| William D. Pederson - 2003 - 304 pages
...traitorous language from such a "wily agitator" might undermine troop morale. Lincoln asked in 1863, "Must I shoot a simpleminded soldier boy who deserts,...hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?" According to Sandburg, Lincoln added: "I think that, in such a case, to silence the agitator and save... | |
| 2003 - 260 pages
...emotional appeal in language that could be understood by the least sophisticated citizen, he asked, "Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts,...hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?" Noting that the Albany resolutions came from Democrats, Lincoln tried to lift the argument away from... | |
| Allen C. Guelzo - 1999 - 532 pages
...or invasion involving the public safety"? Or, in more personal terms, "Must I shoot a simple-minded boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?" Clearly not, and "the Constitution itself makes the distinction; and I can no more be persuaded that... | |
| Charles M. Hubbard - 2003 - 270 pages
...public letters, to a meeting of Union Democrats in June 1863, he defended this and similar actions: "Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of the wily agitator who induces him to desert?" I want to call attention to the sentences preceding that... | |
| Charles Pierce Roland - 2004 - 348 pages
...this as being justified by the desperate nature of the situation. To a group of protesters he said: "Must I shoot a simpleminded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley [sic] agitator who induces him to desert?" The most famous instance of a military arrest and... | |
| V. Neil Wyrick - 2004 - 132 pages
...classic cases concerns a deserter about whom he wrote, "Must I shoot a simple minded boy who deserts, and not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?" There were 331 such pardons. He was not so kind to slave traders, refusing to pardon a man who "could... | |
| Hans Louis Trefousse - 2005 - 204 pages
...certain safeguards for personal liberty in cases of armed rebellion: "Must I shoot a simple soldier-boy who deserts while I must not touch a hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert?" he wrote. The Washington Daily Morning Chronicle could not praise his document enough. "He has spoken... | |
| Doris Kearns Goodwin - 2006 - 945 pages
...the severe penalty of death," Lincoln posed a question that was soon echoed by supporters everywhere: "Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious when effected by getting... | |
| David Herbert Donald, Harold Holzer - 2005 - 462 pages
...public safety requires them" in times of "rebellion or invasion." In the best known passage, he asked: "Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch the hair of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? . . . I think that, in such a case, to silence... | |
| William D. Pederson, Thomas T. Samaras, Frank J. Williams - 2007 - 216 pages
...his most famous passage on the subject, contained in the Corning Letter, Lincoln stated eloquently: Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts,...a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is nonetheless injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend into a public meeting,... | |
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