The land of Lincolner embarks this morning on a 20th century version of Abraham Lincoln's dozen day trek from Springfield to Washington ahead of his inauguration.
Lincoln spoke more than 100 times during the train trips, often tailoring his remarks to his audience, and even more often, surprising his political handlers by provocatively challenging Southern secessionists.
In Steubenville, Ohio, just across the river from Virginia, he remarked that Virginians were entitled to their rights, but only the people collectively could express those rights.
Elsewhere, he spoke mainly of the country's Constitutional binds.
At Cooper Union in New York: "I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, this Constitution and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle."
Lincoln, visiting Philadelphia and Independence Hall: "I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence."
Ironically, the Philadelphia to Baltimore trek was canceled at the last minute because Allan Pinkerton's intelligence indicated that Lincoln would be gunned down as he entered Baltimore's Calvert station. So Lincoln improvised, leaving Harrisburg, PA in the dead of night, hopped aboard a passenger train, crammed into a back seat, slid through Baltimore at 3:30 in the morning, head down, wearing a "gentleman's shawl," and arrived in Washington, D.C. the next day at 6:00 a.m.
Lincoln's caravan was fairly short: three cards and a locomotive. Historian Harold Holzer writes that Lincoln's compartment was flecked with patriotic flourishes, "warmed by modern heaters," lit by candles, had four "cozy" reading chairs and a black walnut table. The wall paneling was "curled maple" offset by zebra wood, gilt moldings and plush furnishings. The locomotives were called "The Union" and the "Constitution."
The national railroad superintendent personally supervised the trip along the "Great Western" tracks. All other trains had to give the right of way. Security, until Philadelphia, was light.
All the big journalists of the time accompanied him; journalists had ready access to Lincoln's car.
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