The Cabinet discusses the formation of the new state of West Virginia

The Cabinet met on December 26 to discuss the new state of West Virginia.

Residents of the western part of Virginia had opposed secession. They formed what was known as the Restored Government of Virginia. They had petitioned to the federal government to form their own new Union state of West Virginia.

The Senate had approved the bill for statehood on July 14 which included the Willey Amendment.  The amendment called for children of slave born after July 4, 1863 would be free; at that slaves under the age of ten would be free at age 25; and that no slave could be allowed to come into the state to live there.

The House of Representatives approved a similar bill on December 10, approving the formation of the Union states without abolishing slavery.

It was up to President Lincoln to decide whether to sign the legislation.

Word of the losses at Fredericksburg reach the president

Mr. Lincoln received word that Major General Ambrose Burnside's Army of the Potomac was badly beaten at Fredericksburg in the battle on December 13. The Union army suffered nearly 13,000 casualties.

The president asked General Halleck to order General Burnside to withdraw.  Halleck refused, telling the president that he thought the commanding officer at the battle site needed to make that decision himself.  The president agreed.

During the week there was a confrontation in the cabinet. The result was that cabinet secretaries Salmon Chase, Secretary of Treasury; William Seward, Secretary of State; and Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War all offered their resignations.  All of the resignations were eventually denied. The president's comments on the situation was as follows: "The public interest does not admit of it. I therefore have to request that you will resume the duties of your departments respectively."

The president responds to congressional questions

Mr. Lincoln responded to Congress this week. Congress asked about his actions in the Minnesota Indian Uprising.

The chief executive provided information on December 11 concerning the actions of over three hundred Indians in their attack of a white settlement. Mr. Lincoln told them he had reviewed the transcripts and explained, "Anxious to not act with so much clemency as to encourage another outbreak on the one hand, nor with so much severity as to be real cruelty on the other. I caused a careful examination of the record of the trials."

He also responded to a request this week by New York Congressman Fernando Wood who aligned himself with the Southern Democrats.  Congressman Wood asked the president to consider a negotiated peace. The president said any serious effort for peace required that the Southern states stop their rebellion and rejoin the United States. And thus he rejected the congressman's proposal.

President Lincoln delivers his message to Congress

On December 1, President Lincoln delivered his Second Annual Message to Congress.  Here is what he said.

He called for three new amendments to the Constitution.  1) Every state that abolishes slavery before January 1, 1900 shall receive compensation from the United States.  2) All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom by chances of war shall be forever free. 3) Congress may appropriate money and otherwise provide for colonizing free colored persons with their own consent at any place outside the United States.

He also notified Congress that foreign relations were more satisfactory than expected.  The treaty with Great Britain for suppression of the slave trade was in operation.Negro colonies in the United States might soon migrate to Haiti and Liberia. Progress continues on the building of the Pacific railroad.

In further action, the president responded to the military sentencing of 303 Dakota Indians to death for killing military personnel and civilians in Minnesota.  The president read the trial testimony and then rescinded the death sentences of all but 39 of the Indians.

The president meets with Major General Burnside

The president met with Major General Ambrose Burnside aboard the steamer "Baltimore" at Aquia Creek, Virginia and prior to Burnside's attack on Fredericksburg.

During the meeting, President Lincoln suggested a plan of attack. He told Burnside that the attack should be three pronged.  One prong being from Pamunkey and Port Royal, Virginia. The second attack would come from the south side of the Rappahannock, while the third assault would come from Burnside's main force crossing at Fredericksburg.

Both Burnside and Halleck rejected the idea as they both thought the president's plan would delay the attack.

Mr. Lincoln returned to Washington.

Lamon's problems with fugitive slaves comes to a head

The fugitive slave law was causing problems with my position as U.S. Federal Marshal of the District of Columbia. The fugitives were trafficked into the district jails, under my responsibility. They were considered contrabands of war and were therefore forfeited by their owners.  Maryland slave owners wanted full recognition of their legal property.

The basis of much of my problems was General James S. Wadsworth, who commanded the Military District of Washington. Wadsworth and I never once had seen eye to eye.

I complained to President Lincoln about Wadsworth. The president called for a compromise. Each slave would be held in my jail for 24 hours. And then if the military discovered the slave was the property of a rebel owner, he would be released to me and given military protection.

Wadsworth was upset. The president responded by transferring Wadsworth into combat on November 19. 

Major General Burnside's plan to attack the rebels is approved

The new commander, Major General Ambrose Burnside, issued a plan to attack the Confederate army during this week.  The plan was intended to confuse General Robert E. Lee by making it look like the Army of the Potomac was attacking General Longstreet's troops,while instead crossing the Rappahannock River and attack Fredericksburg.  Burnside's 120,000 Union soldiers were awaiting the president's approval. Mr. Lincoln liked the plan and gave the go ahead saying in a telegram sent by General in Chief Henry Halleck "He (the president) thinks it will succeed if you move rapidly; otherwise not."

Unfortunately, while General Halleck wired the approval for the action, he failed to order the needed pontoon boats for the army to cross the river.  The army was halted on the wrong side of the river and had to wait. In the meantime, the Confederates bolstered their position at Fredericksburg.

The president was also the guest of the Navy Department, going with Secretaries Chase and Seward to witness the demonstration of the Hyde rocket on November 14. The rocket, developed by Joshua Hyde, contained a war head and an adjustable timed fuse.  Lt. Commander Mitchel set up the demonstration by placing the rocket in a perforated cylindrical iron launching tube. Instead of firing, the rocket exploded in the tube. The president and secretaries miraculously were not injured in the accident.  the Hyde rocket project was scrapped.