Call at Fortress Monroe and put yourself under direction of Mr. S., whom you will find there.
A. LINCOLN.
On the morning of the 2d instant the following telegrams were received by me respectively from the Secretary of State and Major Eckert:
FORT MONROE, VA., _February 1, 1865–11.30 p.m._
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:
Arrived at 10 this evening. Richmond party not here. I remain here.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
CITY POINT, VA., _February 1, 1865–10 p.m._
His Excellency A. LINCOLN,
_President of the United States_:
I have the honor to report the delivery of your communication and my letter at 4.15 this afternoon, to which I received a reply at 6 p.m., but not satisfactory.
At 8 p.m. the following note, addressed to General Grant, was received:
“CITY POINT, VA., _February 1, 1865_.
“Lieutenant-General GRANT.
“SIR: We desire to go to Washington City to confer informally with the President personally in reference to the matters mentioned in his letter to Mr. Blair of the 18th January ultimo, without any personal compromise on any question in the letter. We have the permission to do so from the authorities in Richmond.
“Very respectfully, yours,
“ALEX. H. STEPHENS.
“R.M.T. HUNTER.
“J.A. CAMPBELL.”
At 9.30 p.m. I notified them that they could not proceed further unless they complied with the terms expressed in my letter. The point of meeting designated in the above note would not, in my opinion, be insisted upon. Think Fort Monroe would be acceptable. Having complied with my instructions, I will return to Washington tomorrow unless otherwise ordered.
THOS. T. ECKERT, _Major, etc._
On reading this dispatch of Major Eckert I was about to recall him and the Secretary of State, when the following telegram of General Grant to the Secretary of War was shown me:
OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, _War Department_.
The following telegram received at Washington 4.35 a.m. February 2, 1865, from City Point, Va., February 1, 10.30 p.m., 1865:
“Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON,
“_Secretary of War_:
“Now that the interview between Major Eckert, under his written instructions, and Mr. Stephens and party has ended, I will state confidentially, but not officially to become a matter of record, that I am convinced upon conversation with Messrs. Stephens and Hunter that their intentions are good and their desire sincere to restore peace and union. I have not felt myself at liberty to express even views of my own or to account for my reticency. This has placed me in an awkward position, which I could have avoided by not seeing them in the first instance. I fear now their going back without any expression from anyone in authority will have a bad influence. At the same time, I recognize the difficulties in the way of receiving these informal commissioners at this time, and do not know what to recommend. I am sorry, however, that Mr. Lincoln can not have an interview with the two named in this dispatch, if not all three now within our lines. Their letter to me was all that the President’s instructions contemplated to secure their safe conduct if they had used the same language to Major Eckert.
“U.S. GRANT, _Lieutenant-General”_
This dispatch of General Grant changed my purpose, and accordingly I telegraphed him and the Secretary of State, respectively, as follows:
WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, D.C., February 2, 1865_. (Sent at 9 a.m.)
Lieutenant-General GRANT,
_City Point, Va._:
Say to the gentlemen I will meet them personally at Fortress Monroe as soon as I can get there.
A. LINCOLN.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, D.C., February 2, 1865_. (Sent at 9 a.m.)
Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Fortress Monroe, Va._:
Induced by a dispatch from General Grant, I join you at Fort Monroe as soon as I can come.
A. LINCOLN.
Before starting, the following dispatch was shown me. I proceeded, nevertheless.
OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH, _War Department_.
The following telegram received at Washington February 2, 1865, from City Point, Va., 9 a.m., February 2, 1865:
“Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
“_Secretary of State, Fort Monroe_:
“The gentlemen here have accepted the proposed terms, and will leave for Fort Monroe at 9.30 a.m.
“U.S. GRANT,
“_Lieutenant-General.”_
(Copy to Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War, Washington.)
On the night of the 2d I reached Hampton Roads, found the Secretary of State and Major Eckert on a steamer anchored offshore, and learned of them that the Richmond gentlemen were on another steamer also anchored offshore, in the Roads, and that the Secretary of State had not yet seen or communicated with them. I ascertained that Major Eckert had literally complied with his instructions, and I saw for the first time the answer of the Richmond gentlemen to him, which in his dispatch to me of the 1st he characterizes as “not satisfactory.” That answer is as follows, to wit:
CITY POINT, VA., _February 1, 1865_.
THOMAS T. ECKERT,
_Major and Aid-de-Camp_.
MAJOR: Your note, delivered by yourself this day, has been considered. In reply we have to say that we were furnished with a copy of the letter of President Lincoln to Francis P. Blair, esq., of the 18th of January ultimo, another copy of which is appended to your note.
Our instructions are contained in a letter of which the following is a copy:
“Richmond, _January 28, 1865_.
“In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln, of which the foregoing is a copy, you are to proceed to Washington City for informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries.
‘With great respect, your obedient servant, “JEFFERSON DAVIS.”
The substantial object to be obtained by the informal conference is to ascertain upon what terms the existing war can be terminated honorably.
Our instructions contemplate a personal interview between President Lincoln and ourselves at Washington City, but with this explanation we are ready to meet any person or persons that President Lincoln may appoint at such place as he may designate.
Our earnest desire is that a just and honorable peace may be agreed upon, and we are prepared to receive or to submit propositions which may possibly lead to the attainment of that end.
Very respectfully, yours,
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
R.M.T. HUNTER.
JOHN A. CAMPBELL.
A note of these gentlemen, subsequently addressed to General Grant, has already been given in Major Eckert’s dispatch of the 1st instant.
I also here saw, for the first time, the following note addressed by the Richmond gentlemen to Major Eckert:
CITY POINT, VA., _February 2, 1865_.
THOMAS T. ECKERT,
_Major and Aid-de-Camp_.
MAJOR: In reply to your verbal statement that your instructions did not allow you to alter the conditions upon which a passport could be given to us, we say that we are willing to proceed to Fortress Monroe and there to have an informal conference with any person or persons that President Lincoln may appoint on the basis of his letter to Francis P. Blair of the 18th of January ultimo, or upon any other terms or conditions that he may hereafter propose not inconsistent with the essential principles of self-government and popular rights, upon which our institutions are founded.
It is our earnest wish to ascertain, after a free interchange of ideas and information, upon what principles and terms, if any, a just and honorable peace can be established without the further effusion of blood, and to contribute our utmost efforts to accomplish such a result.
We think it better to add that in accepting your passport we are not to be understood as committing ourselves to anything but to carry to this informal conference the views and feelings above expressed.
Very respectfully, yours, etc.,
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
J.A. CAMPBELL.
R.M.T. HUNTER.
Note.–The above communication was delivered to me at Fort Monroe at 4.30 p.m. February 2 by Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, of General Grant’s staff.
THOMAS T. ECKERT,
_Major and Aid-de-Camp_.
On the morning of the 3d the three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer and had an interview with the Secretary of State and myself of several hours’ duration. No question of preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or mentioned; no other person was present; no papers were exchanged or produced; and it was in advance agreed that the conversation was to be informal and verbal merely. On our part the whole substance of the instructions to the Secretary of State hereinbefore recited was stated and insisted upon, and nothing was said inconsistent therewith; while by the other party it was not said that in any event or on any condition they _ever_ would consent to reunion, and yet they equally omitted to declare that they _never_ would so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that question and the adoption of some other course first, which, as some of them seemed to argue, might or might not lead to reunion, but which course we thought would amount to an indefinite postponement. The conference ended without result.
The foregoing, containing, as is believed, all the information sought, is respectfully submitted.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1865_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a dispatch of the 12th ultimo, addressed to the Secretary of State by the minister resident of the United States at Stockholm, relating to an international exhibition to be held at Bergen, in Norway, during the coming summer. The expediency of any legislation upon the subject is submitted for your consideration.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1865_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a copy of a note of the 2d instant, addressed to the Secretary of State by the Commander J.C. de Figaniere a Morao, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of His Most Faithful Majesty the King of Portugal, calling attention to a proposed international exhibition at the city of Oporto, to be opened in August next, and inviting contributions thereto of the products of American manufactures and industry. The expediency of any legislation on the subject is submitted for your consideration.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 25, 1865_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 23d instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of War, with the accompanying General Orders, No. 23,[14] issued by Major-General Banks at New Orleans, February 3, 1864.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 14: On the subject of compensated plantation labor, public or private.]
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_WASHINGTON, February 27, 1865_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith lay before the Senate, for its constitutional action thereon, a treaty made and concluded with the Klamath and Modoc tribes of Indians of Oregon, at Fort Klamath, on the 5th day of October, 1864.
A letter of the Secretary of the Interior of this date, a copy of the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the 24th instant, and a communication of the superintendent of Indian affairs in Oregon accompany the treaty.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington, D.C., February 28, 1865_.
Hon. H. HAMLIN,
_President United States Senate_.
SIR: In reply to the resolution of the Senate dated February 14, 1865, I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of War, forwarding a copy of the report of the court of inquiry “in respect to the explosion of the mine in front of Petersburg.”
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 2, 1865_.
Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_:
I transmit herewith the report of the Secretary of War, which, with my permission, has been delayed until the present time to enable the Lieutenant-General to furnish his report.
A. LINCOLN.
[The same message was addressed to the President of the Senate.]
WASHINGTON, _March 3, 1865_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I herewith transmit to Congress a report, dated 1st instant, with the accompanying papers, received from the Secretary of State in compliance with the requirements of the eighteenth section of the act entitled “An act to regulate the diplomatic and consular systems of the United States,” approved August 18, 1856.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
VETO MESSAGE.[15]
[Footnote 15: Pocket veto.]
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _January 5, 1865_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I herewith return to your honorable body, in which it originated, a “Joint resolution to correct certain clerical errors in the internal-revenue act,” without my approval.
My reason for so doing is that I am informed that this joint resolution was prepared during the last moments of the last session of Congress for the purpose of correcting certain errors of reference in the internal-revenue act which were discovered on an examination of an official copy procured from the State Department a few hours only before the adjournment. It passed the House and went to the Senate, where a vote was taken upon it, but by some accident it was not presented to the President of the Senate for his signature.
Since the adjournment of the last session of Congress other errors of a kind similar to those which this resolution was designed to correct have been discovered in the law, and it is now thought most expedient to include all the necessary corrections in one act or resolution.
The attention of the proper committee of the House has, I am informed, been already directed to the preparation of a bill for this purpose.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by the act approved July 4, 1864, entitled “An act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,” it is provided that the President of the United States may, “at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men, as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, and three years for military service,” and “that in case the quota or any part thereof of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of any county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota or any part thereof which may be unfilled;” and
Whereas by the credits allowed in accordance with the act of Congress on the call for 500,000 men, made July 18, 1864, the number of men to be obtained under that call was reduced to 280,000; and
Whereas the operations of the enemy in certain States have rendered it impracticable to procure from them their full quotas of troops under said call; and
Whereas from the foregoing causes but 240,000 men have been put into the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps under the said call of July 18, 1864, leaving a deficiency on that call of two hundred and sixty thousand (260,000):
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, in order to supply the aforesaid deficiency and to provide for casualties in the military and naval service of the United States, do issue this my call for three hundred thousand (300,000) volunteers to serve for one, two, or three years. The quotas of the States, districts, and subdistricts under this call will be assigned by the War Department through the bureau of the Provost-Marshal-General of the United States, and “in case the quota or any part thereof of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of any county not so subdivided, shall not be filled” before the 15th day of February, 1865, then a draft shall be made to fill such quota or any part thereof under this call which may be unfilled on said 15th day of February, 1865.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 19th day of December, A.D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the act of Congress of the 28th of September, 1850, entitled “An act to create additional collection districts in the State of California, and to change the existing districts therein, and to modify the existing collection districts in the United States,” extends to merchandise warehoused under bond the privilege of being exported to the British North American Provinces adjoining the United States in the manner prescribed in the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, which designates certain frontier ports through which merchandise may be exported, and further provides “that such other ports situated on the frontiers of the United States adjoining the British North American Provinces as may hereafter be found expedient may have extended to them the like privileges on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury and proclamation duly made by the President of the United States specially designating the ports to which the aforesaid privileges are to be extended:”
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, do hereby declare and proclaim that the port of St. Albans, in the State of Vermont, is and shall be entitled to all the privileges in regard to the exportation of merchandise in bond to the British North American Provinces adjoining the United States which are extended to the ports enumerated in the seventh section of the act of Congress of the 3d of March, 1845, aforesaid, from and after the date of this proclamation.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 10th day of January, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate should be convened at 12 o’clock on the 4th of March next to receive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part of the Executive:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, have considered it to be my duty to issue this my proclamation, declaring that an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to convene for the transaction of business at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 4th day of March next, at 12 o’clock at noon on that day, of which all who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body are hereby required to take notice.
Given under my hand and the seal of the United States at Washington, the 17th day of February, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
[SEAL.]
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, _December 10, 1864_.
_Ordered_, first. That Major-General William F. Smith and the Hon. Henry Stanbery be, and they are hereby, appointed special commissioners to investigate and report, for the information of the President, upon the civil and military administration in the military division bordering upon and west of the Mississippi, under such instructions as shall be issued by authority of the President and the War Department.
Second. Said commissioners shall have power to examine witnesses upon oath, and to take such proofs, orally or in writing, upon the subject-matters of investigation as they may deem expedient, and return the same together with their report.
Third. All officers and persons in the military, naval, and revenue services, or in any branch of the public service under the authority of the United States Government, are required, upon subpoena issued by direction of the said commissioners, to appear before them at such time and place as may be designated in said subpoena and to give testimony on oath touching such matters as may be inquired of by the commissioners, and to produce such books, papers, writings, and documents as they may be notified or required to produce by the commissioners, and as may be in their possession.
Fourth. Said special commissioners shall also investigate and report upon any other matters that may hereafter be directed by the Secretary of War, and shall with all convenient dispatch make report to him in writing of their investigation, and shall also from time to time make special reports to the Secretary of War upon such matters as they may deem of importance to the public interests.
Fifth. The Secretary of War shall assign to the said commissioners such aid and assistance as may be required for the performance of their duties, and make such just and reasonable allowances and compensation for the said commissioners and for the persons employed by them as he may deem proper.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, December 17, 1864_.
The President directs that, except immigrant passengers directly entering an American port by sea, henceforth no traveler shall be allowed to enter the United States from a foreign country without a passport. If a citizen, the passport must be from this Department or from some United States minister or consul abroad; and if an alien, from the competent authority of his own country, the passport to be countersigned by a diplomatic agent or consul of the United States. This regulation is intended to apply especially to persons proposing to come to the United States from the neighboring British Provinces. Its observance will be strictly enforced by all officers, civil, military, and naval, in the service of the United States, and the State and municipal authorities are requested to aid in its execution. It is expected, however, that no immigrant passenger coming in manner aforesaid will be obstructed, or any other persons who may set out on their way hither before intelligence of this regulation could reasonably be expected to reach the country from which they may have started.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _December 31, 1864_.
By the authority conferred upon the President of the United States by the second section of the act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, entitled “An act to amend an act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean,” etc., I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby designate the Merchants’ National Bank, Boston; the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad Company’s office, Chicago; the First National Bank at Philadelphia; the First National Bank at Baltimore; the First National Bank at Cincinnati, and the Third National Bank at St. Louis, in addition to the general office of the Union Pacific Railroad Company in the city of New York, as the places at which the said Union Pacific Railroad Company shall cause books to be kept open to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said company.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington City, January 20, 1865_.
_Ordered_, That no clearances for the exportation of hay from the United States be granted until further orders, unless the same shall have been placed on shipboard before the publication hereof.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
_Washington City, February 6, 1865_.
Whereas complaints are made in some localities respecting the assignments of quotas and credits allowed for the pending call of troops to fill up the armies:
Now, in order to determine all controversies in respect thereto and to avoid any delay in filling up the armies, it is ordered that the Attorney-General, Brigadier-General Richard Delafield, and Colonel C. W. Foster be, and they are hereby, constituted a board to examine into the proper quotas and credits of the respective States and districts under the call of December 19, 1864, with directions, if any errors be found therein, to make such corrections as the law and facts may require and report their determination to the Provost-Marshal-General. The determination of said board to be final and conclusive, and the draft to be made in conformity therewith.
2. The Provost-Marshal-General is ordered to make the draft in the respective districts as speedily as the same can be done after the 15th of this month.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _February 13, 1865_.
_To the Military Officers Commanding in West Tennessee_:
While I can not order as within requested, allow me to say that it is my wish for you to relieve the people from all burdens, harassments, and oppressions so far as is possible consistently with your military necessities; that the object of the war being to restore and maintain the blessings of peace and good government, I desire you to help, and not hinder, every advance in that direction.
Of your military necessities you must judge and execute, but please do so in the spirit and with the purpose above indicated.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[From the Daily National Intelligencer, February 22, 1865.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, February 21, 1865_.
The Department buildings will be illuminated on the night of Washington’s birthday, in honor of the recent triumphs of the Union.
By order of the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Fellow-Countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to _saving_ the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to _destroy_ it without war–seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would _make_ war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would _accept_ war rather than let it perish, and the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the _cause_ of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
MARCH 4, 1865.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
WASHINGTON, D.C., _March 8, 1865_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The fourth section of the law of 16th January, 1857, provides that reserved officers may be promoted on the reserved list, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and under this authority various officers of the Navy have been promoted one grade from time to time.
I therefore nominate Commander John J. Young, now on the reserved list, to be a captain in the Navy on the reserved list from the 12th August, 1854, the date when he was entitled to his regular promotion had he not been overslaughed. It is due to this officer to state that he was passed over in consequence of physical disability, this disability having occurred in the discharge of his duties; and prior to his misfortune he bore the reputation of an efficient and correct officer, and subsequently has evinced a willingness to perform whatever duties were assigned him.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WASHINGTON, _March 8, 1865_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In answer to the Senate’s resolution of the 6th instant, requesting the return of a certain joint resolution,[16] I transmit a report from the Secretary of State.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
[Footnote 16: Entitled “Joint resolution in relation to certain railroads.”]
PROCLAMATIONS.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas the twenty-first section of the act of Congress approved on the 3d instant, entitled “An act to amend the several acts heretofore passed to provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces and for other purposes,” requires “that, in addition to the other lawful penalties of the crime of desertion from the military or naval service, all persons who have deserted the military or naval service of the United States who shall not return to said service or report themselves to a provost-marshal within sixty days after the proclamation hereinafter mentioned shall be deemed and taken to have voluntarily relinquished and forfeited their rights of citizenship and their rights to become citizens, and such deserters shall be forever incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the United States or of exercising any rights of citizens thereof; and all persons who shall hereafter desert the military or naval service, and all persons who, being duly enrolled, shall depart the jurisdiction of the district in which he is enrolled or go beyond the limits of the United States with intent to avoid any draft into the military or naval service duly ordered, shall be liable to the penalties of this section. And the President is hereby authorized and required, forthwith on the passage of this act, to issue his proclamation setting forth the provisions of this section, in which proclamation the President is requested to notify all deserters returning within sixty days as aforesaid that they shall be pardoned on condition of returning to their regiments and companies or to such other organizations as they may be assigned to until they shall have served for a period of time equal to their original term of enlistment.”
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do issue this my proclamation, as required by said act, ordering and requiring all deserters to return to their proper posts; and I do hereby notify them that all deserters who shall, within sixty days from the date of this proclamation, viz, on or before the 10th day of May, 1865, return to service or report themselves to a provost-marshal shall be pardoned, on condition that they return to their regiments and companies or to such other organizations as they may be assigned to and serve the remainder of their original terms of enlistment and in addition thereto a period equal to the time lost by desertion.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 11th day of March, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas reliable information has been received that hostile Indians within the limits of the United States have been furnished with arms and munitions of war by persons dwelling in conterminous foreign territory, and are thereby enabled to prosecute their savage warfare upon the exposed and sparse settlements of the frontier:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and direct that all persons detected in that nefarious traffic shall be arrested and tried by court-martial at the nearest military post, and if convicted shall receive the punishment due to their deserts.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of March, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by my proclamations of the 19th and 27th days of April, A.D. 1861, the ports of the United States in the States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas were declared to be subject to blockade; but
Whereas the said blockade has, in consequence of actual military occupation by this Government, since been conditionally set aside or relaxed in respect to the ports of Norfolk and Alexandria, in the State of Virginia; Beaufort, in the State of North Carolina; Port Royal, in the State of South Carolina; Pensacola and Fernandina, in the State of Florida; and New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana; and
Whereas by the fourth section of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July, 1861, entitled “An act further to provide or the collection of duties on imports, and for other purposes,” the President, for the reasons therein set forth, is authorized to close certain ports of entry:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim that the ports of Richmond, Tappahannock, Cherrystone, Yorktown, and Petersburg, in Virginia; of Camden (Elizabeth City), Edenton, Plymouth, Washington, Newbern, Ocracoke, and Wilmington, in North Carolina; of Charleston, Georgetown, and Beaufort, in South Carolina; of Savannah, St. Marys, and Brunswick (Darien), in Georgia; of Mobile, in Alabama; of Pearl River (Shields-boro), Natchez, and Vicksburg, in Mississippi; of St. Augustine, Key West, St. Marks (Port Leon), St. Johns (Jacksonville), and Apalachicola, in Florida; of Teche (Franklin), in Louisiana; of Galveston, La Salle, Brazos de Santiago (Point Isabel), and Brownsville, in Texas, are hereby closed, and all right of importation, warehousing, and other privileges shall, in respect to the ports aforesaid, cease until they shall have again been opened by order of the President; and if while said ports are so closed any ship or vessel from beyond the United States or having on board any articles subject to duties shall attempt to enter any such port, the same, together with its tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, shall be forfeited to the United States.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 11th day of April, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas by my proclamation of this date the port of Key West, in the State of Florida, was inadvertently included among those which are not open to commerce:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known that the said port of Key West is and shall remain open to foreign and domestic commerce upon the same conditions by which that commerce has there hitherto been governed.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 11th day of April, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas for some time past vessels of war of the United States have been refused in certain foreign ports privileges and immunities to which they were entitled by treaty, public law, or the comity of nations, at the same time that vessels of war of the country wherein the said privileges and immunities have been withheld have enjoyed them fully and uninterruptedly in ports of the United States, which condition of things has not always been forcibly resisted by the United States, although, on the other hand, they have not at any time failed to protest against and declare their dissatisfaction with the same. In the view of the United States, no condition any longer exists which can be claimed to justify the denial to them by any one of such nations of customary naval rights as has heretofore been so unnecessarily persisted in.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby make known that if after a reasonable time shall have elapsed for intelligence of this proclamation to have reached any foreign country in whose ports the said privileges and immunities shall have been refused as aforesaid they shall continue to be so refused, then and thenceforth the same privileges and immunities shall be refused to the vessels of war of that country in the ports of the United States; and this refusal shall continue until war vessels of the United States shall have been placed upon an entire equality in the foreign ports aforesaid with similar vessels of other countries. The United States, whatever claim or pretense may have existed heretofore, are now, at least, entitled to claim and concede an entire and friendly equality of rights and hospitalities with all maritime nations.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 11th day of April, A.D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
EXECUTIVE ORDERS.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, March 8_.
Whereas, pursuant to the order of the President of the United States, directions were issued from this Department, under date of the 17th of December, 1864, requiring passports from all travelers entering the United States, except immigrant passengers directly entering an American port from a foreign country; but whereas information has recently been received which affords reasonable grounds to expect that Her Britannic Majesty’s Government and the executive and legislative branches of the government of Canada have taken and will continue to take such steps as may be looked for from a friendly neighbor and will be effectual toward preventing hostile incursions from Canadian territory into the United States, the President directs that from and after this date the order above referred to requiring passports shall be modified, and so much thereof as relates to persons entering this country from Canada shall be rescinded, saving and reserving the order in all other respects in full force.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, March 14, 1865_.
The President directs that all persons who now are or hereafter shall be found within the United States who have been engaged in holding intercourse or trade with the insurgents by sea, if they are citizens of the United States or domiciled aliens, shall be arrested and held as prisoners of war until the war shall close, subject, nevertheless, to prosecution, trial, and conviction for any offense committed by them as spies or otherwise against the laws of war. The President further directs that all nonresident foreigners who now are or hereafter shall be found in the United States, and who have been or shall have been engaged in violating the blockade of the insurgent ports, shall leave the United States within twelve days from the publication of this order, or from their subsequent arrival in the United States, if on the Atlantic side, and forty days if on the Pacific side, of the country; and such persons shall not return to the United States during the continuance of the war. Provost-marshals and marshals of the United States will arrest and commit to military custody all such offenders as shall disregard this order, whether they have passports or not, and they will be detained in such custody until the end of the war, or until discharged by subsequent orders of the President.
W.H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 50.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
_Washington, March 27, 1865_.
_Ordered_, first. That at the hour of noon on the 14th day of April, 1865, Brevet Major-General Anderson will raise and plant upon the ruins of Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, the same United States flag which floated over the battlements of that fort during the rebel assault, and which was lowered and saluted by him and the small force of his command when the works were evacuated on the 14th day of April, 1861.
Second. That the flag, when raised, be saluted by one hundred guns from Fort Sumter and by a national salute from every fort and rebel battery that fired upon Fort Sumter.
Third. That suitable ceremonies be had upon the occasion, under the direction of Major-General William T. Sherman, whose military operations compelled the rebels to evacuate Charleston, or, in his absence, under the charge of Major-General Q.A. Gillmore, commanding the department. Among the ceremonies will be the delivery of a public address by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
Fourth. That the naval forces at Charleston and their commander on that station be invited to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion.
By order of the President of the United States:
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
_To all whom these presents may concern_:
Whereas for some time past evil-disposed persons have crossed the borders of the United States or entered their ports by sea from countries where they are tolerated, and have committed capital felonies against the property and life of American citizens; as well in the cities as in the rural districts of the country:
Now, therefore, in the name and by the authority of the President of the United States, I do hereby make known that a reward of $1,000 will be paid at this Department for the capture of each of such offenders, upon his conviction by a civil or military tribunal, to whomsoever shall arrest and deliver such offenders into the custody of the civil or military authorities of the United States. And the like reward will be paid upon the same terms for the capture of any such persons so entering the United States whose offenses shall be committed subsequently to the publication of this notice.
A reward of $500 will be paid upon conviction for the arrest of any person who shall have aided and abetted offenders of the class before named within the territory of the United States.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Department of State, at Washington, this 4th day of April, A.D. 1865.
[SEAL.]
WILLIAM H. SEWARD,
_Secretary of State_.
DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT.
[From the original, Department of State.]
WASHINGTON CITY, D.C.,
_April 15, 1865_.
ANDREW JOHNSON,
_Vice-President of the United States_.
SIR: Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was shot by an assassin last evening at Ford’s Theater, in this city, and died at the hour of twenty-two minutes after 7 o’clock.
About the same time at which the President was shot an assassin entered the sick chamber of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, and stabbed him in several places–in the throat, neck, and face–severely if not mortally wounding him. Other members of the Secretary’s family were dangerously wounded by the assassin while making his escape. By the death of President Lincoln the office of President has devolved, under the Constitution, upon you. The emergency of the Government demands that you should immediately qualify, according to the requirements of the Constitution, and enter upon the duties of President of the United States. If you will please make known your pleasure, such arrangements as you deem proper will be made.
Your obedient servants,
HUGH McCULLOCH,
_Secretary of the Treasury_.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
GIDEON WELLES,
_Secretary of Navy_.
W. DENNISON,
_Postmaster-General_.
J.P. USHER,
_Secretary of the Interior_.
JAMES SPEED,
_Attorney-General_.
[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 17, 1865.]
The Vice-President responded that it would be agreeable to him to qualify himself for the high office to which he had been so unexpectedly called, under such melancholy circumstances, at his rooms at the Kirkwood Hotel; and at 11 o’clock a.m. [15th] the oath of office was administered to him by Chief Justice Chase, of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the presence of nearly all the Cabinet officers; the Hon. Solomon Foot, United States Senator from Vermont; the Hon. Alexander Ramsey, United States Senator from Minnesota; the Hon. Richard Yates, United States Senator from Illinois; the Hon. John. P. Hale, late Senator from New Hampshire; General Farnsworth, of the House of Representatives, from Illinois; F.P. Blair, sr.; Hon. Montgomery Blair, late Post master-General, and some others.
[For Inaugural Address of President Johnson, see pp. 305-306.]
ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES ABROAD.
[From official records, Department of State.]
CIRCULAR.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
SIR: The melancholy duty devolves upon me officially to apprise you of the assassination of the President at Ford’s Theater, in this city, in the evening of the 14th instant. He died the next morning from the effects of the wound.
About the same time an attempt was made to assassinate the Secretary of State in his own house, where he was in bed suffering from the effects of the late accident. The attempt failed, but Mr. Seward was severely cut, on the face especially, it is supposed with a bowie knife. Mr. F.W. Seward was felled by a blow or blows on the head, and for some time afterwards was apparently unconscious. Both the Secretary and Assistant Secretary are better, especially the former.
Andrew Johnson has formally entered upon the duties of President. I have been authorized temporarily to act as Secretary of State.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
W. HUNTER,
_Acting Secretary_.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO REPRESENTATIVES OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.
[From official records, Department of State.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 15, 1865_.
SIR: It is my great misfortune to be obliged to inform you of events not less afflicting to the people of the United States than distressing to my own feelings and the feelings of all those connected with the Government.
The President of the United States was shot with a pistol last night, while attending a theater in this city, and expired this morning from the effects of the wound. At about the same time an attempt was made to assassinate the Secretary of State, which, though it fortunately failed, left him severely, but it is hoped not dangerously, wounded with a knife or dagger. Mr. F.W. Seward was also struck on the head with a heavy weapon, and is in a critical condition from the effect of the blows.
Pursuant to the provision of the Constitution of the United States, Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, has formally assumed the functions of President. I have by him been authorized to perform the duties of Secretary of State until otherwise ordered.
I avail myself of the occasion to offer to you the assurance of my distinguished consideration.
W. HUNTER,
_Acting Secretary_.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE ARMY.
[From official records, War Department.]
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 66.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 16, 1865_.
The following order of the Secretary of War announces to the armies of the United States the untimely and lamentable death of the illustrious Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States:
WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington City, April 16, 1865_.
The distressing duty has devolved upon the Secretary of War to announce to the armies of the United States that at twenty-two minutes after 7 o’clock on the morning of Saturday, the 15th day of April, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, died of a mortal wound inflicted upon him by an assassin.
The armies of the United States will share with their fellow-citizens the feelings of grief and horror inspired by this most atrocious murder of their great and beloved President and Commander in Chief, and with profound sorrow will mourn his death as a national calamity.
The headquarters of every department, post, station, fort, and arsenal will be draped in mourning for thirty days, and appropriate funeral honors will be paid by every army, and in every department, and at every military post, and at the Military Academy at West Point, to the memory of the late illustrious Chief Magistrate of the nation and Commander in Chief of its armies.
Lieutenant-General Grant will give the necessary instructions for carrying this order into effect.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
_Secretary of War_.
On the day after the receipt of this order at the headquarters of each military division, department, army, post, station, fort, and arsenal and at the Military Academy at West Point the troops and cadets will be paraded at 10 o’clock a. m. and the order read to them, after which all labors and operations for the day will cease and be suspended as far as practicable in a state of war.
The national flag will be displayed at half-staff.
At dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-six guns.
The officers of the armies of the United States will wear the badge of mourning on the left arm and on their swords and the colors of their commands and regiments will be put in mourning for the period of six months.
By command of Lieutenant-General Grant:
W.A. NICHOLS,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE NAVY.
[From General Orders and Circulars, Navy Department, 1863 to 1887.]
GENERAL ORDER No. 51.
NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, April 15, 1865_.
The Department announces with profound sorrow to the officers and men of the Navy and Marine Corps the death of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States. Stricken down by the hand of an assassin on the evening of the 14th instant, when surrounded by his family and friends, he lingered a few hours after receiving the fatal wound, and died at 7 o’clock 22 minutes this morning.
A grateful people had given their willing confidence to the patriot and statesman under whose wise and successful administration the nation was just emerging from the civil strife which for four years has afflicted the land when this terrible calamity fell upon the country. To him our gratitude was justly due, for to him, under God, more than to any other person, are we indebted for the successful vindication of the integrity of the Union and the maintenance of the power of the Republic.
The officers of the Navy and of the Marine Corps will, as a manifestation of their respect for the exalted character, eminent position, and inestimable public services of the late President, and as an indication of their sense of the calamity which the country has sustained, wear the usual badge of mourning for six months.
The Department further directs that upon the day following the receipt of this order the commandants of squadrons, navy-yards, and stations will cause the ensign of every vessel in their several commands to be hoisted at half-mast, and a gun to be fired every half hour, beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. The flags of the several navy-yards and marine barracks will also be hoisted at half-mast.
GIDEON WELLES,
_Secretary of the Navy_.
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE REVENUE MARINE.
[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 18, 1865.]
GENERAL ORDER.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, _April 17, 1865_.
The Secretary of the Treasury with profound sorrow announces to the Revenue Marine the death of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States. He died in this city on the morning of the 15th instant, at twenty-two minutes past 7 o’clock.
The officers of the Revenue Marine will, as a manifestation of their respect for the exalted character and eminent public services of the illustrious dead and of their sense of the calamity the country has sustained by this afflicting dispensation of Providence, wear crape on the left arm and upon the hilt of the sword for six months.
It is further directed that funeral honors be paid on board all revenue vessels in commission by firing thirty-six minute guns, commencing at meridian, on the day after the receipt of this order, and by wearing their flags at half-mast.
HUGH McCULLOCH,
_Secretary of the Treasury_
ACTION OF SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES IN WASHINGTON.
[From Appendix to Memorial Address on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln.]
The members of the Thirty-ninth Congress then in Washington met in the Senate reception room, at the Capitol, on the 17th of April, 1865, at noon. Hon. Lafayette S. Foster, of Connecticut, President _pro tempore_ of the Senate, was called to the chair, and the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Speaker of the House in the Thirty-eighth Congress, was chosen secretary.
Senator Foot, of Vermont, who was visibly affected, stated that the object of the meeting was to make arrangements relative to the funeral of the deceased President of the United States.
On motion of Senator Sumner, of Massachusetts, a committee of five members from each House was ordered to report at 4 p.m. what action would be fitting for the meeting to take.
The chairman appointed Senators Sumner, of Massachusetts; Harris, of New York; Johnson, of Maryland; Ramsey, of Minnesota, and Conness, of California, and Representatives Washburne, of Illinois; Smith, of Kentucky; Schenck, of Ohio; Pike, of Maine, and Coffroth, of Pennsylvania; and on motion of Mr. Schenck the chairman and secretary of the meeting were added to the committee, and then the meeting adjourned until 4 p.m.
The meeting reassembled at 4 p.m., pursuant to adjournment.
Mr. Sumner, from the committee heretofore appointed, reported that they had selected as pallbearers on the part of the Senate Mr. Foster, of Connecticut; Mr. Morgan, of New York; Mr. Johnson, of Maryland; Mr. Yates, of Illinois; Mr. Wade, of Ohio, and Mr. Conness, of California; on the part of the House, Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts; Mr. Coffroth, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Smith, of Kentucky; Mr. Colfax, of Indiana; Mr. Worthington, of Nevada, and Mr. Washburne, of Illinois.
They also recommended the appointment of one member of Congress from each State and Territory to act as a Congressional committee to accompany the remains of the late President to Illinois, and presented the following names as such committee, the chairman of the meeting to have the authority of appointing hereafter for the States and Territories not represented to-day from which members may be present at the Capitol by the day of the funeral.
Maine, Mr. Pike; New Hampshire, Mr. E.H. Rollins; Vermont, Mr. Foot; Massachusetts, Mr. Sumner; Rhode Island, Mr. Anthony; Connecticut, Mr. Dixon; New York, Mr. Harris; Pennsylvania, Mr. Cowan; Ohio, Mr. Schenck; Kentucky, Mr. Smith; Indiana, Mr. Julian; Illinois, the delegation; Michigan, Mr. Chandler; Iowa, Mr. Harlan; California, Mr. Shannon; Minnesota, Mr. Ramsey; Oregon, Mr. Williams; Kansas, Mr. S. Clarke; West Virginia, Mr. Whaley; Nevada, Mr. Nye; Nebraska, Mr. Hitchcock; Colorado, Mr. Bradford; Dakota, Mr. Todd; Idaho, Mr. Wallace.
The committee also recommended the adoption of the following resolution:
_Resolved_, That the Sergeants-at-Arms of the Senate and House, with their necessary assistants, be requested to attend the committee accompanying the remains of the late President, and to make all the necessary arrangements.
All of which was concurred in unanimously.
Mr. Sumner, from the same committee, also reported the following, which was unanimously agreed to:
The members of the Senate and House of Representatives now assembled in Washington, humbly confessing their dependence upon Almighty God, who rules all that is done for human good, make haste at this informal meeting to express the emotions with which they have been filled by the appalling tragedy which has deprived the nation of its head and covered the land with mourning; and in further declaration of their sentiments unanimously resolve:
1. That in testimony of their veneration and affection for the illustrious dead, who has been permitted, under Providence, to do so much for his country and for liberty, they will unite in the funeral services and by an appropriate committee will accompany his remains to their place of burial in the State from which he was taken for the national service.
2. That in the life of Abraham Lincoln, who by the benignant favor of republican institutions rose from humble beginnings to the heights of power and fame, they recognize an example of purity, simplicity, and virtue which should be a lesson to mankind, while in his death they recognize a martyr whose memory will become more precious as men learn to prize those principles of constitutional order and those rights–civil, political, and human–for which he was made a sacrifice.
3. That they invite the President of the United States, by solemn proclamation, to recommend to the people of the United States to assemble on a day to be appointed by him, publicly to testify their grief and to dwell on the good which has been done on earth by him whom we now mourn.
4. That a copy of these resolutions be communicated to the President of the United States, and also that a copy be communicated to the afflicted widow of the late President as an expression of sympathy in her great bereavement.
The meeting then adjourned.
ORDERS OF THE HEADS OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.
[From official records, Department of State.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
It is hereby ordered that, in honor to the memory of our late illustrious Chief Magistrate, all officers and others subject to the orders of the Secretary of State wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six months.
W. HUNTER,
_Acting Secretary_.
[From official records, Treasury Department.]
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
It is hereby ordered that, in honor to the memory of our late illustrious Chief Magistrate, all officers and others subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Treasury wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six months.
H. McCULLOCH,
_Secretary of the Treasury_.
[From official records, War Department.]
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 69.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
By direction of the President of the United States the War Department will be closed on Wednesday next, the day of the funeral of the late President of the United States.
Labor on that day will be suspended at all military posts and on all public works under the direction of the War Department. The flags at all military posts, stations, forts, and buildings will be kept at half-staff during the day, and at 12 o’clock m. twenty-one minute guns will be fired from all forts and at all military posts and at the Military Academy.
By order of the Secretary of War:
W.A. NICHOLS,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
[From General Orders and Circulars, Navy Department, 1863 to 1887.]
SPECIAL ORDER.
APRIL 17, 1865.
By order of the President of the United States the Navy Department will be closed on Wednesday next, the day of the funeral solemnities of the late President of the United States. Labor will also be suspended on that day at each of the navy-yards and naval stations and upon all the vessels of the United States. The flags of all vessels and at all the navy yards and stations and marine barracks will be kept at half-mast during the day, and at 12 o’clock m. twenty-one minute guns will be fired by the senior officer of each squadron and the commandants of the navy yards and stations.
GIDEON WELLES,
_Secretary of the Navy_.
[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 18, 1865.]
POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
_To Deputy Postmasters_:
Business in all the post-offices of the United States will be suspended and the offices closed from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the 19th instant, during the funeral solemnities of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States.
W. DENNISON,
_Postmaster-General_.
[From official records, Post-Office Department.]
SPECIAL ORDER.
POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT,
_Washington, April 18, 1865_.
It is hereby ordered that, in honor of the memory of Abraham Lincoln, our lamented Chief Magistrate, the officers and employees of this Department wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six months.
W. DENNISON,
_Postmaster-General_.
[From official records, Department of the Interior.]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
_Washington, April 18, 1865_.
It is hereby ordered that, in honor of the memory of the late Chief Magistrate of the nation, the officers and employees of this Department wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six months.
J.P. USHER,
_Secretary_.
FUNERAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE PUBLIC.
[From the Daily National Intelligencer, April 17, 1865.]
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
_To the People of the United States_:
The undersigned is directed to announce that the funeral ceremonies of the late lamented Chief Magistrate will take place at the Executive Mansion, in this city, at 12 o’clock m. on Wednesday, the 19th instant.
The various religious denominations throughout the country are invited to meet in their respective places of worship at that hour for the purpose of solemnizing the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
W. HUNTER,
_Acting Secretary of State_.
OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL.
[From official records, War Department.]
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 17, 1865_.
The following order of arrangement is directed:
ORDER OF THE PROCESSION.
FUNERAL ESCORT.
(In column of march.)
One regiment of cavalry. Two batteries of artillery.
Battalion of marines.
Two regiments of infantry. Commander of escort and staff. Dismounted officers of Marine Corps, Navy, and Army, in the order named.
Mounted officers of Marine Corps, Navy, and Army, in the order named. (All military officers to be in uniform, with side arms.)
CIVIC PROCESSION.
Marshal.
Clergy in attendance.
The Surgeon-General of the United States Army and physicians to the deceased.
Hearse.
_Pallbearers_.
On the part of the Senate: Mr. Foster, of Connecticut; Mr. Morgan, of New York; Mr. Johnson, of Maryland; Mr. Yates, of Illinois; Mr. Wade, of Ohio; Mr. Conness, of California.
On the part of the House: Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts; Mr. Coffroth, of Pennsylvania; Mr. Smith, of Kentucky; Mr. Colfax, of Indiana; Mr. Worthington, of Nevada; Mr. Washburne, of Illinois.
Army: Lieutenant-General U.S. Grant; Major-General H.W. Halleck; Brevet Brigadier-General W.A. Nichols.
Navy: Vice-Admiral D.G. Farragut; Rear-Admiral W.B. Shubrick; Colonel Jacob Zelin, Marine Corps.
Civilians: O.H. Browning, George Ashman, Thomas Corwin, Simon Cameron.
Family.
Relatives.
The delegations of the States of Illinois and Kentucky, as mourners. The President.
The Cabinet ministers. The diplomatic corps.
Ex-Presidents.
The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. The Senate of the United States. Preceded by their officers.
Members of the House of Representatives of the United States. Governors of the several States and Territories. Legislatures of the several States and Territories. The Federal judiciary and the judiciary of the several States and Territories.
The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior, and the Assistant Postmasters-General, and the Assistant Attorney-General. Officers of the Smithsonian Institution. The members and officers of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions. Corporate authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and other cities. Delegations of the several States. The reverend the clergy of the various denominations. The clerks and employees of the several Departments and bureaus, preceded by the heads of such bureaus and their respective chief clerks.
Such societies as may wish to join the procession. Citizens and strangers.
The troops designated to form the escort will assemble in the Avenue, north of the President’s house, and form line precisely at 11 o’clock a.m. on Wednesday, the 19th instant, with the left resting on Fifteenth street. The procession will move precisely at 2 o’clock p.m., on the conclusion of the religious services at the Executive Mansion (appointed to commence at 12 o’clock m.), when minute guns will be fired by detachments of artillery stationed near St. John’s Church, the City Hall, and at the Capitol. At the same hour the bells of the several churches in Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria will be tolled.
At sunrise on Wednesday, the 19th instant, a Federal salute will be fired from the military stations in the vicinity of Washington, minute guns between the hours of 12 and 3 o’clock, and a national salute at the setting of the sun.
The usual badge of mourning will be worn on the left arm and on the hilt of the sword.
By order of the Secretary of War:
W.A. NICHOLS,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
The funeral ceremonies took place in the East Room of the Executive Mansion at noon on the 19th of April, and the remains were then escorted to the Capitol, where they lay in state in the Rotunda.
On the morning of April 21 the remains were taken from the Capitol and placed in a funeral car, in which they were taken to Springfield, Ill. Halting at the principal cities along the route, that appropriate honors might be paid to the deceased, the funeral cortege arrived on the 3d of May at Springfield, Ill., and the next day the remains were deposited in Oak Ridge Cemetery, near that city.
GUARD OF HONOR.
[From official records, War Department.]
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 72.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT-GENERAL’S OFFICE,
_Washington, April 20, 1865_.
The following general officers and guard of honor will accompany the remains of the late President from the city of Washington to Springfield, the capital of the State of Illinois, and continue with them until they are consigned to their final resting place:
Brevet Brigadier-General E.D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General, to represent the Secretary of War.
Brevet Brigadier-General Charles Thomas, Assistant Quartermaster-General.[17]
[Footnote 17: Brevet Brigadier-General James A. Ekin, Quartermaster’s Department, United States Army, substituted.]
Brigadier-General A.B. Eaton, Commissary-General of Subsistence.
Brevet Major-General J.G. Barnard, Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers.
Brigadier-General G.D. Ramsay, Ordnance Department.
Brigadier-General A.P. Howe, Chief of Artillery.
Brevet Brigadier-General D.C. McCallum, Superintendent Military Railroads.
Major-General D. Hunter, United States Volunteers.
Brigadier-General J.C. Caldwell, United States Volunteers.
Twenty-five picked men, under a captain.
By order of the Secretary of War:
E.D. TOWNSEND,
_Assistant Adjutant-General_.
[From official records, Navy Department.]
SPECIAL ORDER.
APRIL 20, 1865.
The following officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will accompany the remains of the late President from the city of Washington to Springfield, the capital of the State of Illinois, and continue with them until they are consigned to their final resting place:
Rear-Admiral Charles Henry Davis, Chief Bureau Navigation.
Captain William Rogers Taylor, United States Navy.
Major Thomas V. Field, United States Marine Corps.
GIDEON WELLES,
_Secretary of the Navy_.
ACTION OF CONGRESS.
[From Appendix to Memorial Address on the Life and Character of Abraham Lincoln.]
President Johnson, in his annual message to Congress at the commencement of the session of 1865-66, thus announced the death of his predecessor:
To express gratitude to God in the name of the people for the preservation of the United States is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy to which he had been elected; that he brought the civil war substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored in all parts of the Union, and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory.
Hon. E.B. Washburne, of Illinois, immediately after the President’s message had been read in the House of Representatives, offered the following joint resolution, which was unanimously adopted:
_Resolved_, That a committee of one member from each State represented in this House be appointed on the part of this House, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to consider and report by what token of respect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the nation to the event of the decease of their late President, Abraham Lincoln, and that so much of the message of the President as refers to that melancholy event be referred to said committee.
On motion of Hon. Solomon Foot, the Senate unanimously concurred in the passage of the resolution, and the following joint committee was appointed, thirteen on the part of the Senate and one for every State represented (twenty-four) on the part of the House of Representatives:
Senate: Hon. Solomon Foot, Vermont; Hon. Richard Yates, Illinois; Hon. Benjamin F. Wade, Ohio; Hon. William Pitt Fessenden, Maine; Hon. Henry Wilson, Massachusetts; Hon. James R. Doolittle, Wisconsin; Hon. James H. Lane, Kansas; Hon. Ira Harris, New York; Hon. James W. Nesmith, Oregon; Hon. Henry S. Lane, Indiana; Hon. Waitman T. Willey, West Virginia; Hon. Charles R. Buckalew, Pennsylvania; Hon. John B. Henderson, Missouri.
House of Representatives: Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, Illinois; Hon. James G. Blaine, Maine; Hon. James W. Patterson, New Hampshire; Hon. Justin S. Morrill, Vermont; Hon. Nathaniel P. Banks, Massachusetts; Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, Rhode Island; Hon. Henry C. Deming, Connecticut; Hon. John A. Griswold, New York; Hon. Edwin R.V. Wright, New Jersey; Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania; Hon. John A. Nicholson, Delaware; Hon. Francis Thomas, Maryland; Hon. Robert C. Schenck, Ohio; Hon. George S. Shanklin, Kentucky; Hon. Godlove S. Orth, Indiana; Hon. Joseph W. McClurg, Missouri; Hon. Fernando C. Beaman, Michigan; Hon. John A. Kasson, Iowa; Hon. Ithamar C. Sloan, Wisconsin; Hon. William Higby, California; Hon. William Windom, Minnesota; Hon. J.H.D. Henderson, Oregon; Hon. Sidney Clarke, Kansas; Hon. Kellian V. Whaley, West Virginia.
The joint committee, made the following report, which was concurred in by both Houses _nem. con._:
Whereas the melancholy event of the violent and tragic death of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, having occurred during the recess of Congress, and the two Houses sharing in the general grief and desiring to manifest their sensibility upon the occasion of the public bereavement: Therefore,
_Be it resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring)_, That the two Houses of Congress will assemble in the Hall of the House of Representatives on Monday, the 12th day of February next, that being his anniversary birthday, at the hour of 12 m., and that, in the presence of the two Houses there assembled, an address upon the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, be pronounced by Hon. Edwin M. Stanton,[18] and that the President of the Senate _pro tempore_ and the Speaker of the House of Representatives be requested to invite the President of the United States, the heads of the several Departments, the judges of the Supreme Court, the representatives of the foreign governments near this Government, and such officers of the Army and Navy as have received the thanks of Congress who may then be at the seat of Government to be