Clement L. Vallandigham letter to Horatio Seymour regarding deportation to Confederacy

This letter, dated May 21, 1863 was written by Clement L. Vallandigham as he left Cincinnati, complying with President Abraham Lincoln's judgement banishing him to the Confederacy. Addressed to Horatio Seymour of Albany, New York, the letter gives an account of Vallandingham's deportation to "Dixie," expresses defiance at the order, and thanks Seymour for his support. Vallandigham (1820-1871) was born in Lisbon, Ohio. He built his reputation as an attorney, newspaperman, and politician. Deeply committed to the Union, he led the "Copperhead," or Peace Democrat, movement of the 1850s and 1860s. He made a famous political speech on Mt. Vernon's public square on May 1, 1863, for which he was later arrested and tried for treason by a military court. The case led to his banishment to the South, although Vallandigham re-entered the United States through Canada in 1864 and was not arrested. After the Civil War he was a staunch critic of Reconstruction. He died in 1871 of an accidental gunshot wound sustained while handling a gun that was evidence for a murder trial