A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet. Gideon Welles

      

      A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet

      Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, 1861–1869.

      Engraving of a photograph taken ca. 1865.

      Source: The Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT

       A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet

       Navy Secretary Gideon Welles Chronicles the Civil War

      Edited by J. Ronald Spencer

      The Acorn Club

      Hartford, Connecticut

      Published by The Acorn Club c/o Richard Malley, Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth Street, Hartford, CT 06105

      Distributed by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 06459

      www.wesleyan.edu/wespress

      Book design by David Wolfram

      © 2014 The Acorn Club

      All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

      5 4 3 2 1

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878.

      A Connecticut yankee in Lincoln’s cabinet : Navy Secretary Gideon Welles chronicles the Civil War / Gideon Welles ; edited by J. Ronald Spencer.

       pages cm

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-615-96103-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-8195-7498-5 (ebook)

      1. Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878—Diaries. 2. United States—Politics and government—1861-1865. 3. United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Naval operations. 4. United States—History—Civil War, 1861-1865—Sources. 5. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865—Friends and associates. 6. Cabinet officers—United States—Diaries. I. Spencer, J. Ronald. II. Title.

      E467.1.W46A3 2014

      973.7092--dc23

      2014004776

       In Memory of

      Milton P. DeVane, 1929 – 2012

      Donald B. Engley, 1917 – 2012

      Ellsworth S. Grant, 1917 – 2013

      Edward W. Knappman, 1944 – 2011

      Edward W. Sloan III, 1931 – 2012

      CONTENTS

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1
Editorial Note	14
Chapter 1: THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION AND BEYOND	17
Chapter 2: CABINET PROBLEMS AND CABINET CRISIS	33
Chapter 3: WELLES ON LINCOLN	48
Chapter 4: TAKING THE MEASURE OF MEN	57
Chapter 5: GENERALS AND ADMIRALS AT WAR	74
Chapter 6: NAVY DEPARTMENT CHALLENGES	106
Chapter 7: HOME-STATE MATTERS	132
Chapter 8: SIDELIGHTS AND PERSONAL NOTES	146
Chapter 9: REFLECTIONS ON THE WAR	157
Chapter 10: LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION	168
Afterword	178
Appendix: The Members of Lincoln’s Cabinet	185
Members of the Acorn Club	186

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet is the thirty-seventh publication of the Acorn Club, which was founded in 1899 to publish books of enduring value in Connecticut history. The book is dedicated to the five former