November 20, 1862
In response to a complaint by Kentucky editor George P. Robertson, President Lincoln drafts a sarcastic response which he doe not send: “Your despatch of yesterday is just received. I believe you are acquainted with the American Classics, (if there be such) and probably remember a speech of Patrick Henry, in which he represented a certain character in the, revolutionary times, as totally disregarding all questions of country, and “hoarsely bawling, beef! beef!! beef!!!.’” Lincoln added: “Do you not know that I may as well surrender this contest, directly, as to make any order, the obvious purpose of which would be to return fugitive slaves?”
Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War 
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