Civil War 1864 Letter Mentions ABRAHAM LINCOLN Coming To Baltimore Fair

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Civil War 1864 Letter Mentions ABRAHAM LINCOLN Coming To Baltimore Fair:
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An interesting four page letter from “Flossie” in Baltimore to her uncle, dated April 18, 1864. From a Maryland estate.

On page two, she writes:

“There are a great many soldiers in the street today they are going to be reviewed in Broadway I believe.

There is going to be a fair held in the Maryland Institute, to which President Lincoln expects to be present. A young girl, representing Maryland, is to be bound with chains and someone will hand her a Secession Flag which she will throw away. She is then presented with a Union Flag which she seizes and is immediately released. Would you not like to see it?”

The speech Lincoln gave is not well known, but considered by some one of his best.

“The speech itself was interesting for several reasons. Lincoln begins by reminding his audience that much has changed since the war began and that the people of Baltimore, especially, had seen much of that change. He alludes to the difficulty Union soldiers had in marching through the city in 1861 when they were faced with riots. Now, three years later, the citizens of Baltimore are raising money and urging support for those same troops. Lincoln goes on to explain that Baltimore has not only changed its view of Union soldiers but has changed in its attitude towards slavery as well.” (Anderegg, The Wolf and the Sheep)

A Washington Post writer considered one passage in particular to be outstanding:

“The world has never had a good definition of liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in need of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.” (Eugene Volokh)