Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum

From our Abraham Lincoln Collection: The Programme of Reception

Six days after his death, on April 21, 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train left Washington, D.C., to begin the more than 1,600 mile journey back to Springfield, Illinois where he was to be buried. Preparations had begun in Springfield for, the late President’s arrival, and the above Programme of Reception detailed the order in which dignitaries and other notable representatives were to receive the President’s train and transport his body to the State House. There are a few differences between what is printed in the Programme and the actual events of May 3 when Mr. Lincoln’s body arrived in Springfield.

The most notable difference is the train station that received Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train. The Programme lists the original arrival point as the Great Western Depot, the same Depot from which the President left Springfield in February 1861. Instead, the funeral train arrived at the Chicago and Alton Depot a few blocks away. All indications are that the reasons for the change were logistical. According to a 1941 article in Baltimore and Ohio Magazine which quotes James Wilkerson of Kansas City, Missouri, the funeral coach, “was constructed with four trucks instead of two, and this resulted in a great deal of difficulty during the trip to Springfield. Car ran awkwardly and great care had to exercised in passing over switch points.” This simple detail would have made it more difficult for the train to be switched over to the tracks that would have carried the funeral train to the Great Western Depot. In addition, the switchover to the Great Western Depot was south of Springfield, meaning that the train would have passed through the Chicago and Alton stop, and the masses of observers there, before coming back to the Great Western Depot. So, it appears the decision was made to simplify the process and have the funeral train come to rest at the Chicago and Alton Depot.

The other differences are relatively minor. Instead of 8 a.m., the train arrived an hour later at 9 a.m. William T. Coggeshall wrote in his 1865 book The Journeys of Abraham Lincoln: from Springfield to Washington, 1861 and from Washington to Springfield, 1865, “The Funeral Train was announced by the firing of cannon at nine o’clock. It passed into the depot through a dense crowd of expectant people, composed not only of the citizens of Sangamon County, but representing all the States touching Illinois.” The last difference is in the route of the procession. The May 4, 1865, edition of the Illinois State Journal tells us the route taken: east on Jefferson Street to Fifth Street; then south on Fifth Street to Monroe Street; east on Monroe to Sixth Street; and then north to the State House. There the procession entered through the east gate and into the Hall of Representatives via the North entrance.

Boys In Blue: 1st Lt. Michael F Swartzcope, 31st Illinois Infantry, Company A

Michael F. Swartzcope of Illinois stood six-foot-five and a half and at 41 years of age he mustered into the 31^st Illinois Infantry as a Private. Census records tell us that Michael worked as both a cooper and a surveyor before the war began. Over six foot tall and a surveyor…sound familiar? By the end of the war, Michael was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster. Michael’s Lincolnesque life continued after the war; Lincoln was a lawyer, and Swartzcope followed a law career as well, serving as a judge in Jackson County, IL from 1865 to 1869. Judge Swartzcope passed away on March 22, 1901 at the age of 80 at the Home for Disabled Veterans in Danville, IL.

Boys in Blue: Diary Entry, Pvt. Abner W Foreman, 7th Ill. Inf. Co. D

Two days after Abraham Lincoln’s death in Washington D.C., Pvt. Abner W. Foreman of the 7^th Illinois Infantry Company D “received the disturbing news” of the President’s death and wrote the following in his diary:

Beaufort, NC April 17, Monday

The darkest day in the annals of our country. Just received the disturbing news that Abraham Lincoln has been assassinated. The numerous ships here in the harbor have the stars & stripes at haf mast as a token of National grief. The countenance of every union man is the very picture of grief. It seems to the me the darkest day I ever Saw. Wo be unto traitors is the but determined expression of all soldiers here

Boys In Blue: Diary Entry, Pvt. James W Ferguson, 10th Ill. Inf. Co. G

Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 and died the next day at 7:22 a.m. Word immediately spread about the President’s death, but the information wasn’t always accurate. This diary entry from two days after the event in WashingtonD.C.by Pvt. James W Ferguson of the 10^th Illinois Infantry, Company G is an example of how information transfer became a game of “telephone.” The basic facts are correct, but some of the details are skewed.

Monday April 17..1865

All is quite today, nothing farther in reguar to Jonsons surrender—-but the terebal news has reached us of the ontimely death of our President Abraham Lincoln. he was assasionated when at the theater the assasian Shot him through the head. as he was getting up to leave at 10 oclock and Pm and lived till 10 oclock Am and died, the likewise brook into Secretary Seward house and pearced him in several places and his Sun served in the same manner, the think Seward will recover but his sun is not expected to recover, the assasians is not found yet

Letters from the Boys In Blue: General Grant had no political aspirations

Ulysses S. Grant was building momentum in the Civil War, having won victories in April 1862 at Shiloh and earlier in 1863 at Vicksburg and Chattanooga. As a result of his military victories, General Grant’s political star was starting to brighten, although he did not realize it at the time. In December 1863, Barnabus Burns, who was the chairman of the “War Democrats” in Ohio, sent Grant a letter asking to present the general’s name as a presidential candidate at the Democratic Convention. You’ll find General Grant’s December 17, 1863 response below:

Chattanooga Tennessee,

December 17^th 1863,

B. Burns, Esq.

Chairman Dem. Cen. Com.

Dear Sir:

Your letter of the 7^th inst. asking if you will be at liberty to use my name before the Convention of the “War Democracy”, as candidate for the office of the Presidency is just received. – The question astonishes me. I do not know of anything I have ever done or said that would indicate that I could be a candidate for any office whatever within the gift of the people. I shall continue to do my duty, to the best of my ability, so long as permitted to remain in the Army, supporting whatever Administration may be in power, in their endeavor to suppress the rebellion and maintain National Unity, and never desert it because my vote, if I had one, might have been cast for different candidates.

Nothing likely to happen would pain me so much as to see my name used in connection with a political office. I am not a candidate for any office nor for favors from any party. Let us succeed in crushing the rebellion, in the shortest possible time, and I will be content with whatever credit may then be given me, feeling assured that a just public will award all that is due.

Your letter I take to be private. Mine is also private. I wish to avoid notoriety as far as possible, and above all things desire to be spared the pain of seeing my name mixed with politics. Do not therefore publish this letter but wherever, and by whatever party, you hear my name mentioned in connection with the candidacy for any office say that you know from me direct that I am not “in the field,” and cannot allow my name to be used before any convention.

I am, with great respect,

Your obt. Svt.

U.S. Grant

Soon after this letter was sent, Grant would be promoted to Lieutenant General and given command of the entire Union army. Four and a half years later, in late 1868, the Confederacy was no more, President Lincoln had been assassinated, and the general who stated “Nothing likely to happen would pain me so much as to see my name used in connection with a political office” was elected to his first of two terms as the eighteenth President of the United States.

Letters from Home: Eleanor “Ella” Gordon to her father Samuel

On the first of October in 1863, Private Samuel Gordon of the 118^th Illinois Infantry Company C sat in a camp near Berwick Bay, LA and wrote to his wife Permilia. Ten days later, Permilia wrote back to Samuel and in the letter included an additional letter from their eldest daughter Ella, who had just turned eleven years old.

Hamilton

Oct 11 1863

dear papa

I thought I would write you a letter. I have put those apples you spoke of up for you. I keep your room in order. I go to school to Miss Safford I like her verry much I wish you would come home very much

From your daughter

Ella Gordon

Samuel Gordon would muster out of the Union Army on October 1, 1863 in Baton Rouge, LA and return home to Hamilton, IL. Ella grew up and would go by her given name, Eleanor. Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon became a teacher, a minister in the Unitarian Church, and a leader of the Suffragette movement in Iowa.

Boys In Blue: Pvt. William Baker Kaericher, 66^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company I

At the age of eighteen, William Baker Kaericher from Edwards, Illinois was mustered into the Union Army on November 25, 1861 at Benton Barracks, Missouri. The 66^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was more commonly known as the “Western Sharpshooters.” To qualify as a member of the company, the volunteers had to pass a rigid shooting test: From a distance of 200 yards, three shots could average no more than 3 1/3 inches from the center of bull’s-eye.

As a member of the sharpshooters, William Kaericher fought in many of the Civil War’s major battles including Shiloh, Corinth, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. Despite seeing this much action in a bloody Civil War, William survived and filed for his pension on December 5, 1866.

“Uncle Bill,” as he was would later be known, married Mary Fishel in May 1870 and settled in Brocton, Illinois as a blacksmith. They remained married until her death in February 1927. “Uncle Bill” lived another six years and passed away in April 1933, four days after his 90^th birthday. The following poem was included in his obituary in the April 19, 1933 edition of the Brocton Weekly Review:

He never spake an unkind word,
By malice he was never stirred,
His was the clearer, kindlier eye
Which lets the little flaws pass by
Unnoticed, but is quick to see
The good in all humanity.

His was the friendly life and brave,
Unto this world himself he gave.
His dreams were lofty, and his
creed
Found adherence in many a deed.
Clean, manly, upright to the end
He taught us how to be a friend.

Letters Home: Knowlton Howard Chandler to his mother

Captain Knowlton Howard Chandler of the 19th Illinois Infantry Company F sent this letter home to his mother in Chandlerville, IL. One of the highlights of the letter is Captain Chandler’s description of how he was heating his tent. The whole letter can be found below:

Camp Anderson, Oct 24^th 1861

My Dear Mother

In haste I seat myself to answer your favor which reached me on the 21^st. I was glad to here from you, & hope you will write often. I was sorry that the mony I sent you would not pass. I have changed the bill here for the Gold, without loss. it is concidered to be the best mony in the state, & I supposed it would be good in Illinois. to day is a great day with us. it is Pay day. our Company are to be Paid this afternoon which will prevent my writing much. we have been at this place 3 or 4 weeks but will probably leave here tomorro such a rest we have not taken before since our start from Chicago, we are going about 12 miles nearer the Enemy the only fault we find is that we cannot go much nearer to them, I still enjoy myself, & have good health. the weather is getting quite cool, but I have made my tent comfortable by a putting into use my mecanical engenuity. I dug a trench through my tent & under the curtain covered it with stone & dirt procured a joint of stove pipe & set it up at the end of the trench on the out side, Built a fire in the Tent, at the other end of the trench & I can tell you that it warms the tent finely I would like to have you look in upon us some cool evening & see how comfortable we are. the word has just come for us to go & draw our mony so I will Bid you good By for the present. I send you 1 $5⁰⁰ Bill United States Mony which is good as the gold. I hope you will get it. do not fail to ask for more when ever you want any give love to all Friends. Please tell Emma that I have written to ~~the~~ Dr. Lippincott three or Four times, but have receive no answer. tell her to mention the fact when she writes to him. give my love to her, tell her that I often think of the good meals & the Pronunciation of (Euphratise)

From your son with much love

K H Chandler

Letters Home: Charles Brush to his parents following William’s death

Previously, we posted letters from William Brush to Charles and subsequently, the letters from the boys’ father H.L. to Charles regarding William’s sickness and then, death. In the letter below, Charles writes to H.L. saying, “…little did I think when I bid him good by at the depot last fall that it was for the last time on earth.” The full letter can be read below:

H(ea)d Q(uarter)s 53^rd Ill Vol

Memphis April 18^th /63

My dear Father and Mother,

Your kind but

dreadfully sad letter ~~letter~~ of the 14^th inst was received about noon today. I

would not write to night but I know that in Your sad berevement that You are

anxious to hear from me. You only, who alike with me are afflicted can immagine

with what surprise and anguish I read the sad news of Dear Williams death, and

even now I can hardly realize the fact but little did I think when I bid him good by

at the depot last fall that it was for the last time on earth. and although I was

not permitted to see and be with him in his last hours, I thank God that You was

there and that he did not die among strangers alone and I pray God that we may

all bear up under this load of grief and affliction and be reconciled to the will of

~~him~~ our Heavenly Father. O, I would have given any and evry thing if I could have

seen him before he was consigned to his last resting place, but it is now too late,

it is hard for me to think of, but a kind providence ordered that I should be here,

His will be done. I am content to stay where I am but on Your accounts it would

give me pleasure to spend a few day at home but is seems impossible I hope and

trust that You Dear Father and Mother will not give way in this hour of affliction.

I fear it will make Mother sick and almost dread to see the next letter. May God in

his mercy be with You all to keep and strengthen You My friends in the Regt (they

are not a few) many of them friends and acquaintances of Will) deeply

sympathise with me in this berevement , but I can not write more now. I am

quite well. love to all of You. it rains very hard to night. write soon and often.

Affclly Your Son,

Chas. H. Brush

Letters Home: Hiram Roberts to his young daughter Nellie

Hiram P Roberts, Chaplain, HQ, 84^th Illinois Infantry, sent this letter on Christmas Day in 1863 to his five year old daughter, Nellie.

Papa’s Log Cabin

Whiteside Tenn

Christmas Day

Darling Nellie

Your little letter came to me the other day & I was glad to get it. Tell Emma I thank her for writing it for you. I suppose you are having a good time to day. Did Kris Kringle bring you anything last night? I don’t believe he comes down this way at all for I haven’t heard anything about him. I haven’t anything to send you for a Christmas present so I will put in 25 cents & you may get what you want or what mama thinks is best.

Be a good girl & mind mamma & I shall love you all the better.

A Merry Christmas to you from

Papa