President Abraham Lincoln pardoned Laird .
The telegraph message never got through due to the fact the telegraph wires in New York City which relayed the message from Washington , D.C. to Maine were cut during the July 1863 draft riots .
President Abraham Lincoln pardoned Laird but the telegraph message never got through due to the fact the telegraph wires in New York City which relayed the message from Washington , D.C. to Maine were cut during the July 1863 draft riots .