in danger of erring on what many would call the weak side, had it not been balanced by an unusual degree of strong practical good sense and judgment.
The Secretary of War, and generals in command, were frequently much annoyed at being overruled,—the discipline and efficiency of the service being thereby, as they considered, greatly endangered. But there was no going back of the simple signature, "A. Lincoln," attached to proclamation or reprieve.
The Hon. Mr. Kellogg, representative from Essex County, New York, received a despatch one evening from the army, to the effect that a young townsman, who had been induced to enlist through his instrumentality, had, for a serious misdemeanor, been convicted by a court-martial, and was to be shot the next day. Greatly agitated, Mr. Kellogg went to the Secretary of War, and urged, in the strongest manner, a reprieve. Stanton was inexorable. "Too many cases of the kind had been let off;" he said; "and it was time an example was made." Exhausting his eloquence in vain, Mr. Kellogg said,—"Well, Mr. Secretary, the boy is not going to be shot,—of that I give you fair warning!" Leaving the War Department, he went directly to the White House, although the hour was late. The sentinel on duty told him that special orders had been issued to admit no one whatever that night. After a long parley, by
