xt7w6m332k6x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7w6m332k6x/data/mets.xml Gilmore, James R. (James Roberts), 1822-1903. 1898 books b92-268-32003257 English L.C. Page, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Personal narratives. Personal recollections of Abraham Lincoln and the civil war / by James R. Gilmore. (Edmund Kirke) text Personal recollections of Abraham Lincoln and the civil war / by James R. Gilmore. (Edmund Kirke) 1898 2002 true xt7w6m332k6x section xt7w6m332k6x PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CIVIL WAR - I 11/ :_- /0 .. - PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CIVIL WAR BY JAMES R. GILMORE (EDMUND KIRKE) AUTHOR OF " AMONG THE PINES," "4JOHN SEVIER, THE COMMONWEALTH BUILDER,' "' THE LIFE OF JAMES A. GARFIELD," ETC. Jlaustratet BOSTON L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED) 1898 Copyright, 898 BY L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY (INCORPORATED) Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A. CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. MY FIRST INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 9 II. A CABINET SESSION ON A MOMENTOUS OCCASION. 23 III. THE GREAT UPRISING . . . . . :13 IV. MY FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH HORACE GREELEY 3!) V. THE CONCEPTION OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLA- MATION . . . . . . . . 49 VI. THE GENESIS OF THE BOOK "AMONG THE PINES" 5. VII. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION . . V[II. MIY CONNECTION WITH THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE 86 IX. THE DISSATISFACTION WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN . 95 X. TRAVEL IN WAR TIME . . . . . . 104 XI. WITH "OLD ROSEY" . . . . . . 114 XII. ROSECRANS DECLINES THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMIN-A- TION . . . . . . . . . 137 XIII. CONFERENCES WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN . . 148 XIV. THE TRIBUNE IN THE DRAFT RIOTS . . . 167 XV. THE PROPOSED RECESSION OF NORTH CAROLINA . 206 XVI. THE PRELIMINARIES TO THE PEACE MISSION OF 1864 . . . . . . . . 230 XVII. OUR VISIT TO RICHMOND . . . . . 248 XVIIL THE GREAT CONSPIRACY . . . . . 2) t This page in the original text is blank. ILLUSTRATIONS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN WILLIAM H. SEWARD HORACE GREELEY . W. S. ROSECRANS . JAMES A. GARFIELD JAMES F. JAQUESS U. S. GRANT . JEFFERSON- DAVIS . Frontispiece 20 40 . 101 . 118 . 138 226 . 261 This page in the original text is blank. PREFACE. AMONG the many disclosures that are now being made in regard to the men and events of our recent Civil War, none are more interesting than those which relate to the eminent man who guided the country through that great crisis. Each fresh disclosure reveals him in some new aspect, and they all deepen the impression that he was a "providential man," singularly endowed, and specially commissioned, for the vast work which he did in American history. It was my good fortune to know him well, and to be, at an early period in his administration, the depositary of his confidential. views on national policy, and also his trusted agent in the attempted carrying out of some of his more important plans in connection with the Civil War. There- fore it has been represented to me that it would deepen the universal affection and reverence for this great and good man, if I were to make public what I know of the inner his- tory of some of the important events of the war before I go hence and can no longer speak face to face with my countrymen. For this reason these sketches are now pub- lished. Some of them appeared during the war in the col- umns of the Atlantic Monthly and the New York Tribune, but the larger part are now freshly produced from notes made while the events were transpiring, and from a some- what retentive memory. All conversations with Mr. wii PREFACE. Lincoln it was my habit to write down in my note-book within twenty-four hours after they occurred, and hence I amn able to reproduce, after the lapse of more than thirty years, his very words, and his peculiarities of speech and manner. The same is true of what I report of my inter- views with Generals Grant and Rosecrans, but the remark does not apply to what I relate of Horace Greeley and the Hon. Robert J. Walker, I having been in such frequent intercourse with those gentlemen as to render such accu- racy of verbal statement both unnecessary and impracti- cable. I have aimed to correctly report the opinions and sentiments they expressed on the occasions that are mentioned, but the language used is my own, though it doubtless has a certain verisimilitude that might enable it to pass as their own phraseology. A valued friend, who ranks as one of the ablest of American critics, to whom I have submitted these " Recol- lections " for the purpose of deciding whether they should, or should not, be given book publication, has just written me as follows: "I have read the entire manuscript with very much interest and pleasure. It contains a great deal that is new to me and, I venture to say, that will be new to nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the generation who took no active part in the affairs of the country in war times. Valuable side-light is thrown by your disclosures on some of the hidden springs and inner workings of the times, and it appears to me that it is worthy to be preserved on account of its intrinsic value." In the hope that the reader may concur in the opinion of this most excellent gentleman, this volume is given to the public. JAMES R. GILMORE. LAKE GEORGE, N. Y., MAY 24, 1898. Vi. PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE CIVIL WAR. CHAPTER I. MY FIRST INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN. ON Saturday, the 13th of April, 1861, I was at Willard's Hotel, Washington, lured there by a restless desire to learn something of the probable course of the Lincoln ad- ministration in the tremendous crisis that was then upon the country. The city was aflame with excitement over the attack upon Fort Sumter, accounts of which were ap- pearing almost hourly in " extras " of the daily journals; and having secured a copy of the latest " extra," I retired to the smoking-room of the hotel, directly after I had breakfasted, to gather the news, and to speculate upon the influence which this breaking out of actual war would have upon my private fortunes; for, however devoted a man may be to his country, his first thought, in the face of any great calamity, is of himself and of those who are depend- ent on him. While thus absorbed in gloomy forebodings, I became conscious that I was undergoing the scrutiny of a gentle- 9 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. man who sat near me, also engaged in the morning news- paper. I gave him only a casual glance, but that was enough to show that he was a man past middle life, and of striking personal appearance. He was of the medium stature, with broad shoulders, a deep chest, and a capa- cious head that was about all forehead. His features were prominent, his eyes deep and piercing, and they had the look of conscious power that belongs to born leaders of men. At any other time I should have given him more attention, but just then I was absorbed in the question, "c Are not those cannon of Beauregard sending up in smoke the work of my lifetime " Soon the gentleman I have referred to rose from his seat, and, coming directly to me, said: "Your beard dis- guises you, but I know you, and I think you have not forgotten me." I gave him a quick glance, then sprang to my feet, and, grasping his extended hand, exclaimed: " I shall never forget you. I have followed your every step since I was a boy, and I thank God that you are left to serve the country." With a stronger grasp of the hand, he said: "s The boy is father of the man, - you are the same enthusiastic youth who came to me at Natchez some twenty years ago." " Enthusiastic Yes, when there is anything to enthuse over. I shouted myself hoarse when you check. mated Buchanan's attempt to saddle the Lecompton Consti- tution upon Kansas. That act alone entitles you to a national monument." ",It gratifies me to have you say so," he said. "But tell me about yourself; how has the world fared with you these dozen years " I told him; but as I propose to sink the personal pro- 10 FIRST INTERVIEW WITH LILNCOL-N. noun in these sketches, as far as possible, what was said is here omitted. The gentleman who had thus accosted me was the Hon. Robert J. Walker, who was the predecessor of Jefferson Davis in the United States Senate from Mississippi, and became famous by his able management of the Treasury Department during the administration of President Polk. If the reader will consult any encyclopedia published in this country since 1850, he will find there an outline of this gentleman's remarkable career. He there will learn that from Feb. 22, 1824, when, a young man of only twenty-three, he brought about in the Harrisburg Conven- tion the nomination of Andrew Jackson for the presidency, until the 9th of April, 1865, when Lee surrendered at Ap- pomattox, - a period of more than forty years, - he origi- nated very many, and advocated all, of the great movements that have contributed to the progress and expansion of this country. Then, if he will turn to the debates in the United States Senate between 1836 and 1843, and read the speeches which he, a Southern Senator, representing a State in close affiliation with South Carolina, had the cour- age to utter in defence of the Union and in denunciation of John C. Calhoun, the great giant of Nullification, he will learn something of the rare qualities of the man, his lofty purpose, his breadth of view, and his serene intrepidity in the face of an almost overwhelming antagonism. Those speeches stirred my blood when a boy; but nothing in Mir. Walker's whole career ever thrilled me with such enthusi- astic admiration as his long and single-handed struggle with the Calhoun heresy in Mississippi. In November, 1832, the State was ready to follow South Carolina in its repudiation of the laws of the United States, but Robert J. Walker mounted the " stamp," and by his single voice held 11 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. it back from a mad plunge into Nullification. He followed this up in 1833 by a series of articles in the Natchez Journal that won the enthusiastic approval of ex-Presi- dent Madison; and he kept up the agitation until January, 1836, when Mississippi came fully over to his side, and sent him to continue the conflict with Calhoun on the floor of the United States Senate. In all the history of this country there is nothing more magnificent than this single- handed struggle of Robert J. Walker, not merely with the one giant, Calhoun, but with all the forces of Nullification in the entire Southern country. His whole career had been disinterestedly patriotic, and it was not surprising that at the opening of our great civil conflict he should part company with many of his former political associates, and come out openly, strongly, and uncompromisingly in support of the Union. I was in familiar intercourse with him when I was but a strip- ling, but at this time I had not met him for several years. There was, therefore, something to say between us of a personal character. When this had been gone over, he asked: " What do you think of the present situation " "That we are among the rocks on a lee shore, with neither Robert J. Walker nor Andrew Jackson to keep us from the breakers. I have recently been through the in- terior, from Charleston to Key West, and every man I met was jubilant over the prospect of being soon rid of the Yankees. If Sumter falls, - as it inevitably will, -and Lincoln attempts to recover it, -as he is bound to do, - we shall have to encounter the entire seaboard people." At this point Mr. Walker rose, and beckoned to a gen- tleman who had just entered the room and was closely regarding us. He was a tall, spare man, of about Mr. 12 FIRST INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN. Walker's age, and he had a shrewd, thoughtful appear- ance. Negligently clad in a loose-fitting suit of gray, he looked more like a much-engrossed man of business than a statesman; but Mr. Walker introduced him to me as Sec- retary Cameron of the Lincoln administration. As he took a chair near us, Mr. Walker said: " Mr. Cameron, this gentleman is just the one you want to meet. He knows every acre of the cotton-growing country, and, except Texas, has recently been over all the States in secession. He can tell you the feeling of the seaboard people, and their probable course in this emergency." Mr. Cameron remarked that he was very glad to meet me; but expressed a fear that an interview in so public a place would attract attention, and suggested that we should adjourn to some private apartment. Then " Governor" Walker -as Mr. Cameron styled him -secured such a room at the hotel office, and soon we were seated there in a conversation that lasted something more than two hours. I shall not attempt to detail it; I kept no notes of what was said; the substance of it, however, was repeated soon afterwards in an interview with Mr. Lincoln, of which I entered a full account in my note-book. This interview was requested by Mr. Cameron, and arranged for by him for two o'clock that afternoon. At two o'clock precisely, Governor Walker and I were ushered into Mr. Lincoln's private room at the White House. Mr. Cameron was there, and near him, seated in a large armchair, was a tall man, in an ill-fitting suit of black, whom I recognized from his portraits to be Mr. Lincoln. He rose as we entered, and, greeting Mr. Walker with great cordiality, he said: " So, Governor, this is the gentleman who knows all about the South, and can tell us how high that raccoon is going to spring." 13 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. "m He can give you a very shrewd guess, Mr. President," said Mr. Walker, " for he knows the South thoroughly." While this was being said, I scanned somewhat closely Mr. Lincoln's personal appearance. He was exceedingly tall, and so gaunt that he seemed even above his actual height of six feet, four inches; but he was not -as very tall men often are -ungainly in either manner or atti- tude. As he leaned back in his chair, he had an air of unstudied ease, a kind of careless dignity, that well be- came his station; and yet there was not a trace of self- consciousness about him. He seemed altogether forgetful of himself and his position, and entirely engrossed in the subject that was under discussion. He had a large head, covered with coarse dark hair that was thrown carelessly back from a spacious forehead. His features also were large and prominent, the nose heavy and somewhat Ro- man, the cheeks thin and furrowed, the skin bronzed, the lips full, the mouth wide, but played about by a smile that was very winning. At my first glance he impressed me as a very homely man, for his features were ill-assorted and none of them was perfect, but this was before I had seen him smile, or met the glance of his deep set, dark gray eye, - the deepest, saddest, and yet kindliest, eye I had ever seen in a human being. I had been prejudiced against him, but with the first words he addressed to me the preju- dice vanished, and, feeling perfectly at my ease, I answered his request to tell him all I knew about the South, by say- ing: "It is a large subject, Mr. Lincoln; where shall I begin" He said: " Wherever you like; and take your own time and way about it." " Then, sir, permit me to give you a general opinion of the Southern people from one who was born among them, - Mr. Bennett Flanner, of Wilmington, N. C. He was a 14 FIRST INTER VIEW WITH LINCOLN. shrewd observer of men and things, a most excellent man, and a class-leader in the Methodist Church. He had consigned his produce to our Boston house from time im- memorial, and every summer he came on and spent a fort- night with our senior partners. The firm owned a tract of about a hundred thousand acres of timber land in Maine, and one summer the senior partners asked Mr. Flanner to go down with them and take a look at it. He went, and when he returned he came to me and said: ' Ah, my boy, I've seen them all now, -all the Yankees. I had seen the York Yankees and the Boston Yankees, and now I've seen the down-east Yankees, - they're all a right cute sort of folk; but, after all, the damnedest Yankees on the face of the earth are the Southern Yankees.' " "1 Then," said Mr. Lincoln, with the smile that made his homely features good-looking, " you agree with Mr. Flanner that the Southern people are the highest style of Yankees " I answered that I did; that they were of the same race as ourselves, but unmixed with our degraded foreign ele- ment, and with our every trait intensified in consequence of having a servile race to support them in idleness. Of course, there is every variety of character among them, but they are all like Jeremiah's figs, -" the good very good, the bad not fit to feed the pigs." As politicians, the meanest man among them had not his equal in the North- ern States. "And what is the feeling of those people towards the Government " asked Mr. Lincoln. I then went on to say that I thought the masses - not the politicians - were, until a little time before, quite in- different as to the extension or non-extension of slavery; that the slave-owners, who were the inciters of the present trouble, were a very small minority of the Southern people, 15 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. numbering, all told, only about 200,000. The small slave- holders were mostly planters, and many among them be- lieved, what I had often told them, that they could raise their produce cheaper by hired than by slave labor. And the non-slaveholders were generally satisfied to let things go on as they were, not caring very much which party was in power; but when he was nominated for the presidency, they were told that he was an Abolitionist, and worse, that he had negro blood in his veins; and that both from blood and principle he was bound to go to the length of freeing the slave, and placing him on a political equality with the white. Political equality, in many districts of the South, would mean negro domination, - and the domination of the lowest type of negro, -which no Southern, or even Northern, white man would submit to. "s Do you think the Southern people believe such absurd- ities " asked Mr. Lincoln. I answered that I knew it to be the general opinion among what are called the masses. They were fairly in- telligent men, the bone and sinew of the South; but the most of them were never a hundred miles from home, never saw a decent Yankee, and never read anything but what the politicians chose to tell them in the Southern newspapers. Let a Northern army be sent among them, and every man of them would become a soldier, and would fight to the last gasp in defence of his fireside. They had no idea of any allegiance to the General Government. They had been reared in the doctrine of State Rights, and so when their States secede they would go with them, feeling sure that they were doing their duty to their country. " Then," said Mr. Lincoln, " our only hope is in concili- ating the leaders. Would not one good, decisive victory bring them to their senses" 16 FIRST INTER VIEW WITH LINCOLN. "sNo, sir," I replied, " not ten victories. The leaders have gone into this struggle to win, at any cost of time and treasure. Those who are not self-seeking scoundrels, like Toombs and Wigfall, are fanatics, like Jeff Davis and Alexander Stephens, and both words and concession would be wasted upon them. They have planned this thing for over thirty years, - ever since our friend Mr. Walker and General Jackson scotched the snake, Nullification. They could not kill it, and it soon came to life again, in the form of Secession. The only way to bring the South to its senrses is to put down the Secession leaders." "s Then," said Mr. Lincoln, " we must separate one class from the other. Are not their interests the same " I answered that they were not; that the leaders were all slave-owners. The great body of the Southern people were not slave-owners; their property was in lands, houses, and merchandise, and if they employed slaves, they paid wages to their masters; and they would pay the same to the slaves if they were emancipated. I knew hundreds of cotton and turpentine producers who used altogether hired slave labor. I also knew as many slave-owners whose entire income was from thus hiring out their slaves. So long as it would be as cheap to the producer to pay wages to the slave as to the master, he could have no interest in se- cession. If he were at that time opposed to the Govern- ment, it was only because he believed its policy was to put the negro on an equality with the white man. "Then," remarked Mr. Lincoln, "the Abolitionists are right in saying that slavery is the root of the whole evil." "; They are, sir. The slave-owners control the South, - control it because of their wealth, and their wealth is in their slaves. A man in the South is not worth so many dollars, but so many negroes. They have gone into the 17 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. rebellion to protect that kind of property, and you can't put it down until you deprive them of it." "d But you are aware that I have no constitutional right to abolish slavery." "1 Except as a war measure. But seven States have already declared themselves independent, and begun a war in Charleston harbor." "1 Yes," he answered, " such doings look like war; but whether we have had cannon-balls enough to justify ex- treme measures is the question. We won't discuss that. But tell me, Mr. Gilmore, what would you do if you were in my place, - bound as I am to support the Constitution " "1 Pardon me, Mr. Lincoln, I think you have invited me here to give you facts, and not opinions. Governor Walker is the one to answer such a question." "1I know he's our American Solon. He's in favor of cutting straight across lots; but it's safer to go around by the road, and, sometimes, you get there just as soon. The Governor is a statesman; you are a man of the people, and that is just the reason I want to know what you would do in the present circumstances." " Well, Mr. Lincoln, as you put it on that ground I will answer your question. If I were in your place, sir, I should announce at once to the seven States in secession that if they did not return to their allegiance within a specified time - say ninety days - I would free every one of their negroes. And I should give a like notice to every State that follows them into secession. The result would proba- bly be the freeing of every slave in the South; but for that you would be in no way responsible. The slaveholders would have brought it upon themselves." " And do you suppose the North would sustain me in any such measure Don't you know that the Abolitionists 18 FIRST INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN. have been working for thirty years to bring the North to that way of thinking And with what result A cor- poral's guard, and not a party." "I can only judge of others by myself, Mr. Lincoln. For more than twenty years I have been in the closest relations with the South; my best friends are there; and four-fifths of all I have in the world will go up in smoke if we have a war of any considerable duration; but I would rather see it all go than leave to my children a disorganized and disunited country. Other men feel as I do, and they will require you to remove from the nation this apple of perpetual discord." " They may, if they are brought to see things as you see them. And they would find me willing -I may say eager - to listen. But you must bear in mind that I have no right to emancipate the slaves, except for the preserva- tion of the Union." "d I understand, - it must be a war measure, forced upon you by the pressure of positive necessity." " Or the overwhelming sentiment of the North," said Mr. Lincoln. "That I should heed, and heed gladly. I am, you know, only the servant of the people. Educate them up to such a measure, and I will do their and your bidding." " It seems to me, sir, that nothing more can now be ex- pected of you. Anything so revolutionary as the emanci- pation of the slaves might be allowed to wait until the intentions of the Southern people are more fully developed. You can dismiss all thought of conciliating the politicians; but you can hope for an amicable adjustment of affairs, and a restored Union, by showing both by word and act a friendly disposition towards the Southern people. There- fore, I should suggest no invasion of their homes, and, in 19 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. your military operations, a strictly defensive policy. But all your friendly professions they will regard as false so long as Mr. Seward is a member of your Cabinet. They regard him as their arch enemy; and from his prominence and ability they will believe that he is really the soul and brains of your administration." "Then they consider Seward as the King-devil " said Mr. Lincoln, smiling. " Yes, sir," I answered; " both politicians and people re- gard him as the incarnation of all evil, - a man of ability, but false, hypocritical, time-serving, and cowardly. If the leaders had not thought him a coward, I question if they would have fired upon Fort Sumter. They would not have done so, had such a man as Andrew Jackson or Robert J. Walker been in your Cabinet." " Come, come, Mr. Gilmore," said Mr. Walker, hastily, " omit any reference to me." "1 None is necessary, Governor," I said, "s for it is plain that Mr. Lincoln has the opinion of you that I have. But he has asked me here to tell him what I know and think; now, I know that I have expressed the Southern opinion of Mr. Seward, and I think that if Mr. Lincoln listens to the timid advice which Mr. Seward, from his extreme cau- tion, is sure to give him, he will run the country upon the rocks, where no earthly power can save it from going to pieces." " But you would not have me discard a wise councillor at the bidding of a mob, and a Southern mob at that" said Mr. Lincoln. "d Is he a wise councillor, sir, if Mr. Cameron is right in saying that he thinks this storm will blow over in ninety days If he can say that, after a dozen years' intimate intercourse with the Southern leaders, is his judgment to 20 7t4iLb .. /.,- 777 This page in the original text is blank. FIRST INTERVIEW WITH LINCOLN. be trusted Understand me, Mr. Lincoln; I have no per- sonal antagonism to Mr. Seward. I have never met him. I doubt if I should know him if we were to meet upon the street." "d Well, well," remarked Mr. Lincoln, with his peculiar smile, " I guess the Southern people would hang Seward if they should catch him. But now tell me how you would go to work to put down this rebellion" I smiled broadly, as I answered, " First, you ask me, sir, a question that only a statesman can answer; and now one fit for only a military man. Do you ask this, also, because I am one of the people " " No," he answered, again smiling. " I ask this because you are a practical man, -one, I take it, who never meets an obstacle without seeking a way to overcome it. You must have thought a good deal on the subject; now give me the result of your thinking." "Well, sir, I was very much struck in reading awhile ago the plan of the British Cabinet for subduing the re- volted colonies. It was brought to my attention by my former business partner, Mr. Frederic Kidder, of Boston, a man twenty years my senior, of very sound judgment, and thoroughly acquainted with the South. The British commanders tried to put it in execution on three distinct occasions, and on each occasion they were thwarted only by what we call accidental circumstances. But for these circumstances -over which neither Washington nor the Continental Congress had any control whatever -they would have succeeded, and we probably have been to-day no nearer a national existence than Canada. The plan was to divide the Southern colonies by a line running westward from Charleston, also to separate New England from the middle colonies by the Hudson River, and to 21 PERSONAL BECOLLECTTON8d. crush each section separately. I have never seen the plan fully stated except in a ' History of the American War,' by Stedman, a prominent officer under Cornwallis; but it may be distinctly traced in the operations of the British armies." Mr. Lincoln then said: " The principle is right,-' divide and conquer,'- but how would you apply it to our present circumstances " I then went on to give him Mr. Kidder's ideas, - stating that they were his and not my own, and that he had given a good deal of thought to the subject. He and the others frequently interrupted me with questions, but the discus- sion was too lengthy to be here repeated. I need here only say that the plan was in effect executed by General Sher- man in his " march to the sea," and that Mr. Lincoln in- tended to carry it out in 1863 by swinging North Carolina out of the Confederacy, as I shall relate hereafter. At the end of a long two hours Governor Walker and I took our leave, Mr. Lincoln inviting me to call on him when I was again in Washington. As we left the White House the newsboys were crying. " Fort Sumter on fire - the barracks burning;" and a few hours later Major An- derson lowered the flag of the Union at the bidding of the Confederates. 22 CHAPTER II. A CABINET SESSION ON A MOMENTOUS OCCASION. A BRIEF telegraphic account of the surrender of Fort Sumter appeared in the Washington newspapers on the following morning, and I had just finished the reading of it when Robert J. Walker laid his hand upon my shoulder, saying: " The blow has fallen! What mortal man can foresee the consequences" " I cannot," I replied. " But it seems to me that much will depend upon the prompt action of the Government. Any weakness shown now will be fatal." "Well," he said, " we must possess our souls in patience until to-morrow. They may talk things over to-day, but will take no action on Sunday. Meanwhile, suppose we go to church and get our minds into a submissive mood." A little after noon on the following day he came to me again at Willard's Hotel, saying: "The Cabinet must by this time have finished its session, and I am impatient to hear what action they have decided on. Come, go with me to Cameron; I don't like to bother Mr. Lincoln." We found Mr. Cameron at his desk in his private room at the War Department, and, looking up, he said: " Ah, gentlemen, I am glad to see you. Be seated. I know what you have come for, and I'll be through in a few minutes,-as soon as I draft this telegram." Soon he looked up again, and said to Mr. Walker: 23 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. " Governor, let me read this to you, -you are more fa- miliar with these things than I am. It is a call on the States for 75,000 troops." Mr. Walker pronounced the paper in proper form, and then Mr. Cameron, ringing for a subordinate and telling him to see that the despatches were sent off at once, turned about on his chair and told us that the President had de- cided to issue a call for 75,000 men, and a proclamation convening Congress for an extra session on the 4th of July. At the Cabinet meeting he, Cameron, had proposed a call for 500,000 men; a close blockade of the Southern ports; the capture of Charleston and New Orleans, and the giving of freedom to all slaves who should desert their masters and join the Union armies; but his suggestions had been strongly opposed by Mr. Seward, on the ground that such decisive measures would close the door for any reconcilia- tion