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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC05256 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1864 |
| Title | Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley re: correspondence on Greeley's peace mission, Stephens |
| Date | 9 August 1864 |
| Author | Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) |
| Recipient | Greeley, Horace |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Concerning Greeley's peace mission and his dealings with Alexander Stephens. |
| Subjects | Confederate States of America Confederate General or Leader Civil War Military History Diplomacy Peace President |
| People | Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865) Greeley, Horace (1811-1872) |
| Place written | Washington |
| Theme | The American Civil War; The Presidency |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | Notes: Basler 7: 489-90, from a retained clerical copy at the Library of Congress. In 1864, newspaper editor Horace Greeley was approached by Confederate agents to discuss peace proposals. Perhaps afraid to offend Greeley, who published the New York Herald Tribune, Lincoln gave him permission to meet the agents. Greeley did and learned to his disgust that they had no authority. Lincoln, uncertain of the fall-out from Greeley's behavior, sought to protect himself by preparing to publish all his correspondence on the matter. Lincoln here asks for Greeley to censor his derogatory editorial comments. Alexander H. Stephens, Confederate Vice President, had sought to negotiate peace but without the support of President Jefferson Davis. He would eventually meet Lincoln at Hampton Roads, Virginia in 1865. Basler 490n quotes the passages from the printed pamphlet which Lincoln wanted struck (quoting Basler's note): Greeley to Lincoln, July 7… (1) 'And thereupon I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country also longs for peace; shudders at the prospect of fresh conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood. And'; (2) 'now, and is morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater in the approaching elections.'; |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |
| Transcript | Show/hide |