GDG- Ex Parte Vallandigham - Prequel

[Margaret D. Blough]

Dennis,

It should be noted that Confederate authorities arrested the fiery East Tennessee Unionist William G. "Parson" Brownlow in December 1861 and "escorted" him into Union lines in early 1862.  Civil liberties quite frequently take a beating in wartime, even in republics and/or democracies, and civil wars, which make distinguishing friend from foe difficult and fear of the enemy within that much more intense, are particularly problematical for civil rights and liberties.

Regards,

Margaret

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Dennis Lawrence <denlaw at fone.net> 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> To Edwin M. Stanton 
> Executive Mansion, Washington, 
> Hon. Secretary of War May 13, 1863. 
> 
> My dear Sir Since parting with you I have seen the Secretaries of 
> State and the Treasury, and they both think we better not issue the 
> special suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus spoken of. Gov. Chase 
> thinks the case is not before Judge Swaine, that it is before Judge 
> Levett, that the writ will probably not issue, whichever the 
> application may be before; and that, in no event, will Swaine commit 
> an imprudence. His chief reason for thinking the writ will not issue, 
> is that he has seen in a newspaper that Judge Levett stated that 
> Judge Swaine & he refused a similar application last year. Yours 
> truly A. LINCOLN 
> 
> Annotation 
> 
> [1] ALS, DLC-Stanton Papers. On May 4, Clement L. Vallandigham had 
> been arrested, on orders of General Burnside. On May 8, Burnside 
> telegraphed in reply to a non-extant telegram from Lincoln, ``Your 
> dispatch just rec'd. I thank you for your kind assurance of support & 
> beg to say that every possible effort will be made on my part to 
> sustain the Govt of the United States in its fullest authority.'' 
> (DLC-RTL). The furor in Ohio and throughout the North over the arrest 
> and ensuing trial was such that Secretary Stanton feared the impact 
> on Union morale if the U.S. district judge should ignore the general 
> proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus. On May 13, he 
> therefore prepared an order especially suspending the writ in 
> Vallandigham's case and drafted an accompanying despatch to Burnside. 
> Both documents, unsigned, are 
> 
> http://www.civilwarhome.com/vallandighambio.htm 
> 
> 
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