When Abe Lincoln was frustrated

 

Abraham Lincoln loved to use metaphors and similes. He felt that they helped his listeners understand his points more clearly, and they added some color to his stories. But there were also times when he also used them to express his displeasure or frustration with people as well. 

Here are two examples of the latter case that appeared in messages from Lincoln to General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker, commander of the Army of the Potomac in June of 1863, as Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia began their second invasion of the North - a campaign that ended in a small Pennsylvania hamlet called Gettysburg.

In one word, I would not take any risk of being entangled upon the river, like an ox jumped half over a fence and liable to be torn by dogs front a rear, without a fair chance to gore one way or kick the other.

A few days later, he sent Hooker another message:

If the head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the plank road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break him?

Shortly thereafter, Abraham Lincoln fired 'Fighting Joe' and appointed George Meade to command the Army of the Potomac.

Meade beat Lee at Gettysburg.

This was another tale from Abe Lincoln, Storyteller.

Mac

FYI: Photo is of General Joseph Hooker. The photo was taken by the famous Civil War photographer, Mathew Brady.

Works Cited

Gross, Anthony. (1912). Lincoln's Own Stories. New York City, NY: Harper and Brothers Publishers. p.202.