Lincoln on the Civil War: Selected Speeches

Lincoln on the Civil War: Selected Speeches

This is a small (127 pages) volume that brings together 9 of Lincoln's speeches. These are generally considered to be his most important speeches (one is more a writing than a speech but you get the idea). The speeches are:

Address to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838

"House Divided" speech at Springfield, June 16, 1858

Address at Cooper Institute, February 27, 1860

Speech at Independence Hall, February 22, 1861

First Inaugural Address

Emancipation Proclamation

Gettysburg Address

Second Inaugural Address

Speech on Reconstruction, April 11, 1865

There are a ton of collections of Lincoln's speeches and writings. I personally have one of the larger (though not nearly complete) two volume works. I think every Civil War library needs some sort of "Lincoln's Greatest Hits" volume. If you only want a few top hits, then this volume might be enough for you. If you want to have a wider range of speeches and writings than this one is much too skimpy.

Lincoln and the Decision for War by Russell McClintock

Awhile back a good friend asked me to make a list of pre-Civil War books, books that explore the growing conflict. I selected The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Freehling's Road to Disunion: Secessionists Triumphant, Lincoln: President Elect by Holzer, Cry Havoc by Nelson Lankford, Lincoln and the Decision for War by McClintock, Outbreak of the Rebellion by Nicolay and Fires of Jubilee by Oates. This list was being used to create a display at the Barnes and Noble he works at so I kept the list to recently published books or things I was sure would still be in print. No sense saying a book last published in 1959 was a must have, they could not stock it.

For some books I also said what I knew of it, what period of time it covered or whatever else seemed important to tell. For McClintock’s Lincoln and the Decision for War I wrote that I had heard from several other sources that this was one of the better books to come out in 2008 but that I had not read it. A day or so later I finished Grierson’s memoirs (my review of which was posted here two days ago) and I remembered my own words on the book, so since I did not have anything lined up to read next I started McClintock’s book. I don’t think I’d say it was the best book of 2008 but I did enjoy it.

McClintock follows the various political factions in the North from Lincoln’s election through his call for volunteers following the firing on Fort Sumter. He does a good job of explaining how the various Republican factions came together to win the election and then how Lincoln had to hold them together until Inauguration Day when he could wield firmer control. He ran the very real risk of elements of his party working together with the Democrats for peace at any cost, which he certainly did not want.

He desired peace but there were certain things he would not waver on. The main thing he wouldn’t waver on was if any agreement was reached that made it seem he had to concede things to be allowed to be inaugurated. The Republicans had won an election fairly and if they now had to concede things it would be a backward step for democracy. The unhappy minority could not be allowed to dictate how things would happen, that would completely undermine the foundations of representative democracy. This prevented most forms of compromise from happening at all. This was also partly because the Democrats, mostly Southern Democrats, were not just happy with a promise of an extension of the Missouri Compromise Line, they wanted a much harsher fugitive slave law, or they wanted slavery protected in the Constitution, or some other promise that the Republicans could not agree to without abandoning the platform they ran on.

So how did Lincoln keep all these factions in line well enough that nothing was agreed upon that he could not live with? Through old fashioned party politics. He pressured state party leaders to keep their senators and representatives in line. He kept quiet enough that no one really knew what he was going to do, so they stuck to the party line to keep their own prospects bright. An example is that Lincoln kept his cabinet choices quiet much longer than he needed to partly because the various factions would not step out of line thinking it might cost their part of the party from a choice cabinet post when often the decision was already made. When the state party leader told them what was expected of them they mainly behaved because they didn’t want to mess up their faction’s, or their own, prospects.

McClintock does give President James Buchanan some praise, mainly by pointing out that it really was a very tricky situation and there was very little Buchanan could really do alone after the election. If Lincoln wanted to wait til he was president to make things happen, to work on a peaceful compromise there really was little Buchanan could do with the make up in Congress he faced then. There is one place that McClintock really points out a weak side of Buchanan, but doesn’t skewer him as savagely as he could have. Buchanan’s attorney general, Jeremiah S. Black, told him that he could not fill the vacant posts in South Carolina, such as customs collector, unless the local federal officers requested assistance. Since all the federal officers resigned in South Carolina there was no one there to request assistance so Buchanan could not send anyone down there to fill the abandoned posts. This is just nonsense. Basically Black was saying that since all of South Carolina’s federal employees quit there could be no federal presence there anymore. If one man had stayed on the job then he could ask for help but if he didn’t there would be no new appointees sent to South Carolina. But in reality these men just switched their allegiance to South Carolina. The duties were still collected but the money went directly to the state and not the federal government. Black envisions a federal government so weak that any state anytime could just have its federal employees resign in mass and the federal government could do nothing about it. Buchanan accepts this opinion. McClintock should have skewered this opinion as idiotic. He doesn’t do that but he puts the facts out there well enough that the rest of us can see how silly Black’s opinion was and think less of Buchanan for accepting such an opinion.

Cry Havoc covered some of the same ground as McClintock, although the focus of Cry Havoc was from the inauguration to the opening shots. And I’m sure Holzer’s Lincoln: President Elect also covers similar ground. I enjoyed Cry Havoc and have recently started President Elect. I definitely think there is enough new in McClintock’s book to recommend it.

I've read a review of Holzer's book that says he challenges the commonly held belief that Lincoln did not do much during the secession winter. I think McClintock does a good job too of showing that Lincoln did much but it was behind the scenes. Keeping the various factions together was a big job plus he also had to deal with early office seekers and crafting his inaugural address. Perhaps though Holzer spends more time on Lincoln as McClintock's goal was more of what was happening in the North while the South started to secede. Lincoln is definitely part of that equation but McClintock spends quite a bit of time discussing aspects from all areas of the North.
From what I've read so far of President Elect my initial opinion is that Holzer is providing more details than McClintock did. McClintock would report that Lincoln went to Chicago and met with Hamblin to discuss cabinet possibilities. Holzer gives more details like who Lincoln traveled with, who else he met with, who he had dinner with, etc. And there is value in all that but on the other hand a wealth of details can sometimes draw the focus away from the message. If I could only keep one of the two books I'm not sure which one I'd keep, not yet.

A slightly different version of this review appears in the July issue of Civil War News.

Lincoln Unmasked by DiLorenzo

Lincoln Unmasked by Thomas DiLorenzo

After my Springfield trip I picked up a bunch of Lincoln books from the library. Some were worthwhile (Land of Lincoln and Following in Lincoln's Footsteps were ones I really enjoyed). Others were not worthwhile. I knew DiLorenzo's book was likely to be a waste but I was curious and decided to take a look. I shouldn't have wasted my time.

Basically DiLorenzo will pick one Lincoln statement or action and draw a much larger conclusion that anyone else does. For instance he'll point out that Lincoln did say in the Lincoln-Douglas debates that he was not for black suffrage. He'll use that to say Lincoln was not the Great Emancipator that he's been labeled. While its fair to point out the varied aspect of Lincoln's life it is quite different to say he doesn't deserve to be called the Great Emancipator because he also said some racist things.

He also goes into a ton of detail exploding various quotes that are attributed to Lincoln. I didn't mind this too much except that there seems to be too much time wasted on it. The quotes in question were of the folk wisdom type, things like "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today." I don't think it really matters one way or the other if Lincoln said that. But this section was only a minor complaint compared to the rest of the book.

After reading this I'm sorry I wasted my time and I'm sorry that the library wasted that money. It could have used that to buy a book that would actually educate its patrons. Don't waste your own time or money on this book.

Land of Lincoln

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson

In my blog comments for the Springfield visit it was suggested that I read this book, so I hit the library and snagged a copy. I really enjoyed this book. The simplest description is that its a Lincoln version of Confederates in the Attic. That's probably not a totally fair comparison for either book but it fits. The category of books on travels in Civil War territory has existed since the eve of the war and will likely long continue.

Ferguson goes to a number of Lincoln sites, hitting places that Lincoln was at. This means trips to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania and Washington DC. He also makes some side trips to other areas to talk to prominent Lincoln collectors and scholars but he spends a lot of time in Illinois, for obvious reasons.

Ferguson tries to deal with the many sides of Lincoln. I'm not sure anyone can completely explain why Lincoln is this way but it seems that he cannot be pinned down to one particular point. There is something in him that everyone can love and hate. In an early scene in the book an anti-Lincoln man is told by Ferguson that a particular group of Lincoln scholars (who weren't venomously anti-Lincoln) complained that Lincoln was a wimp, and he responded "Jesus, even I don't think he was a wimp." For everyone who thinks Lincoln was a great president there is something about him that they can pick on as a weakness and for everyone who hates Lincoln there is something there that they think was a strength. He can be all things to all people, maybe that's part of being a politician or maybe its because Lincoln generally didn't reveal too much to other people.

I especially enjoyed the section on Springfield because I had just been there and some things were familiar. But I also enjoyed the last section of the book where he takes his family on a trip following Lincoln in reverse from Springfield to Hodgenville. Ferguson meets a lot of interesting characters along the way and sees some great sites. Some of them are great because of the artifacts there; at the Lincoln Homestead you can see the bed his mother used as a child and the household items that his father made by hand. Or for the oddities of the place; the reconstructed log cabin at Lincoln's birth site wouldn't fit the protective building so they cut it to fit, luckily it wasn't really the original cabin just a cabin everyone believed was the original.

I would highly recommend this book. It was a pretty quick read. I don't think I'd buy a copy for my own shelves but that's mostly a space issue. But if I ended up acquiring a cheap or free copy along the way I'd certainly keep it.

Following in Lincoln's Footsteps

Following in Lincoln's Footsteps by Ralph Gary

After blogging about my visit to Springfield Chris suggested that I check out "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America" by Andrew Ferguson. When I reserved that one from the library I also reserved Following in Lincoln's Footsteps. I'm glad I did.

Following in Lincoln's Footsteps really does follow Lincoln. If he was there, or even rumored to have been there, Gary has a note about it. The section on Springfield is very detailed and whenever I get back there I will use this book extensively. In fact I think I will have to buy this book (I found a used copy on amazon that will run $4 with shipping).

As an example of a rumored visit is the entry for Sheboygan, Wisconsin. "It is possible Lincoln visited sometime between 1835 and 1840 with the view of opening a law office, although this is not generally accepted." I had never heard about this which seems a little odd because I have spent a fair amount of time in Sheboygan as I have quite a bit of family back there. Its interesting to think what might have happened if he had really moved there. If he stayed in Sheboygan he probably would not have been in position to run for President. If he had later moved to Madison or Milwaukee maybe he would have ended up running for President. Its interesting to think how history might have been different based on the variable of where Lincoln decides to practice law in the 1840s.

Lincoln Presidential Library

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part).

It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Considering how much attention they devote to the Civil War his life before the war goes pretty fast. He’s just learning to read, then he’s a young lawyer and then he’s debating Douglas. While they might be going a bit fast its doubtful most people would have been too interested in his complete life story I understand the rapid rise they follow.

The White House years are laid out a bit oddly. First it’s a long gallery of how badly Lincoln was hated in the press. I guess they want to make that point really clear. Then they get into the sorrow he faced with losing a son. Then its on to the Emancipation Proclamation. They beat you over the head with this too, I guess for people uninitiated in the Civil War its necessary to bombard them with the message that people thought he didn’t do enough or did too much, that the proclamation freed no one or that it was just the first necessary step to the end. But to me it was a bit much, I know all those arguments. There was a gallery that had a life size replication of the cabinet meeting when Lincoln unveiled his plan for emancipation. That was pretty neat, in fact there are wax figures all over the museum that are laid out in nice life size dioramas. Then there is a war exhibit that has a map presentation of the war in 4 minutes. I’ve seen this before when the traveling Lincoln exhibit came to Denver last year. It also used to be on youtube but was removed. You can buy it in the gift shop but I thought $12.99 for a 4 min program was steep. If it had included copies of the other museum video I think I would have done it or if it had included images from the other exhibits since photography was prohibited in those areas. After that war room is a Gettysburg Address room, then a room that quickly brings the war to a close. Lincoln is killed and the funeral procession brings it to an end.

They show a movie called “Lincoln’s Eyes” that I almost passed up. I thought what new could I really learn. But the show was about to start and I had the time so I did it. It was a great presentation although I don’t think there was anything shown that I didn’t already know. My advice is to sit at the back of the auditorium. There are three screens that rotate new scenes, the center is obviously where the most action happens but the other two show enough different things that you really will want to sit near the back so you don’t have to turn your head as much. I think the visual presentation does a good job of showing the variety of sides of Lincoln. You should be forewarned that there are bright lights and the seats shake at times. This scared some of the little children in the theater and shocked me the first time it happened.


Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

The park across the street from the Lincoln Presidential Museum

The entrance to the pre-Civil War life of Lincoln exhibits

And the Lincoln White House entrance

Grant and McClellan sharing a cup of coffee. This was an odd choice of Union commanders to showcase as their styles were so different. But maybe that was the point of this choice.

The Lincoln family. That is John Wilkes Booth peering at Lincoln from over Mary Todd's shoulder.

Lincoln's law office across from the Old State Capitol. It wasn't open for tours when I was there, I probably didn't have time anyway.

The Old State Capitol

This style of Lincoln related marker is all over the downtown area. This one is for Lincoln's dentist but I drove past a ton of these. I bet there is a brochure somewhere that lists these as a walking tour. I bet doing this is a half day project in itself.

On the way into town I saw that Lincoln's house and the railroad depot were close by. I saw signs pointing the way to his tomb but knew I didn't have enough time to do that so I'm not sure how close that is to the downtown area.

I'm back

As I stated in my last post I was on vacation last week. My grandmother’s 80th birthday was March 13th so we went back there to surprise her. My parents had flown out earlier in the week to give her a party but no one knew we were coming too. We drove through the night and got to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in time for the party and gave everyone a surprise they won’t soon forget. That weekend we also saw many of my cousins on my father’s side. They had met my wife and son last year at my grandfather’s funeral but this was a much better reunion.

Saturday we went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. My son loves trains so he was in hog heaven. He got to climb on many old trains. There were not any trains from the Civil War but there were some interesting things to see anyway. Later that day we stopped at one of Oshkosh’s Civil War monuments, this one is for Camp Bragg that gave soldiers of the 21st and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry their first brush with the realities of being a soldier.

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part). It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

Then we headed down the road towards home. We passed around St. Louis, which is an accomplishment as the last time I went through St. Louis I had to get a different car to complete the journey. The next morning I convinced everyone to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum. These were both neat to see. I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar.

Some shots from the road:

Grandpa driving Big Boy (world's largest steam engine)

A big boy driving something not as big as the Big Boy

Stuck in the top of the caboose

"Trains and cannons in the same day?! Wow!"

Lincoln showing the way to his museum

Constitutional Hall

Portable Lincoln edited by Andrew Delbanco

The Portable Lincoln edited by Andrew Delbanco.


I got this Penguin book the other day and quickly went through it since I just posted another Lincoln book review two days ago. This book is a compilation of Lincoln's speeches and letters. Obviously there is a fair amount of official papers, things like inaugural speeches, the Gettysburg Address, both versions of the Emancipation Proclamation. Plus there are some writings from his Lincoln-Douglas Debate days and his growth in the Republican Party. I also own a two volume collection of Lincoln writings from the Library of America edited by Don Fehrenbacher. I grabbed those volumes and compared theme to this new book to see if it had anything that had not been selected for those volumes.

Surprisingly there were two items that were not in those volumes. The first was a letter to Welles in which Lincoln says that Lieutenant Worden has informed him that the Confederates could easily board and capture the Monitor by wedging the turret and pouring water into the machinery. Lincoln says that Worden thinks they should not go "sky-larking" up to Norfolk. Its somewhat interesting but not that important.

The other letter is a memorandum on furloughs from November 1862. I thought it was interesting enough that I'd provide the entire text here.

"The Army is constantly depleted by company officers who give their men leave of absence in the very face of the enemy, and on the eve of an engagement, which is almost as bad as desertion. At this very moment there are between seventy and one hundred thousand men absent on furlough from the Army of the Potomac. The army, like the nation, has become demoralized by the idea that the war is to be ended, the nation united, and peace restored, by strategy, and not by hard desperate fighting. Why, then, should not the soldiers have furloughs?"

I think he is exaggerating the number of men on furlough but his point is more about the fact that there are too many furloughs. He knows this war is going to be won by desperate fighting and he wants as many men in the ranks as possible. It has to gall him to think that battles are being lost, and generals complaining that they need more men, when there are men on furlough that might swing the tide of battle. An extra 35,000 men in any battle would probably tip the scales for the Army of the Potomac.

I thought the selections were well done. I would have liked some notes giving some background for some of the writings but that was not provided. I found myself going over some of Lincoln's speeches and writings that I had not read in awhile. Recent events prompted me to read his inaugural addresses again. Reading Lincoln always reminds me of what a talented writer he was. He seems to have been able to make the mundane interesting to read.

If I did not already own the two volume set I would definitely add this book to my library. Since I have the larger set I will donate this book to my roundtable's monthly raffle. It is a good book worthy of inclusion in any library, as long as you do not already own one of the larger collections of Lincoln's writings.

Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Thomas Keneally

Abraham Lincoln: A Life by Thomas Keneally


I thought this was a very good read. It is a very basic biography of Lincoln, hits the main points. Not an incredible amount of detail but that is not the goal of the book. I'm sorry that this will not be a lengthy review but in some respects it does not need to be. This is a short biography of Lincoln that will not bog you down with too many details, yet it also does give you a good portrait of the man. This past year I've been sent quite a few books on Lincoln, most of them for a general audience, not the audience who wants to know what Lincoln ate after he gave the Gettysburg address or what songs he whistled while he walked to the telegraph office at the War Department. And this book is one of the better ones. I would have no problem recommending this book to someone who wanted to learn a bit more about Lincoln, and then they could decide if they wanted to dig into one of the many behemoth biographies.


Keneally is probably best known for Schindler's List. He's also ventured into the Civil War before with the novel Confederates. I thought that book was okay, its been awhile since I read it so I cannot give a real review of it.

Abe Lincoln's Hat

Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner (Author) and Donald Cook (Illustrator)

During the holidays my parents bought my son this book. Its a level 3 book in the Step into Reading series which is a first grade level book. Basically it means longer sentences, and formation of paragraphs. My son loves John brown, loves his Lincoln on a stick, and basically soaks up anything about the Civil War. I encourage it because I know there will come a time that he'll rebel against the Civil War and I'll lose my Civil War buddy. He might not, he might come back to the war later, who knows. So for now I try to enjoy this.

Anyway, he loves this book. He asks for it once or twice a week. The story is simple. Lincoln is a poor (monetarily) lawyer but he tries to dress up, which means buying a top hap. His office is also very messy. One day he realizes he could store important papers in the hat and he would be reminded about them every time he took off the hat. Then it provides a few examples from Lincoln's law career. Each highlight is basically a common sense approach to law. Two men claim they own the mother of a prized young horse. Lincoln convinces them to put the two horses in a field, release the young horse and it will go its mother. Are the stories true? I don't really know but they sound like the sort of stories Lincoln would tell. The end of the book deals with Stephen Douglas and ends with Douglas holding Lincoln's hat at the inauguration, which is true. All in all the book seems accurate, nothing jumps out as obvious fiction. I think it is a good book to get a young kid interested in the Civil War. The book might say its for a first grader but my preschooler (5 years old) loves the story and can understand it just fine. He doesn't know all the words yet but he'll get there.

I would recommend this book for anyone trying to get a child interested in history.

Emancipation Proclamation

As I mentioned on Wednesday the Rocky Mountain News is rolling out a series of the top 150 front pages in their 150 years of publishing. Yesterday the article was on Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In it the modern author said that "Regular readers of the Rocky weren't surprised by the proclamation. Nine months earlier, on April 8, 1862, the newspaper printed the president's announcement of his intention to seek adoption of the proclamation by Congress. The paper made its position clear on the matter in an accompanying note:
'The last mail ... brought scores of Eastern and Western papers with similar recommendations. The voice of the press is almost unanimous in its approval. That is a pretty correct index of popular opinion, and we may therefore set down that almost the entire loyal States endorse the action of the President. It must be expected that the ultra Abolitionists will kick against it, as too conservative for their radical views. Let them squirm! 'Honest Abe' has shown that he will be no tool of theirs.' "

This struck me as odd because up until the time Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation he did everything possible to distance him from emancipation. When a variety of generals declared emancipation in their districts he forced them to rescind those orders. So I emailed the author.

He wrote back:
"I'm a little puzzled by your view of Lincoln's "preliminary proclamation," though. I have a photocopy (that I made) of the actual April 8, 1862, page from the Rocky. It fully lays out Lincoln's apparent intentions, and the date is clearly printed. It goes on at quite some length, in fact. And as you no doubt read, the paper even went on to comment regarding the preliminary news."

I've since asked him to send a copy of the April 8th issue so that I might be able to find out more of what the paper was reporting. Does anyone out there have ideas of what could be in the paper?

I wrote back to the author my knowledge of the Emancipation Proclamation. Basically that the first reference to it is in Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles' diary. He mentions being told about the proclamation by Lincoln on July 13th 1862 in the company of Secretary of State William Seward. At a cabinet meeting on July 22 Lincoln revealed the proclamation to his entire cabinet and sought their advice as far as implementation went. He had already made up his mind to go forward with the proclamation. Seward convinces Lincoln to wait, saying that, “It may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help.” And “that it would be considered our last shriek, on the retreat."

While the proclamation sat in his desk Lincoln did his best to project a public appearance of moderation. There is a famous letter he wrote to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862 in which he states,
“I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.”

I told the author that I doubted that there would be proclamation news in April that was directly tied to Lincoln when in August he didn't let out a bit info to Greeley. If Greeley knew something the world would have known it as his paper had one of the widest circulations in the country. Yet somehow the Denver paper reports on an emancipation proclamation four months before Greeley urges Lincoln to adopt the same route. I'm guessing that the April 8th issue was just reporting rumors of emancipation, which the Radical Republicans wanted from the start of the war, and somehow Lincoln's name was associated with these rumors. I'll be interested to see if the author can send me a copy of the April 8th issue and see exactly what it says.

I do regret having to contact the author through the corrections department. I truly do not think this deserves to be listed as a correction in the paper so I hope that I didn't get him into any trouble by contacting him that way. It sounds like the error was made in 1862 when the paper directly linked Lincoln with this emancipation rumor. Although it would be funny to see in the corrections section: "Correction: A story on page 1 of the April 8, 1862 issue incorrectly said that Lincoln was issuing an emancipation proclamation. Instead it was other politicians who were urging Lincoln to adopt such a proclamation."

UPDATE:
Just got an email from the author. Apparently what the April 8th issue talked about was Lincoln's plan to buy all the slaves from the South. A message from Lincoln to Congress that says, in part, "Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of Slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system." So the newspaper in 1862 called it an emancipation proclamation when it was a bit less. Since this was the first emancipation proclamation of any kind I think they can be allowed to exaggerate a bit.

Lincoln museum on wheels review

This weekend I did get out to the Lincoln museum on wheels. It was okay. If this was your introduction to Lincoln it was probably more interesting but all in all I had a good time. My fiance, our son and my parents went along. The longest part was waiting in the line, the museum itself didn't take long. In line I met a few guys and might have recruited one or two to the roundtable so that was good. If I had planned ahead I would have brought a ton of newsletters and hit the entire line. Maybe I'll do this when the semi returns in August.

Here's a shot of the line, when we left it was even longer. I'd bet there were over 100 people in line at this time. Inside they had a few exhibits I thought were especially interesting, of course it was hard to get shots of them all because there were way too many people inside. This was meant to be the platform of the train station in Springfield when Lincoln left for the presidency. They played a little loop of a few quotes from the speech he gave (although I think that speech was actually made at the house, but I'm not a Lincoln scholar so I'm not sure).
I thought this was interesting just because this is a replica of the clock he had in his law office.

And a replica of his name plate outside his office. The only other exhibit I wanted a shot of was a great chart showing the differences between north and south according to the 1860 census, great info plus the visual impact was pretty neat, but there was no way to shoot that with all the people inside the truck.
They also had the video, "The Civil War in Four Minutes." I've seen this before on youtube but I'm pretty sure its since been pulled from the site. Its a pretty impressive little video.
I did think it odd that they did not have any gifts. I would have bought something for my four year old, maybe it would have sparked a little interest in the war. Later in life he'd remember that day his father took him to see a bearded guy in a tall hat, and maybe he'd have some sort of odd plastic Lincoln figure to remember the day by. Clearly there was no room in the semi but a little tent outside with a few books, hats, etc would have likely done a good amount of sales for the museum. Maybe that's just my retail background talking, but I'd imagine a few thousand people went through the museum this weekend and even if less than 1% bought something it would have been profitable. If they had sold bottled water they would have made a killing, it was a hot day to be standing in the sun, plus I forgot my hat so they might have sold a hat to me too.

Here's my dad and I in front of the semi. No one else was willing to get their picture taken.

Lincoln exhibit

In yesterday's Denver Post there was a brief article about a new traveling exhibit on Lincoln. And its first stop is Denver. Its only here through Sunday but I think I will be able to make it down there. I'm sure Denver is the first stop because they knew they'd get coverage on this blog (or maybe its because it started at the American Associate of Museums Conference which happened to be in Denver this year, either way).

The exhibit, "Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America,." is on an expandable 53-foot semi-tractor trailer. Right now its parked at the Colorado History Museum at Broadway and 13th Street in Denver. For future dates you'll have to check out www.abelincolnmuseum.org Its on a two year tour of the country, but it starts right here in my town. It'll be back in town for the Democratic National Convention in August but I'm hoping to catch it this weekend.

I'll post a review and as many pics as they allow me to take next week, assuming I end up making it there. For now here's a picture from the Denver Post and another from www.abelincolnmuseum.org

Alton Cemetery

Awhile ago Neil Ashton commented to my old McDonald Field post:

"My GG Grandfather Joseph Ashton was shooting that cannon for Swett’s or Warren’s Light artillery. Joseph was born in Franklin County, Georgia in 1827. Joseph and his family resided numerous years in Ashville, Alabama. Joseph died from wounds received in the battle at Missionary Ridge. He was transported to a CSA Hospital in Marietta, Georgia and is buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. His Brothers Samuel and John were also at Missionary Ridge in the Alabama 58th. John was captured, at Missionary Ridge, and sent to Rock Island, Illinois where he died of typhoid. He is buried there in the Confederate Cemetery at Rock Island. Samuel was captured a year later and sent to Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. Their youngest brother Jeptha would have also been engaged in the battle Missionary Ridge with the Alabama 25th, but he died of measles at Barlow’s mill in Alabama a year earlier."

About a week after that a friend who works in my office building brought in pictures from the site of a different Illinois Confederate prison and cemetery, Alton. Too bad it wasn't either Camp Douglas or Rock Island, then it would tie in better with the earlier comment, but I though these pictures were still interesting and offered a nice tangent from my Chickamauga and Chattanooga posts.

The Alton prison was originally the first Illinois state prison. Conditions were horrible here, bad enough that Dorothea Dix was a constant critic of the place. By 1860 the state prisoners were transferred to a prison in Joliet. When the Union needed a new prison to hold captured Confederates Alton again was pressed into service. During the war 11764 Confederates spent some time here. There is a monument with the names of 1534 men who were known to have died here. Some men are still buried there but others were buried on an island in the Mississippi River that has long since washed away.

Confederate prisoner Samuel Harrison returned in 1935 to take a brick from the wall home to serve as his grave stone.

The remaining walls of the prison.
The monument in the Confederate cemetery with the names of 1534 known dead.
Alton was also the site of a Lincoln-Douglas debate, the seventh and last debate of the 1858 Senate campaign. There is a monument there which apparently is the only one for the debates that shows Douglas as a participant.

All photos courtesy of John Wedding

Lincoln: The Presidential Archives Book Review

Lincoln: The Presidential Archives by Chuck Wills.

This is an interesting book in that you get to hold reproductions of various artifacts of Lincoln's life. There are eight pockets that hold articles from various periods of his life. For his boyhood is a page from his arithmetic book. His pre-Presidential life is also depicted with a copy of his marriage license, and his patent application. His Presidential years are presented with military and personal touches. On the personal end is a letter from Mary Todd Lincoln in New York City. Militarily are some letters to and from Grant and Sherman, the telegram informing Lincoln of the New York City draft riot, a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.

It is neat to hold copies of the originals of these items but none of these items is exactly new. I've seen Lincoln's drawings before for his patent application. The various letters have appeared before as text versions in a variety of books. This book is more for the new or general student of Lincoln or the war. The book is also a general Lincoln biography with tons of nice photographs and drawings. It is a good general book that I would recommend to a general audience. If you are a devoted Lincoln reader that is probably very little in this book you have not seen before.

New Lincoln note

As mentioned on a few other blogs earlier this week the National Archives said they would unveil a newly found note written by Lincoln. Today was the unveiling, and what was this long lost note? Nothing more than the original version of a message that was telegraphed to Meade after Gettysburg. The text has been known forever, now we have the original note Lincoln gave to Halleck to telegraph to Meade. Interesting? Sure. Exciting? Not really.
Check out full story with pictures of the note at (www.kansascity.com/440/story/140296.html)

Frederick

Our next stop of the day was Frederick. Our first stop was the town Visitor's Center which gave us a great walking tour brochure. Plus the guy was really helpful about answering our questions. He even told us about a few Civil War sites that were not in the brochure or marked on the street, such as Lee's headquarters near City Hall. The walking tour took us past (among plenty of other sites) the church that Jackson napped in (also where Barbara Fritchie worshipped), the City Hall, Ramsey House where Lincoln visited wounded General Hartsuff in October 1862, and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

For me the best part was the cast iron dog sitting outside Dr John Tyler's home. The dog, "Guess" was stolen by Confederate troops who, according to the brochure, intended to remold the cast iron dog into bullets. But recasting iron isn't a simple process and apparently they decided it wasn't worth the effort. The dog was found on the Antietam battlefield and returned to Tyler's house. I thought that was just a great story.
I though the National Museum of Civil War Medicine was pretty neat. One complaint I had was that they would not allow any pictures inside. I understand not wanting flashes to destroy artifacts but I don't use a flash on my digital camera and the things I would have taken pictures of were mostly modern exhibit tablets just for the information on them.

We also hit our second cemetery of the day, Mount Olivet. The Confederate section was weird in that it was one long line of graves. I don't think I've ever seen Civil War graves laid out like that before. Other notables buried there include Francis Scott Key, Thomas Johnson (first Governor of Maryland) and Barbara Fritchie.
There really is quite a lot to do in Frederick. We didn't have time to do it all as we also had one more stop planned for this busy day, Monocacy.