Lincoln considers request of wife of Surg. Gen. William A. Hammond for interview and prefers not to see her. Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. William A. Hammond, [2 August 1864], CW, 7:474-75.

Cabinet meets. Military affairs discussed. Bates, Diary.

President confers with Sen. Morgan (N.Y.) and produces correspondence with former Sec. Chase at time Chase resigned. Welles, Diary, 5 August 1864.

President sends congratulations to Charles XV, King of Sweden and Norway, on marriage of Prince Nicolas Auguste. Abraham Lincoln to Charles XV, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:475.

Offers condolences to Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, on death of Archduchess Hildegarde. Abraham Lincoln to Francis Joseph I, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:475-76.

Congratulates King Leopold of Belgians on birth of granddaughter. Abraham Lincoln to Leopold, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:477.

Congratulates William I, King of Prussia, on daughter born to Princess Antonie. Abraham Lincoln to William I, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:478-79.

Interviews Michael Burns, president of North Western Railroad, and refers him to Sec. Stanton . Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:478.

Lincoln writes Gen. Grant: "'Putting our army South of the enemy' or of following [']him to the death' . . . will neither be done nor attempted unless you watch it every day, and hour, and force it." Abraham Lincoln to Ulysses S. Grant, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:476.

Instructs Sec. Stanton to suspend order of Gen. Hunter, who directed arrest and shipment south of Union lines of secessionist residents of Frederick, Md. Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton, 3 August 1864, CW, 7:477-78.

Lincoln calls Gen. Schurz to White House. CW, 8:550.

At 8:30 a.m., poet Walt Whitman spots President Lincoln, who is traveling between the nearby Soldiers' Home, where Lincoln frequently stays during the summer months, and the White House. Whitman records, "Mr. Lincoln . . . generally rides a good-sized, easy-going gray horse, is dress'd in plain black, somewhat rusty and dusty; [and] wears a black stiff hat . . . I see very plainly [his] dark brown face, with the deep cut lines, the eyes, &c., always to me with a latent sadness in the expression. We have got so that we always exchange bows, and very cordial ones." Allen Thorndike Rice, ed., Reminiscenes of Abraham Lincoln by Distinguished Men of His Time (New York: Haskell House Publishers, Ltd., 1971), 469-70.

Cabinet meets. Secs. Stanton and Fessenden absent. Welles, Diary.

Thurlow Weed confers with Lincoln and warns him that his reelection is impossible. Henry L. Stoddard, Horace Greeley: Printer, Editor, Crusader (New York: Putnam, 1946), 227; Weed to Seward, 22 August 1864, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

President issues pass to Col. Eaton to visit Gen. Grant and instructs him to ascertain Grant's reaction to becoming presidential candidate. Pass for John Eaton, 12 August 1864, CW, 7:492.

John Hay leaves on trip home and expects to be gone five or six weeks. Nicolay to Bates, 14 August 1864, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

President orders Maj. John Hay to proceed to Keokuk, Iowa, and having executed his verbal instructions to return. DNA—WR RG 94, Adjt. Gen. Off., Letters Received, XL, Supp. III.

Gen. Robert Anderson is dinner guest. CW, 8:550.

President confers with Sec. Stanton on destruction of private property and suggests to Gen. Grant that he make an agreement with Gen. R. E. Lee on subject. Abraham Lincoln to Ulysses S. Grant, 14 August 1864, CW, 7:493.

President in long conversation with First Asst. Postmaster Gen. Randall and Judge Joseph T. Mills about coming election. Interview with Alexander W. Randall and Joseph T. Mills, 19 August 1864, CW, 7:506-8.

Frederick Douglass visits White House. Interview with Alexander W. Randall and Joseph T. Mills, 19 August 1864, CW, 7:506-8.

Cabinet meets. No special subject. Welles, Diary.

At 10 A.M. President thanks 147th Ohio Regiment, commanded by Col. Benjamin F. Rosson, for its services. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 24 August 1864, 2d ed., Extra, 3:1.

Authorizes Sec. Stanton to release J. Howard, Jr., from Fort Lafayette, N.Y. Harper, Press, 302.

Recognizes D. T. Arnaldo Marques as consul of Peru at San Francisco. Evening Star (Washington, DC), 26 August 1864, 2d ed., Extra, 2:3.

Confers with Cong. Fenton (N.Y.) about campaign for governor and Fenton's chances of winning against Gov. Seymour (N.Y.). Rice, 68-70.

At a cabinet meeting, President Lincoln asks each member to sign "the back of a" memorandum. Lincoln does not reveal the contents of the document, which reads,"This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he can not possibly save it afterwards." Memorandum Concerning His Probable Failure of Re-election, 23 August 1864, CW, 7:514-15; J. G. Randall and Richard N. Current, Lincoln the President: Last Full Measure (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1955), 4:215-16; Michael Burlingame and John R. Turner Ettlinger, eds., Inside Lincoln's White House: The Complete Civil War Diary of John Hay (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1997), 247-48.

Lincoln signs order for sale of land in Winnebago Indian reservation. Order for Sale of Land in Winnebago Indian Reservation, 23 August 1864, CW, 7:515-16.

President interviews John J. Jarmey, of Ohio, concerning political matters in state. James to Cameron, 27 August 1864, Simon Cameron Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

In evening at Soldiers' Home, Lincoln and group of officials witness demonstration of Morse signalling from tower of Soldiers' Home to roof of Smithsonian Institution. Bates, Telegraph Office, 265.

President Lincoln drafts a letter to New York Times editor Henry J. Raymond, who forecasts big electoral losses for the Republicans. Raymond predicts that a peace summit will "turn the tide of public sentiment." Lincoln instructs, "You will proceed forthwith and obtain, if possible, a conference for peace with Hon. Jefferson Davis, or any person by him authorized for that purpose. . . . [Y]ou will propose, on behalf of this government, that upon the restoration of the Union and the national authority, the war shall cease at once, all remaining questions to be left for adjustment by peaceful modes. If this be accepted hostilities to cease at once." Ultimately, Lincoln and the Cabinet reject the peace conference suggestion. Henry J. Raymond to Abraham Lincoln, 22 August 1864, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Abraham Lincoln to Henry J. Raymond, 24 August 1864, CW, 7:517-18.

President telegraphs Mrs. Lincoln at Manchester, Vt.: "All reasonably well. Bob not here yet. How is dear Tad?" Abraham Lincoln to Mary Todd Lincoln, 31 August 1864, CW, 7:526.

Addresses 148th Ohio Regiment, on its way home after completed period of service. Speech to One Hundred Forty-eighth Ohio Regiment, 31 August 1864, CW, 7:528-29; Evening Star (Washington, DC), 1 September 1864, 2d ed., 2:5.

[John Nicolay in New York, will return tomorrow. Nicolay to Lincoln, 31 August 1864, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.]

President reviews case of Louis A. Welton, who came through Union lines with contract to furnish supplies to South, was arrested and sentenced to imprisonment, and concludes review by saying: "Now, if Senator Morgan, and Mr. Weed, and Mr. Raymond, will not argue with me that I ought to discharge this man, but will, in writing on this sheet, simply request me to do it, I will do it solely in deference to their wishes." Abraham Lincoln to Edwin D. Morgan, Thurlow Weed, and Henry J. Raymond, 31 August 1864, CW, 7:526-27.

Issues order that persons bringing out cotton in conformity with treasury regulations must not be hindered by other government departments. Order Concerning Transportation of Cotton, 31 August 1864, CW, 7:527.