The Civil War Book

On this day in the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln responds to Horace Greeley’s letter published on August 19th titled “The Prayer of Twenty Millions”.

Lincoln explains that his objective is to preserve the Union. He states, “I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it.”