Notice is given
to-day of a grand parade of the armies of the Potomac, of the Tennessee, and
Georgia, etc., etc., to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next. This
interferes with our proposed trip, which has so often been deferred. But there
is no alternative. It will not do to be absent on such an historic occasion.
SOURCE: Gideon
Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and
Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 307
Preston King tells
me he has a letter from Senator Dixon, speaking of me in very complimentary
terms and expressing a wish that I may continue in the Cabinet, assuring K.
that this is the sentiment of all parties in Connecticut. The President is not
yet prepared to complete the Amnesty Proclamation, nor to issue the order for
the reëstablishment of the authority of the local State governments. Our North
Carolina friends have not arrived. Seward was to-day in the State Department,
and the President with the rest of us went to his room. I noticed that his old
crony and counterpart, Thurlow Weed, was with him as we entered. Seward was
gratified and evidently felt complimented that we called. Was very decisive and
emphatic on the subject of a proclamation declaring the Rebel vessels pirates
and also a proclamation for opening the ports. Both these measures I had
pressed rather earnestly; but Stanton, and Speed under Stanton's prompting, had
opposed, for some assumed technical reason [?], the first, i.e. declaring the Rebel vessels
pirates, and McCulloch the last, opening the ports. I was, therefore, pleased
when Seward, unprompted, brought them both forward. I suggested that the
proclamation already issued appeared to me to be sufficient, but I was glad to
have his opinions on account of the opposition of Speed.
Received a telegram
this P.M. from Commander Frailey and one from Acting-Rear-Admiral Radford,
stating that the former, in command of the Tuscarora, had convoyed to Hampton
Roads the William Clyde, having on board Jeff Davis, Stephens, etc.
This dispatch,
addressed to me, Stanton had in his hand when I entered his room, whither he
had sent for me. The telegraph goes to the Department of War, where it has an
office, and I before have had reason to believe that some abuse — a sort of an
espionage — existed. Half apologizing for an obvious impropriety, he said the
custody of these prisoners devolved on him a great responsibility, and until he
had made disposition of them, or determined where they should be sent, he
wished their arrival to be kept a secret. He was unwilling, he said, to trust
Fox, and specially desired me to withhold the information from him, for he was
under the Blairs and would be used by them, and the Blairs would improve the
opportunity to embarrass him.
I by no means concur
in his censures or his views. Fox, like Stanton, will sometimes confide secrets
which he had better retain, but not, I think, when enjoined. The Blairs have no
love for Stanton, but I do not think he has any cause of apprehension from them
in this matter.
He wished me to
order the Tuscarora to still convoy and guard the Clyde, and allow no
communication with the prisoners except by order of General Halleck or the War
Department, — General Halleck, Stanton has ordered down from Richmond to attend
to this business, — and again earnestly requested and enjoined that none but we
three — himself, General Grant, and myself — should know of the arrival and
disposition of these prisoners. I told him the papers would have the arrivals
announced in their next issue.
Stanton said no word
could get abroad. He had the telegraph in his own hands and could suppress
everything. Not a word should pass. I remarked he could not stop the mails, nor
passenger-boats, and twenty-four hours would carry the information to Baltimore
and abroad in that way. Twenty-four hours, he said, would relieve him.
Stanton is
mercurial, - arbitrary and apprehensive, violent and fearful, rough and
impulsive, — yet possessed of ability and energy. I, of course, under his
request, shall make no mention of or allusion to the prisoners, for the
present. In framing his dispatch, he said, with some emphasis, the women and
children must be sent off. We did not want them. “They must go South,” and he
framed his dispatch accordingly. When he read it I remarked, “The South is very
indefinite, and you permit them to select the place. Mrs. Davis may designate
Norfolk, or Richmond.” “True," said Grant with a laugh. Stanton was
annoyed, but, I think, altered his telegram.
Stanton informed me
this P.M. that Halleck had gone from Richmond to Fortress Monroe and he wished
certain persons, whom he named, should be sent in a naval vessel to Fort
Warren, certain others to Fort Delaware, others to Fort McHenry. He still urged
secrecy, but in less than an hour our regular dispatches by mail stated the
facts. Others also had them.
General Sherman is
here. I have not yet met him, but I understand he is a little irate towards
Stanton and very mad with Halleck. This is not surprising, and yet some allowance
is to be made for them. Sherman's motives cannot be questioned, although his
acts may be. Stanton was unduly harsh and severe, and his bulletin to General
Dix and specifications were Stantonian. Whether the President authorized, or
sanctioned, that publication I never knew, but I and most of the members of the
Cabinet were not consulted in regard to the publication, which was not in all
respects correct. General Grant, who as unequivocally disapproved of Sherman's
armistice as any member of the Administration, was nevertheless tender of
General Sherman, and did not give in to the severe remarks of Stanton at the
time.1
_______________
1 At a later period President Johnson assured
me that Stanton's publication was wholly unauthorized by him, that he knew
nothing of it until he saw it in the papers. We were all imposed upon by
Stanton, who had a purpose. He and the Radicals were opposed to the mild policy
of President Lincoln, on which Sherman had acted, and which Stanton opposed and
was determined to defeat. — G. W.
On the 22d and 23d,
the great review of the returning armies of the Potomac, the Tennessee, and
Georgia took place in Washington. I delayed my proposed Southern trip in order
to witness this magnificent and imposing spectacle. I shall not attempt at this
time and here to speak of those gallant men and their distinguished leaders. It
was computed that about 150,000 passed in review, and it seemed as if there
were as many spectators. For several days the railroads and all communications
were overcrowded with the incoming people who wished to see and welcome the
victorious soldiers of the Union. The public offices were closed for two days.
On the spacious stand in front of the Executive Mansion the President, Cabinet,
generals, and high naval officers, with hundreds of our first citizens and
statesmen, and ladies, were assembled. But Abraham Lincoln was not there. All
felt this.
I went with Postmaster-General Dennison and a portion of our families and a few friends on board the Santiago de Cuba, one of our fast vessels of about fourteen hundred tons, on a trip to Savannah. The late President had suggested to me some weeks before his death that he would be pleased to go on such an excursion to Charleston, and visit Dahlgren, who was, with him, a favorite. Subsequent events and his protracted visit to the upper waters of the James and Richmond altered this plan, and might have defeated it, even had his life been prolonged.
His death postponed
and seemed at times likely to defeat it altogether, but after repeated delays
we on this day embarked and went down the Potomac. Of the voyage and its
incidents I make here brief mention, for what is written is penned after our
return, and from memory chiefly.
The day was fine and
our sail down the river exceedingly pleasant. When I arose on the following
morning, the 25th, we had passed Cape Henry and were at sea. The wind was
strong from the southeast and the sea rough, with one or two smart storms of
rain. Most of the passengers and some others were sick this and the following
day, when we passed Cape Hatteras and Frying-Pan Shoals. Unexpectedly to
myself, I was not seasick.
On the morning of
Sunday, the 27th [sic],1 we were off Charleston Bar, waiting the
tide and a pilot. Admiral Dahlgren came down in a tug and brought the fleet
pilot, who took us in. Fort Sumter, whose ruins were prominent, we passed, and
Morris and Sullivan's Islands, with their batteries, and anchored the Santiago
near the town.
_______________
1 Sunday was the 28th.
SOURCE: Gideon
Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and
Johnson, Vol. 2: April 1, 1864 — December 31, 1866, p. 311
Mrs. Welles, who had not left her bed after retiring on the 24th on the lower Potomac, was brought upon deck and had a bed under the awning. The day was delicious, the air balmy, and she, as did all of us, enjoyed the scene. Our whole company, with the exception of Mrs. Welles and Mrs. Howard, went on shore and dispersed in squads over the city. With Dahlgren and a few others, I went to the Rebel navy yard and thence to the citadel and various parts of the city. Late in the afternoon we took carriages which were politely furnished by General Hatch, and rode through the principal streets and into the suburbs, visiting the cemeteries, etc.
[W]e took a morning
ride, Mrs. Welles being able to go with us, and drove about the place.
Returning to the wharf, we took a tug, visited the Pawnee, and then went to
Sumter, Moultrie, Fort Johnston, etc. The day was beautiful and all enjoyed it.
There was both
sadness and gratification in witnessing the devastation of the city and the
deplorable condition of this seat of the Rebellion. No place has suffered more
or deserved to have suffered more. Here was the seat of Southern aristocracy.
The better blood — the superior class, as they considered themselves — here
held sway and dictated the policy, not only of Charleston but of South
Carolina, and ultimately of the whole South. The power of association and of
exclusiveness has here been exemplified and the consequences that follow from
the beginning of evil. Not that the aristocracy had more vigorous intellects,
greater ability, for they had not, yet their wealth, their ancestry, the usage
of the community gave them control.
Mr. Calhoun, the
leading genius and master mind of the State, was not one of the élite, the
first families, but was used, nursed, and favored by them, and they by him. He acknowledged
their supremacy and deferred to them; they recognized his talents and gave him
position. He pandered to their pride; they fostered his ambition.
Rhett, one of the
proudest of the nobility, had the ambition of Calhoun without his ability, yet
he was not destitute of a certain degree of smartness, which stimulated his
aspirations. More than any one else, perhaps, has he contributed to
precipitating this Rebellion and brought these terrible calamities on his State
and country. The gentlemanly, elegant, but brilliantly feeble intellects of his
class had the vanity to believe they could rule, or establish a Southern
empire. Their young men had read Scott's novels, and considered themselves to
be knights and barons bold, sons of chivalry and romance, born to fight and to
rule. Cotton they knew to be king, and slavery created cotton. They used these
to combine other weak minds at the South, and had weak and willing tools to
pander to them in certain partisans at the North.
The results of their
theory and the fruits of their labors are to be seen in this ruined city and
this distressed people. Luxury, refinement, happiness have fled from
Charleston; poverty is enthroned there. Having sown error, she has reaped
sorrow. She has been, and is, punished. I rejoice that it is so.
On Monday evening we
left for Savannah, but, a storm coming on, the Santiago put into Port Royal,
having lost sight of our consort. It had been our intention to stop at this
place on our return, but, being here, we concluded to finish our work, and
accordingly went up to Beaufort. Returning, we visited Hilton Head and Fort
Welles on invitation from General Gillmore.
[W]e proceeded up
the Savannah River, and, on reaching the city, were provided with carriages to
examine it and the environs. Savannah has suffered less from war than
Charleston, and, though stricken, has the appearance of vitality if not of
vigor.
We drove out to
Bonaventura, the former possession of Tatnall, which has been converted into a
cemetery. The place has an indescribable beauty, I may say grandeur, impressing
me beyond any rural place I have visited. Long rows of venerable live oaks, the
splendid and valuable tree of the South, festooned with moss, opened up beautiful
vistas and drives. The place I can never forget.
I called on General
Grover, in company with Admiral Dahlgren, and had half an hour's interesting
conversation on the condition of affairs in Georgia and the South generally.
General Birge of Connecticut called on us at the boat, where we also met Samuel
Cooley of Hartford, an old and familiar acquaintance.
Mrs. Jefferson Davis
was at the Pulaski House. She had accompanied her husband to Fortress Monroe,
and been ordered South when he was committed to the Fortress. The vessel in
which she came had been in sight of ours a considerable portion of the day
before we reached Charleston, and was in that harbor when we arrived there, but
left and arrived here before us.
We took our
departure on the afternoon of Tuesday and passed down Thunderbolt Inlet to
Wassaw Sound, going over the ground where the Weehawken captured the Atlanta.
This Southern coast is a singular network of interior navigable waters
interlacing each other, of which we knew very little before this Civil War. The
naval men seemed to be better informed as regards the coast of Europe than
their own country.
The sun had set when
we reached Savannah River, and it was dark when we left. Most of the company
were importunate to visit Havana, but I thought it not best, and the steamer
therefore turned homeward.
We had calm and
delightful weather. Were amused as persons on shipboard usually are. Off the
entrance to Cape Fear we had some fishing. Saw and signalled a steamer on the
inside near Fort Caswell, which came out to us. Two or three Treasury agents
were on board, and Judge Casey of the Court of Claims, who is here, I surmise,
like many others, for speculation.
During the night we
were serenaded by a fine band, which had come off in a steamer. We ascertained
in the morning that it was General Hawley and staff in an army boat, they
having come down from Wilmington to meet us. By invitation we went on board
with them and proceeded up the Cape Fear to Wilmington. The Santiago was
directed to proceed around Smith's Island opposite to Fort Fisher and await us.
The beach for some distance was strewn with wrecks of blockade-runners, — or,
more modestly and correctly speaking, several were beached. Our jaunt to
Wilmington was pleasant, and our ride through various streets exceedingly warm.
We returned early in order to visit Fort Fisher by daylight. These formidable
defenses, which we finally captured, have given me exceeding annoyance for
several years. The War Department and military, so long as Halleck controlled,
had no comprehension of the importance of capturing this place, and by so doing
cutting off Rebel supplies.
We stopped a few
hours at Fortress Monroe and walked round on the ramparts. Jeff Davis was a
prisoner in one of the casemates, but I did not see him.
NEW CREEK, (WEST)
VIRGINIA, April 8, 1865.
DEAREST:— The glorious
news is coming so fast that I hardly know how to think and feel about
it. It is so just that Grant, who is by all odds our man of greatest
merit, should get this victory. It is very gratifying too
that Sheridan gets the lion's share of the glory of the
active fighting. The clique of showy shams in the Army of the
Potomac are represented by Warren. We do not know the facts, but I suspect
Warren hung back, and after the Potomac fashion, didn't take hold
with zeal when he found Sheridan was to command. So he was sent to the rear!
General Crook wrote me the day before the battle that the men were in superb
condition and eager for the fray, but that some of the generals were
half whipped already. No doubt he meant Warren. Crook commanded the
advance of Sheridan's attack. No doubt his strategy had much to do
with it.
Personally, matters
are probably as well as they could be, considering that we are in the hands, as
Joe says, of the Yankees. The fall of Richmond came the day
before we all left Camp Hastings. We had a glorious time. All the men
gathered, all the bands; Chaplain Collier and I talked. I
did not then of course say good-bye, but I said about all I would
have said if just parting. The Thirty-sixth is about as near to me, the
officers possibly more so, than the Twenty-third. I am in a
command of all sorts now, a good regiment of cavalry, the
old Pennsylvania Ringgold Cavalry, two batteries of Ohio men,
one of them Captain Glassier's (the old Simmonds Battery), one
of the veteran West Virginia regiments (Second Veterans), and a
lot of others of less value. It was intended to send me in
command of about five thousand men, quite a little army, by mountain
routes towards Lynchburg. We are still preparing for it, but I have no
idea now that we shall go. I wish to remain in service until
my four years is up in June. Then I shall resign or not, as seems best. If
matters don't suit me, I'll resign sooner.
Now, if things
remain here in statu quo, would you like (to) come
here? It is a most romantic spot. I have Captain Nye and Lieutenant
Turner of Thirty-sixth as part of my staff, Charley Smith,
Billy Crump, and two other Twenty-third men as orderlies. We have
speedy communication by rail and telegraph and with a
little more company it would be very jolly.
SOURCE: Charles Richard Williams, editor, Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes, Volume 2, p. 572-3
NEW CREEK, (WEST) VIRGINIA,
April 9 (Sunday), 1865.
DEAR MOTHER:— The
good news is coming so fast and so much of it that I hardly
know how to think or feel about it. I expect to see no more fighting with any
part of my command, and in all quarters the severe fighting
must, I think, soon cease. I was assigned to the command of an
independent expedition through the mountains towards Lynchburg some days ago.
We are still preparing for it, but I now think it will not go. In the meantime
my headquarters are temporarily at this place. I do not much care where I am
during the short time I shall probably now remain in the army. I want
to stay a little while longer until the smoke of these great events
blows away enough to let us see what the Rebels will try to do next. I expect
to see many of them give up, but the Rebel organization will hold on
I suspect some time longer. My four years is up in June; after that I feel at
liberty to resign. Sooner if matters [don't (?)] suit. Write me at this place
for the present.
CUMBERLAND,
MARYLAND, April 10, 1865.
DEAR JUDGE:— I am
told that my application for leave has come back without approval. I am sending
it again today. At this rate it will be ten days before I see it again. The War
Department wants to know my business. They mustn't be too crotchety or I'll get
naughty on their hands.
I hope this cruel
war is over. I shall resign probably in about six weeks.
NEW CREEK, WEST
VIRGINIA, April 12, 1865.
DEAR UNCLE:— I am
just beginning to fully realize and enjoy our great victories. I am
more glad to think my fighting days are ended than I had expected. Grant
deserves his great victory. Crook, too, had a conspicuous place. It was his
immediate command which captured the wagon train, Armstrong guns, prisoners,
etc., which figure so largely in Sheridan's reports.
I am still preparing
for my expedition, but I am confident it is given up and will never
be undertaken; it is rendered useless. I think it not improbable that there
will be an extra session of Congress; if so, I go out of service
then, of course. I am pretty
I well pleased with
matters now. Pecuniarily, I shall gain by staying in service as long as
possible. That consideration aside, I am ready to quit now almost any time.
Address me at this place.
NEW CREEK, WEST
VIRGINIA, April 12, 1865.
DEAREST:— I wonder
if you feel as happy as I do. The close of the war, “home again,”
darling and the boys and all to be together again for good! And the
manner of it too! Our best general vindicated by having the greatest
victory. General Crook too. Did you see, it was his immediate command that
captured so much, which Sheridan telegraphs about — the wagons, Armstrong guns,
etc., etc.? All most gratifying.
My expedition into
the mountains will no doubt be given up, although we are still preparing.
I am well satisfied
with present matters personally, and think I am rather fortunate, all
things considered. I decide nothing at present. I wish you to be ready to join
me on very short notice. It is not likely I shall send for you, but I may do so
any day if you would like to come.
My notion is that an
extra session of Congress soon is likely thing to occur. That will be
known in a week or two. Love to all. “So much.” As ever
R.
P. S. — My pictures
being in demand, I have got another.
MRS. HAYES.
Winchester, April
13, 1865
It must be pleasant
to those worthies who put on so much style to reflect that while there was
fighting to be done here in this valley, Sheridan and Crook were
here; now that the fighting has been transferred to Richmond, they (the
worthies) are sent here and Crook and Sheridan taken off down there. It's all style and airs — very offensive to sensible people, but as the war is about over, it matters but little who commands. Were there an enemy in our front, I should not
fancy our generals. As it is they are very good
New Creek. Startled by report that Lincoln, Seward and
were assassinated. Somehow felt it was true.
NEW CREEK, WEST
VIRGINIA, April 16, 1865.
DEAR UNCLE:— I am in
receipt of yours of the 11th. My mountain expedition is
given up. If I go at all from here, it will be directly up the valleys to
occupy Staunton. In any event, I think I shall see no more active campaigning.
I have been greatly
shocked by the tragedy at Washington. At first it was wholly dark. So
unmerited a fate for Lincoln! Such a loss for the country! Such a change! But
gradually, consolatory topics suggest themselves. How fortunate that it
occurred no sooner! Now the march of events will neither be stopped nor
changed. The power of the Nation is in our armies, and they
are commanded by such men as Grant, Sherman, and Thomas,
instead of McClellan, Hooker, or, etc., etc. Lincoln's fame
is safe. He is the Darling of History evermore. His life and achievements
give him titles to regard second to those of no other man in ancient
or modern times. To these, this tragedy now adds the crown of martyrdom.
Sincerely,
NEW CREEK, WEST VIRGINIA,
April 16 (Sunday), 1865.
DEAREST:— When I
heard first yesterday morning of the awful tragedy at Washington, I
was pained and shocked to a degree I have never before
experienced. I got onto the cars, then just starting, and rode down
to Cumberland. The probable consequences, or rather the possible results in
their worst imaginable form, were presented to my mind one after the other,
until I really began to feel that here was a calamity so extensive that in no
direction could be found any, the slightest, glimmer of consolation.
The Nation's great joy turned suddenly to a still greater
sorrow! A ruler tested and proved in every way, and in
every way found equal to the occasion, to be exchanged for a new man whose
ill-omened beginning made the Nation hang its head. Lincoln for Johnson! The
work of reconstruction requiring so much statesmanship just
begun! The calamity to Mr. Lincoln; in a personal point of view, so
uncalled for a fate! so undeserved, so unprovoked! The probable effect upon the
future of public men in this country, the necessity for guards;
our ways to be assimilated to those of the despotisms of the
Old World.—And so I would find my mind filled only with
images of evil and calamity, until I felt a sinking of heart hardly equalled
by that which oppressed us all when the defeat of our army at
Manassas almost crushed the Nation.
But slowly, as in
all cases of great affliction, one comes to feel that it is not all
darkness; the catastrophe is so much less, happening now, than it would have
been at any time before, since Mr. Lincoln's election. At this period after his
first inauguration; at any of the periods of great public
depression; during the pendency of the last Presidential election; at
any time before the defeat of Lee, such a calamity might
have sealed the Nation's doom. Now the march of events can't be
stayed, probably can't be much changed. It is possible that a greater
degree of severity in dealing with the Rebellion may be
ordered, and that may be for the best.
As to Mr. Lincoln's
name and fame and memory, all is safe. His firmness, moderation,
goodness of heart; his quaint humor, his perfect honesty and directness of purpose;
his logic, his modesty, his sound judgment, and great wisdom; the
contrast between his obscure beginnings and the greatness of his
subsequent position and achievements; his tragic death, giving him
almost the crown of martyrdom, elevate him to a place in history
second to none other of ancient or modern times. His success in his
great office, his hold upon the confidence and affections of his
countrymen, we shall all say are only second to Washington's; we shall
probably feel and think that they are
not second even to his.
My mountain
expedition is at an end. If I go on any more campaigning, it will be an easy
march to occupy some point on the Central Virginia Railroad — Staunton or Charlottesville.
I anticipate, however, an early call of an extra session of Congress.
In any event, I shall probably not see any more active service.
I enclose my
good-bye to my old First Brigade.* I now regard the order separating us as not
unfortunate. It must have been soon, and could not have been in a
better way.
Direct your letters to
this point — Second Brigade, First Division, Department West Virginia. — Love
to all.
