Gettysburg and the Holy Spirit

On July 3, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg ended.

Gettysburg and the Holy Spirit

On July 5, 1863, President Lincoln and his son, Tad, visited General Daniel E. Sickles, who had his leg blown off at Gettysburg.

General James F. Rusling recorded that General Sickles asked Lincoln if he was anxious before the Battle.

Lincoln answered:

"No, I was not; some of my Cabinet and many others in Washington were, but I had no fears..."

Lincoln continued:

"In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one day, and I locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg.

"I told Him that this was His war, and our cause His cause, but we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville.

"And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God, that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him ..."

Lincoln added:

"And He did stand by you boys, and I will stand by Him.

"And after that (I don't know how it was, and I can't explain it), soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken the whole business into his own hands and that things would go all right at Gettysburg."