Mrs.
John Charles Fremont was in Missouri with her husband when he aroused the wrath
of Lincoln. On August 30, 1861, the Federal major general issued a famous
“emancipation proclamation” concerning the territory over which he had military
control. As soon as word about Fremont’s action reached Washington, the
president firmly requested that he rescind it.
Furious,
Fremont’s wife, the daughter of the powerful Missouri senator, Jesse Hart
Benton, went to the capital to intercede. Lincoln is known to have seen Jessie
Fremont on at least two occasions in early September, but he refused to modify
his stand. Disappointed and angry, she returned to her husband in the war zone
and remained with him until he was relieved of command in November 1861.
