First Annual Message
12/02/1861
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...
Be pleased to signify this to the respective Houses of Congress.
Its observance will be strictly enforced by all officers, civil, military, and naval in the service of the United States...
In his own view, however, the two Houses of Congress, convened under the twelfth article of the Constitution, have compl...
He thought this measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable adjunct to the winding up of the great difficulty.