“Washington wears a mournful aspect from center to circumference…miles and miles of material from find & expensive crape to black calico, are devoted to draping the city in mourning.”
Few felt Lincoln’s loss more sharply than Union soldiers. Those who had fought for years and had grown fond of Lincoln reacted as if they had lost a parent. “It probably means more to me than it does to you,” a cavalryman moaned to a comrade. “He signed an order that saved me from being shot.”
Union General Ulysses S. Grant was in New Jersey when he heard the news. “This is the darkest day of my life,” the general muttered. “I do not know what it means. Here was the Rebellion put down in the field, and it is reasserting itself in the gutter. We had fought it as war, we have now to fight it as murder.”
As word spread across the country, most Northerners found themselves plunged in profound grief. One New Yorker observed men and women passing uncertainly through the streets in shock. Once reality began to sin in, even total strangers stopped on Broadway, then “sobbed like children” with one another. Ohio congressman and future president James A. Garfield remarked, “my heart is so broken…that I can hardly think or write or speak.”
“I was dumb with fear and astonishment,” one Des Moines woman remarked, “we could not talk about it…everything looked like an eclipse of the sun, our light and hope was gone…I wandered listlessly about, could not realize the awfulness of the situation.” Governor Oliver Morton was overcome with emotion when he tried to console a large crowd gathered at the Indiana statehouse, he could not continue. “His grief choked his utterance so that he was obliged to sit down,” reported a witness.
For Edwin Booth, the famous actor and brother of assassin John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s death was deeply personal and immensely painful. He remarked, “the news of the morning has made me wretched indeed, not only because I have received the unhappy tidings of the suspicion of a brother’s crime, but because a good man, and a most justly honored and patriotic ruler, has fallen, in an hour of national joy, by the hand of an assassin...Lincoln was my President for in pure admiration of his noble career & Christian principles I did what I never did before, I voted & FOR HIM! I was two days ago one of the happiest men alive…now what am I? The beautiful plans I had for the future…all blasted now.”
"I'm mad! I'm mad!": The Assault at Lafayette Park
"Assassination is not an American practice or habit, and one so vicious and so desperate cannot be engrafted into our political system. This conviction of mine has steadily gained strength since the Civil War began. Every day's experience confirms it.”
—Secretary of State William Seward, July 15, 1862
As Booth instructed, Lewis Powell knocked on the door of Secretary of State William Seward’s home shortly after ten o’clock in the evening on April 14, 1865. Once William Bell, one of the servants, opened the door, Powell stated that he had medicine from Seward’s doctor and was given strict orders to deliver it personally. As Bell opened the door to let Powell in, he argued that he was more than capable of administering the Secretary's medicine but Powell refused, insisting that he had to take it to Seward himself.
Moments later, as Powell pushed Bell out of his way and headed straight for the stairs, Frederick Seward, one of the Secretary’s sons, suddenly appeared blocking his path once more. An identical discussion ensued and quickly escalated as Powell remained adamant that he had to deliver the medicine personally and Frederick insisted on doing it himself.
Seward’s daughter Fanny and George Robinson, one of Seward's nurses, were with the Secretary in his room when they overheard some of the commotion outside. They erroneously assumed that someone, perhaps one of his cabinet colleagues, had come to visit. Without hesitation, she opened the door and whispered to her brother that their father was awake. Before Frederick could interject, Powell abruptly asked if the Secretary was asleep and Fanny replied that he was resting.
Seconds later Powell pulled out his gun, aimed it at Frederick, and fired. When the gun misfired Powell struck him with it, fracturing his skull. Leaving Frederick comatose on the floor, Powell made his way to Seward’s room, brutally attacking anyone who stood in his way. Once inside Seward’s room, Powell pulled out a large knife and slashed at Seward’s head and neck.
Robinson and Augustus Seward burst in, wrestled with the assailant, and forced him from the room. Powell, suddenly horrified by what he had done, ran from the house and out into the streets yelling "I'm mad! I'm mad!"
The brutal assault lasted mere minutes but left five members of the Seward household injured, three critically. All survived Powell’s vicious assault but carried the scars for life.
Shortly after ten o’clock p.m. on April 14, 1865, armed with a knife and pistol, George Atzerodt walked into the Kirkwood House and took a seat at the bar. Sometime before, Atzerodt, following orders from John Wilkes Booth, rented a room at the hotel one floor above the vice president’s who was temporarily living at the Kirkwood House after moving to Washington a month before for the inauguration.
Vice President Andrew Johnson, alone and unguarded, had already retired for the evening by the time Atzerodt arrived. All Atzerodt needed to do was knock on Johnson’s door and shoot him point-blank the moment the door opened.
Fortunately for Johnson, Atzerodt needed a bit of liquid courage from the hotel bar before committing murder. The more he drank, the worse the plan sounded to him and the less he wanted to be part of it. Rather than assassinating the vice president as instructed, Atzerodt lost what little courage he possessed, abandoned Booth’s insidious scheme, left the hotel, and wandered around Washington aimlessly for several hours.
Within minutes of Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson learned of the president’s fate because he happened to be staying at the same hotel as Leonard Farwell, a former governor of Wisconsin, who was in the audience at Ford’s Theatre that evening.
After Lincoln was shot, Farwell, anxious about Johnson's safety (particularly after reading a widely circulated advertisement from the Selma Dispatch in December in which a Southerner offered to kill the president, the vice president, and the secretary of state in return for a million dollars) rushed to Johnson’s residence.
When Farwell arrived at the Kirkwood House he found Johnson asleep in his bed, completely unaware of what had transpired at Ford’s Theatre and at Seward’s residence in Lafayette Park.
“The shouts, groans, curses, smashing of seats, screams of women, shuffling of feet and cries of terror created a pandemonium that…through all the ages will stand out in my memory as the hell of hells.”
—Helen Truman, April 14, 1865
As they enjoyed the performances in the comedy, Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865, Mary Lincoln leaned toward her husband, slipped her hand in his, and jokingly referred to their guests Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone as she asked, “What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?” Lincoln immediately replied, “She won’t think a thing about it.”
Shortly after this exchange, actor John Wilkes Booth stepped into the presidential box, barred the door behind him with a wooden plank he placed there earlier in the day, and quietly waited for the moment when actor Harry Hawk would be alone on stage and utter a line Booth knew would draw a big laugh from the crowd. Loud enough, he hoped, to muffle the sound of his single-shot .44 caliber Derringer pistol.
"Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal — you sockdologizing old man-trap!" The moment Harry Hawk finished delivering his line, the audience erupted into laughter. Knowing the moment was at hand, Booth quickly stepped forward, aimed his pistol at the back of Lincoln's head, and fired.
While most of the audience members missed the noise from Booth's pistol, those that did hear it largely assumed it was part of the play. As Lincoln's head slumped forward, one of the president's guests in the box, Major Henry Rathbone, immediately leapt into action and fought with the assassin to try and prevent his escape. In retaliation, Booth quickly pulled out a knife and stabbed Rathbone in the arm before stumbling to the stage below.
Despite breaking his leg in the fall, the assailant quickly stood, faced the stunned audience, and thrust his bloody dagger in the air as he yelled "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" and quickly exited through the back door.
Moments later, chaos erupted following Clara Harris's exclamation that the president had been shot. Without hesitation, Dr. Charles A. Leale, a man who graduated with an MD six weeks beforehand, rushed to the president's aid and entered the presidential box once Rathbone removed the wooden bar. Leale quickly assessed the situation. He reassured Rathbone that he would be fine and immediately turned his attention to Lincoln. Leale laid the president down on the floor, examined him, and performed CPR. Soon after, he solemnly declared: “His wound is mortal. It is impossible for him to recover."
Eventually, Lincoln’s body was moved across the street to the Petersen boardinghouse and laid diagonally on a bed too small for his 6’4 frame. All through the night Leale firmly gripped the president’s hand in his “to let him in his blindness know, if possible, that he was in touch with humanity and had a friend.”
The end of Lincoln’s suffering came at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865. Dr. Phineas Gurley, a Presbyterian pastor asked everyone in the room to pray. Once Gurley finished speaking, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton bowed his head and wept. After he somewhat recovered and composed himself, Stanton muttered, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Most students flock to the beach for spring break...I went to Cincinnati, Ohio a couple of weeks ago with one of my fantastic friends to check another of Lincoln’s cabinet members off of my “to-visit” list! Stanton, Bates, and now Chase are done. Seward and Welles (and possibly Blair...I’ve yet to decide firmly whether or not I need to visit him) are next!
Side note, Chase has an incredible view! Spring Grove Cemetery is beyond impressive if you ask me.
What sort of crazy things have you done in Lincoln’s name or for your passion of history? Please share! You’re in a judgement free zone amongst friends. :D
One of my co-workers brought in 6 or so Lincoln books he was planning to donate but wanted me to take a look at first in case I wanted any of them. I nearly died when he asked if I wanted Gideon Welles's "Lincoln and Seward" book. Ummm...YES, PLEASE. I've had a copy of it saved via google books for awhile now, but I'm beyond thrilled to have a physical copy!!! And for the record, I ended up claiming 4 of the books. I'm thrilled.
Is anybody else delighted by the fact that Walter Stahr (author of the masterful William Seward biography, Seward: Lincoln’s Indispensable Man) has finished and sent his Edwin Stanton biography off to his publisher? I cannot wait! I’ve been anxiously waiting for a tentative release date and based on his blog entries...it looks like the book is set for release in August 2017!
I’m thrilled Walter Stahr wrote a biography of Edwin Stanton (at least I’m assuming it’s a biography. If I’m wrong about that, please feel free to correct me) because of how much I enjoyed his Seward biography. It was wonderful and I can’t wait to see what he has to say about Stanton.
The most recent Stanton biography by William Marvel was a bit of a disappointment. I didn’t care much for Marvel’s writing style or his assessments of Stanton. It’s rare that I finish a biography and wonder whether or not the author even liked his subject...but that’s how I felt after finishing Marvel’s treatment.
But I digress. Thanks to a quick google search, I think it’s safe to assume that this will be the cover for Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary by Walter Stahr.
This is the greatest thing I've seen in awhile! And I most definitely purchased one of these gems for myself. "Patron saint of reunions and rail splitters" and "Saint's Day: February 12" it's too great!
“I think probably the most delicious surprise for me was the humor, to begin to discover that aspect of his character was, I think, undoubtedly used, in a conscious sense for some purpose, to make some point. There are accounts of people that came to ask him a question of, to them, great importance, found themselves in his presence, got a handshake, a story, and were out of the room before they even realized it. That’s good politics, but, I also think it was innately part of him. I think there was a very joyful element to that, actually.” – Daniel Day-Lewis on what he learned about Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln (2012) - When Bae is Mad Because You Allowed Bleary Old Preston Blair to Sojourn to Richmond to Invite Jeff Davis to Send Commissioners up to Washington with a Peace Plan
“The re-election of the President had placed him beyond the pale of human envy or detraction, as he was above human ambition; all would soon learn to see him, as the speaker and the audience had seen him, a true patriot, benevolent and loyal, honest and faithful. Hereafter all motive of detraction of him would cease to exist, and Abraham Lincoln would take his place with Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, among the benefactors of his country and the human race.”
—William H. Seward, November 1864
Now that it’s officially just past midnight on February 12, 2017…Happy Lincoln’s Birthday, everyone!
Anyone else planning to celebrate Lincoln’s 208th birthday? I made a cake earlier today and decorated for a birthday party I’m throwing on Lincoln’s behalf for a few friends tonight. Should be a good time.
Unrelated side note: what kind of prophet was Seward?! Way to anticipate Lincoln’s legendary status!
By request, a picture of the cake I made earlier. It’s been a yearly tradition of mine for about 9 years now to buy cake mix from the store along with sprinkles and whatnot to decorate it. I’ve often been asked why I don’t make Mary Lincoln’s White Cake recipe and the simple answer to that is: I don’t have the patience or ability to make a cake from scratch. This year’s was red velvet and white whipped buttercream frosting. I may need to steal a piece before my friends get here to celebrate with me!
"The re-election of the President had placed him beyond the pale of human envy or detraction, as he was above human ambition; all would soon learn to see him, as the speaker and the audience had seen him, a true patriot, benevolent and loyal, honest and faithful. Hereafter all motive of detraction of him would cease to exist, and Abraham Lincoln would take his place with Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, among the benefactors of his country and the human race."
—William H. Seward, November 1864
Now that it’s officially just past midnight on February 12, 2017...Happy Lincoln’s Birthday, everyone!
Anyone else planning to celebrate Lincoln’s 208th birthday? I made a cake earlier today and decorated for a birthday party I’m throwing on Lincoln’s behalf for a few friends tonight. Should be a good time.
Unrelated side note: what kind of prophet was Seward?! Way to anticipate Lincoln’s legendary status!
I just stumbled upon the most amazing headline from an article in the Chicago Tribune: “Lincoln v. Courthouse Pigs: A Town's Proud Moment” and knew I had to share it.
From the article:
As the story goes, a traveling lawyer named Abraham Lincoln struggled to be heard one day as he made his case in the courtroom of the central Illinois town of Taylorville. The racket disrupting the trial's proceedings stemmed from pigs squealing underneath the wooden floorboards of the courthouse, which stood 18 inches off the ground. In the face of the commotion, Lincoln is said to have asked the judge in mock earnestness for a "writ of quietus."
It’s amazing that someone decided to buy the town a statue to commemorate that event:
Monte Siegrist, a 71-year-old businessman of modest means, decided to commemorate the episode by buying his hometown a $250,000 statue despite his wife's insistence that he verify his sanity by seeing a psychiatrist (twice) and his descendants' 18-2 vote against a project that threatened their inheritance.
And I particularly enjoyed this part. I can’t even begin to imagine that conversation:
Siegrist didn't muster the nerve to tell his wife about the project until 90 minutes before county leaders were to gather for the unveiling of a possible sculpture design.
I’m sure most of you have already heard about this (the article was published in 2005 after all) but I wanted to share it just in case! Depending on the weather this weekend, I’m very tempted to go visit the statue myself because it looks fantastic.
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