Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln6. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 18, 2024.

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To Hiram Walbridge1Jump to section

General Hiram Walbridge Executive Mansion
My Dear Sir Washington December 28th. 1862.

I have twice declined to see you on the ground that I understood the object of your desired interview, and that it was a matter of embarrassment to me. My real respect and esteem for you makes me unwilling to leave the matter in quite so abrupt a form. My embarrassment is that the place you seek not selfishly I think, is greedily sought by many others; and there is sure to be opposition both fierce and plausible to the appointment of any one who up to this time has not been in the military service. What answer to it will I make? Shall I say I did it for political influence? That will

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be the more loudly objected to. I need not point out to you where this objection will come from. It will come from your competitors; it will come from party spirit; it will come from indignant members of Congress who will perceive in it an attempt of mine to set a guardian over them.

The longer I can get along without a formal appointment the better. Yours Very truly A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] Copy, ISLA. Lincoln's original letter has not been found, but the contemporary copy from which our text is reproduced seems to be authentic. There is no reply from Walbridge in the Lincoln Papers, but there are numerous letters in November and December, 1862, pressing Lincoln to appoint ``General'' Walbridge military governor of the District of Columbia. Walbridge's only claim to military distinction seems to have consisted in his appointment as brigadier general of Ohio Militia in 1843.

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