Details
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President. Autograph note signed ("A.Lincoln") as President, to an unidentified recipient, [Washington, D.C.], 18 March 1865. 14 lines, plus signature and dateline, written on the verso of an autograph letter signed from J.R. Dorsett to Lincoln, Dorsett's ink faded, a few stains.
"LET IT BE DONE"
A month before his death, Lincoln grants a father's plea and discharges one of his sons: "Mr. Dorset[t], the father says he already has two substitutes in the army, that he yet has three unmarried sons subject to the draft, who will not shirk and that he has still another son a prisoner among the rebels -- He asks that this married son, now drafted, may be discharged. Let it be done..." Basler, VIII:363-364.
Lincoln acted in response to J.R. Dorsett's moving letter, describing his son's, Private Charles T. Dorsett, circumstances: "...When the Rebellion first broke out he volunteered...and served three months, and when hands were wanting to go to Virginia...he again volunteered...His object in asking to be discharged is not from any disinclination to serve his country but that he may...support a helpless family dependent entirely upon his labor...."
"LET IT BE DONE"
A month before his death, Lincoln grants a father's plea and discharges one of his sons: "Mr. Dorset[t], the father says he already has two substitutes in the army, that he yet has three unmarried sons subject to the draft, who will not shirk and that he has still another son a prisoner among the rebels -- He asks that this married son, now drafted, may be discharged. Let it be done..." Basler, VIII:363-364.
Lincoln acted in response to J.R. Dorsett's moving letter, describing his son's, Private Charles T. Dorsett, circumstances: "...When the Rebellion first broke out he volunteered...and served three months, and when hands were wanting to go to Virginia...he again volunteered...His object in asking to be discharged is not from any disinclination to serve his country but that he may...support a helpless family dependent entirely upon his labor...."