Did Lincoln Conspire To Kill Jefferson Davis? (Dahlgren Affair)

WRAL ^ | 17-feb-2004 | Scott Mason

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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Some parts of Abraham Lincoln's life remains a mystery, including an assassination attempt he may have plotted.

An East Carolina University professors believes Abraham Lincoln gave authorization to a group headed by Col. Ulrich Dahlgren to kill Jefferson Davis.

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For Discussion

Note: This article is light on details & specifics - I'll defer to the FR historians to fill in the gaps. Some of you are intimately familiar with the Dahlgren Affair, Kilpatrick, and Stanton.

[Redcoat LI]

On The document that supposedly proves that Dahlgren was on an assasination mission,Dahlgren misspells his own last name.

That's kind of like driving your vehicle to a secluded Washington D.C area park without your car keys,then shooting yourself.

[mass55th]

"On The document that supposedly proves that Dahlgren was on an assasination mission,Dahlgren misspells his own last name. "

According to the Unsolved History show I watched on this, the misspelling was caused by a bleed through from the other side of the paper, which made the letters appear wrong. According to the specialists on the program, the last name is spelled right and it matched other samples of Dahlgren's signature.

[Redcoat LI]

The copy they had was a copy of the original,Stanton had the real one and has since dissapeared.

[steplock]

Did Lincoln Conspire To Kill Jefferson Davis?

What a POS! Actually, in time of war, the leaders of the opposition are a fair target. Cut the head off-you might say.

So whether or not this actually occured has no bearing or significance unless someone is attempting to re-write history again!

[stainlessbanner]

That is the account I have read also. The misspelling theory came from Dahlgren's father who tried to clear the family name. The forgery theory carries little weight given that intimate knowledge of Union manuevers and plans were included in the papers.

It may be that if Stanton issued the order, and he obtained the original papers again from Lieber upon surrender, he would have destroyed the evidence. If it was a forgery, why not display it?

[Capriole]

I don't have any difficulty believing that the man who consented to the commission of war crimes against women and children in the Shenandoah Valley and on Sherman's March could easily consent to the assassination of a rival, whom he must have considered an arch-traitor. We had not yet acquired an excessive delicacy about assassinations, and this would have been considered by the Yankees in the same way we might have thought about an assassination of Hitler. It really says nothing about Lincoln's character, pro or con, that he might have signed off on an enterprise like this.

[#3Fan]

On The document that supposedly proves that Dahlgren was on an assasination mission,Dahlgren misspells his own last name.

Oops! lol

[#3Fan]

I don't have any difficulty believing that the man who consented to the commission of war crimes against women and children in the Shenandoah Valley and on Sherman's March...

What war crimes?

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Executive Order 12333. Read it

[mass55th]

"The copy they had was a copy of the original,Stanton had the real one and has since dissapeared."

You're right...I'd forgotten about that. Stanton was a wiley one. I believe he was capable of just about anything and that he undermined Lincoln every chance he got.

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More info here

Sherman on record:

"I know that Kilpatrick is a hell of a damned fool," said Sherman as he prepared for his march from Atlanta to the sea, "but I want just that sort of a man to command my cavalry on this expedition."

[Redcoat LI]

The whole situation is really confusing.
A classmate of mine is doing work on Stanton,and he happened to be talking about that program.
My area is Colonial history,I really don't know much about the Civil War,he stated definitively that Lincoln would never have countenanced an assassination of Jeff Davis,but he thought Stanton might have.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

"What a POS! Actually, in time of war, the leaders of the opposition are a fair target. Cut the head off-you might say. "

So you are saying IYHO JWB on Abe was a legtit go?

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1863 Lieber Code, General Order No. 100, Section IX --Assassination.

[Redcoat LI]

yeah,I should have included you in my reply to #3 plan.
If I am not mistaken,Stanton wanted to hang Davis,Lee,etc..after the War.

[stainlessbanner]

he stated definitively that Lincoln would never have countenanced an assassination of Jeff Davis

Granted Lincoln did not sign the order, but on what basis does your collegue support this statement?

[#3Fan]

Could be. I don't know anything about it. I don't see the value in making these claims about Lincoln on no evidence or logic.

[GOPyouth]

here we go again... heh heh

[steplock]

Executive Order 12333. Read it


That got rid of all that Traitor jimmy(da commie nut) carter garbage if I remember correctly!

Carter's idiocy and treason had the U.S. intelligence services working for Castro and tied our hands so tightly when it came to protecting the USA ... A high percentage of veteran special intel types simply walked out when enlistments/contracts were up because of him.