In the War’s First Year, President Abraham Lincoln Wants a “Young Man” to Take Part in the War Effort

Likely to Secretary of War Simon Cameron

In August of 1861, with the war toward its beginning, President Lincoln was much absorbed with efforts to keep Kentucky in the Union.

On the 22nd, he consulted with William A. Dudley and Frank K. Hunt, Kentucky commissioners, who maintained that the way to preserve the neutrality of the state was by removal of all troops from within its borders. Lincoln replied that the Unionist force there consisted of Kentuckians exclusively, in the vicinity of their own homes and was raised at the urgent solicitation of Kentuckians.

Autograph endorsement signed, Washington, August 22, 1861. “I think that the young man within recommended, ought to be appointed, if possible. There is some peculiar reason for it. A Lincoln.” At the time, “peculiar” meant particular or specific.

We can speculate that this endorsement may have sought an appointment for the son of a Unionist Kentuckian. Roy Basler, in “The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln”, states of this endorsement that “Efforts to locate the document and to identify the case have failed”. We have discovered the original of that document but Basler's note on the case remains true.  However, much can be gleaned that fills in the picture considerably.

A review of Lincoln’s use of the term “young man” indicates that the person involved was between the ages of 17 and 22. We know this because he elsewhere indicated that someone 16 years of age was a boy more than a young man, and we have his references to 22 year olds as young men. Lincoln was recommending an appointment, and a perusal of the “Collected Works” shows that the vast majority of his requests for appointment were to the Army (with few to the Navy). As for offices within the other cabinet departments, and other offices within his powers of appointment, his endorsements seldom relate to those, and in any event they were offices that went to older and more experienced men (and not young men). Of course, within the Army, only officers (and not enlisted men) held their posts by appointment, so we can fairly assume that the appointee was seeking an officer’s appointment to the Army, and that this endorsement was addressed to Secretary of War Simon Cameron.

Lincoln’s words were always carefully chosen. Knowing that, we can even shed light on Lincoln’s interesting and cryptic reference to having a peculiar reason. Lincoln made asides such as this from time to time, though they were not common. If he knew the candidate for appointment, or even the candidate’s father, he was not shy in saying so. For instance, in 1863 he wrote “Submitted to the Sec. of War. I do not know the young man. George C. Bestor, the father, is a highly valued friend of mine, whom I have appointed Post Master at Peoria, Ill.”  So we can conclude that Lincoln was not likely to be personally acquainted with this candidate or his family. The only other time Lincoln used the phrase “peculiar reason” was to seek the appointment of a New York man as general, the reason being he would engage in raising troops. Here the young man could have had no clout, so the reason must relate to the father (or perhaps another close relative). We have seen numerous times that Lincoln recommended actions for important political reasons, such as to encourage Unionists in a border state (we had such an endorsement related to Maryland). His correspondence also indicates that he was economical with words once in the Executive Mansion, and he often avoided putting to much detail for actions in writing. That is very likely the case here. We conjecture that the young man’s father was someone Lincoln wanted to have in his corner, but he preferred not to spell out the specific circumstance. His reason would either have been that he wished to withhold from the public, or, considering that Cameron did not always comply with his requests, one that he thought if too specific would make it more likely that Cameron would ignore it. And regardless of his reason, it is well known that Lincoln always sought to assist young men on the rise.