Surratt Courier

[wpbinzel]

(07-02-2016 11:03 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.)