410 



LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. 



and Patten and Boyd had about 6,000. If, 

 therefore, the army that Gen. Price brought 

 with him from the southwest is put as low as 

 12,000, the total force that he brought to bear 

 on the garrison at Lexington was 21,500. The 

 force of the garrison was only 2,640 men. The 

 loss of water, and the inferiority of numbers 

 caused the surrender. Gen. Price says that 

 the firing was continued for fifty-two hours. 

 The enemy adopted for defence a breastwork 

 of hempen bales, which they rolled before 

 them as they advanced. Their loss they state 

 at 25 killed and 72 wounded. The Federal loss 

 in killed and wounded was estimated from 300 

 to 500. Gen. Fremont, upon hearing of this 

 surrender, sent the following despatch to Wash- 

 ington : 



HEAD-QUARTERS, "WESTERN DEPARTMENT, | 

 ST. Louis, Sept. 23, 1801. f 

 Col. E. D. Toionsend, Adjutant- General : 



I have a telegram from Brookfield that Lexington 

 has fallen into Price's hands, be having cut oft' Mulli- 

 gan's supply of water. Reenforcements 4,000 strong, 

 under Sturgis, by the capture of the ferry boats, had 

 no means of crossing the river in time. Lane's forces 

 from the southwest, and Davis' from the southeast, up- 

 wards of 11,000 in all, could also not get there in time. 

 I am taking the field myself and hope to destroy the 

 enemy either before or after the junction of the forces 

 under McCulloch. Please notify the President imme- 

 diately. J. C. FREMONT, Major-Gen. Commanding. 



Some remarks appeared in the St. Louis 

 " Evening News " a few days after, commenting 

 upon the neglect of the authorities at St. Louis 

 to send out reinforcements, when the paper 

 was immediately suppressed by Gen. Fremont, 

 and its publisher and editor sent to prison, 

 from which they were subsequently uncondi- 

 tionally released. 



As a strategetical point, the loss of the town 

 was a serious affair to the Federal cause, and a 

 gain of no small value to the Confederates. Its 

 possession would tend to retain that part of 

 Missouri to the Union side, while its loss would 

 expose Kansas, as well as the northern and 

 western parts of Missouri. 



About the 1st of October, on the approach 

 of Gen. Fremont, Lexington was partly evacu- 

 ated by the Confederate force. On the 16th, 

 Major White, with one hundred and fifty men 

 of the First Missouri, surprised the garrison 

 which remained, and recaptured the town, with 

 all the sick and wounded, also a quantity of 

 guns, pistols, two cannon, and other articles. 

 The garrison numbered about two hundred. 



LINCOLN, ABBAHAM. By the election on 

 the 6th November, 1860, he was chosen Presi- 

 dent of the United States. The vote, as counted 

 by Congress, was proclaimed to be as follows : 



The whole number of Electors appointed to 

 vote for President of the United States is 303, 

 of which a majority is 152. The state of the 

 vote for President of the United States was : 



For Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, 180 



For John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky 72 



For John Bell, of Tennessee, 39 



For Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, 12 



On the morning of the llth of February fol- 



lowing, at 8 o'clock, Mr. Lincoln left Springfield, 

 Illinois, for Washington, to undertake the dis- 

 charge of the duties of his office. Hitherto, amid 

 all the excitement, anxiety, and alarm of the 

 country the gloom that hung over commerce, 

 the paralysis of trade and manufactures, and the 

 threatening aspect of the South ; amid the se- 

 cession of States, the attempted dismember- 

 ment of the Union, and the efforts of the wisest 

 of the Northern States met in a Convention, 

 consisting of an Ex-President, Ex-Cabinet Min- 

 isters, Ex-Foreign Ministers, Ex-Senators, Ex- 

 Members of the House of Representatives, Ex- 

 Chief-Justices of State Courts, Ex-Chancellors, 

 a Governor and Ex-Governors, and Ex-Attor- 

 ney-GeneralSj to devise measures to stay the im- 

 pending ruin ; hitherto, indeed, not a word had 

 passed his lips to lift the weight of doubt and 

 trouble that oppressed his countrymen. As he 

 went forth from his humble home to put on 

 the robes of his majestic office, all eyes watched 

 his steps. Secessionist, Unionist, Republican, 

 listened with anxious interest to catch every 

 sound he uttered, as a sign of what the unseen 

 future would be. As he entered the car-house 

 at the Springfield depot, he met over a thou- 

 sand of his townsmen assembled, to bid him 

 farewell. Shaking hands with them as he ap- 

 proached the train, he then stopped on the 

 platform and spoke as follows : 



" My friends : No one not in my position can 

 appreciate the sadness I feel at this parting. To 

 this people I owe all that I am. Here I have 

 lived more than a quarter of a century. Here 

 my children" were born, and here one of them 

 lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see 

 you again. A duty devolves upon me which 

 is perhaps greater than that which has de- 

 volved upon any other man since the days of 

 Washington. He never would have succeeded 

 except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon 

 which he at all times relied. I feel that I can- 

 not succeed without the same Divine aid which 

 sustained him, and in the same Almighty Being 

 I place my reliance for support ; and I hope 

 you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive 

 that Divine assistance, without which I cannot 

 succeed, but with which success is certain. 

 Again, I bid you all an affectionate farewell." 



Along the route, multitudes assembled at the 

 railway stations to greet the Presidential party. 

 At Toledo, after a salute and in response to re- 

 peated calls, Mr. Lincoln appeared on the plat- 

 form and said : 



" I am leaving you on an errand of national 

 importance, attended, as you are aware, with 

 considerable difficulties. Let us believe, as 

 some poet has expressed it, ' Behind the cloud 

 the sun is shining still.' I bid you an affection- 

 ate farewell." 



The party next proceeded to Indianapolis, 

 where Mr. Lincoln was welcomed by the Gov- 

 ernor of the State, and escorted to a carriage, 

 when a procession was formed, composed of 

 both Houses of the Legislature, the public offi- 

 cers, the municipal authorities, military, and 



