trongly and
sweepingly declared to be illegal by the Supreme Court, Judge Davis
himself delivering the opinion and going beyond the chief-justice
and others in denying all power and authority to military courts in
such cases. Had Mr. Lincoln lived, he would no doubt have avoided
any question before the Supreme Court in regard to his authority, by
pardoning Milligan as he granted amnesty to so many who had been
active in the rebellion. But Mr. Johnson was so much hampered by his
quarrel with Congress over reconstruction that he was disposed to
avoid interference with criminal cases where his action could
subject him to the charge of sympathy with the accused. He carefully
abstained from meddling with Jefferson Davis as he did with
Milligan, and left the responsibility with the courts.

The final development of the investigation of the Society of the
Golden Circle took place after I had again obtained a field command,
and I was glad to have no occasion to form a personal judgment about
it. The value of evidence collected by means of detectives depends
so greatly on the character of the men employed and the instructions
under which they act, that one may well suspend judgment unless he
has more than ordinarily full knowledge on these points. The
findings of the military commission must stand as a _prima facie_
historical determination of the facts it reported, and the burden of
proof is fairly upon those who assert that the conclusions were not
sustained by trustworthy evidence.

I have mentioned the open resistance to the draft and to the arrest
of deserters in Noble and in Holmes counties. The first of these was
scarcely more than a petty riotous demonstration, which melted away
before the officers as soon as they were able to show that they were
backed by real power. The second looked for a time more formidable,
and assumed a formal military organization. Governor Tod issued a
proclamation warning the offenders of the grave consequences of
their acts, and exhorting them for their own sake and the sake of
their families to disperse and obey the laws. I directed General
Mason at Columbus to be sure, if military force had to be used, that
enough was concentrated to make stubborn resistance hopeless. The
insurgents maintained a bold face till the troops were close upon
them; but when they saw a strong line of infantry charging up toward
the stone fences on the hillside where they had made their camp, and
heard the whistl