Abraham Lincoln - The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln-VOL. VI (Chap. 2.62) lyrics

Telegram To The Secretary Of The Navy. Headquarters Army Potomac, April 9, 1863. HON. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: Richmond Whig of the 8th has no telegraphic despatches from Charleston, but has the following as editorial: "All thoughts are now centred upon Charleston. Official intelligence was made public early yesterday morning that the enemy's iron-clad fleet had attempted to cross the bar and failed, but later in the day it was announced that the gunboats and transports had succeeded in crossing and were at anchor. Our iron-clads lay between the forts quietly awaiting the attack. Further intelligence is looked for with eager anxiety. The Yankees have made no secret of this vast preparation for an attack on Charleston, and we may well anticipate a desperate conflict. At last the hour of trial has come for Charleston, the hour of deliverance or destruction, for no one believes the other alternative, surrender, possible. The heart of the whole country yearns toward the beleaguered city with intense solicitude, yet with hopes amounting to confidence. Charleston knows what is expected of her, and which is due to her fame, and to the relation she sustains to the cause. The devoted, the heroic, the great-hearted Beauregard is there, and he, too, knows what is expected of him and will not disappoint that expectation. We predict a Saragossa defense, and that if Charleston is taken it will be only a heap of ruins." The rebel pickets are reported as calling over to our pickets today that we had taken some rebel fort. This is not very intelligible, and I think is entirely unreliable. A. LINCOLN.