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Walt Whitman to the Editors of the New York Times, October 1864

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(Private) when a great general dies, you print his obituary, & his record, by its inspiration sometimes does as much good as his deeds.—I think the 51st New York Veterans, lately captured almost entire, while bravely fighting, deserves some such mention. The statements in the abstract I send are all facts. You will see I have avoided any thing like puffing, but given an abstract only.1

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Notes

  • 1. This letter is a draft and apparently a letter of transmittal for Whitman's "Fifty-First New York City Veterans," published in the New York Times, October 29, 1864. It is written on the back of a series of notes by Whitman that have been crossed out. [back]
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