Benson J. Lossing, Pictorial Field Book of the Civil War. Volume 1.

[279] murderer of Louis Napoleon, were to kill Mr. Lincoln whilst passing through the streets in a carriage. General Scott and Mr. Seward were so well satisfied that such a plot was arranged, that they sent a special messenger to meet the President elect, and warn him of his danger. He heeded the warning, passed through Baltimore twelve hours earlier than he was expected there; and, to the astonishment of the people, the delight of his friends, and the chagrin and dismay of the conspirators, he appeared in Washington City early on the morning of the 23d of February.

This movement gave life and currency to many absurd stories. It was asserted that Mr. Lincoln had assumed all sorts of disguises to prevent recognition — that he was muffled in a long military cloak and wore a Scotch cap — that he was wrapped in the shaggy dress of a hunter, et coetera ; and for a while his political opponents made merry at his expense, and the pencils of the caricaturists supplied fun for the public. Thoughtful men were made sad. They felt humiliated by the fact that there was a spot in our fair land where the constitutionally chosen Chief Magistrate of the nation might be in danger of personal injury at the hands of his fellow-citizens; and especially mortifying was the allegation that he had been compelled to go in full disguise, by stealth, like a fugitive from justice, to the National Capital. It was properly felt to be a national disgrace.

The occurrence was not so humiliating as represented by the politicians, the satirists, and caricaturists. The President did not travel in disguise; and the hired assassins or their employers were doubtless too timid or too prudent to attempt the execution of their murderous plan at the critical moment. While in Washington City, early in December, 1864, the writer called on the President, with Isaac N. Arnold, Member of Congress from Chicago, one of Mr. Lincoln's most .trusted personal friends. We found him alone in the room wherein the Cabinet meetings are held (in the White House), whose windows overlook the Potomac and the Washington Monument.¹ At the request of the writer, the President related the circumstances of his clandestine journey between Philadelphia and Washington. The narrative is here given substantially in his own words, as follows:--

I arrived at Philadelphia on the 21st. I agreed to stop over night, and on the following morning hoist the flag over Independence Hall. In the evening there was a great crowd where I received my friends, at the Continental Hotel. Mr. Judd, a warm personal friend from Chicago, sent for me to come to his room. I went, and found there Mr. Pinkerton, a skillful police detective, also from Chicago, who had been employed for some days in Baltimore, watching or searching for suspicious persons there. Pinkerton informed me that a plan had been laid for my assassination, the exact time when I expected to go through Baltimore being publicly known. He was well informed as to the plan, but did not know that the conspirators would have pluck enough to execute it. He urged me to go right through with him to Washington that night. I didn't like that. I had made engagements to visit Harrisburg, and go from there to Baltimore, and I resolved to do so.