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A dramatic letter from a critical moment in the crisis between President Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress and the Cabinet, centering on the status of Secretary of War Stanton. “I came to the office at half past ten o’clock this morning. General Grant has removed his own papers and left the key with the Adjutant General to be given to me. I sent for him and took possession.”
EDWIN M. STANTON.
Autographed Letter Signed as Secretary of War, marked “Private,” to Edwards Pierrepont, on “War Department” stationery. Washington, D.C., January 14, 1868. 1 p., 7¾ x 9? in. WITH: EDWIN M. STANTON. Document Signed. October 10, 1862. Pass for four women to St. Augustine, Florida. Endorsed and signed by Union General David S. Hunter. 7? x 8¾ in. WITH: [EDWIN M. STANTON]. Telegram, to New York Governor Horatio Seymour. July 05, 1864.
Inventory #27573
Price: $12,500
Complete Transcript
Private War Department
Washington City
Jany 14, 1868
1 oclock PM
My dear friend,
I write to you from my desk in the War Department. The Senate vote was more decided than I had expected in my favor. Bayard, Buckalew, Davis, Dixon, Doolittle & Patterson, Johnson’s son in law, were the only negatives. Fessenden is said to have made a great speech. I came to the office at half past ten o’clock this morning. General Grant has removed his own papers and left the key with the Adjutant General to be given to me. I sent for him and took possession. What Johnson’s next move will be I do not know but I may be removed any how & the sooner the better.
Yours truly,
Edwin M. Stanton
Hon Edwards Pierrepont
Historical Background
Only hours before the Senate voted to keep him in office, Stanton rejects President Andrew Johnson’s dismissal of him under the terms of the Tenure in Office Act.
The reference to Ulysses Grant touches on a particularly dramatic aspect of the affair. Johnson had thought his offer to name Grant as Stanton’s replacement would make the dismissal more palatable to Senate Republicans. But in the event the Senate decided to keep Stanton, he extracted from Grant a promise to retain control of the office and not to relinquish it to Stanton under any circumstance. Over the course of Sunday, January 12 and Monday, January 13, Grant became increasingly uneasy about Johnson’s instructions. He risked exposing himself to a $10,000 fine for violating the Tenure in Office Act. As soon as Grant got word early on January 14 of the Senate vote, he dropped his keys off with the Adjutant General and sent a messenger to inform Johnson of his actions. A bitter public dispute erupted between Johnson and Grant concerning just what had been promised by whom. Meanwhile Stanton – keys in hand – bolted his inner office door and locked the hallway door shut. Furniture and other articles were added to a defiant if somewhat theatrical hallway barricade.
Edwards Pierrepont (1817-1892) was a Connecticut-born lawyer and jurist, who from 1862 through 1868 was a member of the military commission for the cases of state prisoners in federal military custody.
WITH EDWIN M. STANTON. Document Signed. October 10, 1862. Pass for four women to St. Augustine, Florida. Endorsed and signed by Union General David S. Hunter. 7? x 8¾ in.
Partial Transcript
“Miss Sarah A. Mather, Miss Perit, and Mrs.. Cristine Smith and sister have permission to go to Saint Augustine…”
WITH [EDWIN M. STANTON]. Telegram, to New York Governor Horatio Seymour. July 05, 1864.
In response to Jubal Early’s invasion of Maryland in July, 1864, Secretary of War Stanton requests ten thousand militia for one hundred days’ service.
Complete Transcript
By telegraph from Washington July 5th. 1864
To His Excellency Governor Horatio Seymour
The President directs me to inform you that a rebel force variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty thousand men has invaded the State of Maryland and have taken Martinsburgh and Harpers Ferry and are threatening other points; that the public safety requires him to call upon the State Executives for a militia force [crossed out: of twelve thousand]to repel this invasion. He therefore directs me to call on you for a militia force of twelve thousand men from your State to serve not more than one hundred days and to request that you will with the utmost dispatch forward the troops to Washington by rail or steamboat as may be most expeditious.
Please favor me with an answer at your [2]earliest convenience
(signed) Edwin. M. Stanton
Secretary of War
Historical Background
Hoping to replicate the successes of “Stonewall” Jackson’s 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, Confederate General Robert E. Lee dispatched the II Corps of his Army of Northern Virginia, under Jubal Early, to retrace Jackson’s footsteps in the summer of 1864. Lee had ably checked Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s southward advances in Virginia, winning tactical victories at The Wilderness and Spotsylvania, but Grant maneuvered around Lee’s right flank, across the James River, and opened the siege of Petersburg. Early’s invasion of the Valley was a desperate gambit designed to threaten Washington, D.C., influence northern public opinion so as to weaken Lincoln’s reelection prospects, and draw troops away from Grant’s army at Petersburg. Grant had already suffered an eye-opening 65,000 casualties in May and June of 1864, and the war was becoming increasingly unpopular in the North.
Early’s Valley Campaign was initially successful. As Stanton reported, Early invaded Maryland in early July and menaced the federal capital. They burned Postmaster General Montgomery Blair’s Silver Spring house, then raced northward to torch the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Grant responded quickly by sending the VI Corps to Washington, but until their arrival, only militia guarded the fortifications. Here, Stanton seeks twelve thousand militia from the Governor of New York for one hundred days’ service to help protect the capital in this momentary crisis.
With the VI Corps and his own cavalry at its core, a Union force, christened the Army of the Shenandoah by its commander, General Philip Sheridan, quickly mobilized to counter Early’s threat. In September and October, 1864, Sheridan won decisive victories at Third Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek, breaking Early’s force. He then proceeded to destroy the agricultural potential of the Valley, saying famously that he would turn “The Shenandoah Valley [into] a barren waste … so that crows flying over it for the balance of this season will have to carry their provender with them.”
Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) was a Democratic politician from New York, who won election as state governor twice, serving from 1853-1854, and 1863-1864. As a wartime governor, Seymour had to deal with the New York City Draft Riots in 1863. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1868, losing in a landslide to Ulysses S. Grant.
Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) A controversial member of Lincoln’s cabinet, Stanton proved an able head of the War Department. Serving as Attorney General at the end of the Democratic Buchanan administration, Stanton was opposed to slavery and committed to sectional compromise, but used his influence to convince Buchanan to declare secession unconstitutional. Though an early critic of Lincoln’s policies he was named Secretary of War in early 1862, replacing the ineffective Simon Cameron. Stanton proved adept at working with congressional leaders and generals in the field, creating order out of chaos. In 1862, Stanton pushed for the removal of McClellan. He later worked with Radical Republicans at the end of the war to secure harsher punishment for the South, causing conflict with Andrew Johnson, and eventually driving him from office in 1868. Stanton’s removal was the principal cause of the political conflict leading to the impeachment of President Johnson. Stanton was named to the Supreme Court by President Ulysses Grant in 1869 but died before he could be sworn in.
Historical References
McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom. New York, 1988 [Sheridan qtd. at p. 778].
