Charlottesville

[David Lockmiller]

(08-20-2017 10:58 PM)ELCore Wrote:  

(08-19-2017 02:54 PM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  On the other hand, when the Chronicle newspaper in Washington had the courage to speak well of "Stonewall" Jackson, accidentally shot, as a brave soldier, however mistaken as an American, Lincoln wrote to the editor: "I honor you for your generosity to one who, though contending against us in a guilty cause, was nevertheless a gallant man. Let us forget his sins over a fresh-made grave."

What's the source for the Chronicle quotation? It does not seem to be in the Collected Works. Thank you.

I quoted the story in my previous post from Emanuel Hertz’s book “Lincoln Talks, A Biography in Anecdote" at page 567. Incidentally, I left out the attribution in Hertz's book to this story which is "Henry L. Williams, quoting the Washington Chronicle"

In response to your request for a source of the quote, I utilized Google Books and entered the phrase “I honor you for your generosity to one who, though contending against us in a guilty cause” and among the returns were two sources that I thought that you might prefer as being more acceptable.

The first book titled “The History of Abraham Lincoln, and the Overthrow of Slavery” is by Isaac Newton Arnold and the relevant portion of that text regarding the Battle of Chancellorville at page 413 reads as follows:

The loss of the rebels was less; but among the casualties was the mortal wound received by Stonewall Jackson, the most accomplished soldier in the rebel army. It was in the nature of Mr. Lincoln to do full justice to his enemies. The heroism of Stonewall Jackson, rebel as he was, touched him, and he said to one who spoke kindly of him,* “I honor you for your generosity to one who, though contending against us in a guilty cause, was nevertheless a gallant man. Let us forget his sins over his fresh-made grave.”
* Colonel J. W. Forney, of the Washington Chronicle

The second reference I found to this story was in F. B. Carpenter’s book “The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln, Six Months at the White House at pages 267 and 268. On page 267, Mr. Carpenter introduces a conversation he had with Colonel Forney in which the latter conveyed a few Lincoln stories.

The second of these stories appears fully on page 268 and reads as follows in the words of Colonel Forney:

“To show the magnanimity of Mr. Lincoln, I may mention that on one occasion, when an editorial article appeared in my newspaper, the Washington ‘Chronicle,’ speaking well of the bravery and the mistaken sincerity of Stonewall Jackson, the news of whose death had been just received, the President wrote me a letter thanking me warmly for speaking kindly of a fallen foe. These were his words:--

’I honor you for your generosity to one who, though contending against us in a guilty cause, was nevertheless a gallant man. Let us forget his sins over his fresh-made grave.’”