Officers of New York Irish Brigade call at White House and present petition to President requesting promotion of Col. Thomas F. Meagher. N.Y. Times, 14 December 1861.

White House borrows "Newton's Display and Heraldry" from Library of Congress. [William Newton, Display of Heraldry, London, 1846.] Borrowers' Ledger 1861-63, 114, Archives of the Library of Congress, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Writes note on photographs of members of Cabinet: "These likenesses, so far as I know the originals, are very good." Note on Photographs of Members of Lincoln's Cabinet, 13 December 1861, CW, 5:68.

Prepares pardon: "This may be his [Maj. John Pope (CSA)] full pardon for all political offenses" committed prior to January 1, 1862, provided he leaves ranks of rebellion and thereafter does nothing against government of U.S. Abraham Lincoln to Whom It May Concern, 13 December 1861, CW, 5:68-69.

In the evening, President Lincoln meets with General William T. Sherman's brother, U.S. Senator John Sherman, of Ohio. The following day, John Sherman writes to William Sherman's wife, Ellen, and reveals details of the Lincoln meeting. In November, amid controversy, William Sherman resigned his post in Kentucky. Currently, he is on leave from his assignment in Missouri. John Sherman writes, "It was manifest that the President felt kindly" toward General Sherman. John Sherman outlines the reasons why William failed in Kentucky, and he notes William's erratic behavior. John writes, "[William wrote] letters & despatches . . . some of which were proven by subsequent events to be entirely erroneous and all were desponding, complaining, and almost insubordinate. He constantly exaggerated the number & resources of the enemy and looked upon all around him with distrust & suspicion." John suggests, "If I was in Cump's place I would . . . quietly perform his duty wherever sent, and justify the President's remark that there was more fighting qualities in Gen. Sherman than in any Brigadier he had appointed. But it is idle for him, for you or any of his friends to overlook the fact that his own fancies create enemies & difficulties where none exist." John Sherman to Ellen Sherman, 14 December 1861, William T. Sherman Family Papers, University of Notre Dame Archives, Notre Dame, IN; Stanley P. Hirshson, The White Tecumseh: A Biography of General William T. Sherman (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997), 103-104.