Lincoln, Abraham, as Sixteenth President

Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln"), [Washington], 25 September 1863, being 4 lines on the verso of the integral blank of an autograph letter signed by Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, "Headquarters 16th Army Corps," Memphis, 19 September 1863, to President Lincoln, 1 page (10 x 8 in.; 253 x 202 mm) on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper; a few short fold separations.

Autograph endorsement signed ("A. Lincoln"), [Washington], 25 September 1863, being 4 lines on the verso of the integral blank of an autograph letter signed by Major General Stephen A. Hurlbut, "Headquarters 16th Army Corps," Memphis, 19 September 1863, to President Lincoln, 1 page (10 x 8 in.; 253 x 202 mm) on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper; a few short fold separations.
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A glimpse at possible Civil War graft.

Stephen A. Hurlbut (1815-1882), a native of South Carolina, met Lincoln when they were both practicing law in Illinois. He was sent to South Carolina by the president-elect on an intelligence-gathering mission during the secession crisis, an assignment that may have helped secure his appointment as brigadier general of volunteers in June 1861. Hurlbut wrote the present letter of introduction to President Lincoln while garrisoned at Memphis: "Mr. Henry J. Hulbert who will bear you this letter is chairman of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Memphis. He visits Washington on the subject of City Taxes due on property occupied by the U. States. I think it desirable that the prayer of the Petition should be granted to be paid out of the Rental fund accruing to the U. States."

Although he was evidently a creditable commander, Hurlbut also "seems to have exercised every opportunity to line his own pockets," according to Ezra J. Warner's Generals in Blue. Since a special military commission recommended Hurlbut's arrest and trial for corruption in 1864, it is tempting to view the present request—which may, of course, have been entirely aboveboard—as part of a scheme "to line his own pockets."

Lincoln referred the case to Edwin Stanton: "Secretary of War please see Mr. Hulbert, bearing this from Gen. Hurlbut." Nothing further is known about the petition, and presumably it was denied by Secretary Stanton. Hulbert, in company with former Congressman Stanton of Tennessee, did manage to gain an interview with the President on 17 October, but, again, Lincoln evidently did not take action on the question of the taxes supposedly due to Memphis.

Hurlbut used his political influence to quash the court-martial that had been ordered by General Edward R. S. Canby, and he was honorably mustered out of the volunteer service in June 1865. Over the next two-and-a-half decades he went on to serve as the first commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, minister to Colombia, minister to Peru, and United States congressman from Illinois—all the while dogged by allegations of dishonesty and drunkeness.