Events of the Civil War

^{BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:}

^{A PROCLAMATION.}

^{Whereas the laws of the United States have been for some time past and now are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the southern states by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals by law:}

_{Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed..}

To say that Michigan performed her whole duty in her efforts to aid in suppressing the rebellion would not be saying enough; for, considering the low ebb of her finances at the time, it was an undertaking under great disadvantage, and especially so as Michigan, like most of the other States, had in the past made but a very feeble preparation in a military point of view, to meet an emergency of that magnitude.

He was not a reckless commander ... No man could have been more careful of the comfort and lives of his men. He was cautious and wary, accustomed to reconnoiter carefully ... More than once the Michigan Brigade was saved from disaster by Custer's caution.

My Dear Madam,

I respectfully present to you a small writing table on which the conditions of surrender of the Confederate Army .. Were written by General Grant - and permit me to say .. that there is scarcely an individual in our service who has contributed more to bring about this desirable result than your very gallant husband.