The influence of Mexico's civil war is evident in Lincoln's
correspondence with his leading general, Ulysses S. Grant. As the
two considered the military situation following the capture of
Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, Grant favored a campaign against Mobile,
Ala. However, in an Aug. 9 letter to the general, Lincoln rejected
the idea, instead favoring a movement into Texas "in view of recent
events in Mexico." For Lincoln, "re-establishing the national
authority in Western Texas" would hinder any Confederate attempts to
ally with France and would prevent the Mexican conflict from
spreading into American territory.
The two men also discussed the recruitment of African-Americans
into the Union Army. Lincoln encouraged Grant to vigorously enlist
black soldiers along the Mississippi River, noting they were "a
resource which, if vigorously applied now, will soon close the
contest."
Ulysses S. Grant to Abraham Lincoln
Aug. 23, 1863
(Copy of letter transcript)
Cairo Illinois
August 23d 1863.
His Excellency
A Lincoln
President of the United States,
Sir:
Your letter of the 9th inst. reached
me at Vicksburg just as I was about starting for this place. Your
letter of the 13th of July was also duly received.
After the fall of Vicksburg I did
incline very much to an immediate move on Mobile. I believed then
the place could be taken with but little effort, and with the rivers
debouching there, in our possession, we would have such a base to
opperate from on the very center of the Confederacy as would make
them abandon entirely the states bound West by the Miss. I see
however the importance of a movement into Texas just at this time.
I have reinforced Gen. Banks with the
13th Army Corps comprising ten Brigades of Infantry with a full
proportion of Artillery.
I have given the subject of arming the
negro my hearty support. This, with the emancipation of the negro,
is the heavyest blow yet given the Confederacy. The South care a
great deal about it and profess to be very angry. But they were
united in their action before and with the negro under subjection
could spare their entire white population for the field. Now they
complain that nothing can be got out of their negroes.
[to top of second column] |
There has been great difficulty in
getting able bodied negroes to fill up the colored regiments in
consequence of the rebel cavalry running off all that class to
Georgia and Texas. This is especially the case for a distance of
fifteen or twenty miles on each side of the river. I am now however
sending two expeditions into Louisiana, one from Natchez to
Harrisonburg and one from Goodrich’s Landing to Monroe, that I
expect will bring back a large number. I have ordered recruiting
officers to accompany these expeditions. I am also moving a Brigade
of Cavalry from Tennessee to Vicksburg which will enable me to move
troops to a greater distance into the interior and will facilitate
materially the recruiting service.
Gen. Thomas is now with me and you may
rely on it I will give him all the aid in my power. I would do this
whether the arming the negro seemed to me a wise policy or not,
because it is an order that I am bound to obey and do not feel that
in my position I have a right to question any policy of the
Government. In this particular instance there is no objection
however to my expressing an honest conviction. That is, by arming
the negro we have added a powerful ally. They will make good
soldiers and taking them from the enemy weaken him in the same
proportion they strengthen us. I am therefore most decidedly in
favor of pushing this policy to the enlistment of a force sufficient
to hold all the South falling into our hands and to aid in capturing
more.
Thanking you very kindly for the great
favors you have ever shown me I remain, Very truly and respectfully
your obt. svt.
U. S. Grant
Maj. Gen.
(For a PDF copy of the handwritten document,
click here.)
___
Neither Lincoln's nor Grant's plans for the army at Vicksburg
ever came to fruition. Texas remained largely in Confederate control
throughout the war, and the closest Grant's old army in Mississippi
ever came to moving against it was the ill-starred Red River
Campaign in the spring of 1864. Mobile also remained in Confederate
hands and did not surrender until April 12, 1865 -- three days after
Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Grant at Appomattox
Courthouse, Va..
However, Grant's prediction that the enlistment of
African-Americans into the Union Army was "the heavyest blow yet
given the Confederacy" proved true. Even as Lincoln and Grant
discussed the subject, numerous black regiments were being formed
throughout the North and South. Some were already in the field
proving themselves as able soldiers. By the end of the war, over
178,000 African-Americans enlisted in the Northern ranks, comprising
one-tenth of the total Union Army.
___
To see one of only five copies of the Gettysburg Address in
Lincoln's hand and receive a free booklet titled "On Lincoln's Mind:
Leading the Nation to the Gettysburg Address," containing this and
other document stories, visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum between Nov. 18 and 24.
[By the editors of the
Papers of
Abraham Lincoln. Text from file provided by the
Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
and received from the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency] |