two hundred thousand men. Frémont was assigned to command of the Department of the West, with headquarters at St. Louis. Missouri was plunged in a state of wild disorder. Murders, neighborhood feuds, assassinations, secret crimes of various degrees of turpitude, and outrages of every sort were common. The State was classed as doubtful for the Union, being overrun with secessionists, although the local government had not declared for separation. It was time that something vigorous and decisive in character should be done. The State was distressed with all the horrors of bloody feuds and guerilla warfare.

On the 31st of August, General Frémont issued a proclamation declaring Missouri to be under martial law, defining the lines of the army of occupation, and notifying the people that all persons found within those lines with arms in their hands, unless in the service of the United States, would be put to death. Furthermore, the proclamation declared that the property of all persons in a state of rebellion against the authority of the United States would be seized and confiscated, and that the slaves of such persons would be free under the operation of his proclamation.

These declarations fell on the people of the United States with astounding effect. They were, in brief, a proclamation of a policy of confiscation of Rebel property and emancipation of the slaves of Rebels. In the loyal States, the people were thrilled with the thought that a heavy blow had been struck at the institution of slavery. The Rebels, on the other hand, were infuriated. Up to this time, no sacri

legious hand had been laid on the time-honored right of property in slaves. Here was a proclamation of emancipation from a general of the army. For a space, all men held their breath and waited. What would Lincoln say?

There were many reasons why he should disapprove of the proclamation of a policy of emancipation, confiscation, and "no quarter." Congress had already passed a bill to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes; and the people had become somewhat used to the idea that slaves, as property, employed in military operations, could be confiscated. In the next place, Lincoln was even then trying to soothe the angry and uneasy feelings of the people of the border States and induce them to remain loyal to the Union, and, if possible, prepare the way for a gradual emancipation. The sudden order of Frémont would be sure to make Lincoln's task more difficult. And the notification that armed men inside the lines of the army of occupation would be shot would certainly provoke reprisals from the Rebels. In fact, almost as soon as Frémont's proclamation was issued, Jeff. Thompson, a brigadier commanding Rebel forces in Missouri, put forth a counter-proclamation announcing that for every soldier of the State guard, or of the Confederate army, so executed, he would "hang, draw, and quarter a minion of Abraham Lincoln," thereby meaning any person who remained true to the Federal cause.

It should be understood that Frémont was very popular in the West, where he was looked upon not only as the ideal soldier, but as a champion and

leader of the cause of freedom. His nomination as the Republican candidate for the Presidency, in 1856, gave him a certain political prestige that was not readily weakened, and which undoubtedly still was very dear to him. As the famed "Pathfinder” and explorer, there was some degree of romantic interest attached to his name, and thousands of people who did not consider all the consequences of his acts were ready to cheer whatever he said or did. Lincoln was greatly distressed by this act of insubordination (for such it was) on the part of Frémont, and was troubled by the necessity of rebuking a man whose services he hoped to find useful in the suppression of the Rebellion. But he determined to allow Frémont an opportunity to recall and modify his proclamation. Accordingly, he sent him by a private messenger a letter asking him to make such changes in the proclamation as would conform it to the act of Congress already referred to. "Should you shoot a man, according to the proclamation," said Lincoln, "the Confederates would very certainly shoot our best men in their hands, in retaliation; and so on, indefinitely. It is, therefore, my order that you allow no man to be shot without first having my approbation or consent."

As for the other part of Frémont's manifesto, Lincoln said: "I think there is great danger that the closing paragraph, in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberating of slaves of traitorous owners, will alarm our Southern Union friends and turn them against us; perhaps ruin our rather fair prospect for Kentucky." He asked Frémont (as if

of his own motion, and not with the public understanding that he had been overruled from Washington) to modify the proclamation so as to have it conformable to the laws of Congress and the rules of war already suggested. At that time there were not a few persons who thought, when the President's letter was made public, that Lincoln desired to have Frémont bear the brunt of the unfriendly criticism that might be made on a modification of his now famous proclamation, while Lincoln should escape that censure. Perhaps Frémont thought this. But Lincoln's kindness of heart undoubtedly did suggest this means of escape for Frémont from the dilemma in which he had been involved. Frémont was fixed, however, in his opinions. He declined to recall or change any part of his admired proclamation; and Lincoln, in an order dated September 11, 1861, did so modify the proclamation of Frémont that it should not transcend the provisions of the act of Congress before mentioned. General Frémont subsequently wrote to one of the Rebel officers commanding in Missouri, qualifying and explaining that part of his proclamation relating to shooting prisoners, and declaring that it was not intended to apply to any men engaged in military operations in the field, or to ignore the ordinary rights of humanity with respect to wounded men. Thus terminated that important and exciting incident.

At this point it may as well be recorded that General David Hunter, commanding the Military Department of the South, with headquarters at Hilton Head, S. C., did, in the following May, also

issue a proclamation of emancipation not unlike that of Frémont. In this document he recited the fact that martial law had been proclaimed in the States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, and that, as slavery and martial law were incompatible with each other in a free country, all persons in those three States, "heretofore held as slaves, are therefore declared forever free." This extraordinary proclamation was revoked by Lincoln without delay, and with none of the gentle consideration he had shown to Frémont. Hunter had before him the example of Frémont's being overruled, and Lincoln justly thought that his offence was therefore less excusable than the indiscretion of Frémont. In a proclamation issued by the President as soon as Hunter's manifesto could reach Washington, some doubt was expressed as to the genuineness of the document signed by General Hunter. But the President proclaimed "that neither General Hunter nor any other commander or p rson has been authorized by the Government of the United States to make proclamation declaring the slaves of any State free; and that the supposed proclamation, now in question, whether genuine or false, is altogether void, so far as respects such declaration." He further said, to settle forever all doubt on this grave matter, that he reserved to himself the right to determine whether it should become a necessity, indispensable to the maintenance of the Government, to exercise the supposed power of proclaiming emancipation to the slaves. He could not delegate that authority to commanders in the field under any circumstances.