And God Spoke to Abraham Lincoln

Disunion Blog

The New York Times DISUNION Blog follows the Civil War as it happened 150 years ago.  In a recent post by by EDWARD J. BLUM and PAUL HARVEY which talks about how President Lincoln received a letter from God.  

“I am your Heavenly Father and the God of all Nations,” it began. God had particular explanations and instructions for the president, whose entire term of office had been defined by war. “I am the cause for the disruption between the North and the South,” he continued, and the point was to destroy the “horrible state of affairs” that man’s “selfish nature” had brought. “I am not partial and have no respect of persons.” Coming just weeks after the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, the letter made it clear that God wanted to destroy slavery. For further instructions, God told Lincoln to gather six of his best men and meet in person “my instrument the Messenger of Peace the Christ of this day.”  Lincoln did not believe the letter was from God, of course; as he suspected, it came from a local religious devotee named Lydia Smith, who believed herself to be God’s medium.

To read the entire post click HERE.
 
Today a President has staff to go through his mail and is less accessible then he was 150 years ago.  Still I picture Lincoln writing at his desk or reading about military strategy not answering "crank" letters or being influenced by the great awakening.

Tyson

 

New Civil War Books

1862-2012, 150 Years ago the Civil War was well underway. Check out these new books.

Shiloh 1862

     by Winston Groom

In the spring of 1862, many Americans still believed that the Civil War, "would be over by Christmas." The Battle of Shiloh would singlehandedly change the psyche of the military, politicians, and American people--North and South--about what they had unleashed by creating a Civil War. In this gripping telling of the first "great and terrible" battle of the Civil War, Groom describes the dramatic events of April 6 and 7, 1862, when a bold surprise attack on Ulysses S. Grant's encamped troops and the bloody battle that ensued would alter the timbre of the war.

Civil War Sketch Book: Drawings from the Battlefront
     by Harry L. Katz; Vincent Virga; Alan Brinkley
Illustrators such as Winslow Homer and Thomas Nast created for the American public some of the most important and lasting images of the Civil War. The 250 illustrations collected here span different battlefields and represent priceless artifacts from our nation's greatest conflict.

The Civil War: the Second Year Told by Those Who Lived It: Told by Those Who Lived It
     by Stephen Sears, (Editor)

This volume that traces events from January 1862 to January 1863, an unforgettable portrait of the crucial year that turned a secessionist rebellion into a war of emancipation. Including eleven never-before- published pieces by more than eighty participants and observers.



Decided on the Battlefield: Grant, Sherman, Lincoln and the Election Of 1864
     by David Johnson

Due to the public's anger over the disastrous course of the Civil War, even Lincoln himself believed he would lose the election for his second term in office. His opposing candidate, George B. McClellan, planned to end the war by allowing the South to split off from the Union. This detailed narrative account for history buffs and general readers investigates the critical factors that influenced the election's outcome.


 
Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction
     by Allen C. Guelzo

Allen C. Guelzo offers a marvelous portrait of the Civil War and its era, covering not only the major figures and epic battles, but also politics, religion, gender, race, diplomacy, and technology. And unlike other surveys of the Civil War era, it extends the reader's vista to include the postwar Reconstruction period and discusses the modern-day legacy of the Civil War in American literature and popular culture. Guelzo also puts the conflict in a global perspective, underscoring Americans' acute sense of the vulnerability of their republic in a world of monarchies.

Tyson

Disunion

Disunion

"The flag that flew over Fort Sumter on April 12-13, 1861, had 33 stars representing each state in the Union. The star for Kansas, which had been admitted to the Union in January 1861, was not added until July. "

Fort Sumter flag from New York Times Disunion blog.

Disunion is a blog posted by the New York Times in remembrance of the 150th anniversary of our Civil War. The blog follows the daily events as they unfold, mixing modern multimedia and contemporary sources and images. Highlights so far include Lincolns handwritten proclamation of war, interactive Civil War timeline, pages from Walt Whitman's notebook, and interactive behind the scenes at Lincoln's inauguration. Of course lots of photos and articles from the Times archive. In addition, the Disunion blog will provide a reexamination of historical assessments as the Civil War unfolds.

TB