 Lincoln demonstrated then and now how a person can possess both a will of iron and a heart of tenderness. Nothing deterred the President during the American Civil War from his noble cause, and few persons have ever endured more criticism and detractors than Lincoln. Yet he was no more a man of steel than one of velvets. When General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army, Lincoln sent an unexpected message to the enemy commander. Tell your men that they may keep their horses. They'll need them for plowing, said the President.