Doc. 143.-President Lincoln's call.
Letter from the Governors.
To the President:
the undersigned, Governors of States of the Union, impressed with the belief that the citizens of the States which they respectively represent are of one accord in the hearty desire that the recent successes of the Federal arms may be followed up by measures which must insure the speedy restoration of the Union, and believing that in view of the important military movements now in progress, and the reduced condition of our effective forces in the field, resulting from the usual and unavoidable casualties of the service, that the time has arrived for prompt and vigorous measures to be adopted by the people in support of the great interests committed to your charge, we respectfully request, if it meets with your entire approval, that you at once call upon the several States for such numbers of men as may be required to fill up all military organizations now in the field, and add to the army heretofore organized such additional number of men as may, in
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your judgment, be necessary to garrison and hold all of the numerous cities and military positions that have been captured by our armies, and to speedily crush the rebellion that still exists in several of the Southern States, thus practically restoring to the civilized world out great and good Government.
All believe that the decisive moment is near at hand, and to that end the people of the United States are desirous to aid promptly in furnishing all reinforcements that you may deem needful to sustain our Government. Israel Washburne, Jr., Governor of Maine. N. S. Berry, Governor of New-Hampshire. Frederick Holbrook, Governor of Vermont. Wm. A. Buckingham, Governor of Connecticut. E. D. Morgan, Governor of New-York. Chas. S. Olden, Governor of New-Jersey. A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania. A. W. Bradford, Governor of Maryland. F. H. Pierpont, Governor of Virginia. Austin Blair, Governor of Michigan. J. B. Temple, President Military Board of Kentucky. Andrew Johnson, Governor of Tennessee. H. R. Gamble, Governor of Missouri. O. P. Morton, Governor of Indiana. David Tod, Governor of Ohio. Alexander Ramsey, Governor of Minnesota. Richard Yates, Governor of Illinois. Edward Salomon, Governor of Wisconsin.
The President's reply.
Executive mansion, Washington, July 1, 1862.
gentlemen: Fully concurring in the wisdom of the views expressed to me in so patriotic a manner by you in the communication of the twenty-eighth day of June, I have decided to call into the service an additional force of three hundred thousand men.
I suggest and recommend that the troops should be chiefly of infantry.
The quota of your State would be----. I trust that they may be enrolled without delay, so as to bring this unnecessary and injurious civil war to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.
An order fixing the quotas of the respective States will be issued by the War Department tomorrow. 