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 | GLC02382.040 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of Henry Jackson Hunt |
| Title | Henry Jackson Hunt to Henry Knox Craig commenting on politics |
| Date | 2 April 1868 |
| Author | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) |
| Recipient | Craig, Henry Knox |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | He is working for pay for retired soldiers. Comments on the Supreme Court decision in the McCardle case and President Andrew Johnson's impeachment. Expresses strong feelings about the Republican party and Reconstruction, criticizing the unfair treatment of rebels. "I don't wonder that you characterize so severely that little dodge by which the Supreme Court was ousted of its jurisdiction in the McArdle [McCardle] case…." Compares it to a scene from Tristram Shandy of "accomplishing a purpose and avoiding the responsibility." Discusses the Radical Republican tactic of disallowing votes from certain southern states in order to defeat the conservatives in the next election. "[T]he people of the North…will always yield easily to audacity and the very audacity of the Republican party tactic is their best warrant of success." Discusses Thaddeus Stevens's backing of the confiscation of Confederate property. "I would not be surprised if the confiscation of all 'rebel property' to pay our War Debt and indemnify 'loyal men' for their losses were made a 'plank' in the radical platform - and carry the Election! It would come within the scope of the radical claim of conquest …." Discusses the Johnny Clarke affair. Returns to the impeachment: "I trust that when the trial does take place the Presidents counsel will put Grant on the stand, and turn him inside out, and Stanton too - but I doubt if the court will permit it. It seems to me that result is a forgone conclusion, and the benefits to be derived from it will not be jeopardized by allowing anything in the course of proceedings that would neutralize them - There was doubtless well understood reason for stripping the Chief Justice of his judicial function, and reducing him to the position of chairman to a caucus, without a vote." Discusses possibility of a new post for himself, and his desire to stay put. |
| Subjects | Finance Soldier's Pay Supreme Court Judiciary President Law Congress Government and Civics Habeas Corpus Reconstruction Republican Party Confederate States of America Literature and Language Arts Election Politics Debt Finance Economics Union General |
| People | Hunt, Henry Jackson (1819-1889) Craig, Henry Knox (1791-1869) |
| Place written | Eastport, Maine |
| Theme | The American Civil War; The Presidency; Government & Politics |
| 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). Craig served as Chief of Ordnance 1851-1861. An orphaned native of Detroit, Hunt graduated from West Point in 1839. He took a prominent part in the first campaign of Bull Run, then became chief of artillery of the Washington defenses in charge of training the artillery reserve of the Army of the Potomac. He remained chief of artillery until June 1864, when Grant put him in charge of al siege operations on the Petersburg front. Hunt was brevetted major general of volunteers for his services at Gettysburg. During Reconstruction he was stationed for much of the time in the South, where he earned a reputation for fairness and moderation. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |