ABSTRACT
On May 5th, General Burnside, commanding the Department of the Ohio, gave Lincoln a new headache to worry about. In defending the government's position, Lincoln had this to say: Vallandigham was not arrested for exercising his right to free speech or for injuring the Administration's political prospects. Chauncey Depew claimed that Lincoln "knew the whole situation better than any man in the administration, and virtually carried on in his own mind not only the civic side of the government, but all the campaigns." But, said Noah Brooks: "It was this incessant demand upon his time, by men who sought place or endeavored to shape his policy, that broke down his courage and his temper, as well as exhausted his strength." "It is a great relief to get away from Washington and the politicians," he would say. "But nothing touches the tired spot." More stories were attributed to Lincoln than he could honestly claim as his own.
