This poor little museum, one room, doesn't get a lot of visitors, but is well worth the time to stop. Located a few blocks south of the Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois, admission is free but donations really needed.
GAR stands for the Grand Army of the Republic which was an organization formed by Union veterans after the Civil War.
It houses all sorts of items donated by various Springfield area Union veterans and their prized possession is the US flag hanging from Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater at the time of the assassination. This is the flag that John Wilkes Booth got his spur tangled in on his jump to the stage that caused him to break his foot.
You can see the tear in the flag as well as some blood from Major Rathbone who grappled with Booth before he jumped. Booth stabbed him.
This flag alone is worth going to the place.
Of interest, the World War II veteran who was tending the place when I was there was a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I thought that was pretty good that an SCV member would be watching over a GAR museum.
I Guess Some Civil War Wounds Have Healed. --Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment