PROCLAMATION ABOUT AMNESTY, March 26, 1864 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF W AMERICA: A Proclamation. HEREAS it has become necessary to define the cases in which insurgent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the proclamation of the President of the United States, which was made on the eighth day of December, 1863, and the manner in which they shall proceed to avail themselves of those benefits; And whereas the objects of that proclamation were to suppress the insurrection and to restore the authority of the United States; and whereas the amnesty therein proposed by the President was offered with reference to these objects alone: Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and declare that the said proclamation does not apply to the class of persons who, at the time when they seek to obtain the benefits thereof by taking the oath thereby prescribed, are in military, naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under bonds, or on parole of the civil, military, or naval authorities, or agents of the United States, as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offenses of any kind, either before or after conviction; and that, on the contrary, it does apply only to those persons who, being yet at large and free from any arrest, confinement, or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said oath, with the purpose of restoring peace and establishing the national authority. Prisoners excluded from the amnesty offered in the said proclamation may apply to the President for clemency, like all other offenders, and their applications will receive due consideration. I do further declare and proclaim that the oath presented in the aforesaid proclamation of the eighth of December, 1863, may be taken and subscribed before any commissioned officer, civil, military, or naval, in the service of the United States, or any civil or military officer of a State or Territory not in insurrection, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified for administering oaths. All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to give certificates thereon to the persons respectively by whom they are made, and such officers are hereby required to transmit the original records of such oaths at as early a day as may be convenient, to the De partment of State, where they will be deposited and remain in the archives of the government. The Secretary of State will keep a register thereof, and will, on application, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in the customary form of official certificates. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year [L. S.] of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. LETTER TO SECRETARY STANTON EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 28, 1864. My dear Sir: The governor of Kentucky is here, and desires to have the following points definitely fixed: First. That the quotas of troops furnished, and to be furnished, by Kentucky may be adjusted upon the basis as actually reduced by able-bodied men of hers having gone into the rebel service; and that she be required to fur nish no more than her just quotas upon fair adjustment upon such basis. Second. To whatever extent the enlistment and drafting, one or both, of colored troops may be found necessary within the State, it may be conducted within the law of Congress; and, so far as practicable, free from collateral embarrassments, disorders, and provocations. I think these requests of the governor are reasonable; and I shall be obliged if you will give him a full hearing, and do the best you can to effect these objects. Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. LETTER TO GENERAL G. G. MEADE EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 29, 1864. My dear Sir: Your letter to Colonel Townsend, inclosing a slip from the "Herald," and asking a court of inquiry, has been laid before me by the Secretary of War, with the request that I would consider it. It is quite natural that you should feel some sensibility on the subject; yet I am not impressed, nor do I think the country is impressed, with the belief that your honor demands, or the public interest demands, such an inquiry. The country knows that at all events you have done good service; and I believe it agrees with me that it is much better for you to be engaged in trying to do more, than to be diverted, as you necessarily would be, by a court Yours truly, of inquiry. A. LINCOLN. MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, March 29, 1864 To the Senate and House of Representatives: Mr. Charles B. Stuart, consulting engineer, appointed such by me upon invitation of the governor of New York, according to a law of that State, has made a report upon the proposed improvements to pass gunboats from tide-water to the northern and northwestern lakes, which report is herewith respectfully submitted for your consideration. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GENERAL U. S. GRANT EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 29, 1864. Lieut.-General Grant, Army of the Potomac: Captain Kinney, of whom I spoke to you as desiring to go on your staff, is now in your camp, in company with Mrs. Senator Dixon. Mrs. Grant and I, and some others, agreed last night that I should, by this despatch, kindly call your attention to Captain Kinney. A. LINCOLN. TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 29, 1864. Governor Johnson, Nashville, Tenn.: Judge Catron is asking for the discharge of W. M. |