Why should I read Shelby Foote when your lessons are so much better?
The point is that Lincoln did not want to free slaves or
abolish slavery.
He preferred waiting until he could find a general who would endure the required death toll in order to preserve the Union.
I’ve never understood the logic of those who thought slavery was wrong but killing to free them was right.
Or the logic of killing people on a genocidal scale to keep them from having independence.