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LINCOLN, Abraham, President. Letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President to Ginery Twichell, Massachusetts Congressman, Washington, D.C., 5 September 1862. 3 pages, 8vo, "Executive Mansion" stationery, small tear to folds, otherwise fine. Enclosed in a quarter blue morocco clamsell protective case.
TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE BLOODY BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, LINCOLN ACCEPTS HOSPITAL SUPPLIES "FOR THE USE OF THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS"
A letter of thanks written on the day that General Robert E. Lee began his first invasion of the North, and only two weeks before the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, the Battle of Antietam. Twichell, President of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, had presented, on behalf of the citizens of certain Massachusetts towns, quantities of badly needed hospital supplies for the Union armies. The President writes: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt from you of a large amount of Hospital Stores, contributed for the use of the wounded soldiers of the United States army, by patriotic citizens of Brookline, Brighton, Newton, Watertown and Roxbury. Have the kindness, Sir, to accept my cordial thanks for your own courtesy in the matter, and convey to the generous donors the assurance of my grateful appreciation of their efforts for the health and comfort of those brave men, to whom we are all so deeply indebted."
During the Civil War the U.S. Sanitary Commission, organized by civilians, assisted the army in providing care for the sick and wounded soldiers and protecting their dependent families. The entire operations of the U.S. Sanitary Commission were financed by donations, such as the ones mentioned in this letter. Two weeks after this letter, General Lee resolved to carry the war into the North; he and Confederate President Davis both hoped that a victory in Union territory might prompt the North to offer peace overtures, ending the conflict. Lee's army met the Union army, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, on the battlefield at Sharpsburg (17 September 1862). Although trumpeted as a victory in the North, neither side could truly claim a decisive victory. While the casuality figures on both sides were some of the worst in the entire conflict, the appearance of victory provided Lincoln the occasion he had awaited to publish his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Printed in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:406-407 ("the original has not been found").
TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE BLOODY BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, LINCOLN ACCEPTS HOSPITAL SUPPLIES "FOR THE USE OF THE WOUNDED SOLDIERS"
A letter of thanks written on the day that General Robert E. Lee began his first invasion of the North, and only two weeks before the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, the Battle of Antietam. Twichell, President of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, had presented, on behalf of the citizens of certain Massachusetts towns, quantities of badly needed hospital supplies for the Union armies. The President writes: "I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt from you of a large amount of Hospital Stores, contributed for the use of the wounded soldiers of the United States army, by patriotic citizens of Brookline, Brighton, Newton, Watertown and Roxbury. Have the kindness, Sir, to accept my cordial thanks for your own courtesy in the matter, and convey to the generous donors the assurance of my grateful appreciation of their efforts for the health and comfort of those brave men, to whom we are all so deeply indebted."
During the Civil War the U.S. Sanitary Commission, organized by civilians, assisted the army in providing care for the sick and wounded soldiers and protecting their dependent families. The entire operations of the U.S. Sanitary Commission were financed by donations, such as the ones mentioned in this letter. Two weeks after this letter, General Lee resolved to carry the war into the North; he and Confederate President Davis both hoped that a victory in Union territory might prompt the North to offer peace overtures, ending the conflict. Lee's army met the Union army, commanded by Major General George B. McClellan, on the battlefield at Sharpsburg (17 September 1862). Although trumpeted as a victory in the North, neither side could truly claim a decisive victory. While the casuality figures on both sides were some of the worst in the entire conflict, the appearance of victory provided Lincoln the occasion he had awaited to publish his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
Printed in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:406-407 ("the original has not been found").