Sec. Seward sends President document headed: "Some thoughts for the President's consideration." It contains thoughts relating to office seekers, relief of forts, blockade, martial law, foreign affairs, war with European powers, and Lincoln's responsibilities. Lincoln insists: "I remark that if this must be done, I must do it." Frederick W. Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, 1830-1915. By Frederick W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State during the Administrations of Lincoln, Johnson, and Hayes (New York: Putnam, 1916), 149; Abraham Lincoln to William H. Seward, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:316-18.

Seward, Capt. Meigs, and Lt. David D. Porter (USN) hasten to White House with plans prepared by them, without knowledge of Sec. Welles, for reinforcing Fort Pickens, Fla. President signs papers, directing that plans be approved by Gen. Scott, and USS Powhatan is withheld from Sumter expedition against President's wishes. West, Welles, 101-2; Monaghan, Diplomat, 54-58; Abraham Lincoln to Andrew H. Foote, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:313-14; Abraham Lincoln to Andrew H. Foote, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:314; Abraham Lincoln to Samuel Mercer, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:314; Abraham Lincoln to Officers of the Army and Navy, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:315; Abraham Lincoln to David D. Porter, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:315; Abraham Lincoln to David D. Porter, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:315.

Sec. Welles goes to White House to protest recent instructions for expedition to Vera Cruz, Mexico and Pensacola, Fla. Welles, Diary; Abraham Lincoln to Gideon Welles, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:318-19.

President writes: "Would it impose too much labor on General Scott to make short, comprehensive daily reports to me of what occurs in his Department?" Abraham Lincoln to Winfield Scott, 1 April 1861, CW, 4:316.

President announces that visitors will be received between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M. National Intelligencer, 2 April 1861.

Presidential family pays unexpected visit to Navy Yard, spends two hours there, and receives 21-gun salute. National Intelligencer, 3 April 1861; Evening Star (Washington, DC), 3 April 1861, 3:1.

During afternoon drive Lincoln visits military barracks. N.Y. Herald, 3 April 1861.

[Irwin withdraws $42 from Springfield Marine Bank. Pratt, Personal Finances, 176.]

Lincoln directs Sec. Seward to pay Capt. Meigs $10,000 "from the secret service fund" before Meigs leaves on expedition to reinforce Fort Pickens, Fla. Abraham Lincoln to William H. Seward, 2 April 1861, CW, 4:320.

Cabinet in session most of forenoon discussing Fort Sumter, S.C., situation. Baltimore Sun, 4 April 1861.

President attends wedding of Commandant Franklin Buchanan's (USN) daughter at Navy Yard, but arrives too late for ceremony. Bruce, Tools of War, 9, 15.

Confers with Allan B. Magruder and sends him to Richmond to arrange consultation between Lincoln and Virginia Unionist, preferably former Cong. George W. Summers (Va.). Randall, Lincoln, 1:325-26.

Col. Keyes interviewed by President, who signs blanket order authorizing him to organize expedition to Fort Pickens, Fla. Erasmus D. Keyes, Fifty Years' Observation of Men and Events, Civil and Military (New York: Scribner, 1884), 387; Abraham Lincoln to Erasmus D. Keyes, 3 April 1861, CW, 4:320.

[Irwin withdraws $9 for payment of interest on scholarship, Illinois State University. Pratt, Personal Finances, 176.]

Comdr. John A. Dahlgren (USN) on duty at Navy Yard, calls on Lincoln regarding howitzers to be sent to New York. Extracts from Dahlgren Diary, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

At 11 A.M. President holds secret meeting with John B. Baldwin, Virginia Unionist, regarding secession. Considers idea of yielding Fort Sumter, S.C., in exchange for loyal pledge from Virginia, but rejects it. U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Reconstruction, Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, 39th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866), pt. 2, 102-3.

Informs G. V. Fox that decision has been made to let expedition go to Fort Sumter. John S. Tilley, Lincoln Takes Command (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1941), 205.

Writes instructions for Sec. Cameron to send to Maj. Anderson at Fort Sumter: "Hoping still that you will be able to sustain yourself till the 11th. or 12th. inst. the expedition will go forward." Abraham Lincoln to Robert Anderson, 4 April 1861, CW, 4:321-22.

Cabinet in session all forenoon; regular meetings Tuesdays and Fridays at noon. Baltimore Sun, 6 April 1861.

Comdr. Dahlgren at White House again today, finds Lincoln "ill at ease, and not self possessed." Extracts from Dahlgren Diary, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Sec. Welles reads to President confidential letter to Capt. Samuel Mercer (USN), commanding USS Powhatan, that he is to command naval force in supplying Fort Sumter, S.C. Welles, Diary.

White House levee cancelled because of public business. N.Y. Herald, 6 April 1861.

President receives first (March) salary warrant for $2,083.33 and opens account by depositing it with Riggs & Co., Washington, DC. Pratt, Personal Finances, 124, 182.

Requests Sec. Chase to pay presidential salary on 5th of each month. Lincoln to Chase, 5 April 1861. In possession of Philip D. and Elsie Sang, Chicago, Ill.

Visits Brady's gallery. Washington Evening Star, 6 April 1861.

Governors of Indiana, Ohio, Maine, and Pennsylvania confer with President about military status of militia. Baltimore Sun, 9 April 1861.

President interviews Virginia Unionists who want assurances that Forts Sumter, S.C., and Pickens, Fla., will be evacuated. Sends for former Cong. John Minor Botts (Va.), prominent Virginia Unionist, to discuss pacific policy of Government. Baltimore Sun, 8 April 1861.

Capt. Theodore Talbot, assistant adjutant general, talks to President before leaving for Charleston. Abraham Lincoln to Robert Anderson, 4 April 1861, CW, 4:321-22; Baltimore Sun, 8 April 1861.

Robert S. Chew, clerk in state dept., accompanied by Talbot, carries note from President to Gov. Francis W. Pickens (S.C.) informing him that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort-Sumpter with provisions only; and that, if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition, will be made, without further notice, or in case of an attack upon the Fort." Abraham Lincoln to Robert S. Chew, 6 April 1861, CW, 4:323-24; Official Records—Armies 1, I, 251.

President learns that orders to reinforce Fort Pickens are not carried out. Federal naval commander at Pensacola Harbor refuses to let troops land. Benjamin P. Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (New York: Knopf, 1952), 254.

Sec. Welles confers with President and sends special messenger to Pensacola, Fla., to land troops at Fort Pickens. Welles, Diary.

Lincoln attends for short time only Mrs. Lincoln's second afternoon reception. Baltimore Sun, 8 April 1861.

Visits Navy Yard. Randall, Lincoln, 3:15.

Secs. Seward and Welles and Commodore Silas H. Stringham (USN) go to White House at 11 P.M. for President's decision on conflicting orders given USS Powhatan. Lincoln directs Seward to telegraph order to restore Powhatan to Sumter expedition. Welles, Diary.

Former Cong. Botts (Va.) confers with Lincoln from 7 to 11 P.M. about problems and expedients to prevent Virginia from seceding. George S. Boutwell, Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, 2 vols. (New York: McClure, Phillips, 1902), 2:62-64; U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Reconstruction, Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, 39th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1866), pt. 2, 114.

Sec. Seward reads to President from London "Times" opinion that citizens of U.S. and Great Britain are of same descent and their ambitions for civilization will always be the same. Frederic Bancroft, The Life of William H. Seward, 2 vols. (New York: Harper, 1900), 2:162-63.

President holds public reception. Randall, Lincoln, 1:369.

Prominent New York Republicans George Opdyke, David Dudley Field, James Wadsworth, and Horace Greeley write to Lincoln and recommend that he name someone from their "wing of the party" to the post of Surveyor of the Port of New York. Lincoln had already chosen a Greeley-backed candidate to fill the Collector's position. On Greeley's envelope, Lincoln jots down a comment about the fractious New York Republicans: "Greely, Opdyke, Field & Wadsworth, in favor of having the two big puddings on the same side of the board." Horace Greeley and others to Abraham Lincoln, 8 April 1861, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

President devotes most of day to minor appointments. Memorandum: Appointment of Commissioner of Pensions, 9 April 1861, CW, 4:325; Memorandum: Appointment of Christian Metz, [c. 9 April 1861], CW, 4:325-26.

Cabinet discusses general matters in short session. Bates, Diary.

Lincoln appoints W. H. Lamon marshal for District of Columbia. National Intelligencer, 12 April 1861.

Receives unofficially Virginia commissioners: former Congressman William B. Preston (Va.), Alexander H. H. Stuart, and George W. Randolph. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 13 April 1861, 2:2.

Confides in Sen. Charles Sumner (Mass.) that Fort Sumter, S.C., will not be surrendered. Pierce, Sumner Memoir and Letters, 4:41.

At 9:00 AM, President again meets with commissioners appointed by Convention of State of Virginia on April 8, 1861, and replies in writing: "In case it proves true, that Fort-Sumpter has been assaulted, as is reported, I shall perhaps, cause the United [States] mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded— . . . I consider the Military posts and property situated within the states, which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the Government. . . . I shall not attempt to collect the duties, and imposts, by any armed invasion of any part of the country—not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force, deemed necessary, to relieve a fort upon a border of the country." Evening Star (Washington, DC), 13 April 1861, 2:2; Abraham Lincoln to a Committee from the Virginia Convention, [13 April 1861], CW, 4:329-31.

Lincoln grants William O. Stoddard of Illinois, White House assistant secretary, permission to join National Rifles, but active service is superseded by civilian duties. William O. Stoddard, Lincoln's Third Secretary: The Memoirs of William O. Stoddard, ed. by William O. Stoddard, Jr. (New York: Exposition Press, 1955), 79-81.

Receives no information on Charleston except through press. Baltimore Sun, 15 April 1861.

Secretary of War Simon Cameron, Robert J. Walker, former secretary of treasury and senator from Mississippi, James R. Gilmore of Cincinnati, editor and author of "Among the Pines," and Lincoln converse for two hours about conditions in South. James R. Gilmore, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War (Boston: Page, 1898), 13-22.

Attends for few minutes reception in Mrs. Lincoln's drawing room. Baltimore Sun, 15 April 1861.

President attends New York Avenue Presbyterian Church and meets pastor, Dr. Gurley. David R. Barbee, "President Lincoln and Doctor Gurley," Abraham Lincoln Quarterly 5 (March 1948):5.

Cabinet approves call for 75,000 militia and session of Congress for July 4, 1861. Frederick W. Seward, Reminiscences of a War-Time Statesman and Diplomat, 1830-1915. By Frederick W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State during the Administrations of Lincoln, Johnson, and Hayes (New York: Putnam, 1916), 151-52.

Lincoln takes his sons and John G. Nicolay, private secretary to President, for carriage ride. Nicolay to Bates, 14 April 1861, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Prepares and distributes proclamation dated April 15, 1861 calling out militia. William O. Stoddard, Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life (New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert, 1884), 223.

Senator Stephen A. Douglas (Ill.) and former Congressman George Ashmun (Mass.) confer with Lincoln. Although Douglas opposes administration on political issues, he pledges support to preserve Union. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 15 April 1861, 2:2.

[Maj. Anderson evacuates Fort Sumter, S.C. Official Records—Armies 1, I, 12.

Cabinet convenes for long night session. N.Y. Times, 16 April 1861.

President Lincoln issues proclamation calling forth "the militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand." National Intelligencer, 15 April 1861; Proclamation Calling Militia and Convening Congress, 15 April 1861, CW, 4:331-33.

Cabinet meets at 10 A.M. and remains in session virtually all day. N.Y. Times, 16 April 1861.

Gen. Scott, Gov. Curtin (Pa.), and Alexander K. McClure, prominent Pennsylvania Republican, attend conference at White House relative to defense of Washington. President remarks that if he were Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard (CSA), he would take Washington. Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington 1860-1865 (New York: Harper, 1941), 56.

Interviews John W. Lawrence, Union mayor of Portsmouth, Va., who urges him to defend naval depot and estimates that over half of citizens of city are loyal. Lawrence to Lincoln, 13 December 1862, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Receives Sen. James Dixon (Conn.), who assures him Connecticut people approve President's course. Dixon to Welles, 16 April 1861, Gideon Welles Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Writes Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth: "I have been, and still am anxious for you to have the best position in the military which can be given you." Abraham Lincoln to Elmer E. Ellsworth, 15 April 1861, CW, 4:333.

Lincoln holds patronage conference with Pennsylvania delegation including Gov. Curtin (Pa.). National Intelligencer, 17 April 1861.

Writes Sec. Cameron: "I especially wish Robert A. Kinzie to be appointed a Pay-Master. This is not a formality, but an earnest reality." Abraham Lincoln to Simon Cameron, 16 April 1861, CW, 4:335.

Company of Marylanders calls upon President and urges reinforcement of Fort McHenry, Md. N.Y. Times, 18 April 1861.

Lincoln confers with Gen. Scott on matters pertaining to Harper's Ferry, Va., Gosport Navy Yard, Va., and defense of Washington. Scott's Daily Report No. 15, 17 April 1861, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Interviews George T. Whittington of Alexandria, Va., and recommends that Sec. Seward send him to Richmond to "make observations for us." Abraham Lincoln to William H. Seward, 17 April 1861, CW, 8:416-17.

Lincoln hears eyewitness account of what Mr. Wiley of New York saw in Charleston Friday night, April 12, 1861. National Intelligencer, 18 April 1861.

Interviews New York "Tribune" correspondent, Bayard Taylor. N.Y. Tribune, 23 April 1861.

Quarters Jim Lane's "Frontier Guards" (600 Kansas men) in East Room of White House under Maj. Hunter. Dennett, Hay Diaries and Letters, 1.

F. P. Blair, Sr., allegedly at request of Lincoln, unofficially offers Col. Robert E. Lee command of Federal Army. Lee to Johnson, 25 February 1868, Robert E. Lee Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

President confers with Sec. Welles and Gen. Scott on military protection of Norfolk Navy Yard, Va. Cabinet in evening meeting discusses fall of Harper's Ferry, Va., and possible attack on Navy Yard. Gideon Welles, "Fort Sumter, Facts in Relation to the Expedition Ordered by the Administration of President Lincoln for the Relief of the Garrison in Fort Sumter," Galaxy 10 (November 1870):117.

Lincoln retires early, but is awakened by John Hay, assistant secretary to President, bearing warning of possible plot against his life; merely grins. Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington 1860-1865 (New York: Harper, 1941), 59.

Cabinet in morning session hears Comdr. James Alden's (USN) story of conditions at Norfolk. Gideon Welles, "Fort Sumter, Facts in Relation to the Expedition Ordered by the Administration of President Lincoln for the Relief of the Garrison in Fort Sumter," Galaxy 10 (November 1870):118-19.

Lincoln orders "a blockade of the ports" in the seceded states of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The states' status affects "that provision of the Constitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States." Additionally, the blockade will protect "the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas, and in waters of the United States." Proclamation of a Blockade, 19 April 1861, CW, 4:338-39.

Drives out to inspect forts around Washington. Attempts to aid Gosport Navy Yard, Va., but fails. Monaghan, Diplomat, 75-76.

Representatives of Mayor George W. Brown (Baltimore) present letter informing Lincoln "that it is not possible for more soldiers to pass through Baltimore unless they fight their way at every step." Abraham Lincoln to Thomas H. Hicks and George W. Brown, 20 April 1861, CW, 4:340-41.

President receives telegram from Gov. Hicks (Md.) and Brown that 6th Massachusetts Infantry passing through Baltimore is attacked by mob. Approximately four soldiers and nine citizens killed. Benjamin P. Thomas, Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (New York: Knopf, 1952), 260-61; Abraham Lincoln to Thomas H. Hicks and George W. Brown, 20 April 1861, CW, 4:340-41.

Interviews Col. John B. Magruder, commanding 1st U.S. Artillery defending Washington, who thinks of resigning. Dennett, Hay Diaries and Letters, 6.

President is "annoyed" to learn his hotel bill ($773.75) has not been paid. Sends John G. Nicolay to pay it and obtain receipt. DLC—Willards' Register; Lincoln to Willards', 19 April 1861, in possession of Willard Hotel, Washington, DC.

[See February 23, 1861.]

Lincoln paces floor awaiting troops for defense of Washington. Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, 95.

Cabinet meeting around noon. Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington 1860-1865 (New York: Harper, 1941), 64.

At 3 P.M. Lincoln, accompanied by many officials, attends dress drill of 7th New York Regiment in front of Capitol. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 27 April 1861, 3:1; William Swinton, History of Seventh Regiment, National Guard, State of New York, During the War of Rebellion (New York: Fields, Osgood, 1870), 128.

Reviews 8th Massachusetts. Bates, Telegraph Office, 21.

In the White House, President Lincoln addresses the "Frontier Guard, under the command of Senator [James H.] Lane of Kansas." The Frontier Guard's soldiers assist in defending the "neighborhood of the Executive Mansion." Lincoln remarks, "I have desired as sincerely as any man . . . that our present difficulties might be settled without the shedding of blood. . . . But if the alternative is presented, whether the Union is to be broken in fragments and the liberties of the people lost, or blood be shed, you will probably make the choice, with which I shall not be dissatisfied." Reply to the Frontier Guard, 26 April 1861, CW, 4:345; National Republican (Washington, DC), 27 April 1861, 3:2; Sun (Baltimore, MD), 29 April 1861, 2:3; New York Daily Tribune, 1 May 1861, 5:3.

[Commissioner of Public Buildings requests from Secretary of War 6 additional Colt's pistols, Navy size, for police at Executive Mansion. Six now on hand are deemed insufficient under existing circumstances. DNA—RG 42 Commissioner of Public Buildings, Letters Sent, Blake to Cameron, 26 April 1861.]