of the fake proclamation Lincoln and some of his cabinet thought it suspiciously similar to the unannounced proclamation they were considering and concluded someone had leaked it to the opposition press (the World and Journal were notorious critics of Lincoln). The widespread arrests among journalists, telegraph operators, and newspaper publishers were therefore an attempt to catch whoever had leaked the President's announcement, and were released once Lincoln and his cabinet were satisfied there had been no such leak. Lincoln eventually released his genuine proclamation calling for 500,000 new volunteers for the army on July 18. References External links Museum of Hoaxes article Account from The Life of Abraham Lincoln, by Abott A. Abott (1864) 1864 in the United States Fraud in the United States New York (state) in the American Civil War Hoaxes in the United States 19th-century hoaxes May 1864 events