August 19, 2025 • 13 mins
In Story of Abraham Lincoln, Mary A. Hamilton offers a unique British perspective on the life of the 16th President of the United States, presenting a heartfelt tribute to “Honest Abe.” She explores Lincoln’s ancestral roots, his humble beginnings in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, and his impactful adult life in Illinois, culminating in his presidency and the trials of the White House. The biography also delves into the American Civil War, providing valuable context on its causes and developments. While Hamilton’s narrative is engaging, it does contain some historical inaccuracies, such as misidentifying Jefferson Davis as the Southern Democratic candidate in the 1860 election instead of John C. Breckinridge. Nevertheless, The Story of Abraham Lincoln remains an intriguing and accessible account of Lincolns life, principles, and political legacy. Please note Chapter 7 includes a single use of an epithet for African-Americans from a British magazine quote, and Chapter 8 features an example of a stereotypical Southern black dialect that may be considered offensive. (Summary by John Lieder.)
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Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter eight of the Story of Abraham Lincoln. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by John Leader. The Story of Abraham Lincoln by
Mary A. Hamilton, Chapter eight Victory. After Chancellorsville, the South
(00:29):
thought that all was won, and a movement was set
on foot to attack Washington. Lee marched north with an
army that, though only half fed, was full of enthusiasm,
and on July one took up his position at Gettysburg,
where he was faced by the Federal army under General Meade.
The battle lasted three days, and the slaughter was terrific.
(00:52):
In spite of the desperate determination of the Confederates, the
day ended in a victory for the Union. Lee was
driven back and forced to retreat into Virginia. The invasion
was at an end. The victory, though brilliant, was not
followed up, perhaps because of the heavy losses of the
Union army, but it was the turning point of the war.
(01:14):
Washington was never again in such danger. The Confederates had
lost the one great opportunity to attack since bull Run
Deep national thankfulness was felt at this, the first great
victory for the North. The battlefield was only a few
miles from the capital, and many of the citizens and
the most prominent men of the town assembled to perform
(01:36):
a service for the dead who had fallen there. Lincoln
was called upon to speak. He had not prepared anything,
but the short speech which he gave made a deep
impression upon all who heard it, and puts into very
noble words the thoughts that were always present to his mind.
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
(01:59):
a new nation upon this continent, conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We meet to dedicate a portion of
(02:20):
it as a final resting place of those who here
gave their lives that the nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this, But
in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate,
We cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and
(02:41):
dead who struggle here have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world will take little
note nor long remember what we say here, but it
can never forget what they did here. It is for
us the living, rather to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
(03:04):
It is rather for us to be dedicated here to
the great task remaining before us. That from these honored
dead we take increased devotion for the cost for which
they here gave the last full measure of devotion. That
we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain, that this nation shall, under God have
(03:28):
a new birth of freedom, and that the government of
the people, by the people, and for the people shall
not perish from the earth. In words like these, Lincoln
inspired the people of the North to see the greatness
of the cause for which they were fighting. They were
fighting for liberty, for a free government of free men,
(03:51):
for a united America that might be to the world
a pattern of such a free government. If the South one,
if America were a house divided forever against itself, one
half would have slavery. If the North one and America
were a whole again, slavery was gone. The Declaration of Independence,
(04:13):
proclaiming the equal rights of all men to life and liberty,
would be for the first time fully realized, and encouragement
came at last on the fourth of July, on Independence Day,
Grant telegraphed to Lincoln the news of the capture of Vicksburg.
In the beginning of May, Grant had defeated Pemberton, the
(04:36):
Confederate general, and shut him up in the town with
his great army. After an unsuccessful assault in the end
of May, he sat down patiently before the town, prepared
to wear out its resistance. After great sufferings, the famishing
garrison surrendered. Pemberton, and thirty thousand men whom the South
(04:56):
could but ill spare, were prisoners of war. Hundreds of
cannon and thousands of muskets fell into the victor's hands.
Vicksburg was a position of importance, the key to the Mississippi.
Lincoln could now say, the father of waters again goes
unvexed to the sea. The joy in the North over
(05:19):
these two victories was intense. The drooping spirits began to
rise again, and as things went better, men turned with
new confidence to the patient man, whose courage had never
failed him. With renewed spirit, the North set itself to
the great task before it. Lincoln now had men who
were able to carry out great designs. By the end
(05:42):
of eighteen sixty three, things looked hopeful. The army had
a nucleus of veterans who had received the best possible training,
and a set of generals whose positions had been won
not by political influence but by hard work. Grant, Sherman,
and Sheridan were men of ability, experience, and power. The
(06:04):
plan of campaign for eighteen sixty four, drawn up under
Lincoln's advice by Grant and Sherman, was masterly carried out magnificently.
It led to the complete triumph of the North. It
was the complete development of Lincoln's earlier plans. Grant, with
the Army of the West was to face Lee in
(06:26):
Virginia and drive him south, finally to capture Richmond, the
Confederate headquarters and force Lee to yield. Sherman, marching south
and east, was to carry the war into the heart
of the Confederacy, to follow General Johnson, push him to
the sea, and capture him. We intend, said Sherman, to
(06:48):
fight Joseph Johnson till he is satisfied then Sherman, marching north,
was to co operate with Grant by cutting off Lee's retreat. Meantime,
Sheridan was to deal with General Early in the Shenandoah
Valley west and south of Washington. By May eighteen sixty four,
(07:08):
Grant crossed the Potomac and entered the wild district full
of hills and woods and undergrowth known as the Wilderness,
where the Union armies had suffered so many defeats. Grant
saw that the only thing was to wear the Southern
Army out by hard fighting, and he fought hard all summer.
He lost some thirty thousand men in the Wilderness. His
(07:32):
policy was to bear so continuously on the enemy that they,
having fewer men and less possibility of recruiting, must be
worn out slowly, with an immense loss of life on
both sides. Grant forced Lee south. Sherman, meantime, was fighting
his way to Georgia. His task was as difficult as Grant's.
(07:55):
The country was wild and well adapted for concealing the enemy.
It was impossible for him to communicate with the rest
of the army. After an expedition into Alabama, Sherman started
his march to the sea. Johnson disputed every inch of
the way. There was incessant skirmishing, but Sherman advanced step
(08:18):
by step. While Sherman and Grant were thus slowly wearing
down the resistance of the enemy, the Unionists were once
more encouraged by a brilliant naval success. In August, Farragut
came victorious out of a terrific fight in Mobile Bay.
Entering the harbor, in spite of the line of minds,
he plucked a victory out of the very jaws of defeat.
(08:43):
Sherman was now besieging Atlanta, which he captured on September one.
About the same date, Sheridan defeated early at Winchester in
the Shenandoah Valley. These successes decided the presidential election. Lincoln
had been unanimously nominated as the Republican candidate, not, as
(09:03):
he said, because they have decided I am the greatest
or best man in America. But rather they have concluded
that it is not wise to swap horses while crossing
a river, and have further concluded that I am not
so poor a horse that they might not make a
botch of it in trying to swap against him. The
Democratic Party, whose main principle was opposition to the war,
(09:26):
supported ex General McLellan declaring the war is a failure.
The Democrats found their main supporters among those, and they
were fairly numerous, who disliked Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. Lincoln made
no efforts to secure his reelection. He had been before
(09:47):
the nation as president for four years. His policy was tried,
his opinions known. Even McLellan did not dare to propose
to abandon the Union. On that point. The North was now,
and that being so, the successes of September made Lincoln's
reelection practically certain. Out of two hundred thirty three electoral votes,
(10:09):
Lincoln received two hundred and twelve. He had a majority
in every free state save one. The election was a
complete triumph for the president. The noble words of the
address which he delivered on taking up his duties for
a second time, marked the spirit in which he celebrated
that triumph. With malice toward none, with charity for all,
(10:34):
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to
see the right, Let us strive on to finish the
work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow and his orphan, to do all
that may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations. On November sixteenth, Sherman
(11:00):
marched on by Atlanta. By December he had reached Savannah
and began to bombard the city. It surrendered on December
twenty one, and Sherman wrote to Lincoln, I beg to
present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.
Leaving Savannah early in the new year eighteen sixty five,
(11:22):
the army marched, ravaging through South Carolina. Columbia was burned
and Charleston captured. By March, Sherman was in North Carolina,
and in communication with Grant, the net was ready to
be drawn round the Confederate army. Grant, meantime, was bearing
(11:42):
steadily on. The losses of the Union armies were enormous
and made the President's tender heart bleed. Grant began to
be hampered by the inferior quality of his troops, and
during the summer months matters seemed to be going ill
with the North. In September, however, Sheridan inflicted a series
of defeats upon early in the Shenandoah Valley, and on
(12:05):
October eighteenth vanquished him decisively at Cedar Creek. The remaining
Confederate army under Hood was defeated at Nashville in the west,
and now these was the only army in the field.
The Confederacy was surrounded by a band of fire. The
sea was in the hands of the Union. The Mississippi
(12:27):
shut off any help from the coast. Sherman had harried
Georgia and Carolina, destroying their supplies. Sheridan had raided Virginia.
Grant was at the gates of Richmond through the whole
summer of eighteen sixty four and the winter of eighteen
sixty five. Grant besieged Richmond. There were indecisive engagements, but
(12:52):
the armies did no more than feel each other. With
the spring, however, Grant took the offensive again. On March
thirty one, Sheridan gained a brilliant victory at Five Forks,
and this enabled Grant to break Lee's lines. On April three,
the Stars and Stripes floated over Richmond. On April nine,
(13:15):
Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. The
war was at an end. Lincoln had been with Grant's
army during the closing days of March. He entered Richmond
on April three. Everywhere the Negroes saluted him as their liberator,
kneeling on the ground before him and clasping his knees.
(13:36):
May de Lord Bress and keep you massa, President Lincoln,
end of chapter eight. Recording by John Leader, Bloomington, Illinois.
Chapter eight of the Story of Abraham Lincoln. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by John Leader. The Story of Abraham Lincoln by
Mary A. Hamilton, Chapter eight Victory. After Chancellorsville, the South
(00:29):
thought that all was won, and a movement was set
on foot to attack Washington. Lee marched north with an
army that, though only half fed, was full of enthusiasm,
and on July one took up his position at Gettysburg,
where he was faced by the Federal army under General Meade.
The battle lasted three days, and the slaughter was terrific.
(00:52):
In spite of the desperate determination of the Confederates, the
day ended in a victory for the Union. Lee was
driven back and forced to retreat into Virginia. The invasion
was at an end. The victory, though brilliant, was not
followed up, perhaps because of the heavy losses of the
Union army, but it was the turning point of the war.
(01:14):
Washington was never again in such danger. The Confederates had
lost the one great opportunity to attack since bull Run
Deep national thankfulness was felt at this, the first great
victory for the North. The battlefield was only a few
miles from the capital, and many of the citizens and
the most prominent men of the town assembled to perform
(01:36):
a service for the dead who had fallen there. Lincoln
was called upon to speak. He had not prepared anything,
but the short speech which he gave made a deep
impression upon all who heard it, and puts into very
noble words the thoughts that were always present to his mind.
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
(01:59):
a new nation upon this continent, conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated,
can long endure. We meet to dedicate a portion of
(02:20):
it as a final resting place of those who here
gave their lives that the nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this, But
in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate,
We cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and
(02:41):
dead who struggle here have consecrated it far above our
power to add or detract. The world will take little
note nor long remember what we say here, but it
can never forget what they did here. It is for
us the living, rather to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on.
(03:04):
It is rather for us to be dedicated here to
the great task remaining before us. That from these honored
dead we take increased devotion for the cost for which
they here gave the last full measure of devotion. That
we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain, that this nation shall, under God have
(03:28):
a new birth of freedom, and that the government of
the people, by the people, and for the people shall
not perish from the earth. In words like these, Lincoln
inspired the people of the North to see the greatness
of the cause for which they were fighting. They were
fighting for liberty, for a free government of free men,
(03:51):
for a united America that might be to the world
a pattern of such a free government. If the South one,
if America were a house divided forever against itself, one
half would have slavery. If the North one and America
were a whole again, slavery was gone. The Declaration of Independence,
(04:13):
proclaiming the equal rights of all men to life and liberty,
would be for the first time fully realized, and encouragement
came at last on the fourth of July, on Independence Day,
Grant telegraphed to Lincoln the news of the capture of Vicksburg.
In the beginning of May, Grant had defeated Pemberton, the
(04:36):
Confederate general, and shut him up in the town with
his great army. After an unsuccessful assault in the end
of May, he sat down patiently before the town, prepared
to wear out its resistance. After great sufferings, the famishing
garrison surrendered. Pemberton, and thirty thousand men whom the South
(04:56):
could but ill spare, were prisoners of war. Hundreds of
cannon and thousands of muskets fell into the victor's hands.
Vicksburg was a position of importance, the key to the Mississippi.
Lincoln could now say, the father of waters again goes
unvexed to the sea. The joy in the North over
(05:19):
these two victories was intense. The drooping spirits began to
rise again, and as things went better, men turned with
new confidence to the patient man, whose courage had never
failed him. With renewed spirit, the North set itself to
the great task before it. Lincoln now had men who
were able to carry out great designs. By the end
(05:42):
of eighteen sixty three, things looked hopeful. The army had
a nucleus of veterans who had received the best possible training,
and a set of generals whose positions had been won
not by political influence but by hard work. Grant, Sherman,
and Sheridan were men of ability, experience, and power. The
(06:04):
plan of campaign for eighteen sixty four, drawn up under
Lincoln's advice by Grant and Sherman, was masterly carried out magnificently.
It led to the complete triumph of the North. It
was the complete development of Lincoln's earlier plans. Grant, with
the Army of the West was to face Lee in
(06:26):
Virginia and drive him south, finally to capture Richmond, the
Confederate headquarters and force Lee to yield. Sherman, marching south
and east, was to carry the war into the heart
of the Confederacy, to follow General Johnson, push him to
the sea, and capture him. We intend, said Sherman, to
(06:48):
fight Joseph Johnson till he is satisfied then Sherman, marching north,
was to co operate with Grant by cutting off Lee's retreat. Meantime,
Sheridan was to deal with General Early in the Shenandoah
Valley west and south of Washington. By May eighteen sixty four,
(07:08):
Grant crossed the Potomac and entered the wild district full
of hills and woods and undergrowth known as the Wilderness,
where the Union armies had suffered so many defeats. Grant
saw that the only thing was to wear the Southern
Army out by hard fighting, and he fought hard all summer.
He lost some thirty thousand men in the Wilderness. His
(07:32):
policy was to bear so continuously on the enemy that they,
having fewer men and less possibility of recruiting, must be
worn out slowly, with an immense loss of life on
both sides. Grant forced Lee south. Sherman, meantime, was fighting
his way to Georgia. His task was as difficult as Grant's.
(07:55):
The country was wild and well adapted for concealing the enemy.
It was impossible for him to communicate with the rest
of the army. After an expedition into Alabama, Sherman started
his march to the sea. Johnson disputed every inch of
the way. There was incessant skirmishing, but Sherman advanced step
(08:18):
by step. While Sherman and Grant were thus slowly wearing
down the resistance of the enemy, the Unionists were once
more encouraged by a brilliant naval success. In August, Farragut
came victorious out of a terrific fight in Mobile Bay.
Entering the harbor, in spite of the line of minds,
he plucked a victory out of the very jaws of defeat.
(08:43):
Sherman was now besieging Atlanta, which he captured on September one.
About the same date, Sheridan defeated early at Winchester in
the Shenandoah Valley. These successes decided the presidential election. Lincoln
had been unanimously nominated as the Republican candidate, not, as
(09:03):
he said, because they have decided I am the greatest
or best man in America. But rather they have concluded
that it is not wise to swap horses while crossing
a river, and have further concluded that I am not
so poor a horse that they might not make a
botch of it in trying to swap against him. The
Democratic Party, whose main principle was opposition to the war,
(09:26):
supported ex General McLellan declaring the war is a failure.
The Democrats found their main supporters among those, and they
were fairly numerous, who disliked Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. Lincoln made
no efforts to secure his reelection. He had been before
(09:47):
the nation as president for four years. His policy was tried,
his opinions known. Even McLellan did not dare to propose
to abandon the Union. On that point. The North was now,
and that being so, the successes of September made Lincoln's
reelection practically certain. Out of two hundred thirty three electoral votes,
(10:09):
Lincoln received two hundred and twelve. He had a majority
in every free state save one. The election was a
complete triumph for the president. The noble words of the
address which he delivered on taking up his duties for
a second time, marked the spirit in which he celebrated
that triumph. With malice toward none, with charity for all,
(10:34):
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to
see the right, Let us strive on to finish the
work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow and his orphan, to do all
that may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations. On November sixteenth, Sherman
(11:00):
marched on by Atlanta. By December he had reached Savannah
and began to bombard the city. It surrendered on December
twenty one, and Sherman wrote to Lincoln, I beg to
present you as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah.
Leaving Savannah early in the new year eighteen sixty five,
(11:22):
the army marched, ravaging through South Carolina. Columbia was burned
and Charleston captured. By March, Sherman was in North Carolina,
and in communication with Grant, the net was ready to
be drawn round the Confederate army. Grant, meantime, was bearing
(11:42):
steadily on. The losses of the Union armies were enormous
and made the President's tender heart bleed. Grant began to
be hampered by the inferior quality of his troops, and
during the summer months matters seemed to be going ill
with the North. In September, however, Sheridan inflicted a series
of defeats upon early in the Shenandoah Valley, and on
(12:05):
October eighteenth vanquished him decisively at Cedar Creek. The remaining
Confederate army under Hood was defeated at Nashville in the west,
and now these was the only army in the field.
The Confederacy was surrounded by a band of fire. The
sea was in the hands of the Union. The Mississippi
(12:27):
shut off any help from the coast. Sherman had harried
Georgia and Carolina, destroying their supplies. Sheridan had raided Virginia.
Grant was at the gates of Richmond through the whole
summer of eighteen sixty four and the winter of eighteen
sixty five. Grant besieged Richmond. There were indecisive engagements, but
(12:52):
the armies did no more than feel each other. With
the spring, however, Grant took the offensive again. On March
thirty one, Sheridan gained a brilliant victory at Five Forks,
and this enabled Grant to break Lee's lines. On April three,
the Stars and Stripes floated over Richmond. On April nine,
(13:15):
Lee and his army surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. The
war was at an end. Lincoln had been with Grant's
army during the closing days of March. He entered Richmond
on April three. Everywhere the Negroes saluted him as their liberator,
kneeling on the ground before him and clasping his knees.
(13:36):
May de Lord Bress and keep you massa, President Lincoln,
end of chapter eight. Recording by John Leader, Bloomington, Illinois.
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