Lincoln in the Telegraph Office on April 14, 1865

[SSlater]

If you are tired of reading about "The Telegraph Office", skip this posting. I wrote this years ago for the Courier, but just found my copy, including the cites. It's different from the others, but I think Sine qua mon.

"The Mystery of April 14, 1865 - Lincoln Stanton Eckert"

Anyone who has ever taken a minute to dwell on the events that took place in the War Department on the afternoon of April 14, 1865. might think that maybe there would not have been an assassination if Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, had honored President Abraham Lincoln's request to have Major Thomas T. Eckert assigned to be his bodyguard at Ford's Theater later that evening. Or, is it true, as many have assumed, that Stanton was playing a major part in the plot to assassinate Lincoln?

If we, as we have in the past, considered only the action that took place in the War Department that afternoon, we are not going to solve this mystery, because "we are not playing with a full deck".
Lets bring into consideration what was happening elsewhere in the nation that day, to determine if that might have had an influence on Stanton's decision.

First, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the particular relationship that existed between Lincoln and Stanton. These two unique individuals,, who led the Union to victory in the recent fighting. How well did the work with one another?

Lincoln thought he was "Boss". Stanton would agree with that when it suited his agenda. As an example of "Who was the Boss?" we need to review an episode that occurred just after the fall of Richmond. Lincoln had met with Confederate Judge John Campbell and they agreed that the Virginia legislature should reconvene in order to withdraw Virginia troops from the war. Stanton opposed this because he felt that the Legislature might gain official status, if such action was allowed. Stanton then gave orders to disobey Lincoln's instructions, and subsequently convinced Lincoln to withdraw his approval. 1 Wow! What gall! You countermand your superior, behind his back and then convince him to change his mind. This gives a good indication of the strength that Stanton had.

Now we are about to review another situation where Stanton acted in opposition to a ruling by Lincoln. This time he was more devious and hid his activity from Lincoln. [b]He overruled the President, when he wasn't paying attention.

Now, a look at the mystery of April 14, 1865.

Late in the afternoon of April 14, Lincoln made the request to Stanton to assign Major Thomas T. Eckert, Chief of the Military Telegraph Office, who was an employee of the War Department, to accompany him to the theater. Surprisingly, refused the request, saying that "he had important work for Eckert that evening and could not spare him." 2

In looking back to that day, to see what Stanton and Eckert accomplished that evening, that might have been so important, we find they essentially, each went to their respective home and expected a quiet evening with his family and an early retirement.3
What could have been on Stanton's mind that took precedence over a request from the President of the United States, for a body guard.?
This apparent foolish act has resulted in Stanton being called a liar and it labeled him as a possible conspirator in the assassination. Accusations that have continued for 145 years.

The Author of "Lincoln and Booth - More Light On the Conspiracy"< H. Donald Winkler, lists 8 secrets and unanswered questions, on page 303, that remained unanswered when Stanton died, and this is listed as number one. On page 84, he emphasizes this raking with the statement that this is the greatest mystery of the Lincoln Assassination.

Can we solve this mystery? I think so.

Information is readily available, that earlier in the day, he War Department received a telegram from the Provost Marshal, in Portland, Maine, stating that the Honorable Jacob Thompson, the Confederate Commissioner in Canada, was expected to be in Portland that day. "What should they do if they confront him?" 4 That was a vert cogent question. Bear in mind that the "war climate" was changing rapidly. It had been only 5 days since the surrender at Appomattox. Was the war over? What are the rules now?

Today, we are aware that the war was not over. In fact, General Sherman was at that time pursuing General Joseph E. Johnson north, toward Durham Station,5 therefore additional fighting would certainly ensue. Should Thompson be considered "to be still an enemy?" From this position of doubt, the Provost Marshal asked Washington to issue orders for the specific action to be taken.

When Stanton first got that telegram, he made up his mind immediately,"Arrest Him!". Then , in compliance with established protocol, he handed the message to Charles A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, for him to read and to bring it to the attention of the President. As Lincoln was reading the wire he asked Dana , "What does Stanton say?" Dana answered without hesitation - "Arrest him!". To that Lincoln said "No, I think not, when you have an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run."6

When Dana returned to the War Department, to report Lincoln's decision to Stanton, Stanton was indignant. He did not want Thompson to go free. He reasoned that he had a high ranking Confederate Official, who they had been trying to capture for many years, readily available for a Treason Trial. Why let him go? Somehow, he had to connive a way to keep Thompson in jail, absolutely contrary to Lincoln's wishes. Stanton directed Dana not to send anything to Portland.

To accomplish this ploy, Stanton needed to keep his plan a secret from Lincoln, he needed the cooperation of both Dana and Eckert.
(emphasis added for this presentation) Stanton confidently believed that the Provost Marshal would arrest Thompson and hold him under lock and key, until they got the orders that they had requested. However, nothing could be done until Lincoln left the War Department building.

As Lincoln was leaving that day, he made one more try to engage Eckert, by making a direct request by asking him to accompany him to the theater. By that time Eckert has his orders from Stanton, and expected to work after hours for Stanton. H didn't know what he would be doing, but he had to remain available to his boss, Stanton. His reply to Lincoln "I have important work to do for Stanton that can not wait until later. Lincoln grudgingly acceded>

After Lincoln's departure, Stanton started work on his project to keep Thompson in jail, by issuing his order to the Provost Marshal
"Arrest Thompson". It was then that he learned, in the absence of any orders at all, Thompson had been released and had wisely scrambled back to Montreal.

Stanton then realized that his plan, to arrest Thompson, was dead-
overcome by events and delay. There was no possibility for incarcerating Thompson on that evening. Dejectedly, he released Eckert from his orders to remain in the office. At this point, it as much to late to authorize Eckert to accompany Lincoln and we know that John F. Parker got the assignment to protect the President for the evening.

The Mystery is solved, Stanton did not lie, nor was he doing "his part" in a conspiracy. To accomplish his own selfish plan, to trap an enemy of the Union, he had to use Eckert to operate the telegraph, but he couldn't tell the President.

The attempt To incarcerate Thompson did not end here.

The assassination disrupted that planned "quiet evening at home". Instead they were kept busy until the wee hours of Saturday morning, when Stanton remembered his plan for Thompson. At 4:40AM , Stanton finally fired a message to the Provost Marshal- "arrest Jacob Thompson ... who is either in Portland, or on his way" by order of the Secretary of War (signed by Dana). That was not enough, another message was sent "Do not fail to catch Thompson, if he comes across the line, Signed by Stanton. No time of transmission is shown.

In summary: Stanton rationalized that the opportunity "was to good to be true", he would arrest Thompson,, regardless of what his orders were. He kept the entire effort secret from Lincoln, from History, even from Eckert,

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1 Turner, Thomas Reed, "Beware the People Weeping" etc. Pg 6.
2 Bishop, Jim, "The day Lincoln was shot" etc Pgs 161,, ,162
3 Ibid Pg 224
4 Steers, Edward Jr. "Blood on the Moon" etc. Pg 100
5 Gallman, J. Mathew "The Civil War Chronical" etc. Pg526
6 Bishop, Jim, etc "Pg 158
7 Ibid Pg 224
8 Winkler, H. Donald "Lincoln-Booth More on the Conspiracy" etc.
Pg 84
9 U.S. War Dept. "The War of the rebellion: A compilation of the
Official records etc. Series 2, Vol 8, pg 493.

Comment: if Eckert, Dana, and any others who worked at he War Dept., knew of Stanton's skullduggery, they kept their mouth shut'
maybe to keep from being suspected of being part of an assassination plot. Let's face it NO ONE TALKED.