T. A. Post to Richard Yates

http://www.alplm-cdi.com/chroniclingillinois/files/uploads/516226.pdf

Title

T. A. Post to Richard Yates

Publisher

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Date

1864-05-14

Format

pdf

Language

eng

Identifier

516226

Transcription

St. Louis May 14th

Dear Governor

Your kind letter

of yesterday ought to

have received my imme

diate attention, & would

have done so could

I have secured a mo

ments leisure either

during the day or evening

But I had a Brief to

make out for the Su

preme Court & had not

a moment spare time

I hope & anticipate that

you will make a "ten

strike" here next week,

for there will no doubt

be a tremendous gathering

from all parts of the West


My suggestions I fear will

be of little value to you

but I will give you one

or two thoughts which oc

cur to me for what they

are worth.

1st Contrast the present

fair with our former

"Derby Days." The vast crowd

& bright faces of men, women,

& children. The same dusty

& thronged streets, & multi

tudes as in former years. But

in one respect if no other a

marked difference. What

means this wildernefs

of bunting crimsoning the

air, & staining the sky from

every tower & dome & Cu

pola? This is an occasion

grander than any Fourth

of July. It all [speakes?] a

resolve deep & strong as

their life throb among the

people of the Great West,

to save the nation. The [play-

ing?] of martial music, the


shouting of the multitude,

silent elo

quence of thousands of

earnest faces, seem to mingle

in one grand anthem of

God Save the Nation!

Former fairs were convened

to encourage Art Science

& Agriculture. This one is

to minister comfort to the

mangled soldiers of the Legion

lying to-day scattered in the

red harvests of war

in countless thousands [thro?]

Hospital, Camp & field

from the Red River to the bank

of the Rapidan. With the

acclaim of thousands here

to day mingles the sob

of a Great Nation.

You might then speak

of the [illegible] contrasts

between the St. Louis of

to day & that of four

years since: the plotting

treason & open disloyalty

of the city at that time;

the dark days of Camp

Jackson


the constancy of our

loyalists in those days of

trial; the loyal Germans,

the heroic [Lincoln? Abbreviated?] (the

people here pretty much worship his memory.)

etc etc. 3d You might

allude to the vast revolution

which the people have under

gone on the subject of sla

very. In 60 secessionists

were going to take Missouri

out of the Union on Personal

Liberty Laws, & Crittenden

Compromises. It was then among

a strong party here complete

submisfion to slavery or

disunion. What is it now

The banners of our victorious

army wave over hundreds

of thousands of men once

slaves now slaves no longer

& for every Plymouth & [Mont-?]

[Place name?] the strong right

arm of the government of

the United States shall be

stretched forth in swift

& terrible retribution. The

close of this war will find our

Nation at length free no longer

in name but in very fact from

turret to foundation stone.

Please let me know


when you arrive, should I fail to see you at the hotel.

Yours in great haste. T.A.Post

You must par

don this hasty

scrawl.

It is written

late at night

& in a desperate

hurry

TAP

Status

Complete

Percent Completed

100

Weight

20

Original Format

4

Document Viewer