Washington 8th Jany '64
My Dear Sir,
Recently I recd through the Post Office a
printed letter purporting to be signed by various distinguished
litterary & scientific
gentlemen; but Dr Hill as President
of
Harvard College signing it first, followed by
Profs
Agassiz, Peirce, &
Longfellow gave it the
appearance of
having emanated from
Harvard College, though your
name followed theirs as well as the names of other eminent
persons in other cities. The letter accused the War
Department of acts of injustice & tyranny in
connection
with Surgeon General Hammond
who is to be tried by a
Court Martial on charges that have been preferred against
him. This letter was sent to the Senators and
Members of Congress; and it had come to my
knowledge that the War Dept. considered the
source
from which it apparently came to give it an importance
thats required them to notice it; I therefore called
the attention of Profsrs
Agassiz &
Peirce to it. They both
pronounce it a base fabrication, and have
of it which they have requested me to hand to Mr Stanton.
This I have done, and he appeared to receive it
with great satisfaction – but from what passed
while I was present I doubt not an effort
will be made to discover the perpetrators of this fraud.
Mr Agassiz will send a Copy to
President Hill,
and I suggest to you to see him and to join
with him and Mr Longfellow to
denounce
this fraud as emphatically as [Messrs] Agassiz and
Peirce have.
Dr. J. Mason Warren