Category Archives: Lincoln Administration

Lincoln and the federal government

“a thorn in its vitals”

Posted on September 21, 2013 by SUMPTER

Civil War Daily Gazette has the story of Abraham Lincoln’s damage control after the Union defeat at Chickamauga. The president urged General Rosecrans to hold on to Chattanooga and ordered General Burnside to “Go to Rosecrans”. Here he tells General-in-chief … Continue reading →

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“whiskey-drinking odor about it”

Posted on September 7, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today The New-York Times praised Abraham Lincoln’s letter to James Conkling defending his Emancipation Proclamation and the use of black troops to fight the rebellion. Mr. Conkling read the letter to a pro-Union mass meeting in Springfield, … Continue reading →

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Springfield speech

Posted on September 3, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago today a “mass meeting of unconditional Union men” was held in Springfield, Illinois. President Lincoln had been invited to speak at his pre-presidency hometown but couldn’t leave Washington “because Rosecrans had finally begun his long-awaited campaign to … Continue reading →

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Gorilla Gone from Gotham

Posted on August 20, 2013 by SUMPTER

150 years ago yesterday the draft resumed peaceably in New York City. Army, militia, and police forces were present in large if unostentatious numbers. A reorter found “no less than seven huge columbiads on trucks in the depot of the New-Jersey … Continue reading →

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Waterloo exemptions

Posted on August 12, 2013 by SUMPTER

According to James M. McPherson’s discussion of conscription in the North, “If a man’s name was drawn in this [draft] lottery, one of several things would happen to him next – the least likely of which was induction into the … Continue reading →

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Fast Work

Posted on August 8, 2013 by SUMPTER

I forgot that President Lincoln had designated August 6th as a Day of Thanksgiving. Here’s an editorial that sees a direct link between the April 30th National Fast Day and the recent Union successes. July 4, 1863 was a lot … Continue reading →

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generally speaking

Posted on July 29, 2013 by SUMPTER

The Commander-in-Chief manages some of his generals. From The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Six: To GENERAL G. G. MEADE. (Private.) EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 27, 1863. MAJOR-GENERAL MEADE: I have not thrown General Hooker away; and therefore … Continue reading →

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the usual suspects

Posted on July 20, 2013 by SUMPTER

A Democrat newspaper in from a small town in New York state digests the information that Lee’s army retreated from Gettysburg and made it south of the Potomac largely unscathed. It has to be the Republican administration’s fault. Everything was … Continue reading →

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Copperheads from history

Posted on July 19, 2013 by SUMPTER

The Old Guard, a pro-slavery, antiwar monthly journal published in New York found historical precedent for anti-Lincoln Copperheads in three iconic Americans – George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson. Here’s the paragraph on Jefferson. From the July 1863 issue … Continue reading →

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Executives in action

Posted on July 16, 2013 by SUMPTER

Consequences of Vicksburg and Gettysburg 150 years ago yesterday President Lincoln called for a day of Thanksgiving; President Davis called for more troops – all white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five not exempt. Of course, drafting in … Continue reading →

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