Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864].
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/lincoln7
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln7. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 20, 2025.

Pages

To Worthington G. Snethen1Jump to section

W. G. Snethen Executive Mansion,
My dear Sir Washington, December 16. 1863.

The application filed by you in behalf of Samuel K. Boyd, to be a Captain in the regular Army has been received, and referred to the War Department. You may not be aware that the application is directly in the teeth of a rule which we have felt constrained to adopt. Suppose your relative were now a First Lieut. in the regular Army, and the Captaincy directly above him were vacant, he would be entitled to be promoted to that vacancy. But suppose I should say to him ``Stand back sir; I want that place for outsider'' what would you and he think of it? And yet that is precisely the way you you [sic] now ask me to treat some other Lieutenant. I suppose you have not thought of this. Yours truly

A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS, owned by Foreman M. Lebold, Chicago, Illinois. Worthington G. Snethen was a merchant at Baltimore. No record has been found of Samuel K. Boyd's appointment.

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