American Essence

President Abraham Lincoln and the Unsent Letter

In this installment of ‘When Character Counted,’ Abraham Lincoln makes a case for the virtue of tact and restraint when filled with anger.
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President Abraham Lincoln and the Unsent Letter
Illustrated portrait of President Abraham Lincoln in his study, circa 1860s. Fotosearch/Getty Images
Jeff Minick
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Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia were on the run.

After the failure of Pickett’s Charge to break the Union Center at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Lee held his army in position the following day, hoping to entice Gen. George Meade and his Army of the Potomac to attack the Confederate line. When that gambit failed, the Confederates began their withdrawal to Maryland and the Potomac River in their attempt to escape to Virginia.

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Jeff Minick
Jeff Minick
Author
Jeff Minick has four children and a growing platoon of grandchildren. For 20 years, he taught history, literature, and Latin to seminars of homeschooling students in Asheville, N.C. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” Today, he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.