Existing comment:
Soldier's [sic] Home, Washington, DC
Charles Magnus, ca 1863
While Lincoln's commute allowed him to engage directly with wounded soldiers and self-emancipated men, women, and children, it also made him a target for potential assassins and kidnappers. For example, just outside the gates of the Soldiers' Home, a "foolish gunner" knocked Lincoln's signature stovepipe hat from his head. When sentinels later recovered the hat, they found a bullet hole through the center. When pressed about the lack of security around the Cottage, President Lincoln responded, "I cannot be shut in an iron cage... if to kill me is within the purposes of this rebellion, no precaution can prevent it."
Lincoln reluctantly accepted a cavalry escort to accompany him on his daily commute. As Walt Whitman described, "He always has a company of twenty-five or thirty cavalry, with sabres drawn and held upright over their soldiers." Whitman went on to say, "They say this guard was not his personal wish, but he left his counselors have their way." |