Less than 87 days’ cost of this war could, at the same $400 figure, pay for the slaves in the States of Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Kentucky, and Missouri:
| Cost of the slaves: | $173,048,800 |
| 87 days of war: | $174,000,000 |
Would compensation to all the slave owners satisfy them? Of course not. Their honor is at stake. If we do not make common cause to save the good old ship of the Union on this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage.
Note:
Write General Grant regarding the improvement of all military telegraph service. Suggest a military Telegraphic Corps.
The White House
September 8, 1864
When I reviewed the Army of the Potomac, when the greatest cavalry in the world rode past, I felt no pride, only sorrow, for the military pomp. To those of pensive turn, the military implies death, men in uniform are death-men, dealers and receivers. They work in the counting house of death.