Selected Correspondance of Abraham Lincoln 1863 Letter To General Schofield
by Abraham Lincoln
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON
May 27, 1863.
GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD.
MY DEAR SIR:--Having relieved General Curtis and assigned you to the
command of the Department of the Missouri, I think it may be of some
advantage for me to state why I did it. I did not relieve General
Curtis because of any full conviction that he had done wrong by
commission or omission. I did it because of a conviction in my mind
that the Union men of Missouri, constituting, when united, a vast
majority of the whole people, have entered into a pestilent factional
quarrel among themselves--General Curtis, perhaps not of choice,
being the head of one faction and Governor Gamble that of the other.
After months of labor to reconcile the difficulty, it seemed to grow
worse and worse, until I felt it my duty to break it up somehow; and
as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I had to remove General
Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I wish you to undo nothing
merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble did it, but to
exercise your own judgment, and do right for the public interest.
Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the invader and
keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and
persecute the people. It is a difficult role, and so much greater
will be the honor if you perform it well. If both factions, or
neither, shall abuse you, you will probably be about right. Beware
of being assailed by one and praised by the other.