Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 6 [Dec. 13, 1862-Nov. 3, 1863].

Annotation

[1]   ADf, DLC-RTL.In addition to the draft there is in the Lincoln Papers what appears to be the letter, copied by Hay, which was to have been signed and sent. An endorsement on the envelope of a letter from Fleming and Morrow,August 8, 1863,enclosing a ``petition from the loyal people of East Tennessee,'' is as follows: ``Also the President's answer---which I do not think was sent R. T. Lincoln May 13-65.'' Fleming and Morrow, citizens of Knoxville, Tennessee, wrote Lincoln on August 8 as follows:

``We have the honor to enclose . . . the copy of a petition, from the loyal people of East Tennessee. For now five days we have unsuccessfully sought an opportunity to deliver it . . . in person . . . . Finding it necessary to return this evening we have but the one resort left---that of submitting the document to your Excellency . . . . Our people . . . driven almost to desperation . . . having so long waited in vain . . . for protection from the Government . . . have, as the final resort, appealed directly to Your Excellency . . . .'' (DLC-RTL).