CHAPTER V.
miss carroll's papers to the war department — plan of campaign — letters from scott, wade, and others — discussions — papers as the campaign progresses.
List of Miss Carroll's papers sent into the War Department in her own handwriting and signed with her name, originally on file at the War Department; all in the first division relating to the Tennessee campaign; sent on various occasions to the Capital to be examined by military committees, and printed by order of Congress in successive memorials and reports from 1870 to 1881.
The papers marked with a star are now on file at the War Department. With the permission of the Secretary of War, these were seen by me and carefully examined March 7th, 1891. They were sent by Robert Lincoln to the Court of Claims in 1885, and copies were put on file in the office of the Attorney General, the original documents being returned to the War Department. One of these original documents at the War Department is now incomplete, but must have been in good order in 1885, as the copies then made are complete and in excellent condition. They were verified as true copies by the Secretary of War. These also were examined by me at the office of the Attorney General March 23, 1891. The absence of the other documents from the War Office is accounted for by the remarkable testimony of Benjamin F. Wade and Samuel Hunt (keeper of the records), as given on page 30, 45th Congress, 2d session, Mis. Doc. 58, both testifying that the papers were abstracted from the desk of the Secretary when the Military Committee were considering Miss Carroll's claim, in 1871. As Miss Carroll possessed the original draft of these letters, she quickly reproduced them. The papers having been already examined by the Committee and by Mr. Hunt, the copies were accepted in place of the missing file and printed "by order of Congress," and thus guaranteed they became, to all intents and purposes, the same thing as the original documents; but apparently they were not sent to the War Office, not being the original documents sent from there. On March 20, 1891, I examined the files of the 41st Congress, 2d session, at the Secretary's office of the U. S. Senate, at the Capitol, and there I found Miss Carroll's first memorial, 1870, with the "plan of campaign" attached, just as described by Thomas A. Scott.
S. E. Blackwell.
first division.
A paper usually designated as the "plan of campaign."
When given in at the War Office to Thomas A. Scott it was accompanied by a military map; the paper in Miss Carroll's own handwriting and signed with her name, the map unsigned.
- 1. November 30, 1862.
- 2. January 5, 1862.
- 3. March 26, 1862.
- 4. May 2, 1862.*
- 5. May 14, 1862.*
- 6. May 15, 1862.*
- 7. Following Monday, 1862.
- 8. September 9, 1862.*
- 9. October ——, 1862.
The letter to Stanton is on file at the office of the Attorney General, certified as copied from the documents furnished by the War Department in 1885.
(The letter of October, 1862, was also accompanied by a military map, "approved and adopted by the Secretary of War and the President and immediately sent out to the proper military authority." See letter of B. F. Wade, page [24], Mis. Doc. 58, of Memorial, May 18, 1878.)