Telegram to Lincoln - Chancellorsville Defeat

This is a facsimile of the telegram which General Hooker had his assistant send to President Lincoln, after the Union's defeat at Chancellorsville:

Office of U.S. Military Telegraph

War Department

Nothing will so Cheer the hearts of all good men as the immediate re-inforcement of Genl Hooker by troops from around Washington Fortress Monroe & Suffolk.

When the President heard about the extent of the Union's rout, and the many Chancellorsville casualties, he was stunned: "My God … What will the country say?"

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