Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson: Weeks After their Nomination on the Union Party Ticket, In a Rare Document Signed by Both, President Lincoln Releases a Confederate Prisoner At the Request of His Vice Presidential Candidate, Johnson

Unusually, Lincoln puts strings attached, withholding a pardon and turning the ex-Confederate over to Johnson’s custody

The 49th Tennessee Infantry was organized in December 1861 at Fort Donelson, Tennessee. Major Richard E. Douglass in Company B was appointed Adjutant. On February 16, 1862, it was captured at the fort and reported 300 engaged and 21 killed or wounded. Exchanged in November, the unit was assigned to General Maxey’s Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. For a time it served at Port Hudson, then took an active part in the fight at Jackson in May 1863. By this time Douglass had left the Confederate service and returned to his farm in Montgomery County.

But wartime Tennessee was divided and a hotbed of intrigue. Although the state became a part of the Confederacy, East Tennessee was strongly pro-Union before secession, and strongly pro-Union Tennesseans remained there and existed in pockets throughout the state during the war. As Union forces took ever more Tennessee territory, some locals who had originally sided with the Confederacy began to feel the war was lost and were ready to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, putting them in contention with those still loyal to the Confederacy. Meanwhile, partisans on both sides were out gunning for opponents.

After being home about a year, Douglass got picked up and was sent to Rock Island prison, quite possibly on a claim that he was in violation of his parole received at Fort Donelson. Rock Island was a prison camp that once held thousands of Confederate soldiers. Conditions were poor, and thousands died there. Some people called it the Andersonville of the North.

Friends of Douglass wrote Gov. Andrew Johnson to secure his pardon, and in their letter stated that Douglass had been out of the war for a year and was living as a good U.S. citizen. They urged his release. A portion of that letter survives, though without the names of the signatories making the request. It reads, “We the undersigned friends and acquaintances of Mr. R.E. Douglass who is now a prisoner at Rock Island Barrack No. 69 beg leave to state that the said Douglass was once in the Confederate Army and service but had resigned his office of Adjutant and had been and remained at home for some ten months quietly pursuing his duties as citizen and farmer…”

On June 8, 1864, Lincoln had been nominated for President on his fusion National Union Party ticket, and Johnson had been nominated as his running mate. Just days later, Johnson turned to the President to address the Douglass case.

Johnson had a reputation for being hard on Confederates, but he looked into the matter and found the pardon request justified. He endorsed it, writing “Executive Dept., Nashville, Tenn., June 20, 1864. I have made myself acquitted with the facts in this case; and I recommend it as a fit case for the Executive Pardon. Most respectfully submitted, Andrew Johnson, Mil. Gov. Tennessee.”

Lincoln, however, was apparently not completely persuaded, and took an action atypical for him. Instead of just allowing Douglass to take the oath of allegiance and be released, as was his custom, he instead put him on bail (which is no pardon) and released him into Johnson’s own custody, effectively turning him over to state authorities. Then any repercussions would be on Johnson’s watch. Autograph endorsement signed, Washington, June 28, 1864. “Let this man take the oath of Dec. 8th and be exchanged on bail to Gov. Johnson.” Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton then wrote, “Referred to Col. Hoffman to execute the order.”

This document is thus signed by both men as joint nominees, a combination of autographs on the same sheet that is exceptionally uncommon. It is also fascinating to see how Lincoln working with Johnson, choosing to handle Johnson’s request, complying but really throwing the ball back into Johnson’s court.