Abraham Lincoln Quotes


I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietam that fatigues anything?


Context

McClellan liked to parade and drill his troops but not fight them. Lincoln wanted him to take the offensive but he always found an excuse not to. Many historians believe that McClellan wanted the war to end, the South to rejoin the Union and be allowed to maintain slavery. Others feel that he was just a military man who maintained his popularity by minimizing casualties. Finally, Lincoln fired McClellan and the complexion of the war changed thereafter. McClellan ran against Lincoln for the Presidency in 1864. See {633923}


Citations

Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, 16th President of the United States (Republican, IL), Telegram to General George B. McClellan, October 24, 1862

Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations

Linked Quotes

McClellan liked to parade and drill his troops but not fight them. Lincoln wanted him to take the offensive but he always found an excuse not to. Many historians believe that McClellan wanted the war to end, the South to rejoin the Union and be allowed to maintain slavery. Others feel that he was just a military man who maintained his popularity by minimizing casualties. Finally, Lincoln fired McLellan and the complexion of the war changed thereafter. McClellan ran against Lincoln for the Presidency in 1864. . See {633922}


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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
  • Born: February 12, 1809
  • Died: April 15, 1865
  • Nationality: American
  • Profession: President

Abraham Lincoln was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.