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Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients
Edwin McMasters Stanton, Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton was born on December 19, 1814 in Stuebenville, Ohio, the first child of David and Lucy (Norman) Stanton who enforced their devout Methodist religious life on their four children.
Ten years later Edwin suffered a asthmatic seizure that tortured him the rest of his life, sometimes to the point of convulsions. Every breath for him became a struggle and probably contributed to his arrogance in later life. On December 30, 1827 David Stanton died, Edwin was apprenticed to a bookseller James Turnbell. At Turnbell's store Stanton would get so engrossed in a book he would sometimes neglect the customers. The Turnbell's accepted Edwin's illnesses and his love of books and reading and allowed him to attend Latin School in the evenings. He worked three years at the book store. Securing a financial loan from a friend of his father, sixteen year Stanton left Steubenville for the first time in his life in 1830 to attend Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. At Kenyon College in addition to his studies Stanton took his turn working in the fields and on the road. The founder of the college, Bishop Philander Chase worked his students hard as was attested to by his nephew Salmon P. Chase, 'Uncle Philander expected every boy to do "most of whatever a boy could do on a farm." Financial hardships back in Stuebenville forced Stanton to withdraw from Kenyon two years later and return to Turnbull's bookstore.
In the summer of 1833 cholera swept through eastern Ohio. A young lady Stanton had a warm friendship with, Ann Howard, the daughter of Stanton's landlord at his boarding house, served him dinner at the boarding house. Stanton returned to the bookstore. One hour later Ann collapsed, by 4 p.m. she was dead. Her family fearing contamination from the plague buried her immediately. When Stanton heard of this he was convinced that she had been buried alive. A young medical student, another boarder of the rooming house and Stanton by lamplight exhumed the coffin of the young lady and at the risk of contamination by the deadly disease Stanton examined the girl and made certain she had not been buried alive.
Stanton studied law under his mother's lawyer Daniel L. Collier. A few months short of his twenty first birthday in August 1835 Stanton passed the bar exam in St. Clairville. Still under age he could not practice law so Collier gave him the responsibility for preparing court cases.
After his birthday in December Stanton moved to Cadiz, formed a partnership with Chauncy Dewey and on May 31, 1836 on the 'happiest' day of his life married Mary Lamson. In 1838 he moved back to Steubenville.
The partnership with Dewey dissolved and Stanton soon became partners with Judge Benjamin Tappen, a rising star in the Democratic party. Elected to the United States Senate Tappen turned over the bulk of his practice to Stanton.
Stanton became active in the Cadiz Anti-slavery Society in 1837. His first child Lucy was born the same year. She would die in 1841 sending Stanton in the first of his deep depressions. Running as a Deomcratic Stanton was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Harrison County in 1837.
As a lawyer Stanton enjoyed being the defender of justice especially when the villains were the Whigs or Democrats.
The birth of a son Edwin Lamson Stanton in August displaced the grief of Lucy's death. During that winter Stanton became acquainted with a young idealist Cincinnati lawyer. Salmon P. Chase, was convinced that a third political party needed to be formed to work effectively to overthrow slavery. The opponents of slavery could gain the balance of power and then throw it's support to whichever party promised to take a anti-slavery stand. Stanton however tried to convince Chase that the Democratic Party offered the best policies for his anti-slavery efforts and promised to support them if Chase came to over. Neither men convinced the other but Chase and Stanton remained friends for a number of years. It was Chase Stanton in the dark days after his wife Lucy's death in 1844 and his brother Dr. Darwin Stanton's suicide in 1846 turned to. Chase understood Stanton's grieving. He too had suffered great lost. Chase was widowed twice and had buried three young children.
The death of those he loved oppressed Stanton and soon the happy young man he was turned into a morose brooding man as he turned a stern face to the world.
In the autumn of 1847 Stanton moved his law practice to Pittsburgh where he became partners with Charles Shater. Despite his strong feelings against slavery and his friendship with Chase, Stanton fearing that his support of the anti-slavery efforts would jeopardize his career refused to openly support anti-slavery. He was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme court in February 1850. In 1850 Stanton had his first encounter with Abraham Lincoln in a case which Lincoln was the attorney for the plaintiff in the McCormick Reaper Patent case. Less than impressed by Lincoln, Stanton and the other counsel for the defendant were rude to Lincoln. No one asked the Springfield lawyer to dine with them although they were all staying at the same hotel. June 1856 Stanton married for the second time. At forty-one he was wed to twenty-six year old Ellen Hutchison. Accepted a post in California as a land commissioner in 1857 for two years. Philip Barton Key, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia was killed by a friend of Stantons in 1859. Key had been having a romantic affair with the wife of Daniel Sickles. Stanton and co-counsel tried to prove that in an adulterer maybe be slain with impunity by the wronged man and at the time of the slaying Sickles was a deranged man and was not accountable for this actions. It was the first time in American jurisprudence that a plea of temporary insanity was relied upon. Stanton summing up the case for the defense, relied heavily on the sanctity of the marriage vows and a husbands right to keep his home inviolate against seducers. A verdict of not guilty was returned by the jury. Stanton reluctantly accepted the cabinet position of Attorney General in President Buchanans administration in 1860. His private practice was netting him $40,000 that year and promised to increase, accepting a cabinet post in the lame duck presidents cabinet meant a personal financial sacrifice for the materialistic Stanton. However his sense of patriotism was strong. The day Stanton accepted his new position the flag of the United States descended in South Carolina
Unhappy with the president's indecisive actions with the commissioners from South Carolina over the actions taken with regards to Fort Sumter Stanton decided to take his own action. Deciding what was best for the Union he clandestinely became an informer to the Republicans, mainly Senator William H. Seward who informed President-elect Lincoln of what was being done in the white house. In later years Stanton defended himself against criticism that he violated his oath of office with the assertion that he was not only the President's servant but also the servant of the people and had a duty to his country to do so. All the while he not believe that if the war came it would last long.
With the new administration of President Abraham Lincoln came a new cabinet. Edwin Stanton stepped aside but was eager to serve the new president in whatever capacity he was called on do to. Incompetence by Secretary of War Simeon Camerom lead Lincoln to look for another Secretary of War, strong urging by Treasury Secretary Chase and Secretary of State William Seward secured the position for Stanton. Although it meant giving up his private practice and a salary of nearly fifty thousand dollars a year, Stanton accepted the post and a salary of eight thousand dollars on January 20,1862 as his patriotic duty.
Immediately Stanton went to work cleaning the graft and favoritism of state contacts from the War Department. He required bids for all contracts to be in writing and with competitive bidding with loyal suppliers. One of the first important changes he made was to have the telegraph office moved to the War Department where he would know the news from the battlefield before anyone else. Even Lincoln had to go to the War office to get the news.
With allegations that Stanton failed to provide adequate medical care and sufficient weapons for the Armies, Stanton enemies pressed for his removal from the cabinet in the summer of 1862.
One of the issues Stanton refused to commit himself to was the fate of the Negroes. In his heart he agreed with the only member of the cabinet who though that the Negro question should not be avoided. The radial republican Chase insisted that it was senseless to combat a rebellion while upholding the evil that had caused it. Stanton again played a duel role while he sided with Chase he had to side with the majority North opinion if he were to get the needed supplies and men he needed. Winning the war was the single most important cause to Stanton as well as for Lincoln and this common desire bonded the two men close.
On July 17, 1862 Lincoln signed into the law a second Confiscation Act which declared all fugitive, captured and abandoned slaves free and the act allowed the president to employ the Negroes in the suppression of the rebellion. Stanton recommended using Negro troops as fighting men but Lincoln did not think the time was right. So without the knowledge of the president Stanton allowed Union General David Hunter to arm Negroes on the agreement that Hunter would take the responsibility if questioned by Congress. Which he was and he did. Stanton went so far in denying knowledge of Hunters actions that he would not authorize pay for the black soldiers
Lincoln reconsidered the need for enlistment of black troops in the Union Army in January 1863, as a military necessity and the logical consequence of emancipation. The issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the allowance of Negro troops wiped out the major differences between Lincoln and Stanton. Negroes rushed to the join the Union Army in such force that Stanton had to create the Bureau pf Colored Troops in the war department. The secretary of war fixed the salaries of the colored troops at ten dollars a month with three dollars paid in clothing. The same white soldiers were paid thirteen dollars and clothing.
Congress provided for a national draft in March of 1863. The conscription act was be administered by a military office, a Provost Marshal General of the Army, a separate bureau of the War Department. Unsuccessfully Stanton protested one feature of the enrollment act of 1863. It was not appealed until a year later. The act provided men to obtain an exemption for the draft by paying three hundred dollars commutation or furnishing a substitute.
The draft riots of July in New York were mildly condoned by Governor Seymour. He justified his attitude towards the riots and his opposition to the conscription act on the grounds it was unconstitutional. Lincoln said he could not wait for the Supreme Court to decide the legality of the act, the war needed men.
With the fall elections rapidly approaching the Republicans were worried about the slow progress of the war and the internal strife within the Cabinet since the resignation of the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase had been accepted. Many people felt that if Lincoln were to replace his Secretary of War he would improve his chances at re-election. Lincoln in order to satisfy the radical republicans still hurting at Chases dismissal sacrificed Post master Montgomery Blair, Stantons enemy in the cabinet. The radicals concluded that Lincoln was their lone hope. The Democrats nominated General McClellan. Their platform called for immediate cessation of the war and a negotiated peace on the basis of the Federal Union of the States. Lincoln with his new vice presidential running mate Governor Andrew Johnson of Tennessee won decisively with 2,203,831 votes to McClellans 1,797,019.
The death of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney left open a position in the Supreme Court in October. Stanton had secretly desired the position of Chief Justice. Many supporters of Stanton urged the President to consider him to the Judgeship but Lincoln needed Stanton in the War Department. It was Grant fears of another Secretary of War that convinced Lincoln to keep Stanton in the War department and nominate Salmon P. Chase as Chief Justice.
With the fall of Richmond Stanton tended his resignation as he had told Chase he would do as soon as Richmond fell and Lee surrendered. Lincoln refused and Stanton reluctantly agreed to stay on for awhile longer, although he longed for a long rest after the numerous illnesses he had suffered during the last year of the war.
When Salmon P Chase was Secretary of the Treasury he had been accused of being lax in the way he handled the cotton permits which allowed some trading with the south to keep the cotton mills in the north active. The capture of a Confederate blockade runner in 1864 threatened to discredit Chase who had just been appointed Chief Justice and Lincoln would have suffered from the scandal; Chases son-in-law Senator William Sprague of Rhode Island was implicated in a scheme of running guns through though Texas were they were exchanged for cotton for Spragues cotton mill back in Cranston, Rhode Island. The act if true would have been treason. Stanton for the sake of his party, Lincoln and his friend Chase, hushed the matter and the damning evidence disappeared from the War Department.
On the fateful morning of April 14, 1865, at the Paterson House on Tenth Street opposite the
Ford's Theater while Lincoln lay dying of an assassin's bullet, Stanton plotted his revenge against the man who committed the crime. The city was put on full military alert. Secretary of State William Seward had been assaulted in his home, someone had attempted to assassinate Seward by stabbing him. Guards were placed at the homes of high government officials. 'It was a night of horrors', Salmon P. Chase wrote in his diary.
Stanton was credited with the quote 'he now belongs to the ages' upon the death of Lincoln.
Stanton was convinced the murder of Lincoln was part of a conspiracy , planned and set on foot by rebels under pretense of a avenging the rebel cause'. Abandoning his plans to retire, Stanton was in control of the government. The Army was under his control, the new President Andrew Johnson was unsure of himself and Congress was not in session.
Carrying on the business of still securing a peace, Lincoln's death was not far from Stanton's mind. He helped arranged the funeral details.
While Sherman and Stanton were feuding over what the attitude of the government should be towards the conquered South and the rights that the government should accord the Negro, government agents swept down upon the Surratt boardinghouse and arrest everyone in the place. Arrested for knocking on the door of the boardinghouse while the Government troops were there was Lewis Payne. Arrested on suspicion he proved to be the man who had attacked Seward.
Also arrested later in other places were co-conspirators Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlin. George Atzerodt had failed to carry out his assignment to assassinate Andrew Johnson, he was arrest as was Edmund Spangler a scene changer at Ford Theater. Dr. Samuel Madd who treated John Wilkes Booth broken leg.
Stanton ordered Payne, O'Laughlin Spangler and Atzerodt to be held below desk on the monitor Montauk. The other men were held in the hold of the monitor Saugus. Mrs. Surratt was held at the Carroll Annex of the Old Capital Prison. The men prisoners all had an iron ball attached to his leg by a heavy chair and wore handcuffs joined by an iron bar. Canvas bag hoods with a hole cut in it for the men to eat and breathe, tied around his neck. They were not allowed to see. Stanton promised to have the bags removed when physicians attending the men complained the hoods might drive them insane. Stanton also promised to allow the prisoners might have daily exercise and reading material, but none of the Secretary of War's promises were ever kept.
On April 20, Stanton offered a $50,000 reward for the capture of John Wilkes Booth and an additional reward of $25,000 for the capture of Herold and John Surratt.
Six days later on April 26, Stanton was awakened with the news that Booth had been killed. Shot, contrary to orders, in a burning barn by a cavalry officer Sergeant Boston Corbett. Herold was also captured at the Port Conway Virginia barn. He accompanied Booth's body back to Washington.
The body of the assassin was buried in a secret unmarked grave beneath the floor of the Washington arsenal which at one time served as a federal penitentiary.
President Andrew Johnson still convinced that high-placed Confederate officials had been involved in the plot offered a reward of $100,000 for the capture of Jefferson Davis.
On June 30 1865, a military commission found all the prisoners guilty of conspiring with the Confederates to murder Lincoln, Johnson, Seward and Grant. Payne, Herold Atzerodt, and Mrs. Surrett were sentenced to hang They were sentenced to be executed on July 7, 1865.. O'Laughlin, and Dr. Mudd were sentenced to hard labor for life and Spangler received six years. Stanton evaluated the new president as a man of vigorous physique and moral courage. The man from Tennessee had dared defy the secessionist of his state and spoke out for the Union. In 1868 things changed Stanton's opinion of Johnson. Stanton's removal from the cabinet by Lincoln's successor Andrew Johnson provided an opportunity for Stanton's Radical Republican Congressional colleagues to impeach the President, whose Reconstruction policies they had long opposed. Returning to private life he resumed his private law practice and in the following elections he campaigned for Ulysses S. Grant. Stanton pleaded with President Grant to pass over this sick spoilist and asthmatic patriot", for a position on the Supreme Court bench. On December 19 Stanton was confir.med as a Justice -President Ulysses Grant appointed Stanton to the U.S. Supreme Court. Four days later before he could assume his duties on the bench he died presumably from complications caused by his lifelong asthmatic condition on Dec. 24, 1869. Hopefully he rests in peace at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, just outside of Washington, D.C.
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