For more than a quarter of a century on active duty, my house has been my tent, and my home the battlefield.

In all disputes between conflicting governments, it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral.

I'd rather be in a tent than in a house.

I did not expect to encounter what has beset me since my elevation to the presidency. God knows, I have endeavored to fulfill what I considered to be an honest duty, but I have been mistaken; my motives have been misconstrued and my feelings grossly betrayed.

I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.

My duty to the army and to the republic whose battles we were waging forbade me assuming a position of seeming hostility to any portion of the brave men under my command.