The Last Weeks of Abraham Lincoln

by David Alan Johnson

  President Lincoln sat at the head of the conference table, sitting sideways to make room for his long legs, and began the proceedings by asking the group if they had any news from General William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina. General Grant replied that he had not heard any recent news from General Sherman, which meant that General Joseph E. Johnston and his army were still at large. But he added that he was expecting word from North Carolina at any moment.

  The president said he was sure they would be receiving news of General Johnston's surrender very soon—he was certain of this, he said, because the night before he had had “the usual dream” that had always preceded good news. He had had the same dream several times before, he explained; it had come before nearly every successful battle and every great event that had taken place during the war: “Generally, the news had been favorable which succeeded the dream, and the dream itself was always the same.”2

  Secretary Welles asked about the nature of the president's dream. The president explained that it involved Welles's element, namely water. He went on to give details about his dream—that he seemed to be on board “some singular, indescribable vessel” that was moving very quickly toward an unknown destination on an indefinite shore.3 The same dream had occurred to him before, he said, and it had always come before some “great and important event”—Antietam, Gettysburg, Stone River, and Vicksburg. General Grant interrupted to say that Stone River was no victory, and that “a few such fights would have ruined us.” The president did not seem to be discouraged by General Grant's remarks, and repeated that everyone could expect some very good news soon. “I think it must be from Sherman,” he said. “My thoughts are in that direction, as are most of yours.” He was certainly right about that particular point—General Sherman and Joe Johnston were very much on everyone's mind.

  The next topic of discussion was the restoration of Virginia and North Carolina to the Union. Secretary of War Stanton introduced a plan for reestablishing civilian rule to the Southern states. His idea would combine both Virginia and North Carolina into a single military department, which would be administered by the War Department. Secretary Welles objected that Virginia already had a legitimate state government under Governor Francis Pierpont, and reminded the president and the other members of the cabinet that “we had recognized and sustained him.”4 In North Carolina, on the other hand, “a legal government was now to be organized and the State reestablished in her proper relations with the Union.” In other words, the two states should be dealt with individually, not lumped together.

  President Lincoln remarked that the readmission of the Southern states “was a great question now before us,”5 and added that he was glad Congress was not in session to interfere with the exertion and labor of reassembling the country after four years of war—“and there were none of the disturbing elements of that body to hinder and embarrass us,” is the way Lincoln phrased it.6

  Frederick Seward also had a few suggestions for the cabinet, speaking for his father. He explained that although it was extremely painful for the secretary of state to speak, he had managed to give young Frederick a number of ideas and recommendations before he left the house that morning. One item that Frederick's father wanted his son to mention was his idea that the War Department should occupy all forts throughout the Southern states, or destroy them if they were of no use to the army. Other items involving the readmission of seceded states to the Union included: turning all customs houses in Southern ports over to the US Treasury Department, which would also collect all revenues; taking possession of all Southern navy yards, including any Confederate naval vessels and warships; reestablishing post offices and postal districts throughout the South; and the reappointing of judges throughout the Southern states by the US attorney general.

  All of these were good, sound ideas. The president realized that such measures would be necessary for the seceded states to be readmitted to the Union—the remnants of the Confederate army and navy needed to be dismantled, the courts and postal districts had to be restored, and a thousand other items would have to be addressed. But all of these things would have to be discussed and debated by the cabinet members, and President Lincoln knew all of the members well enough to realize that they would have their own thoughts and ideas for the items Secretary Seward had suggested. These ideas would be taken up at another meeting, where they would be given more study and consideration.

  The topic of Confederate leaders, and what to do about them, was also brought up. President Lincoln's reaction to this question was the same as it had been previously. “I hope that there will be no persecution, no bloody work after the war is over,” he said.7 “No one need expect me to take any part in hanging or killing these men, even the worst of them.” As he had also said before, he would not be disappointed if all the Confederate heads of government left the country. In fact, he would be more than happy if they departed and never came back. “Frighten them out of the country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off,” shaking his hands “as if scaring sheep.” He then came to his main point, telling the cabinet members, “enough lives have been sacrificed.” There would never be any “harmony or union” unless old grievances and resentments could be forgotten.

  Secretary of War Stanton had already discovered that the president meant what he said about opening the gates and letting them all go. Shortly after Appomattox, Stanton received a report that Jacob Thompson, a former US Congressman who had been the head of a secret Confederate delegation to Canada, was preparing to sail for England. Thompson had also organized raids across the Canadian border on towns in the United States, including a raid on St. Albans, Vermont, in October 1864, which resulted in the robbery of three banks, one St. Albans resident killed and another wounded, and the destruction of one building. “He had been organizing all sorts of trouble and getting up raids, of which the notorious attack on St. Albans, Vt., was a specimen,” according to one source in the War Department.8 Secretary Stanton did not share the president's sympathy for all Confederate leaders, and ordered Thompson to be captured and placed under arrest. But before his assistant secretary of war, Charles Dana, could leave the room, Stanton changed his mind. “No, wait,” he said, “better go over and see the President.”

  Charles Dana went to the White House to see the president, and found him sitting in his office. “Halloo, Dana!” he said. “What is it? What's up?”9 Dana told the president about Jacob Thompson's plans to leave the country for England, and also about Secretary Stanton wanting to have him arrested. He went on to say that Stanton decided to defer to the president's judgement before arresting Thompson. And the president's judgement was that Jacob Thompson should be allowed to leave the country. “When you have got an elephant by the hind leg and he's trying to run away, it's best to let him run.” From President Lincoln's point of view, he would have one less problem to deal with Thompson on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

  The remainder of the meeting was mainly concerned with restoring civilian rule to the former Confederate states. President Lincoln was adamant that the states would have to govern themselves, although the army might be needed to protect the new Unionist administration in some states. Voting rights for freed black slaves was also brought up, but was an issue that would require extensive discussion and deliberation, and so was deferred to a future meeting.

  Before leaving the White House, Frederick Seward reminded Lincoln that a new British minister, Sir Frederick Bruce, had recently arrived in Washington and was awaiting his formal presentation to the president. The assistant secretary of state asked if the next day would be convenient for the appointment; President Lincoln replied that tomorrow at two o'clock would be fine. In the Blue Room? The president agreed to young Seward's suggestion. The British minister would be meeting President Lincoln the next day, Saturday, April 15, at two p.m. in the Blue Room.

  AFTERNOON

  At about 2:00 p.m., the meeting finally came to an end. Everyone stood up; some shook hands. All t
he cabinet members agreed that they should reconvene on the following Tuesday, April 18, to resume their discussion.

  General Grant approached the president to shake his hand and exchange a few pleasantries, even though small talk was not really Grant's strong point. President Lincoln asked the general if he and Mrs. Grant would like to go to the theater that night—he and Mrs. Lincoln were going to Ford's Theatre to see the comedy Our American Cousin, and would love to have the Grants as their guests. But General Grant was not enthusiastic about the invitation. He did not want to go to the theater, and did not want to make any sort of public appearance—he was embarrassed by the outbursts of excitement and enthusiasm whenever he appeared in public. Also, Julia Grant had seen and heard enough of Mary Lincoln during their time together at City Point, and he knew that he wife did not want to go with the Lincolns, either.

  Luckily, General Grant had a convenient excuse for declining the president's invitation. “The general said he would be very sorry to have to decline,” Colonel Horace Porter recalled, “but that Mrs. Grant and he had made arrangements to go to Burlington, New Jersey, to see their children.”10 The Grants kept a house at 309 Wood Street, Burlington, and planned to leave Washington to visit their children in Burlington later that day. Going to Ford's Theatre would delay their departure for Burlington, the general explained, which would be a great frustration for Mrs. Grant. President Lincoln was disappointed by the general's refusal.

  Julia Grant also received an invitation to go to Ford's Theatre that night. Her invitation had come by a messenger that may or may not have been sent by Mary Lincoln. As soon as she received the invitation, she immediately sent a note to her husband giving him two instructions: “that I did not want to go to the theater; that he must take me home.”11 Mrs. Grant was adamant about not going to the theater that night, and she wanted her husband to know it: “I not only wrote to him, but sent three of the staff officers who called to pay their respects to me to urge the General to go home that night.”

  Julia Grant not only did not like the tone of the invitation—she thought it “seemed like a command” instead of a request—but had also been taken aback by the look of the messenger. The man who brought the message was not dressed like someone who had been sent by the first lady but seemed a little too casual and even a bit sloppy in his dress—he wore “light-colored corduroy coat and trousers and with a rather shabby hat of the same color.” The strange-looking messenger said, “Mrs. Lincoln sends me, madam, with her compliments, to say that she will call for you at exactly eight o'clock to go to the theater.”

  She replied, “with some feeling” in her voice, “You may return with my compliments to Mrs. Lincoln and say I regret that as General Grant and I intend leaving the city this afternoon, we will not therefore be here to accompany the president and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre.” The man hesitated for a moment before replying, “Madam, the papers announce that General Grant will be with the President tonight at the theater.”

  Mrs. Grant was not moved by this argument. “You may deliver my message to Mrs. Lincoln as I have given it to you,” she said, probably with some impatience. “You may go.” With that, the messenger turned and left.

  Julia Grant was highly suspicious of the man in the corduroy suit and the shabby hat, and had the idea that he had not been sent by Mrs. Lincoln. “I have thought since that this man was one of the band of conspirators in that night's sad tragedy,” she would write many years after the event.

  General Grant was very glad to receive his wife's note. When he first declined the president's invitation, Lincoln replied that “people would be so delighted to see the general that he ought to stay and attend the play on that account.”12 The public's enthusiasm was one of the main reasons that Grant did not want to attend. Newspapers had, in fact, run announcements of General Grant's appearance at the theater. The Evening Star ran this item: “Lieut. General Grant, President and Mrs. Lincoln have secured the State Box at Ford's Theatre tonight to witness Miss Laura Keene's American Cousin.”13

  But Julia Grant's note very nicely deflated President Lincoln's objections. According to Colonel Horace Porter, “A note was now brought to [General Grant] from Mrs. Grant expressing increased anxiety to start for Burlington on the four o'clock train, and he told the President that he must decide definitely not to remain for the play.”14 When the president saw what Mrs. Grant had written, he realized that he would not be able to persuade General Grant to change his plans or to go against Julia Grant's wishes.

  The Grants refusal to attend the theater left the Lincolns with the problem of who else they might be able to invite. The Stantons were asked to come, but Secretary Stanton declined on the grounds that the president ought to stay at home and did not want to encourage the Lincolns to go out that night—he was afraid that some fanatical Confederate might take a shot at Lincoln on his way to the theater. Also, Mrs. Stanton did not like Mary Lincoln any more than Julia Grant did. Governor Richard J. Oglesby of Illinois was also invited; he replied that he had a meeting that evening and could not get away. The governor of the Idaho Territory, William H. Wallace, also declined, as did Major Thomas T. Eckert, chief of the War Department's telegraph bureau—Secretary Stanton objected that Major Eckert was required for duty at the telegraph office. The Marquis de Chambrun was also invited but, according to his son Adelbert, excused himself on religious grounds—a devout Catholic, he did not want to attend a theatrical performance on Good Friday. Major Henry R. Rathbone, an acquaintance of the Lincolns, and his fiancée Clara Harris, the daughter of New York senator Ira Harris, were invited later in the afternoon, and accepted. The Lincolns would pick them up at Miss Harris's home on H Street. They had finally found another couple to make up their theater party.

  When General Grant went back to the Willard after the cabinet meeting, his wife told him all about an incident that had happened at lunch. Mrs. Grant seemed very upset by what had happened. She and a friend, along with two of their children, had been sitting in a restaurant when four men came in and sat opposite them. Mrs. Grant thought one of the men was “the messenger of the morning.”15 Another was “a dark, pale man” who played with his soup spoon, “sometimes filling it and holding it half-lifted to his mouth, but never tasting it.” The pale man seemed very intent on listening to everything that Mrs. Grant and her party were saying. Mrs. Grant was becoming frightened, and said to her friend, “I believe they are part of Mosby's guerillas and they have been listening to every word we have said.”

  General Grant did not seen to be fazed at all by his wife's story, or by the fact that these men stared at her and listened to her conversation. “Oh, I suppose he did so merely from curiosity,” he said.16 By this time, the general had become so used to being stared at and annoyed in public that he tended to shrug off such incidents. If Mrs. Grant had told her story to Secretary of War Stanton, who was always worrying about assassination plots and kidnapping attempts, his reaction would not have been nearly as nonchalant.

  Later in the afternoon, at about 3:30, a similar incident occurred. The Grants, along with the wife of General Daniel S. Rucker, were riding in a carriage when “the same dark, pale man” rode past and stared at them. The rider galloped about twenty yards ahead of the carriage, then wheeled around and turned back. As he passed the carriage for the second time, “he thrust his face near the General's and glared in a disagreeable manner.”17 Grant was startled by this, and quickly drew back from the man. “This is the same man who sat down at the lunch-table near me,” Mrs. Grant said. “I don't like his looks.”18

  The general did not like them either, but he said something casual about the incident to put his wife's mind at ease. In his memoirs, he does not even mention the incident. But in 1878, General Grant told reporter John Russell Young that he “learned afterward that the horseman was [John Wilkes] Booth.”19 The general did not say how he managed to acquire this information, or exactly how long afterward he had acquired it.

  From his headquarters in Ral
eigh, North Carolina, General William Tecumseh Sherman read the Raleigh newspapers to keep informed of General Joseph E. Johnston's movements. He was preparing to cut off General Johnston's “only available line of retreat by Salisbury and Charlotte,” and expected that General Philip Sheridan would come down from Virginia to join him “with his superb cavalry corps.”20 General Sherman was getting ready for the possibility of another battle, and reasoned that he would be needing more cavalry when the time came. But because “the war was substantially over,” to use his turn of phrase, General Sherman ordered his men not to wage war against the civilian population. “No further destruction of railroads, mills, cotton, and produce will be made without the specific orders of an army commander,” General Sherman ordered, “and the inhabitants will be dealt with kindly, looking to an early reconciliation.” This was from the general who had led his men on a march of destruction from Atlanta to the sea and ruined everything they passed. Sherman had paid attention to what President Lincoln had to say about reunification and reconciliation aboard the River Queen at City Point.

  Shortly after issuing this order, General Sherman received a message from General Johnston. The message, dated April 13, dealt with the subject of surrender. “The results of the recent campaign in Virginia have changed the relative military condition of the belligerents,” General Johnston's communiqué began.21 “I am, therefore, induced to address you in this form the inquiry whether, to stop the further effusion of blood and devastation of property, you are willing to make a temporary suspension of active operations, and to communicate to Lieutenant-General Grant, commanding the armies of the United States, the request that he will take like action in regard to other armies, the object being to permit the civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war.”