Lincoln and Davis, A Study in Contrasts

Last night I finished reading Bloody Crimes, 407 pages, and am now so much better informed on America‘s Civil War, and on President Lincoln and President [of the American Confederacy] Davis. Of special interest is the indirect route the funeral train followed in transporting Lincoln’s corpse between Washington, D.C., and Springfield, Illinois, over 1,600 miles, covering major cities in New York State, with numerous stops in towns for the citizens to view the body. The beloved president was finally laid to rest fifteen days after his death. I feel Lincoln, the “common man,” would not have approved of any of these trappings and displays, had he known. His widow and children attended none of these doings, not even his funeral in the East Room at the White House.

By contrast, the funeral train of the 90-year-old Davis left New Orleans and traveled directly to Richmond, Virginia, for his interment in the family plot. His train also made stops in towns, but kept a closed casket. The surprising aspect is that a greater number of people turned out along roads and at railroad stations to see this train than the number who had waited for Lincoln’s. On the day of Davis’s burial, bells all over Washington, D. C., rang out in recognition of the occasion.

But it’s Lincoln the nation remembers today, not Davis. However, every American history buff owes it to himself to read this work. A previous book by James Swanson, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, tempts me now. But there is to be a detour.

About 24 years ago our daughter gave her father and me a well-bound two-volume boxed set of The President’s House by William Seale, published by the White House Historical Association with the cooperation of the National Geographic Society. Three chapters are devoted to the Lincoln years in the White House. Those are my next study, with the expectation of reading the entire guesstimate of 25 pounds of these two volumes before my train pulls out of the station.

They've been standing behind a shelf of videos and DVDs, in a darkish corner, and I just never got to them before now.

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