Abraham Lincoln and the Northern Anti-War Press

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Verge 6 Wertheimer 6 railroad shipments to the capital. Northern soldiers were dispatched to regain control of Baltimore. However, Lincoln believed it was necessary to respond more boldly, and on April 27 th he unilaterally suspended Habeas Corpus. Dean Sprague provides the following analysis: “By this action he declared war on his enemies as he had, by calling up the militia after Fort Sumter, declared war on his enemies in the South” (Sprague 25). And yet, as more soldiers poured into the state of Maryland from the North, the administration felt at greater ease, and there were not many arrests made after the initial suspension of the writ. The outbreak of what Sprague calls a “mania for arrests” (Sprague 151) did not occur until later in the year, shortly after the incarceration of James McMasters. As Secretary Seward widened his attempt to suppress anti-war sentiment to the rest of his home state, Simon Cameron, Lincoln‟s short-lived Secretary of War, focused his attention on his own home state of Pennsylvania. Cameron singled out Pierce Butler, a wealthy landowner whom he knew personally, and ordered his imprisonment in Fort Lafayette. Butler was released after a month, and he then proceeded to file suit against Cameron in Pennsylvania state court for false imprisonment. This suit was the first of its kind, and the precedent it could have potentially set frightened Cameron and the rest of the administration. However, Butler ultimately dropped his suit (Sprague 151). On the night of August 22 nd , a series of incidents took place in an effort to suppress opposition papers. The evening began with the seizure of copies of New York‟s Daily News from a train headed south to Baltimore and Washington. Later that night, soldiers arrested Amasa Converse, editor of the Christian Observer, and took possession of his paper‟s office. And still later, the printing shop of the Jeffersonian was seized (Sprague 152).
Verge 6 Wertheimer 7 Even politicians were not protected from the wrath of the Lincoln administration. Mayor Berrett of Washington D.C. was also arrested and sent to Fort Lafayette. A known Southern sympathizer, Berrett refused to take the oath of allegiance as was expected of him upon being appointed to the Washington Board of Police Commissioners. Berrett claimed he had already sworn his allegiance in his capacity as mayor, and that it was therefore unnecessary for him to take the oath again. However, Attorney General Bates thought otherwise, and Berrett was imprisoned. In order to be released, he stepped down from his position as mayor (Sprague 154- 155). One of the more interesting anecdotes from this period involves the arrest of Baltimore resident Francis Key Howard, grandson of Francis Scott Key. Key Howard was incarcerated for publishing anti-war articles in the paper he edited. While imprisoned, he wrote to Seward demanding his immediate release, refusing to appear before a military tribunal or apologize for his actions (Randall 504). The most remarkable detail is that Francis Key Howard was arrested without a warrant or charges brought against him and sent to Fort McHenry, the exact place where his grandfather composed “The Star Spangled Banner” (DiLorenzo 133). The Lincoln administration began its campaign against the press earlier in 1861, albeit in a more subtle manner. In April of that year, the government began to censor telegraphs leaving Washington. Among the messages excluded were communications giving military information, and also those which were deemed to convey too much news concerning the activities of the Government. Reports of delicate diplomatic questions, criticisms of Cabinet members, comments giving the mere opinion of correspondents, advance information of contemplated measures, and stories injurious of officers, were denied the wires.(Randall 482).
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Abraham Lincoln and the Northern Anti-War Press

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