| Summary: | A seven-page letter by Republican congressman William A. Howard written in 1870 to Ebenezer Hoar, then US attorney general, defending politician Edwin M. Stanton (1814-1869) against suggestions of disloyalty for his conduct while he was serving in the cabinet of President James Buchanan in 1860-1861. The letter refers to correspondence between Hoar and former US secretary of state Jeremiah S. Black, in which Black responded to certain remarks Hoar made to the US Supreme Court shortly after Stanton’s death. In the letter, Howard describes his communications with Stanton and his awareness of Stanton’s whereabouts and actions during January-March 4, 1861. The letter also discusses a controversy regarding the back-dating of a document pertaining to an attack on a Pensacola, Florida, Navy yard on January 12, 1861.
|
|---|
