Details
[CIVIL WAR]. GRANT, Ulysses S. (1822-1885), President. Letter signed ("U.S. Grant") to Kentucky Governor Thomas E. Bramlette (1817-1875), Nashville, 13 January 1864. 2¼ pages, folio, written in an ornate scribal hand, old repairs to slight separations (repairable), otherwise fine.
GRANT PROMISES THAT THE ARMY WILL PROTECT KENTUCKY FROM INVASION AND REBEL GUERILLAS
Writing the day after his arrival at Headquarters of the Division of the Mississippi, Grant takes pains to reassure Governor Bramlette that recent orders transmitted between Generals Foster and Boyle "do not contemplate the abandonment of Kentucky to the enemy either in organized or Guerrilla bands, but specially require a sufficient number of the troops now on duty in the State, to be retained for the purpose of securing the safety of all important points, as well as the security of all our lines of communications. Kentucky is a portion of my command," Grant assures him, "and shall receive hereafter as hertofore, all the protection that my forces are capable of giving. In all the dispositions of troops that I may make, the importance of protecting her territory from invasion, and securing her citizens from danger of internal disturbances, will be kept steadily in view..."
Two months after this letter Grant was promoted to general-in-chief of all Union armies. At first a vocal supporter of the Union, Bramlette became a vociferous critic of Lincoln. Shortly after this letter, when Lincoln proposed the enlistment of black troops, Bramlette threatened to lead his state in opposition to the measure. In the 1864 election, he campaigned harshly against Lincoln, yet supported passage of the 13th Amendment.
GRANT PROMISES THAT THE ARMY WILL PROTECT KENTUCKY FROM INVASION AND REBEL GUERILLAS
Writing the day after his arrival at Headquarters of the Division of the Mississippi, Grant takes pains to reassure Governor Bramlette that recent orders transmitted between Generals Foster and Boyle "do not contemplate the abandonment of Kentucky to the enemy either in organized or Guerrilla bands, but specially require a sufficient number of the troops now on duty in the State, to be retained for the purpose of securing the safety of all important points, as well as the security of all our lines of communications. Kentucky is a portion of my command," Grant assures him, "and shall receive hereafter as hertofore, all the protection that my forces are capable of giving. In all the dispositions of troops that I may make, the importance of protecting her territory from invasion, and securing her citizens from danger of internal disturbances, will be kept steadily in view..."
Two months after this letter Grant was promoted to general-in-chief of all Union armies. At first a vocal supporter of the Union, Bramlette became a vociferous critic of Lincoln. Shortly after this letter, when Lincoln proposed the enlistment of black troops, Bramlette threatened to lead his state in opposition to the measure. In the 1864 election, he campaigned harshly against Lincoln, yet supported passage of the 13th Amendment.