05/19/1862
President Lincoln met with Maryland congressmen and a delegation of fifty slaveholders from Prince George's County, Maryland. Half the population there were slaves and the owners were in Washington to complain about the non-enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, particularly by the military authorities. Eight hundred slaves had already escaped from the county. Commenting on a thorny issue, Lincoln expressed his confidence in General James Wadsworth but assured the delegation that he would examine the issue and see justice done. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation:
"Our Special Washington Dispatches... ," New York Times, May 20, 1862, p. 1.