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East Room Requiem:
On Monday, April 17, Lincoln's mahogany casket, lead-lined and covered in black broadcloth, was moved to the East Room of the White House. Lincoln's eight pallbearers removed their shoes so that they could move through the halls of the White House without disturbing Mary Lincoln, who was immobilized by grief in her upstairs bedroom.
The next day, an estimated 25,000 mourners filed through the room, which was swathed in black crepe and wool cloth. Workmen labored through the night constructing wooden risers to accommodate the 600 guests invited to Wednesday's funeral. Mrs. Lincoln did not attend the service.
The First Funeral:
In place of his mother, Robert Todd Lincoln sat at the foot of the imposing catafalque. Beside him were two of his maternal aunts plus Lincoln's White House secretaries, John Hay and John Nicolay. At noon, President Johnson and his Cabinet appeared. Ulysses S. Grant stood alone at the head of the catafalque, fighting back tears.
Rev. Phineas Gurley of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Lincoln had sometimes attended services, preached the funeral sermon.
March to the Capitol:
At two o'clock on April 19, to the sound of guns and military bands, Lincoln's remains were taken in procession from the White House to the U.S. Capitol. The 22nd United States Colored Infantry headed the parade. Several thousand African Americans, many of whom were former slaves, marched behind a banner that read, "We Mourn Our Loss."
"The day was cloudless," wrote journalist Noah Brooks, "and the sun shone brilliantly upon cavalry, infantry, artillery, marines, associations, and societies, with draped banners, and accompanies in their slow march by mournful dirges from numerous military bands."
An Emotional Scene:
Beneath the soaring white marble done that symbolized the Union he preserved, Abraham Lincoln lay in the new black suit he had worn to his second inaugural. Before the doors were closed at midnight, 40,000 of his countrymen streamed through the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to the late president. "Some would burst into tears and sobs, others would flush up with fire and indignation and mutter curses loud and deep on the cowardly assassins and their instigators," wrote William Gamble, a Union army officer who supervised the honor guard. |