Posted on 06/07/2007 3:26:01 PM PDT by bnelson44
WASHINGTON—The National Archives on Thursday unveiled a handwritten note by Abraham Lincoln exhorting his generals to pursue Robert E. Lee's army after the battle of Gettysburg, underscoring one of the great missed opportunities for an early end to the Civil War. An archives Civil War specialist discovered the July 7, 1863, note three weeks ago in a batch of military papers stored among the billions of pages of historical documents at the mammoth building on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The text of Lincoln's note has been publicly known because the general to whom Lincoln addressed it telegraphed the contents verbatim to the front lines at Gettysburg. There, the Union army's leaders failed for more than a week to aggressively pursue Lee following his defeat.
A week after Lincoln's note, the Confederate army slipped across the Potomac River into Virginia and the war continued for two more years.
Though Gen. George Meade led the Northern troops in the battle at Gettysburg that marked the turning point of the war, he has always been faulted for not closing in and destroying Lee's army.
At a news conference, archivist Trevor Plante said he was looking for something else last month when he found Lincoln's note tucked away in a drawer among other papers. His reaction was "wow" when he recognized the handwriting and Lincoln's signature.
Lincoln's note says "the rebellion will be over" if only "Gen. Meade can complete his work." Lincoln says he wants the "substantial destruction of Lee's army."
Plante's find reinforces "Lincoln's desperation to turn Gettysburg not just into victory, but decisive victory that stops the bloodshed," said historian Allen Guelzo, director of Civil War era studies at Gettysburg College.
The importance of the newly discovered document is that it is in Lincoln's own handwriting, pinning down in time what he was thinking.
The accuracy of the long-known telegram communicating Lincoln's thoughts was not in doubt. At the same time, "there are always risks" relying on documents by a third party for what Lincoln was saying or writing, said Guelzo.
Actually, that picture was taken at Alexander Gardner’s studio. Gardner was a former associate of Brady’s, though Gardner had more of an artist’s background. Most of the photos attributed to Brady were taken by Gardner. Brady was more a business man than a photographer.
These pix are great. When I was young, it was these very pictures of Lincoln and the Civil War that got me interested in photography. To me, every photograph is a historical document.
I'm not sure that's right, Meade was at the front. If I recall correctly from Bruce Catton's Glory Road, Meade was the recipient of the telegraphed version, suggesting that the original had written version was not addressed to Meade, but to the overall commander in Washington for transmission to Meade and other subordinate commanders. That commander in Washington was "Old Brains" - MG Henry W. Halleck. It would be just like Halleck to simply pass the buck on to Meade.
BTW, Halleck was stationed in California during the Mexican War, and was one of the principal authors of the original California Constitution. He left the Army in the mid-1850s to practice law in San Francisco (Halleck St. is named for him) and was the owner of substantial property up in Marin (Rancho Nicasio - there’s still a hamlet by that name and the Nicasio Dam out near Red Hill Road which connects Petaluma to the Coast around Tomales Bay - perhaps you’ve spent some time there - as a teenager, I used to ride my bike out to the coast on that road, making a circuit that took me up past Bodega Bay and in through Graton and Sebastopol....)
WAR CRIMINAL.
free dixie,sw
It was Mark Twain who said The coldest winter I ever spent was a Summer in San Francisco, who undoubtedly had experience of those 35 degree fogs rolling in around 5:30 pm and not lifting until noon (downtown, and perhaps not at all out in the far Richmond and Sunset). One of the funniest things in the great Summer of Love (1967) was all the kids who'd come from all over the country in summer clothes, with light fiberfill sleeping bags or cotton blankets enjoying a sunny afternoon in Golden Gate Park, being totally frozen and bewildered as the usual July blanket of fog rolled in.... having a nice warm place was as good as having plenty of dope and a good pick-up line.....
Though Gen. George Meade led the Northern troops in the battle at Gettysburg that marked the turning point of the war, he has always been faulted for not closing in and destroying Lee's army.To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
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What part of Gods and Generals wasn't overdone?
The South really didn't have a large number of solid or brilliant officers at the start of the war or any other time. Lee, Jackson, maybe Forrest. That's not such a large number.
TITLE 18 § 333: “Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System,with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.”
Sound like someone near to you is a plain old ordinary criminal.
The WHOLE intent is to circulate the bill with the words "War Criminal", not remove it from circulation.
having his mug UNmarked by the term makes such a note UNFIT for ISSUE in the first instance.
free dixie,sw
fyi, i would support REMOVING all images of the TYRANT from all US notes & coins. let's put "Sitting Bull" on both the $5.oo note & on the penny, as he was BOTH "a mighty warrior" & "a decent fellow", by all accounts!!! (btw, the US no longer has "coins", but rather "tokens", which are accepted as if the tokens were coins.)
btw, my sister continues to improve despite "the MI" & severe diabetic problem, that landed her in the PRMC. THANKS to ALL for your many prayers on her behalf.
free dixie,sw
We might have an international border on the Ohio, and maybe a few others: perhaps New York City, California, New England, and Texas would be independent countries as well as the North and South. Maybe we'd have had a few more civil wars later on.
I doubt a Confederate victory would have "saved" the Constitution. We wouldn't have any more rights than we do now: or if "we" would, rest assured, some other "they" wouldn't.
Most likely people like us would be complaining about how those d*mn*d Confederates destroyed the "Old Republic" of 1787 and opened the way to government oppression.
had it not been for the moderating influence of dixie congress-critters (as bad as some of them were/are) over the last 200+ years, the USA would be a fascist/socialist nanny-state.
free dixie,sw
Read James Madison: Federalist 10, "The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection."
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