President and cabinet discuss informally Trent affair. New York Times, 19 December 1861.

Congressmen Schuyler Colfax (Ind.) and Reuben E. Fenton (N.Y.) urge Lincoln to get army into action or find way to offset hostile public sentiment. Rice, 74.

President, accompanied by Secretary of State William H. Seward and Edwin M. Stanton, legal adviser to Secretary of War Simon Cameron, watches seamen drill at Navy Yard. Extracts from Dahlgren Diary, John G. Nicolay Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Evening Star (Washington, DC), 19 December 1861, 2:1.

Congratulates Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, on birth of son to Grand Duchess Olga Teodorowra. Abraham Lincoln to Alexander II, 18 December 1861, CW, 5:74-75.

At 9:30 P.M. with John Hay walks to Seward's residence for conference, then with Seward to General George B. McClellan's house, where they discuss war until midnight. N.Y. Herald, 19 December 1861.