Just Five Words.. One Decision That Helped Break the Shackles of Slavery

A Lesson in Leadership and Communication
On April 7, 1865, the American Civil War was nearing its end.

Major General Philip Sheridan sent a message to his superior, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant.

“If the thing is pressed, I think that Lee will surrender.”

Grant forwarded the message to President Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln replied with just five words:

“Let the thing be pressed.”

No speech.
No explanation.
No second-guessing.

Lincoln trusted Sheridan’s judgment.
He trusted Grant’s leadership.
He made the decision.
Grant and Sheridan executed it.

Two days later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered.

The surrender accelerated the end of the Civil War and helped pave the way for the abolition of slavery. Later that year, the Thirteenth Amendment ended the legal bondage of nearly four million enslaved people in the United States.

The Lesson

Do not let the importance of a communication complicate its simplicity.

Many people write to impress.
Great leaders write so others can act.
More words rarely create more clarity.

Five words helped change history.

Before we send any message, ask:
Does it give the reader something to feel, remember, or do?