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Original publisher's beige paper pamphlet. Formerly bound. No date, circa 1864. 5 1/2" x 8 1/2." Four pages, complete. Pages are very clean and intact except for a small dampstain at bottom edges, age toning, and chipping and splitting on spine. A Very Good copy. This is No. 64--Part 3 in a series of tracts by the Loyal Publication Society, a pro-Union, New York-based organization that was founded in early 1863 after the Union Army had suffered a series of losses in the American Civil War. The Society's purpose was to distribute pro-Union articles in order to boost morale among Union soldiers and the general public. This pamphlet contains the printed extracts of a letter and a speech by Union Generals John E. Wool (1784-1869) and John A. Logan (1826-1886), respectively. Following this is a brief extract from letter written by a Union soldier named "G. F." The pamphlet begins with Wool's letter which he originally wrote to J. A. Griswold. In his letter, Wool pointedly criticizes George B. McClellan for his military performance during the Civil War. His critique reads, in part, "[T]he goal was within the reach of George B. McClellan, but he knew not how to grasp it. . He neither comprehended the value of time, nor the advantages of prompt action and celerity of movement. His encamping in the swamps of the river Warwick, and the mud in front of Yorktown, for a month besieging the place, permitting its rebel garrison to be increased . and then allowing them to escape from Yorktown unobserved . With advantages that few generals ever possessed, he signally failed." In assessing McClellan's role as the Democratic presidential nominee for the 1864 election, Wool ardently opposes McClellan and the Democratic Party. Despite McClellan's apparent public rejection of the Democratic platform ("Chicago Platform"), Wool refers to the fact that McClellan actually approved of the Democratic platform in writing preceding the Democrats' Chicago Convention. He describes McClellan and the Democrats as traitors. Toward the end of the letter, Wool expresses sympathy for Stephen A. Douglas who, despite being a Democrat, was among the first to express his loyalty to the Union. Next is the extract from Logan's speech (this pamphlet defends Logan after accusations that he supported the Democrats' Chicago Platform). In his address, Logan clearly voices his opposition to the Chicago Platform. He acknowledges his reputation as a Douglas Democrat but defends his support of Douglas and quotes a letter by him. Douglas's main message in his letter is that the hope of compromise with the South was abandoned when it chose secession and that it is of upmost importance to defend the Constitution and the Union regardless of party politics. Logan contends that Douglas, if he were still alive, would maintain those pro-Union beliefs and says he shares Douglas's principles. Logan then notes how he opposed Abraham Lincoln's candidacy in the 1860 election but now ardently states his support for Lincoln in the 1864 election. Logan says he supports Andrew Jackson's principles regarding the preservation of the Union and likewise supports Lincoln for defending the Union. Logan concludes, "I have but one choice to make between the Constitution, the Union and its heroes, on one side, and their defamers, on the other; I will act with no party who is not for my country, and must refuse my support to the nominees of the Chicago Convention." In his letter, G. F. writes about how angry he is after reading about the Chicago Platform and the Democrats' call for peace during the war. The following is an extract from his letter: "Only to think of a cowardly set of villains and traitors gathering together and making proposals of peace with a gang of outlaws, when any man of common sense and courage . can see that they are about giving up the contest, knowing themselves that they are beaten as badly as any people ever was in the whole world.".
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