[Lincoln, Abraham. Hampton Roads Peace Conference]

A significant group of letters and other documents relating to the Hampton Roads Peace Conference, a confidential meeting held on board a steam ship in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 3 February 1865. The United States were represented by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of State William Seward, while the Confederate States were represented by Vice President Alexander Stephens, Secretary of State Robert M. T. Hunter, and Assistant Secretary of War John A. Campbell. The conference was initiated by the Confederacy after Lincoln had written to Francis P. Blair Sr., 18 January 1865, that he could tell Jefferson Davis that Lincoln was ever ready to "to receive any agent who he, or any other influential person now resisting national authority, may informally send to me, with the view of securing peace to the people of our one common country." But while both North and South longed for peace, the conference was doomed to failure by Lincoln's refusal to treat with the CSA as a sovereign nation and the Confederacy's refusal to treat with the USA on any other basis.



The genesis and result of the conference are described in the archive; the individual items are contained in sleeves in a three-ring binder within a half red cloth slipcase and comprise:

Thomas T. Eckert — Justin G. Turner (who supplemented Eckert's original archive)

1. Letter signed by the three Confederate commissioners ("Alexander H. Stephens"; "J. A. Campbell"; "RMT Hunter"), 1 page on blue paper, Petersburg, Virginia, 30 January 1865, to General Ulysses S. Grant: "We desire to pass your lines under safe conduct, and to proceed to Washington, to hold a conference with President Lincoln, upon the subject of the exisiting War, and with a view of ascertaining upon what terms it may be terminated; in pursuance of the course indicated by him in his letter to Mr. F. P. Blair of the 18th January 1865 of which we presume you have a copy; and if not, we wish to see you in person, if convenient, and to confer with you upon the subject." — Accompanied by an official copy of the foregoing letter written and signed by T. S. Bowers, assistant Adjutant General, 1 page on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper.

2. Letter signed ("Edwin M. Stanton | Secretary of War"), 1 page on blue-ruled War Department letterhead, Washington, 30 January 1865, to General Ulysses S. Grant: "The President desires that you will please procure for the bearer, Major Thomas L. Eckart [sic], an interview with Messrs Stevens Hunter and Campbell,—and if on his return to you he requests it, pass them through our lines to Fortress Monroe by such route and under such military precautions as you may deem prudent, giving them protection and comfortable quarters while there; and that you let none of this, have any effect upon your military movements or plans." The letter was originally saluted to "Major General Ord" but Stanton has emended the heading to "Lt General Grant." The letter is accompanied by its original envelope, franked by Stanton and directed to General Ord, courtesy of Major Eckart [sic]; the envelope has the later pencilled endorsement "Rebel Commission Papers."

3. An official copy of Grant's 31 January 1865 letter to the Confederate commissioners (written and signed by T. S. Bowers, assistant Adjutant General, 1 page on a bifolium of Head Quarters Armies of the United States letterhead, advising that he is awaiting instructions from Washington.

4. Letter signed by the three Confederate commissioners ("Alexander H. Stephens"; "RMT Hunter"; "J. A. Campbell"), 1 page on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper, City Point, Virginia, 1 February 1865, to General Ulysses S. Grant: "We desire to go to Washington City to confer informally with President Lincoln personally, in reference to the matters mentioned in his letter to F. P. Blair Esq. of the 18th Janry ult without any personal compromise on any questions in the letter. We have the permission to do so from the Authorities in Richmond."

5. A retained copy of Major Eckert's 1 February 1865 letter to the Confederate commissioners, advising them that President Lincoln's understanding is that they are passing the Union lines "for the purpose of an informal conference" based on his 18 January letter to F. P. Blair. The letter is endorsed and signed at the conclusion by Eckert, City Point, 1 February 1865: "A copy of the above [that is, Lincoln's letter to Blair], also a copy of my letter to Messrs. Alex. H. Stephens, J. A. Campbell & R. M. T. Hunter were delivered in person to Alex H. Stephens at 4:15 pm, by him read, then by Mr. Campbell & then by Mr Hunter."

6. A letter signed by the three Confederate commissioners in response to Eckert's letter, 3 pages on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper, City Point, 1 February 1865, explaining that their instructions are contained in a letter from Jefferson Davis, 28 January 1865, which they quote: "'In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln of which the foregoing is a copy, you are requested to proceed to Washington City for informal conference with him upon the issues involved in the existing War and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries.'" Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell go on to state that they are willing to meet anyone designated by President Lincoln at any place of his choosing in order to "ascertain upon what terms the existing War can be terminated honorably" and that they "are prepared to receive or to submit propositions which may, possibly, lead to the attainment of that end."

7. An autograph telegram signed by Eckert ("Thos. T. Eckert"), written in pencil on 3 half-sheets of paper, City Point, 1 February 1865, 10:30 pm, to Secretary of War Stanton, reporting that the Confederates have given him a copy of their instruction letter and explaining the difficulties raised by Lincoln's reference to "our one common country" and Davis's to "the two countries."

8. A letter signed by the three Confederate commissioners, 3 pages on a bifolium of blue-ruled paper, City Point, 1 February 1865, to Eckert: "In reply to your verbal statement that your instructions did not allow you to alter the conditions upon which a passport could be given us, we say that we are willing to proceed to Fortress Monroe and there to have an informal conference with any person or persons that President Lincoln may appointment on the basis of his letter to Francis P. Blair of the 18th Jan'y ult, or upon any other terms, or conditions that he may hereafter propose not inconsistent with the essential principles of self government and popular rights upon which our institutions are founded." Their goal is ascertain "upon what principles and terms, if any, a just and honorable peace can be established without further effusion of blood, and to contribute our utmost efforts to such a result." The letter ends with a note of diplomatic caution: "We think it better to add that in accepting your passport we are not to be understood as committing ourselves to anything but to carry to this informal conference the views and feelings above expressed."

9. A pencil sketch by Thomas Eckert showing the seating arrangement of the conference held in the salon of the River Queen; the commissioners are shown seated around a stove, Lincoln and Seward on one side and Stephens sitting opposite, with Campbell on his right and Hunter on his left.

10. A copy of Jefferson Davis's Message of 6 February 1865, submitting to the CSA House and Senate the report of the Confederate commissioners and concluding that "the enemy refused to enter into negotiations ... or to give our people any other terms or guaranties than those which a conqueror may grant, or to permit us to have peace on any other basis than unconditional submission to their rule, coupled with the acceptance of their recent legislation, including an amendment to the constitution for the emancipation of all the negro slaves. ..."

11. Autograph Memoranda by John A. Campbell, 11 pages on 3 bifolia, being a highly detailed account of the conference. After some personal conversation about the former common affiliations of the commissioners (among others, Lincoln and Stephens had both worked for the election of President Zachary Taylor) the topic at hand was taken up, and Lincoln immediately made his position clear. "At a very early stage in the conversation Mr. Lincoln announced with some emphasis, that until the national authority be recognized within the Confederate States that no consideration of any other terms of conditions would take place. ... he was not disposed to entertain any proposition of any armistace or cessation of hostilities until they were determined by the re-establishment of the national authority over the United States."

Stephens suggested that the "two Confederacies" might unite to fulfill the Monroe Doctrine by appropriating "the whole of the North American continent," but Lincoln would not entertain the proposition, stating that "he could make no treaty with the Confederate States because that would be recognition of those States."

The conversation moved to the question of emancipation and the implementation thereof, and Seward for the first time took an active part in the discussion. However when Hunter "spoke of the cruelty of such measures [immediate emancipation] to the slave population especially, in localities in which the men had been removed—That the women & children were a tax on their masters, & if emancipated would be helpless & suffering," it fell to Lincoln to respond "with a story." According to Campbell Lincoln told "of a man who had planted potatoes for his hogs, & left them in the ground to be rooted for—the ground froze, but the master said the hogs must root nevertheless." Other topics discussed, according to the Memoranda, included the boundary of Virginia (Lincoln insisting that West Virginia remain recognized) and the possible indemnification of slave owners. The conference adjourned on the understanding "that none of the parties were to be held to anything they had said & that the whole was to be in confidence."

12. A small group of ancillary material, including a contemporary woodcut cartoon of the conference titled "The Peace Commission: Flying to Abraham's Bosom"; two photographs of Thomas Eckert; and a copy of Lincoln's Account of the Hampton Roads Conference with Facsimiles from the Original Documents in the Collection of Judd Stewart (privately printed, 1910; disbound, lacking rear wrappers).