Presidential Visits to Antietam Battlefield-- Part 5: William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt

Continued from June 3.

President McKinley returned to Antietam Battlefield  on May 30, 1900, Memorial Day, to deliver  an address at the unveiling of the Maryland State Monument.  Interestingly, among McKinley's guests of honor  were Mr. and Mrs James Longstreet.

The next president to visit was  McKinley's successor, the old Rough Rider himself, Theodore Roosevelt.  Born in 1858, he was obviously too young to serve in the Civil War, but he did vividly remember watching the Lincoln funeral procession making its way through the streets of New York from his parents' bedroom window in April 1865.

Roosevelt visited Antietam Battlefield on September 17, 1903, to deliver a speech at the dedication of New Jersey's state monument.

--Old Secesh

Getting Ready to Go To the Lincoln Funeral Car in Antioch

I have to thank my buddy Glenn who last night at the American Legion mentioned that he and Barb had gone to the Lincoln Funeral Car in Antioch, Illinois, on Thursday.  I had forgotten entirely about it being there.

It has been there for two weeks.  On August 25, out McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group had visited it.  Of course, I would have been with them, but that happened to be Liz and my 45th wedding anniversary and we were in Galena, another place with a fair bit of Civil War history.

There were also other Civil-related things going on in Antioch while it was here, but again, I forgot about it all together.

Well, Thanks Glenn.  --Old Secesh

Lincoln's Body Arrives in Cleveland

From April 29, 1865.

"There were no social lines, no boundaries between condition separating those who, in solemn pageant, moved past the coffin that held the mortal remains of Abraham Lincoln.

"The banker and the merchant walked side by side with the laborer, the lad of fashion and estate with the lowly kitchen maid...."

--Old Secesh

AP Reports Lincoln's Funeral Procession in Washington, S.C.

Washington D.C., April 19, 1865, AP.

"From the White House to the Capitol, the roofs, porticos, windows and all elevated points were occupied by interested spectators... Many thousands of hearts throbbed in unison with the solemn dirges, as the procession slowly moved upon the way."

--Old Secesh

Lincoln's Blood Relics-- Part 12: The Mourning Drum

Abraham's Lincoln's final journey began when his body was placed on the train which traveled 1,600 miles from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois, a trip of 13 days.  One million Americans viewed his corpse in the bug cities and another seven million at least saw the train pass by.  Whenever his body was taken from the train, military units joined the procession and marched to the sound of drums.

In Springfield, his corpse was displayed for 24-hours in an open casket at the State House where he had given his famous 1858 "House Divided" speech  At 11:30 a.m. in May 4, 1865 the drums beat one last time as the procession exited and went past his home en route to Oak Ridge Cemetery.

One of those drums was recently discovered in Illinois.  It is no different from thousands of such made during the war, this one by Noble & Cooley Co. in Granville, Massachusetts.  They are still in business today.  Its oak rims have been beaten down by countless drumstick strikes and there are no marks to indicate the regiment or company it was used in.

But there is a remnant of black mourning ribbon, a few inches from a coil that must ave once laced the drum.  And, even better, on the top head there is written in ink a remarkable history: ":This Drum was Played at Pres Lincoln's Funeral in Springfield Ill."

The author says that on the day he obtained it, he held a pair of Civil War-era drumsticks in his hands and very carefully tapped out the faint, muffled sound of the funeral march.

Now, That's Some History.  --Old Secesh

Lincoln's Blood Relics-- Part 7: Lock of His Hair

Within an hour of the assassination, Mary Lincoln summoned Mary Jane Welles, wife of Secretary of the Navy Welles, to the Peterson House.  She was one of her few friends in Washington.  They had bonded over sadness: In 1862, Mary Jane had helped nurse 11-year-old Willie Lincoln until he died of typhoid fever; the next year, the Welleses lost their 3-year-old son to diphtheria.

On the morning of April 15, Lincoln's death room emptied of mourners except for one, Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who cut a generous lock of the president's hair and sealed it in a plain white envelope.  He knew to give it to Mrs. Welles.  he signed his name on the envelope then addressed it "For Mrs. Welles."

When she received it later that day, she inscribed it herself: "Lock of Mr. Lincoln's hair April 15, 1865, M.J.W."  She mounted the lock in an oval gold frame, along with dried flowers she collected from Lincoln's coffin at the April 19 White House funeral.

This isn't the only surviving lock of Lincoln's hair.  Mary Lincoln claimed one, as did several of the doctors present at the Peterson House or at his autopsy.  Others were also taken and it is a wonder that he reached his grave with any hair at all.

"But the Stanton/Welles lock, with its unparalleled provenance and interwoven tales of love and loss, is perhaps the most evocative one of all."

I Was Completely Unaware of This Story.  Wow!  --Old Secesh

Lincoln's Killing Shocked the Nation-- Part 7: "The Scene Was the Most Pathetic Ever Witnessed"

Two days later, April 21, Lincoln's slow and final journey home to Springfield, Illinois, began.  A special nine-car funeral train made stops in cities along the way, where upward of 1.5 million people viewed the coffin.

The president of the New York Central railroad was on that train and said:  "As we sped over the rails at night, the scene was the most pathetic ever witnessed.  At every crossroads the glare of innumerable torches illuminated the whole population, kneeling on the ground."

--Old secesh

Lincoln's Killing Shocked the Nation-- Part 6: Then Vengeance

The shock wave of grief was followed by a need for vengeance.  The Tribune reported a rebel sympathizer in Washington, D.C., upon being told that Lincoln was dead, said, "I am damn glad of it."  He had barely finished the statement, when the soldier put a bullet through his head.

In San Francisco, mobs attacked the offices of newspapers associated with the Democratic party, which had opposed Lincoln's re-election in 1864.  When the wife of a Copperhead (Confederate supporter) ordered her husband's store's clerks to take down the mourning drapery, a crowd assembled and forced its replacement.

Several of Booth's co-conspirators had been captured by April 19, the day of Lincoln's funeral service in the east room of the White House.  That ceremony coincided with others across the United States and the Tribune reported:  "The tears which flowed so lavishly on the announcement of his death broke out afresh, and the national sorrow knew no bounds."

The Nation Mourns Its Fallen Leader.  --Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Oct. 14th Meeting

I gave them one of my old college Civil War books to raffle off.

Upcoming events for the organization:

NEXT MONTHS PRESENTATION:  November 11th:  The presentation will be on Raids on the B&O Railroad.

BATTLEFIELD TOUR:  Some members will be gone on the 11th for a four-day tour of the Red River Campaign.  It looks like someone would have attempted to have the tour at a different time.  It looks like most of the tour will revolve around land activity.  Too bad as there was a whole lot of naval maneuvering, and, of course, the dam.

CRYSTAL LAKE DISCUSSION GROUP:  On October 25th (always the last Saturday of the month) at Panera Bread.  This month's topic will be political generals.  I wonder if there will be talk about Gen. Ben Butler?

CHRISTMAS PARTY:  Sunday, December 7th at Pinecrest Golf Club in Huntley.

LINCOLN TRAIN SESQUICENTENNIAL:  Members have been visiting Elgin, Illinois, where the funeral car Lincoln's body was in is being built.  The train will be at its final stop in Springfield, Illinois, during the first weekend in May, May 1-3rd where a lot of activities are planned.  Some members already report that some hotels are already booked for those days.

Getting Route 66 and Lincoln at the Same Time.  --Old Secesh

The Lincoln Burial Flag: "The Applegate Flag"

From Civil War Talk.

In preparation for Lincoln's state funeral, the U.S. Treasury Department telegraphed Annin & Co., and ordered 37 U.S. flags with 36 stars. The thing was, however, that there were just 35 states in April 1865, with Nevada slated to gain entrance to the Union in July 1865.

The flags were classified as "hasty flags," with stars sewed just on one side and not intended to fly. These flags were to be used just to drape the casket.  The Museum of Southern History in Jacksonville, Florida, has one of these flags called the "Applegate Flag."

 Major Lewis Applegate was a surgeon with the 102nd New York Regiment. It is dated April 15, 1865 though it is not known how it came into his possession. Lincoln was the first president to be embalmed and there is the possibility that Applegate might have been involved in the procedure. The flag had been passed down through the major's family for generations.

--Old Secesh