Stanton by Walter Stahr
Stanton by Walter Stahr
A Book Report by Bobby Everett Smith
January 13, 2018
Spoiler Alert
Setting
Washington, D.C. and around the world, 1860’s
Characters
Jeremiah Black, Attorney General, and Secretary of State for President Buchanan. Friend of Stanton who sent him to California on legal job.
James Buchanan, 15th president of the United States. Preceded Abraham Lincoln as president.
Salmon P. Chase, a Free Soiler and friend of Stanton, who was a Democrat. Secretary of Treasury in 1961. Later Chief Justice of Supreme Court.
Charles Ellet Jr., a brilliant engineer who built the Wheeling Bridge and stymied Stanton’s efforts to have the bridge raised or removed. Helped Stanton build a fleet of reinforced naval rams and commanded them in the battle of Memphis where he was killed.
Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States, and Commanding General for Union forces in the Civil War. Worked closely throughout the Civil War with Edwin Stanton.
Henry Halleck, Union general in the Civil War, brought to Washington during the war reporting to Stanton and general in chief over Grant.
Andrew Johnson, president of the United States after Lincoln whom he succeeded after Lincoln was assassinated. Disagreements over reconstruction between Stanton and other cabinet members led to Johnson’s impeachment where he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States. Served during the Civil War. Elected to a second term in 1865 but was assassinated shortly after. Worked with Stanton whom he appointed to Secretary of War on his cabinet.
George B. McClellan, General of Union Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. Reluctant to attack as Stanton and Lincoln wanted him to do. Ran for president of the United States.
John Pope, General of Union Army, Second Battle of Bull Run.
William T. Sherman, General of Union Army, led famous march of the Union forces through Georgia and Carolinas near the end of the Civil War. Worked as a friend and adversary to Stanton.
Edwin L. Stanton, Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln. Appointed to Supreme Court before his death but did not serve long.
Charles Sumner, U. S. Senator during the Civil War. Friend of Stanton. Anti-slavery advocate from Massachusetts.
Lorenzo Thomas, General of Union Army, responsible for personnel. Chosen to recruit black soldiers.
Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War. Kept detailed diary and was highly critical of Stanton during the war.
Executive Summary
The United States, in 1861, had one major issue that was about to tear them apart—slavery. States in the South had about four million slaves that they consider their property and their lifestyle. In the Norther States, the ownership of human beings was illegal.
The two sides tried many compromises to settle the issues but when Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, that was too much for South Carolina and they voted 169-0 to secede from the United States. Ten other states followed in the next few months and the Civil War was underway. From Lincoln’s view, the goals of the War were twofold, to protect the Union and to abolish slavery.
The War turned out to be a bigger deal than anyone imagined when it first started. Over 700,000 people were killed over a four-year period. In the end, the northern, anti-slavery forces prevailed.
If you must ask who, in the Union, were the three most important leaders responsible for winning the war, you might say, Abraham Lincoln, President, Ulysses S. Grant, General-in-Chief, and Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War. This is the story about Stanton.
Stanton was born in Ohio on the banks of the Ohio River not far from Cincinnati in 1814. He grew up there, went to school and finally received his law degree. He turned out to be a good lawyer and within a few years, he was living in Washington, D.C., nationally known, and being considered by President Buchanan to be the Attorney General of the United States.
Towards the end of his career, President Johnson reviewed Stanton’s qualifications for the Supreme Court. Johnson received glowing recommendations—an excellent lawyer, a man of sterling integrity, practitioner of large accounts before the Supreme Court.
Others noted that Stanton was hard-working, a great lawyer and a great man—able, fearless, accurate and brave. A man that will stand with Lincoln as one of the great leaders of the Civil War. Grant insisted that Lincoln could never find a more qualified war minister. Certainly not one more patriotic or earnest, ready to put up his hand for his leader, Abraham Lincoln. Other reports stated, Stanton was overpowering in will and masterful in passion. Massive in intellect, and sleepless in energy. Warm and devoted with friends, and tenderly loved in his family.
On April 9, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant.
On April 15, after being shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford Theater, Lincoln died. Andrew Johnson from Tennessee, who leaned towards the south throughout the war, took office as president.
Permanent results of the war included three Constitutional Amendments which were eventually approved in the early days after the end of the Civil War:
- Amendment 13: The emancipation proclamation freed all slaves in the United States
- Amendment 14: Provides rights of citizenship to former slaves, due process, and equal rights
- Amendment 15: Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.
Grant was elected to be the next president and he appointed Stanton to be the next Supreme Court Justice. This position was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1969.
On December 24, 1869 Stanton died of congestive heart failure at age 55. He did not serve a single day on the Supreme Court.
The Story
Edwin Stanton was born in Steubenville, Ohio on the banks of the Ohio River, December 19, 1814. The Ohio River was a major means of transportation in the 1800’s but it was also the boundary between slavery on the southside and anti-slavery, on the northside.
Stanton grew up in Ohio, went to Kenyon College and law school and with hard work and lots of study, he became a nationally-known lawyer in Washington, D.C. President Buchanan selected him to be Attorney General and later Lincoln appointed him to be Secretary of War, a position he held throughout the Civil War.
Stanton opposed slavery although he was not particularly active in pursuing the issue probably because of ties with his family who lived in the South. Stanton passed the bar in Ohio in 1835 and embarked on a career as a lawyer. By 1840, Democratic leaders recognized Stanton as one of the “promising young lawyers in Ohio.”
Stanton’s Early Success
Democrats nominated James Buchanan for president in the 1856 election. Republicans nominated John Fremont from California.
In October 1857, Jeremiah Black, Attorney General of the United States, hired Stanton to represent the federal government in land cases in California. These cases were the most prominent cases in the legal world in the late 1850’s. Stanton went to California and studied the cases day and night. Jose Lamantour, a Frenchman living in Mexico, claimed thousands of acres of California land. Stanton’s challenge was to discover if this was a legitimate claim.
Stanton discovered fraud and forgeries and Stanton was sitting on a major win which further propelled his reputation as a strong lawyer throughout the United States.
Stanton got additional national recognition when he took on the Wheeling Bridge case in Wheeling, Virginia. The case advanced to the Supreme Court of the United States and the Court sided with Stanton, the bridge had to allow for navigation of steamboats on the Ohio River.
Secession
On November 9, 1860 the South Carolina General Assembly passed a “Resolution to Call the Election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President a Hostile Act” and stated its intention to declare secession from the United States.
On November 10, 1860, the S.C. General Assembly called for a “Convention of the People of South Carolina” to consider secession. The secession convention convened in Columbia on December 17 and the people voted unanimously, 169-0, to declare secession from the United States.
In December 1860 former South Carolinian congressman John McQueen wrote regarding the reasons as to why South Carolina was contemplating secession from the Union. In the letter, McQueen claimed:
“The U.S. president-elect Abraham Lincoln supports equality and civil rights for African Americans as well as the abolition of slavery, and thus South Carolina, being opposed to such measures, is compelled to secede.”
“We, of South Carolina hope soon to greet you (Virginians) in a Southern Confederacy, where white men shall rule our destinies, and from which we may transmit to our posterity the rights, privileges and honor left us by our ancestors.”
“Slavery is justified under the Christian religion, and thus, those who view slavery as being immoral are opposed to Christianity.”
“The parties in the conflict are atheists, socialists, communists, and red republicans. Christianity and Atheism are the combatants; the progress of humanity is at stake.”
In the 1860 election, Buchanan was out, and Lincoln was in. Stanton, now advising Buchanan, told the president that he not only had the authority but, in fact, the duty to coerce states to stay in the Union.
On December 20, 1860, Stanton was appointed Attorney General. Stanton wanted to continue working for Lincoln upon his inauguration in March 1861, just three months away. Southern states believed that Lincoln intended to emancipate all slaves in the United States and they were determined not to let that happen.
Major Robert Anderson, as officer-in-charge, occupied Ft. Sumpter, S.C., in the Spring 1861. When President Abraham Lincoln announced plans to resupply the fort, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. After a 34-hour exchange of artillery fire, Anderson and 86 soldiers surrendered the fort on April 13.
The Secretary of War
On January 13, 1862, Lincoln nominated Edwin Stanton to become the Secretary of War on his cabinet. A week later, after approval by the Senate, Stanton started to work as the new Secretary of War, a civilian who pursued such responsibilities as finance, purchasing and directing military affairs
Another key job was to work with Congress getting funds, a challenging assignment. The Union spent $600 million on the war in 1863 and $1 billion in 1865. Congress also had to approve the draft, to acquire new personnel for fighting the war. Stanton had to deal with Representatives and Senators directly which he did frequently during his tenure as Secretary.
Another responsibility was to deal with the Governors. The federal government relied almost exclusively on the states to provide fighting men. Stanton was in touch with all the governors usually by telegraph every day of the war. Stanton normally created the first draft of messages that were transmitted to governors and relied on staff members to transmit and answer messages from he governors.
By 1863 Stanton was involved in politics daily. In this capacity, he favored Republicans and sometimes punished officers who appeared to vote the wrong way.
Stanton recognized the importance of the press and he maintained daily contact with reporters, and publishers sending press releases about the progress of the war and attempting to mold public opinion to favor the president’s strategy. Stanton punished and arrested editors who violated what he conceived of as the limits of wartime journalism.
Stanton also had to communicate with his colleagues in the Cabinet, negotiating disagreements about policy.
Railroads, telegraphy, and the Quartermaster Corps also fell under Stanton’s area of responsibility. Stanton created two new bureaus, the Telegraph and the Railroad. Moving thousands of troops over the railroads was a monumental task. Stanton communicated directly with his generals in the field by a system of telegraphs giving him near real-time contact with the conduct of the war.
Coordinating the War Department with the Military
As the Secretary of War, Stanton coordinated with military leaders in the conduct of the war. In February 1862, General Grant led the battle of Ft. Donelson on the Cumberland River in northern Tennessee, where he captured more than 10,000 confederate soldiers. General McClellan in Washington first got news of the victory and walked in the rain to the War Department where he informed Stanton and his staff of the victory. A day later, Stanton drafted a memo to the president which promoted Grant to major general, which at the time was the highest rank for a general in the Union army.
While Grant was scoring victories in the Western regions, Stanton was performing his duties as Secretary of War with excellence–organizing recruiting, training, equipping, moving, feeding, and sustaining the Union army and naval forces.
One of Stanton’s first legislative successes was the passage of a bill that authorized the president to take charge of all rail lines in the United States. The president could militarize all the rail lines, the officers, agents, and employees of the railroad and treat them as part of the military establishment.
Some rail lines were owned by the military and by the end of the war, the military lines alone totaled more than 2000 miles of track. Executives of the private railroads were given the option to remain in control if they would follow military regulations. Most of them did that and continued to manage their facilities for the good of the War.
The War Department, not the Navy, was responsible for transporting troops by water. Stanton managed the leasing of 400 ships to transport 100,000 men In McClellan’s army by sea to a point near Richmond. This project included the transport of men, equipment, mules, horses, cannons, food, and other equipment over the course of a few weeks.
The main question facing Lincoln and Stanton in the early days of 1862 was what to do with General McClellan and the Army of the Potomac. All the major papers of the Union believed that the goal of McClellan’s forces should be to move on and capture Richmond. McClellan always had an excuse, usually that he needed more men, but his inaction became known as McClellan’s delay.
Stanton reported to the cabinet that McClellan” has no plans but is fumbling and plunging about in confusion and darkness.” Stanton vowed to get rid of McClellan as General of the Potomac army.
On July 11, 1862, Stanton ordered General Halleck to come from the West to Washington as soon as possible. When the general arrived, Lincoln announced that he was making Halleck general-in-chief of all the federal armies. McClellan was incensed that he would now have to report to Halleck and he told his wife that he would resign from the Army.
When Halleck took command, Lincoln ordered him to move on Richmond with dispatch. McClellan, now reporting to Halleck, oversaw the main force which would move on Richmond. McClellan kept his force behind barricades on the James River, telling his superiors that he could move on Richmond and take it but only if he had thousands of reinforcements.
Halleck ordered McClellan to move his troops to Aquia Creek where General Pope and his army were based. McClellan protested that the move to Aquia Creek would be a disaster resulting in the defeat of Pope and McClellan’s armies. Finally, McClellan took his time in moving his troops towards transport ships located in Alexandria.
On August 26, confederate forces under Stonewall Jackson, captured the rail junction at Manassas. Halleck ordered McClellan to move swiftly to support Pope at Aquia Creek, but McClellan still delayed. Lincoln’s response to McClellan’s efforts to delay action was outrage. Lincoln wondered if McClellan wanted to see Pope defeated.
Pope was defeated badly losing 14,000 men. Halleck reported to Stanton that McClellan had not moved promptly when ordered on August 3, 1962 and that if he had, the outcome of The Second Battle of Bull Run would have been different.
Stanton sent a letter from the Cabinet to Lincoln demanding McClellan’s removal. Lincoln denied the request from Stanton and put McClellan further in charge of all defenses of Washington.
The political battles amongst McClellan, Stanton, and Halleck continued into September 1862. McClellan was effective in persuading members of the press about his position and requests for reinforcements. Lincoln participated in the internal fights to some extent but his main concern at that time was the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. On September 1862, Lincoln issued the order that as of January 1, 1863, slaves in any state in rebellion with the Union would be forever free.
Lincoln further imposed martial law throughout the country. Confederates reacted with fear and anger. Lincoln countered that all persons supporting the confederate cause or guilty of any disloyal service shall be tried by military courts and punished in accordance with military law. Military arrests were now not just Stanton’s policy but also Lincoln’s policy.
Meanwhile, McClellan’s forces were not going anywhere. McClellan remained in Maryland resting and resupplying his forces. Lincoln and Halleck ordered him to move, but McClellan continued to resist and stayed put.
McClellan continued to insist that he needed more men and supplies. Lincoln and Stanton supplied him with all the troops and equipment that they could find. Some believed that Lincoln wanted to remove McClellan but was waiting until after the election of 1862 to make that change.
That’s what happened. The day after the election, McClellan was removed from command of the Army of the Potomac and General Burnside was put in his place. McClellan moved to New York and was the Democratic nominee for president in 1862.
Meanwhile in the west, General Grant won the Battle of Vicksburg. With this victory, Grant’s forces captured a strategic position on the Mississippi River along with 30.000 rebel troops. Grant’s reputation, as a fighter and a winner, grew throughout the nation.
The Battle of Vicksburg in the West and Gettysburg in the East occurred about the same time, July 1-4, 1863. After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, General Robert E. Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign. Lee intended to shift the focus to influence Northern politicians to give up their prosecution of the war by penetrating as far as Philadelphia.
Prodded by Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved of command just three days before the battle and replaced by Maj. General Meade.
The Battle of Gettysburg
Elements of the two armies initially collided at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as Lee concentrated his forces there, his objective being to engage the Union army and destroy it.
In three days of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, both sides lost over 57,000 men either killed, wounded, or missing. On July 4, Lee began his retreat to relative safety in Virginia.
Stanton and Halleck were involved in the battle remotely, but they were also involved with two other major issues of the day, recruiting riots in New York and campaigning for the president’s reelection in the fall. In many places throughout the Union, people rioted and resisted the draft. In New York City, outright violence erupted, Stanton dispatched federal troops to New York to quell the riots and that was quickly accomplished. Order was restored and the drafts in New York resumed.
Lincoln and Stanton were disappointed that General Meade had allowed General Lee to cross the Potomac and escape annihilation.
Stanton promoted Grant to commander of a new Division of the Mississippi, and Grant headed for Chattanooga where he took charge of the war there.
On February 29, 1864, Grant was promoted to Lt. General. Grant was ordered to Washington to accept the promotion. Grant, Stanton, Lincoln, and Halleck worked over the next several days planning the end of the war by capturing Lee’s forces at Richmond. Grant would oversee all Union armies with his headquarters in the field. Meade was General of the Army of the Potomac. Halleck and Stanton would stay in Washington raising the forces necessary to resupply the armies with men and equipment. Grant and Meade would march south towards Richmond, about a hundred miles away from Washington. The objective was to destroy Lee’s army, not capture the capital.
General Sherman was ordered to move from Chattanooga towards Atlanta to pursue that part of the Confederacy. Grant and Sherman would pursue their part of the country at the same time to prevent the Southerners from supporting each other.
The Senate and House passed the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864. The bill required that 50% of voters swear an oath of allegiance to the Union. Rebels had to swear that they had never supported the rebellion before the states would be allowed to reenter into the Union. The new states must prohibit slavery.
Lincoln won the November election by a landslide. McClellan only took three states. The New York Herald reported that Stanton would be named to the Supreme Court. Grant wrote Lincoln and told him that Stanton was too important to move out of the War Department now.
In reviewing Stanton for the Supreme Court, Lincoln received glowing recommendations—an excellent lawyer, a man of sterling integrity, practitioner of large accounts before the Supreme Court.
Others noted that Stanton was hard-working, a great lawyer and a great man—able, fearless, accurate and brave. A man that will stand with Lincoln as one of the great leaders of the Civil War. Grant insisted that Lincoln could never find a more qualified war minister. Certainly not one more patriotic or earnest, ready to put up his hand for his leader, Abraham Lincoln. Overpowering in will and masterful in passion. Massive in intellect, and sleepless in energy. Warm and devoted with friends, and tenderly loved in his family.
Lincoln nominated Chase to be the Chief Justice on December 6, 1864. Stanton continued to devote his attention to the war effort—especially in Nashville and Savannah.
Sherman captured Savannah on December 22, 1864 after his march from Atlanta to Savannah. Wilmington, N.C. was next for Sherman and once that port was captured, the Union would have control over all seaports on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
In late January 1865, Confederates sent three Commissioners to Washington to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the Civil War. Lincoln sent word that he would negotiate but would not relent to his demand that the war end with one common country. The Commissions for the Confederacy informed him that they could not accept that requirement and they returned home.
Grant was approaching Richmond and Lee’s Army in Virginia, Sherman had control of the swath from Atlanta to Savannah and had control of Savannah and Wilmington cutting off the South’s ability to resupply their war efforts by sea.
Lee knew that the end was near, and he sent a letter to General Grant requesting a meeting. Lee wanted a compromise. Lincoln, through Stanton and Grant, replied that no negotiations were possible without the capitulation of Lee’s Army.
On April 3, Washington and soon after the rest of the nation celebrated the end of the Civil War. Stanton worked from his telegraph office, receiving, and sending messages from the field and from Congress. Richmond was on fire. On April 9, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General Grant.
On April 15, after being shot by John Wilkes Booth in Ford Theater, Lincoln died. Vice President Andrew Johnson from Tennessee, who leaned towards the south throughout the war, took office as president.
Reconstruction
Even though Grant and Lee had come to terms of surrender for Lee’s army, that did not necessarily apply to General Johnston and his Confederate Army. One of the main issues was that of property rights. The South wanted to maintain ownership of their slaves and the Union wanted to make sure that slavery was ended forever. General Sherman negotiated surrender terms but when the terms were transmitted to Stanton, he disagreed with General Sherman. The freedom of all slaves was still an issue and Sherman agreed to let the South continue to own slaves.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was not yet passed. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation though had been published and was treated by Lincoln as law. President Johnson had not yet made clear his position on that important issue.
Grant, Stanton, Sherman, President Johnson, and his cabinet met in Washington to consider the final terms of surrender. Stanton worked out a set of talking points for the meeting explaining his disagreement with General Sherman, especially about property rights. Stanton did not want to settle with a “generous peace” with the South. He wanted to fight the war until every soldier surrendered and every military command surrendered. Issues of peace were not issues that should be decided by General Sherman or any other military person. That was the domain of the president and his cabinet supported by Congress.
After the meeting, the President ordered Grant to go to Raleigh to present, in person, the terms of the surrender which would be acceptable to the political bodies in Washington. Grant’s message was that the terms of surrender between General Johnston of the Confederacy and General Sherman were disapproved. The war was to continue, and any new terms of surrender were to conform with Lincoln’s March 3 message, one country, no slaves. General Sherman did not contest the president’s ruling.
In later actions, President Johnson issued two major proclamations: amnesty for all southerners and return of all their property (except slaves) if they would swear allegiance to the United States. In the second proclamation, Johnson appointed a provisional governor of North Carolina who would organize a convention to draw up a new constitution for the State. Blacks were not allowed to vote in the convention.
The War is over. The “Union of the States as one and indivisible has been established for all time. The duty of the Southern citizen was to cooperate with the federal government and help to establish law and order.”
In early 1866, Congress passed a civil rights bill which stated that all citizens shall have the right to vote, write contracts, sue, be witnesses in court, and enjoy equal rights under the law. President Johnson vetoed the bill. Stanton favored passage of the bill, but Johnson claimed that the federal government had no role in civil rights.
“These were questions for states alone,” said Johnson.
Congress overturned the president’s veto with a two thirds majority vote. This was the first civil rights bill ever enacted by the federal government.
In April 1966, Johnson issued a proclamation that the rebellion had ended in all states but Texas. Stanton still favored the occupation of all the rebel states to protect blacks and to protect federal military occupants.
Congress began working on Constitutional Amendments which would guarantee civil rights for all citizens including blacks and other minorities. Three Constitutional Amendments were eventually approved in the early days after the end of the Civil War:
- Amendment 13: The emancipation proclamation freed all slaves in the United States
- Amendment 14: Provides rights of citizenship to former slaves, due process, and equal rights
- Amendment 15: Prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to votebased on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.
In the Spring of 1867, President Johnson was considering the removal of Stanton as Secretary of War. Stanton had been acting as a check on Johnson since he took office in 1865. Johnson finally got tired of Stanton’s opposition and on August 11, he appointed Grant to be the Interim Secretary of War; he suspended Stanton from that position. Grant informed Stanton of the president’s decision.
For the next three months Stanton and his family traveled mostly in New England. They arrived back in Washington in November where Congress was once again in session and considering whether to reinstate Stanton to his position as Secretary of War. Stanton was pushing for that to happen.
In January 1868, the Senate voted to reinstate Stanton as the Secretary of War. Grant immediately gave up the position on being informed of the Senate’s vote. Johnson requested that Grant stay in office as Interim Secretary of War despite the Senate’s vote. Grant refused, and he argued openly with the president on that issue.
In February Johnson sent a letter to Stanton removing him from office. In another letter, he appointed Lorenzo Thomas as the new Secretary of War. Members of Congress urged Stanton to stay in his position. Stanton and Thomas argued openly in the office of the Secretary of War over who was in command of that position.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Andrew Johnson as president on February 24, 1865. The Senate voted to acquit Johnson on May 12–by one vote. Stanton left the office of Secretary of War and never returned. On May 21, Grant was nominated to be the Republican Presidential candidate for the November 1867 election.
Grant was elected to be the next president and he appointed Stanton to be the next Supreme Court Justice. This position was confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1969.
On December 24, 1869 Stanton died. He did not serve a single day on the Supreme Court. He died of congestive heart failure at age 55.
Rating
Three stars out of five. Edwin Stanton is a somewhat lesser known actor from the Civil War but his contribution to keeping the United States together and freeing slaves cannot be denied. Sometimes the book is hard to read but overall it contains huge amounts of content about Civil War and Reconstruction in the United States. I recommend reading this book if you have a thirst for knowledge about American History.
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