In morning Frederick P. Stanton, Washington attorney and former Congressman (Tenn.), consults with President regarding changing an order in court of inquiry. Abraham Lincoln to Frederick P. Stanton, 17 August 1863, CW, 6:395.

Christopher M. Spencer, inventor of Spencer rifle, presents rifle to President and demonstrates how to assemble it. W. A. Bartlett, "Lincoln's Seven Hits with a Rifle," Magazine of History 19 (1921):73, 71.

President Lincoln writes to Shakespearean actor James H. Hackett and shares his thoughts on the playwright's works. Lincoln writes, "For one of my age, I have seen very little of the drama. The first presentation of Falstaff I ever saw was yours here, last winter or spring...Some of Shakspeare's plays I have never read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any unprofessional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard Third, Henry Eighth, Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful." Lincoln adds, "I should like to hear you pronounce the opening speech of Richard the Third. Will you not soon visit Washington again?" Abraham Lincoln to James H. Hackett, 17 August 1863, CW, 6:392-93. [See March 13, 1863.]

President Lincoln's coachman, Francis Burke, is exempted from the draft. Daily National Republican (Washington, DC), 17 August 1863, 2:6.