Fanny McCoullogh letter

[David Lockmiller]

(07-15-2013 06:54 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  This is a Lincoln document I frequently use in therapy sessons with depressed patients-as I find the words very comforting to them. Any other similar Lincoln writings come to mind that I might use?

You might be interested in these words of President Abraham Lincoln:

"This extraordinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all classes of people, but the most heavily upon the soldier. For it has been said, all that a man hath will he give for his life; and while all contribute of their substance, the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his country's cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the soldier." Address at Sanitary Fair, March 16, 1864.

In today's NY Times there is a well-written article on the conscription riots in New York City in July,1863 by Jon Grinspan, a doctoral student in history at the University of Virginia. Near the end of the article, he cites an amazing statistic about the composition of the Union forces that was due (in my opinion) in large measure to the leadership of President Lincoln in the Civil War:

"The image of a Union Army made up of conscripted foreigners is false; 92 percent of Union soldiers were volunteers, and immigrants were proportionally underrepresented in general."