Life span: 12/19/1814 to 12/24/1869TabsLife SummaryFull name: Edwin McMasters StantonPlace of Birth: Steubenville, OHBurial Place: Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, DCBirth Date Certainty: ExactDeath Date Certainty: ExactGender: MaleRace: WhiteSectional choice: NorthOrigins: Free StateNo. of Spouses: 2No. of Children: 6Family: David Stanton (father), Lucy Norman (mother), Mary A. Lamson (first wife, 1836), Ellen Hutchison (second wife, 1856)Education: OtherOther Education: Kenyon College, OHOccupation: PoliticianAttorney or JudgeRelation to Slavery: White non-slaveholderChurch or Religious Denomination: Quakers (Society of Friends)Political Parties: DemocraticRepublicanSouthern Democratic (1860)Government: Buchanan Administration (1857-61)Lincoln Administration (1861-65)Johnson Administration (1865-69)Local government Note Cards Edwin McMasters Stanton, Election of 1860 & Secession Crisis (American National Biography) ScholarshipWhen the Democratic party split on the sectional issue in 1860, Stanton followed Buchanan and Black in supporting John C. Breckinridge, the presidential nominee of the southern Democrats, because he considered Breckinridge the only candidate capable of preserving the Union. During a cabinet shake-up in December 1860, Black became secretary of state, and Buchanan appointed Stanton to replace him as attorney general. Throughout the closing months of Buchanan's term, Stanton strove forcefully to preserve the Union. In the cabinet, he and Black constantly pressured the vacillating president to adopt a strong position against secession and to retain control of Fort Sumter and other forts along the southern coastline. Moreover, Stanton secretly passed information on cabinet deliberations to Senator William H. Seward and other Republicans in Congress. During his brief tenure as attorney general, Stanton did as much as anyone in the administration to stiffen Buchanan's stand and resist the secessionist surge. William B. Skelton, "Stanton, Edwin McMasters," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00942.html. Edwin McMasters Stanton, Secretary of War (American National Biography) ScholarshipAs secretary of war, Stanton became increasingly disillusioned with his erstwhile friend McClellan, who had remained ensconced in the Washington defenses since the summer of 1861 and showed little inclination to take the offensive against the Confederate forces in Virginia. In March 1862 Stanton and other cabinet members convinced Lincoln to remove McClellan as commanding general of the entire army, though McClellan continued to command the Army of the Potomac. For several months in the spring and early summer of 1862, Lincoln and Stanton performed the role of commanding general. The two civilians pressured McClellan into launching his Peninsula campaign, personally directed the capture of Norfolk, and devised a nearly successful plan to trap Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army in the Shenandoah Valley. In a controversial move, however, Stanton suspended recruiting in early April in order to reorganize the recruiting service--and in the apparent belief that the war would soon be over. Because of this step, as well as the administration's decision to detain Major General Irvin McDowell's corps as a shield for Washington, D.C., McClellan and his Democratic supporters claimed that the secretary of war had withheld essential reinforcements from the Peninsula offensive, contributing to its failure. While these charges were unfounded--McClellan's army strongly outnumbered the Confederates throughout the campaign--Stanton and McClellan remained bitter enemies, each calling for the removal of the other, until Lincoln finally relieved McClellan of command in November 1862. William B. Skelton, "Stanton, Edwin McMasters," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00942.html. Events Date span begin Life span End Event 02/27/1859 02/27/1859 Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York murders Philip Barton Key in the street in Washington D.C. 03/24/1859 03/24/1859 Congressman Daniel Sickles is indicted for murder in Washington D.C. in the shooting of Philip Barton Key 04/04/1859 04/04/1859 The trial of Congressman Daniel Sickles for the murder of Philip Barton Key begins in Washington D.C. 04/05/1859 04/09/1859 The murder trial of Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York continues in Washington D.C. 04/11/1859 04/16/1859 The murder trial of Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York continues in Washington D.C. 04/18/1859 04/23/1859 The trial of Daniel Sickles for the murder of Philip Barton Key continues in Washington D.C. 04/24/1859 04/24/1859 The trial of Daniel Sickles for the murder of Philip Barton Key continues in Washington D.C. 04/25/1859 04/25/1859 Congressman Daniel Sickles is acquitted in his trial for the murder of Philip Barton Key 12/19/1860 12/19/1860 U.S. Senate confirms well-known Democrat lawyer Edwin M. Stanton as Attorney-General 01/11/1862 01/11/1862 Secretary of War Simon Cameron resigns and is appointed minister to Russia 01/15/1862 01/15/1862 U.S. Senate confirms Edwin M. Stanton's nomination as Secretary of War on a vote of 36-2 01/17/1862 01/17/1862 The U.S. Senate votes 26-14 to confirm Simon Cameron as the new ambassador to Russia 01/20/1862 01/20/1862 Secretary of War E.M. Stanton orders appointment of Union commissioners to visit Southern prisons 02/09/1862 02/09/1862 Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone, USA, arrested in his Washington hotel room and imprisoned 02/25/1862 02/25/1862 The War Department takes over all telegraph communication in the United States 03/13/1862 03/13/1862 Secretary of War Edwin Stanton appoints a special commission to investigate fraud in Army contracts 03/21/1862 03/21/1862 President Lincoln forms two new Army Departments in the South 03/28/1862 03/28/1862 Friends of imprisoned Brigadier General Charles Stone seek aid from the Massachusetts Legislature 04/02/1862 04/02/1862 The War Department suspends military recruitment across the North 05/14/1862 05/14/1862 President Lincoln visits General McClellan's headquarters at Fredericksburg, Virginia 05/21/1862 05/21/1862 The War Department reopens military recruitment across the North 05/25/1863 05/25/1863 Colonel F.G. D'Ustassy of the 39th New York sentenced to a year in Sing Sing for fraud and embezzlement 06/01/1863 06/01/1863 Regional army commander Ambrose Burnside orders the closing of the Chicago Times for disloyalty 06/04/1863 06/04/1863 In Illinois, the Chicago Times reopens after its brief military shutdown 07/01/1863 07/01/1863 The War Department decides that Generals Fremont and McClellan outrank General Benjamin Butler 04/15/1865 04/15/1865 President Lincoln dies from the head wound John Wilkes Booth inflicted eight hours before 04/20/1865 04/20/1865 At the War Department, Secretary Stanton announced large rewards for the capture of the Lincoln conspirators 04/25/1865 04/25/1865 Secretary Edwin Stanton intervenes to ensure African-American participation in New York's funeral procession 07/10/1865 07/10/1865 On Secretary of War Stanton's orders, troops surround Ford's Theater and prevent its re-opening 07/24/1865 07/24/1865 In Washington, the War Department purchases Ford's Theater and begins to convert it as an office building 01/02/1866 01/02/1866 The Radical Republican former Congressman Henry Winter Davis is buried in Baltimore, Maryland 02/26/1866 02/26/1866 President Johnson dismisses his critic, Jane Grey Swisshelm, from her War Department job 03/12/1866 03/12/1866 Ex-Confederate General George Pickett reaches out to his old West Point friend U.S. Grant for amnesty 10/01/1866 10/01/1866 The Freedmen's Bureau halts the free issue of rations to refugees and freedmen across the South. 05/13/1867 05/13/1867 The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Georgia's challenge to the Military Reconstruction Acts. Documents Author Docs Date Title 04/15/1865 Edwin M. Stanton to Major General William T. Sherman, April 15, 1865 01/22/1862 Edwin M. Stanton, Order to the Army with President Lincoln's congratulations on recent victory in Kentucky, January 22, 1862 03/27/1865 Edwin Stanton, Orders for ceremonies at Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina 04/19/1865 Repudiation of the "Basis of Agreement for the surrender of the Confederate Army of the Tennessee" Subject Docs Date Title 10/31/1857 New York Times, “Important Rumor,” October 31, 1857 02/22/1859 New York Herald, “The Black Republicans and Mr. Douglas,” February 22, 1859 01/06/1861 New York Herald, “Salutes in Honor of Major Anderson,” January 6, 1861 01/14/1862 Chicago (IL) Tribune, “Resignation of Secretary Cameron,” January 14, 1862 08/09/1862 New York National Anti-Slavery Standard, "Speech of Rev. M.D. Conway," August 9, 1862 04/16/1865 Maunsell Bradhurst Field to Editor New York Times, Letter accounting the Passing of President Abraham Lincoln, April 16, 1865 04/19/1865 George Alfred Townsend, "The Obsequies in Washington," April 19, 1865 03/02/1867 United States Congress, "An Act regulating the Tenure of certain Civil Offices," March 2, 1867 Addressee Docs Date Title 04/18/1865 Report of Messrs. Brough and Garrett on arrangements for the transport of President Lincoln's remains to Illinois, April 18, 1865 09/17/1866 Oliver O. Howard to Edwin Stanton, Washington, DC, September 17, 1866. Images Edwin McMasters Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton, detail Edwin McMasters Stanton, engraving, 1862 Edwin McMasters Stanton, April 1866, Thomas Nast cartoon Bibliography Chicago Style Entry Link Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861-1868. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. View Record Trefousse, Hans L. Impeachment of a President: Andrew Johnson, the Blacks, and Reconstruction. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1975. View Record Coddington, Edwin B. "Pennsylvania Prepares For Invasion, 1863." Pennsylvania History 31, no. 2 (1964): 157-175. View Record “A Page of Political Correspondence: Unpublished Letters of Mr. Stanton to Mr. Buchanan.” North American Review 129 (November 1879): 473-483. View Record
Edwin McMasters Stanton, Election of 1860 & Secession Crisis (American National Biography) ScholarshipWhen the Democratic party split on the sectional issue in 1860, Stanton followed Buchanan and Black in supporting John C. Breckinridge, the presidential nominee of the southern Democrats, because he considered Breckinridge the only candidate capable of preserving the Union. During a cabinet shake-up in December 1860, Black became secretary of state, and Buchanan appointed Stanton to replace him as attorney general. Throughout the closing months of Buchanan's term, Stanton strove forcefully to preserve the Union. In the cabinet, he and Black constantly pressured the vacillating president to adopt a strong position against secession and to retain control of Fort Sumter and other forts along the southern coastline. Moreover, Stanton secretly passed information on cabinet deliberations to Senator William H. Seward and other Republicans in Congress. During his brief tenure as attorney general, Stanton did as much as anyone in the administration to stiffen Buchanan's stand and resist the secessionist surge. William B. Skelton, "Stanton, Edwin McMasters," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00942.html.
Edwin McMasters Stanton, Secretary of War (American National Biography) ScholarshipAs secretary of war, Stanton became increasingly disillusioned with his erstwhile friend McClellan, who had remained ensconced in the Washington defenses since the summer of 1861 and showed little inclination to take the offensive against the Confederate forces in Virginia. In March 1862 Stanton and other cabinet members convinced Lincoln to remove McClellan as commanding general of the entire army, though McClellan continued to command the Army of the Potomac. For several months in the spring and early summer of 1862, Lincoln and Stanton performed the role of commanding general. The two civilians pressured McClellan into launching his Peninsula campaign, personally directed the capture of Norfolk, and devised a nearly successful plan to trap Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army in the Shenandoah Valley. In a controversial move, however, Stanton suspended recruiting in early April in order to reorganize the recruiting service--and in the apparent belief that the war would soon be over. Because of this step, as well as the administration's decision to detain Major General Irvin McDowell's corps as a shield for Washington, D.C., McClellan and his Democratic supporters claimed that the secretary of war had withheld essential reinforcements from the Peninsula offensive, contributing to its failure. While these charges were unfounded--McClellan's army strongly outnumbered the Confederates throughout the campaign--Stanton and McClellan remained bitter enemies, each calling for the removal of the other, until Lincoln finally relieved McClellan of command in November 1862. William B. Skelton, "Stanton, Edwin McMasters," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/04/04-00942.html.
