r 4/7/ / tir E 471 ) .C18 I Copy 1 THE ADMINISTRATION AND ®Itp O^rrnfedfrHtc States. The following letter pi one of a correspondence between Hon. John A. Campbell, late Judge of the United States Supreme Court, and Hon. Wm. H. Seward, all of which was laid before the- Provisional Congress on Saturday by President Davis. Washington City, April 13, 1861. Sir:— On the 15th March, ult., I left with Jud Crawford, one of the Commissioners of the Conf erate States, a note in writing to the effect follow? "I feel entire confidence that Fort Sumter wi' evacuated in the next five days. And this me is felt as imposing great responsibility on the ^ istration. "I feel entire confidence that no measure c the existing status, prejudiciously to the\ ' Confederate States, is at present- contemplate ! 2 .Cl? X feel an entire confidence that an immediate de- id for an answer to the communication of the nmissioners will be productive of evil and not of good. I do not believe that it ought at this time to be pressed." The substance of this statement I communicated to you the same evening by letter. Five days elapsed, and I called with a telegram from Gen. Beauregard, to the effect that Sumter was not evacuated, but that Major Anderson was at work making repairs. The next day, after conversing with you, I commu- nicated to Judge Crawford in writing that the failure to evacuate Fort Sumter was not the result of bad faith, but was attributable to causes consistent with the intention to fulfil the engagement, and that as regarded Pickens, I should have notice of any design to alter the existing status there. Mr. Justice Nelson was present at these conversations, three in number, and I submitted to him each of my written commu- nications to Judge Crawford, and informed Judge C. that they had his (Judge Nelson's) sanction. I gave vou, on the 22d of March, a substantial copy of the atement I had made on the 15th. The 30th of March arrived, and at that time a tel- am came from Gov. Pickens inquiring concerning Lamon, whose visit to Charleston he supposed a connection with the proposed evacuation of Sumter, ft that with you, and was to have an answer 'owing Monday — 1st April. On the 1st of received from you the statement in writing, tisfied) the Government will not undertake ly Fort Sumter without giving notice to / Governor P." The words "I am satisfied," were for me to use as expressive of confidence in the remain- der of the declaration. The proposition as originally prepared, was : "The President may desire to supply Rumter, but will not do so," &c., and your verbal explanation was, that you did not believe any such attempt would be made, and that there was no design to reinforce Sumter. There was a departure here from the pledges of the previous month, but with the verbal explanation I did not consider it a matter then to complain of. I simply stated to you that I had that assurance pre- viously. On the 7th of April, I addressed you a letter on the subject of the alarm that the preparations by the Government had created, and asked you if the assu- rances I had given were well or ill-founded. In re- spect to Sumter, your reply was "Faith as to Sumter fully kept — wait and see." In the morning's paper I read : "An authorized messenger from President Lincoln informed Gov. Pickens and General Beaure- gard that provisions would be sent to Fort Sumter peaceably, or otherwise, hy forcey This was the 8th of April, at Charleston, the day following your last assurance, and is the evidence of the full faith I was invited to wait for and see. In the same paper I read that intercepted dispatches disclosed the fact that Mr. Fox, who had been allowed to visit Major Ander- son, on the pledge that his purpose was pacific, em- ployed his opportunity to devise a plan for supplying the Fort by force, and that this plan had been adopt- ed by the Washington Government, and was in pro- cess of execution. My recollection of the date of 4 Xlr. Fox's visit carries it to a jday in March. I learn he is a near connection of a member of the Cabinet. My connection with the Commissioners and yourself was superinduced by a conversation with Justice Nelson. He informed me of your strong dispositions in favor of peace, and that you were oppressed with a demand of the Commissioners of the Confederate States for a reply to their first letter, and that you desired to avoid it, if possible, at that time. I told him I might, perhaps, be of some service in arranging the difficulty. I came to your office entirely at his request, and without the knowledge of either of the Commissioners. Your depression was obvious to both Judge Nelson and myself. I was gratified at the character of the counsels you were desirous of pursuing, and much impressed with your observation that a civil war might be prevented by the success of my mediation. You read a letter of Mr. Weed, to show how irksome and responsible the withdrawal of troops from Sumter was. A portion of my commu- nication to Judge Crawford on the 15th of March was founded upon these remarks, and the pledge to evacuate Fort Sumter is less forcible than the words you employed. I'hose words were : "Before this let- ter reaches you (a proposed letter by me to President Davis,) Sumter will have been evacuated." The Commissioners who received those communi- cations conclude they have been abused and over- reached. The Montgomery Government hold the same opinion. The Commissioners have supposed that my communications were with you, and upon the hypothesis prepared to arraign you before the country in connection with the President. I placed a peremptory prohibition upon this as being contrary to the terms of my communication with them. I pledged myself to them to communicate information upon what I considered as the best authority, and they were to confide in the ability of myself, aided by Judge Nelson, to determine upon the credibility of my informant. I think no candid man who will read over what I have written, and consider for a moment what is going on at Sumter, but will agree that the equiv- ocating conduct of the Administration, as measured and interpreted in connection with these promises, is the proximate cause of the great calamity. I have a profound conviction that the telegrams of the 8th of April, of Gen. Beauregard, and of the 10th of April, of Gen. Walker, the Secretary of War, can be referred to nothing else than their belief that there has been systematic duplicity practiced on them through me. It is under an oppressive sense of the weight of the responsibility that 1 submit to you these things for your explanation. Yery respectfully, (Signed,) JOHN A. CAMPBELL, Associate Justice of the Supreme G. U. S. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Sec'y of State. Washington City, Afrril 20, 1861. Sir : — I enclose you a letter, corresponding very nearly with one I addressed to you a week ago — 13th April — to which I have not had any reply. The let- 6 ter is simply one of inquiry in reference to facts con- cerning which, I think, I am entitled to an explana- tion. I have not adopted any opinion in reference to them which may not be modified by explanation, nor have I affirmed in that letter, nor do I in this, any conclusion of my own unfavorable to your in- tegrity in the whole transaction. All that I have said, and mean to say, is that an explanation is due from you to myself. I will not say what I shall do in case this request is not com- plied with, but I am justified in saying, that I shall feel at liberty to place these letters before any per- son who is entitled to ask an explanation of myself. Very respectfully, JOHN A. CAMPBELL, Associate Justice Supreme Court of U. S. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. No reply has been made to this letter. April U, 1861. \ Montgomery, Ala., May 7, 1861. Sir : — I submit to you two letters that were ad- dressed by me to the Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secre- tory of State of the United States, that contain an explanation of the nature and result of an interven- tion by me in the intercourse of the Commissioners of the Confederate States with that officer. I consid- ered that I could perform no duty in which the entire American people, whether of the Federal Union or of the Confederate States, were more interested than that of promoting the counsels and the policy that had for their object the preservation of peace. This motive dictated my intervention. Besides the inter- view referred to in these letters I informed the As- sistant Secretary of State of the United States (not being able to see the Secretary) on the 11th of April, ult., of the existence of a dispatch of that date from Gen^ral Beauregard to the Commissioners, in which he informed the Commissioners that he had demand- ed the evacuation of Sumter, and if refused, he would proceed to reduce it. On the same day I had been told that President Lincoln had said that none of the vessels sent to Charleston were war vessels, and that force was not to be used in the attempt to supply the fort. I had no means of testing the accuracy of this information ; but offered that if the information was accurate I I would send a dispatch to the authorities at Charles- ton, and it might prevent the disastrous consequen- ces of a collision at that fort between the opposing forces. It was the last effort I would make to avert the calamities of war. The Assistant Secretai promised to give the matter attention, but I had no other interview with him or any other person on the subject, nor have I had any reply to the letters sub- mitted to you. Very respectfully, JOHN A. CAMPBELL, Gen. Davis, President of the Confederate States. LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 013 700 443 4 ▼ \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 700 443 4