LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President . Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, TO ULYSSES S. GRANT, Washington, D.C., 15 June 1864. One page, 4to, on printed form of the United States Military Telegraph, War Department, marked in pencil, "4 a.m. Stewart" (Stewart was probably the despatcher) and with circular "Printed, War Records, 1861-65" stamp . "I BEGIN TO SEE IT. YOU WILL SUCCEED. GOD BLESS YOU ALL" A strikingly concise telegram -- one of the most famous of the Civil War -- addressed in the early morning hours by a concerned Lincoln to "Lieut. Gen. Grant, Head Qrs. A[rmy of the] P[otomac]," giving the President's blessing to what was to become the last, though prolonged, campaign of the war: the advance on Petersburg, Virginia. Lincoln's message, relayed to Grant by telegraph, simply states: "Have just read your despatch [telegram] of 1 p.m. yesterday. I begin to see it. You will succeed. God bless you all." Grant's Army of the Potomac had been thwarted since the opening of the Wilderness campaign in its effort to turn Lee's right flank and get between him and Richmond. The last attempt had resulted in a bloody stalemate at Cold Harbor, at the grievous price of some 15,000 Union casualties. Grant then decided to chance a major shift of forces to the south of the James River, aiming to capture Petersburg, an important depot south of Richmond, from which he planned to mount a final assault on the Confederate capital. Grant himself described his plan as, "one of the most perilous movements ever executed by a large army, that of moving from the front of an enemy and moving past his flank crossing two rivers over which the enemy has bridges and rail-roads while we have to improvise..." (letter to Julia Dent Grant, Personal Memoirs, Selected Letters, p.1057). The manoeuver, planned in great secrecy, began in the early hours of June 14, and the enormous armies and supply trains were transported over dark roads and across hastily rigged pontoon bridges with remarkable efficiency. At 1:30 a.m., on June 14, Grant telegraphed to General Halleck in Washington: "Our forces will commence crossing the James to-day. The enemy shows no signs yet of having brought troops to the south side of Richmond. I will have Petersburg secured, if possible, before they get there in much force. Our movement from Cold Harbor to the James River has been made with great celertity and so far without much loss or accident" (quoted in Basler 7:393). Lincoln, who often visited the telegraph office at night, in order to check dispatches fron his field commanders, here assures Grant that he understands and approves of the radical manoeuver. "Lincoln approved....Although the President had said nothing to Grant about the casualties of the campaign, he must have agonized over them...Grant's new scheme promised lighted losses and quicker results. When Grant informed the government that he had started to cross the James, Lincoln telegraphed him: 'I begin to see it; you will succeed. God bless you all.'" (T. Harry Williams Lincoln and His Generals, , 1952, p.319). In the end, though, despite its logistic success, Grant's bold strategy bogged down due to sluggish action on the part of certain commanders, a valiant defense mounted by the small Confederate garrison at Petersburg, and Lee's quick response. After four day's fighting, Lee's main army was in position behind strong entrenchments and the two armies settled in for the siege of Petersburg, which would drag on for the next nine months. Printed in Basler, 7:393, and quoted (at the end of his epilogue) by N.A. Trudeau, Bloody Roads South, 1991, p. ). Provenance : 1. Foreman M. Lebold of Chicago, Illinois, in 1953, as cited in Basler. 2. Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 3 June 1980, lot 976).
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, President . Autograph letter signed ("A. Lincoln") as President, TO ULYSSES S. GRANT, Washington, D.C., 15 June 1864. One page, 4to, on printed form of the United States Military Telegraph, War Department, marked in pencil, "4 a.m. Stewart" (Stewart was probably the despatcher) and with circular "Printed, War Records, 1861-65" stamp . "I BEGIN TO SEE IT. YOU WILL SUCCEED. GOD BLESS YOU ALL" A strikingly concise telegram -- one of the most famous of the Civil War -- addressed in the early morning hours by a concerned Lincoln to "Lieut. Gen. Grant, Head Qrs. A[rmy of the] P[otomac]," giving the President's blessing to what was to become the last, though prolonged, campaign of the war: the advance on Petersburg, Virginia. Lincoln's message, relayed to Grant by telegraph, simply states: "Have just read your despatch [telegram] of 1 p.m. yesterday. I begin to see it. You will succeed. God bless you all." Grant's Army of the Potomac had been thwarted since the opening of the Wilderness campaign in its effort to turn Lee's right flank and get between him and Richmond. The last attempt had resulted in a bloody stalemate at Cold Harbor, at the grievous price of some 15,000 Union casualties. Grant then decided to chance a major shift of forces to the south of the James River, aiming to capture Petersburg, an important depot south of Richmond, from which he planned to mount a final assault on the Confederate capital. Grant himself described his plan as, "one of the most perilous movements ever executed by a large army, that of moving from the front of an enemy and moving past his flank crossing two rivers over which the enemy has bridges and rail-roads while we have to improvise..." (letter to Julia Dent Grant, Personal Memoirs, Selected Letters, p.1057). The manoeuver, planned in great secrecy, began in the early hours of June 14, and the enormous armies and supply trains were transported over dark roads and across hastily rigged pontoon bridges with remarkable efficiency. At 1:30 a.m., on June 14, Grant telegraphed to General Halleck in Washington: "Our forces will commence crossing the James to-day. The enemy shows no signs yet of having brought troops to the south side of Richmond. I will have Petersburg secured, if possible, before they get there in much force. Our movement from Cold Harbor to the James River has been made with great celertity and so far without much loss or accident" (quoted in Basler 7:393). Lincoln, who often visited the telegraph office at night, in order to check dispatches fron his field commanders, here assures Grant that he understands and approves of the radical manoeuver. "Lincoln approved....Although the President had said nothing to Grant about the casualties of the campaign, he must have agonized over them...Grant's new scheme promised lighted losses and quicker results. When Grant informed the government that he had started to cross the James, Lincoln telegraphed him: 'I begin to see it; you will succeed. God bless you all.'" (T. Harry Williams Lincoln and His Generals, , 1952, p.319). In the end, though, despite its logistic success, Grant's bold strategy bogged down due to sluggish action on the part of certain commanders, a valiant defense mounted by the small Confederate garrison at Petersburg, and Lee's quick response. After four day's fighting, Lee's main army was in position behind strong entrenchments and the two armies settled in for the siege of Petersburg, which would drag on for the next nine months. Printed in Basler, 7:393, and quoted (at the end of his epilogue) by N.A. Trudeau, Bloody Roads South, 1991, p. ). Provenance : 1. Foreman M. Lebold of Chicago, Illinois, in 1953, as cited in Basler. 2. Elsie O. and Philip D. Sang Foundation (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 3 June 1980, lot 976).
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