Details
[LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President]. STANTON, EDWIN M., Secretary of War. Autograph letter signed to Edward Pierrepont, Washington, 11 May 1865. 1 page, 4to, 248 x 199 mm. (9 3/4 x 7 7/8 in.), on printed War Department stationery. [with] Two telegraphic messages from Stanton to Pierrepont, 12 and 13 May 1865, each 1 1/2 pages, 8vo. (3)
STANTON'S HYSTERICAL REACTION TO LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION
In the weeks following Lincoln's assasination, Stanton pressed for the assassination conspirators to be tried before a military tribunal, where the rules of evidence would be less constricting, judicial review impossible and sentences swiftly carried out. Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune, branded his proposal as unconstitutional, thereby arousing Stanton's unmitigated ire. These letters eloquently reveal Stanton's irrational intensity of emotion in the wake of the assassination. He fulminates: "Justice to my wife and children require me to prosecute Horace Greeley and the owners of the New York Tribune for the persistent efforts of the last few weeks to incite assasins to murder me. This duty I shall attend to, as soon as my public duties will afford sufficient leisure. In the meantime I wish you would consult Mr. Cutting and Brady (Francis Cutting and James Brady) and employ them for me to assist you and take measures to obtain the names of the owners of the Tribune. I propose to prosecute them civilly and Greeley criminally." Stanton elaborates his plan to prosecute Greeley in the two telegraphic messages. In his 12 May cable Stanton requests "copies of all tribunes published since the night of the President's murder... I propose to prosecute criminally and also civil Suit for I shall not allow them [the owners of the Tribune] to have me murdered and escape responsibility without a struggle for Life on my part." In the last cable of 13 May, Stanton continues to rail: "I have proof express personal malice against me by Greeley and Believe that I can establish a combination between him & others which may end in accomplishing my death as it did against Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward. This is my reason for distinguishing his case from others of Genl. vituperation." In the end, Stanton's planned moves against Greeley came to nought.
STANTON'S HYSTERICAL REACTION TO LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION
In the weeks following Lincoln's assasination, Stanton pressed for the assassination conspirators to be tried before a military tribunal, where the rules of evidence would be less constricting, judicial review impossible and sentences swiftly carried out. Horace Greeley, publisher of the New York Tribune, branded his proposal as unconstitutional, thereby arousing Stanton's unmitigated ire. These letters eloquently reveal Stanton's irrational intensity of emotion in the wake of the assassination. He fulminates: "Justice to my wife and children require me to prosecute Horace Greeley and the owners of the New York Tribune for the persistent efforts of the last few weeks to incite assasins to murder me. This duty I shall attend to, as soon as my public duties will afford sufficient leisure. In the meantime I wish you would consult Mr. Cutting and Brady (Francis Cutting and James Brady) and employ them for me to assist you and take measures to obtain the names of the owners of the Tribune. I propose to prosecute them civilly and Greeley criminally." Stanton elaborates his plan to prosecute Greeley in the two telegraphic messages. In his 12 May cable Stanton requests "copies of all tribunes published since the night of the President's murder... I propose to prosecute criminally and also civil Suit for I shall not allow them [the owners of the Tribune] to have me murdered and escape responsibility without a struggle for Life on my part." In the last cable of 13 May, Stanton continues to rail: "I have proof express personal malice against me by Greeley and Believe that I can establish a combination between him & others which may end in accomplishing my death as it did against Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward. This is my reason for distinguishing his case from others of Genl. vituperation." In the end, Stanton's planned moves against Greeley came to nought.