The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC02382.068 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | Henry Jackson Hunt to George Brinton McClellan discussing his conspiracy theory involving Stanton, McClellan and the Emancipation Proclamation |
| Date | 21 March 1880 |
| Author | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) |
| Recipient | McClellan, George B. |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Mentions an article re the Battle of Antietam advertised in the 'North American Review.' Hunt discusses his conspiracy theory involving Stanton, McClellan and the Emancipation Proclamation. "…if you had lost Antietam you would have been shot [a hury?] - if a court could be packed for the purpose, and after a defeat such a court could have been got - After a victory, they were able to remove you and pack a court almost sufficient to shoot [a hurry?] Porter, and the spirit that prescripted it, is as then proceeding, in the Senate …as malignant an virulent as ever. You ran a terrible risk in that Maryland campaign. I was not aware of it at the time for I did not then know of the trap that was laid, although I was aware that you were obstructed so far as possible at every step…." Notes that the N.A. Review article accuses Stanton and Halleck of treachery regarding this supposed plot against McClellan. Claims the plot was aimed at preventing a great defeat of Lee's army in 1862, as conditions after such a victory would have led to an uprising that would have isolated Virginia. "Halleck & Stanton & the whole radical crew knew it and dreaded it. - until the Em. Proclamation should be issued - and the proclamation would hold the south together and deaden the opposition even of NC & Tenn to the Confederacy. But what cared the abolitionists for that!...." Mentions an article by a Boutwell, also in the N.A.R. Writes that if a radical candidate is not elected at the polls, he is still declared elected. Claims planned election fraud, with a quid pro quo between Grant and Hayes & Wheeler. |
| Subjects | Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) Union General Military History Journalism Literature and Language Arts Battle Civil War Lincoln's Cabinet Slavery African American History Emancipation Emancipation Proclamation President Government and Civics Corruption and Scandal Military Law Congress Treason Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Rebellion Abolition Forgery and Fraud Election Politics |
| People | McClellan, George B. (1826-1885) Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager) (1815-1872) Barry, William Farquhar (1818-1879) Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) (1822-1885) |
| Place written | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Government & Politics; African Americans; Slavery & Abolition |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Folder information: Henry Jackson Hunt was Chief of the Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. Considered by his contemporaries the greatest artillery tactician and strategist of the war, he was a master of the science of gunnery and rewrote the manual on the organization and the use of artillery in early modern armies: Instruction for field artillery. Prepared by a board of artillery officers, consisting of Captain Wm. H. French...Captain Wm. F. Barry...Captain H.J. Hunt...To which is added The evolutions of batteries, tr. from the French by Brigadier General R. Anderson (New York, D. Van Nostrand, 1864). Hunt was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Samuel Wellington Hunt, a career infantry officer. As a child he accompanied his father in 1827 to the Kansas Territory on an expedition to found Fort Leavenworth. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1839 as second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He served in the Mexican War where he was elevated to captain and major. Hunt received attention when in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, his four-gun battery covered the retreat of a Union force with an artillery duel. He soon afterword became the chief of artillery in defense of Washington, D.C. As a colonel on the staff of McClellan, he organized and trained the artillery reserve and fought in the Peninsular Campaign. His keen work influenced battles at Malvern Hill, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. His most famous service occurred at Gettysburg. He served in Virginia through the end of the war. Following the Civil War, Hunt held various military posts. He served as president of the permanent Artillery Board. He also served at Fort Sullivan, Eastport, Maine (1868), Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island (1869-1872 definitely, and possibly until 1874), military commander at Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia (1875-1880), commander, Department of the South (1880-1883), and as Governor of the Soldier's Home in Washington D.C. (1883-1889). Hunt had served as Chief of Artillery for the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. He was military commander at Charleston, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia 1875-1880. McClellan commanded the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, before being relieved of command. He was Governor of New Jersey 1878-1881. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |