HarveyandAbe

Cordelia's Visit with Abraham Lincoln

As Cordelia was going from hospital to hospital around the U.S, she started to get upset with the terrible treatment that the soldiers were getting, and wondered why they weren't being sent north. She decided to take the issue straight to the President of the United States: Abraham Lincoln.

"The surgeon in charge of the general hospital, when asked why he did not furlough some of the men from his over-crowded hospitals, replied that he had at one time and another made out certificates of disability for furlough for nearly every man in his hospital and for hundreds who rested on the nearby hill, but when sent for the signature and approval of the medical director, they had invariably been returned; dissaproved."

- Quote from "A Wisconsin Woman's Picture of President Lincoln" by Cordelia Harvey

"The President was evidently annoyed by something, and waited for me to speak, which I did not do. I afterward learned his annoyance was caused by a woman pleading for the life of a son who was sentenced to be shot for deserting under very aggravating circumstances." - Quote from "A Wisconsin Woman's Picture of President Lincoln" by Cordelia Harvey

(Picture of Civil War military hospital) Source: Wisconsin Electronic Reader

Cordelia Harvey ended up meeting with Mr. Lincoln four separate times, showing Cordelia's perserverance to see the soldiers come home. Cordelia argued that the soldiers needed to go home for treatment because they would feel much better physically and psychologically if they were close to their family and friends. President Lincoln, however, argued that if the soldiers were to go home for treatment, they would end up deserting instead of going back to war.  

(Petition to Abraham Lincoln) Source: Wisconsin Electronic Reader

This piece of paper is the original petition that Cordelia gave to President Abraham Lincoln, with signatures of some people that wanted their soldiers to come home as much as Cordelia did.

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"By the advice of friends and with an intense feeling that something must be done, I went to Washington. I entered the White House, not with fear and trembling, but strong and self-possessed, fully conscious of the righteousness of my mission."

- Quote from "A Wisconsin Woman's Picture of President Lincoln" by Cordelia Harvey

"[President Lincoln's] face then beamed with such kind benevolence and was lighted with such a pleasant smile that I looked at him, and with my usual impulse, said, clasping my hands together, 'You are perfectly lovely to me, now, Mr. Lincoln." He colored a little and laughed most heartily.' - Quote from "A Wisconsin Woman's Picture of President Lincoln" by Cordelia Harvey