Lincoln A Letter to Lincoln

[ForeverFree]

From The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, this is a letter from a colored soldier which contains a poem:

From a man of no education. And have been doomed to slavery –
During life, and was born In Powhatan Co. and was raised in –
Richmond Virginia. And I am now a Soldier In U. S. Army. –
And I will Speak these few words In Answer to all whom it –
May Concern. Where Ever it may roam.

I have left my wife And Children but –
Tho. I. have not yet forsaken them. and made one grasp –
at the Flag of the union and Declared it shall never fall– –
For we love it like the Sunshine, and the Stars and azure air. –

Ho for the flag of the union. the Stripes and the Stars of light.–
A million arms. Shall guard it. and may god defend the right.–
Ay, brothers let us love it, and let Every heart be true.–
And let Every arm be ready, for we have glorious work to do.–
Ho. for the Flag of the union. the Stripes and the Stars of Light.–
a million arms shall guard it. and may. God defend the right.–

I. Hope we may meet again In the bonds of love to greet
fare well I hope History may tell


Hannibal Cox
Co. B. 14th U. S. Colored Troops
Chattanooga Tenn
march 30th 1864

I. sends this for you to look at
you must not laugh at it

----------
- Alan

 

[chellers]

So poignant. Thanks much, Alan, for posting.

 

[Drew]

From a man of no education. And have been doomed to slavery –

No education? Penmanship and spelling are really very good. He's being modest, or someone wrote it for him? His service record is here. Thanks for posting.

 

[judi]

Well said for a man with no education. Thanks for posting it.

 

[brass napoleon]

No education? Penmanship and spelling are really very good. He's being modest, or someone wrote it for him?

Lincoln was also a man of no education, and he wrote some of the greatest speeches in American history. Frederick Douglass was too, and he edited a newspaper. Education is great, but sometimes sheer will trumps it.

 

[Drew]

Brass, that sounds great, but Lincoln and Douglass were both taught to read. Douglass was probably more forthcoming about it because he wasn't running for office. But that's just my opinion. The penmanship in the OP is something gained with tutelage and practice, though. Doesn't diminish the message in any way, but you don't put pen to paper with no experience and produce something like that.

 

[wilber6150]

Hannibal doesn't state that he wrote it, only that he sent it to the president to read..Perhaps it captured what he was feeling and thinking...I doubt he wrote it..

 

[brass napoleon]

Brass, that sounds great, but Lincoln and Douglass were both taught to read. Douglass was probably more forthcoming about it because he wasn't running for office. But that's just my opinion. The penmanship in the OP is something gained with tutelage and practice, though. Doesn't diminish the message in any way, but you don't put pen to paper with no experience and produce something like that.

I don't think by any objective standard Frederick Douglass would be considered to be an "educated man":

"Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a ****** an inch, he will take an ell. A ****** should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as he is told to do. Learning would ~spoil~ the best ****** in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that ****** (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy." These words sank deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty--to wit, the white man's power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. It was just what I wanted, and I got it at a time when I the least expected it. Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master. Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read. The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read. What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently sought; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both."

- Frederick Douglass

Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=5rhfQYpgEsgC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40​

 

[ForeverFree]

FYI, this letter is cited John David Smith's recent book, Lincoln and the U.S. Colored Troops.

Hannibal Cox is described as having been born to slavery in Virginia, and then became the property of

a slaveholder named Green in Lincoln County, TN. In August 1863, Cox escaped to the U.S. General Hospital at Tullahoma, TN, where Dr. Benjamin Woodward, surgeon of the 22nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry, took him in. Soldiers taught Cox how to read and write, and in the spring 1864 he enlisted in the 14th USCT.​

The book does not say so, but it is possible that Dr. Benjamin Woodward helped to write or even transcribe the letter. However, the implication in the book is that Cox wrote the letter himself. At the least, Cox authored the text and had it written up by Woodward or someone else.

- Alan

 

[Drew]

I don't think by any objective standard Frederick Douglass would be considered to be an "educated man":

I didn't say he was. I said he was "taught to read." Thanks for posting some of the evidence.

 

[brass napoleon]

I didn't say he was. I said he was "taught to read." Thanks for posting some of the evidence.

He was taught to "spell words of three or four letters". If you call that being "taught to read" and being "an educated man", then I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[Drew]

being "an educated man",

You're presenting a statement, Brass, in quotation marks, through which someone has described Frederick Douglas as an "an educated man?" If it was me, please identify, specifically, the thread and post number where I said this? If it was someone else, please clarify that? Thanks in advance.

 

[brass napoleon]

You're presenting a statement, Brass, in quotation marks, through which someone has described Frederick Douglas as an "an educated man?" If it was me, please identify, specifically, the thread and post number where I said this? If it was someone else, please clarify that? Thanks in advance.

In Post #3 you took objection to this statement (your bold):

From a man of no education. And have been doomed to slavery –

You're welcome.

 

[Drew]

Post #3 speaks to the Original Post, Brass, not Frederick Douglas, whom you later introduced.

You're welcome, too. What is the point of this nitpicking? Let's go to bed, eh?

 

[brass napoleon]

Post #3 speaks to the Original Post, Brass, not Frederick Douglas, whom you later introduced.

You're welcome, too. What is the point of this nitpicking? Let's go to bed, eh?

I really don't know what the point of the nitpicking is, Drew. Perhaps you can tell me. In Post #3 you objected to "man of no education". In Post #5 I said Frederick Douglass was also a "man of no education". In the very next post you moved the goal posts to "taught to read". But that doesn't change the fact that your original objection was to "man of no education". That just means you moved the goal posts. I don't know why you did that, but you didn't move the goal posts far enough anyway, AFAIC, because saying Frederick Douglass was "taught to read" is still a real stretch.

Good night.

 

[wilber6150]

For me, theres a world of difference between the composition of the poem and the ending of the letter..They are not by the same man unless he had someone write it for him or he copied it from something else..This isn't to say that he couldn't write it due to his education but just strictly looking at the gramatical structure itself..If he did write it then most likely he transcribed it to someone who could write it out for him..Though the ending of the letter where he asks the President not to laugh at it seems to me is saying that this man did create the poem..

Thats some really great penmenship for someone who had only been taught to write seven months before, so personally I'm leaning towards him having someone write the letter for him..

 

[Drew]

Good night.

I made no objection to anything, Brass and I haven't moved any goalposts, either. The OP is an interesting one, into which Lincoln, Douglas and their educational circumstances were dragged, unfortunately. You have a good rest tonight. Cheers.

 

[Littlestown]

I too do not know what to make of the seeming post script that is set off as though the thoughts of someone different. The "I. sends this" diverts from the form of the body of the letter. But, I do believe that the letter embodies the feelings of Hannibal Cox.

What I'm really wondering is, if this Hannibal Cox is any relation to Capt. Hannibal Cox, the Tuskegee Airman?

 

[ForeverFree]

I wanted to add a couple of thoughts on the literacy of Cox:

(1) It was not at all uncommon for runaways in federal or contraband camps or slave colonies (colony = slaves in a area that was occupied by the Unon army after slave masters left en masse ~ such as in the coastal Southeast) to be taught how to read and perhaps even write. Many slaves were keen on becoming literate, and they took advantage of the opportunity afforded by their freedom. Groups such as the American Missionary Association went to such places for the purpose of teaching or otherwise supporting the freedmen.

(2) Recollect that, many slaves lived such that they had extensive contact with whites. This included slaves on farms (which, by defintion, had less than 20 slaves; plantations had 20 or more slaves); so-called house slaves; and personal servants. Many of these slaves were exposed to written language, even if they were not taught it. Thus, they were in a good position to learn reading and writing relatively quickly. I don't know if Cox was in these categories of bondsmen, but it would not surprise me if he was.

Also: FYI, among all the states, Tennessee provided the third largest group of African descent enlistees to the Union army - 20,133 men. Only Kentucky and Louisiana had a larger number of black soldiers.

- Alan

 

[huskerblitz]

Regardless of who put pen to paper, the poem is pretty good.