Bob Blaisdell 
Famous Civil War Documents and Speeches 

‘We must have peace, not only in Atlanta, but in all America, ‘ declared General Sherman to the civic leaders who protested against the evacuation and burning of their city. ‘We don’t want your Negroes, or your horses, or your lands, or anything you have, but we do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it.’

Sherman’s impassioned but well-reasoned reply to the city fathers is but one of the many key documents, memorable speeches, and moving letters and reports in this collection of historic statements from the American Civil War. Even the most dedicated of buffs is likely to find something new in this compendium, which ranges from familiar items such as the Gettysburg Address to private reflections, including Stonewall Jackson’s message to his wife after the Battle of First Manassas, and excerpts from the diary of a Confederate soldier at the siege of Vicksburg.

Other highlights include ‘The War and How to End It, ‘ a lecture by Frederick Douglass; Robert E. Lee’s farewell to the Army of Northern Virginia; an eyewitness account of the clash between the
Monitor and
Merrimack; and reports by commanding officers from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line–Ulysses S. Grant on the battle at Shiloh, Joseph Hooker’s account of Antietam, and James Longstreet’s Wilderness Campaign report.

Table of Content

1. ‘Sovereignty of South Carolina, ‘ Address to People of Slaveholding States, 1860

2. First Inaugural Address, President Lincoln, 1861

3. Recruitment Proclamation, Virginia Governor Letcher, 1861

4. Proclamation to People of Virginia, Beauregard, 1861

5. Response to the Virginia Call for Soldiers, P. St. G. Cooke, 1861

6. Address Objecting to Secession, Convention at Wheeling, 1861

7. Letter on First Manassas, by ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, 1861

8. Address Congratulating Army of the West by Mc Clellan, 1861

9. ‘Contraband’ Query by Butler to Secretary Cameron, 1861

10. Recruitment Proclamation to the People of Missouri, by Thompson, 1861

11. Proclamation of Martial Law in Missouri by Frémont, 1861

Letter from Lincoln to Frémont, 1861

Retaliatory Proclamation by Thompson, 1861

12. Surrender at Fort Donelson, Correspondence between Buckner and Grant, 1862

13. Address to People of Georgia, Howell Cobbs et al., 1862

14. Order Respecting Bell-Metal by Gen. Beauregard, 1862

15. Report on U.S.S. Monitor and Merrimack Fight, G. J. Van Brunt, 1862

16. Address to Army of the Potomac, Mc Clellan, 1862

17. ‘The War and How to End It, ‘ Frederick Douglass, 1862

18. Report on Battle at Pittsburgh Landing (Shiloh), Grant, 1862

On Burying the Dead, Correspondence between Beauregard and Grant, 1862

19. Capture of New Orleans, Farragut and Porter, 1862

20. Confederate Call to Destroy Cotton, Secretary of War Randolph and J. G. Pickett, 1862

21. Correspondence of Butler and Farragut with with of Vicksburg, 1862

22. Report on Morse Magnetic Telegraph and Balloon Reconnaissance, 1862

23. Address by Morgan to His Guerillas after Defeat of Union Cavalry, 1862

24. Despatches on Bull Run from Lee to Davis, 1862

25. Proclamation to People of Maryland by Lee, 1862


26. Despatch on Antietam by Joseph Hooker, 1862

27. Measure by Miss. House of Reps. on Retaliation for Emancipation Proclamation, 1862

28. Letter after Antietam from Lincoln to Mc Clellan, 1862

29. Appeal for Army, by N. Carolina Governor Vance, 1862

30. Farewell Address to Army of the Potomac, by Mc Clellan, 1862

31. Report on Union Army’s Horses, 1862

32. Final Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

33. Report on Destruction of the U.S.S. Hatteras, by Capt. Semmes, 1863

34. Vicksburg Siege Diary of John W. Sattenwhite, 1863

35. Official Correspondence Ending Siege of Vicksburg between Grant and Pemberton, 1863

Parole Form for Confederate Officers and Soldiers, 1863

36. Address to Army of N. Virginia on Advance into Pennsylvania by Lee, 1863

37. Address on Taking Command of Army of Potomac by Meade, 1863

38. Account of Battle of Gettysburg by Union Sergeant Plummer, 1863

39. Morgan’s Raid through Kentucky by R. A. Alston, 1863

40. Offer of Resignation by Lee to Davis; Reply by Davis, 1863

41. Lincoln’s letter to Rep. Conkling on Dissatisfaction with His Presidency, 1863

42. Statement by William Kempf on Massacre of Union Sympathizers in Lawrence, Kansas, 1863

43. Union War Department General Order on Enlistment of Colored Troops, 1863

44. Gettysburg Address, 1863

45. Letter on ‘Secesh, ‘ W. T. Sherman, 1864

46. Witness Testimony on Fort Pillow Massacre, 1864

47. ‘The Returned Prisoners, ‘ War Testimony by Surgeon Van Derkieft, 1864

48. Wilderness Campaign Report, Longstreet, 1864

49. Battle at Cold Harbor, by Union soldier George E. Place, 1864

50. Report on Sinking of Alabama, by Capt. Winslow, 1864

51. Letter from Sherman to Atlanta, 1864

52. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, 1865

53. Correspondence on Surrender between Grant and Lee

54. Lee’s Farewell Address to His Army, 1865

55. Lincoln’s Last Public Address, 1865

56. Telegraph Message on Assassination of Lincoln, from Stanton to Sherman, 1865

57. 13th Amendment to the Constitution, 1865