Download Robert E. Lee`s Letter to His Wife

Unit 5: Civil War
Primary Sources
Secession Acts of the Thirteen
Confederate States
SOUTH CAROLINA | MISSISSIPPI | FLORIDA | ALABAMA | GEORGIA | LOUISIANA | TEXAS |
VIRGINIA | ARKANSAS | NORTH CAROLINA | TENNESSEE | MISSOURI | KENTUCKY
RELATED RESOURCES
Secession Acts of the Thirteen Confederate States (Yale)»
SOUTH CAROLINA
AN ORDINANCE to dissolve the union between the State of South Carolina and other States united
with her under the compact entitled "The Constitution of the United States of America."
We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it
is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted by us in convention on the twenty-third
day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the
Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts of the
General Assembly of this State ratifying amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed;
and that the union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of the
"United States of America," is hereby dissolved.
Done at Charleston the twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
GEORGIA
We the people of the State of Georgia in Convention assembled do declare and ordain and it is hereby
declared and ordained that the ordinance adopted by the State of Georgia in convention on the 2nd
day of Jany. in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the constitution of
the United States of America was assented to, ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts
of the general assembly of this State, ratifying and adopting amendments to said constitution, are
hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain that the union now existing between the State of Georgia and other
States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved, and that the State of
Georgia is in full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and
appertain to a free and independent State.
Passed January 19, 1861.
Robert E. Lee's Letter to His Wife
JULY 27, 1861
ROBERT E. LEE
The following is a letter from Robert E. Lee to his wife following the Confederate victory at the
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run).
Excerpt from a letter dated July 27, 1861
...That indeed was a glorious victory and has lightened the pressure upon our front amazingly. Do
not grieve for the brave dead. Sorrow for those they left behind--friends, relatives, and families. The
former are at rest. The latter must suffer. The battle will be repeated there in greater force. I hope
God will again smile on us and strengthen our hearts and arms. I wished to partake in the former
struggle, and am mortified at my absence, but the President thought it more important I should be
here. I could not have done as well as has been done, but I could have helped, and taken part in the
struggle for my home and neighbourhood. So the work is done I care not by whom it is done. I leave
to-morrow for the Northwest Army. I wished to go before, as I wrote you, and was all prepared, but
the indications were so evident of the coming battle, and in the uncertainty of the result, the
President forbade my departure. Now it is necessary and he consents. I cannot say for how long, but
will write you.... I inclose you a letter from Markie [Miss Martha Custis Williams--second cousin of
my mother, afterward Mrs. Admiral Carter, U.S.N.]. Write to her if you can and thank her for her
letter to me. I have not time. My whole time is occupied, and all my thoughts and strength are given
to the cause to which my life, be it long or short, will be devoted. Tell her not to mind the reports she
sees in the papers. They are made to injure and occasion distrust. Those that know me will not
believe them. Those that do not will not care for them. I laugh at them. Give love to all, and for
yourself accept the constant prayers and love of truly yours,
R. E. Lee.
U.S. Grant's Letter to his Father
JUNE 15, 1863
ULYSSES S. GRANT
The following is a letter from U.S. Grant to his father explaining his position and the situation
during the Siege of Vicksburg.
DEAR FATHER:
I have received several letters from Mary and yourself, but as I have to deal with nineteen-twentieths
of those received, have neglected to answer them.
All I can say is that I am well. I have the enemy closely hemmed in all round. My position is naturally
strong and fortified against an attack from outside. I have been so strongly reinforced that Johnston
will have to come with a mighty host to drive me away.--I do not look upon the fall of Vicksburg as in
the least doubtful. If, however, I could have carried the place on the 22nd of last month, I could by
this time have made a campaign that would have made the State of Mississippi almost safe for a
solitary horseman to ride over. As it is, the enemy have a large army in it, and the season has so far
advanced that water will be difficult to find for an army marching, besides the dust and heat that
must be encountered. The fall of Vicksburg now will only result in the opening of the Mississippi
River and demoralization of the enemy. I intended more from it. I did my best, however, and looking
back can see no blunder committed.
ULYSSES.
Samuel Cabble Letter
Samuel Cabble, a private in the Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry (colored), was a slave before he
joined the army. He was twenty-one years old.
Dear Wife i have enlisted in the army i am now in the state of Massachusetts but before this letter
reaches you i will be in North Carlinia and though great is the present national dificulties yet i look
forward to a brighter day When i shall have the opertunity of seeing you in the full enjoyment of
fredom i would like to no if you are still in slavery if you are it will not be long before we shall have
crushed the system that now opreses you for in the course of three months you shall have your
liberty. great is the outpouring of the colered peopl that is now rallying with the hearts of lions
against that very curse that has seperated you an me yet we shall meet again and oh what a happy
time that will be when this ungodly rebellion shall be put down and the curses of our land is
trampled under our feet i am a soldier now and i shall use my utmost endeavor to strike at the
rebellion and the heart of this system that so long has kept us in chains . . . remain your own
afectionate husband until death—Samuel Cabble
Samuel Cabble returned to Missouri for his wife, and together they moved to Denver, Colorado.