Letters of the Civil War

The theme of these letters is war
This letter is the what Ulysses S. Grant sends Robert E. Lee to discuss the terms of his surrender.  Grant gives the protocol for surrender.
This is the Letter Grant sends to demand the immediate surrender of the fort Donelson.  This unconditional surrender would give the Union a great advantage in the war.
General Lee uses this letter to the people of Maryland to join the cause of the Confederacy.  He says that they are being treated unfairly under the constitution because of massive imprisonments. He says he will come to the aid of Maryland.
Sherman says he needs the resources of Atlanta to put down the rebel armies.  Wants the inhabitants of Atlanta to leave and lists his reasons.  He says he only wants obedience of the constitution where it was once upheld.
This letter states that McClellan is trying to be more civilized in battle, and does not the nation to be consumed by war.  Wants to fight a head on frontal attack rather than the more strategically logical tactic, which is to fight in multiple places at once.

Description

    This collection of letters were written by various military and political personalities for the purpose of communication about the war.  In these letters, you will find examples of how surrenders were communicated, and what the terms of these surrenders were.  There are also examples of military strategies, such as those in the letter by George B. McClellan.  In the letters written by generals Lee and Grant discuss actual actions that needed to be taken, such as surrender or the change of allegiance from the Union to the Confederacy.  All of these letters take a straightforward approach to communicating their message, rather than beating around the bush.  This is a prime example of the militaristic mentality that was displayed during the war.  Is this militaristic, straightforward mentality what caused the war?  Would these types of letters be found in more modern messages during current wars?

Comments

  1. Ann LawsonSeptember 24, 2017 at 1:29 PM

    Great job. The "theme" you identified was fairly straightforward but your questions are really thoughtful and take your work here to the next level. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

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