Henry Peck of Greenwich writes home to parents about the forthcoming visit of “Old Abe”
150 years ago today, President Lincoln reviewed the XI Corps near Brooks Station. The visit was well-known and anticipated. Henry Peck wrote his parents:
“We expect Old Abe here Friday to review our brigade. Then I will have a chance to see him.”
And after the fact, from William Warren:
“On the 10th our corps passed in review before President Lincoln and his wife, vice-president Hamlin, General Sickles and others. The president’s bodyguard was nearly a half mile in length, consisting of officers, orderlies and cavalrymen. Mrs. Lincoln rode in a carriage drawn by four horses.”
The exact location of the review isn’t known, but whatever one’s politics may have been, a chance to see the Commander-in-Chief was a noteworthy affair.
A more in-depth story about Lincoln’s April 5, 1863 review of the larger portion of the Army of the Potomac at Stafford can be found here on the Mysteries and Conundrums blog. It’s an interesting read – and that location is known (even if it’s much changed in appearance).