Bulletin. [Vol. 8, no. 1]

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BULLETIN NO. 8 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS SEPT. 1, 1927

LINCOLN IN THE UNITED
STATES COURT 1855-1860
New Light on His Law Practice
Elsewhere in this Bulletin mention is
made of the discovery, in the course of
work on "Lincoln in the Year 1858," of
a large number of Lincoln legal papers
in the files of the U. S. Circuit Court at
Springfield. These papers are of all
kinds, ranging from precipes written on
small slips of paper to declarations and
bills of complaint many pages in length.
Taken as a whole, they furnish important information on one phase of Lincoln's legal work. They are of particular
value because, with the exception of
Lincoln's work in the state Supreme
Court, almost all our knowledge of his
professional life is derived from the belated reminiscences of a few associates.
Lincoln was admitted to practice in
the Circuit and District Courts of the
United States in 1839, upon the removal
of those courts from" Vandalia to Springfield. At that time, and for sixteen
years afterward, all of Illinois formed
but one judicial
district. In 1855, BULLETI
however, the state Cont
was divided into
two parts; a Lincoln in the United S
northern district Lincoln as a War Exe
"Lincoln in the Year 1J
with a seat at Luxuries of Lincolniana
Chicago, and a Editorial Notes.......
southern district Indiana to Recreate Lin
(Continued on page 5)

LINCOLN AS A WAR
EXECUTIVE
Two Recent British Estimates
The Military Genius of Abraham Lincoln. By Brigadier General Colin R.
Ballard. London, 1926.
Statesmen and Soldiers of the Civil
War. By Major General Sir Frederick Maurice. Boston, 1926.
Reviewed by
JOHN McAULEY PALMER
Brigadier General, U. S. Army, Ret.
About thirty years ago, General Lord
Wolseley, in an introduction to Colonel
Henderson's Life of Stonewall Jackson,
wrote the following criticism of Abraham Lincoln's conduct of the Civil
War:
"In the first three years of the
Secession War when Mr. Lincoln and
Mr. Stanton practically controlled the
movements of the Federal forces, the
Confederates were generally successful.... The Northern prospects did
not begin to brighten until Mr. Lin_ coln in 1864,with
SNO. 8 that unselfish in-,nts telligence which
Page disting u ished
ates Court........ 1
ive............... 1 him, abdicated his
59")............... 8 military functions.................. 3 in favor of Gen-............. *...*. 4
oln Home......... 5 eral Grant."
(Continued on next page)

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