I cannot, by giving my consent to a publication of whose details I know nothing, assume the responsibility of whatever you may write. In this matter your own sense of military propriety must be your guide, and the regulations of the service your rule of conduct.
I am very truly your friend,
A. LINCOLN. [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]
TELEGRAM TO GENERAL BURNSIDE.
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., July 3, 1863
MAJOR-GENERAL BURNSIDE, Cincinnati, Ohio:
Private Downey, of the Twentieth or Twenty-sixth Kentucky Infantry, is said to have been sentenced to be shot for desertion to-day. If so, respite the execution until I can see the record.
A. LINCOLN. [ [!-- H2 anchor --] ]