You Were Right And I Was Wrong

via Crossroads

On July 13, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln sent a letter to General Ulysses S Grant about his recently concluded Vicksburg Campaign (see July 4, 1863).  Lincoln wrote:

"I thought you should go down the river and join Gen. Banks; and when you turned Northward East of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong."

The President is referring to Grant's campaign after crossing the Mississippi south of Vicksburg at the end of April.  Grant's campaign plan was daring and unconventional and prior to undertaking it he had not sought the express approval of his military superior or of the President.  We were blessed to have a great President and a great General.

We hope US Grant kept a copy of the letter for his scrapbook! 



FULL TEXT:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, July 13, 1863.

Major General Grant

        My dear General

        I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do, what you finally did—march the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed. When you got below, and took Port-Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join Gen. Banks; and when you turned Northward East of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong.
        Yours very truly
                  A. Lincoln