Category Archives: Lincoln Administration

Lincoln and the federal government

Bull Hamlin?

Yesterday morning I was reading a review of Robert Caro’s latest book on the life of Lyndon B. Johnson. Daniel Patrick Moynihan is said to have described LBJ’s descent from Senate Majority Leader to the sideline job of vice-president as … Continue reading

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Pithy, Pointed, Prodding

On April 4, 1862 General George McClellan and his huge Union Army of the Potomac set out from Fortress Monroe for Richmond. By April 7th the army had made it to the Warwick River and the Yorktown area (approximately 25 … Continue reading

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Soul-Stirring in Georgetown

As Civil War Daily Gazette explains, 150 years ago today Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure that freed all slaves in the District of Columbia. The following little story tends to show the southern attitudes that still existed in … Continue reading

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Thanksgiving in April

It seems that proclamations calling for days devoted to prayer and fasting or thanksgiving were pretty common in the Civil War era – both North and South. 150 years ago today President Lincoln issued the following: PROCLAMATION RECOMMENDING THANKSGIVING FOR … Continue reading

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Where’s Jasper?

See the 57th Article of War It’s been a long time since I’ve copied anything from JASPER, The New-York Times’ antebellum Charleston correspondent. After the surrender of Fort Sumter JASPER escaped north to write again another day. In this piece … Continue reading

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Whipping Post

From The New-York Times March 22, 1862: A SHORT SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT. A party of Massachusetts gentlemen met in Washington, at the rooms of Hon. Mr. TRAIN, on the 13th inst., to accompany him to the White House, and … Continue reading

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Flamethrowers for the Union Navy?

The editors of the Richmond Daily Dispatch were proud of the CSS Virginia as it held off the Union’s Monitor at Hampton Roads. The South was seemingly competitive with the North in ironclad technology. Here the newspaper reports that Yankees … Continue reading

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President Seward?

From The New-York Times March 1, 1862: Mr. Seward and the Next Presidency. Mr. SEWARD having been informed of the existence of a club in Philadelphia, the purpose of which was to nominate him for the next Presidency, sent the … Continue reading

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Sitting on a Seat of War

Not exactly President George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin but here George McClellan and P.G.T. Beauregard appear to be gazing into each others’ eye. This cartoon was published on February 1, 1862 and it is already out of date. By … Continue reading

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“No Illumination”

In 1862 Congress authorized the expenditure of $1,000 to illuminate public buildings in Washington, D.C. on the evening of February 22nd in commemoration of George Washington’s Birthday. However, members of the cabinet requested that those plans for the public buildings … Continue reading

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