Details
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM. Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, TO MAJOR GENERAL AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE in Falmouth, Virginia, Washington, D.C. 25 November 1862. 1 page, 8vo, on Executive Mansion stationery, small loss to blank top left-hand corner, faint small rectangular discoloration at top center (from old mounting on verso).
BEFORE FREDERICKSBURG, LINCOLN CALLS A CONFERENCE WITH BURNSIDE
An important letter, despite its brevity and outward calm, in which Lincoln proposes a field conference between himself and Burnside, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. The President writes: "If I should be in a Boat off Acquia Creek, at dark to-morrow (Wednesday) evening, could you, without inconvenience, meet me & pass and pass an hour or two with me?..." Published in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:511.
Burnside (1824-1881), whom Catton termed "as incompetent a General as Abraham Lincoln ever commissioned," had twice refused command of the Army of the Potomac but accepted the third time, replacing George McClellan on 7 November. Burnside submitted a plan for a bold offensive to his superiors on 12 November. Although Halleck wanted to reject it, Lincoln approved it two days later, cautioning Burnside that it would succeed only if executed immediately. Burnside proposed to cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg in a powerful, head-on attack. But from mid-November, waiting for bridge-building material, Burnside and the Army remained encamped at Falmouth, giving Lee's army ample time to predict where the blow would fall and to fortify their defensive line in the hills behind Fredericksburg. Lincoln, concerned over the delay, determined on a visit to Burnside for a discussion of the situation. Burnside, in his reply, accepted the proposed meeting and preparations for the assault continued. The carefully prepared Confederate defenses proved unassailable when Burnside finally launched his attack in the early hours of 13 December. By the end of the bloody fighting the following day the Union Army had suffered some 14,000 casualties, and had been soundly repulsed. "Remember Fredericksburg" would become the Army's rallying cry for vengeance.
BEFORE FREDERICKSBURG, LINCOLN CALLS A CONFERENCE WITH BURNSIDE
An important letter, despite its brevity and outward calm, in which Lincoln proposes a field conference between himself and Burnside, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. The President writes: "If I should be in a Boat off Acquia Creek, at dark to-morrow (Wednesday) evening, could you, without inconvenience, meet me & pass and pass an hour or two with me?..." Published in Collected Works, ed. R.P. Basler, 5:511.
Burnside (1824-1881), whom Catton termed "as incompetent a General as Abraham Lincoln ever commissioned," had twice refused command of the Army of the Potomac but accepted the third time, replacing George McClellan on 7 November. Burnside submitted a plan for a bold offensive to his superiors on 12 November. Although Halleck wanted to reject it, Lincoln approved it two days later, cautioning Burnside that it would succeed only if executed immediately. Burnside proposed to cross the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg in a powerful, head-on attack. But from mid-November, waiting for bridge-building material, Burnside and the Army remained encamped at Falmouth, giving Lee's army ample time to predict where the blow would fall and to fortify their defensive line in the hills behind Fredericksburg. Lincoln, concerned over the delay, determined on a visit to Burnside for a discussion of the situation. Burnside, in his reply, accepted the proposed meeting and preparations for the assault continued. The carefully prepared Confederate defenses proved unassailable when Burnside finally launched his attack in the early hours of 13 December. By the end of the bloody fighting the following day the Union Army had suffered some 14,000 casualties, and had been soundly repulsed. "Remember Fredericksburg" would become the Army's rallying cry for vengeance.