Lincoln On The Verge:Thirteen Days To Washington, Widmer - B-

    Lincoln's victory was known throughout the nation on election night thanks to the wonders of the telegraph. Four years earlier, it had taken ten days. The reaction in the South was immediate, visceral, and hostile.  A Southern paper predicted Republicans would "distribute the white females amongst the negroes."  There were four long months between election and inauguration days. There was concern that the capital would be captured by the Confederates. With only a single railroad line into Washington through Baltimore, the largest slave city in the country, plans to kill Lincoln when he traveled between the two cities abounded. 

    His train left Springfield on February 11, 1861. The day before, he had told his law partner of sixteen years, William Herndon, that if he lived, he would come back, and they could practice law again. However, he affirmed that he did not expect to survive the presidency. The Special traveled to Indianapolis where 50,000 awaited in and around Union Station. The entire day had been one of multiple stops, many speeches and hordes of people. Cincinnati turned out 150,000 on the 12th, and the next day the destination was Columbus. The 13th was a critical day as the Congress met amidst threats and a heavy guard to confirm Lincoln's election. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo followed as the Special zigzagged east. In the South, Jefferson Davis was traveling from his Mississippi home to his new capital in Montgomery, Alabama. Each day, Lincoln received communications from his security advisor, Allan Pinkerton. Pinkerton and his men were undercover in Baltimore, where there were so many different assassination plans that local barkeeps were taking bets on whether Lincoln could pass through the city. On the day Lincoln reached Albany, Feb. 18, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the CSA. New York would be the only city where he would stay two nights. While there, he received innumerable visitors, including one of Pinkerton's spies. A full report on the many plots against him was given to Lincoln.  On his way to Philadelphia, he spoke to the legislature in Trenton. Regarding the secessionists, he said "I fear we shall have to put the foot down firmly." Pinkerton met him in Philadelphia to work out a plan to avoid the Baltimore plotters. He spoke at Independence Hall on Washington's birthday. He spoke admiringly of the Declaration of Independence and equality for all. Later that night, Lincoln, Pinkerton, and Lincoln's bodyguard, Ward Lamon, boarded the last regular train for Washington. They passed through Baltimore in the middle of the night. He arrived unobserved, and proceeded to the Willard Hotel. He had traveled 1904 miles, had been seen by millions, and "restored America's flagging belief in her institutions." Nine days later, he was inaugurated.

   Forty-nine months later, Lincoln's funeral train returned to Springfield by almost the same route he had traveled to the capital. Once again, millions saw it pass. In NYC, an estimated million-and-a-half people lined Broadway for a parade. He was buried in Springfield on May 4th.