President Lincoln walked into Richmond...alone?

[Rob Wick]

The words of anyone who ever studied Lincoln. Welcome to "The Lincoln Follies."

Best
Rob

[Gene C]

Part of Lincoln's lack of regard for his personal safety goes back to the assassination attempt in Baltimore and his arrival in Washington. The anti Lincoln press had a field day with that, and since then he seemed to show his fatalistic approach to life.

[Rob Wick]

That's a great point, Gene.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

Lincoln is an enigma for sure. On one hand, he seemed to "know" he wasn't going to survive the war. On the other hand, he expressed at one point that he thought no one would want to kill him with the war "being over."

[Gene C]

Back to the original question, according to "Abraham Lincoln" by Benjamin Thomas; in chpt 20, To Bind Up the Nations Wounds (p511)
"Lincoln, Porter and three other officers, entering Richmond with an escort of ten seamen armed with carbines, trudged two miles through the streets to General Weitzel's headquarters." (President Davis's house) He makes no mention of Tad or Crook.

I think his curiosity got the best of him and after four long years he wanted to see that the was was almost over.

[RJNorton]

He makes no mention of Tad or Crook.

Regarding the presence of Tad and Crook...is Crook the sole source for this?

[Mark MacKenzie]

Here is a link to an April, 1865 photograph of Richmond. http://www.shorpy.com/node/2457?size=_original#caption
I believe you can click on it to enlarge. In the very upper right hand corner in the bay is a Steamboat. But it can't be, can it?

Someone commented that Libby Prison is the white building in the photo to the left of the sailboat.

Tad at least was on the boat wasn't he? Isn't that when they played with a terrapin?

---

I'm sorry. That boat looks nothing like the Malvern. In the great wisdom of Rosanne Rossanna Dana, "never mind."

A photo of the Malvern:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/image...h46617.jpg

[Gene C]

What great photo's, so crisp and clear. Interesting link.

I thought Lincoln and his group arrived on a small river barge with a shallow draft and were rowed in, due to the obstructions the confederates placed in the river?

[BettyO]

Thanks ever so much for posting this, Mark! A WONDERFUL image....

The Green Arrow is Libby Prison -- and.....the Red Arrow is more or less, I believe Montebello Plantation house and outbuildings. The house faced the James River and I grew up down the street from this house which was Jeb Stuart's headquarters at one time during the war. My dad was the president of the local civil association for Fulton Hill and the Mayor of Richmond, Mr. Garber, lived at Montebello when I was a small kid. Some of my fondest memories are of accompanying my dad on his visits to the Mayor and going into that beautiful old mansion.

By the way, the last large house up on the end of the ridge nearer to the edge and closer to the river; the one with the two chimneys and stair-step roof, near top of the green arrow is the home of Luther Libby, owner of the warehouse which became Libby Prison. That house still stands up on that ridge, now called Libby Terrace.

Montebello

Luther Libby House

[LincolnMan]

Betty: awesome picture. Wouldn't a picture from the same vantage point today be neat!

[BettyO]

Yes it would be really neat, Bill! The nearest neighboring farm was Crow's Nest - about 5 blocks away from my Garber Street home when I was a kid and also still standing with the original outbuildings! All the land in between was open fields and farm land.

[LincolnMan]

Its also neat that practically no matter where one lives in the USA-there seems to be some Civil War connection to it. It just speaks to the fact that we all know- that the whole nation was involved in it.

[Mark MacKenzie]

http://richmondthenandnow.com/Richmond-T...d-Now.html

There are a few photos from 1865 here but not the one above. I don't know anything about this site except searching for photos led me there.

[LincolnMan]

Nice site!

[BettyO]

Oh yes, Mark -

That is an EXCELLENT site - and one of my favorites - unfortunately, they no longer keep it up to date....