Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. He is widely considered among the top if not the top President in our history. However, he was not viewed that way during the war for many reasons, including the difficult decisions he had to make.

For example, on September 28th, 1862 military officers led by Henry Sibley tried a group of Dakota Sioux Indians who were involved in an uprising. 303 of the men involved were sentenced to death. Abraham Lincoln decided to review the sentences and ultimately commuted the sentence of all but 38 of the men. He did this despite intense political pressure from members of his own party to execute all of them. Lincoln made a difficult decision he considered to be honorable despite the political risks.

One of the things that made President Lincoln so interesting was his willingness to take political risks for what he believed was right.

I will be continuing to post more events over the next few weeks! I look forward to sharing another historical fact with you next week. If you would like to read more, here is the website that I primarily found my information from: http://usdakotawar.org/history/aftermath/trials-hanging

Happy October.