Lincoln's War

By Richard Kelly Hoskins

In early 1861, a whole flock of northern municipalities defaulted on their bonds. Schuler, Illinois; Genoa, New York; Sterling, New York; Waterloo, Wisconsin; Rochester, Wisconsin; Marshall County, Iowa; Pittsburg, Pennslvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before the year ended 6,993 businesses had failed.

William Henry Seward, Secretary of State, suggested a diversionary foreign war to reunite the country (Lincoln, Works, IV, pp. 316-318.) It was a good idea, but Lincoln, a former big-time railroad lawyer — president, had other plans.

March 15 — Assurances were given to the Confederate Government that Fort Sumter would be evacuated within a few days.¹

March 28 — In spite of these assurances, Mr. Lincoln completed plans for fitting out an expedition to invade Charleston Harbor.²

April 5 — Transports and vessels of war with troops, munitions, and military supplies sailed from northern ports bound southward.

April 6 — More ships set sail from northern ports to join the fleet.

April 7 — Still more ship sail from port to join forces. The newspapers picked up these warlike events and fully exposed them in Washington and elsewhere.³ The southern peace delegation read these reports, became alarmed and confronted the Lincoln government with the charge of “deception”. The Lincoln government “pooh-poohed” the whole matter and referred to the imminent evacuation in a note which said, “Faith as to Sumter fully kept, Wait and see.” Unfortunately for Mr. Lincoln’s reputation, this message was in writing.

At the very same time the war fleet was on high seas the Lincoln government continued to maintain that Fort Sumpter would be peacefully handed over to South Carolina and there would be no war.⁴

April 10 — A message was sent from the South Carolina Peace Delegation in Washington to General Beauregard at Charleston. “The Tribune of today declares the main object of the expedition to be the relief of Sumter, and that a force will be landed which will overcome all opposition.⁵ This was how South Carolina learned that a United States invasion fleet was shortly due to storm Charleston.

April 12 — The fleet arrived but was kept out of Charleston harbor by a terrible storm which upset the time schedule. The South Carolinians were now reduced to one of two choices: to allow the fleet and fort to combine forces and subdue the greatest commercial harbor in the South or to reduce the fort before the storm died down and the fleet could enter. A choice of this kind is no choice at all. Naturally, they bombarded the fort and received the stigma of firing the first shot. Lincoln had won—the war was on. Contracts went out, bank profits boomed s the money supply jumped to +11% vs. –1% the horrible warless year before.

1862 — Bank profits skyrocketed as the money supply jumped another +25% — happy days were here again! For the first time since 1854 money was freely flowing. It allowed the poor farmer to keep his farm; it allowed the hard-pressed businessman to pay the mortgage and keep his business; and it allowed people to pay their taxes which kept cities from defaulting their bonds. This made the holder of those bonds happy indeed. The bloody was which cost hundreds of thousands of lives did have a silver lining.

1863 — There were only 495 business failures. Lincoln has been blamed for the war. Of course, he gave orders, but the “Usury System” had created hundreds of others who were capable of doing the same thing. There was Seward who suggested a diversionary war. This would have accomplished the same thing economically that a civil war did. It was he who suggested the closing of southern ports to all trade except northern trade.

These men were created by a system which demanded that money be borrowed into existence, whatever the cost, to relieve the suffering of the nation.

Of course, for the sake of history, the reasons must be changed to be acceptable to future generation. It sounds better to fight to preserve the Union and to free the slaves, than to fight to increase the money supply +25% giving debtors another chance to pay a $2,000 debt while only $1,000 is in circulation.

The real reason — the thing that breaks strong men, turns women into workworn hags and early widows, and starves children — the Wolf of Interest — is never mentioned. The interest-bankers who run the system selected Lincoln, a willing tool, and told him what to do. He broke almost every rule in the book. He started a war by himself without the approval of Congress. He jailed 38,000 of his own countrymen as political prisoners to silence their opposition. He suspended the Writ of Habeas-Corpus and he suspended newspapers that dared oppose him.

His countrymen repaid him with draft riots in New York, massive desertions from his armies and rebellious underground “copperhead” movement which was present in every northern state.

There was scarcely a northern state that didn’t have its own armed battles between “pro” and “anti” Lincoln factions.

Lincoln surrounded himself with a galaxy of men of doubtful reputation — each his own selection:

• Sumner in his cabinet — the brutal, cold-hearted extremist;
• Grant — the hard-drinking general who issued orders to burn every citizen’s house and dwelling within 10 miles of any train derailment in southern Virginia. This was the same Grant who refused to issue orders to protect Virginia civilians behind his lines. Thieving and rapacious soldiers could enter any private dwelling at will, take anything, and do anything they liked to the occupants. Seldom was there disciplinary action. On occasions, officers of the lower ranks did what they could to protect civilians, but this was the exception. It did not extend to those in higher authority. Mr. Lincoln knew of this condition.
• Sheridan burned the Valley of Virginia — after Confederate troops had left. Nothing was said about this either.

From the beginning of the War Northern and Southern POWs were exchanged as a humanitarian act to prevent the rigors of POW camps. This practice was ordered stopped. A delegation of hungry and sick northern officers at Tredegar prison in Richmond was released on their word-of-honor so that they could go to Washington to beg Lincoln to reinstate prisoner exchanges. At this very time Lincoln’s own sons were in Washington far from the dangers of the front lines. Lincoln refused these men’s petition.

Lincoln was apprised of the fact that captured Southern soldiers were placed in the most exposed POW camps with little shelter, almost no blankets and clothing to cope with the frigid weather, had little food, and that blacks were placed over the for guards.⁶

Deuteronomy 17:15: “Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee who is not thy brother.”

These blacks were encouraged to do what they like to the prisoners. Lincoln knew this. He was also aware of what Sherman was doing in the deep South. Sherman was not only not removed from his command — he continued to receive honors from Lincoln. The argument cannot be made that he did not know what was going on. He stayed in my great-grandfather’s house at Kelly’s Ford. With his own eyes he saw the crimes of his soldiers to the very place he was staying and had others pointed out to him. He said nothing and turned away.

This is the Lincoln “the System” has portrayed as a softhearted, sensitive, lonely man who tried to prevent the blood bath that inundated America. The Law states:

Amos 3:3: “Can two walk together, except they be agree?”

His apologists say that he would have made thing different had he lived. Perhaps. Perhaps our merciful God spared his children the rest of the Lincoln story.

Matthew 7:20: “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

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Footnotes:

1 Jefferson Davis, The Rise And Fall Of The Confederate Government, Appleton and C, NY, 1881, p. 278.

2 W. A. Harris, The Record of Fort Sumter, Columbia, S. C., 1862.

3 Davis, p. 280.

4 Davis, p. 270.

5 Davis, p. 279.

6 “Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee who is not thy brother” Deuteronomy 17:15.

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