CITY POINT, VA., September 13, 1864 — 10.30 a.m.
Hon. E. M. STANTON,
Secretary of War, Washington:
My dispatch to you
on the subject of enforcing the draft was suggested by reading Secretary
Seward's Auburn speech, where he intimates that volunteers were coming in so
rapidly that there would be no necessity for a draft, and your dispatch stating
that volunteers were coming in at the rate of 5,000 per day. We ought to have
the whole number of men called for by the President in the shortest possible
time. A draft is soon over, and ceases to hurt after it is made. The agony of suspense
is worse upon the public than the measure itself. Prompt action in filling our
armies will have more effect upon the enemy than a victory over them. They
profess to believe, and make their men believe, there is such a party North in
favor of recognizing Southern independence that the draft cannot be enforced.
Let them be undeceived. Deserters come into our lines daily, who tell us that
the men are nearly universally tired of war, and that desertions would be much
more frequent but they believe peace will be negotiated after the fall
elections. The enforcement of the draft and prompt filling up of our armies
will save the shedding of blood to an immense degree.
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant-General.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 42, Part
2 (Serial No. 88), p. 804
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