![LINCOLN, Abraham, President. Autograph endorsement signed ("A, Lincoln") to Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner; n.p., [Washington, D.C.], 21 May 1862, 11 lines plus date and signature on verso of letter to Sumner from Thomas Breck, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, 17 May 1862. 246 x 197 mm. With an endorsement of Sumner to Lincoln, 7 lines, n.d., on verso of Breck's letter, above that of Lincoln. Other notations, clean separation along top fold.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2000/NYE/2000_NYE_08411_0008_000(014341).jpg?w=1)
Details
LINCOLN, Abraham, President. Autograph endorsement signed ("A, Lincoln") to Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner; n.p., [Washington, D.C.], 21 May 1862, 11 lines plus date and signature on verso of letter to Sumner from Thomas Breck, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, 17 May 1862. 246 x 197 mm. With an endorsement of Sumner to Lincoln, 7 lines, n.d., on verso of Breck's letter, above that of Lincoln. Other notations, clean separation along top fold.
LINCOLN URGES LENIENCY FOR A SOLDIER FACING TRIAL FOR THE CAPITAL OFFENCE OF SLEEPING AT HIS POST
Breck has written Sumner, asking him to intervene on behalf of an enlisted man of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, George C. Alden, who is to be put "...on trial, under arrest or sentence for being found sleeping on his post whilst on guard...He has for many years...been subject to a lethargy occasionly [sic] so that he would fall asleep even when persons were in conversation with him...I take the liberty of requesting that you will be good enough to lay this letter before the President [Lincoln] with the request that all proceedings may be delayed until the facts in relation to the young man can be fully investigated and his widowed mother may have no grounds to reproach the government with sacrificing her son in hot haste..." Lincoln responds: "I know nothing of this case--know not where Mr. Alden is-- whether any proceedings are a foot against him--I should not knowingly let him be punished if shown he has the infirmity stated in the affidavit; though the infirmity may be sufficient reason for dismissing him from the service". Alden went on to serve another two years and was discharged from the army in 1864. Published in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:228.
LINCOLN URGES LENIENCY FOR A SOLDIER FACING TRIAL FOR THE CAPITAL OFFENCE OF SLEEPING AT HIS POST
Breck has written Sumner, asking him to intervene on behalf of an enlisted man of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, George C. Alden, who is to be put "...on trial, under arrest or sentence for being found sleeping on his post whilst on guard...He has for many years...been subject to a lethargy occasionly [sic] so that he would fall asleep even when persons were in conversation with him...I take the liberty of requesting that you will be good enough to lay this letter before the President [Lincoln] with the request that all proceedings may be delayed until the facts in relation to the young man can be fully investigated and his widowed mother may have no grounds to reproach the government with sacrificing her son in hot haste..." Lincoln responds: "I know nothing of this case--know not where Mr. Alden is-- whether any proceedings are a foot against him--I should not knowingly let him be punished if shown he has the infirmity stated in the affidavit; though the infirmity may be sufficient reason for dismissing him from the service". Alden went on to serve another two years and was discharged from the army in 1864. Published in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:228.
Provenance
Collections of Frederick Meserve and Justin Turner