Saturday, April 4, 2015

Lincoln Visits Richmond This Day in 1865-- Part 2

"It was a mild spring day.  Birds were singing in the orchards on either side of the river, and the trees were in bloom.  As the party pulled up the river they saw a wide curtain of smoke rise on the horizon ahead.  Richmond was on fire.

"On evacuating the city the Confederates had fired their magazines and warehouses of cotton and tobacco; and bursting projectiles had dropped over the town, setting fire to a wide swath of dwellings and buildings in the business district.

"The party landed one block from Libby Prison.  Porter formed ten of the sailors into a guard.  They were armed with carbines.  Six marched in front and four in the rear, and in the middle with the President and Admiral walked Captain Penrose, Lincoln's military aide, Captain Adams of the Navy, and Lieutenant Clemens of the Signal Corps.

"Lincoln with his tall hat towered more than a foot above the thick-set Admiral, whose flat seaman's cap emphasized his five feet seven inches."

The President "was received with the strongest demonstrations of joy."

--A Long hard Journey to Get There.  --Old B-R'er

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