Civil War Patronage

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

New York Millionaires who wanted Lincoln to send them a gun-boat

New York Millionaires who wanted Lincoln to send them a gun-boat

Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley was opposed to anything that Thurlow Weed was for — and he put aside differences with other New York Republicans to focus on a common enemy. “Other Lincoln men who did not want to see Lincoln become Weed’s man were grumbling too,” wrote Greeley biographer William Harlan Hale. “Republicanism had come into being partly as a movement to break away from the traffickers in vested privilege; yet here the same traffickers were on hand again, threatening to take over Republicanism. Men as different as William Cullen Bryant, the sage and serious Jacksonian of the Evening Post, and Charles A. Dana, the rising Republican stalwart on the Tribune, came together to press upon Lincoln the need of offsetting the power of the eastern party bosses and corruptionists. They proposed that he take into his cabinet three men of unimpeachable character — Salmon P. Chase, Gideon Welles, and Judge Montgomery Blair, all of whom had been Democrats, yet all of whom had become vigorous free-soilers.”1 Shortly after the Bryant-Dana delegation left Washington, Thomas B. Carroll wrote the President:
Sir, I have returned to this city in behalf of your friends the faithful Republicans of New York — such men as Lt. Gov. [Robert] Campbell, James S. Wadsworth, Wm. C. Bryant, David Dudley Field, Horace Greeley, Wm Curtiss Noyes, Chas. A. Dana and others, who at Albany and Chicago, and now again here, protest against investing any men with power and patronage, who have exhibited a willingness to pervert official trusts for personal profit and aggrandisement.
We desire the appointment of no persons in our behalf, and as the representatives of our views, except those whom we have explicitly recommended. We make no particular point upon political antecedents, though we think it well that they be generally regarded. But we do most earnestly request that we be satisfactorily represented in the appointments at home.
We should be glad, if necessary, to add to the considerations already urged upon your attention, in favor of the few gentlemen whose names we have offered for appointments. But, presuming no further in that direction, we only add our fervent hope, that in view of the many foreign and other appointments made in one direction, you will deem it both just and expedient to give our friends, in connection with the Collectorship at New York, the Surveyor also in the person of Henry B. Stanton (as essential to the promotion of harmony in the Custom House,) the Gen. Appraisership to John T. Hogeboom, and the Marshalship of the Northern Dist. to Edward I. Chase; and such other selections from the list we furnished you, as your liberality and wisdom may indicate.
Our only remaining desire is, that you may not fail to see that the true way to promote the harmony of the party in New York and strengthen the your Administration, is to put in official position none but trustworthy men and your true friends.2
Agreement among the factions was rare, noted Greeley biographer Ralph Farney: “As soon as Lincoln had taken up his abode at the White House, the two New York factions presented their claims to the New York patronage, thereby creating an embarrassing situation for the President, who desired to avoid any semblance of partisanship. Weed and Greeley journeyed to Washington repeatedly during March and by the end of the month most of the appointments had been made. The Seward-Weed ring succeeded in outdistancing their competitors in every branch of the service except the customhouse in spite of Lincoln’s professed neutrality.”3
President “Lincoln found himself caught in a cross fire between Seward and Chase, who were continuing their struggle to dominate the party. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles later recalled:
In March 1861, while the Senate was in extra session, differences existed between the Secretary of State and the Senators from New York relative to the local appointments in that state. These differences resulted in a conference at the State Department, to which the President was specially invited, and consented with some reluctance to be present. It was an evening consultation, and he thought proper to invite me to accompany him. The President, Secretary Seward, and Senators [Preston] King and [Ira] Harris were the only persons besides myself in attendance. Before taking up the list of names the President said he would relieved them of any difference in regard to the most important office, that of Collector, by appointing on his own responsibility and from personal knowledge, Hiram Barney, who had his confidence and was a man of integrity. There was but a single civil appointment, that of Navy Agent, connected with the Navy Department to be made. No disagreement existed concerning that, which was soon disposed of, when Mr. Seward remarked it would be unnecessary to detain me longer, but the President and the Senators desired me to remain. It is not necessary to go into the particulars of that conference, which seemed to cover most of the important appointments in the city and State of New York. After listening to the disposition of some collectorships and other offices in which there was an approximation to agreement, an intimation was thrown out by Mr. Seward that he wished the list which had made out, and which was somewhat extended, might be completed and the nominations sent forthwith to the Senate. This embarrassed the two Senators who were unprepared for so hasty a movement. I inquired if the Secretary of the Treasury and Attorney General had been consulted, and concurred in the selection. Mr. Seward said they had not; that it was unnecessary; that these were New York appointments, and he and the Senators knew better than any others what was best for the party and the administration in that state. I remarked that Cabinet officers were responsible for the proper administration of their respective departments; that subordinates should have their confidence, and if changes were to be made of the incumbents, the new selections should be by them or with their concurrence; that to fill the offices under them with untried men whom they did not know, and without their knowledge, appeared to me improper and would be likely to cause difficulties. Mr. Seward dissented, and claimed that he knew what was best for the Administration in New York; that there were personal and party matters to be considered, which neither Mr. Chase nor Mr. Bates could understand so well as himself. I disclaimed any intention to meddle with New York parties or New York controversies; but besides courtesies which it would be well always to observe, I insisted as a sound principle and correct rule of action that the heads of departments should, if they did not select, at least be consulted in regard to the appointments of their subordinates. The President said I was right; that to fill the New York appointments as Mr. Seward wished, without consulting the Secretary of the Treasury, and others directly interested, would, he was convinced, not be satisfactory. He was willing to hear any remarks or suggestions relative to candidates, to take their recommendations; but it must be distinctly understood that there would be nothing conclusive until he advised with the heads of the departments interested. With this, the meeting soon and somewhat abruptly terminated.4
New York was the focal point of the power struggled because of the numerous political jobs in the customs office,” wrote historian George H. Mayer.5 The anti-Weed faction in New York won the first local patronage battle by default. Mr. Lincoln early settled on Hiram Barney, an ally of Salmon P. Chase, as his nominee for Customs Collector — but without the input of the new factions. Stanton got his subordinate position in the Customs office. While Thurlow Weed was winning some key battles for the Lincoln cabinet, key local posts were being assigned to his political opponents. Weed’s ally, Abram Wakeman, was appointed Postmaster of New York but key Navy and Treasury posts went to Chase’s allies — many of them former Democrats. William H. Seward weighed in on March 26 with a list of proposed appointments — perhaps the one of which Secretary Welles later wrote:
Since it is necessary to nominate for the vacancies in New York to day, and I wish to avoid the indelicacy of discussing questions which have almost a personal character and interest for myself I have concluded to ask you to take my counsel in this form — For District Atty. Southern District
E. Delafield Smith.
For Navy Agent Simeon Draper
For Northern District of N York
For Marshall Andrew B. Dickinson
If it be necessary to understand the views I entertain of the remainder in order to consider the subject as a whole then I add
For Southern District
For Marshall Alexander H Schultz
Surveyor of the Port Abram [presumably Wakeman]
Naval Officer Dutcher
Asst Treasurer R M Blatchford
Mint. Daniel Ullman.
Gen Appraiser McElrath.
I give you these views in full confidence that after the appointments already made, they are equal and just — and wise— But I pray you to understand that however tenacious I am of them, I aim not to make “points” of them or any other suggestions concerning patronage to affect my confidence in and devotion to yourself.6
The limits of Seward’s influence is illustrated by the failure of almost all of these recommendations to be effected. Nevertheless, for Greeley, the discouragement set in early. He wrote a friend on March 12: “I tell you the chances are three to one against an honest man getting anything. The thieves hunt in gangs…Three quarters of the Post Offices will go into the hands of the conscriptionists. So with most offices. And but for our desperate fight, they would have taken the whole. But we are going to try to do something with the Customhouses.”7
“Anxious that the anti-Weeds should not be overlooked, on April 8, 1861, George Opdyke, David Dudley Field, and James S. Wadsworth joined Greeley in urging the appointment of a surveyor of the port ‘in full accord and sympathy’ with the collector already appointed. The collector, it was pointed out, is the head of the revenue service and the surveyor, his right hand. Disagreements would weaken the Administration. Moreover, most of the appointments thus far had been made from the other side of the party,” wrote Greeley biographer Harlan Hoyt Horner. President Lincoln endorsed the recommendation with a note that the writers were “in favor of having two big puddings on the same side of the board.”8 New York Tribune Managing Editor Charles A. Dana recalled the meeting:
Mr. Lincoln received us in the large room upstairs in the east wing of the White House, where he had his working office. The President stood up while General [James] Wadsworth, who was our principal spokesman, and Mr. Opdyke stated what was desired. After the interview had begun, a big Indianian, who was a messenger in attendance in the White House, came into the room and said to the President:
‘She wants you.’
‘Yes, yes,’ said Mr. Lincoln, without stirring.
Soon afterward messenger returned again, exclaiming, ‘I say, she wants you!’
The President was evidently annoyed, but instead of going out after the messenger he remarked to us:
‘One side shall not gobble up everything. Make out a list of places and men you want, and I will endeavor to apply the rule of give and take.’
General Wadsworth answered:
‘Our party will not be able to remain in Washington, but we will leave such a list with Mr. Carroll, and whatever he agrees will be agreeable to us.’
Mr. Lincoln continued: ‘Let Mr. Carroll come in to-morrow, and we will see what can be done.’
‘This is the substance of the interview, and what most impressed me was the evident fairness of the President. We all felt that he meant to do what was right and square in matter. While he was not the man to promote factious quarrels and difficulties within his party, he did not intend to leave in the lurch the friends through whose exertions his nomination and election had finally been brought about. At the same time he understood perfectly that we of New York and our associates in the Republican body had not gone to Chicago for the purpose of nominating him, or of nominating any one in particular, but only to beat Mr. Seward, and thereupon to do the best that could be done as regards the selection of the candidate.9
Thurlow Weed Barnes wrote: “In course of time, Mr. Barney was appointed Collector of the Port of New York, through the influence of Secretary Chase, and Mr. Opdyke, by the employment of Custom House patronage, was nominated for Mayor of New York, to which position he was elected. The significance of these movements, it need hardly be said, was perfectly apparent to Mr. Weed; but, so far as they were directed against his political authority, he regarded them with indifference. He was indeed ‘weary of strife,’ as he wrote, nor could he have been ‘driven into controversy’ upon a question less vital than ‘the safety of the government and Union.’ When radical politicians imperiled both, as he believed, they discovered that ‘the Dictator’s’ power had not been entirely obliterated.”10 Historian Sidney David Brummer noted: “Aside from the custom-house, the Seward-Weed win seems to have gotten the better share of the spoils, notwithstanding Lincoln’s expressed determination to remain impartial with regard to the two New York factions. The interests of the many friends of Seward in New York State were apparently better protected by the latter than were those of his opponents of Chase. It was not without reason that the anti-Seward men feared in this matter ‘the superior tact and pertinacity of Mr. Seward and of Mr. Thurlow Weed, “Chase’s presence notwithstanding.”11
Historian John Niven wrote: “Despite an apparent setback, Seward and his partner Weed would make off with five of the ten senior custom-house posts and a majority of the federal appointments in New York. Chase had the collectorship in the Barney appointment and three of the subordinate offices. In political influence and prestige he and the radicals came off quite well despite the fact that most of New York’s Republican congressional delegation were partial to Weed and Seward.”12 Barney’s appointment did not come without opposition. Although he was close to Chase because of his previous residence in Ohio, he had only lived in New York City for four years and had little local support. The Tribune‘s Charles A. Dana and Horace Greeley preferred George Opydke for the post. Barney appeared to Mr. Lincoln to be a relatively neutral choice.
Another factor in New York patronage was Governor Edwin D. Morgan, who was also chairman of the Republican National Committee. Morgan’s secretary wrote Navy Secretary Gideon Welles: “I have learned directly and authentically that Gov Morgan would like to be consulted with reference to the New York appointments and will go to Washington if requested to do so by the President or some one authorized by him. In saying ‘would like to be consulted’ I perhaps understate the matters. He feels that he ought to be consulted, though I gather the latter from no distinct statement to that effect on his part. He has, I know, expected it…He knows that Mr. Weed was recently requested to return there by the President and he feels that without saying anything against Mr. Weed, he has as good a claim to such an honor as he.”13 But Mr. Lincoln’s primary contacts in patronage decisions were members of Congress, not Governors. Governor Morgan had to wait until he became “Senator Morgan” in 1862 to exercise real patronage clout.
Part of the patronage problem for Mr. Lincoln were splits among Cabinet members about state patronage — and questions about whether a cabinet’s state or department should be the controlling factor in determining patronage priorities. The new administration was not three weeks old before Chase was complaining bitterly about the paucity of diplomatic appointments from Ohio and threatening to go to Lincoln. Seward rejected the complaint as unjust and accused Chase of persecuting him. Soon Welles and Chase were at loggerheads with Seward over appointments in New York…”14 Historian Sidney David Brummer wrote that “John A. Kasson, then first assistant postmaster-general, [maintained] that his chief, Montgomery Blair, frequently expressed dissatisfaction with Seward’s interference with appointments in the post office department.”15 In New York, there were particular problems between Seward and Ohio’s Salmon P. Chase. Chase actually seemed to seek Seward’s input, writing the Secretary of State: “The appraisership at New York is vacant. Which of the two applicants do you prefer?”16 Seward, however, was not pleased by any interference in his state. He wrote President Lincoln at the end of March:
“I have read Mr. Bates’ note — and I have only one word of comment. Long before this question arose or at least before I knew that it would arise I took the ground in the case of the Indiana Post Office, that one member of the Cabinet ought to defer always to the opinion of another in regard to local appointments in the state of the latter. So I have refrained from any interference …in other states.
If the magnitude of New York City and its Custom House patronage, render an exception necessary, or political wise, I do not, as you know dissent, because 1st, it was understood that it should be so, & 2d because I can count no especial disappointment.
But when Mr Chase out of his department demands as a personal favor an appointment in my state humiliating to me, or the Attorney General assures that he can better determine who should be a marshal in the very district in which I live, [they] the thing becomes a scandal, which I cannot digest, and so far as I know it is without precedent. I would sooner attack either of these gentlemen in the open street than consent to oppose any local appointment they might desire to make in their respective states. Mr. Bates never has consulted me
But my dear Sir, I shall cheerfully bear, whatever you require, and shall complain of no one.17
In addition to the Custom House, Seward and Chase clashed over the reappointment of John Cisco as assistant secretary of the Treasury for New York City. Chase complained to President Lincoln: “Mr. Seward ought not to ask you to overrule my deliberate judgment as to what is best for the Department and your administration.”18 Chase biographer Frederick J. Blue wrote: “Inherent in many of the patronage disputes with Seward, Wade and others was the belief of his rivals that Chase was using the great number of offices at his disposal to advance his own political cause. Those rivals practiced the same patronage policies wherever possible, but few leaders had as much opportunity to build support through appointments as did the secretary of the Treasury. A small army of Treasury officials scattered throughout strategic parts of the Union loyal to Chase might effectively campaign for him if he decided to challenge Lincoln in 1864.”19
President Lincoln had to focus on the minutiae of patronage at a time of national crisis — in the weeks before and after the firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1864. The criticism that Lincoln gave too much time to patronage, especially during the early weeks of his administration — time that could have been utilized to effect a settlement with the South before the opening of hostilities — is perhaps not entire justified,” wrote Harry J. Carman and Reinhard Luthin in Lincoln and the Patronage.20 They quoted arguments made later by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles: “in striving to reconcile and bring into united action opposing views he [Lincoln] was accused of wasting his time in a great emergency on mere party appointments. Under the pressure and influence that were brought to bear upon him some things were doubtless done, which, under other circumstances and left to himself he would have ordered differently. Extensive removals and appointments were not only expected, but absolutely necessary, yet never under any administration were greater care and deliberation required.”21 Such decisions were particularly important at a time when not only political loyalties but patriotic loyalties were questioned.
In mid-April, President Lincoln wrote out a slate of New York appointments, in which “SW” clearly means the Seward-Weed group, “R.D.” seems to indicate “Reformed Democrat” and “Am” may suggest a connection with the Know-Nothing movement.
Collector —
Hiram Barney
R.D.
Surveyor —
[Abram] Wakeman –
S.W.
Naval O.
General Dennison [sic] —
— W.
Apr. Genl
Tho. McElrath —
S.W.
Navy A.
[D.D.T.] Marshall —
R.D.
[Isaac Henderon
Mint. -0
[Daniel?] Ullmann
Am.
Sub. Treas.
[Richard M.] Blatchford —
S.W.
Attorney –
E. Del. Smith —
S.W.
Marshall.
Henry B. Stanton
R.D.
P. Master
James Taylor
S.W.22
The last entry may had been a misprint for William B. Taylor, who was favored by Secretary of State Seward. William Taylor was appointed, but soon ran into criticism from his boss, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, who wrote President Lincoln in October 1861:
The only reason for the continuance of Mr Wm B Taylor in the P. O[.] at NY was his supposed personal qualifications for the place The business men of the city thought from his long experience in the office as a clerk he was highly qualified & they were disgusted with the profligacy which the political appts had introduced into the office-
I think that Mr Taylor does not possess the qualifications he was supposed to have & is not fitted for the head of that important office. He has not the energy, & force of character required & I would prefer that you would appoint some person more accustomed to command than he has been to carry on that office I do not recommend any one for the place & have not courted proposals by intimating to any one that I would make this recommendation— I suppose you will confer with Govr Seward respecting the matter. My only object is to get an efficient officer who can carry on the business successfully & economically & give prompt effect to the declared policy of the administration & I hope that no appointment will be made except upon due consideration of the personal qualifications of the appointee-23
The termination of Taylor waited until 1862 when Abram Wakeman replaced him.
Some of the other persons on President Lincoln’s list eventually got patronage posts — but not in 1861. Businessman Richard M. Blatchford didn’t get the Treasury post but in 1862 he was appointed minister to the Vatican, serving until 1863. According to Seward biographer Glyndon Van Deusen, Blatchford “had applied with some urgency for Vienna, presumably because his young wife wanted the glittering society of a major European capital. All came right, however for Seward found an opportunity to make ‘Blatch” minister to the Court of Pius IX and Mrs. Blatchford had a winter season in Rome.”24Blatchford repaid the Secretary of State in a currency he could savor — fine Valernian wines that he had shipped back from Italy. Seward biographer Van Deusen observed that “Blatchford’s sojour in Rome was manifestly a return for favors received.”25
Greeley biographer James M. Trietsch wrote: “Fully appreciating that, in the matter of New York patronage, the Weed-Seward faction and not the Greeley-Chase forces controlled the dispensation of awards, the Secretary of the Treasury, under date of March 27, 1861, wrote to Seward reluctantly, even with dread, informing him that the appraisership at New York was vacant, and inquiring, ‘Which of the applicants do you prefer?’ Two weeks earlier, Chase had indicated to John Bigelow that New York appointments were only ‘very partially’ under his control, and even less under the control of Greeley. Chase wrote sadly that ‘the President desires that all the Republican interests be consulted and in doing so it is necessary to make…concessions.'”26
George Dennison received the appointment as Naval Officer — but not until President Lincoln wrote Robert Irwin, a friend of Mr. Lincoln and one of Dennison’s backers: “I am scared about your friend Dennison. The place is so fiercely sought by, and for, others, while, except what has come through you, his name is not mentioned at all, that I fear appointing him will appear too arbitrary on my part. I have made no appointment at the City as yet, but it has pained me that among the scores of names urged, his has not occurred once.”27 Chase was probably responding to pressure from the editors and owners of the New York Evening Post, who pushed for the appointment of one of their own — business manager Isaac Henderson. The Post‘s Parke Godwin wrote President Lincoln in April that Dennison was “dishonest” and had defaulted in payment for several printing jobs.28
Indeed, when Mr. Lincoln finally requested Dennison’s appointment on May 16, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase immediately objected, writing that “I shall not fulfill my duty to you if I do not say that I fear, if you make this appointment, you will regret it.” On May 18, President Lincoln wrote Chase:
The suggestions of your note accompanying the commission for Mr. Dennison as naval at New York have been considered in the same spirit of kindness in which I know they were offered. They present the very difficulty which has embarrassed me from the first in the case: that Mr. Dennison has not the position in the public eye which would lead to the expectation of his receiving so high an office. I believe I have told you fully what it was, and is, that pressed me to appoint him: the urgent solicitation of an old friend who has served me all my life, and who has never before received or asked anything in return. His (Mr. Dennison’s) good character was vouched for from the start by many at New York, including Opdyke.
At length, when I was, as it were, in the very act of appointing him for particulars, and it turned out that Mr. Dennison in his business as a lawyer had got some printing done for his clients becoming personally responsible for the work, and hand not paid for it when dunned. While this, if true, is certainly not to be commended. I believe the like might, in some cases, be proven upon me. They are a class of debts which our clients ought to pay, and when we are personally dunned for them when we sometimes hang fire. Besides, Mr. Dennison went far toward a satisfactory explanation of one case; and while Mr. ____ intimated that there were other cases, he did not specify them.
I consider that the charge of dishonesty has failed; and it now seems to me more difficult to change my purpose than if the charge had never been made.29
Mr. Lincoln must have keenly felt the friction and the pressure. Once in the spring of 1861, a strange conjunction of the patronage stars occurred when both Weed and Greeley recommended Christopher Adams for the position of Superintending Architect of the Treasury Department. Mr. Lincoln wrote Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase: “Mr. Adams is magnificently recommended; but the great point in his favor is that Thurlow Weed and Horace Greeley join in recommending him. I suppose the like never happened before, and enver will again; so that it is now or never[.] What say you?”30
Historian James G. Randall wrote that President Lincoln “used his patronage power not only in his own behalf but also on behalf of those members of Congress who were loyal to his administration. He rebuked the Philadelphia postmaster for restraining a couple of hundred postal employees from aiding in the renomination of [Congressman] William D. Kelly. He checked the Chicago postmaster, who was working against Isaac N. Arnold. When George W. Julian, of Indiana, complained to him that Commissioner of Patents David P. Holloway, also a Hoosier, refused to recognize Julian as the regular party nominee, he replied to Julian: ‘Your nomination is as binding on Republicans as mine, and you can rest assured that Mr. Holloway shall support you, openly and unconditionally, or lose his head.'”31
Both pro-Seward and anti-Seward factions continued to vie for Mr. Lincoln’s attentions. The anti-Weed faction had some advantages. One was that because they opposed William H. Seward’s presidential ambitions in 1860, they were the Republicans who invited potential Seward rival Abraham Lincoln to New York for the Cooper Institute speech that defined his candidacy. Mayor George Opdyke wrote President Lincoln in August 1862: “The Hon. James A. Briggs of this city has expressed his willingness to accept the position of Arbitrator under the recent slave trade treaty, if it should please you to appoint him. It is exceedingly important that this office shall be filled by a citizen who is not only fully capable, but whose social position, and character for incorruptible integrity, will prevent his being successfully assailed by improper influences. In this regard, I rejoice that a gentleman so eminently the kind of man needed is willing to accept the office— If your Excellency is acquainted with Mr Briggs, you will need no assurance from me on this point, nor as to the fact that he rendered much laborious and efficient services to the country through the political struggle which ended in your election, and from that time to the present-”
Briggs had been the point man for inviting Mr. Lincoln to deliver his Cooper Institute speech. Opdyke wrote: “Mr. Briggs, I would most respectfully submit, richly deserves this, or some equally complimentary, recognition of his public services, and especially as for the position indicated he possesses the very best qualifications of character and competency — I earnestly trust that in view of the public interest as well as of Mr. Briggs merits you will favorably consider this application on his behalf.” On September 1, Mr. Lincoln wrote an endorsement on the letter: “If this office has not already been filled, I should be very glad to appoint Mr. Briggs, whom I personally know-“32 The appointment went to Cephas Brainerd, who was part of the same Young Republican committee that sponsored the address and who participated in annotating it for publication.
Another center of Mr. Lincoln’s personal problems was the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As early as October 1862, Gideon Welles recorded in his diary: “General Wadsworth, Mr. [Reuben] Fenton and others urgently insist on some changes in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, of masters, who, they claim, are active partisans. But they made no clear case. Told them, I was opposed to the policy of removals of competent officers unless for active, offensive partisanship; that any man was entitled to enjoy and exercise his opinion without molestation. General W. Concurred with me but understood there were such masters within the prescribed rules. Told them that from any facts I had received I would only remove Fairion, master machinist, who, it is shown, is so immersed in politics as to neglect his business, and is a candidate for comptroller. As he manifests a willingness and intention to leave the service for another place, I think he can depart a few days in advance without detriment. This taking advantage of an excited election to thrust miserable partisans into places which they are often indifferently qualified to fill, I dislike, and so expressed myself to General W., who assented fully to my views.”33

Footnotes

  1. William Harlan Hale, Horace Greeley: Voice of the People, p. 235.
  2. Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Transcribed and Annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois. (Letter from Thomas B. Carroll to Abraham Lincoln, March 23, 1861).
  3. Ralph R. Fahrney, Horace Greeley and the Tribune in the Civil War, p. 66.
  4. Gideon Welles, Lincoln and Seward, p. 71-73.
  5. George H. Mayer, The Republican Party, 1854-1964, p. 91.
  6. Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Transcribed and Annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois. (Letter from William H. Seward to Abraham Lincoln, March 26, 1861).
  7. Ralph R. Fahrney, Horace Greeley and the Tribune in the Civil War, p. 66 (Letter from Horace Greeley to B. Brockway, March 12, 1861).
  8. Harlan Hoyt Horner, Lincoln and Greeley, p. 196.
  9. Charles A. Dana, Recollections of the Civil War, p. 26-27.
  10. Thurlow Weed Barnes, editor, Memoir of Thurlow Weed, Volume II, p. 322.
  11. Sidney David Brummer, Political History of New York State During the Period of the Civil War, p. 137.
  12. John Niven, Salmon P. Chase: A Biography, p. 240.
  13. James A. Rawley, Edwin D. Morgan, 1811-1883: Merchant in Politics, p. 133 (Letter from G. Bliss to Gideon Welles, March 19, 1861).
  14. Glyndon Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 275.
  15. Sidney David Brummer, Political History of New York State During the Period of the Civil War, p. 138.
  16. Frederic Bancroft, The Life of William H. Seward, Volume II, p. 357 (Letter from Salmon P. Chase to William H. Seward, March 1861).
  17. David Mearns, The Lincoln Papers, p. 502-503 (Letter from William H. Seward to Abraham Lincoln, approximately March 30, 1861).
  18. Frederick J. Blue, Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics, p. 140.
  19. Frederick J. Blue, Salmon P. Chase: A Life in Politics, p. 141.
  20. Harry J. Carman and Reinhard H. Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, p. 335.
  21. Harry J. Carman and Reinhard H. Luthin, Lincoln and the Patronage, p. 335-336 (“Two Manuscripts of Gideon Welles”, The New England Quarterly, Volume XI, September 1938).
  22. Roy P. Basler, editor, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume IV, p. 334 (circa April 15, 1861).
  23. Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Transcribed and Annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois. (Letter from Montgomery Blair to Abraham Lincoln, October 21, 1861).
  24. Glyndon Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 275.
  25. Glyndon Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, p. 372.
  26. James M. Trietsch, The Printer and the Prince, p. 167-168.
  27. Roy P. Basler, editor, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume IV, p. 296 (Letter to Robert Irwin, March 20, 1861).
  28. Roy P. Basler, editor, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume IV, p. 374 (Letters from Parke Godwin to Abraham Lincoln, April 15, 1861 and April 20, 1861).
  29. Roy P. Basler, editor, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume IV, p. 373 (Letter to Salmon P. Chase, May 18, 1861).
  30. Roy P. Basler, editor, The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume IV, p. 361 (Letter to Salmon P. Chase, May 8, 1861).
  31. James G. Randall, Lincoln the President: Last Full Measure, p. 250.
  32. Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles, Volume I, p. 178 (October 18, 1862).
  33. Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress. Transcribed and Annotated by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College. Galesburg, Illinois. (Letter from George Opdyke to Abraham Lincoln , August 23, 1862).