Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Hooker, June 10, 1863

    Source citation
    Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Hooker, Wednesday, June 10, 1863 (Lee's army is Hooker's objective), Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html.
    Type
    Letter
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    Transcribed by the Lincoln Studies Center, Knox College, Galesburg, IL
    Adapted by John Osborne, Dickinson College
    Transcription date
    The following transcript has been adapted from the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress.
    "Cypher"
     
    United States Military Telegraph
     
    War Department--
     
    Washington D.C. June 10, 1863.
     
    Major General Hooker
     
    Your long despatch of to-day is just received. If left to me, I would not go South of the Rappahannock, upon Lee's moving North of it. If you have Richmond invested to-day, you would not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile, your communications, and with them, your Army would be ruined-- I think Lee's Army, and not Richmond, is your true objective point-- If he comes towards the Upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on the inside track, shortening your lines, whilst he lengthens his-- Fight him when oppertunity offers.-- If he stays where he is, fret him, and fret him--
     
    A Lincoln
     
    [ Endorsed by Lincoln:]
     
    Gen. Hooker, June 10. 1863.
    How to Cite This Page: "Abraham Lincoln to Joseph Hooker, June 10, 1863," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/42245.