Sold – Andrew Johnson Pardons Judah Benjamin’s Right Hand Man

On May 29, 1865, after all of the Confederate armies in the field had surrendered, President Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation. Under this proclamation any former Confederate could receive amnesty, upon their taking an oath to defend the Constitution and the Union, and to obey all Federal laws and proclamations in reference to slavery made during the rebellion. There were, however, thirteen "Confederate profiles" that disqualified an individual from being part of that "general amnesty." If a "rebel" fell under one of these exclusions, an application for a special pardon from the President was required. Among the reasons fo exclusiom from the amnesty were service as a civil or diplomatic agent or official of the Confederacy, service as a Confederate military officer above the rank of colonel, and voluntary participation in the rebellion by someone who had property valued at more than $20,000.00.

Predicating the pardon on Washington taking the oath of allegiance, and making it void if he ever acquires “any property whatever in slaves or make use of slave labor

Lucius Quinton Washington, a relative of George Washington, was a Richmond journalist who resided in Washington before the Civil War broke out and provided information to Confederate commissioners coming north to try and settle disputes with the U.S. government and thereby secure recognition of the Confederacy. After Virginia seceded, he moved to Richmond and became chief clerk in the Confederate State Department, and in that capacity was the senior aide to Secretary of State Judah Benjamin. Some sources intimate that he may have been involved in the Confederate Secret Service. This was just the type of man Johnson’s amnesty had sought to exclude, but for his part Washington accepted sooner than many the verdict of the war and his personal need to move on. He applied to the President for a presidential pardon immediately after the May 29 proclamation. Johnson was only too glad to promptly welcome back to the fold a man such as Washington, and acted to provide the pardon.

Document Signed as President, Washington, July 5, 1865, reciting that “Whereas L.Q. Washington of Richmond, Virginia by taking part in the late rebellion against the government of the United States, as made himself liable to heavy pains and penalties, and whereas the circumstances of his case render him a proper object of Executive clemency,…I, Andrew Johnson…hereby grant to the said L.Q. Washington a full pardon and amnesty for all offenses by him committed arising from participation…in the said rebellion.”?Additional conditions were added in pen, predicating the pardon on Washington taking the oath of allegiance, and making it void if he ever acquires “any property whatever in slaves or make use of slave labor…” Secretary of State William Seward also signed the pardon. After the war, Washington returned to journalism. He was a charter member of the Gridiron Club, the oldest and most prestigious journalistic organization in Washington, D.C., where he represented The New Orleans Picayune.