President Lincoln establishes the Department of Agriculture

Mr. Lincoln signed the bill this week establishing a non-Cabinet level Department of Agriculture. Prior to this week, the agriculture division was under the Secretary of the Interior.

As for myself, I was embroiled in a disagreement that ended in a libel suit I filed earlier this year against New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley. Greeley had printed editorials criticizing my work as federal marshal of the District of Columbia. Greeley had been indicted by the grand jury in March, hearings had been scheduled and postponed. Greeley was trying to settle the matter out of court, claiming the editorials were written in his absence and that he had not read hem until after they appeared in his newspaper.

President Lincoln travels to Fortress Monroe

The president, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Treasury Samuel Chase left for Fortress Monroe. Upon arrival, arrangements were made for the president to tour the ironclad ship, the Moniter.

The President was unhappy that General George McClellan had not captured Norfolk. So he sent General Wool instead. Wool talked of going in through Willoughby Point. The president and Secretary Stanton went out in a boat and scouted for other possible invasion sites closer to the target. Mr. Lincoln even went ashore to check it out further. General Wool, who had earlier promised the president he would take Norfolk within 48 hours, lived up to his promise by taking Norfolk with no fight at all -- the Confederates had abandoned the city prior to his arrival. The "victory" preserved the naval yard for the Union.

James Holenshade demonstrates a breech loading cannon

President Lincoln and others were at the Naval Yard yesterday to watch Mr. James C. C. Holenshade of Cincinnati, Ohio demonstrate his invention, a breech loading cannon. Mary Lincoln and several others witnessed the trials of the gun which was reported in the New York Herald as having "proceeded in a satisfactory manner."

Earlier in the week, the president had criticized General George McClellan, telling his military leader "your call for Parrott guns from Washington alarms me -- chiefly because it argues indefinite procrastination. Is anything to be done?"

Today he received news that Yorktown, Virginia had been abandoned by the Confederates.

News Reaches Washington City of the Capture of New Orleans

The president and his cabinet were excited to receive the notification that Navel Officer David G. Farragut had captured the city of New Orleans.
Mr. Lincoln was honored as the first American president to board a foreign ship as he visited the Naval Yard and was taken to board the French frigate "Gassendi". While on board he received a twenty-one gun salute.
My wife Sally continued to fix up our rental property in Washington, adding to the livability of the house and raising the appearance higher on her social registry.

The President Works to End Slavery in the District of Columbia

Senator Browning of Illinois met with President Lincoln at the White House to discuss a bill to end slavery in District of Columbia. Senator Browning also wanted to appoint a successor for my father-in-law, my wife Sally's father Judge Stephen T. Logan, on commission to examine into claims at Cairo, Illinois.
The president appointed J. G. Berret, former Ohio Congressman Samuel F. Vinton, and North Carolinean Daniel R. Goodloe commissioners to act for abolition of slavery in District of Columbia. It was a process Mr. Lincoln had favored since his days in the House of Representatives.

My Testimony against Newspaper Editor Horace Greeley

During my testimony, I counter attacked Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune who had been indicted for attacking me personally in editorials that I deemed libelous. Greeley claimed the editorial was written without his knowledge by a staff writer. The editor was in the process of trying to settle the matter out of court.
Mrs. Lincoln received the dreadful news that her half brother, Samuel Todd, was mortally wounded at fighting at Pittsburgh Landing in Tennessee.
At the same time, Mr. Lincoln continues to have difficulties dealing with General George McClellan. In a letter he tells his general  "The country will not fail to note — is now noting — that the present hesitation to move upon an entrenched enemy, is but the story of Manassas repeated." The president affirms his support for the general, but warns him, "But you must act."

The President Meets the Builders of the Moniter

President Lincoln hosts a meeting with engineers John Ericsson and A. C. Stimers, the men who designed and helped build the ironclad "Monitor."
The president travels with Commander Dahlgren to visit General McClellan at Alexandria, Virginia. He also meets with the Committee on the Conduct of War.
I spent much of the week preparing for my appearance in court coming up on April 8.