Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, March 7, 1866

I have addressed a letter concerning League Island, communicating the report of Mr. Fox, the Assistant Secretary, who visited Philadelphia with the Naval Committee. The improvidence and neglect of Congress on this subject shows how unreliable all legislation is for the public interest in high party times. By an intrigue Brandegee of New London was placed on the Naval Committee. Colfax purchased his support by that appointment, and the displacement of English, an act of dissimulation and discourtesy to me personally as well as a sacrifice of the public interest. Brandegee wants the navy yard at New London because he lives there and it is his home, not for the public interest and the national welfare, and for that narrow, selfish, low object the Navy and the country are sacrificed.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 445-6

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, February 10, 1866

Was last night at a loud-heralded and large party given by Marquis Montholon, the French Minister. Am inclined to believe there was something political as well as social in the demonstration. No similar party has been given by the French Minister for five years.

The Naval Appropriation Bill has been before the House this week, when demagogues of small pattern exhibited their eminent incapacity and unfitness for legislation. It is a misfortune that such persons as Washburne and Ingersoll of Illinois and others are intrusted with important duties. Important and essential appropriations for the navy yards at Norfolk and Pensacola were stricken out, because they are in the South; in Boston because it is a wealthy community. Without knowledge, general or specific, the petty demagogues manifest their regard for the public interest and their economical views, by making no appropriations, or as few as possible for the Navy, regardless of what is essential. "We have now Navy enough to thrash England and France," said one of these small Representatives in his ignorance; therefore [they] vote no more money for navy yards, especially none in the Southern States.

Sumner made me his usual weekly visit this P.M. He is as earnest and confident as ever, probably not without reason. Says they are solidifying in Congress and will set aside the President's policy. I inquired if he really thought Massachusetts could govern Georgia better than Georgia could govern herself, for that was the kernel of the question: Can the people govern themselves? He could not otherwise than say Massachusetts could do better for them than they had done for themselves. When I said every State and people must form its own laws and government; that the whole social, industrial, political, and civil structure was to be reconstructed in the Slave States; that the elements there must work out their own condition, and that Massachusetts could not do this for them, he did not controvert farther than to say we can instruct them and ought to do it, that he had letters showing a dreadful state of things South, that the colored people were suffering beyond anything they had ever endured in the days of slavery. I told him I had little doubt of it; I had expected this as the first result of emancipation. Both whites and blacks in the Slave States were to pass through a terrible ordeal, and it was a most grievous and melancholy thing to me to witness the spirit manifested towards the whites of the South who were thus afflicted. Left to themselves, they have great suffering and hardship, without having their troubles increased by any oppressive acts from abroad.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 430-1

Diary of Gideon Welles: Wednesday, June 21, 1865

Mrs. Seward, wife of Secretary Seward, died this A.M. Mr. Seward sends me a letter inclosing dispatch of Lord John Russell in relation to belligerent rights to the Rebels. Both France and England withdraw belligerent rights from them, — France, it would seem, unconditionally, but England with conditions, and, as usual, our Secretary is outmaneuvred. He writes me that our naval vessels will not extend courtesies to British naval vessels, etc. Disagreed and wrote him of the difficulty of instructing naval officers. But called at State Department. It was late and no one there.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 319

Major-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General Francis J. Herron, June 22, 1863

NEAR VICKSBURG, MISS., June 22, 1863.

Maj. Gen. F. J. HERRON, Commanding Left, investing Forces:

You need not call on the navy for yawls just now. An attack from Johnston within forty-eight hours is not improbable. Should the forces at present indicated be insufficient to cope with him, your division will be withdrawn and sent to re-enforce them.

U.S. GRANT.

SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 24, Part 3 (Serial No. 38), p. 427

Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant to Major-General George G. Meade, April 9, 1864

CULPEPER COURT-HOUSE, VA.,                       

April 9, 1864.

Maj. Gen. G. G. MEADE,

Commanding Army of the Potomac:

For information, and as instructions to govern your preparations for the coming campaign, the following is communicated confidentially, for your own perusal alone:

So far as practicable, all the armies are to move together and toward one common center. Banks has been instructed to turn over the guarding of the Red River to General Steele and to the navy, to abandon Texas with the exception of the Rio Grande, and to concentrate all the force he can—not less than 25,000 men—to move on Mobile. This he is to do without reference to any other movements. From the scattered condition of his command, however, he cannot possibly get it together to leave New Orleans before the 1st of May, if so soon.

Sherman will move at the same time you do, or two or three days in advance, Joe Johnston's army being his objective point and the heart of Georgia his ultimate aim. If successful, he will secure the line from Chattanooga to Mobile, with the aid of Banks.

Sigel cannot spare troops from his army to re-enforce either of the great armies, but he can aid them by moving directly to his front. This he has been directed to do, and is now making preparations for it. Two columns of his command will move south at the same time with the general move, one from Beverly, from 10,000 to 12,000 strong, under Major-General Ord; the other from Charleston, W. Va., principally cavalry, under Brigadier-General Crook. The former of these will endeavor to reach the Tennessee and Virginia Railroad about south of Covington, and if found practicable will work eastward to Lynchburg and return to its base by way of the Shenandoah Valley or join you. The other will strike at Saltville, Va., and come eastward to join Ord. The cavalry from Ord's command will try to force a passage southward; if they are successful in reaching the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, to cut the main lines of the road connecting Richmond with all the South and Southwest.

Gillmore will join Butler with about 10,000 men from South Carolina. Butler can reduce his garrison so as to take 23,000 men into the field directly to his front. The force will be commanded by Maj. Gen. W. F. Smith. With Smith and Gillmore, Butler will seize City Point and operate against Richmond from the south side of the river. His movement will be simultaneous with yours.

Lee's army will be your objective point. Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also. The only point upon which I am now in doubt is whether it will be better to cross the Rapidan above or below him. Each plan presents great advantages over the other, with corresponding objections. By crossing above, Lee is cut off from all chance of ignoring Richmond and going north on a raid: but if we take this route all we do must be done while the rations we start with hold out; we separate from Butler, so that he cannot be directed how to co-operate. By the other route, Brandy Station can be used as a base of supplies until another is secured on the York or James River. These advantages and objections I will talk over with you more fully than I can write them.

Burnside, with a force of probably 25,000 men, will re-enforce you. Immediately upon his arrival, which will be shortly after the 20th instant, I will give him the defense of the road from Bull Run as far south as we wish to hold it. This will enable you to collect all your strength about Brandy Station and to the front.

There will be naval co-operations on the James River, and transports and ferries will be provided, so that should Lee fall back into his intrenchments at Richmond Butler's force and yours will be a unit, or at least can be made to act as such.

What I would direct, then, is that you commence at once reducing baggage to the very lowest possible standard. Two wagons to a regiment of 500 men is the greatest number that should be allowed for all baggage, exclusive of subsistence stores and ordnance stores. One wagon to brigade and one to division headquarters is sufficient, and about two to corps headquarters.

Should by Lee's right flank be our route, you will want to make arrangements for having supplies of all sorts promptly forwarded to White House, on the Pamunkey. Your estimates for this contingency should be made at once. If not wanted there, there is every probability they will be wanted on the James River or elsewhere.

If Lee's left is turned, large provision will have to be made for ordnance stores. I would say not much short of 500 rounds of infantry ammunition would do. By the other, half the amount would be sufficient.

U. S. GRANT,                       

Lieutenant-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 33 (Serial No. 60), p. 827-9

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, May 17, 1864

A painful suspense in military operations. It is a necessary suspense, but the intense anxiety is oppressive, and almost unfits the mind for mental activity. We know it cannot be long before one or more bloody battles will take place in which not only many dear friends will be slaughtered but probably the Civil War will be decided as to its continuance, or termination. My faith is firm in Union success, but I shall be glad when faith is past.

There was nothing special to-day at the Cabinet. No information received from the Army of the Potomac. Sherman had had hard fighting in northern Georgia at Resaca, and the Rebels under Johnston have retreated.

The President informs me that four of the Massachusetts delegation have waited upon him in relation to the condition of affairs at the Charlestown Navy Yard. They fear the Navy has too much control, and charge Admiral Smith with opposition to the Administration. I stated briefly to the President some of the difficulties, and that Mr. Gooch was not a free agent when there was a conflict or difference between the Government and the Navy Yard, that G. could not do otherwise than go with the men in the yard, and that Merriam was a cunning fellow who stirred up a citizen's feeling for selfish purposes.

Things are getting in such condition that I see no alternative but to dismiss the man Merriam. Admiral Stringham writes me that M. has got up a paper or memorial to the Massachusetts Senators and Representatives which he has hired a man to circulate for signatures, remonstrating against the naval management of the yard and getting up a hostile feeling. It is this, I presume, which led to the call on the President.

Met Governor Morrill this evening, who at once spoke of the misconduct of the Treasury agents. We frankly discussed the subject. He is on the Committee of Commerce and has a right to know the facts, which I gave him. The whole proceeding is a disgrace and wickedness. I agree with Governor M. that the Secretary of the Treasury has enough to do to attend to the finances without going into the cotton trade. But Chase is very ambitious and very fond of power. He has, moreover, the fault of most of our politicians, who believe that the patronage of office, or bestowment of public favors, is a source of popularity. It is the reverse, as he will learn.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 33-4

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, April 28, 1864

Admiral Lee sends me a confidential dispatch and also a communication to him from General Butler. On the latter Fox has made a proper indorsement. On the 26th inst. General_B. calls on the Admiral for naval cooperation. Wants ironclads and gunboats to proceed to Richmond; is going to move on the 30th inst.; the expedition or movement is to be secret; they are to pass above City Point, etc., etc. Only four days to improvise a navy, and they are to proceed up a river whose channel is not buoyed out. The scheme is not practical, yet it has the sanction of General Grant. It must, however, be a blind, intended to deceive the enemy, and to do this effectually he must first deceive our own people. A somewhat formidable force has been gathered in General Butler’s department, and there is no doubt but that General B. himself fully believes he is to make a demonstration up James River. It may be that this is General Grant’s intention also, but if it is, I shall be likely to have my faith in him impaired. Certainly there have been no suflicient preparations for such a demonstration and the call upon the Navy is unreasonable.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 19

Diary of Gideon Welles: Monday, April 25, 1864

Reverses in North Carolina are bad at this time. The death of Flusser is most unfortunate. I presume the blame of the disasters will be attributed to the Navy, which, in fact, is merely auxiliary to the army. Letter-writers and partisan editors who are courted and petted by the military find no favor with naval men, and as a consequence the Navy suffers detraction.

Burnside's army corps passed through Washington to-day, whites, blacks, and Indians numbering about 30,000. All the indications foreshadow a mighty conflict and battle in Virginia at an early day.

Fox and Edgar have gone to Fortress Monroe. Calls for naval aid and assistance come up from that quarter.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 17

George S. Denison to Salmon P. Chase, September 30, 1862

(Private.)

New Orleans, Sept. 30th, 1862.

Dear Sir: I am informed that six gunboats left this vicinity four days ago, to attack Galveston. I do not know how many troops were on board, but not a large number. It is the intention to destroy the bridge connecting the island with the mainland, and capture the Texas force which occupies Galveston.¹

Five regiments of infantry (with proper proportion of Cavalry and Artillery) will start in about a week, on an expedition into the enemy's country. Gen. Weitzel will have command. I am not positively certain, but think, that their destination is North Eastern Texas, which they will easily reach by ascending Red River.

The Schooner "Elma" was seized by me, her owner refusing to give up her Confederate papers, or to take out U. S. papers. Vessel and cargo were worth less than $3,000. I sent her to N. Y. in charge of one Valleau, who was highly recommended by military officers and others.

I am informed that this vessel was run ashore on Dauphine Island off Mobile, and destroyed. She was small and old. Either she run ashore in a storm, or what is more probable, Valleau tried to run the Blockade into Mobile, and was so hard pressed by a Gunboat that he run the vessel ashore so as to prevent capture. This is the first accident which has occurred, but luckily neither vessel nor cargo was valuable. She had on board 40 bars iron for plating Gunboats, put in as ballast.

You expected the Navy to assist me. They have never given me the least help, and I am obliged to take the whole responsibility of forwarding vessels to New York.

The Light at South Pass will be relighted to-morrow night for the first time. I go down to the mouth of the River today to attend to it.

_______________

¹ A successful attack was made on Galveston on October 6. The boats began to arrive off Galveston on October 3. Cf. Rebellion Records Series I, Vol. XV, passim.

SOURCE: Diary and correspondence of Salmon P. Chase, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1902, Vol. 2, p. 317-8

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, March 26, 1864

I went early this A.M. to the President on the subject of procuring a transfer of seamen from the Army to the Navy. After reading the papers he said he would take the matter in hand, and before I left the room he rang for his man Edward and told him to go for the Secretary of War, but, stopping him before he got to the door, directed him to call the Secretary of State first. In this whole matter of procuring seamen for the Navy there has been a sorry display of the prejudices of some of the military authorities. Halleck appears to dislike the Navy more than he loves his country.

Olcott, the detective, is here. Has been called to W. by the War Department. He, like those of his employment, is full of mystery, discussed fraud, overwhelming villainy, etc.; but much of it is mere suspicion, or matter susceptible of explanation. Not but that there is great rascality, — sufficient without exaggerating or aggravating it. I did not care to see him and cautioned Fox not to let his judgment be biased by O. The whole of these harsh proceedings are repugnant to my feelings.

Had a conversation with Admiral Dahlgren concerning operations at Charleston, ironclads, army matters, etc. Gillmore has high qualities as an engineer, but very little as a general in command. Lacks administrative ability, powers of organization, and has not that talent which relies on itself and keeps its own counsel. From what D. says, I think Gillmore must have acquiesced at least in the newspaper assaults on D. and the Navy, which if so, is greatly to his discredit. Dahlgren would never have assented to or permitted such assaults on Gillmore.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 546-7

Diary of Gideon Welles: Thursday, March 24, 1864

Tom and Admiral Dahlgren returned from Fortress Monroe, but without the remains of young Dahlgren.

We are running short of sailors and I have no immediate remedy. The army officers are not disposed to lose good men, and seem indifferent to the country and general welfare if their service can get along. Commodore Rowan writes that the times of the men are running out and no reenlistments; the army is paying enormous bounties. Between thirty and forty vessels are waiting crews.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 545-6

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, March 25, 1864

At Cabinet to-day, I brought up the subject of a scarcity of seamen. The President seemed concerned, and I have no doubt was. Stanton was more unconcerned than I wished, but did not object to my suggestions. I had commenced, but not completed, a letter to the President urging the importance and necessity of an immediate transfer of 12,000 men to the Navy. The army has by bounties got thousands of sailors and seamen who are experts. This letter I finished and had copied after my return. On reading it to Fox it stirred him up, and the prospect is certainly most unpromising.

Chase, who sat beside me when I first made mention of the difficulty we were experiencing from the effects of the enrollment act and the policy pursued by the War Department, remarked that nothing could be expected where there were no Cabinet consultations and no concerted action. Stanton and the President were in private consultation at the time in a corner of the room. This is no unfrequent occurrence between the two at our meetings, and is certainly inconsiderate and in exceeding bad taste. Chase was, I saw, annoyed and irritated.

Mr. Bates and others soon left. Usher sat quietly and intent, not listening perhaps to catch a word, but U. has great curiosity.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 546

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, February 26, 1864

Only three of us were at the Cabinet council to-day. Some matters of interest were touched upon, but there was soon a discussion on recent political movements. The President has been advised of the steps taken to forward the Chase operations. Circulars were put in his hands before signed.

A spicy debate sprung up yesterday on the passage of the Navy Bill. Holman, a Copperhead partisan, made an attack on me, — sprawling, personally vituperative, and abusive. H. Winter Davis sustained him, but flung his vindictive spite more malignantly at Fox, whom he called a "cotton-spinner," than at me. He eulogized Du Pont, whom the Navy Department had withdrawn from the command of the South Atlantic Squadron, and denounced the Balaclavian order compelling him to attack Sumter, etc., etc. Kelly and Griswold defended the Department, but Frank Blair made the best points, and told Davis that, while he was active in getting up investigations against the Navy Department, he opposed all investigation of the Treasury. Things took such shape that I perceive the instructions to and correspondence with Du Pont will be called for.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 531

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, February 2, 1864

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

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

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

Diary of Gideon Welles: February 1, 1864

I had a call from Mr. Sedgwick, who yesterday proposed visiting Stover in Fort Lafayette and getting from him a confession as to those who have participated in, or been cognizant of, frauds on the government. Gave him a letter to Marshal Murray. An hour or two later Provost Marshal Baker called on me and related the particulars of conveying Stover after arrest. Says Stover is alarmed and ready to make disclosures; told him many facts; many persons implicated. Says Henderson, clerk in Treasury, has been arrested; that Clarke will be to-morrow. Thinks Sedgwick will not do well with Stover. Was going to New York to-morrow, to-day will attend to it. I sent Fox to withdraw letter from Sedgwick to Murray.

To-day Baker called on me at the Department and had a sprawling mass of suspicions which he says were communicated by Stover, implicating persons above suspicion. I told him I gave no credit to the statement, but authorized him to satisfy himself as regarded the person (F.) whom he chiefly criminated.

Late in the day, Jordan, Solicitor of the Treasury, called upon me in relation to Baker, from which I come to the conclusion, after what I have seen of B., that he is wholly unreliable, regardless of character and the rights of persons, incapable of discrimination, and zealous to do something sensational. I therefore withheld my letter for him to visit Fort Lafayette.

Mr. Rice, Chairman of Naval Committee in the House, informs me that the trip of the Eutaw on Saturday was highly satisfactory. The efforts of strangely unprincipled men to create prejudice against the Navy and impair public confidence in its efficiency are most surprising and wholly incompatible with either patriotic or honest intentions.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 518-9

Diary of Gideon Welles: Friday, January 22, 1864

Very little done at the Cabinet. Stanton, Usher, and myself were the only ones present. Some general talk and propositions. Last night the President gave a dinner to the members of the Cabinet, judges of the Supreme Court, and a few others, with their wives. It was pleasant. A little stiff and awkward on the part of some of the guests, but passed off very well.

The challenge of Fox has created some noise. When read in the Chamber of Commerce, Moses H. Grinnell appeared much disturbed, — said the Navy had no fast boats, the challenge was improper, undignified, etc. Moses unwittingly showed his true colors, — was drawn out. He has professed to be friendly, but I have not been deceived by him, for I have been satisfied that he was secretly inimical, though not with manly courage to avow it. Moses has been a successful merchant, and generous with his money in a certain way. He has some good and some weak qualities in his profession, but his great failing has been in political aspirations. With commercial party principles, no sound or correct knowledge of government, or of individual rights, he has hungered for office and believed that money ought to secure it. He has seen with envy the success of Morgan and some others, whom he believes no more capable or deserving than himself, and had hoped the change of administration would bring him into distinction. It had been his hope that Seward would have the nomination at Chicago, and he showed grief and great vexation as well as others over the result. When President Lincoln came to Washington, he was invited to, and did, breakfast with Moses at his house in New York. But these attentions failed to bring the coveted honors. He had been a large shipping merchant and why should he not be Collector or even take charge of the Navy. His friend Seward was in the Cabinet but from western New York. Moses lived in the city of New York, and was from New England. All did not answer. After the blockade was declared he came twice to Washington and wanted, evidently, to be consulted. On one, and perhaps both occasions, he brought with him C. H. Marshall, an old ship-master, opinionated, conceited, and infinitely worse than Grinnell. I treated them courteously, listened to their opinions, invited them to be communicative, but did not adopt their views. Marshall, however, declared himself well satisfied with what he understood to be the management of the Department, and Grinnell did not dissent. This was, I think, in May, 1861. Some two months, perhaps, later, Moses was again in Washington; wanted the Department to procure more vessels; urged the purchase of a fleet of merchant ships on which there might be placed a small armament to establish an efficient blockade. I gave but little attention to his advice or offers of service. Two good steamers in my opinion would be more effective than the sixty sailing vessels which he proposed to purchase. By the kindness of Mr. Seward he had an interview with the President and laid before him his plans. Charleston he would blockade with ten or a dozen ships lying off outside. I happened to enter the President's room about the time Grinnell was leaving, and he spoke quite oracularly about the “swash channel”'; repeated that expression several times. He knew the harbor and the “swash channel.” Could blockade it with ten or a dozen good ships. The President subsequently informed me of the plan of Mr. Grinnell, in the presence of the Secretary of State, and each of them kindly commended him. I told them I knew Mr. Grinnell well, but that my views did not correspond with his, and my arrangements were not such as would admit of employing him.

On several occasions since I have had the benefit of Mr. G.'s advice and promptings, but am not aware that I was ever benefited by either. His friend Marshall was sometimes artfully pushed forward and chafed into an abuse of me personally. It has been some time, however, since I have been assailed by him personally, and he does not appear to have united with Moses on this occasion.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 512-4

Diary of Gideon Welles: Tuesday, December 29, 1863

Seward was not at the meeting of the Cabinet. Chase avoids coming in these days. Blair is ill. There has been some vicious legislation in Congress, which I at one time supposed was inadvertent but which I begin to think was not wholly without design. The maritime towns, from which we draw most of our seamen, are to be allowed no credit in the draft for men who enlist in the Navy. Of course the local authorities and public opinion in those communities are opposed to naval enlistments, which, with the high military bounties, are telling on the naval service. We need at least five thousand of the sailors who have been enticed by high bounties and the causes alluded to into the army. They are experts, can discharge seamen's duty; landsmen cannot fill their place. Having received the bounty, they would prefer reentering the Navy, but the law has given the power to [allow them to] do so into the hands of the Secretary of War, and he is disposed to show his authority by refusing to yield up these sailors to their proper trade and calling. The President can order the transfer, but he dislikes to interfere with and overrule Stanton. Wilson, Chairman of the Military Committee, acts with Stanton; Hale, Chairman of the Naval Committee, is indifferent; Congress hesitates; and the result is our vessels are not manned, the service is crippled, and the country must suffer.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 498-9

Diary of Gideon Welles: Saturday, December 26, 1863

The Dictator, turret vessel, was launched this A.M. in New York. This is one of a class of vessels that has become famous. She is of greatly increased dimensions to any hitherto constructed. I have full confidence that she will be a formidable fighting craft, but am not prepared to indorse her, or the Puritan, which is not yet launched, as cruisers. There are differences among naval men on this subject, but the turret vessels are steadily gaining friends among them, and early friends are becoming enthusiastic. Fox, himself a good sailor, and others give them unqualified approval. Fox is ready, he says, to cross the Atlantic or double Cape Horn with either. For harbor or coast defense these vessels are, I think, invaluable, and almost invulnerable. The fight with the Merrimac made for them rapid converts. When the first turret vessel, the Monitor, was building, many naval men and men in the shipping interest sneered at her as a humbug, and at me as no sailor or judge, until she vindicated her power and worth in that first remarkable conflict. Then I was abused by party men because I had not made preparations for and built more.

There is constant caprice in regard to the Navy. Those who know least clamor most. It is difficult to decide what course to pursue, and yet I must prescribe a policy and be held accountable for it. If I go forward and build large and expensive vessels, I shall be blamed for extravagance, particularly if peace takes place. On the other hand, if I should not build, and we have, not only continued hostilities, but war with England or France, I shall be denounced for being unprepared. Yet it is patent that powerful, and expensive because powerful, structures are conducive to peace. A few strong, powerful vessels will conduce to economy because they will deter commercial nations from troubling us, and if not troubled, we need no large and expensive navy.

During the whole of this civil war, I have been beset and annoyed by interested patriots who had old steamers to sell which no one would buy. The agents of these parties crowded the Department, got Members of Congress to besiege it, and, because I did not think their crafts adapted to our wants, they, and in some instances the press and certain Members of Congress, engaged in abuse of me.

What we needed for this war and the blockade of our extensive coast was many vessels of light draft and good speed, not large, expensive ships, for we had no navy to encounter but illicit traders to capture. I acted accordingly and I have no doubt correctly, though much abused for it. A war with one or more of the large maritime powers would require an entirely different class of vessels.

In naval matters, as in financial, those who are most ignorant complain loudest. The wisest policy receives the severest condemnation. My best measures have been the most harshly criticized. I have been blamed for procuring so many small vessels from the merchant service. But those vessels were not only the cheapest and the most available, but the most effective. In no other way could we have established an effective blockade of our extended coast. We wanted not heavy navy-built ships but such vessels as had speed and could capture neutral unarmed blockade-runners. There was no navy, no fighting craft, to encounter. Half a dozen small vessels required no more men and were not more expensive than one first-class ship, yet either one of the six small craft of light draught which were swift was more effective than the big ship for this particular duty. It was claimed the small light vessels could not lie off the coast in winter and do blockade service. Experience has shown the contrary. The grumblers have said our small naval-built gunboats have not great speed. Small propellers of light draught on duty for months cannot carry sufficient fuel and have great speed.

There is no little censure because fast vessels are not sent off after the Alabama, and yet it would be an act of folly to detach vessels from the blockade and send them off scouring the ocean for this roving wolf, which has no country, no home, no resting-place but such as neutral England and France may give her. When I sometimes ask the faultfinders to tell me where the Alabama is or can be found, assuring them I will send a force of several vessels at once to take her on being satisfactorily informed, they are silenced. Whilst these men blame me for not sending a fleet after the marauders, they and others would blame me more were I to weaken the blockade in an uncertain pursuit. Unreasonable and captious men will blame me, take what course I may. I must, therefore, follow my own convictions.

SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30, 1864, p. 495-7

An Act to Amend an Act Entitled “An Act for Enrolling and Calling Out the National Forces, and for Other Purposes,” Approved March Third, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-three, February 24, 1864

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States shall be authorized, whenever he shall deem it necessary, during the present war, to call for such number of men for the military service of the United States as the public exigencies may require.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the quota of each ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or of a county, where the county is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, shall be, as nearly as possible, in proportion to the number of men resident therein liable to render military service, taking into account, as far as practicable, the number which has been previously furnished therefrom: and in ascertaining and filling said quota there shall be taken into account the number of men who have heretofore entered the naval service of the United States, and whose names are borne upon the enrolment lists as already returned to the office of the provost-marshal-general of the United States.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if the quotas shall not be filled within the time designated by the President, the provost-marshal of the district within which any ward of a city, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, where the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, which is deficient in its quota, is situated, shall, under the direction of the provost marshal-general, make a draft for the number deficient therefrom; but all volunteers who may enlist after the draft shall have been ordered, and before it shall be actually made, shall be deducted from the number ordered to be drafted in such ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county. And if the quota of any district shall not be filled by the draft made in accordance with the provisions of this act, and the act to which it is an amendment, further drafts shall be made, and like proceedings had, until the quota of such district shall be filled.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That any person enrolled under the provisions of the act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or who may he hereafter so enrolled, may furnish, at any time previous to the draft, an acceptable substitute, who is not liable to draft, nor at the time in the military or naval service of the United States, and such person so furnishing a substitute shall be exempt from draft during the time for which [such] substitute shall not be liable to draft, not exceeding the time for which such substitute shall have been accepted.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted. That any person drafted into the military service of the United States may, before the time fixed for his appearance for duty at the draft rendezvous, furnish an acceptable substitute, subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of War. That if such substitute is not liable to draft, the person furnishing him shall be exempt from draft during the time for which such substitute is not liable to draft, not exceeding the term for which he was drafted; and, if such substitute is liable to draft, the name of the person furnishing him shall again be placed on the roll, and shall be liable to draft on future calls, but not until the present enrolmont shall be exhausted; and this exemption shall not exceed the term for which such person shall have been drafted. And any person now in the military or naval service of the United States, not physically disqualified, who has so served more than one year, and whose term of unexpired service shall not at the time of substitution exceed six months, may be employed as a substitute to serve in the troops of the State in which he enlisted; and if any drafted person shall hereafter pay money for the procuration of a substitute, under the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, such payment of money shall operate only to relieve such person from draft in filling that quota; and his name shall be retained on the roll in filling future quotas; but in no instance shall the exemption of any person on account of his payment of commutation money for the procuration of a substitute, extend beyond one year; but at the end of one year, in every such case, the name of any person so exempted shall be enrolled again, if not before returned to the enrolment list under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That boards of enrolment shall enroll all persons liable to draft under the provisions of this act, and the act to which this is an amendment, whoso names may have been omitted-by the proper enrolling officers; all persons who shall arrive at the age of twenty years before the draft; all aliens who shall declare their intentions to become citizens; all persons discharged from the military or naval service of the United States who have not been in such service two years during the present war; and all persons who have been exempted under the provisions of the second section of the act to which this is an amendment, but who are not exempted by the provisions of this act; and said boards of enrolment shall release and discharge from draft all persons who, between the time of the enrolment and the draft, shall have arrived at the age of forty-five years, and shall strike the names of such persons from the enrolment.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That any mariner or able or ordinary seaman who shall be drafted under this act, or the act to which this is an amendment, shall have the right, within eight days after the notification of such draft, to enlist in the naval service as a seaman, and a certificate that he has so enlisted being made out, in conformity with regulations which may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy, and duly presented to the provost-marshal of the district in which such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been drafted, shall exempt him from such draft: Provided, That the period for which he shall have enlisted into the naval service shall not be less than the period for which he shall have been drafted into the military service: And provided further, That the said certificate shall declare that satisfactory proof has been made before the naval officer issuing the same that the said person so enlisting in the Navy is a mariner by vocation, or an able or ordinary seaman. And any person now in the military service of the United States, who shall furnish satisfactory proof that he is a mariner by vocation or an able or ordinary seaman, may enlist into the Navy under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the President of the United States: Provided, That such enlistment shall not be for less than the unexpired term of his military service, nor for less than one year. And the bounty-money which any mariner or seaman enlisting from the Army into the. Navy may have received from the United States, or from the State in which he enlisted in the Army, shall be deducted from the prize-money to which he may become entitled during the time required to complete his military service: And provided further, That the whole number of such transfer enlistments shall not exceed ten thousand.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That whenever any such mariner or able or ordinary seaman shall have been exempted from such draft in the military service by such enlistment into the naval service, under such due certificate thereof, then the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, from which such person has been drafted, shall be credited with his services to all intents and purposes as if he had been duly mustered into the military service under such draft.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all enlistments into the naval service of the United States, or into the Marine Corps of the United States, that may hereafter be made of persons liable to service under the act of Congress entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, shall be credited to the ward, town, township, precinct, or election district, or county, when the same is not divided into wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts, in which such enlisted men were or may be enrolled and liable to duty under the act aforesaid, under such regulations as the provost-marshal-general of the United States may prescribe.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the following persons be and they are hereby exempted from enrolment and draft under the provisions of this act and of the act to which this is an amendment, to wit: Such as are rejected as physically or mentally unfit for the service, all persons actually in the military or naval service of the United States at the time of the draft, and all persons who have served in the military or naval service two years during the present war and been honorably discharged therefrom; and no persons but such as arc herein exempted shall be exempt.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted. That section third of the “Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and so much of section ten of said act as provides for the separate enrolment of each class, be, and the same are hereby, repealed; and it shall be the duty of the board of enrolment of each district to consolidate the two classes mentioned in the third section of said act.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall forcibly resist or oppose any enrolment, or who shall incite, counsel, encourage, or who shall conspire or confederate with any other person or persons forcibly to resist or oppose any such enrolment, or who shall aid or assist, or take any part in any forcible resistance or opposition thereto, or who shall assault, obstruct, hinder, impede, or threaten any officer or other person employed in making or in aiding to make such enrolment, or employed in the performance, or in aiding in the performance of any service in anyway relating thereto, or in arresting or aiding to arrest any spy or deserter from the military service of the United States, shall, upon conviction thereof in any court competent to try the offence, be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both of said punishments in the discretion of the court. And in cases where such assaulting, obstructing, hindering, or impeding shall produce the death of such officer or other person, the offender shall be deemed guilty of murder, and, upon conviction thereof upon indictment in the circuit court of the United States for the district within which the offence was committed, shall be punished with death. And nothing in this section contained shall be construed to relieve the party offending from liability, under proper indictment or process, for any crime against the laws of a State, committed by him while violating the provisions of this section.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War shall be authorized to detail or appoint such number of additional surgeons for temporary duty in the examination of persons drafted into the military service, in any district, as may be necessary to secure the prompt examination of all such persons, and to fix the compensation to be paid surgeons so appointed while actually employed. And such surgeons so detailed or appointed shall perform the same duties as the surgeon of the board of enrolment, except that they shall not be permitted to vote or sit with the board of enrolment.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War is authorized, whenever in his judgment the public interest will be subserved thereby, to permit or require boards of examination of enrolled or drafted men to hold their examinations at different points within their respective enrolment districts, to be determined by him: Provided, That in all districts over one hundred miles in extent, and in such as are composed of over ten counties, the board shall hold their sessions in at least two places in such district, and at such points as are best calculated to accommodate the people thereof.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That provost-marshals, boards of enrolment, or any member thereof, acting by authority of the board, shall have power to summon witnesses in behalf of the Government, and enforce their attendance by attachment without previous payment of fees, in any case pending before them, or either of them; and the fees allowed for witnesses attending under summons shall be six cents per mile for mileage, counting one way; and no other fees or costs shall be allowed under the provisions of this section; and they shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations. And any person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear or affirm falsely before any provost marshal, or board of enrolment, or member thereof, acting by authority of the board, or who shall, before any civil magistrate, wilfully and corruptly swear or a affirm falsely to any affidavit to be used in any case pending before any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, on conviction, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned not less than six months nor more than twelve mouths. The drafted men shall have process to bring in witnesses, but without mileage.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That copies of any record of a provost-marshal or board of enrolment, or of any part thereof, certified by the provost-marshal, or a majority of said board of enrolment, shall be deemed and taken as evidence in any civil or military court in like manner as the original record: Provided, That if any person shall knowingly certify any false copy or copies of such record, to be used in any civil or military court, he shall be subject to the pains and penalties of perjury.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That members of religious denominations, who shall by oath or affirmation declare that they are conscientiously opposed to the bearing of arms, and who are prohibited from doing so by the rules and articles of faith and practice of said religious denominations, shall, when drafted into the military service, be considered noncombatants, and shall be assigned by the Secretary of War to duty in the hospitals, or to the care of freedmen, or shall pay the sum of three hundred dollars to such person as the Secretary of War shall designate to receive it, to be applied to the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers: Provided, That no person shall be entitled to the benefit of the provisions of this section unless his declaration of conscientious scruples against bearing arms shall be supported by satisfactory evidence that his deportment has been uniformly consistent with such declaration.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That no person of foreign birth shall, on account of alienage, be exempted from enrolment or draft under the provisions of this act, or the act to which it is an amendment, who has at any time assumed the rights of a citizen by voting at any election held under authority of the laws of any State or Territory, or of the United States, or who has held any office under such laws or any of them; but the fact that any such person of foreign birth has voted or held, or shall vote or hold, office as aforesaid, shall be taken as conclusive evidence that he is not entitled to exemption from military service on account of alienage.

SEC. 19. And he it further enacted, That all claims to exemption shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the party claiming exemption to the truth of the facts stated, unless it shall satisfactorily appear to the board of enrolment that such party is for some good and sufficient reason unable to make such oath or affirmation; and the testimony of any other party filed in support, of a claim to exemption shall also be made upon oath or affirmation.

SEC. 20. And be it further enacted, That if any person drafted and liable to render military service shall procure a decision of the board of enrolment in his favor upon a claim to exemption by any fraud or false representation practiced by himself or by his procurement, such decision or exemption shall be of no effect, and the person exempted, or in whose favor the decision may be made, shall be deemed a deserter, and may be arrested, tried by court-martial, and punished as such, and shall be held to service for the full term for which he was drafted, reckoning from the t hue of his arrest: Provided, That the Secretary of War may order the discharge of all persons in the military service who are under the age of eighteen years at the time of the application for their discharge, when it shall appear upon due proof that such persons are in the service without the consent, either expressed or implied, of their parents or guardians. And provided further, That such persons, their parents or guardians, shall first repay to the Government and to the State and local authorities all bounties and advance pay which may have been paid to them, anything in the act to which this is an amendment to the contrary notwithstanding.

SEC. 21. And be it further enacted, That any person who shall procure, or attempt to procure, a false report from the surgeon of the board of enrolment concerning the physical condition of any drafted person, or a decision in favor of such person by the board of enrolment upon a claim to exemption, knowing the same to be false, shall, upon conviction in any district or circuit court of the United States, be punished by imprisonment for the period for which the party was drafted.

SEC. 22. And be it further enacted, That the fees of agents and attorneys for making out and causing to be executed any papers in support of a claim for exemption from draft, or for any services that may be rendered to the claimant, shall not, in any case, exceed five dollars; and physicians or surgeons furnishing certificates of disability to any claimant for exemption from draft shall not be entitled to any fees or compensation therefor. And any agent or attorney who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any greater compensation for his services under this act, and any physician or surgeon who shall, directly or indirectly, demand or receive any compensation for furnishing said certificates of disability, and any officer, clerk, or deputy connected with the board of enrolment who shall receive compensation from any drafted man for any services, or obtaining the performance of such service required from any member of said board by the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall, for every such offence, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be recovered upon information or indictment before any court of competent jurisdiction, one-half for the use of any informer who may prosecute for the same in the name of the United States, and the other half for the use of the United States, and shall also be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court.

SEC. 23. And be it further enacted. That no member of the board of enrolment, and no surgeon detailed or employed to assist the board of enrolment, and no clerk, assistant, or employee of any provost-marshal or board of enrolment, shall, directly or indirectly, be engaged in procuring or attempting to procure substitutes for persons drafted, or liable to be drafted, into the military service of the United States. And if any member of a board of enrolment, or any such surgeon, clerk, assistant, or employee, shall procure, or attempt to procure, a substitute for any person drafted, or liable to be drafted, as aforesaid, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment not less than thirty days, nor more than six months, and pay a fine not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, by any court competent to try the offence.

SEC. 24. And be it further enacted. That all able-bodied male colored persons, between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, resident in the United States, shall be enrolled according to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which, this is an amendment, and form part of the national forces; and when a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate thereof, and thereupon such slave shall be free; and the bounty of one hundred dollars, now payable by law for each drafted man, shall be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing service or labor at the time of his muster into the service of the United States. The Secretary of War shall appoint a commission in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to award to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer may owe service a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, for each such colored volunteer, payable out of the fund derived from commutations, and every such colored volunteer on being mustered into the service shall be free. And in all cases where men of color have been heretofore enlisted or have volunteered in the military service of the United States, all the provisions of this act, so far as the payment of bounty and compensation are provided, shall be equally applicable as to those who may be hereafter recruited. But men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who may volunteer into the military service, while they shall be credited on the quotas of the several States, or subdivisions of States, wherein they are respectively drafted, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered into regiments or companies as United States colored troops.

SEC. 25. And be it further enacted, That the fifteenth section of the act to which this is amendatory be so amended that it will read as follows: That any surgeon charged with the duty of such inspection, who shall receive from any person whomsoever any money or other valuable thing, or agree, directly or indirectly, to receive the same to his own or another's use, for making an imperfect inspection, or a false or incorrect report, or who shall wilfully neglect to make a faithful inspection and true report, and each member of the board of enrolment who shall wilfully agree to the discharge from service of any drafted person who is not legally and properly entitled to such discharge, shall be tried by a court-martial, and, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not less than three hundred dollars and not more than ten thousand dollars, shall be imprisoned at the discretion of the court, and be cashiered and dismissed the service.

SEC. 26. And be it further enacted. That the words “precinct” and “election district,” as used in this act, shall not be construed to require any subdivision for purposes of enrolment and draft less than the wards into which any city or village maybe divided, or than the towns or townships into which any county may be divided.

SEC. 27. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act entitled “An act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, as may be inconsistent with the provisions of this act, is hereby repealed.

Approved, February 24, 1864.

SOURCE: The Reports of Committees of House of Representatives for the Third Session of the Fifty-third Congress, 1894-95, In Two Volumes, Report No. 1820, p. 6-11

Major-General John A. Dix to Abraham Lincoln, March 7, 1863

Head Quarters Department of Virginia

Seventh Army Corps

Fort Monroe, Va. Mch. 7th 1863

Sir:

I am extremely unwilling to trouble you amid your multifarious and responsible duties with a matter, which ought to have been settled elsewhere. But having failed in every effort to arrange it, I feel it my duty to the public service to appeal to you. Soon after Admiral Lee took command of the blockading squadron on this part of the coast, he placed a Gun-boat between Fort Monroe and Fort Wool, a short distance to the East, and required all vessels bound to this post, even when laden with Army stores, to come to anchor or heave to, until a permit to come to the dock could be procured from me. —

No such requirement has been enforced before, since the commencement of the war. It is not only a new but a useless vexation: and has led in some instances to the most serious inconvenience and loss. —

The only pretext, under which it can be made, is to enforce the blockade; and as against this Fort it is an absurdity. A blockade is an investment of an enemy's port. — Admiral Lee is blockading one of our Forts by one of our gun-boats – a novelty in war which is without precedent.

I protested against this proceeding at the outset as an indignity to the Army and to the Commander of this Military Department whose Head Quarters are here; and I would have resisted it but for an unwillingness to present to the public the scandal of a quarrel between the Army and the Navy, when the cordial co-operation of both is needed to maintain the national interests and honor.

If the object of the blockade of the enemy's territory were promoted by the measure, I would silently acquiesce in it, objectionable as it is. But no such object is gained. There is no enemy's territory to blockade within fifteen miles of Fort Monroe, and the blockading squadron at Newport News and Norfolk shuts out all ingress.

It does not profess to be a precaution against smuggling, and it would be useless if it did. There is a revenue vessel at Fort Monroe, commanded by a very faithful and vigilant officer. There is also a Captain of the Port with a competent force. — These two officers examine all vessels that come to Fort Monroe, not only as to the sufficiency of their papers, but as to their cargoes, opening and scrutinizing every cask and package.

The practical objections to the measure are these

1st It compels every vessel to come to, and to send to the Fort for a permit, often at great inconvenience. —

2nd It occasions delays, always vexatious in time of war, when the prompt delivery of supplies is necessary, and sometimes exceedingly annoying. — The last time I visited Washington, a Commissary's vessel laden with potatoes of which we were greatly in need, was kept lying alongside of the guard-boat twenty four hours because I was not here to give a permit. On the same day some boats laden with insurgents came out of the Rappahannock and burned the Ship Alleghanian laden with guano. If the gun-boat had been employed in protecting our commerce there, instead of blockading the Army at Fort Monroe, and keeping us out of our supplies, it would have deprived the enemy of a success and spared us an annoyance. —

3rd It is the source not only of annoyance but of disaster and private injury. On the night of the 21st ulto. in the midst of a violent easterly gale and snow storm a schooner laden with forage for the Quartermaster in attempting to enter the harbor for shelter, was ordered off by the guard-boat, as the Captain states because she had not a permit from me, and ran aground on the beach. She was unladen with great inconvenience, and we had three Steamers employed for portions of two days to get her afloat. The actual loss to the Government cannot be less than $1.000.—

The Officer of the Gun-boat, as I learn, has authority to pass vessels driven into the harbor by violent storms; but misapprehensions sometimes arise and serious accidents occur in consequence. If the gun-boat were removed there would be no danger of misunderstanding and loss. —

These are briefly some of the inconveniences and the evils of this measure. — I object to it 1st as useless; 2nd as inconvenient and vexatious; 3rd as producing public annoyance and injury; 4th as a source of private wrong and loss; and 5th as an indignity to the Army; and on these grounds I ask your interposition to terminate it. I enclose a map showing the position of the gun-boat at "A", and I request that she may be required to be removed and placed as far west as "B", and that this Fort be left open to the access of vessels as it was under Admirals Goldsborough and Wilkes, not only to such as have Army supplies, but such as come here for shelter, subject to the usual revenue and military inspection which is never omitted. —

There is an immense contraband traffic carried on between the York and Rappahannock Rivers, and the Steamer which is blockading us, might render a valuable service in that quarter instead of creating annoyance to the Army here. —

I have the honor to be,

Very respectfully,

Your ob'd't Servant

John A. Dix

Maj. Genl.

[ Endorsed on Envelope by Lincoln:]

Submitted to Mars & Neptune.

SOURCE: Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.