Quotes from :
Col. Wolford's (in)famous letter to A. Lincoln, July, 1864.
"No, sir; much as I love liberty I will fester in a prison or die on a
gibbet before I will agree to any terms that do not abandon all charges
against me and fully acknowledge my innocence."
"The idea of [your] unconstitutional policy becoming necessary to the
Government and save the Constitution is like killing a man to save his
life and keep him from dying of disease."
At one point, Lincoln had written, in defense of his approving Negroes
as soldiers in the Union army, "Now let any Union man who complains of
this measure test himself by writing down in one line that he is for
subduing the rebellion by force of arms, and on the next that he is for
taking these 130,000 men from the Union side and placing them where
they would be but for the measure he condemned. It is only because he can not face his
case so studied it is only because he can face the truth."
Wolford wrote a brilliantly scathing rebuttal which concluded with, "If,
Mr. President, you can not face your case, so stated, it is only because
you can not face the truth."
Another from the same source is
"You have the power, but truth and justice are with me."