Page images
PDF
EPUB

men and invalids we have here, we can defend Washington, and, scarcely, Baltimore. Besides these, there are about eight thousand, not very reliable, under Howe at Harper's Ferry, with Hunter approaching that point very slowly, with what number I suppose you know better than we. Wallace, with some odds and ends, and part of what came up with Ricketts, was so badly beaten yesterday at Monocacy, that what is left can attempt no more than to defend Baltimore. What we shall get in from Pennsylvania and New York will scarcely be worth counting, I fear. Now what I think is, that you should provide to retain your hold where you are certainly; and bring the rest with you, personally, and make a vigorous effort to defeat the enemy's force in this vicinity. I 'think there is really a fair chance to do this if the movement is prompt. This is what I think—upon your suggestion-and is not an order. A. LINCOLN.

To WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C., July 18, 1864. Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT, CITY POINT, VA.

Washington, D. C., Aug. 3, 1864, Cypher, 6 P. M. I have seen your dispatch in which you say-—“I want Sheridan put in command of all the troops in the field, with instructions to put himself south of the enemy, and follow him to the death. Wherever the enemy goes, let the troops go also." This, I think, is exactly right, as to how our forces should move. But please look over the dispatches you may have received from here, even since you made that order, and discover, if you can, that there is any idea in the head of any one here, of "putting our army south of the enemy" or of "following him to the death" in any direction. I repeat to you it will neither be done nor attempted unless you watch it every day, and hour, and force it. A. LINCOLN.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S REPLY TO REV. DR. POHLMAN, OF ALBANY, N. Y., AND OTHERS OF THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AT LANCASTER.

August, 1864. Gentlemen:-I welcome here the representatives of the Evangelical Lutherans of the United States. I accept with gratitude their assurances of the sympathy and support of that enlightened, influential and loyal class of my fellow-citizens in an important crisis, which involves, in my judgment, not only the civil and religious liberties of our own dear land, but in a large degree the civil and religious liberties of mankind in many countries, and through many ages. You well know, gentlemen, and the world knows, how reluctantly I accepted this issue of battle forced

upon me, on my advent to this place, by the internal enemies of our country. You all know, the world knows the forces and the resources the public agents have brought into employment to sustain a government against which there has been brought not one complaint of real injury committed against society at home or abroad. You all may recollect that in taking up the sword thus forced into our hands, this government appealed to the prayers of the pious and the good, and declared that it placed its whole dependence upon the favor of God. I now humbly and reverently, in your presence, reiterate the acknowledgment of that dependence, not doubting that if it shall please the Divine Being who determines the destinies of nations, that this shall remain a united people, they will, humbly seeking the Divine guidance, make their prolonged national existence a source of new benefits to themselves and their successors, and to all classes and conditions of mankind.

HON. HENRY J. RAYMOND.

Executive Mansion, Washington, August 15, 1864. My Dear Sir:—I have proposed to Mr. Greeley that the Niagara correspondence be published, suppressing only the parts of his letters over which the red pencil is drawn in the copy which I herewith send.

He declines giving his consent to the publication of his letters unless these parts be published with the

rest.

I have concluded that it is better for me to submit, for the time, to the consequences of the false position

in which I consider he has placed me, than to submit the country to the consequences of publishing these discouraging and injurious parts.

I send you this, and the accompanying copy, not for publication, but merely to explain to you, and that you may preserve them until their proper time. shall come. Yours truly, A. LINCOLN.

TENDER OF NATIONAL THANKS TO FARRAGUT AND CANBY. Executive Mansion, September 3, 1864.

The national thanks are tendered by the President to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Canby, for the skill and harmony with which the recent operations in Mobile Harbor and against Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan were planned and carried into execution. Also to Admiral Farragut and Major-General Granger, under whose immediate command they were conducted, and to the gallant commanders on sea and land, and to the sailors and soldiers engaged in the operations, for their energy and courage, which, under the blessing of Providence, have been crowned with brilliant success, and have won for them the applause and thanks of the nation. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

CALL FOR THANKSGIVING.

Executive Mansion, Washington City, Sept. 3, 1864. The signal success that Divine Providence has recently vouchsafed to the operations of the United States army and navy in the harbor of Mobile, and the reduction of Forts Powell, Gaines, and Morgan, and the glorious achievements of the army under

Major-General Sherman in the State of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the city of Atlanta, call for devout acknowledgments to the Supreme Being, in whose hands are the destinies of nations. It is therefore requested that on next Sunday, in all places of public worship in the United States, thanksgiving be offered to Him for His mercy in preserving our national existence, against the insurgent rebels who so long have been waging a cruel war against the government of the United States for its overthrow, and also that prayers be made for the Divine protection to our brave soldiers and their leaders, in the field, who have so often and so gallantly periled their lives in battling with the enemy, and for blessings and comfort from the Father of Mercies to the sick, and wounded and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows of those who have fallen in the service of their country, and that He will continue to uphold the government of the United States against all the efforts of public enemies and secret foes.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

TENDER OF NATIONAL THANKS TO GENERAL SHERMAN.

Executive Mansion, Washington, Sept. 3, 1864. The national thanks are tendered by the President to Major-General W. T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his command before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability and perseverance displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which, under Divine favor, has resulted in the capture of Atlanta. The marches, battles, seiges and other military operations that have signalized the campaign, must render

« PreviousContinue »