Ebook: 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.