[Held_to_Ransom]

There is very little reason to doubt Butler's account. There is every reason to believe that Lincoln consulted him on the matter of large scale transportation of slaves out of the US. Butler was offered the vice presidency. It is nearly unimagineable that Lincoln was not readily accessible to him. Butler was also handling some very important politlcal matters for Lincoln in the time period, meeting schedules aside.

Besides, Stanton and Stephens both extensively corroborate the notion that Lincoln only freed the 200,000 men who fought in the war, and only considered that as a temporary wartime exigency. Without this understanding, the actions of Thaddeus Stevens become nearly mystical in irrelevance.

The idea that Butler would cock up the story about transporting the soldiers to Panama to build a canal there is entirely appropriate given Butler's experience and accomplishments in that regard. Afterall, by that time Butler had already completed his first functional canal and was doubtless open to grander projects. Certainly he would have been most confident of being able to deal with yellow fever, though it is a mercy he didn't get the chance.

In addition, we know that Dan Sickles was sent to Columbia to negotiate a deal for land, and that fits nicely into Butler's story.

[WhiskeyPapa]

That's all complete nonsense.

Walt

[WhiskeyPapa]

There is very little reason to doubt Butler's account.

There is no reason it can be accepted as historical data. It cannot be corroborated; it is a supposed conversation between two parties. The other party never spoke of it (and died 4 days later). It cannot possibly be given historical credence. You don't have to be a scholar to say that. Common sense will tell you.

There is no proof that Butler and Lincoln even met on the day in question.

Walt