Surratt Courier

[SSlater]

(07-03-2016 08:24 PM)wpbinzel Wrote:  

(07-02-2016 10:03 PM)SSlater Wrote:  2. Also, "Lincoln in the Telegraph Office". by Bill Binzel. I have no criticism of the Story, but I would like to invite you to a story I wrote 20 years ago, that explains why Stanton and Eckert acted the way they did. That's when Lincoln is said to have remarked "When you have an elephant by the hind leg, and he wants to run, it's best to let him go." (Referring to Thompson, coming from Canada)
Laurie, can you find a date for that, Please. I think it is an important part of that day.

John, I certainly would welcome any views or perspectives that you (and others) have.

I agree with your comment about the importance of Lincoln's quote ("When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he's trying to run away, it's best to let him run.") as insight into Lincoln's thinking on what to do about the Confederate leaders. However, the source of that quote is Charles Dana and not David H. Bates. Dana recounted his meeting with Lincoln at the White House (and not at the War Department) late in the afternoon on April 14. (See Charles A. Dana, Recollections of the Civil War (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1898), P. 274.) I view Dana as being credible. (While Dana's writings alone don't disprove Bates' version, they don't provide it any substantiation. Bates' version did not appear in print until 9 years after Dana's book was published.)

My essay was called "Lincoln, Stanton, Eckert" (and published a lot less than 20 years ago. I'll spare you the full piece.)
Early on he 14th of April, the War Department received a telegram from the Provost Marshal in Portland Maine, saying that Jacob Thompson was in Portland, what should he do?
Stanton saw the msg first and said "Arrest Him", and passed the msg to Dana, and in turn, to Lincoln. Lincoln said "no!" and gave us
his "elephant Quote".
Stanton was furious. Thompson was a prize, Why let him go? Stanton decided keep Thompson, but had to do it without Lincoln knowing it.
Stanton believed that the Provost Marshal hold Thompson until he was told otherwise.
Lincoln then asked Eckert to accompany him to Ford's. Eckert's answer was that he had work to do for Stanton.
When Lincoln left the Office, Stanton and Eckert began their secret plan - except, because the provost Marshal did not receive an immediate reply, he released Thompson, who scrambled back to Canada.
BY then, Stanton realized that he had lost his chance to lock Thompson up, so he sent Eckert home (It was too late to change the plans that Lincoln had settled on.)
My original piece had all the footnotes, and copies of messages, and sources - that support, etc. of all that is said here. I also found reports of what Thompson was doing all this Time. (He had been to Washington - trying to see Lincoln - he was using the code name "Kate Thompson".(his wife's name).