Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864].

About this Item

Title: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864].
Author: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Publication: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press; 1953.
Rights/Permissions: The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes, with permission from their copyright holder. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission.
Link to this Item: http://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln7
Cite this Item: "Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7 [Nov. 5, 1863-Sept. 12, 1864]." In the digital collection Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/lincoln7. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 20, 2025.

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To Christiana A. Sack1Jump to section

Office U.S. Military Telegraph,
Christiana A. Sack War Department,
Baltimore, Md. Washington, D.C., May 21 1864.

I can not postpone the execution of a convicted spy, on a mere telegraphic despatch signed with a name I never heared before. Gen. Wallace may give you a pass to see him, if he chooses.

A. LINCOLN

Annotation

[1] ALS, DNA WR RG 107, Presidential Telegrams, I, 62. Christiana A. Sack telegraphed Lincoln on May 21: ``My brother Henry Sack is sentenced to be hung on Monday next at Eastiville in Genl Butlers Dept on charge of being a spy. I think I can prove that he is not a spy Please postpone the execution of the sentence & give me permission to see him'' (DLC-RTL). The sentence of Henry Sack, citizen of C.S.A., convicted of acting as a spy and transgressing laws and customs of war, was commuted on May 24, 1864, to imprisonment at hard labor for duration of the war (DNA WR RG 153, Judge Advocate General, MM 1448). See further Lincoln's telegrams to Joseph Roberts, May 23 and 24, infra.

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