President Abraham Lincoln Writes His Secretary of War, Stanton, Ordering the Appointment of Three Combat Generals Who Served With Noted Distinction

Cadwallader C. Washburn was the brother of Elihu Washburn (Congressman, diplomat and friend of U.S. Grant), and of Israel Washburn (Civil War Governor of Maine). Cadwallader was a noted businessman who founded General Mills and served in Congress before the Civil War. When the war came, he resigned from Congress to raise the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry, and became its Colonel. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General in July 1862, and took command of not only of his regiment, but also the entire 2nd Cavalry Brigade. On July 7, 1862, it defeated Confederate forces at Cotton Plant, Arkansas, and then marched east to take possession of Helena, Arkansas. From there it supported the Union campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. In March 1863 Washburn was commissioned a Major General with command over all Union cavalry in West Tennessee, headquartered at Memphis. During the fall of 1863, he led a division that took Fort Esperanza, Texas, to capture the entire Lone Star coast clear to the Rio Grande. He served with distinction until his resignation in May 1865. After the war he returned to Congress, and then became Governor of Wisconsin.

Abner Clark Harding was an Illinois state representative when the Civil War broke out. In August 1862, at the age of 55, he enlisted as a private in the 83rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Soon thereafter, he was elevated in rank to Colonel and Commander of the 83rd. Sent to Fort Donelson, Tennessee, his command faced an 8,000 strong Confederate force led by two of the South’s leading cavalry generals, Joseph Wheeler and Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Confederate effort to regain that vital garrison was repulsed with heavy loss, and its troops forced from the field. For his gallant conduct during this action, Harding was promoted to Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers to rank from March 13, 1863. His service in the army ended on June 3, 1863 when he resigned for health reasons. He then ran for and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1865 to 1869.

Thomas B. Van Buren was the nephew of President Martin Van Buren. When the Civil War broke out, he became Colonel and Paymaster-General of the State of New York. He left that post on November 1, 1861, being authorized to recruit a regiment – the 102nd New York Volunteer Infantry, known as the Van Buren Light Infantry. He was mustered in as the regiment’s Lt. Colonel on December 16, 1861, and as Colonel on February 8, 1862. He participated in the campaign of 1862, from the Battle of Cedar Mountain, to Second Bull Run, to Antietam. Van Buren was discharged for health reasons on December 13, 1862. In February 1863 President Lincoln thought that, even thought he had resigned, he ought to be rewarded for his distinguished service with a generalship. However, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton took no action at that time. Van Buren was brevetted Brigadier General for gallant and meritorious service on March 3, 1865. After the war, President Grant appointed him Commissioner General of the United States at the Vienna Exposition, and a year later Consul General to Japan.

Autograph letter signed, Executive Mansion, February 12, 1863, to Stanton. “Let Cadwallader C. Washburn, of Wisconsin be appointed a Major General; and Col. A. C. Harding, of Illinois; and Col. Thomas Van Buren, of New-York, Brigadier General.”

Lincoln had a frequent habit of promoting army officers on his own authority, often circumventing and irritating Stanton. Stanton, for his part, was capable of ignoring Lincoln’s orders when they didn’t suit him. Though this showed insubordination, and many lesser men would have been furious, Lincoln chose to take no notice of it, believing that Stanton’s contributions to the war effort were important and superseded any personal considerations. In this instance, Washburn was promoted Major General of Volunteers and Harding was named Brigadier. Stanton shelved the Van Buren appointment, despite Lincoln’s order, returning to it two years later.