It was an ordinary day. Monday, February 11, 1861 and President-elect Abraham Lincoln was getting ready to board his train at the station in Springfield, Illinois for a Whistle-Stop Trip to Washington, D.C. During the next few days he would have the chance to meet many of his supporters as well as narrowly avoid an assassination attempt on his way, by rail, to the White House.
 |
| The engine that pulled Lincoln's train. |
He needed to arrive in time to take his oath as President of the United States on March 4. At approximately 7:30 a.m., the President-elect left for the railway staton without his wife, who would join him later. Wasn't long before he boarded the train at Springfield's Great Western Railroad Depot. He stood on the platform at the rear of the train and said to the crowd, "To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything...I now leave...with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington." His train made a stop at Decatur, Illinois where he greeted the crowd and then on to Tolono, Illinois for more of the same. Then it was on to Vermilion Country Train Depot and then State Line City, Indiana for more of the same. In Lafayette, Indiana he was joined by a committee of Indiana politicians in State Line City where he spoke before a crowd in Lafayette. He told the crowd, "While some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all united in one feeling for the Union.  |
| Map showing Lincoln's rail route to Washington, D.C. |
We all believe in the maintenance of the Union, of every star and every stripe of the glorious flag, and permit me to expose the sentiment that upon the union of the States, there shall be between us no difference." Before long he was back on the train and off to stops in Thorntown, Lebanon and Zionsville. He arrived at is last stop in Indianapolis, Indiana at 5:00 P.M. where he was welcomed by Governor Oliver Morton and a 34-gun salute. He joined a procession of 20,000 state legislators, public employees, soldiers, firemen and others. He stayed in Indianapolis for the night and with his wife at his side, they boarded the train at 11:00 A.M. the following morning en route to Cincinnati, Ohio. The train made stops at Shelbyville, Greensburg, Morris and Lawrenceburg before finally arriving in Cincinnati, Ohio. A public reception was held for him by the German Industrial Association where Lincoln spoke to the crowd saying, "I deem it my duty...that I should wait until the last moment, for a development of the present national difficulties before I express myself decidedly what course I shall pursue." He was reluctant throughout his rail journey to make definite public statements on the secession crisis. The following morning Mr. Lincoln was escorted by members of the Ohio Legislature to the Railroad Station where he departed on the Little Miami Railroad at 9:00 A.M. His stops on that Wednesday, February 13, 1861 were stations at Miford, Miamiville, Loveland, Morrow, Corwin, Xenia, London and Columbus, Ohio. The largest crowd to greet him was in Columbus where 60,000 people greeting him where he spoke to the public from the steps of the state Capitol, but his address was curiously "out of touch with reality" speech. "It is a consoling circumstance that when we look out there is nothing that really hurts anybody," he said. "We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody is suffering anything." The following morning, Thursday, February 14, 1861, a rainy day, he left before 8:00 A.M. for his next stop at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Short stops were made at Newark, Ohio, Frazeysburg, Dresden, Coshocton, Newcomerstown, Uhrichsville, Cadiz Juncion, Steubenville, Wellsville, Rochester, Pennsylvania and Allegheny City, PA., and Monongahela House, Pittsburgh where Lincoln was awestruck by the size and strength of the crowds that gathered to greet him on the streets of Pittsburgh. The following day, February 15 he made more stops in Ohio including Cleveland where amidst a snow storm he arrived to another large crowd. It was on this day that Lincoln's inaugural address was thought to have been lost by Robert Lincoln. The following morning, Saturday, February 16 he left to travel to Willoughby, Painesville, Madison, Geneva, and Ashtabula, Ohio where the crowds called for Mrs. Liincoln to make an appearance from the train car, but President-elect Lincoln replied that he had found it very difficult to make her do what she did not want to. Then it was on to Conneaut, Ohio before crossing into New York to Westfield where legend meets lore when then bearded Lincoln meets 12-year-old Grace Bedell, the young girl who advised him to let his whiskers grow. "Acting partly upon her suggestion, I have done so," he said. "And now, if she is here, I would like to see her." The two met and he gave her several hearty kisses amid the yells of delight from the excited crowd. Then it was off to Dunkirk, Silver Creek and Buffalo, NY where he is greeted by former President Millard Fillmore and 10,000 supporters. The following morning he left Buffalo at 5:45 in the morning, Monday, February 18 with newspaper man Horace Greeley onboard. Stops followed at Batavia, Rochester, Clyde, Syracuse, Utica, Little Falls, Fonda, Amsterdam, Schenectady and Albany, New York. Tuesday, February 19, 1861 saw stops at Troy, Hudson, Rhinebeck, Pougkeepsie, Fishkill, Peekskill and the Hudson River Railroad Company in New York City. It was here that Walt Witman said, "I shall not easily forget the first time I ever saw Abraham Lincoln...From the top of an omnibus I had, I say a capital view of it all and especially Mr. Lincoln: his looks and gait; his perfect composure and coolness; his unusual and uncouth height; his dress of complete black, stovepipe hat pushed back on this head; dark-brown complexion; seamed and winkled yet canny-looking face; black, bush head of hair; disproportionately long neck; and his hands held behind, as he stood observing people." About 250,000 people watched as Lincoln's 11-car procession to the Astor House ended his day. The following morning, Wednesday, February 20 saw stops at the Academy of Music in New York, City Hall and the Astor House. The following day he took in Cortland, St. Ferry, Jersey City, New Jersey, Newark, Elizabeth, Rahway, New Brunswick and the New Jersey State House in Trenton, NJ. The last couple of stops that day were to Bristol, PA, Kensiington Depot in Philadelphia and The Continental Hotel where he discussed a plot uncovered to assassinate him while in Baltimore. The railroad company's detectives support this intelligence. He pledges to consider altering his schedule, but insists on fulfilling his engagements in Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA. Friday, February 22, 1861 and he is at Independence Hall where he says, "I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. Before leaving, he raises a new flag of 34 stars over Independence Hall. Kansas had just been admitted earlier that month. Next it was to the Philadelphia Train Station with Allen Pinkerton accompanying him. Telegraph lines out of the city were cut to prevent word of the trip from spreading south.  |
| Lincoln's stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. |
Three more stops saw him in Leaman Place, Pennsylvania, Lancaster and Harrisburg where he went to the Pennsylvania State House. New plans were drawn for his arrival in Washington due to security worries. Saturday, February 23, 1861 had him at President Street Station in Baltimore, Maryland with an arrival in Washington, DC. The President-elect was widely ridiculed for his secretive entrance into Washington.  |
| Abraham Lincoln arriving in Washington D.C. |
Both newspapers and the general public were worried they had once again elected a weak, indecisive commander-in-chief. Fortunately for the Union, the fears were unfounded. Lincoln's Whistle-Stop Train Trip to Washington was exhausting for all. But he survived it, luckily. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment