eserving of serious blame.
No court-martial is deemed necessary or proper in the case.

A. LINCOLN.

TO GENERAL SCHOFIELD.

Private and confidential

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, October 28, 1863.

GENERAL JOHN M. SCHOFIELD:

There have recently reached the War Department, and thence been laid
before me, from Missouri, three communications, all similar in import and
identical in object. One of them, addressed to nobody, and without place
or date, but having the signature of (apparently) the writer, is a letter
of eight closely written foolscap pages. The other two are written by
a different person, at St. Joseph, Mo., and of the dates, respectively,
October 12 and 13, 1863, and each inclosing a large number of affidavits.
The general statements of the whole are that the Federal and State
authorities are arming the disloyal and disarming the loyal, and that the
latter will all be killed or driven out of the State unless there shall be
a change. In particular, no loyal man who has been disarmed is named, but
the affidavits show by name forty-two persons as disloyal who have been
armed. They are as follows: [The names are omitted.]

A majority of these are shown to have been in the rebel service. I believe
it could be shown that the government here has deliberately armed more
than ten times as many captured at Gettysburg, to say nothing of similar
operations in East Tennessee. These papers contain altogether thirty--one
manuscript pages, and one newspaper in extenso, and yet I do not find it
anywhere charged in them that any loyal man has been harmed by reason of
being disarmed, or that any disloyal one has harmed anybody by reason of
being armed by the Federal or State Government. Of course, I have not had
time to carefully examine all; but I have had most of them examined and
briefed by others, and the result is as stated. The remarkable fact that
the actual evil is yet only anticipated--inferred--induces me to suppose I
understand the case; but I do not state my impression, because I might
be mistaken, and because your duty and mine is plain in any event. The
locality of nearly all this seems to be St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
I wish you to give special attention to this region, particularly on
election day. Prevent violence from whatever quarter, and see that the
soldiers themselves do no wrong.

Yours truly,

A. LINCOLN.

TELEGRAM TO GOVERNOR JOHNSON.

[Cipher.]

EXECUTIVE MANSION,