Personal Recollections Of Abraham Lincoln And The Civil War Expanded Annotated

In 1864, America was more than weary of the bloody civil war. At that moment, James R. Gilmore made a suggestion to Abraham Lincoln to take to Confederate President Jefferson Davis a set of accords by which the North would be willing to have peace.But the purpose of the trip was to propose terms that Lincoln and Gilmore knew Northerners (and the rest of the world) would consider fair and that the Confederates would never accept, thereby gaining Jeff Davis the scorn of the world. It would also help secure Lincoln the 1864 election.What made Gilmore the man to take the message was his familiarity with the South. He'd spent 20 years there as a businessman before the war and knew many prominent people. Right after the attack on Fort Sumter, he was asked to meet with Abraham Lincoln to talk about southern feelings. They subsequently met many times.Gilmore came to Lincoln with his "peace" idea and asked:"...will you allow me five minutes by a slow watch?"Lincoln replied: "Yes, ten; and if you are very entertaining, I'll give you twenty."In a remarkable account of presidential "plausible deniability" before the term was even invented, they had this exchange in the presence of Salmon Chase:GILMORE: "I have [accepted], sir," I answered , "on the condition that you allow me to make such overtures to Davis as will put him entirely in the wrong if he should reject them."LINCOLN: "But, first, another question: Do you understand that I neither suggest, nor request, nor direct you to take this journey?"GILMORE: "I do."LINCOLN: "And will you say so, if it should seem to me to be necessary?"GILMORE: "I will, whether you should ask it of me or not."LINCOLN: "And if those people should hold on to you, -- should give you free lodgings till our election is over, or in any other manner treat you unlike gentlemen, -- do you understand that I shall be absolutely powerless to help you?"GILMORE: "I understand that, sir, fully."LINCOLN: "And you are willing to go entirely upon your own muscle?"GILMORE: "No, sir, not upon my muscle. I suspect it will be more a matter of nerve than of muscle."LINCOLN: "Do you hear that, Mr. Chase?" said Mr. Lincoln, with an indescribable look of comic gravity. " He criticises my English at the very moment I am giving him an office."Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.

In 1864, America was more than weary of the bloody civil war. At that moment, James R. Gilmore made a suggestion to Abraham Lincoln to take to Confederate President Jefferson Davis a set of accords by which the North would be willing to have peace. But the purpose of the trip was to propose terms that Lincoln and Gilmore knew Northerners (and the rest of the world) would consider fair and that the Confederates would never accept, thereby gaining Jeff Davis the scorn of the world. It would also help secure Lincoln the 1864 election. What made Gilmore the man to take the message was his familiarity with the South. He'd spent 20 years there as a businessman before the war and knew many prominent people. Right after the attack on Fort Sumter, he was asked to meet with Abraham Lincoln to talk about southern feelings. They subsequently met many times. Gilmore came to Lincoln with his "peace" idea and asked: "...will you allow me five minutes by a slow watch?" Lincoln replied: "Yes, ten; and if you are very entertaining, I'll give you twenty." In a remarkable account of presidential "plausible deniability" before the term was even invented, they had this exchange in the presence of Salmon Chase: GILMORE: "I have [accepted], sir," I answered , "on the condition that you allow me to make such overtures to Davis as will put him entirely in the wrong if he should reject them." LINCOLN: "But, first, another question: Do you understand that I neither suggest, nor request, nor direct you to take this journey?" GILMORE: "I do." LINCOLN: "And will you say so, if it should seem to me to be necessary?" GILMORE: "I will, whether you should ask it of me or not." LINCOLN: "And if those people should hold on to you, — should give you free lodgings till our election is over, or in any other manner treat you unlike gentlemen, — do you understand that I shall be absolutely powerless to help you?" GILMORE: "I understand that, sir, fully." LINCOLN: "And you are willing to go entirely upon your own muscle?" GILMORE: "No, sir, not upon my muscle. I suspect it will be more a matter of nerve than of muscle." LINCOLN: "Do you hear that, Mr. Chase?" said Mr. Lincoln, with an indescribable look of comic gravity. " He criticises my English at the very moment I am giving him an office." Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Excerpt from Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War A valued friend, who ranks as one of the ablest of American critics, to whom I have submitted these Recol lections for the purpose Of deciding whether they should, or should not, be given book publication, has just written me as follows: I have read the entire manuscript with very much interest and pleasure. It contains a great deal that is new to me and, I venture to say, that will be new to nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the generation who took no active part in the affairs of the country in war times. Valuable side-light is thrown by your disclosures on some of the hidden springs and inner workings Of the times, and it appears to me that it is worthy to be preserved on account of its intrinsic value. In the hope that the reader may concur in the Opinion of this most excellent gentleman, this volume is given to the public. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII. MY CONNECTION WITH THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE. The purpose for which I had established the Continental Monthly was accomplished by the issue of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The North had at first taken up arms to maintain the Union, regardless of the extension or non-extension of slavery; but gradually a majority of the people had come to the conclusion that the life of the nation could not be preserved without the total extinction of the "peculiar institution." Of this I had been convinced by the general acclaim with which the Northern press had greeted the Emancipation Proclamation; but I soon had stronger evidence of it from personal contact with the people through a series of lectures that I delivered before literary associations in all the larger cities of the North. This revolution in public sentiment had been mainly brought about by the irresistible. "logic of events,"--the slow progress of the war, and the long series of disasters that had attended the Union armies; but though the people had thus been schooled by events, they had, doubtless, been largely influenced by the bold utterances of Charles G. Leland in the Continental Monthly, which had been scattered broadcast over the North. Clear-sighted statesmen had from the beginning seen that the real issue was the permanent establishment, or the entire extinction, of slavery; but Leland was the first to tell this truth to the people, and he told it in words that rang through the North like the notes of a bugle. With his whole heart and soul he had entered the conflict. His friends had counselled him to moderate his tone; William H. Seward had rewarded his zeal with the elegant anathema, "Damn Leland and the Continental;" and even Robert J. Walker had...

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