to them. There were
plots to kill him at this time, and he knew it; but he gave no thought
to his own life, and went straight to his post of du-ty as Pres-i-dent.
It was with a sad heart that he saw this great land torn with war; and
he would have been glad to keep peace, but this he could not do. When
the South fired at the flag of the Un-ion at Fort Sum-ter, a cry went
up through the whole land. The South fought for what it called "States
Rights;" the right of each state to rule in its own way; but this
Lin-coln would not have. He cared more for the Un-ion than he did for
the slaves; for, though he thought all men should be free, he said,
if he could save the Un-ion, he did not care if not one slave was made
free; he had no wish to keep the South from its rights; but, at last, he
felt it wise to send out a bill, which said that all the slaves should
be free, and have the same rights as white men. This land was in no
state for war; much had to be done; clothes and food got for the troops;
and arms as well had to be made or bought at once. The first great fight
was at Bull Run in Vir-gin-i-a; and the loss of life on both sides was
great; the North lost from the first; men who had nev-er been in a fight
be-fore went mad with fear and ran for their lives. But at the fight at
Get-tys-burg the men of the North were brave and fought with such skill
that the great fight was won by the North.

Grant was put at the head of the troops who went down to free
Mis-sis-sip-pi; and it was not long be-fore he placed the Stars and
Stripes over this fair state. The South made a brave fight, for what it
thought was right and just; but as the war went on, the troops of the
South were in a bad state; they could get no food, no clothes, and so
ma-ny men had been shot that in the last years of the war young boys had
to help fill up the ranks. Now came Sher-man's march to the sea, and he
took Sa-van-nah and all its guns and stores. This was a great blow, and
now one by one the sea-ports of the South fell in-to the hands of the
North. At last Gen-er-al Lee, a great and good man of the South, sent
word to Grant that he would come to terms and make peace. Grant was
kind at this hard time; he let Lee keep his sword, and said that the men
might keep all their hors-es. It was in A-pril, 1865, that peace came
to our great land; and the North went mad with joys; bells pealed, and
fires blazed in the streets; flags were raised and guns were fired; but