Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln to John J. Crittenden, 4 November 18581
Springfield, Nov^r 4– 1858Hon. J. J. CrittendenMy dear Sir
Yours of the 27^th ult– was taken from the Post-Office by my law-partner, and, in the confusion consequent upon the recent election, was handed to me only this moment–2 I am sorry the allusion ^made in the Mo. Republican,^ to the private correspondence between yourself and me, has given you any pain–3 It gave ^me^ scarcely a thought, perhaps for the reason that, being away from home, I did not see ^it^ till only two days before the election– It never occurred to me to cast any blame upon you– I have been told that the correspondence has been alluded to in the Mo. Rep. several times, but I only saw one, ^of the allusions, and^ in which it was stated, as I remember that a gentleman of S^tLouis had seen a copy of your letter to me– As I had given no copy, nor ever showed the original, of course I inferred he had seen it in your hands, but it did not occur to me to blame you for

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showing what you had written yourself. It was not said that the gentleman had seen a copy or the original of my letter to you– The emotions of defeat, at the close of a struggle in which I felt more than a merely selfish interest, and to which defeat the use of your name contributed largely, are fresh upon me; but, even in this mood, I can not for a moment suspect you of anything dishonorable–
Your Ob^t Serv^t[Obedient Servant]A. Lincoln–

1Abraham Lincoln wrote and signed this letter.

2Lincoln references the state elections in Illinois, which occurred on November 2, 1858. Lincoln, the candidate of the Republican Party, was challenging Stephen A. Douglas, the Democratic incumbent, for seat in the U.S. Senate. Both men canvassed the state throughout the summer and fall of 1858, delivering speeches in support of candidates for the Illinois General Assembly in their respective parties. Members of the General Assembly voted for and elected the state’s representatives in the U.S. Senate at the time; therefore the outcome of the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate were critical to the race for the Senate seat. See 1858 Federal Election; 1858 Illinois Republican Convention.
In the state’s local elections as a whole, Republicans won a majority of all votes cast in the state, but pro-Douglas Democrats retained control of the Illinois General Assembly and Douglas ultimately won reelection to the U.S. Senate. Through the campaign, however, and in particular through his participation in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Lincoln gained recognition as well as standing within the national Republican Party.
Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln and Douglass: The Debates that Defined America, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2008), 282; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 3 November 1858, 2:1; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:458-60, 492-540, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392-94, 414-16.

3On July 7, 1858, Lincoln wrote to his former congressional colleague John J. Crittenden of Kentucky to ask whether rumors of Crittenden’s support for Douglas were true. An eminent former Whig, Crittenden was widely regarded as the natural successor to Henry Clay, and Lincoln worried that a Crittenden endorsement for Douglas would hurt his chances with his former Whig brethren in Illinois. Crittenden welcomed Lincoln's rise to political prominence, but had little sympathy with the Republican Party. Crittenden responded on July 29, assuring Lincoln that he was remembered favorably. Crittenden explained, however, that he and Douglas, though always belonging to different political parties and "opposed, in politics, to each other," shared a strong aversion to the Lecompton Constitution. The Buchanan administration's harsh response to Douglas’s opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and use of its power to prevent his reelection brought sympathy from Crittenden. He wrote of Douglas, "I could not but wish for his success— and his triumph over such a persecution– I thought that his re-election was necessary as a rebuke to the Administration, and a vindication of the great cause of popular rights & public justice." Crittenden admitted that he had shared his support of Douglas in various conversations but that he had only sent a handful of letters in which "Mr Douglas was alluded to and recommended." Going forward, he wrote, he could not promise anything, only that, "Whatever my future course may be, I trust that I shall so act as to give no just cause of offence to any candid & liberal friend, even tho' he may differ with me in opinion."
Though expressing "no disposition for officious intermeddling" in his letter to Lincoln, Crittenden nonetheless became embroiled in the campaign for the U.S. Senate. On July 19, T. Lyle Dickey, a former Whig and Lincoln supporter who had defected to the Democrats and Douglas, wrote Crittenden requesting that he confirm a conversation with Dickey in April 1858 where Crittenden praised Douglas. On August 1, Crittenden wrote Dickey confirming the conversation and his praise for Douglas's service to Illinois and his principled position on the Lecompton Constitution. Not wishing to be appear "to be an officious intermeddler" in the election, Crittenden requested that Dickey, should he speak of the conversation or letter, "acquit me of any intermeddling, or of the presumption of seeking to obtrude myself or my sentiments upon the attention of the people of Illinois." Dickey kept the letter private until October 19, when he read it aloud in a speech denouncing Lincoln for abandoning Clay and Whiggery. The Daily Illinois State Journal sought to mitigate the damage by claiming that Crittenden's letter to Dickey was a forgery and by suggesting that Crittenden had written Lincoln--presumably Crittenden's letter of July 29--supporting opposition against Douglas. The Daily Missouri Republican demanded that Lincoln publish this letter. The Illinois State Journal continued to misrepresent Crittenden's correspondence to Lincoln, prompting Owen G. Cates of Saint Louis to write Crittenden asking if he wrote such a letter. On October 28, Crittenden responded in a telegram: "I have written no such letter." Crittenden's letter to Dickey, Dickey's speech, and Crittenden's subsequent telegram hurt Lincoln in the old Whig stronghold of Central Illinois, contributing to Lincoln's loss to Douglas.
Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445, 456-57, 542-43, 546-47; Allen C. Guelzo, Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America, 273-76; The Louisville Daily Journal (Louisville, KY), 26 October 1858, 2:1; Daily Missouri Republican (Saint Louis, MO), 25 October 1858, 2:1; 29 October 1858, 2:1; Abraham Lincoln to John J. Crittenden; John J. Crittenden to Abraham Lincoln.