I was making this point in the context of there not being a war; I wrote
this in the context that if the South had not seceded, would the
Republicans have controlled the government and been able to destroy
slavery.   Not in the context of whether the war might have cost him the
election.

It is worth noting that the soldier vote in 1864 was overwhelmingly for
Lincoln; those who were taking the risks to at that point both preserve
the Union and end slavery (and by 1864 it was clearly a war to destroy
slavery, were strongly in favor of finishing the job, recreating the
Union, and ending slavery.

[log in to unmask] wrote:
> In a message dated 2/27/03 11:26:53 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>
>
>>Lincoln won
>>close races in much of the North and might every well have lost in 1864
>
>
> If Grant had been truthful about the casualties at Cold Harbor Lincoln most
> likely would have lost. Grant's hiding of numbers killed at Cold Harbor
> prevented the public from knowing about it...combined with a few victories by
> Sherman northern voters felt the war was close to and end.
>
> B Buser
>
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--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, Oklahoma  74104-2499

918-631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)

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