Ulysses S. Grant 1822-1885 Eighteenth President of the United States and Union Lieutenant General A most important and historical document Grants orders to Gen Benjamin Butler to pass a peace proposal from Abraham Lincoln to Jefferson Davis The letter is an Als lp 4to on letterhead of headquarters Armies of the United States and reads in full The letter Grant refers to is a peace proposal made by powerful Maryland politician Francis P. Blair Sr 1791-1876 and submitted to Davis with Lincoln approval In the letter Blair sought to "explain the views I entertain in reference to the state of the affairs of our Country Bearing a pass from Lincoln Blair met with Davis thirteen days later where Davis gave Blair a letter for Lincoln agreeing to negotiate to secure peace for the two countries Lincoln rejected the proposal citing Davis insistence upon two countries and his continued failure to recognize the Union Peace negotiations continued nonetheless, with Confederate commissioners Alexander Stephens and R. M.T. Hunter meeting with their Union counterparts at Fortress Monroe to discuss terms The meeting held the day of the ratification of the 13th Amendment failed to produce a peace and the war would drag on for four months more Tipped to another sheen otherwise fine