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.

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To William M. Fishback1Jump to section

William Fishback Washington, D.C.,
Little Rock, Arkansas Feb. 17 1864

When I fixed a plan for an election in Arkansas I did it in ignorance that your convention was doing the same work. Since I learned the latter fact, I have been constantly trying to yield my plan to them. I have sent two letters to Gen. Steele, and three or four despatches to you and others, saying that he---Gen. Steele---must be master, but that it will probably be best for him to merely help the convention on it's own plan. Some single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement in anything, & Gen. Steele, commanding the Military, and being on the ground, is the best man to be that master. Even now, citizens are telegraphing me to postpone the election to a later day than either that fixed by the convention or by me. This discord must be silenced.

A. LINCOLN

Page 190

Annotation

[1] ALS, RPB. See Lincoln to Murphy, February 8, supra, and to Steele, infra. Fishback was elected U.S. Senator when the Arkansas legislature convened on April 25 under the new constitution.

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