EDWIN M .

S TA N T O N

AN A DDRE SS B' A N D REW CARNE G IE

O N STANTO N ME MORIA ' DA'
AT ' E N' O N C O ' ' EG E

N E W ' O' '

D O' B' E D A ' ,

PA G E C OMP A N '
1 906
 STA N TON ,
TH E PA T ' I OT

TANTO N The ,
Pa tri o t , ' en yon s most illus’

son came of good kith and kin born

trio u s , ,

as he was of sturdy 'uaker stock His grand .

father emig rated fro m Massa chusetts to North

Carolina before the Re v o lution in 1 7 74, an d he dyin g
there his widow emigrated in 1 80 0 to the Nor th
wes t ern Territory be c ause it was dedi c ated to free
dom . The grandfather wished t o m anumi t his
slav es be fore leavi n g Massachusetts bu t this bein g ,

ill eg a l he l eft them u nder the protection o f a guar

d ian to see that the y were not misused . The Stan
tons settled a t Mount Pleasant ,
O hio . The son
David f ather o f o ur subj e ct w as an able ph ysi cian
, ,

in Steubenville a stron g abolitionist laborin g e v en

, ,

in tha t early d a y t o impress his fellows wi th the

wron g fulness of sla v er y .

A t t hirteen Edwin w as fortunatel y emplo y ed in

,

a book -
s t ore so tha t ac c ess to books was assured :
,

probably one o f the most importan t fac t ors in de

t ermi ning his future c areer . O ne o f his schoo l
mates John H arper whom
, ,
I knew w ell in Pi ttsburg ,
4 STANTON ,
THE P ATRIOT
’
tells us of young Stanton s fondness for poetry and
his greed for books .

Stanton is ,
so far as I know the youngest li ,

bra r y -
founder known to history . His schoolfellow ,

Squire Gallagher reports that before he was thirteen

,

he started a circulating library where books were

regularly exchanged among the boys . The boy was
father to the man for leadership somewhat i m , ,

p er i o u s yet never combative nor abusive ,

was
clearly his .

While enga g ed in the book store he devoted his -

evenings under Reverend Mr Buchanan preparing '

for admission to ' enyon which received him in his

,

seventeenth year I t is melancholy to read

that he was compelled to leave after his j unior year
for want of means but poverty has ,
i ts advantages
in training men . He returned to hi s former em
ployer who sent him to take charge of a book s tore -

in Columbus O hio where he met

, ,
hi s future wife .

Too poor to marry then the young lovers waited

some years true to each other
,
. Nev er was there a

more devoted husband . He owed much to his wife .

The two years sp ent at college were formative

years . When secession first reared i ts head and
J a cks on uttered the immortal words ,
The Union
'
must and shall b e preserved ,
e ven then to t he
 STANTO N THE P ATRIOT , 5

youn g man here at c olleg e in his teens this was the' ,

bugl e c all .

In 1 82 5, finding the Union endang ered , no twi th

’
s tanding father s o ppositio n to Jackson and firm
hi s

adherence to Cla y and A dams he sank all other ,

issues and ardently supported Jackson muc h to the ,

regret of man y of his best friends . Patri o t at

eighteen patriot alwa ys the needle no t truer to the
, ,

pole than Stanton to the Union .

He soon qualified for the law be came prose cutin g ,

attorney and in his twent y third year h a d built up

,
-

a lucrative practi c e .
. He removed to Pittsburg i n
847 and it was there in his early prim e that I as
'

1 ,

telegraph m es senger bo y had the pleasure ,

of se eing
him frequently proud to g et , his nod of reco g nitio n
as I so m etimes stopped him on the street Or entered
his o ffice to deliv er a m essa g e A vig orous e ner .
,

g etic and concentrated m a n alw a y s intent upon , th e

subj ect in hand he had nothin g ,

of Lincoln s humor
’

a nd ability to laugh ' he was deeply erio us

'

eVer s .

None stood higher than he in hi s profession but it

mof stat
,

is in th e real es manship that his service s be

c am e so commandin g as to give him place amo ng
the fathers of the Republic He remained a Demo .

o rat , y et a Free Soiler true to the anti slav ery

,
-

traditions of his family . His remov a l to Wash

 6 S TANTON ,
THE P ATRIOT

i ng to n brought him much business and for s ome

years little time was paid to politics .

The election of Lincoln drew Pres ident Buchanan

into serious negotiations with the Southern leaders
with whom as a Democrat he was in sympathy
, ,
. He
soon felt the need of a strong constitutional lawyer
to steer the ship of state aright since Attorney Gen
,
-

eral Black had been appointed Se cretary of State

to succeed General Cass . His choice fell upon
Stanton who abandoned a lucrative legal practice
at the call of duty . Dangers were brewing fast
a round his beloved country and he wa s needed to
defend the Union O n the twentieth of December
'

.
,

I SO O the very day Stanton entered the Cabinet

, ,

South Carolina declared the Union dissolved . The

boy patriot of eighteen who had rallied to Jackson s ’

call was revealed to an anxious country in his man

hood as again the Jacksonian apostle to teach South ,

Carolina and all the other states that followed her ,

and all the world for all time thereafter that the
“
,

'
Union must and shall be preserved .

There are many remarkable things in Stanton s ’

life . I venture to po int out what seems to me a

wonderful coincidence . Lincoln as a yout h saw a

slave auction on the Mississippi and there and then
“
,

r esolved that if he ever got a cha nce he woul d hit

 STANTO N ,
TH E P ATRIOT 7

the accursed thing hard . His time c ame and he

was privileg ed to emancipate the last slav es in a
c ivilized land . So Stanton changing his politica l ,

par ty while in his teens at the call of the Union in ,

manhood changes the polic y of his part y and ban

ishes d is u nio n q forever . For this he is destined to
live in American histor y as one whose services t o the
Republic in her darkest hour rank in value with
those of the foremost early fathers : Franklin Ham ,

ilton A dams Jefferson Jackson and Lincoln

, , , ,
. No
lower place can be assig ned him than in tha t c irc l e
'

Washington must ever stand alone —

father amon g
these worth y sons .

There are f ew more deepl y interestin g episodes

in our history than tha t of Judg e Black s c onv ersion ’

to Stanton s views ’
. I t will be remembered that
as attorney general Nov -
, . 2 0 th , 1 8 60 ,
he g a v e the
President his opinion that he could not c o ns ti tu

ti o n a l l y use military force for any purpose whatever

within the limits of a s tate where there were no
United S tates judges m arshals or other civil
, ,
o ffi

c ers and there were none in South Carolina the

, ,

Federal officials having resig ned '

. This led to pro

longed negotiations between the a g ents o f the
Southern states and the President and his Cabinet ,

all tending to a peaceful dissolution of the Union .

8 STANTON THE P ATRIOT ,

General Cass ,
Secretary of State loyal to the ,

Union resigned because the President refused to

,

reinforc ethe Southern forts . Meanwhile Secretary ,

of State Black and Stanton who , ,

wa s then only a
private citizen had been in ,
d eep and earnest con
s ul t a ti o n , and Black took Cass s place only on con ’

dition that Stanton be made his successor . The

reason was soon clear . Black had changed his
views as he explained seven years after : he and
Stanton had reached perfect accord on all questions ,

whether of law or policy . I t is readily seen how

this concord was attained . The true Jacksonian ,

ever holding as the prime duty the preservation of

the Union as an indissoluble union of indissoluble
states had shown his elder broth er that he was
,

wrong and inspired him with the intense loyalty he

himself possessed Black says early in December
“
.

he notified the President of hi s change of view and

handed him a memorandum for his pri vate us e
“
.

Here is an extract : The Union is necessa ily per r

p etu a l No state can l a wfu l l y wi th d r a w or be ex

'

p el l ed from it . The Federal Constitution 1S as

much a part of the constitution of every state as if
it had been textually I nserted therein .
'
This is
S ta n to nes e . Black had seen a great light between
November and December .
 STANTO N T H E P ATRIOT , 9

It wo uld ha v e been w ell had he consulted Stanton

before giving his opinion o f the previous month
which brought Buchanan to the verge of treason .

Fortunately for our country ,

Black remained at
S tanton
’
s sidein the crisis and rendered great ser
vice . He deserv es to hav e his mistake forg iv en and
forg ot t en . I t was one whi c h a lifelon g Democrat
might be pardoned for makin g . I kn ew more than
one excellent publi c spirited m a nin the c irc le o f m y
-

friends who could not re c on cile himself to the use of

force a g ainst his fellows o f the S outh with whom his ,

personal and political relations had been c ordial

“
.

'
The depart in pea c e polic y had man y s ympa
theti c adherents amon g such men .

’
Maj or A nderson s remo val from Fort Moultrie to
Fort Sumter created a c ontest which ra g ed for three
da ys in the Cabinet . Was the demand o f South
Carolina that he be ordered back to M oultrie to be
, ,

granted or denied ' Secretary of War Floyd claimed

that the President had committed himself b y a
promise that the s ta tu s qu o should not be disturbed ,

’
which Anderson s movement certainly did . He
prepared a letter to which Black Stanton and Holt , ,

obj ected . On the following Sunday ,

Black in
formed the President that if the letter was deliv ered
he would resign . Stanton had never wa v ered in his
I O STANTO N , TH E P ATRIOT

po s i t l on . The moment the demand that Fort

Sumter be evacuated was made he told the Cabinet
“
,

that its surrende r by the Go v ernment would be a

crime equal to that of Arnold and that all who par ,

ti ci pa t ed in the act should be hung like Andr ' .

Judge Holt a member of the Cabinet speaking from

, ,

his own knowledge tells us that Stanton also de

,

c l a r ed in the face of the President that a president

who signed such an order woul d be guilty of treason .

The President raised his hand deprecatingly sa y ing ,

,

Not so bad as that my friend not so bad as , ,

tha t .

’
Judg e Holt s tribute to Sta nton reveals what th e

Republic owes to its defender . He says ,

His
loyalty to the Union cause was a passion . He
could not open hi s lips on the subj ect without giving
utterance to the strongest expressions . He nev er
changed from first to last in his devotion to his
country nor in the resolute manner in which he as
s er t ed
’
and upheld his convictions . The decision
of the Cabinet upon which the sovereignty o f the
,

Republic over all i ts ports depended hung for sev ,

eral days in the balance . The President finally

sided with the loyalists . Stanton first reclaimed
Judge Black the Secretar y
, of State before entering
,

the Cabinet , a nd after he did enter the two men , ,

 STANTON , T H E PATRIOT 1

with Ju dg e Holt Secretar y of War pre vail ed upon

-.
, ,

the President to c hang e his policy . Histor y re

c ords in unmis takable t erm s that the chie f an

t a g o nis t of the polic y o f submission t o the dis

unionist s and inspirer in the Cabinet o f lo y al t y t o
,

the Union as against se c ession was the pa trio t

'

, ,

Stanto n .

His polic y ha vin g been a greed t o ,

instead o f
restin g content he began t o urg e the Presiden t to
prepare for the wors t holdin g that ,
“
preparation
c o uld do no possible harm in an y e v en t and i n the , ,

e v ent o f that which seems to be most likely it ,

’
is the co u ntry s onl y c han c e of salv ation .

There was soon thrus t upon him the dut y o f c on

ferrin g with the leaders of the Republican par ty and
preparing for a peaceful inaug uration of the newly
ele ct ed President Lincoln , . This he no more hes
i t a ted to perform tha n other patriotic du ties re

quired for the preserv ation of his countr y .

I nter views took pla c e with S eward , Sumner and ,

other leaders . There was knowledg e of treasonable

designs ag ainst Lincoln s inauguration and o f an ’

att empt to induce Maryland to secede and c l aim the

rev ersion o f the District of Columbia . So pressin g
was the dang er tha t the President was persuaded t o
order troops to Washington '

.
1 2 STANTON T H E PATRIOT ,

The effect o f the arrival of United States soldiers

under the national Here was fla g was startling .

notice at last after months of doubt and hesitation

, ,

that the Republic was not to be destroyed without

a struggle . All hope of peaceful settlement van
is h ed . Even Mr . Stanton never rendered his
country a greater service than that performed in
January ,
1 86 1 . He was denounced as no better
than an abolitionis t by Southern Democrats who
fa vored the right o f secession and also by thos e ,

who did no t go so far but who refused to sustain the

Go v ernment under Republican control . To both he
was equally odious because he stood for maintain ,

ing the Government under all circumstances . He

entered the Buchanan Cabinet as a Demo crat in
1 8 60 a nd left it a D emocrat but a Democrat who ,

subordinated every issue to the maintenance of

law and the pres ervation of the Union Upon .

'

this platform h e advocated obedience to the s

Fugitive Slave Law and recognition of slavery

’
f

intensely opposed as he personally was to that

system . Here he stood with Lincoln and the
larg e party who preferred to keep the c o ns ti tu

ti o n a l compact with the South rather than

compel th e abolition of slavery at the risk of
civil war .
 STANTON , TH E PATRIOT 3,

S ev en states seceded and Jefferson Davis was

ele c ted president of the Confederate states one
’
month previous to Lincoln s ac c ession . Like his
predecessor ,
Lincoln s one desire w a s peace and
’

ma ny plans for satisfyin g the South eceived his

r

earnest consideration . Soon did he realize that

the men who had elect e
d him were of different
temper some preferrin g disunion to the co n
,
tinu
ance of slavery some for the Union with or without
,

sla v er y as Lincoln himself was . A large p ortion

of the Northern people ,
not Republicans ,
were
disposed to blame the Anti Slaver y people for —

their attack upon property recognized by the Con

s ti tu ti o n Well did Lincoln know that the oppo '

s i ti o n in the North to the use o f force a g ainst the

South under existin g conditions would be serious
and powerful ' hence his earnest efforts to avert
hostilities . He went so far as to fa vor the evacua
tion of Fort Sumter ,
and steps were taken to
prepare the public for the great sacrifice . The
Cabinet approve d this by five to two . The rumor
of this action ,
started to test public opinion ,

aroused the North . I t was overwhelmingl y con

d em n ed and in such ter s as made the Presi m
dent and Cabinet pause . Lincoln never ga v e the
order .
1 4 STA NTON ,
T H E PATRIOT

A s wa s to be expected Stanton now a private

, ,

citizen was ,
i n fi exibl y opposed to the evacuation of
Sumter . His letters at this time express grave
doubts of the capacity of the President and his
Cabinet to preserve the Union but still he b elieved ,

that the Union wa s stronger than all i ts foes .

While the Union wa s thus imperilled and men in

all the various divisions into which public o pinion
had drifted knew not what a day wa s to bring forth
nor what the end wa s to be an event occurred which ,

instantly crystallized th e divided North into one

solid body . Never can I forget the April morning
when there flashed through the land ,
Fort Sumter
fired upon by the rebels .

I wa s then superintendent of the Pennsylvania

Railroad at Pittsburg and went to my o ffice every
morning on a train crowded with passengers . That
morning the cars resembled a disturbed bee hive -
.

Men could not S it still nor control themselves . O ne

of the leading Democrats who had the previous
evening assured me that the people would never
approve the us e of force against their Southern
brethre n , nor would he ,
came forward ,
greatly
excited and I am sorry to s a y some of hi s words were
“
,

unquotable . What s wrong with you

’
' '
I asked .

Didn t I tell
’

y ou last night wha t the Secessionists

 STANTO N , THE P ATRI OT 1 5

intended ' , But the y ha v e fired on the fla g

fla g
’
fired on our . I n less than a week I saw m y
friend one morning drillin g to be read y as captain
of a company to revenge that unpardonable crime .

So with others of like views the night before . Stan

ton was right : the Union was stronger than all its
foes Ex President Buchanan wrote Genera l Dix :
-

“
.

The present administration had no alternativ e

but to accept the war initiated b y South Carolina
or the So u thern Confedera cy . The North will sus
tain the administration almost to a man ' and it
ought to be sustained at all hazards .

May oth , to Stanton he wrote '

The first gun fired by B eauregard aroused the

indig nant spirit of the North as nothin g else co uld
have done and made us a unanimous people
,
. I
had repeatedl y warned them that this would be the
result .

B uchanan pro v ed to be a lo yal man . Stron g as

the Union then proved to beit is infinitely stronger

“
,

to da y not only in the North but north south

-
, , , ,

east and west wherever O ld Glory

, ,
fi o a ts . The
centfi peta l
forces In our country to da y are all -

Seventy -
five thousand volunteers were imme
d i a tel y called for by the President to fight for the
Union . After the repulse at Bull Run a great army ,
1 6 STANTON THE P ATRIOT ,

was concentrated around Washington under Genera l

Mc Cl el l a n of whom Stanton expected great things
, ,

but as month after month passed and no forward

movement wa s made the nation became impatient ,

and clamored for action . None came .

I ca n speak from personal experience of the

condition of affairs In and around Washington
immediately after Lincoln s call for volunteers ’

having escorted General Butler and hi s regiments

from Annapolis to Washing ton a fter we had “
re

paired the railroad torn up by the Confe derates .

I s aw General Scott then in command assis ted , ,

morning and evening into and out of hi s brougham

and led by two orderlies across the pavement to
an d from his o ffice . Upon the old infirm man , ,

unable to walk ,
wa s thrown the task of organizing
and directing the Army . The heads of other
departments under him were mostly superannuated .

There wa s little or none of any of the requisites

for war . Reorganization of every branch was
essential . General C ameron ,
Secretary of War ,

labored hard and did well under the circumstances ,

and deserved commendation but he could not work ,

miracles . Time was needed .

O n the 1 3 th of January ,
1 862 , without consulta
tion with Mr Stanton Lincoln nominated him as
“

.
,
 STANTO N ,
THE P
ATRI OT 7

S ecre t ary of War ,

and a f ew days later he was
again a member of the Cabine t . Neither part y nor
personal considerations dictated his appoin tmen t .

The President and Cabinet disappointed and weary

,

with the paralysis which had s tri c ken the great

army and alarmed a t the in t ense clamor of an
,

incensed people ,
had to take ac tion to prevent
disaster . Earnestly searchin g for the bes t man to
m eet the emerg enc y and to brin g order out of chaos ,

there co uld be but one selection the man who had ,

restored President Buchanan to the Union cau se ,

ha d convinced Secretar y o f State Judg e Black that

he wa s wro ng in his views of constitutional l aw ,

had proclaimed failure to rein force Fort Sumter

treasonable and told the Pres i dent tha t if he
, s ur

rendered the fort he wo u ld be a traitor and de

serv ed to be han g ed —
tha t wa s the man the si tu a
’
tion required . The effect of Stanton s appoint
ment upon the countr y wa s magica l as the people
became con v ersant with the re c ord o f the new
Secretary in Buchanan s Cabine t ’
.

’
Much was said o f Stanton s ru de treatment o f
those having business with him , bu t ,
to j u dg e
whether his impetu osity wa s ex cusabl e one has t o ,

know those who c omplained and wha t the y de

m a nd ed . He was overwhelmed with important
 8 STA NTON T H E P ATRIOT
'

1 ,

affairs and had neither time nor disposition to

waste time upon those who had persona l ends to
advance . I witnessed hi s reception of the commit
tee from New ' ork City who fearing consequences
, ,

visited Washing ton to urge a postponement of the

draft . That wa s delightfully short . No time lost .

I f there wa s to be rebell ion in New ' ork the sooner

“
,

the Government met and crushed it th ebetter . N o

postponement wa s Stanton s reply We do no t

' ’
.

find Lincoln and members of the Cabinet or able

members of the House or Senate or high military
o ffic ers complainin g of his manner . He had time
and patience for them night or day .

H is inherent kindness may be judged by hi s first

act . It wa s to send a commiss i on to Richmond to
look after prisoners at the expense of the Govern
ment . Ten days later came his order that prisoners
of war should receive their usual pay .

Lincoln wa s reported as saying to a friend who

congratulated him upon Stanton s appointment ’

' es , the Army will move now even if it move to ,

the devil .
'
Move it did but not for some time
,
.

Month after month all was quiet on the Potomac .

Even Washington was threatened and P enn s y l

vani a I nvaded . The issue seemed to tremble in the

balance . The nation wa s heart Si ck but ,
great news
 STANTO N THE PATRIO T , 9

c ame at last to encoura ge it A bri g adier general .

-

named Gr ant upon his own initiative and mu c h to

the surprise of his commanding general ha d cap ,

tu r ed Fort Henry an d later Fort Donelson with ,

fifteen thousand prisoners compellin g the ev acua ,

tion of Nashville . I propose to move imme

d i a tel y upon your works wa s the secret of victor y
“
.

'
Here was an auger that c ould bore , which Lin
had determined to fi nd .

I n estimating Stant o n as War Minister man y ,

been justly lavish in their praise of his un

fl a gg i ng energ y tena c ity and unconquerable will in

, ,

the performance of the ordinary duties of a war

minis ter characteristic of an exceedingl y able man
, ,

but a just estimate of him can only be made when

the work he did ,
lying beyond the ran g e of the
immediate duties of a war minister ,
is known .

I n the field of constitutio nal law for instance we , ,

see t hat Stanton converted both President and

Secretary of State and he was described as
,
Lin
’
coln s right hand man -
'
in addition to bein g War
Minister . There were emerg encies when not only
ability but g enius was shown
, , . Let us recall three
of these
The Western riv ers were patrolled by Confed
er a t e steamboats , improvised ships of war . The
20 STANTO N , TH E PATRIOT

Navy Department had no plans for destroying

these and opening the rivers to the National forces .

Stanton knew Charles Ellet builder of the Wheeling , ,

Fairmount and other bridges an engineer of grea t

, ,

ability who had suggested rams for n a val wa rf ar e

, .

He wrote hi m March 862

“
, ,
1 ,

Depa rtment h a d s everal Swift strong

I f this
boats on the Western rivers commanded by ener ,

getic fighting men I coul d c l ear the rebels ou t of

,

th ose waters and recover the Mississippi to the

us e of commerce and our armies . The N avy seems
to be helpless a nd I am compelled to execute a plan
of my own to avert the increasing dangers ther e .

Can you not secretly fit out a fleet of swift boa ts a t

several points on th eOh io and des cend on the rebels
n
u expectedly and d estroy them ' Please call at my
'
o ffice at once .

Ellet wa s called to Washington for conferen c e on

March 2 6 th , and altho Russia and our own Navy
Department had long before rej ected E l l et
’
s i dea o f
rams Stanton adopted them and sent Ellet to Pitts
, ,

burg Cincinnati and New Albany to convert ordi

, ,

nary river steamboats into powerful rams . This was

promptly done and the rams app roached Memphi s
June t
s ,h destroyed the e nemy and captured the
c ity next day .
'

Ellet was the only National o fficer

 STANTO N THE ,
PATRI OT 2 1

lost . Wounded on deck Nelson like in the hour of ,

-
,

his greatest triumph he can never be forgotten , .

O nly ten weeks elapsed between the resolve to

improvise rams ,
and victory .

The second instance : The Confederates early

took possession of Norfol k and the Navy ' ard .

Secretar y Stanton asked the Navy Department if

'
the fl eet could not attack N orfolk ,
but was
met with the suggestion that the Army S hould
'

assault it by land . The Merrimac appeared and

sunk the Frig ates Congress and Cumberland and
alarmed the seaboard cities . That night Stanton
called a committee together in New ' ork by tele
graph to devise plans for S inking the terror . He
provisioned Fortress Monroe for S ix months and
advised the Na v y Department he could not embark
the Army to attack Norfolk until the Nav y bottled
up or sank the Merrimac . O n the followin g day he
wir ed Mr . V anderbilt to name a price for sinkin g
her . The Commodore promp tl y o ffered for the
purpose the swift and powerful Steamship Va n
d erbil t as a gift to the Government . She was
accepted and immediately sent to Fortress Monroe
to lie in wait . These arrangements made Stanton ,

'

induced the President to a cco m p a n y him to Fortress

Monroe that he might have the Commander —
in
22 S TA NTON ,
THE PATRIO T
'

Chief at his side to I ssue such orders as he might

think necessar y to both Army and Navy . There
was to be no failure of co operation . The attack
was a splendid success . The Merrimac retreated
and destroyed herself . The Navy ' ard Norfolk
, ,

and Portsmouth were captured and the James

River blockaded all according to Stanton s plans
,
’

and under his immediate direction .

The third instanc e : There came one serious dis

aster in West Rosecrans s defeat at Chioka
’
th e —

m a ug a ,
imperilling Chattanooga ,
the key to th e

region from whic

h Rosecrans thought he might have
to retreat . Stanton as usual had the solutio n
, ,

reinforce him from the Army of the Poto mac . Upon

receipt of Rosecrans s despatch he sent for Lincoln
’

’
who was sleeping at the Soldiers Home . Startled
by the summons the President mounted his horse
,

and rode to Washington in the moonlight to preside

over the Cabinet . Hallock oppo sed the idea saying ,

it would take forty days to make the transfer but ,

Stanton had already consulted the railroad and

t el egraph authorities Eckert and Mc Ca l l um and had
, ,

them present to assure the Cabinet that s even days

would suffice . Stanton was given his way .

My superior o fficer and life long friend -

,
Colonel
Thomas A Scott upon whom Stan
. ton greatly relied
, ,
 STANTO N ,
TH E PATRI OT 2 3

wa s called upon . Scott traveled the route . Stan

ton never left his o ffice for three days and nights
during the movement . September 2 6 th the troops
started and twenty three thousand troops were -

with Rosecrans in less than seven days . To Colonel

Scott ,
then at Louisville ,
Stanton telegraphed
' our work is most brilliant . A thousand thanks .

It is a great achievement . SO my superior in

Government service at Washington and kindest
friend of early days Thomas A Scott lives
“did
, ,
.

in history as one who the state some

service .
'

This wa s not all . Rosecrans s advices were still ’

most discouraging and indicated retreat . Stanton

determined to visit the field and j udge for himself .

He wired General Grant to meet him and then

immediately gave him full command of the Division
of t h eMis s i s s i ppi , not a moment too soon for it was
necessary to wire Rosecrans that he wa s displaced
by General Thomas the latter receiving orders to
,

hold hi s position at all hazards . The result wa s the

defeat of the Confederates and the capture of Chat
ta n o o g a . Stanton returned to Washington but not ,

until he had seen Rosecrans displaced and T hOm a s

in command of the Army of the C umberl an d with ,

Grant over all in the West .

24 STANTO N THE PATRIOT ,

The work of no mere secretary of war achieved

these three triumphs . Stanton appears as a com
bination of secretary of war admiral of the ,
fl eet ,

and commanding general ,

the President of the
United States a zealous co - operator . We note in
these emergencies intuitive apprehension of the vi
tal p OI n t s : fertility of resource adaptation of means ,

to ends and over all sublime confi dence in himself

, , ,

and certainty of success —

all qualities that pertain
to g enius . I t may be doubted if ever a man d is
played genius of a higher order in affairs of S imilar
character . Certainly no secretary of war ever
approached him .

I t was not long before Grant was called to

Washington by Secretary Stanton and placed at
the head of the Army . He dined with me at Pitts
burg when he passed westward and told me he ,

was to become lieutenant general with head -

quarters at Washington General Thomas being

“
.

then the popular idol I said to him ,

I suppose
you will place Thomas in command of the
West '
No 'who had been
he said “
Sherman '

“
, ,
.

little heard of ' is the man for chi e

f command
Thomas would be the first man to say so .

Sherman did indeed prove that Grant knew his

, ,

man
 STANTO N , TH E P ATRI OT 25

Great events soon followed culminating in the ,

surrender of the Confederates and the assassination

of Lincoln in the hour of victory Stanton and Sew
a rd , like Lincoln being also marked for death on the
,

conspirators list ’
.

Stanton s report of December

’

,
1 86 5 ,
opens as
follows
“
The military appropriations by the last Con
gress amounted to the sum of
The military estimates for the next fiscal year ,

after careful revision amount to ,

The Army was reduced to fifty thousand men .

The million of soldiers who had left peace ful pur

Suits to defend their country returned to their homes
and their former purs u its without the slightest dis
tu r ba n c e .
“
The future historia n is to record ,
'

says Dana ,
that this unprecedente d tr a n s fo r

mation in which so many anxious patriots soldiers , ,

and statesmen alike ,

labored together ,
was pre
eminently achieved b y the heroic genius o f Edwin
M Stanton
. .
'
So far all was peaceful and satis
factory in the North but how the Southern states
, ,

recently in rebellion were to be reconstructed be

, ,

came the problem Two days before his death ,

Lincoln had said ,

We al l agree that the seceded
states are out of their proper practical relation to
26 STANTO N THE P ATRIOT ,

the Union and that the so l e subj ect of the Go v ern

ment c 1v11 and military is again to g et them into
, ,

that proper practical relation .

'

The Southern people held that the old state

legislatures returned with p eace .

’
Stanton s connection with the subj ect began be
fore Lincoln s death ’
. April 1 4 th , at a Cabinet
meeting he submitted at Mr Lincoln s request a , .
’

mode which he had prepared whereby the states

“
should be organized without any necessity what
ever for the interventio n of rebel organizations or
rebel aid .
'
Lincoln s last telegram
’

,
April 1 1 th ,

fo llowing Stanton s policy was to General Weitzel

’

“
, ,

in command at Richmond orderin g that ,

those
who had acted as the Legislature of V irginia in
support of the rebellion be not allowed to assemble
even in their individual capacity President
Johnson followed this policy for some time and all
went well but on the ,
1 4 th of August in a telegram
to the governor of Mississippi he changed his posi
tion . When Congres s met it appointed a commit
tee to consider whether any of the seceding states ,

were entitled to be represented in either house and

provi ded that until its report shoul d be acted upon
,

by Congress no member S hould be receiv ed from such

,

states . The fear of the Unionists was that should ,

 STANTON THE PATRI OT,
2 7

the entire South send dislo yal representa tiv es these , ,

with a few Democratic s ympathizers from the North ,

might contro l Congress and pas s such meas ures as

would nullify th e Emancipation Proclamation the ,

poisono us root o f secession . Slavery , not y et

quite eradic ated was ready to germinate ag a i n
,
.

The President a Southern man , brought face to face

,

with the questio nof granting all the rights of citi

z en s hi to the negro recoiled and favored leavin g
p , ,

this question to the states . Stanton stood firml y

for the right of House and Senate to judg e o f the
election returns and qualifications of their o wn
members . An election for Con gress interven ed .

President Johnson made in flammatory spee ches in

the campaign ,
callin g Congress a bod y which
assumes to be the Congress of the United States ,

when it is a congress of only a part of the United

S tates ,
the people responded by sending increased
loyal maj orities to both houses . The prominent
part played by Stanton singled him out as the ob

j
ec t of attack by the President and those o f the
Cabinet who sided with him .
'
To protect him from
dismissal Congress passed the Tenure of O ffice bill
, ,

which also protected Genera l Grant . Neither

could be dismissed without the previous consent of
the Senate . O n the 1 oth of July Congress passed
2 8 STANTO N THE PATRIOT
,

the Reconstruction Act favored by Stanton over , ,

the President s veto ’

. Grant and Stanton in cordial ,

alliance put it into force and saved

, th e fruits of
victory SO
’

seriously imperilled . The Fourteenth

Amendment to the Constitution was finally made
effective .

Soon after the adj ournment of Congress ,

the
President determined to displace Stanton and con
s u l t ed Grant upon the subj ect . Grant expressed
strong disapproval and after pointing out that the ,

approval of the Senate was necessary ended with ,

these words
“
I n conclusion ,
allow me to say as a friend desir
, ,

ing peace and quiet the welfare of the whole country

,

North and South that it is in my opinion more than

, , ,

the loyal people of this country I mean those who

supported the Government during the great rebel
lion 'will quietly submit to to see the very man of a l l ,

others in whom they have expressed confidence

remove d .

The President then requested Stanton s res igna ’

tion which he declined to give before the next

,

meeting of Congress .

I n this he had the cordial s upport of the loyal

people . At a later date the President suspended
,

him and appointed General Gr ant Secretary of War

 STANTO N ,
THE PATRIOT 29

ad i nteri m . I n acknowledging to Stanton his ao

c ep t a nc e, the General wrote

I n notifying you of my acceptance I cannot let ,

the opportunity pass without expressin g to you my

appreciation of the zeal patriotism firmness and , , ,

ability with which you have ever discharged the

'
duties of Secretary of War .

Stanton knew that Grant had withstood the

President resolutely was true to the Union and , ,

could be trusted and hence had less difficulty in sub

,

mitting under protest .

Upon the meetin g of Congress ,

Stanton was
promptly reinstated . General Grant immediately
notified the President he was no longer Secretary of
War ,
S ince the Senate had reinstated Stanton .

This incensed the President who had expe c ted ,

’
Grant to remain and dispute the Senate s action .

That Stanton wa s surprised that Grant ever accepted

the appointment is clear but Gr ant s letter to the ’

President February 3 r d explains all

“
, ,

From our conversationsand my written protest o f

August 1 ,
1 86 7 , against the removal of Mr Stanton .
, ,

you must hav e known that my greatest obj ection to

his removal or suspension wa s the fear that someone
would be appointed in his stead who would by ,
op

position to the laws relating to the restoration of

30 STANTON , TH E PATRIOT

the Southern states to their proper relations to the

Government embarrass the army in theperformance
,

of duties especially imposed upon it by these l aws '

and it was to prevent such an appointment that I
a cc ep t ed th e o ffice of Secretar y of War ad
'
i nteri m,
and not for the purpose of enabling you to get rid o f
Mr . Stanton by my withholding it from him in
opposition to law or not doing myself surrender
'

, , so ,

ing it to someone who would as the sta tements and ,

assumptions in your communications plainly in

d ica te was sought .

And now Mr President when my honor as a

, .
,

soldier and integrity as a man have been so vio

l entl y assailed pardon me for saying that I can but
,

regard this whole matter from the beginning to the ,

end as an attempt to inv olve me in the resistance

,

of law for which you hesitated to assume the r es pon

,

s ibil i t y in orders and thus to destroy my character

,

before the country . I am in a measure confirmed

in this conclusion by your recent orders directing
me to disobey orders from the Secretary of War
m y superior and your subordinate —
without having
countermanded his authority to issue the orders I
am to disobey .
 STANTO N THE PATRIOT , 1

Thus Gr ant stood immovable true to the lo yal ,

forc es as against the President . The latter no w

attempted to g et General Sherman to accept ,

but he resolutely declined . As a l ast resort ,

General Thomas was appointed . This led to his

impeachment bv the House and trial by the
Senate . Upon the failure of the proceedings ,

through the lack of one vote only although two ,

thirds maj ority was required Secretary Stanton ,

resigned and retired to priv ate life to be soon ,

afterwards appointed justic e of the Supreme Court ,

by President Grant . Resolutions of thanks were

passed by both houses and many were the trib
'

u tes o ffered to this remarkable man who had

given S ix years of
life and undermined his h is

health in his c ountry s ser vice B efore entering ’

.

the Cabinet he had amassed considerable means

,

by his pro fession but this was exhausted , . Be

yond his modest residence in Washington ,

he
left nothing . Dispensing hundreds of millions
yearl y he lived without ostentation and he died
, ,

poor .

O ffers of gifts and private subscriptions by those

who knew his wants were uniformly rej ected . On
the mo
rnin g of the 2 4 th o f December ,
1 8 69 , he
breathed his last .
 STANTON THE PATRIOT ,

He had been foremost in urging the abolitio n o f

slavery the root of secession and Lincoln s right
, ,
’

hand man in preserving our blessed Union which Se ,

c ures for this continent an indissoluble government

so overwhelmingly powerful as to be immune fro m
attack and able to enforce internal peace in con ,
''

trast to Europe with its huge armie

s organized ,
n ot

against for eign foes but for protection against ea ch

other .

Well m a y We imagine the patriot murmuring as

his spirit fled ,
“
I thank thee G od that thou hast , ,

permitted thy servant to see S lavery abo

lished and
the Union preserved ' let him now depart in peace .

The tributes paid to his memory were many and ,

hi stra nscend nt services were fully extolled but of

e , ,

all that has b een said or written about him nothing ,

gives po sterity such clear full and truthful evidence

, ,

in
’
of the man s seemingly superhuman power of
fusing into a whole people the vibrations of hi s own
impassioned soul ,
as is supplied b y an edito rial
written by one by no means pr edisp osed in his favor ,

Horace Greeley The following editorial appeared

.

in the Tri bu ne , Feb . 1 8 th

While ev ery ho nest heart rises in gratitude to

God for the victori es which afford so glorious a

guaranty of the national salvation let it not be , for

 STANTO N , T HE P ATR IOT 33

gotten that it is to Edwin M Stanton more than to

.
,

any other individual tha t these auspicious events ,

are now due . O ur g enerals in the field have done

their duty with energy and courage ' our Of
ficers ,

and with them the noble democrac y of the ranks ,

have proved themselves worthy sons of the Repub

l ie : but it is by the impassioned soul the S leepless ,

will and the great practical talents of the Secretar y

,

of War that the vast power of the United States

,

has now been hurled upon their treacherous and

perjured enemies to crush them to powder . Let no
man imagine that we exalt this great statesman
above hi s deserts or that we would detract an iota
,

from that S hare of glory which in this momentous

crisis belon gs to every faithful participator in the
events of the war . But we canno t overlook the fact
that whereas the other day all was doubt distrust
, , ,

and uncertainty ' the nation despairing almost of

its restoration to life ' Congress the scene of bitter
imputations and unsatisfactory apologies ' the arm y
sluggish discontented and decaying and the abyss
, , ,

of ruin and disgrace yawning to swallow us : now all

is inspiration movement victory and confidence
, , , .

We seem to have passed into another state of ex

is t en c e ,
to live with distinct purposes and to f eel ,

the certainty of their realization . I n one word ,

34 STANTON ,
THE PATRI OT

the nation is saved ' and while with ungrudgin g

hands we heap garlands upon all defenders let a ,

special tribute of affectionate admiration be paid

to the minister who organized the v10tory which
they have won .
'

Nothing is exagg erated here unduly laudatory ,

as it may seem . Man y like myself c an vouch from

personal knowledge for all that is said ,
having
known the man and his work and th e c onditions .

Stanton deprecated its publication in 1 862 , and in a

letter to the Tri bu ne disclaimed the credit given him ,

but standing here to day wh en justice can be done

—

to the real hero without arousing j ealous y in others ,

I solemnl y pronounce every word of Horace Gree

’
ley s tribute richly deserved . O ur pantheon is re

served for the fa thers of the Republic . To these

has re c ently been added Lincoln who has taken his ,

place among the gods . Two other names from our

g eneration are yet to enter their services swellin g
,

as ev ents recede : Stanton and Grant .

’
Thus passed away ' enyon s most illustrious
alumnus but in the higher sense h e is still with us
, ,

and distant is the day when the graduates of ' enyon

shall find that his spirit no longer rules them from
his urn . Such an example as he left is one of the '

most prec ious legacies that c an be bequeathed to

 STANTO N , TH E PATRI OT 35

posterity a career spent not in pursuit o f miserable

, ,

aims whi ch end with self but in high servic e for

, ,

others . I n these days o f materialism , where so

many are devoted to the pursuit of wealth as an end ,

some purs uing it b y u nderhand and dishonorab l e

means and in political life where personal adv an c e
, ,

ment is so often the aim the value of a Stanton in

, ,

total abneg ation of self , p l a c in g before him as his

aim in life service t o his c ountry reg ardless of
, ,

popularity ,
fame or wealth ,
cannot be o v eres ti

mated .

It is for the students o f ' enyon and for all men ,

y ear after y ear g eneration a ft er g eneration c entur y

, ,

after c entury to emulate his virtues follow

, , his ex
ample ,
and rev ere his memory .