Lincoln, Mary Todd (1818-1882) to Mrs. Judge White
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06681 Author/Creator: Lincoln, Mary Todd (1818-1882) Place Written: Washington, D. C. Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 24 November 1864 Pagination: 3 p. : envelope ; 15.5 x x 10 cm Order a Copy
Discusses some confusion over Nathaniel Banks getting a cabinet post. States that President Lincoln said William Seward and Thurlow Weed never mentioned the subject. She remarks, "This all appears, as a strange dream, and if the information did not come from so eminently truthful a source, it could not be credited." Reports that Banks is to return immediately to the Department of the Gulf in New Orleans and that there is no chance of him getting a cabinet post. Remarks that they could have saved themselves much anxiety had they known this a few days ago. Written on mourning stationery for her son William Lincoln who died in 1862. Year inferred from events, could possibly be 1863.
Banks was a Union general with a disappointing military record during the Civil War. Seward was the Secretary of State under Lincoln. Weed was a close friend of Seward, advised Lincoln on political appointments, and served as an unofficial envoy to Britain and France during the Civil War.
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