Annotation
[1] ADfS, DLC-RTL. The envelope in which the draft was filed bears Lincoln's endorsement ``To Gen Schofield---May 27. 1863. & to Gen Curtis June 8. 1863.'' Schofield replied on June 1, ``I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter . . . explaining the reasons which induced you to make a change in the command of this department, and your wish as to the principle which shall guide me. . . . I shall not fail to carry out your wishes to the fullest extent in my power, and shall be thankful for such instructions and advice as you may at any time be pleased to give me. The most serious difficulty I shall have to overcome will arise from the differences to which you allude between the factions into which the Union people are unfortunately divided. It shall be my highest aim, while keeping aloof from either faction, to reconcile their differences so far as my influence should extend, or at least to so conduct my administration as to give neither any just cause of complaint. . . .'' (OR, I, XXII, II, 301).
See further Lincoln to Curtis, June 8, infra.