Abraham lincoln letter to mrs bixby. Lincoln’s Letter to Mrs. Bixby 2022-10-17
Abraham lincoln letter to mrs bixby
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Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well-known and respected figures in American history. He is most famous for serving as the 16th President of the United States during a time of great turmoil, including the American Civil War. However, Lincoln was also a masterful communicator and writer, and his letters and speeches have become an important part of American history. One of the most famous of these letters is his letter to Mrs. Bixby, which was written in November of 1864.
Mrs. Bixby was a woman who lived in Boston and had lost several of her sons during the Civil War. Lincoln wrote the letter to offer his condolences and to thank her for her sacrifice. In the letter, Lincoln explains that he has been informed that Mrs. Bixby has lost five of her sons to the war and that he is deeply sorry for her loss. He goes on to say that he knows that no words can adequately express the depth of her grief, but that he wants her to know that he is grateful for her sacrifice and that he will do everything in his power to bring the war to a swift and just conclusion.
One of the most striking aspects of Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby is the way in which he acknowledges the human cost of war. He does not shy away from the fact that many families, including Mrs. Bixby's, have suffered greatly as a result of the conflict. Instead, he offers his condolences and thanks for her sacrifice, recognizing that her loss is one that many others have also suffered.
Another notable aspect of the letter is the way in which Lincoln speaks directly to Mrs. Bixby as a person, rather than just addressing her as a representative of all those who have lost loved ones in the war. He addresses her by name and speaks to her directly, showing that he understands that she is an individual with her own unique experiences and feelings. This personal touch makes the letter feel much more genuine and heartfelt, and it is likely one of the reasons why it has become so famous.
In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby is a powerful example of his ability to communicate and connect with others. Through his words, he was able to offer comfort and thanks to a woman who had lost so much during the Civil War. His letter is a testament to his compassion and understanding, and it continues to be an important part of American history.
Local Matters: special letter to Mrs Bixby from Abraham Lincoln
The Massachusetts Statehouse in 1860 She asked him to discharge her young son Edward. Great Forgers and Famous Fakes. Military records are clear about the fact that two were killed in the war. In 1862 she also asked him for help to visit another son in Maryland, wounded at the Battle of Antietam. Paine, saying that the police on finding that we were helping this woman had told her that she kept a house of ill-fame, was perfectly untrustworthy and as bad as she could be. Others say the letter is pure Lincoln. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
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The Bixby Letter
Retrieved 6 April 2016— via Google Newspapers. Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. You may recall my visit of two years ago, what his excellency kindly advanced me forty dollars through this office to visit my son in the army hospital at Washington. Soon after this I received a very distressed letter from Mrs. The von Blücher brothers, German paratroopers, were all killed on the same day in May 1941 during the Battle of Crete. Bixby was reportedly a Confederate sympathizer, or so descendants later attested. Bixby's five sons died in battle, Charles and Oliver.
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Letter to Mrs. Bixby
The memory of your dear Father, instead of an agony, will yet be a sad sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer, and holier sort than you have known before. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. But the correspondence, later made famous as a notable example of the letterwriting form, has become the subject of heated debate, with some historians arguing that it was in fact written by John Hay, Lincoln's secretary. The War Department sent Schouler information that all five had been killed in the war. READ MORE: Notes 1. So does a similar scrapbook in the Library of Congress. I had to come to apply for a pension, he is dead.
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Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. Bixby. 1909
Beveridge , July 22, 1949, Albert J. Is not this so? I am grateful to Jennifer Lee of the John Hay Library, who called my attention to that scrapbook. Arthur March Bixby to the editor of the New York Sun, East Haven, Conn. After ten days, the Adjutant General sent the below letter to the government of Massachusetts, Adjutant General's Office, Boston, September 24, 1864. President Lincoln's letter of condolence was delivered to Lydia Bixby on November 25, 1864, and was printed in the Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. Bixby had visited him and said that all five of her sons had died defending the Union.
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Abraham Lincoln's Bixby Letter Mystery Finally Solved After 150 Years
Hay to Sarah Helen Power Whitman, Warsaw Ill. Unconfirmed reports also seem to suggest George may have galvanized while in captivity—that is, enlisted with the Confederates in exchange for freedom. Three short paragraphs, combining heartfelt compassion with an almost exultant affirmation of the sanctifying power of sacrifice, echo to a fault the grandeur of Lincolns way of words. New York Times, Aug. In any case the White House seems to have accepted in good faith a letter from the Governor of Massachusetts, John A. Unidentified magazine article, Carl Sandburg Papers, Illinois Historical Survey, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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Lincoln’s Civil War Letter to Mrs. Bixby
Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1864. Scholars disagree whether Lincoln himself wrote the letter, or whether it was drafted by his private secretary, John Hay. May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly power. Died of wounds in Hospital at Folly Island, S. Retrieved 11 December 2015. The missive has won praise as a masterpiece of the English language and comparable with — even better than — the Gettysburg Address. Bixby placed her documents letters from the field each informing her the death of her son.
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Bixby letter
And of course it has long since won Mrs. Within three days by November 24th news reports and reprints of it had appeared in Boston newspapers, and there is some indication that it provided a much needed boost in Union morale as the war was entering its fourth year. Conflicting military reports make the fate of Pvt. Bixby several times and visited her at home, had a different opinion. One of whom was wounded in Antietam and was sent to a hospital in Baltimore or Washington. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save.
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Lincoln's Bixby Letter, The Inspiration for Saving Private Ryan
Bullard, Abraham Lincoln and the Widow Bixby, 109—10. President Lincoln was touched by the story of sacrifice by Bixby. Captured at Petersburg, he either died in Salisbury Prison as a POW or deserted to the Confederate Army. Four Borgstrom brothers from Utah died within a six-month period in 1944 during the same war. Lauriston Bullard, chief editorial writer of the Boston Herald and head of the Lincoln Group of Boston, published Abraham Lincoln and the Widow Bixby, which denied that Hay had composed the letter. Bixby may have even been misinformed herself.
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On this day in history, Nov. 21, 1864, Abraham Lincoln 'pens' letter to Mrs. Bixby
This makes more sense than being captured on Cemetery Ridge with the 20th Massachusetts. The second Bixby brother to die in the war was Pvt. Andrew not only had the letter delivered to Mrs. But as William E. Yet if the legend of the Bixby letter is discredited, who can deny the majesty of its contents? New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
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