Who is this person?

[RJNorton]

Nope, not George McClellan.

Hint: The correct answer is a person born in Illinois.

[Gene C]

The handwriting looks to good, but I'll guess Willie Lincoln

[Rob Wick]

How about Robert Lincoln?

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Close Rob, but congratulations to Gene! Yes, the lines are from a letter 10-year-old Willie Lincoln wrote to a friend in Springfield named Henry Remann. The letter was written on May 3, 1861. The Remanns lived down the block from the Lincolns.

SOURCE: Lincoln's Sons by Ruth Painter Randall.

[David Lockmiller]

(10-14-2024 08:53 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  The letter was written on May 3, 1861.

SOURCE: Lincoln's Sons by Ruth Painter Randall.

I thought that I would add the following historical footnote from Professor Burlingame's (Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Vol. TWO, pages 141- 142):

On April 19, {1861], the anniversary of the 1775 battle of Lexington where Massachusetts men were the first to be killed in the Revolutionary War, members of the Sixth Massachusetts regiment were the first to die in the Civil War when a mob attacked them as they passed through Baltimore. . . .

When the Massachusetts Sixth arrive in Washington, Lincoln shook hands with every member of the regiment and warmly greeted its commander, Colonel Edward F. Jones: "Thank God, you have come; for if you had not, Washington would have been in the hands in the rebels before morning. Your brave boys have saved the capital. God bless them."

[AussieMick]

I hesitate to write this but wasn't Daniel Hough, 1st United States Artillery Regiment at Battle of fort Sumter the first to die in the war?
On April 14, 1861.
Five other soldiers, including Edward Galloway, were wounded (Galloway would die of his wounds five days later in a hospital).

[David Lockmiller]

(10-14-2024 10:15 PM)AussieMick Wrote:  I hesitate to write this but wasn't Daniel Hough, 1st United States Artillery Regiment at Battle of fort Sumter the first to die in the war?
On April 14, 1861.
Five other soldiers, including Edward Galloway, were wounded (Galloway would die of his wounds five days later in a hospital).

Daniel Hough (c. 1825 – April 14, 1861) was an Irish-born American soldier who became the first man to die in the American Civil War. His death was accidental, caused by a cannon that went off prematurely during a salute to the flag after the Battle of Fort Sumter. (Source: Wikipedia)

Sadly, the only casualties at Fort Sumter come during the 100-gun salute, when a round explodes prematurely, killing Pvt. Daniel Hough and mortally wounding another soldier. The attack is over, but the war had just begun. (Source: Fort Sumter - American Battlefield Trust)

The Civil War formally begins. April 15, 1861- President Lincoln issues a public declaration that an insurrection exists and calls for 75,000 militia to stop the rebellion. (Source: Civil War Timeline - Gettysburg National Military Park)

I have considered recently all the work that Professor Burlingame has done in his works on Lincoln and I am astounded. It would have taken me many centuries to do the work that he has done in one lifetime.

[AussieMick]

Strange isnt it that a very important specific event (like the start of a war) in history can vary in people's opinions ?
(... Ive been doing some research on the Irish Easter Uprising in 1916 and some witness descriptions of the same event vary significantly.)

I had intended checking when the US Civil War officially started but I was distracted (weak excuse) by other issues.

Senate website https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/his...vil%20War.

"Civil War Begins
April 12, 1861

At 4:30 a.m. on April 12, 1861, Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor. Less than 34 hours later, Union forces surrendered. Traditionally, this event has been used to mark the beginning of the Civil War. In the Senate, however, the fall of Sumter was the latest in a series of events that culminated in war."

[David Lockmiller]

An immediately prior incident of the same nature:

Relieving tension slightly was the arrival of five unarmed companies of Pennsylvania militiamen on April 18. Accompanied by Cameron and Seward, Lincoln visited them at the Capitol to extend hearty thanks for their promptitude. One soldier recalled that when they entered, "[p]rofound silence for a moment resulted, broken by the hand clapping and cheers of the tired volunteers." The militiaman was "impressed by the kindliness of his [Lincoln's] face and awkward hanging of his arms and legs, his apparent bashfulness in the presence of these first soldiers of the Republic, and with it all a grave, rather mournful bearing in his attitude." After observing the men, some of whom had been wounded while passing through Baltimore, the president said: "I did not come here to make a speech. The time for speech-making has gone by, and the time for action is at hand. I have come here to give the Washington Artillerists from the State of Pennsylvania a warm welcome to the city of Washington and shake every officer and soldier by the hand, providing you will give me the privilege." As he grasped their hands, they felt awestruck. (Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Vol. TWO, pages 140-141.)

The next day, on April 19, [1861], the anniversary of the 1775 battle of Lexington where Massachusetts men were the first to be killed in the Revolutionary War, members of the Sixth Massachusetts regiment were the first to die in the Civil War when a mob attacked them as they passed through Baltimore. . . . Lincoln shook hands with every member of the regiment and warmly greeted its commander.

[RJNorton]

No googling please.

Who was born here? (It's a person mentioned many times on this forum.)

[Rob Wick]

I'm sure I'm wrong, but how about William Herndon?

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Good guess, Rob. Not correct, though. Lincoln met this person many years after first meeting Herndon.

[J. Beckert]

U.S. Grant?

[RJNorton]

Nope, not Grant.

[Rob Wick]

How about Ward Hill Lamon?

Best
Rob