President in conference at War Dept. with Secs. Stanton and Welles, Asst. Sec. Fox, and Gen. Halleck regarding attack on Charleston. Welles, Diary.

Authorizes Stanton to confer with W. Butler, former state treasurer of Illinois, "and see if something definite can not be done in the case" of state claims against Illinois Central Railroad, and claims of railroad against U.S. Abraham Lincoln to Edwin M. Stanton, 23 May 1863, CW, 6:227-28.