Telegram from President Abraham Lincoln to General Ulysses Grant

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Description

On February 1, 1865, President Lincoln sent this telegram to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at City Point, Virginia. It encouraged Grant to continue fighting vigorously. Lincoln was about to meet with a Confederate peace delegation at Fort Monroe, Virginia, but he did not want the ongoing peace negotiations to prevent Grant from conducting offensive operations if the situation warranted.

Transcript

Time _

“Cypher”

Office of U.S. Military Telegraph,
War Department,
Washington, D.C., February 1. 1865

Lieut. Genl. Grant

City Point.

Let nothing which is transpiring change, hinder, or delay your military movement, or plans.

A. Lincoln

[in red ink] 312
_
320

[circled]
9:30 A.M.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of the Secretary of War.

National Archives Identifier: 595100

Full Citation: Telegram from President Abraham Lincoln to General Ulysses Grant; 2/1/1865; Telegrams Sent and Received By The War Department Central Telegraph Office., 1861 – 1882; Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, Record Group 107; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/telegram-lincoln-grant/, March 29, 2026]

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