ALS signed “W. C. Bryant,” one lightly-lined page both sides, 5.25 x 8, October 22, 1862. Bryant writes to President Abraham Lincoln. In part: “Allow me to say a very few words on a subject in which the friends of the Administration and the country in this corner feel a deep interest. We are distressed and alarmed at the inactivity of our armies in the work of putting down the rebellion. I have been pained to hear lately from persons of zealous loyalty the expression of a doubt as to whether the administration is in earnest in desiring the speedy annihilation of the rebel forces. We who are better informed acquit the administration of the intention to prolong the war though we cannot relieve it of responsibility. These inopportune pauses, this strange sluggishness in military operations seem to us little short of absolute madness.” A rough right edge and a bit of light soiling, otherwise fine condition.
The distinguished editor and poet was clearly a patriot as well, and terribly frustrated by what he saw as “the inactivity of our armies in...putting down the rebellion.” It appears the indirect focus of his concern was General George B. McClellan, who built the Union Army in the early stages of the war and was a meticulous planner—a trait that on the fast-paced battlefield was akin to sluggishness and indecisiveness. As a result, McClellan rarely launched an aggressive campaign against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. A month before Bryant dispatched this letter to the president—and perhaps the impetus to do so—McClellan and Lee battled to a standstill along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg.
Lee retreated back to Virginia and McClellan ignored Lincoln's constant urging to pursue him. For six weeks, Lincoln and McClellan exchanged angry messages, but McClellan stubbornly refused to march after Lee. In late October, McClellan finally began moving across the Potomac, but took nine days to complete the crossing, prompting the president to remove him as general-in-chief. This letter is a passionate, third-party plea to Lincoln to end the “absolute madness” of a lackluster military campaign and engage the enemy with force. Bryant’s letter contains several corrections, suggesting that it may be a draft, but letters of substance to Lincoln from distinguished contemporaries are seldom encountered. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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