Existing comment:
A Final Pardon:
Returning home before an early dinner on April 14, 1865, Lincoln traced a familiar path to the War Department, accompanied by a guard named William Crook. "Crook," he remarked, "do you know, I believe there are men who want to take my life? And I have no doubt they will do it."
Yet more paperwork awaited his review. At the end, he pardoned a soldier sentenced to be shot for desertion. Lincoln had his reasons. As he put it, "I think the boy can do us more good above ground than underground." |