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Civil War-dated ALS as president signed “A. Lincoln,” one page, 5 x 8, Executive Mansion letterhead, March 18, 1863. Handwritten letter to Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt requesting a review of the court-martial conviction of Lieutenant John Benson Williams of the 3rd U.S. Infantry, whom Lincoln believed deserved further consideration. In full: “It is said Lieut. John Benson [Williams], of the 3rd regular Infantry, has been sentenced by a Military Commission, to be dismissed the service. I have some reason to believe there are strong mitigating circumstances in his case, which the Commission perhaps, did not deem competent for them to consider. I will thank you to procure the record, examine it and report upon it to me.” In fine condition.
The reverse of the integral leaf bears contemporary manuscript endorsements documenting the letter's progress through the War Department. Upon receiving Lincoln's request, Holt forwarded it to the Adjutant General, noting on March 23rd that “No record or report in regard to [the Williams case] has been received at this office.” The letter was subsequently returned to Holt with the record of Williams's court-martial, docketed “Please see papers within,” enabling him to review the proceedings at the President's request.
After examining the record, Holt prepared a detailed report for Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton on March 30th, rejecting the purported mitigating circumstances, identified as Williams's claimed illness, and concluding that the officer had abandoned his command without leave. Stanton transmitted Holt's findings to Lincoln, who ultimately declined to intervene, writing on April 11, 1863: ‘I decline to interfere in behalf of Lieut. Williams.’
Written at the height of the Civil War, this letter provides an exceptional glimpse into Lincoln's personal oversight of military justice. Just fifteen days before writing this letter, Lincoln had signed the Enrollment Act, the first federal conscription law in American history, which initiated the Union's first nationwide draft as the government sought to replenish its armies. Even as he confronted the immense responsibilities of directing the Union war effort, Lincoln devoted personal attention to the case of a single officer, first ordering a careful review of the evidence before reaching a final decision. Such measured consideration of an individual soldier's fate reflects the thoughtful exercise of executive authority that distinguished Lincoln's wartime leadership.
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