The posts (here, here) attribute to Lincoln the words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it” and to Lee the quote: “There is a terrible war coming and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I can tell you, I wish that I owned every slave in the south, for I would free them all to avoid this war.”
[Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N2OQ1LE/#:~:text=The%20posts%20%28here%2C%20here%29%20attribute%20to%20Lincoln%20the,would%20free%20them%20all%20to%20avoid%20this%20war.%E2%80%9D
)
>The posts (here, here) attribute to Lincoln the words: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it” **and to Lee the quote: “There is a terrible war coming and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I can tell you, I wish that I owned every slave in the south, for I would free them all to avoid this war.”**
(post is archived)