GENERAL:--I have placed you at the head of the Army of the Potomac. Of
course I have done this upon what appear to me to be sufficient reasons,
and yet I think it best for you to know that there are some things in
regard to which I am not quite satisfied with you. I believe you to be a
brave and skillful soldier, which of course I like. I also believe you do
not mix politics with your profession, in which you are right. You have
confidence in yourself, which is a valuable if not an indispensable
quality. You are ambitious, which within reasonable bounds does good
rather than harm; but I think that during General Burnside's command of
the army you have taken counsel of your ambition and thwarted him as much
as you could, in which you did a great wrong to the country and to a most
meritorious and honorable brother officer. I have heard, in such a way
as to believe it, of your recently saying that both the army and the
government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite
of it, that I have given you the command. Only those generals who gain
successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success,
and I will risk the dictatorship. The government will support you to the
utmost of its ability, which is neither more nor less than it has done
and will do for all commanders. I much fear that the spirit that you
have aided to infuse into the army, of criticizing their commander and
withholding confidence from him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist
you as far as I can to put it down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he
were alive again, could get any good out of an army while such a spirit
prevails in it. And now beware of rashness. Beware of rashness, but with
energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories.

Yours very truly,

A. LINCOLN.

MESSAGE TO CONGRESS.

WASHINGTON CITY, January 28,1863,

TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

In conformity to the law of July 16, 1862, I most cordially recommend
that Commander David D. Porter, United States Navy, acting rear-admiral,
commanding the Mississippi Squadron, receive a vote of thanks of Congress
for the bravery and skill displayed in the attack on the post of Arkansas,
which surrendered to the combined military and naval forces on the 10th
instant.

A. LINCOLN.

TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BUTLER

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 28, 1863.

MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER, Lowell, Mass.:

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