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Abraham Lincoln Ensures that NY's Union Soldiers Can Easily Vote in the Election of 1864
Abraham Lincoln Ensures that NY's Union Soldiers Can Easily Vote in the Election of 1864
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Lincoln Abraham

Abraham Lincoln Ensures that New York's Union Soldiers Can Easily Vote in the Election of 1864

 

1p ADS signed by Seth Williams (1822-1866), Assistant Adjutant General of the Army of the Potomac, as "S. Williams" at lower right. Written from Army of Potomac Headquarters on September 1, 1864. Inscribed on "Congress" cream blue-lined paper. In very good to near fine condition, with expected folds and light soiling. A piece of tape found verso. The page measures 7.75" x 9.75".

 

A fascinating letter revealing the intersection between politics and the military, just two months prior to the 1864 presidential election. Commanding General of the Army of the Potomac George G. Meade (1815-1872) ordered subordinate Seth Williams to direct Chief Quartermaster of the Army of the Potomac Richard N. Batchelder (1832-1901) to prepare for the imminent presidential election by stocking enough "blanks," or ballots, in City Point, New York.

 

"Head Qrs Army of the Potomac

September 1st 1864.

Colonel R.N. Batchelder.

Chief Quarter Master A.P.

Sir:

 

The Commanding General directs that you make the necessary arrangements to store, at City Point, until the arrival of the agent the blanks that may be sent to that place for soldier voting from New York. These blanks will be sent to City Point in a few days.

 

Very respectively,

Your obed't serv't

[signed] S. Williams,

Asst Adjt Genl."

 

Sitting President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) hoped Union soldiers would reelect him to presidential office. In late 1864, however, this appeared unlikely. "Mr. Lincoln's War" was not going well, and the Union Army had recently suffered a string of humiliating losses. Yet even during wartime, and despite the fact that he anticipated losing the 1864 reelection, Lincoln was committed to hosting free elections. He reasoned: "We cannot have free government without elections, and if the rebellion could force us to forego, or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us."

 

To the surprise of many, Lincoln was overwhelmingly reelected over Democratic opponent General George B. McClellan (1826-1885) on November 8, 1864. Lincoln captured over 55% of the popular vote and a staggering electoral count of 212 to 21. The military's tally was even more disproportionately pro-Lincoln; he earned almost 120,000 of 154,000 soldiers' votes. Indeed, Lincoln's  symbolic victory was clinched by these very military voters. As historian James McPherson wrote: "the four-to-one Republican majority of soldier ballots was an impressive mandate…The men who would have to do the fighting had voted by a far larger majority than the folks at home to finish the job."

 

The Election of 1864 was one of many firsts. This was the first time a president had won reelection since 7th U.S. President Andrew Jackson had been reelected in the 1830s. In addition, this was also the first time that a general election had been held during wartime. As historian James McPherson asserted: "Here was a bold experiment in democracy…The American experiment of holding an election during a civil war whose election would determine the nation's future is unique in history…No other society had tried the experiment of letting its fighting men vote in an election that might decide whether they were to continue fighting."

 

The ongoing Civil War proved the central issue of the Election of 1864. In light of this platform, then, extending the vote to soldiers and relying on them as a voting bloc was a bold concept. The presidential candidates offered two national trajectories: Lincoln promised a continuation of the war; McClellan its immediate cessation. During previous elections, furloughed soldiers had had to travel home to cast their ballots. But by 1864, 19 of 25 Union states allowed soldiers to cast absentee ballots, and 12 of those 19 states kept separate tallies for soldiers' votes; 78% of these men voted for Lincoln.

 

Lincoln was not confident that Union soldiers would vote for him. Morale in the North had plummeted as casualty rates skyrocketed during the summer of 1864. The Republican Party was also divided: Northern Republicans questioned Lincoln's decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation the previous year, since that added abolition--as well as the preservation of the Union--to the list of casus belli. Lincoln considered his reelection prospects in an August 23, 1864 note: "This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such grounds that he cannot possibly save it afterwards."

 

Yet events and policies coalesced to change the course of history. Northern morale rebounded after General William T. Sherman captured Confederate stronghold Atlanta on September 2, 1864. While many had believed that the Army of the Potomac was still loyal to its old commander McClellan, he and his supporters had in fact  underestimated how negatively troops would respond to his peace platform. To the Union Army, allowing the Confederacy to coexist and operate a slave-based society meant that all of its sacrifices had been in vain.

 

Seth Williams was born in Augusta, Maine. The West Point graduate fought in the Mexican American War. During the Civil War, Williams served as Assistant Adjutant General of the Army of the Potomac under Generals McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade. He was later U.S. Grant's Inspector General (1864-1866) and Adjutant General for the Military Division of Atlanta. He delivered Grant's surrender terms to Robert E. Lee, and was breveted major general in 1866.

 

Richard Napoleon Batchelder was promoted through the Quartermaster Corps before being awarded brigadier general status in 1865 in acknowledgement of war service.

 

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