Abraham Lincoln

“We must believe that our Heavenly Father permits this war for some wise purpose of his own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that he who made the world still governs it.”

After His Election

"Well, boys, your troubles are over now, but mine have just begun."

about General McClellan

"He is an admirable engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a stationary engine."

To General McClellan & his claim that his army's horses were too fatigued to advance

"Will you pardon me for asking what your horses have done since the battle of Antietam that would fatigue anything?"

After Fredericksburg

"If there is a worse place than Hell, I am in it."

placing General Hooker in command

"I have heard of your saying that the government needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this, but in spite of it, that I have given you command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What I now ask of you is military success, and I will risk the dictatorship."

After the Battle of Gettysburg

"General Meade says he has driven the invader from our soil. Will our Generals never get that idea out of their heads? The whole country is our soil."

about General Grant

"Grant isn’t shrieking for reinforcements all the time. He takes what we can give him and does the best he can with what he’s got."

To General Grant at petersburg

"Hold on with a bull-dog grip, and chew and choke, as much as possible."

On the War

"This war is eating my life out."

on the news of Lee’s Surrender at appomattox

"Thank God I have lived to see this. It seems to me that I have been dreaming a horrid nightmare for four years, and now the nightmare is over."

Abraham Lincoln would live 5 more days.

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