Mr Lincoln's Army

Mr. Lincoln’s Army is a great book about the great man that you should read if you are like myself interested in the life and times of President Abraham Lincoln.

An Illinois State Legislator and Illinois member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Married with 4 children, the man was actually born in Kentucky on February 12th,1809. He will move with family to Indiana when he is about nine.

He would finally arrive in Illinois when he was 21. The family originally in Kentucky was very well off, owning land titles… that were later stripped and lost in court. The family moves and losses such his mother at only 34 years of age begins, molding and forging the man that in short time must “Hold Together the Union.”

Known to be articulate and affectionate was Lincoln. A young girl named Grace Bedell of Westfield, N.Y. once wrote Lincoln a letter suggesting he grow a beard to help him win the upcoming presidential election, as his face “was so thin” and “the ladies liked whiskers”.

He would read and reply to this letter. He did in fact grow his whiskers and when passing through N.Y. on a train, he stopped and they met. They say an old man strained through the crowd to get to the president towing a young girl about 12 years old. Lincoln stooped down and they talked for several minutes. She would write Lincoln again in 1864 when she was 15, asking for advice and assistance. What a story she had to tell until her death in 1936 after years of interviews and events.

Such are the great stories told about Lincoln by Bruce Catton. However, the great man had to deal with so many challenges as soon as he arrives in the Presidency in on March 4th, 1861. Seven states have already seceded with 8 additional “border states” threatening secession.

Now he must build an army. Finding the correct officers and communicating the needs of the politicians and the people will prove extremely difficult. To the point that Union officers do not do their duty, and put the fight to the rebels. Read Mr.Lincoln’s Army and follow Mr.Lincoln as strives to do the best he can do to hold he union together.

Mr. Lincoln’s Army by Bruce Catton. One of the finest books by one the best writers of American Civil War history.

Mr Lincoln's Army