To Joseph Roberts1Jump to section
It is confessed in this case that Samuels when arrested, had on his person a paper prima facie showing that he was going North to obtain medical supplies for the rebels. Will the officer in command at Fort-Monroe2Jump to section please give him an opportunity of trying to prove that this was not his real object, and report the evidence, with his opinion on it, to me? A. LINCOLN
Let the Prisoner Samuels be discharged. A. LINCOLN
Dec. 10. 1864
Annotation
[1] AES, owned by Max Thorek, Chicago, Illinois. Lincoln's endorsements are written on a letter of General Benjamin F. Butler to C. C. Callam of Baltimore, September 15, 1864:
``I suppose yours is the fiftieth communication I have received about [Abraham] Samuels, some asking that he be tried, and some asking one thing, and some another; and this is the last communication I shall answer about Samuels from any source, except under orders from the President.
``Samuels' case is this: He left Richmond with a list of Medical supplies in his pocket under an agreement to procure those supplies for the Rebel Medical Department.