Last public speech Abraham Lincoln

[loetar44]

We all know that President Lincoln delivered his final speech on April 11, 1865. I have three questions.

(1) Some accounts say that he spoke "from the hallway window between the two bedrooms" (White House). Other accounts say: “from the second-floor balcony”. I suppose he spoke from the north side of the WH (facing Lafayette Square). Can someone tell me from what window exactly?

(2) A large crowd was outside. What is large? Thousands? I read that “an even larger crowd was assembled on the White House lawn than the night before”, but that remains vague. appr. How many people were assembled outside?

(3) Noah Brooks held a candle to provide reading light. So it was dark. What time did Lincoln held his speech?

Here is a picture I grabbed from a National Geographc Channel re-enactment:

   

[L Verge]

From http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org:

"Mr. Lincoln delivered few formal speeches as President. Besides the occasional "serenade" after a political or military victory or remarks to a visiting group, almost none were actually made at the White House. A notable exception occurred on April 11, 1865. From the hallway window between the two bedrooms, President Lincoln delivered his final speech with his family nearby and a large crowd outside. Noah Brooks, who was scheduled to become his new secretary, held a candle to provide reading light while Tad picked up the pages of the speech as the President dropped them. The next day, Brooks wrote a dispatch for the Sacramento Daily Union:

"Most people were sleeping soundly in their beds when, at daylight on the rainy morning of April 9th, a great boom startled the misty air of Washington, shaking the earth and breaking the windows of the houses about Lafayette Square, compelling the inhabitants once more to say that they would be glad when Union victories were done with, or celebrated somewhere else. But boom, boom, boom went the guns, until five hundred of them were fired. Some few people got up and raced around in the mud to see what the news was, and some few got up a procession of flags and things, wet as it was....

"The streets, horribly muddy, were alive with people, cheering and singing, carrying flags and saluting everybody, hungering and thirsting for speeches...

"Later in the forenoon [same time sequence as a fortnight, I believe]an impromptu procession came up from the Navy Yard, dragging six boat howitzers, which were fired through the streets as they rolled on; this crowd soon swelled to a formidable size, and filled the whole area in front of the President's house, where they patiently waited for a speech, guns firing and bands playing meanwhile. The young hopeful of the house of Lincoln - 'Tad' --made his appearance at the well known window from whence the President always speaks, where he was received with a great shout of applause; encouraged by which he waved a captured rebel flag, whereat he was lugged back by the slack of his trowsers by some discreet domestic, amidst the uproarious cheers of sovereign people below. The President soon after made his appearance, and for a moment the scene was of the wildest confusion; men fairly yelled with delight, tossed up their hats and screamed like mad. Seen from the windows, the surface of the crowd looked like an agitated sea of hats, faces and men's arms. Quiet restored, the President briefly congratulated the people on the occasion which had called out such unrestrained enthusiasm, and said that as arrangements were being made for a more formal celebration, he would defer his remarks until then; for, said he, 'I shall have nothing to say then if it is all dribbled out of me now,' whereat the crowd good humoredly laughed. He alluded to the presence of the band, and said that our adversary had always claimed one old good tune - Dixie - but that he held that on the 8th of April we fairly captured it - in fact, he said, he had submitted the question to the Attorney General, who had decided that the tune was our lawful property; and he asked that the band play 'Dixie,' which they did with a will, following with 'Yankee Doodle.' The President then proposed three cheers for General Grant and the officers and men under him, then three for the navy, all of which were given heartily, and the crowd dispersed."

This makes it clear that he spoke from the upstairs window, and I believe it was the one over the front door. In 1865, I believe I'm correct that there were no balconies at the White House. The one that we are familiar with was constructed during the major renovations done during the Truman era.

I'm trying to find a reference that I read somewhere that Tad begged to hold the candle and Brooks handed it to him. Before the advent of daylight savings time, it would have been dark enough by 5-6 pm to require additional light from a candle, especially for a man who needed glasses, I would think. I'm suspecting that the speech was given in the late-afternoon or very early-evening.

As for the crowd, we have to think in terms of what an "immense" crowd meant to people in 1865. We may think thousands, but I'm inclined to think more in terms of several hundred or up to five hundred. Pure guessing, however.

[wsanto]

During my recent visit to Washington. Two different source told me it was indeed the center second floor window directly above the front door.

One source, a twenty-some year-old tour guide with a flare for dramatics, said Booth was standing next to what is now the tallest oak just off the east side of the curved drive that services the North Portico.

Bill C

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-30-2014 06:54 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I'm trying to find a reference that I read somewhere that Tad begged to hold the candle and Brooks handed it to him.

I think it's Elizabeth Keckley:
"A lamp was brought, and little Tad at once rushed to his father's side, exclaiming: 'Let me hold the light, Papa! let me hold the light!'
Mrs. Lincoln directed that the wish of her son be gratified, and the lamp was transferred to his hands."

[loetar44]

I did some research, with the following results:

Lincoln gave his last public address at the window in the Closet Hall in the center of the second floor, northside WH. Here are two small bedrooms sharing a closet hallway (red box, the red arrow points to the window from which Lincoln spoke).

   

Formerly (in the time of Monroe) there was here a large bedroom to accommodate guests. The Marquis de Lafayette almost certainly stayed in that room. In 1853 (Pierce administration) this room was divided into two bedrooms, with a narrow corridor with its window directly over the front door. Here at this window Lincoln held his last speech.

   

Later a small schoolroom was established here for Scott and Fanny Hayes. It was a bedroom for two Theodore Roosevelt family maids. It was the bedroom for Maude Shaw, nurse to the Kennedy children. Now the Closet Hall separates the bedrooms of Malia and Sasha Obama.

Here the view from the Closet Hall window, looking north (now and in 1890)

       

Two questions remain: what time did Lincoln held his speech? How many people were assembled outside?

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(10-01-2014 04:32 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I think it's Elizabeth Keckley:

Yes it was Elizabeth Keckley. She was with Mary in the hallway (but not visible for the public) and gave the following account in "Behind the Scenes" (Chapter 11: The Assassination of President Lincoln):

I had never heard Mr. Lincoln make a public speech, and, knowing the man so well, was very anxious to hear him. On the morning of the Tuesday after our return from City Point, Mrs. Lincoln came to my apartments, and before she drove away I asked permission to come to the White House that night and hear Mr. Lincoln speak. [The Lincoln party returned Sunday April 9 from City Point, so "the Tuesday after our return from City Point" was April 11, meaning the story refers to AL's last public speech]

"Certainly, Lizabeth; if you take any interest in political speeches, come and listen in welcome."
"Thank you, Mrs. Lincoln. May I trespass further on your kindness by asking permission to bring a friend with me?"
"Yes, bring your friend also. By the way, come in time to dress me before the speaking commences."
"I will be in time. You may rely upon that. Good morning," I added, as she swept from my room, and, passing out into the street, entered her carriage and drove away.

ABOUT 7 O'CLOCK THAT EVENING I entered the White House. As I went up–stairs I glanced into Mr. Lincoln's room through the half–open door, and seated by a desk was the President, looking over his notes and muttering to himself. His face was thoughtful, his manner abstracted, and I knew, as I paused a moment to watch him, that he was rehearsing the part that he was to play in the great drama soon to commence. [ Lincoln was still preparing his speech at 7 pm, so he spoke after 7 pm ......]

Proceeding to Mrs. Lincoln's apartment, I worked with busy fingers, and in a short time her toilette was completed.

Great crowds began to gather in front of the White House, and loud calls were made for the President. The band stopped playing, and as he advanced to the centre window over the door to make his address, I looked out, and never saw such a mass of heads before. It was like a black, gently swelling sea. The swaying motion of the crowd, in the dim uncertain light, was like the rising and falling of billows—like the ebb and flow of the tide upon the stranded shore of the ocean. Close to the house the faces were plainly discernible, but they faded into mere ghostly outlines on the outskirts of the assembly; and what added to the weird, spectral beauty of the scene, was the confused hum of voices that rose above the sea of forms, sounding like the subdued, sullen roar of an ocean storm, or the wind soughing through the dark lonely forest. It was a grand and imposing scene, and when the President, with pale face and his soul flashing through his eyes, advanced to speak, he looked more like a demigod than a man crowned with the fleeting days of mortality.

The moment the President appeared at the window he was greeted with a storm of applause, and voices re–echoed the cry, "A light! a light!"
A lamp was brought, and little Tad at once rushed to his father's side, exclaiming: "Let me hold the light, Papa! let me hold the light!"

Mrs. Lincoln directed that the wish of her son be gratified, and the lamp was transferred to his hands. The father and son standing there in the presence of thousands of free citizens, the one lost in a chain of eloquent ideas, the other looking up into the speaking face with a proud, manly look, formed a beautiful and striking tableau.

There were a number of distinguished gentlemen, as well as ladies, in the room, nearly all of whom remarked the picture.I stood a short distance from Mr. Lincoln, and as the light from the lamp fell full upon him, making him stand out boldly in the darkness, a sudden thought struck me, and I whispered to the friend at my side:
"What an easy matter would it be to kill the President, as he stands there! He could be shot down from the crowd, and no one be able to tell who fired the shot."

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This rises a new question: was Tad or Noah Brooks holding the light? Brooks said he was holding the candle and Tad was sitting on the floor grabbing the falling papers Lincoln had read......

See “Lincoln Observed: Civil War Dispatches of Noah Brooks”, edited by Michael Burlingame

   

[RJNorton]

(10-01-2014 07:07 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  what time did Lincoln held his speech?

Kees, I checked Mary Lincoln's letters. I found this note that she wrote Charles Sumner the morning of April 11th. Charles Adolphe Pineton, Marquis de Chambrun, grandson of Lafayette, was visiting the United States, and Mary refers to him in her note to Sumner:

"My Dear Mr. Sumner:

Presuming, it would be agreeable for the Marquis, in visiting our Country, to witness every novelty that presents itself at this eventful time, I have invited him to call informally this evening, about 8 1/2 o'clock, as doubtless, a vast assemblage, will be gathered in front of this building, with music & anticipations, of a little speech from the President...."

Thus, it would appear to me that the speech was scheduled for about 8:30 P.M. or shortly thereafter.

[STS Lincolnite]

Re: Tad or Brooks holding the light.

I seem to recall reading somewhere (don't know where) that Tad had difficulty holding the light steady enough to read by so the light was given to Brooks to hold. At which time Tad moved to his place on the floor gathering papers.

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By the way, thanks to Eva and Roger for more closely pinpointing the time of the speech. I have never read anywhere that actually gave the time but with Keckly's account and Mary's letter I think we have a very good idea now. Great job!!

[loetar44]

(10-01-2014 08:18 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(10-01-2014 07:07 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  what time did Lincoln held his speech?

Kees, I checked Mary Lincoln's letters. I found this note that she wrote Charles Sumner the morning of April 11th. Charles Adolphe Pineton, Marquis de Chambrun, grandson of Lafayette, was visiting the United States, and Mary refers to him in her note to Sumner:

"My Dear Mr. Sumner:

Presuming, it would be agreeable for the Marquis, in visiting our Country, to witness every novelty that presents itself at this eventful time, I have invited him to call informally this evening, about 8 1/2 o'clock, as doubtless, a vast assemblage, will be gathered in front of this building, with music & anticipations, of a little speech from the President...."

Thus, it would appear to me that the speech was scheduled for about 8:30 P.M. or shortly thereafter.

Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings (1859-1865) gives place, date and time of Lincoln’s speeches, but no time for his last speech on April 11, 1865

Abraham Lincoln’s Speeches Complete from his first speech to his last address only say about his last speech: “delivered on Tuesday evening, April 11, 1865”.

But thanks to Roger's finding, we can now say that the time the speech was delivered was at approximately 8:30 pm. The exact audio version of the speech lasts ca. 11 minutes. I think we can say that at approximately 9:00 / 9:15 pm all was over.

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And what to think of this !?! This poster you can purchase for $59.99 and is entitled: “President Lincoln's Last Speech, Delivered to Crowds Outside the White House, April 13, 1865”. Lincoln addressing the people from the steps …. wrong. Date ….. wrong. The only thing that is consistent with reality is the fact that it is dark. Pure falsification of history !!! Only to make money ???

   

[STS Lincolnite]

Kees,

I saw that painting of Lincoln's last speech as well. Although I don't know that I would call it "falsification of history". That would imply the artist actually knew that it was inaccurate and then misrepresented the scene. I think that gives the artist too much credit. I suspect ignorance of history would be more accurate - the artist just had no real knowledge of the subject and didn't care enough to actually study it. As you said, it was only about making money from it.

I am attaching a sketch I found that at least is a little more accurate representation.

[loetar44]

(10-01-2014 09:53 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  Kees,

I saw that painting of Lincoln's last speech as well. Although I don't know that I would call it "falsification of history". That would imply the artist actually knew that it was inaccurate and then misrepresented the scene. I think that gives the artist too much credit. I suspect ignorance of history would be more accurate - the artist just had no real knowledge of the subject and didn't care enough to actually study it. As you said, it was only about making money from it.

I am attaching a sketch I found that at least is a little more accurate representation.

You're right: "ignorance of history" would be better ...