December 3, 1861 Tuesday
“The Union must be preserved, and hence, all indispensable means must be employed. We should not be in haste to determine that radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the disloyal, are indispensable.” So wrote President Lincoln in his annual State of the Union message to Congress (
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/te ... coln5%3A87 ). The President covered many fields, foreign and domestic, as well as reporting on the war effort. He claimed that “the insurrection is largely, if not exclusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government – the rights of the people.” Then, turning to what he called popular institutions, he wrote, “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of Labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed … Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights.” He concluded this long, moderate message with “The struggle of today, is not altogether for today – it is for a vast future also.” In general he found the condition of the nation good, despite the war, and called again for colonization of free Negroes, a plan which was becoming more and more a part of Lincoln’s policy.
Meanwhile, the war itself had pretty much reached a droning stage, although there was action at Salem, Missouri and Vienna, Virginia and Federal forces reoccupied Ship Island, preparatory to moving against New Orleans or the Gulf Coast. C.S.S. Sumter, under Commander Semmes, captured and burned at sea American ship Vigilant, bound from New York to the West Indies. U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba, under Commander Ridgely, captured British blockade running schooner Victoria. Brig Gen John Pope, USA, assumes command of all forces between the Missouri River and the Osage River.