A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet. Gideon Welles

as a military necessity against Rebel enemies, who were making use of these slaves to destroy our national existence; it was in self-defense and for our own preservation, the first law of nature. But were the Rebellion suppressed, the disposition of the slavery question was, in my view, one of the most delicate and important that had ever devolved on those who administrated the government. Were all the Slave States involved in the Rebellion, the case would be different, for then all would fare alike. The only solution which I could perceive was for the Border States to pass emancipation laws. The Federal Government could not interfere with them; it had and could with the rebellious States. They had made war for slavery, had appealed to arms, and must abide the result. But we must be careful, in our zeal on this subject, not to destroy the great framework of our governmental system. The States had rights which must be respected, the General Government limitations beyond which it must not pass.

      August 19, 1863: What is to be done with the slaves and slavery? Were slavery out of the way, there would seem to be no serious obstacle to the reestablishment of the Union. But the cause which was made the pretext of the Civil War will not be readily given up by the [southern] masses, who have been duped and misled by their leaders, and who have so large an interest at stake, without a further struggle.

      August 22, 1863: Slavery has received its death-blow. The seeds which have been sown by this war will germinate, were peace restored to-morrow and the States reunited with the rotten institution in each of them. What is to be the effect of the Proclamation, and what will be the exact status of the slaves and the slaveowners, were the States now to resume their position, I am not prepared to say. The courts would adjudicate the questions; there would be legislative action in Congress and in the States also; there would be sense and practical wisdom on the part of intelligent and candid men who are not carried away by prejudice, fanaticism, and wild theories. No slave who has left a Rebel master, or has served under the flag, can ever be forced into involuntary servitude.

      The constitutional relations of the States have not been changed by the Rebellion, but the personal condition of every Rebel is affected. The two are not identical. The rights of the States are unimpaired; the rights of those who have participated in the Rebellion have been forfeited.

       On April 12, 1864, a 1500-man Confederate cavalry force commanded by General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the Union garrison at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River about 50 miles north of Memphis. It was defended by fewer than 600 troops, half of them African Americans, the other half white Tennessee loyalists. Shortly after the fort fell, northern press reports, citing interviews with survivors, stated that the victorious rebels had shot and killed a large number of black soldiers who had surrendered or had thrown down their weapons and were trying to surrender. The Fort Pillow massacre, as it came to be called, aroused outrage in the North – outrage not diminished when Forrest publicly denied that his men had killed any Union soldiers except in combat. In response to the public furor, two cabinet meetings were devoted to discussing how the Lincoln administration should respond. ¹⁵

      May 3, 1864: At the Cabinet meeting the President requested each member to give him an opinion as to what course the Government should pursue in relation to the recent massacre at Fort Pillow. The committee from Congress who have visited the scene returned yesterday and will soon report. All the reported horrors are said to be verified. The President wishes to be prepared to act as soon as the subject is brought to his notice officially and hence [seeks] Cabinet advice in advance.

      The subject is one of great responsibility and great embarrassment, especially before we are in possession of the facts and evidence of the committee. There must be something in these terrible reports, but I distrust Congressional committees. They exaggerate.

      May 5, 1864: I have written a letter to the President in relation to the Fort Pillow massacre, but it is not satisfactory to me, nor can I make it so without the evidence of what was done, nor am I certain that even then I could come to a conclusion on so grave and important a question. The idea of retaliation – killing man for man – which is the popular noisy demand, is barbarous, and I cannot assent to or advise it. The leading officers should be held accountable and punished, but how? The policy of killing negro soldiers after they have surrendered must not be permitted, and the Rebel leaders should be called upon to avow or disavow it. But how is this to be done? Shall we go to Jeff Davis and his government, or apply to General Lee? If they will give us no answer, or declare they will kill the negroes, or justify Forrest, shall we take innocent Rebel officers as hostages? The whole subject is beset with difficulties. I cannot yield to any inhuman scheme of retaliation. Must wait the publication of the testimony.

      May 6, 1864: At the Cabinet-meeting each of the members read his opinion. There had, I think, been some concert between Seward and Stanton and probably Chase; that is, they had talked on the subject, although there was no coincidence of views on all respects. Although I was dissatisfied with my own, it was as well as most others.

      Between Mr. Bates and Mr. Blair a suggestion came out that met my views better than anything that had previously been offered. It is that the President should by proclamation declare the officers who had command at the massacre outlaws, and require any of our officers who may capture them, to detain them in custody and not exchange them, but hold them to punishment. The thought was not very distinctly enunciated. In a conversation that followed the reading of our papers, I expressed myself favorable to this new suggestion, which relieved the subject of much of the difficulty. It avoids communication with the Rebel authorities. Takes the matter in our own hands. We get rid of the barbarity of retaliation.

      Stanton fell in with my suggestion, so far as to propose that, should Forrest, or [General James] Chalmers [Forrest’s second in command], or any officer conspicuous in this butchery be captured, he should be turned over for trial for the murders at Fort Pillow. I sat beside Chase and mentioned to him some of the advantages of this course, and he said it made a favorable impression. I urged him to say so, for it appeared to me that the President and Seward did not appreciate it.

       Neither during nor after the war was any Confederate officer or enlisted man charged with a crime in connection with the Fort Pillow massacre.

      January 31, 1865: The vote was taken to-day in the House on the Constitutional Amendment abolishing slavery, which was carried 119 to 56.¹⁶ It is a step towards the reestablishment of the Union in its integrity, yet it will be a shock to the framework of Southern society. But that has already been sadly shattered by their own inconsiderate and calamitous course. When, however, the cause, or assignable cause for the Rebellion is utterly extinguished, the States can and will resume their original position, acting each for itself. How soon the people in those States will arrive at right conclusions on this subject cannot now be determined.

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      ¹ Although most historians still employ the customary term “slaves,” in recent years some scholars have advocated the use instead of “enslaved persons,” a phrase they favor because it recognizes that those held in bondage were human beings, not simply property, which is how the laws of the slave states primarily defined them.

      ² This was the first entry in the manuscript of the diary. It apparently was written sometime between July 14 and August 11, 1862.

      ³ In March 1862, however, Lincoln had secured a pledge from Congress to provide monetary assistance to any slave state that voluntarily initiated gradual emancipation.

      ⁴ This is a reference to the failure of McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign to take the Confederate capital (see Chapter 5).

      ⁵ It was closer to 10 weeks.

      ⁶ Welles’s home in Washington was located on the northern side of Lafayette Square, a short walk from the White House.

      ⁷