By the end of the war, he increasingly appealed to the Almighty for solace and to explain events, writing on April 4, 1864, to a newspaper editor in Kentucky:
baɪ ðɪ ˈɛnd ʌvðə wˈɔːɹ, hiː ɪŋkɹˈiːsɪŋli ɐpˈiːld tə ðɪ ɔlmˈaɪɾi fɔːɹ sˈɑːlɪs ænd tʊ ɛksplˈeɪn ᵻvˈɛnts, ɹˈaɪɾɪŋ ˌɔn ˈeɪpɹəl fˈoːɹ, wˈʌn θˈaʊzənd ˈeɪthˈʌndɹɪd sˈɪksti fˈoːɹ, tʊ ɐ nˈuːzpeɪpɚɹ ˈɛdɪɾɚɹ ɪn kɛntˈʌki: