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Army of Northern Virginia: February to September 1862

Lincoln Versus Horace Greeley

How did Lincoln reply to Greeley’s request (which sometimes seems like a demand)?

Lincoln’s reply has been quoted many times because it is so revealing of the workings of his mind, especially on the question of slavery. It deserves a short quotation here as well.

“Dear Sir,” Lincoln began. Though there may have been missteps or mistakes of fact, his policy was not in any way doubtful. “I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be ‘the Union as it was.’ If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save Slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy Slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy Slavery.”