In 1863, President Lincoln defended his decision to banish former Ohio congressman Clement Vallandigham to the South after he was arrested and tried for inciting a crowd to a frenzy, denouncing the civil war. He encouraged soldiers to desert the army in the masses and was arrested by General Burnside and tried for treason. Lincoln sought a compromise and removed Vallandigham to Tennessee. As people claimed this was a violation of free speech, President Lincoln defended his decision by writing:
Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley agitator who induces him to desert?