Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Sidney Breese to Abraham Lincoln, 29 December 18581
Carlyle Dec. 29. 1858Dr[Dear] Sir
Your note of the 24th. is this moment rec^d[received]2 I have preserved nothing of the Campaign–3 You can find what you want by application to the "State Democrat" in your city. Mr. Clarkson published every thing I wrote.4
Yrs.[Yours] TrulySidney BreeseHon. A. Lincoln

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Judge Breese
Carlisle Ill.[Illinois] Dec[December] 29. 18585

1Sidney Breese wrote and signed this letter.

2Lincoln’s December 24 note to Breese has not been located. Judging by Breese’s reply, the note was likely similar in content to Lincoln’s December 24 letter to William H. Carlin of Adams County, an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Illinois Senate in the state elections held on November 2, 1858. He requested a copy of one of Carlin’s speeches to add to a “Scrap-book of the late political campaign.” Lincoln had been the Republican candidate from Illinois for U.S. Senate in 1858. In the summer and fall of that year, Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, his Democratic opponent and the incumbent , canvassed the state 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 this time , so the races for the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were highly relevant to the outcome of the U.S. Senate race. Lincoln and Douglas also debated one another in seven locations throughout the state. Though Lincoln lost the Senate race, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates received national coverage and boosted Lincoln’s standing in the national Republican Party. Following the campaign, Lincoln wrote Carlin, Charles H. Ray, and Henry C. Whitney to collect copies of the debates and other political speeches. The scrapbook Lincoln compiled of the debates later served as the source for the first publication of the debates in 1860. See 1858 Illinois Republican Convention; 1858 Federal Election.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 3 November 1858, 2:1, 2; John Clayton, comp., The Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 221, 222; The Daily Quincy Herald (IL), 4 November 1858, 3:1;Abraham Lincoln to William H. Carlin; The Lincoln Log: A Daily Chronology of the Life of Abraham Lincoln, 24 December 1858, https://thelincolnlog.org/Results.aspx?type=CalendarDay&day=1858-12-24; Lincoln-Douglas Debates Scrapbook; Abraham Lincoln to Charles H. Ray; Abraham Lincoln to Henry C. Whitney; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008), 1:457-85, 556-57; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” The Journal of American History 94 (September 2007), 392, 394 414-17; Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas (Columbus: Follett, Foster, 1860), iii-iv.

3Douglas not only faced Lincoln in his struggle for reelection; he also had to content with opposition within his own party. In 1857, Douglas’s criticism of President James Buchanan’s support for the Lecompton Constitution caused a rift in the party. Consequently, some Buchanan supporters opposed Douglas’s reelection to the U.S. Senate. Breese, who had a long rivalry with Douglas, was among those who sought to displace him. Buchanan and Douglas Democrats in Illinois held separate state conventions, and while the Buchanan Democrats made no formal nomination for U.S. Senate, rumors circulated that Breese would carry their banner. Buchanan newspapers suggested Breese as an alternative, and rumors of the candidacy of Breese appeared in several Republican newspapers in July 1858. Douglas blamed Lincoln and the Republicans, who he accused of recruiting Breese to insure Douglas’s defeat by dividing the Democrats--a charge that Lincoln denied. Bowing to pressure from friends and allies, Breese announced his candidacy in September 1858. He came into the fight too late to pose any real threat to either Douglas or Lincoln, and in the election in the General Assembly in January 1859 affirming Douglas’s reelection, only Douglas and Lincoln received votes.
Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield, IL), 22 April 1858, 2:1-5; 10 June 1858, 2:2-5; The Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 21 July 1858, 1:7; Chicago Daily Press and Tribune (IL), 26 July 1858, 1:1; 4 August 1858, 2:5; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Stephen A. Douglas to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Abraham Lincoln to Stephen A. Douglas; Robert W. Johannsen, Stephen A. Douglas (New York: Oxford University Press, 1973), 621, 627, 648, 650; Michael Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln: A Life, 1:445, 484; Allen C. Guelzo, “Houses Divided: Lincoln, Douglas, and the Political Landscape of 1858,” 394-96; Illinois Senate Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 30; Illinois House Journal. 1859. 21st G. A., 32.

4There is no correspondence between Lincoln and James J. Clarkson in 1858. None of Breese’s letters or speeches appear in either the scrapbook or the first publication of the debates in 1860.
Political Debates Between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas.

5An unidentified person wrote this docketing.