major-general of Missouri Confederate militia under Confederate Governor Jackson (supra, Jan. 9, 1860, note 15). He had been driven out of St. Louis by General Lyon, but later defeated and killed Lyon in one engagement, and captured 3,000 Missourians in another, before he was forced to flee. And his raids, or threats of them, continued to harass Missouri.

⁷¹ Supra, March 16, April 15, Aug. 27, 1861; also May 27, 1859.

⁷² William T. Carroll, a grand-nephew of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was clerk of the Supreme Court from 1827 to 1862.

⁷³ Roger B. Taney: eminent Maryland lawyer; attorney-general of Maryland, 1827-1831; attorney-general of the U. S., 1831-1833 ; secretary of the Treasury, 1833-1834 ; chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, 1835-1864. He wrote the decision in the famous Dred Scott case of 1857 and tried in vain to restrain the arbitrary governmental infringements of personal liberty during the Civil War.

⁷⁴ James M. Wayne: judge of the Superior Court of Georgia, 1824-1829; Democratic congressman, 1829-1835; now justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, 1835-1867.

⁷⁵ Supra, Nov. 16, 1861.

⁷⁶ Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Great Britain, 1858-1865. Supra, Sept. 26, 1860, note 24.

⁷⁷ Henri Mercier, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, 1860-1863.

⁷⁸ Gabriel Garcia y Tassara, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, 1857-1867.

⁷⁹ Edward de Stoeckl, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, 1854-1868. He it was who negotiated the sale of Alaska.

⁸⁰ Edward, Count Piper, Minister Resident of Sweden, 1861-1864, and Charge d’Affaires of Denmark, 1863.

⁸¹ Sweden's soldier-king who ruled from 1697 to 1718.

⁸² Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, 1843[?]-1871.

⁸³ Alexander, Baron von Humboldt, wealthy German naturalist, traveler, diplomat, author, who was a close friend of the King of Prussia.

⁸⁴ The Chevalier Joseph Bertinatti, Minister Resident, 1S61-1S67.

⁸⁵ Supra, Nov. 16, 1861, note 46.

⁸⁶ The State Department has no record of such an instruction from Seward. On the contrary, Seward wrote confidentially to Charles F. Adams in Great Britain on November 27: “The act was done by Commander Wilkes without instructions, and even without the knowledge of the Government." John B. Moore, A Digest of International Law, VII, 768.

SOURCE: Howard K. Beale, Editor, The Diary of Edward Bates 1859-1866, p. 203-6