This song praises the victory of the Union from secession to the war's end. It honors Lincoln, Union soliders, Ulysses S. Grant, and Emanciptation.]]>
The imagery of the vacant chair was an important symbol of a soldier's absence from his family, in both the North and South. Composer George F. Root wrote music to accompany the song, "The Vacant Chair," which became one of the most popular songs of the Civil War.]]>
The song calls on all free men to rally to the Union cause.]]>
Inside cover contains a note dated February 3, 1862, from Lincoln to the composer, thanking him for the composition.]]>
Cover depicts the dome of the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, a log cabin, the American flag, and Abraham Lincoln.]]>
The first Union martyr of the Civil War, Colonel Elmer Ellsworth accompanied Lincoln on his inaugural train trip to Washington, D.C.. After the war began, he organized the 11th New York Infantry, a regiment which Ellsworth outfitted in the distinctive outfit of the French North African Zouaves.

Ellsworth was killed on May 24, 1861, during the Union's occupation of Alexandria, Virginia, where James W. Jackson, a diehard secessionist, shot Ellsworth as the later had just removed a Confederate from the top of Jackson's inn.

President and Mrs. Lincoln grieved over Ellsworth, whose body lay in state at the White House. Ellsworth's death became a rallying symbol for the Union.  Several songs and poems were written in his memory.]]>
The song is dedicated to Union general Benjamin F. Butler, who was the first Union commander to allow escaped slaves to stay within Union lines. Claiming the former slaves were "contraband of war," Butler used the Confederates' insistance that slaves were property against them. He claimed that as property they could be legally "confiscated" under the rules of war. Butler's policy allowed thousands of slaves to find safety behind Union lines and influenced Lincoln's later decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation."]]>
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