President confers with Lt. Henry A. Wise (USN), Navy Bureau of Ordnance, regarding mortars under construction at Pittsburgh. Abraham Lincoln to Andrew H. Foote, [23 January 1862], CW, 5:108.

Consults with Gen. Lane and Sen. Samuel C. Pomeroy (Kans.) regarding fugitive slaves and concludes that government cannot return them. N.Y. Tribune, 24 January 1862.

Nominates John Tucker of Pennsylvania and Peter H. Watson of Washington, DC, to be assistant secretaries of war. National Intelligencer, 25 January 1862.

Interviews Senator Lazarus W. Powell (Ky.) regarding military assessments to provide for persons made homeless. Powell to Lincoln, 29 January 1862, Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

In the evening, President Lincoln and his wife, Mary, attend the Washington Theatre to watch the New York Academy of Music perform selections from two Italian operas—Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore and Vincenzo Bellini's I Puritani. A newspaper reports, "The President and Mrs. Lincoln were present, and on his appearance in one of the private boxes he was greeted with hearty applause." Evening Star (Washington, DC), 23 January 1862, 2:1, 5; 24 January 1862, 2:1.

Addresses memorandum to heads of departments and bureaus: "This man wants to work—so uncommon a want that I think it ought to be gratified. I shall be obliged by any Head of of [sic] a Bureau, or Department who can and will find work for him." Abraham Lincoln to Heads of Departments and Bureaus, 23 January 1862, CW, 5:109.