Authors: Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Mr. Blair…my native state?”: R. E. Lee, quoted in
National Intelligencer,
Washington, D.C., August 9, 1866.
Lee called upon old General Scott: Lee to Johnson, February 25, 1868, in
Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee,
p. 4
he contacted Scott…“be dear to me”: Lee to Scott, April 20, 1861, in ibid., pp. 8–9 (quotes p. 9).
“Now we are in…draw my sword”: Lee to Anne Marshall, April 20, 1861, in ibid., pp. 9–10.
Lee was designated…Virginia state forces: Ibid., pp. 3, 4, 5.
Benjamin Hardin Helm: “Helm, Benjamin Hardin (1831–1863),” in Stewart Sifakis,
Who Was Who in the Confederacy
(New York: Facts on File, 1988), p. 125.
While conducting business…“liking of men”: Helm,
The True Story of Mary,
p. 127.
“Southern-rights Democrat”: Ibid., pp. 128, 183.
“Ben, here is…your honor bid”:
Daily Picayune,
New Orleans, March 14, 1897 (quotes); AL to Simon Cameron, April 16, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 335.
Helm unable to sleep…“hour of his life”:
Daily Picayune,
New Orleans, March 14, 1897.
a Commission in the Confederate Army: “Helm, Benjamin Hardin,” in Sifakis,
Who Was Who in the Confederacy,
p. 125.
Seward argued…seize vessels: Ivan Musicant,
Divided Waters: The Naval History of the Civil War
(New York: HarperCollins, 1995), pp. 51–52.
Welles countered…exiting ships: Niven,
Gideon Welles,
p. 356; Musicant,
Divided Waters,
p. 51.
The cabinet split down the middle: Niven,
Gideon Welles,
p. 356.
formal blockade proclamation: AL, “Proclamation of a Blockade,” April 19, 1861, in
CW,
IV, pp. 338–39.
Welles and the Navy Department: Robert V. Bruce,
Lincoln and the Tools of War
(Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1956), pp. 6, 16; Musicant,
Divided Waters,
pp. 41–43.
a wedding celebration: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
p. 51; Bruce,
Lincoln and the Tools of War,
p. 9.
“would soon secede…Confederacy”: Craig L. Symonds, “Buchanan, Franklin,” in
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War,
ed. Heidler and Heidler, p. 303.
Buchanan resigned…“from this date”: Bruce,
Lincoln and the Tools of War,
p. 16 (quote); “Buchanan, Franklin (1800–1874),” in Sifakis,
Who Was Who in the Confederacy,
p. 40.
the Norfolk Navy Yard: Musicant,
Divided Waters,
pp. 28–29.
“extreme uneasiness…made by the first”: Entry for April 18, 1861, Charles Francis Adams diary, reel 76.
“The scene…indescribably fearful”:
Sun,
Baltimore, Md., April 20, 1861.
The enraged crowd…knives and revolvers: John G. Nicolay and John Hay,
Abraham Lincoln: A History,
Vol. IV (New York: Century Co., 1917), p. 115 (quote);
Sun,
Baltimore, Md., April 20, 1861.
“It’s a notable…the anniversary”: Entry for April 19, 1861,
Diary of George Templeton Strong,
Vol. III, p. 126.
“make no point…
around
Baltimore”: AL to Thomas H. Hicks and George W. Brown, April 20, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 340.
an angry committee of delegates: Entry for April 22, 1861, in
Lincoln Day by Day,
Vol. III, p. 37.
“I must have troops…that they must do”: AL, “Reply to Baltimore Committee,” April 22, 1861, in
CW,
IV, pp. 341–42.
“the censorship”…bridges surrounding the city: Ben: Perley Poore,
Perley’s Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis,
Vol. II (Philadelphia, 1886; New York, AMS Press, 1971), pp. 78–79.
“Literally…entire isolation”: Villard,
Memoirs of Henry Villard,
Vol. I, p. 167.
Cameron slept in his office: Leech,
Reveille in Washington,
p. 61.
“Here we were…to defend it”: JGN to TB, April 26, 1861, container 2, Nicolay Papers.
“No despatches…are prisoners”: Entry for April 20, 1861,
Diary of George Templeton Strong,
Vol. III, p. 127.
“rebels are at…calm & conceal it”: Hiram Barney to SPC, April 21, 1861, reel 15, Chase Papers.
to accompany Major Robert Anderson…with their relieved father: Janet Chase Hoyt, “A Woman’s Memories,”
NYTrib,
April 5, 1891.
These “were terrible days of suspense”…let her join him: Entry for May 19, 1861, Fanny Seward diary, Seward Papers.
“It is hard…life is in danger”: FAS to WHS, April [27? 1861], reel 114, Seward Papers.
“a day of gloom and doubt”: “24 April 1861, Wednesday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 11.
staring out the window…“Why don’t they come!”: Nicolay and Hay,
Abraham Lincoln,
Vol. IV, p. 152.
“I don’t believe…Northern realities”: “24 April 1861, Wednesday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 11.
“to arrest…
not
be justifiable”: AL to Winfield Scott, April 25, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 344.
“the first of the redeemed”: “1 May 1861, Wednesday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 16.
If resistance along…“for the public safety”: AL to Winfield Scott, April 27, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 347.
“arrest, and detain…to the public safety”: AL, “Message to Congress in Special Session,” July 4, 1861, in ibid., p. 429.
Seward later claimed…“further hesitation”: Carpenter, “A Day with Governor Seward,” Seward Papers.
Taney blasted Lincoln: Hon. Sherrill Halbert, “The Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus by President Lincoln,”
American Journal of Legal History
2 (April 1958), pp. 97–100.
Bates, though reluctant to oppose Taney: Cain,
Lincoln’s Attorney General,
pp. 145, 147.
“in a time…the insurgents”: EB to AL, July 5, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
As chief executive…“one be violated?”: AL, “Message to Congress in Special Session,” July 4, 1861, in
CW,
IV, p. 430.
“grave threats…extravagant to endure”: Justice Thurgood Marshall, dissenting opinion in
Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Association,
489 U.S. 602 (1989), text available through Legal Information Institute website, Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu (accessed June 2003).
“government will…be less liberty”: GW to Mary Jane Welles, May 5, 1861 (transcript), reel 19, Welles Papers.
“steps and balconies”…Mary and her friends watched:
NYT,
May 1, 1861.
“go down to Charleston…an Illinois yell”: “25 April 1861, Thursday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 11.
more than eight thousand troops were in Washington: WHS to FAS, April 26, 1861, quoted in Seward,
Seward at Washington…1846–1861,
p. 559.
He did not, however, grant her request: FAS to WHS, April [27? 1861], reel 114, Seward Papers.
almost completed…“at all hours”: Anna Wharton Seward to FAS, April 28, 1861, reel 116, Seward Papers.
“immense sacrifice…awaits the oppressors”: FAS to WHS, April [28? 1861], reel 114, Seward Papers.
“there would be…serenely adjusted”: Conversation between WHS and Charles King, reported in entry of May 20, 1861,
Diary of George Templeton Strong,
Vol. III, p. 144.
“to disturb as little…of the people”: Entry of April 15, 1861, in
The Diary of Edward Bates, 1859–1866,
p. 183.
a “fatal error…of the North”: MB to AL, May 16, 1861, Lincoln Papers.
“I consider…to govern themselves”: “7 May, Tuesday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 20.
John Stuart Mill…“the civilized world”: John Stuart Mill, quoted in McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom,
p. 550.
“the dissolution…established in America”: The Earl of Shrewsbury, quoted in ibid., p. 551.
“It is of infinite…the various parts”: George Washington, “Farewell Address,” September 17, 1796, in
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents,
Vol. I (New York: Bureau of National Literature, Inc., 1897), p. 207.
“a mortar battery…assassination suspicion”: “19 April 1861, Friday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
pp. 2–3.
“Thousands of soldiers…to feel secure”: MTL to Mrs. Samuel H. Melvin, April 27, 1861, in Turner and Turner,
Mary Todd Lincoln,
p. 86.
“The intense…around the city”: Elizabeth Grimsley to Mrs. John T. Stuart, April 29, 1861, quoted in
Concerning Mr. Lincoln,
comp. Pratt, p. 77.
Tad boasted…from the roof: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
pp. 68–69 (quotes p. 68).
“between the grey haired…plough hardened hands”: “20 April 1861, Saturday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 4.
“rather pale…all ‘go ahead’”: Entry for January 13, 1862,
The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861–1865,
available through “Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861–1865,” American Memory, Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov [hereafter Taft diary].
“More than once…arm of the chair”: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
pp. 35, 108.
Julia was appalled: Ibid., pp. 101, 102–06, 109–10.
“the most lovable…gentle-mannered”: Ibid., p. 8.
retreat to his mother’s room…write verses: Turner and Turner,
Mary Todd Lincoln,
p. 120.
“what she wanted when she wanted it”: Bayne,
Tad Lincoln’s Father,
p. 49.
A curious example…purple strings!: Ibid., pp. 43–48 (quotes p. 45).
brothers and brothers-in-law: Randall,
Mary Lincoln,
p. 294; Ishbel Ross,
The President’s Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln, A Biography
(New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1973), p. 144.
the White House…“unsuccessful hotel”: Stoddard,
Inside the White House in War Times,
p. 26.
“the family apartments…(first President)”: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
p. 47.
went on a shopping trip: See entries for May 10–22, 1861, in
Lincoln Day by Day,
Vol. III, pp. 41–43.
$20,000 allowance to maintain the White House: Seale,
The President’s House,
Vol. I, p. 382.
state guest room…“clusters of grapes”: Betty C. Monkman,
The White House: Its Historic Furnishings and First Families
(New York: Abbeville Press, 2000), p. 125.
The press exaggerated…never even visited: Grimsley, “Six Months in the White House,”
JISHS,
pp. 58–59.
the bills added up: Entries for May 13, 21, 24, and 29, 1861, in
Lincoln Day by Day,
Vol. III, pp. 41, 43–45.
Kate Chase was hard at work…to borrow $10,000: Ross,
Proud Kate,
p. 62; SPC to Henry Carrington, April 16, 1861, reel 15, Chase Papers.
Chase later complained…with the president: Belden and Belden,
So Fell the Angels,
p. 94.
“in a single season”…William Sprague: William Perrine, “The Dashing Kate Chase and Her Great Ambition,”
Ladies’ Home Journal
XVIII (June 1901), p. 11.
Kate had first met…“see the other”: Richard Parsons, quoted in
Ohio State Journal,
Columbus, Ohio, August 4, 1899.
Sprague would never forget…“it was yesterday”: William Sprague to KCS, May 27, 1866, William and Catherine Chase Sprague Papers, 1850–1900, MS 79. 17, Manuscript Division, Special Collections Department, Brown University Library, Providence, Rhode Island [hereafter Sprague Papers].
William Sprague: Peg A. Lamphier,
Kate Chase and William Sprague: Politics and Gender in a Civil War Marriage
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003), pp. 27–28.
“I was thrust…highest positions”: William Sprague, quoted in Lamphier,
Kate Chase and William Sprague,
p. 32.
As the largest employer…of his own money: “The Rhode Island Spragues,” unknown newspaper clipping, December 5, 1883, in KCS vertical file, DWP.
“a loan…the troops”: Belden and Belden,
So Fell the Angels,
p. 42; ninety-six horses, Lamphier,
Kate Chase and William Sprague,
p. 39.
On April 29…“movements of the regiment”:
Star,
April 29, 1861.
physical description of Sprague: Belden and Belden,
So Fell the Angels,
p. 42.
“a small…wealth and social standing”: “26 April 1861, Friday,” in Hay,
Inside Lincoln’s White House,
p. 12.
“When men like…such an army”: “30 April 1861, Tuesday,” in ibid., p. 14.
“the first, the only…lodgment there”: Entry for November 11, 1868, KCS diary, Sprague Papers.
“Do you remember…such in life”: William Sprague to KCS, May 27, 1866, Sprague Papers.