Did William Coggeshall Save Lincoln's Life?

[John Fazio]

(09-11-2016 09:13 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-09-2016 09:44 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Roger, et al.:

You have heard me say before that we should not reject tradition, nor denigrate evidence, too quickly or easily. Both usually have their genesis in historical truth. Did Judas betray Jesus? We may be nearly certain he did, because reference to the betrayal is contained in the very earliest Christian writings and is never contradicted or altered.

As for Coggeshall's saving of Lincoln, we need to place it in its proper context. The President-Elect was on his journey to Washington from Springfield. His life was in danger from the moment he was nominated and especially after he was elected. Most if not all the food sent to him in Springfield was found to be poisoned. Before the train passed from Illinois into Indiana a condition was found in the track which might have resulted in derailment. The train was thereafter preceded by a pilot engine. Near Cincinnati, a small time bomb concealed in a carpetbag was found in Lincoln's car. And then, of course, there was the infamous Baltimore Plot, foiled by Pinkerton and his agents (among them, one of my favorites--Kate Warne), Frederick Seward and General Winfield Scott's agents in Baltimore. All of this, of course, was merely an outward manifestation of an inward torrent of vilification of Lincoln in the press and in the corridors of power. And I haven't even said anything about the dozen or so later plots and attempts on his life, one of which was successful. Should we then be surprised that there was an attempt on his life in Harrisburg on his way to his Inauguration and that it took the form that it did? Hand grenade? Time bomb? Let's settle on "explosive device". How much difference does that detail make?

The provenance of the story--a letter written by Coggeshall's widow to a daughter, Prockie, on February 25, 1908, reprinted in part in Freda Postle Koch's book, Colonel Coggeshall--the Man Who Saved Lincoln (1985)--is as good as many other sources that pass without criticism. What motivation did the widow have to fabricate a story in 1908 about something that allegedly happened 47 years earlier? And to her own daughter no less. How did either of them benefit from it? How many really cared about something that happened 47 years earlier? How does Freda Postle Koch benefit by publicizing the letter, except to sell a handful of books.

Everything else in the story is verifiable--Coggeshall's position (the governor's secretary and State Librarian), Lincoln's passage through Columbus on his way to Washington, etc. I like, too, the fact that the widow recorded Lincoln's saying to Coggeshall, after the President-Elect addressed the Ohio Legislature and the people: "Come with me to Washington and I shall go safely", which fits nicely with Lincoln's remark to Coggeshall, after the near-miss in Harrisburg: "Did I not tell I should go safely if you went with me".

Bottom line: I accept the story as historical.

John

John, Coggeshall did not include this story of saving Lincoln in his own book: Lincoln Memorial. The Journeys of Abraham Lincoln. All we have is the 1908 word of his wife. If the Harrisburg grenade story really happened, why would he not include it in the "journey to Washington" section of the book?

If the story were true, I would think Hay, Nicolay, and Lamon would have known about it, but none of them included it in their books.

Roger, et al.:

The author states, expressly, in the Introduction to her book, that immediately after the incident, Coggeshall, who was Lincoln's bodyguard on the journey to Washington, not just a traveling companion, swore Lincoln to secrecy about the incident. Apparently he was a modest man who disliked publicity, notoriety, self-advertising, etc. Such types are not uncommon. He looks like a modest man. Further, the fact that Lincoln was attracted to him (enough to ask him to accompany him to Washington as his bodyguard and later to attend cabinet meetings) suggests that he was a modest man. We know that Lincoln disliked ostentation, pomposity and braggadocio. It seems safe to assume that Lincoln respected his bodyguard's wish. That would account for the author's failure to mention the incident in his own book (he could not very well swear Lincoln to secrecy and then reveal it to the world in his book). As for Hay and Nicolay, what evidence is there that they were traveling with Lincoln at the time and in close proximity? According to Mary's telling, the incident occurred when Coggeshall and Lincoln transferred from the Harrisburg car to the Baltimore car where they were to be "by themselves". The description suggests strongly that the two men were alone at the time and that Coggeshall's action took no more than a couple of seconds, after which he jumped aboard the Baltimore car "where the president awaited him". It would appear that Hay, Nicolay and Lamon would have had to get their information about the incident from either Coggeshall or Lincoln, neither of whom wanted it known, which is why the three men say nothing about it in their writings. I see nothing implausible about it.

John