The Riderless Horse- Represent’s a Fallen Leader Looking Back On His Troops For the Last Time.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president of the United States to be officially honored by the inclusion of the caparisoned horse in his funeral cortege. When Lincoln’s funeral train reached Springfield Illinos his horse Old Bob, who was draped in a black mourning blanket, followed the procession and led mourners to Lincoln’s burial spot.

This marks the first time we have photographs of the riderless horse participating in the funeral of an American president

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6455403

Traditionally, simple black riding boots are reversed in the stirrups to represent a fallen leader looking back on his troops for the last time.

The custom is believed to date back to the time of Genghis Khan, when a horse was sacrificed to serve the fallen warrior in the next world. The caparisoned horse later came to symbolize a warrior who would ride no more. Others suggest that this tradition hailed from over a thousand years before Genghis Khan, when the Afghan people represented the Buddha as a riderless horse.

Photo: Washington, D.C. (Jun. 9, 2004) - Symbolic of a fallen leader who will never ride again, the Caparisoned horse is led down Constitution Ave., following the Caisson carrying the body of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan Source: Wiki

Enthusiastic Members of The Crowd at Lincoln’s Second Inauguration

The Library of Congress discovered unseen photos of President Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration. They’d been housed at the library for years, hidden by an error in labeling.

More Photos here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19094867

Looking at History

African American Troops Marching at Lincoln’s 1865 Inauguration

Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration marked the first time that African Americans officially participated in the ceremonies, with African American soldiers taking part in the march.

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Washington, District of Columbia. Crowd at President Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration

Ulysses S. Grant, Standing Alongside His War Horse, “Cincinnati”

Ulysses S. Grant rode his favorite war horse, Cincinnati, to Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 9, 1865. Grant would only let two other men ride Cincinnati — President Lincoln and Admiral Daniel Ammen — and is said to have turned down a $10,000 offer for the horse. When Grant became president, he brought Cincinnati to the White House stables.

Published in: Eyes of the nation : a visual history of the United States / Vincent Virga and curators of the Library of Congress

President Lincoln’s Horse Old Robin

Photograph shows, Rev. Henry Brown, with Abraham Lincoln’s horse on the day of Lincoln’s funeral.

Mr Brown was a minister and an occasional handyman for the family, he led Lincoln’s favorite horse Robin — also known as “Old Bob” — behind the president’s coffin. Old Bob’s stirrups held a pair of Lincoln’s boots turned backward.

F.W. Ingmire, photographic artist, City Gallery, West Side of Public Square, Springfield, Ill.

• Creator(s): Ingmire, F. W., 1822-1876, photographer
• Date Created/Published: [Springfield, Ill. : s.n., 1865]
• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 

A Famous Figure Lost to History- James Tanner, Army Stenographer was an amputee who lost both legs in Battle of Second Bull Run (Manassas)

Without This Man We Would Have No Comprehensive Record of the Night Lincoln Was Assassinated.

Tanner studied stenography and worked at the War Department in Washington. On the evening of April 14, 1865 he hurried to Ford’s Theater on hearing that President Lincoln had been shot. He remained there throughout the night with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and took a complete shorthand notes as the search for the assassin was planned and carried out. His record of events that evening at the Peterson House (across from the theater) remain the most comprehensive record of the events that followed the President’s shooting. He later founded a Veteran’s organization and spoke at the dedication of the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

James Tanner died at Washington, D.C. on October 2, 1927 and was buried in Section 2 of Arlington National Cemetery.

National Geographic Channels The scene following the shooting of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in the television film “Killing Lincoln,” which is based on the best-selling book by Bill O’Reilly.

(Source: arlingtoncemetery.net)

Lincoln Portrait

The earliest known photographic portrait of Abraham Lincoln, was made in 1848 when Lincoln was 39 years old.

“I long ago made up my mind that if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. If I wore a shirt of mail and kept myself surrounded by a bodyguard, it would be all the same. There are a thousand ways of getting at a man if it is desirable that he should be killed. Besides, in this case, it seems to me, the man who would come after me would be just as objectionable to my enemies — if I have any.”

Abraham Lincoln to journalist Noah Brooks in 1863

Wanted Poster Describes the Physical Characteristics of John Wilkes Booth

Nate Orlowek and Dr. Arthur Chitty each spent years independently studying the Lincoln assassination. According to Dr. Chitty, they arrived at the same conclusion:

“The most persuasive evidence to me, at Garrett’s Barn, that the man in the barn was not Booth is the fact that his friend David E. Herold came out of the barn and the first thing he said was, ‘The man in there is not Booth.’”

According to Nate Orlowek, other eyewitnesses also refuted the government’s identification of the man killed at Garrett’s Farm:

“Lieutenant William C. Allan worked for the United States Secret Service in 1865. In August of 1937, his widow, Mrs. Helen Allan, told a journalist that her husband had told her that he saw the man at Garrett’s farm who had been killed and that the man had red hair. And that the government knew that that man was not Booth, but they were determined to foist this man on the nation as Booth.”

Every historical account says Booth’s hair was jet black. Eyewitness testimony about the red-haired man was supported by two other Union soldiers: Joseph Zisgen and Wilson Kenzie. Nate Orlowek says the men were friends with Booth in New Orleans.

http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/leg_john_wilkes_booth.htm

The Philadelphia Derringer Pistol Which John Wilkes Booth Used to Shoot President Lincoln. 

The gun was made by Henry Deringer, but the misspelling of his name (it actually has a single “r”) has now become common.

Credits

FBI photo of the pocket pistol used to kill President Lincoln.

cdv photograph of John Wilkes Booth on a mount by C.D. Fredricks – this the famous “top-coat” pose with gloves and fur-lined overcoat. This is a later pose of the soon-to-be damned assassin… his hair is shorter. Sold for 460.00$ at Cowan’s Auctions

Premieres Tonight! Sunday, February 17 at 8PM

National Geographic Channel’s first original scripted drama, “Killing Lincoln”

Presents one of the most significant events in our country’s history. With fresh historical insight, the film thrillingly chronicles the final days of President Lincoln and the treasonous plot by one the most notorious, yet complex villains of all time.

Narrated on camera by Oscar®-winning actor Tom Hanks, the film stars Billy Campbell (“The Killing,” “Once and Again”) as Lincoln and introduces Jesse Johnson in a breakthrough performance as John Wilkes Booth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-QoUlLVBmM

The Signatures of Washington and Lincoln Changed Only Slightly During Their Adult Lives

Abraham Lincoln memorabilia and autographs are near the top of most collector’s lists. Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, served in office from March of 1861 to April of 1865, when he was tragically assassinated.

Abe Lincoln’s autograph has been a prime target for forgers, and authenticity issues make it an expensive piece of U.S. historical memorabilia.

A card or cut Abraham Lincoln signature from a document will run approximately $5,000 with the proper authentication. Most of the time, Lincoln signed only “A. Lincoln” - so autographs with his full name can be worth double the amount due to their increased scarcity.

Rare Photograph Signed A Lincoln

Bidders obviously noted this rarity, and ignored the $8,000-12,000 estimate with bids rattling back and forth until finally the piece was taken away for a sterling $103,000.

Lincoln made his place in history for the inspiring ideals which he presented in the cause of the Unionist side. Source: Paul Fraser Collectibles.

The Most Recognized Portrait of  Lincoln’s Assassin- John Wilkes Booth

I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. 

~John Wilkes Booth 

General John Brown Gordon 1832 – 1904 One of Robert E. Lee’s most trusted Confederate Generals-in his book Reminiscences of the Civil War (p. 19)

Right up to very near the end of the war, the South could have saved slavery simply by returning to the Union? or was Independence the Southern goal?

“But slavery was far from being the sole cause of the prolonged conflict. Neither its destruction on the one hand, nor its defense on the other, was the energizing force that held the contending armies to four years of bloody work. I apprehend that if all living Union soldiers were summoned to the witness-stand, every one of them would testify that it was the preservation of the American Union and not the destruction of Southern slavery that induced him to volunteer at the call of his country. ….No other proof, however, is needed than the undeniable fact that at any period of the war from its beginning to near its close the South could have saved slavery by simply laying down its arms and returning to the Union.” —General John B. Gordon, from Reminiscences of the Civil War, page 19

Lincoln on the Union: