President Lincoln said to General Sickles, just after the victory
of Gettysburg: “The fact is, General, in the stress and pinch of the
campaign there, I went to my room, and got down on my knees and prayed
God Almighty for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His
country, and the war was His war, but that we really couldn’t stand
another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And then and there I made
a solemn vow with my Maker that if He would stand by you boys at
Gettysburg I would stand by Him. And He did, and I will! And after this
I felt that God Almighty had taken the whole thing into His hands.”