Chapter XIX: December, 1860,—January, 1861

RESIGNATION OF GENERAL CASS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF
STATE—RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CABINET WHICH FOLLOWED AFTER THE
RESIGNATIONS OF MESSRS. COBB, THOMPSON, AND THOMAS.

Serious and embarrassing as was the situation of the country, it was not to have been expected that the first person to leave an administration, which had worked together with entire harmony for nearly four years, would be the Secretary of State, General Cass. I shall make but few comments on this occurrence. The correspondence which took place between General Cass and the President, and a memorandum made by the latter at the time, sufficiently show what degree of necessity there was for the General’s resignation. With reference to the reason which he assigned for it, the date of his letter is important to be observed. He tendered his resignation at a time when every consideration of prudence forbade the sending of further military or naval forces into the harbor of Charleston; after his advice on this point had been overruled by the opinions of all the other members of the cabinet, and of the President; before the State of South Carolina had adopted her ordinance of secession; and while the collector of the revenue at Charleston was still faithfully, and without molestation, performing his duties. If it was the General’s sagacity which led him to foresee that the State would “secede,” that the collector would resign, and that the revenue would have to be collected outside of the custom house, and by some other officer, his suggestions could not be carried out by the President without authority of law, and the whole subject was then before Congress, submitted to it by the President’s annual message, in which the General himself had fully concurred. That the General regretted his resignation, and would have withdrawn it, if permitted, is now made certain by the President’s memorandum, which I shall presently cite.

[SECRETARY CASS TO THE PRESIDENT.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, December 12th, 1860.

SIR:—

The present alarming crisis in our national affairs has engaged
your serious consideration, and in your recent message, you have
expressed to Congress, and through Congress to the country, the
views you have formed respecting the questions, fraught with the
most momentous consequences, which are now presented to the
American people for solution. With the general principles laid
down in that message I fully concur, and I appreciate with warm
sympathy its patriotic appeals and suggestions. What measures it
is competent and proper for the Executive to adopt under existing
circumstances, is a subject which has received your most careful
attention, and with the anxious hope, as I well know, from having
participated in the deliberations, that tranquillity and good
feeling may be speedily restored to this agitated and divided
Confederacy.

In some points which I deem of vital importance, it has been my
misfortune to differ from you.

It has been my decided opinion, which for some time past I have
urged at various meetings of the cabinet, that additional troops
should be sent to reinforce the forts in the harbor of Charleston,
with a view to their better defence, should they be attacked, and
that an armed vessel should likewise be ordered there, to aid, if
necessary, in the defence, and also, should it be required, in the
collection of the revenue; and it is yet my opinion that these
measures should be adopted without the least delay. I have
likewise urged the expediency of immediately removing the custom
house at Charleston to one of the forts in the port, and of making
arrangements for the collection of the duties there, by having a
collector and other officers ready to act when necessary, so that
when the office may become vacant, the proper authority may be
there to collect the duties on the part of the United States. I
continue to think that these arrangements should be immediately
made. While the right and the responsibility of deciding belong to
you, it is very desirable that at this perilous juncture there
should be, as far as possible, unanimity in your councils, with a
view to safe and efficient action.

I have, therefore, felt it my duty to tender you my resignation of
the office of Secretary of State, and to ask your permission to
retire from that official association with yourself and the
members of your cabinet, which I have enjoyed during almost four
years, without the occurrence of a single incident to interrupt
the personal intercourse which has so happily existed.

I cannot close this letter without bearing my testimony to the
zealous and earnest devotion to the best interests of the country,
with which, during a term of unexampled trials and troubles, you
have sought to discharge the duties of your high station.

Thanking you for the kindness and confidence you have not ceased
to manifest towards me, and with the expression of my warmest
regard both for yourself and the gentlemen of your cabinet, I am,
sir, with great respect,

Your obedient servant,
LEWIS CASS.

[THE PRESIDENT TO GENERAL CASS.]

WASHINGTON, December 15th, 1860.

SIR:—

I have received your resignation of the office of Secretary of
State with surprise and regret. After we had passed through nearly
the whole term of the administration with mutual and cordial
friendship and regard, I had cherished the earnest hope that
nothing might occur to disturb our official relations until its
end. You have decided differently, and I have no right to
complain.

I must express my gratification at your concurrence with the
general principles laid down in my late message, and your
appreciation, “with warm sympathy, of its patriotic appeals and
suggestions.” This I value very highly; and I rejoice that we
concur in the opinion that Congress does not possess the power,
under the Constitution, to coerce a State by force of arms to
remain in the Confederacy.

The question on which we unfortunately differ is that of ordering
a detachment of the army and navy to Charleston, and is correctly
stated in your letter of resignation. I do not intend to argue
this question. Suffice it to say, that your remarks upon the
subject were heard by myself and the cabinet, with all the respect
due to your high position, your long experience, and your
unblemished character; but they failed to convince us of the
necessity and propriety, under existing circumstances, of adopting
such a measure. The Secretaries of War and of the Navy, through
whom the orders must have issued to reinforce the forts, did not
concur in your views; and whilst the whole responsibility for the
refusal rested upon myself, they were the members of the cabinet
more directly interested. You may have judged correctly on this
important question, and your opinion is entitled to grave
consideration; but under my convictions of duty, and believing as
I do that no present necessity exists for a resort to force for
the protection of the public property, it was impossible for me to
have risked a collision of arms in the harbor of Charleston, and
thereby defeated the reasonable hope which I cherish of the final
triumph of the Constitution and of the Union.

I have only to add that you will take with you into retirement my
heartfelt wishes that the evening of your days may be prosperous
and happy.

Very respectfully yours,
JAMES BUCHANAN.

The following memorandum, relating to the resignation of General Cass, is now before me in the President’s handwriting:

Tuesday, Dec. 11th, 1860.

General Cass announced to me his purpose to resign.

Saturday, December 15th.

Judge Black, in the evening, delivered me General Cass’s letter of
resignation, dated on Wednesday, December 12th.

I was very much surprised on the 11th December to learn from
General Cass that he intended to resign. All our official
intercourse up till this moment had been marked by unity of
purpose, sentiment and action. Indeed, the General had always been
treated by me with extreme kindness. This was due to his age and
his high character. Most of the important despatches which bear
his name were written, or chiefly written, for him by Mr.
Appleton, Judge Black and myself. His original drafts were
generally so prolix and so little to the point, that they had to
be written over again entirely, or so little was suffered to
remain as to make them new despatches. All this was done with so
much delicacy and tenderness, that, to the extent of my knowledge,
General Cass always cheerfully and even gratefully assented. So
timid was he, and so little confidence had he in himself, that it
was difficult for him to arrive at any decision of the least
consequence. He brought many questions to me which he ought to
have settled himself. When obliged to decide for himself, he
called Mr. Cobb and Judge Black to his assistance. In the course
of the administration I have been often reminded of the opinion of
him expressed to me by General Jackson.

I had been at the War Department a short time before General Cass
was appointed minister to France. In the course of conversation,
he made particular inquiries of me as to what I thought an
American minister would have to expend at the principal courts
abroad. I told him what it had cost me at St. Petersburg, and what
would be the probable cost at London and Paris.

The next time I met General Jackson, I said to him, “So you are
going to send General Cass to Paris.” His answer was, “How do you
know that?” I said, “I can't tell you, but I believe it.” His
reply was, “It is true. I can no longer consent to do the duties
both of President and Secretary of War. General Cass will decide
nothing for himself, but comes to me constantly with great bundles
of papers, to decide questions for him which he ought to decide
for himself.”

His resignation was the more remarkable on account of the cause he
assigned for it. When my late message (of December, 1860) was read
to the cabinet before it was printed, General Cass expressed his
unreserved and hearty approbation of it, accompanied by every sign
of deep and sincere feeling. He had but one objection to it, and
this was, _that it was not sufficiently strong against the power
of Congress to make war upon a State for the purpose of compelling
her to remain in the Union_; and the denial of this power was made
more emphatic and distinct upon his own suggestion.

On Monday, 17th December, 1860, both Mr. Thompson and Judge Black
informed me that they had held conversations with General Cass on
the subject of his resignation, and that he had expressed a desire
to withdraw it, and return to the cabinet. I gave this no
encouragement. His purpose to resign had been known for several
days, and his actual resignation had been prepared three days
before it was delivered to me. The world knew all about it, and
had he returned, the explanation would have been very
embarrassing. Besides, I knew full well that his fears would have
worried the administration as well as himself, in the difficult
times which were then upon us. His great error was, that he would
assume no responsibility which he could possibly avoid.

There is strong reason to think that General Cass was mistaken in saying in his letter to the President that he had proposed in the cabinet to remove the Charleston custom house to one of the forts or to appoint a new collector. In a draft of the President’s answer to General Cass, prepared by Judge Black, but which the President did not use, it is stated that none of the members of the cabinet had any recollection of such a proposal. But if it had been made, it would have been improper to collect the revenue in any other than the ordinary way, and at the proper place, without new legislation, or at least until circumstances had made a military collection absolutely necessary.

It is not to be doubted that the resignation of General Cass was a misfortune to the administration, because it gave to its enemies opportunity to say that he distrusted either the present or the future course of the President. But his place was immediately supplied by the appointment of Judge Black as Secretary of State. Edwin M. Stanton became Attorney General, in the room of Judge Black.[97]

Footnote 97:

How Mr. Stanton came to receive this appointment, may be learned
by referring to a private letter from Mr. Buchanan, quoted
hereafter.

In the early part of January, 1861, while the President was still engaged in considering the measures proper to be adopted in regard to Fort Sumter, other changes in the cabinet took place. After the resignations of General Cass, Governor Floyd, and Mr. Cobb, the cabinet stood as follows: Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of State, Philip F. Thomas, of Maryland, Secretary of the Treasury, Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, Secretary of War, Isaac Toucey, of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy, Jacob Thompson, of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior, Horatio King, of Maine, Postmaster General, Edwin M. Stanton, of Pennsylvania, Attorney General. Mr. Thomas, who had been Commissioner of Patents, was made Secretary of the Treasury in the place of Mr. Cobb, on the 8th of December. He resigned on the 11th of January, and the President immediately invited General Dix to fill the office. General Dix at once repaired to Washington, and during the remainder of the administration he was the guest of the President at the White House. His society, and his important aid in the administration of the Government, afforded to Mr. Buchanan the highest satisfaction.[98] On the resignation of Mr. Thompson as Secretary of the Interior, that department was not filled, but the duties were ably and faithfully performed by Moses Kelly, the Chief Clerk, until the close of the administration. The circumstances attending the resignations of Messrs. Thompson and Thomas are sufficiently disclosed by the correspondence.

Footnote 98:

General Dix had for some time held the office of Postmaster in the
City of New York; a place he consented to fill under the
circumstances disclosed in the following letter to President
Buchanan:

NEW YORK, May 14,1860.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have received your favor of the 12th inst., and am greatly
indebted to you for your kind suggestion in regard to the
appointment of commissioners under the treaty with Paraguay. I
should regret very much to decline any service in which you think
I could be useful. I am at this moment very much occupied here
with matters which concern the comfort of my family, and I should
wish, before giving a final answer, to communicate with my wife,
who is in Boston. I had scarcely read your letter before I
received a note from Mr. Schell, who desired to see me in regard
to the astounding defalcation in the city post office. He said it
was deemed important to place some one in the office in whom the
administration could confide, and that my name had been suggested
among others. Now, my dear sir, you can readily understand that it
is a place I do not want, and could not consent to hold for any
length of time. But, as I said to Mr. Schell, if you desire it,
and think I can be of any service to your administration, in
cooperating with the proper department to put matters on a right
footing, I should not, under the peculiar circumstances, feel at
liberty to disregard your wishes. In other words, I think you have
the right, under the exigencies of the case, to command the
services of any friend. I am, dear sir, sincerely yours,

JOHN A. DIX.

For an account of General Dix’s connection with the New York post
office, and of his services to Mr. Buchanan’s administration as
Secretary of the Treasury, see his Life, by his son, the Rev.
Morgan Dix, S. T. D., recently published by Harper & Brothers.

[SECRETARY THOMPSON TO THE PRESIDENT.]

WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan 8, 1861.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY, JAMES BUCHANAN, PRESIDENT U. S.:—

SIR:—It is with extreme regret I have just learned that additional
troops have been ordered to Charleston. This subject has been
frequently discussed in cabinet council, and when on Monday night,
31st of December ult., the orders for reinforcements to Fort
Sumter were countermanded, I distinctly understood from you, that
no order of the kind would be made without being previously
considered and decided in cabinet. It is true that on Wednesday,
January 2d, this subject was again discussed in cabinet, but
certainly no conclusion was reached, and the War Department was
not justified in ordering reinforcements without something [more]
than was then said. I learn, however, this morning, for the first
time, that the steamer Star of the West sailed from New York on
last Saturday night with two hundred and fifty men under Lieut.
Bartlett, bound for Fort Sumter. Under these circumstances I feel
myself bound to resign my commission as one of your constitutional
advisers into your hands. With high respect your obedient servant,

J. THOMPSON.

[THE PRESIDENT TO MR. THOMPSON.]

WASHINGTON, January 9, 1861.

SIR:—

I have received and accepted your resignation on yesterday of the
office of Secretary of the Interior.

On Monday evening, 31st December, 1860, I suspended the orders
which had been issued by the War and Navy Department to send the
Brooklyn with reinforcements to Fort Sumter. Of this I informed
you on the same evening. I stated to you my reasons for this
suspension, which you knew from its nature would be speedily
removed. In consequence of your request, however, I promised that
orders should not be renewed “without being previously considered
and decided in cabinet.”

This promise was faithfully observed on my part. In order to carry
it into effect, I called a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday,
2d January, 1861, in which the question of sending reinforcements
to Fort Sumter was amply discussed both by yourself and others.
The decided majority of opinions was against you. At this moment
the answer of the South Carolina “commissioners” to my
communication to them of the 31st December was received and read.
It produced much indignation among members of the cabinet. After a
further brief conversation I employed the following language: “It
is now all over, and reinforcements must be sent.” Judge Black
said, at the moment of my decision, that after this letter the
cabinet would be unanimous, and I heard no dissenting voice.
Indeed, the spirit and tone of the letter left no doubt on my mind
that Fort Sumter would be immediately attacked, and hence the
necessity of sending reinforcements there without delay.

Whilst you admit “that on Wednesday, January 2d, this subject was
again discussed in cabinet,” you say, “but certainly no conclusion
was reached, and the War Department was not justified in ordering
reinforcements without something [more] than was then said.” You
are certainly mistaken in alleging that no “conclusion was
reached.” In this your recollection is entirely different from
that of your four oldest colleagues in the cabinet. Indeed, my
language was so unmistakable, that the Secretaries of War and the
Navy proceeded to act upon it without any further intercourse with
myself than what you heard or might have heard me say. You had
been so emphatic in opposing these reinforcements, that I thought
you would resign in consequence of my decision. I deeply regret
that you have been mistaken in point of fact, though I firmly
believe honestly mistaken. Still it is certain you have not the
less been mistaken. Yours very respectfully,

JAMES BUCHANAN.

[MR. THOMPSON TO THE PRESIDENT.]

WASHINGTON CITY, January 10, 1861.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY, JAMES BUCHANAN, PRESIDENT OF U. S.:—

DEAR SIR:—In your reply to my note of 8th inst., accepting my
resignation, you are right when you say that “you (I) had been so
emphatic in opposing these reinforcements that I (you) thought you
(I) would resign in consequence of my decision.” I came to the
cabinet on Wednesday, January 2d, with the full expectation I
would resign my commission before I left your council board, and I
know you do not doubt that my action would have been promptly
taken, had I understood on that day that you had decided that
“reinforcements must now be sent.” For more than forty days, I
have regarded the display of a military force in Charleston or
along the Southern coast by the United States as tantamount to
war. Of this opinion you and all my colleagues of the cabinet have
been frankly advised. Believing that such would be the
construction of an order for additional troops, I have been
anxious, and have used all legitimate means to save you and your
administration from precipitating the country into an inevitable
conflict, the end of which no human being could foresee. My
counsels have not prevailed, troops have been sent, and I hope yet
that a kind Providence may avert the consequences I have
apprehended, and that peace be maintained.

I am now a private citizen, and, as such, I am at liberty to give
expression to my private feelings towards you personally.

In all my official intercourse with you, though often overruled, I
have been treated with uniform kindness and consideration.

I know your patriotism, your honesty and purity of character, and
admire your high qualities of head and heart. If we can sink all
the circumstances attending this unfortunate order for
reinforcements—on which, though we may differ, yet I am willing to
admit that you are as conscientious, as I claim to be—you have
been frank, direct, and confiding in me. I have never been
subjected to the first mortification, or entertained for a moment
the first unkind feeling. These facts determined me to stand by
you and your administration as long as there was any hope left
that our present difficulties could find a peaceful solution. If
the counsels of some members of your cabinet prevail, I am utterly
without hope. Every duty you have imposed on me has been
discharged with scrupulous fidelity on my part, and it would give
me infinite pain even to suspect that you are not satisfied.

Whatever may be our respective futures, I shall ever be your
personal friend, and shall vindicate your fame and administration,
of which I have been a part, and shall ever remember with
gratitude the many favors and kindnesses heretofore shown to me
and mine.

I go hence to make the destiny of Mississippi my destiny. My life,
fortune, and all I hold most dear shall be devoted to her cause.
In doing this, I believe before God, I am serving the ends of
truth and justice and good government. Now, as ever, your personal
friend,

J. THOMPSON.

[THE PRESIDENT TO MR. THOMPSON.]

WASHINGTON, January 11, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR:—

Without referring to any recent political question, your favor of
yesterday has afforded me the highest degree of satisfaction. You
know that for many years I have entertained a warm regard for you,
and this has been greatly increased by our official and personal
intercourse since you became a member of my cabinet. No man could
have more ably, honestly, and efficiently performed the various
and complicated duties of the Interior Department than yourself,
and it has always been my pride and pleasure to express this
opinion on all suitable occasions. I regret extremely that the
troubles of the times have rendered it necessary for us to part;
but whatever may be your future destiny, I shall ever feel a deep
interest in your welfare and happiness.

From your friend, very respectfully,
JAMES BUCHANAN.

[SECRETARY THOMAS TO THE PRESIDENT.]

WASHINGTON, D. C., January 11, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR:—

It has not been in my power, as you are aware, to agree with you
and with a majority of your constitutional advisers, in the
measures which have been adopted in reference to the present
condition of things in South Carolina; nor do I think it at all
probable that I shall be able to concur in the views which you
entertain, so far as I understand them, touching the authority
under existing laws, to enforce the collection of the customs at
the port of Charleston.

Under such circumstances, after mature consideration, I have
concluded that I cannot longer continue in your cabinet without
embarrassment to you, and an exposure of myself to the just
criticisms of those who are acquainted with my opinions upon the
subject. I, therefore, deem it proper to tender my resignation of
the commission I now hold as Secretary of the Treasury, to take
effect when my successor is appointed and qualified. In doing so,
I avail myself of the occasion to offer you the assurance of the
high respect and regard which, personally, I entertain for you,
and with which I have the honor to be,

Your friend and obedient servant,
PHILIP F. THOMAS.

[THE PRESIDENT TO MR. THOMAS.]

WASHINGTON, January 12, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR:—

I have received your letter of yesterday, resigning the office of
Secretary of the Treasury, to take effect when your successor
shall be appointed and qualified.

I very much regret that circumstances, in your opinion, have
rendered it necessary. Without referring to those circumstances, I
am happy to state, in accepting your resignation, that during the
brief period you have held this important office, you have
performed its duties in a manner altogether satisfactory to
myself.

Wishing you health, prosperity, and happiness, I remain,

Very respectfully, your friend,
JAMES BUCHANAN.