TO GENERAL FRÉMONT. WASHINGTON, D. C., September 2, 1861. MAJOR-GENERAL FRÉMONT. MY DEAR SIR:-Two points in your proclamation of August 30 give me some anxiety. First. Should you shoot a man, according to the proclamation, the Confederates would very certainly shoot our best men in their hands in retaliation; and so, man for man, indefinitely. It is, therefore, my order that you allow no man to be shot under the proclamation without first having my approbation or consent. Second. I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberating slaves of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky. Allow me, therefore, to ask that you will, as of your own motion, modify that paragraph so as to conform to the first and fourth sections of the act of Congress entitled "An act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, and a copy of which act I herewith send you. This letter is written in a spirit of caution, and not of censure. I send it by special messenger, in order that it may certainly and speedily reach you. TELEGRAM TO GOVERNORS WASHBURN OF MAINE, FAIRBANKS OF VERMONT, BERRY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, ANDREW OF MASSACHUSETTS, BUCKINGHAM OF CONNECTICUT, AND SPRAGUE OF RHODE ISLAND. WAR DEPARTMENT, September 11, 1861. General Butler proposes raising in New England six regiments, to be recruited and commanded by himself, and to go on special service. I shall be glad if you, as governor of answer by telegraph if you consent. TO GENERAL FRÉMONT. will A. LINCOLN. WASHINGTON, September 11, 1861. MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN C. FREMONT. SIR: Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d instant, is just received. Assuming that you, upon the ground, could better judge of the necessities of your position than I could at this distance, on seeing your proclamation of August 30 I perceived no general objection to it. The particular clause, however, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves appeared to me to be objectionable in its nonconformity to the act of Congress passed the 6th of last August upon the same subjects; and hence I wrote you, expressing my wish that that clause should be modified accordingly. Your answer, just received, expresses the preference on your part that I should make an open order for the modification, which I very cheerfully do. It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclamation be so modified, held, and construed as to conform to, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same subject contained in the act of Congress entitled "An act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, and that said act be published at length with this order. Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. TO JOSEPH HOLT.1 EXECUTIVE MANSION, September 12, 1861. HON. JOSEPH HOLT. DEAR SIR: Yours of this day in relation to the late proclamation of General Frémont is received. Yesterday I addressed a letter to him, by mail, on the same subject, and which is to be made public when he receives it. I herewith send you a copy of that letter, which perhaps shows my position as distinctly as any new one I could write. I will thank you not to make it public until General Frémont shall have had time to receive the original. Your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. TO GENERAL SCOTT.2 WASHINGTON, D. C., September 16, 1861. MY DEAR SIR:-Since conversing with you I have I Moore • O.R.A. concluded to request you to frame an order for recruiting North Carolinians at Fort Hatteras. I suggest it to be so framed as for us to accept a smaller force-even a company-if we cannot get a regiment or more. What is necessary to now say about officers you will judge. Governor Seward says he has a nephew (Clarence A. Seward, I believe) who would be willing to go and play colonel and assist in raising the force. Still it is to be considered whether the North Carolinians will not prefer officers of their own. I should expect they would. Yours very truly, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SCOTT. A. LINCOLN. TO SECRETARY CAMERON. EXECUTIVE MANSION, September 18, 1861. HON. SECRETARY OF WAR. MY DEAR SIR:-To guard against misunderstanding, I think fit to say that the joint expedition of the army and navy agreed upon some time since, and in which General T. W. Sherman was and is to bear a conspicuous part, is in no wise to be abandoned, but must be ready to move by the 1st of, or very early in, October. Let all preparations go forward accordingly. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN. TO GENERAL FRÉMONT.1 WASHINGTON, September 22, 1861. MAJOR-GENERAL FRÉMONT: Governor Morton telegraphs as follows: "Colonel Lane, just arrived by special train, represents Owensborough, forty miles above Evansville, in possession of secessionists. Green River is navigable. Owensborough must be seized. We want a gunboat sent up from Paducah for that purpose." Send up the gunboat if, in your discretion, you think it right. Perhaps you had better order those in charge of the Ohio River to guard it vigilantly at all points. A. LINCOLN. TO O. H. BROWNING. (Private and Confidential.) HON. O. H. BROWNING. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, MY DEAR SIR:-Yours of the 17th is just received; and coming from you, I confess it astonishes me. That you should object to my adhering to a law which you had assisted in making and presenting to me less than a month before is odd enough. But this is a very small part. General Frémont's proclamation as to confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves is purely political and not within the range of military law or necessity. If a commanding general finds a necessity to seize the farm IO.R.A. |