Exploring Lincoln

02/09/2025

Raid Up the Tennessee River

After their victory at Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, the Union Navy did not sit idle. Flag Officer Andrew Foote sent his ironclads for repairs. He then ordered Lt. Seth Ledyard Phelps to steam upriver deep into the Confederacy with three timberclads. One of the main objectives of this raid was to secure and hold the Memphis and Ohio railroad crossing over the Tennessee River at Danville, Tennessee, located 25 miles south of Fort Henry. This location was crucial as one of the few railroad supply and transportation routes that crossed the Tennessee in this region and linked a large portion of the Confederacy together.

After securing the bridge on the night of February 6, Lt. Phelps continued upriver to Cerro Gordo in Hardin County, Tennessee. There on February 7, another prize awaited the Union gunboats, a southern ironclad under construction named the Eastport. Along with the partially finished Confederate ironclad, large quantities of iron plating and timber were found abandoned nearby. Lt. Phelps left the Tyler to guard this prize while he continued upriver to the Tennessee River’s navigable limit at “Muscle Shoals” near Florence, Alabama. Here on February 8, the sailors captured supplies marked for Fort Henry. They spared the railroad bridge crossing the river, as concerned citizens of Florence convinced him they needed the bridge. Phelps saw no military need to destroy it - and he wanted to win the hearts of the locals.

With the raid completed and most of the southern boats and supplies they came across destroyed or captured, Lt. Phelps steamed back to Fort Henry. Many loyal southerners welcomed the site of the gunboats along the Tennessee River. They gathered at the river’s edge and waved the “Stars and Stripes” to cheer and demonstrate their sentiment for the Union. Some of the men went even further and signed on to serve in the Union military.

By the time they arrived back at Fort Henry on February 10, news of the raid and fall of the fort had spread across the nation. Union states celebrated a much-needed victory while Confederate states bemoaned the loss of the fort and the open route into the Confederacy. Confederate generals began rethinking their defensive strategy, and they looked seriously at evacuating Kentucky and most of Tennessee.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
Alt Text: Period newspaper print showing a large crowd of Union southerners cheering at the arrival of a Union gunboat.

05/18/2024

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our fourth, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from Albert Daggett. Daggett sat in a front seat of the Parquette, rear area of the first level of the Theatre. He claimed to have been "not more than 20 feet from the box" but in reality, the distance between the Parquette and the President's box would be greater. He writes his account in a letter to a friend on April 15, 1865.

"I had been out and was just entering the inner door when I heard the report of the pistol and turned just in time to see the hound of treason leap from the box upon the stage and with glittering dagger flourishing above his head disappear behind the scenes. As he leaped from the box, he exclaimed "Sic Semper Tyrannis" and just as he disappeared from the stage he cried out "I have done it-the South is avenged!"

Despite his details of the events being rather short, his description of public emotion is invaluable. "Mr. Lincoln has relaxed his hold from the "Ship of State" to which he clung with such heroic and noble daring... The good ship is now at the mercy of the winds. God grant that she may survive the storm, and anchor in safety in some good harbor, in the harbor of peace and prosperity. The spirits of Abraham Lincoln, supported by the people of the country will mash this hydra of treason and rebellion North and South so deep into the soil... the crimson blood of Lincoln and of a hundred thousand fallen patriots calls loudly for revenge and it calls not in vain.”

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination.



Image: An 1860s seating chart from Ford's Theatre, with Albert Daggett's approximate location outlined in red (NPS)

05/18/2024

When 50 Harley riders from Montreal, Canada traveling Route 66 unexpectedly show up at your door to take in some Abraham Lincoln history. We love our friends from up North. And Abe would have ridden a Harley, we’re sure of it.

05/18/2024

“Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.”

Actually, we do need roads! Vicksburg National Military Park has received the 95% construction drawings from the Federal Highways Administration to reconstruct the park tour road at Grant’s Circle and North Union Avenue. Park staff are actively reviewing the drawings and specifications this week. The final construction package should be completed by the end of summer and construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2025.

Repairs will correct issues related to landslides that have closed one-third of the park tour road since 2020. Did we just say 2020?! Yes. 2020. We know this road repair project has taken a very long time, so it’s completely fair for you to ask “Are we there yet?!”

Almost! We promise!

Photo Credit: NPS

05/18/2024

One week to go! The Fredericksburg National Cemetery Luminaria takes place next Saturday, May 25, 2024!!!

The cemetery will be open from 8 pm-11 pm. The cemetery is located next to the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center at 1013 Lafayette Blvd.

Attendees may park at the University of Mary Washington lot at the corner of William Street and Sunken Road. The Fredericksburg Trolley will provide free shuttle service between the parking area and the national cemetery. Accessible parking for vehicles with state-issued accessible hangtags or license plates will be available in the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center lot.

05/18/2024

05/16/2024

One of our educators, Valerie, added a wonderful illustration to our interactive table. We love it! Right at home among the quilts and other beautiful pieces in the Study Gallery!

05/16/2024

We estimate 1,700 people were inside Ford's Theatre on the night of Lincoln's Assassination. Today we'll look at just one person's account:

Our second, in a series of eyewitness accounts, comes from Edwin Bates. Bates was sat in the Orchestra level of the Theatre (1st Floor) in the front row "next to the stage" and "nearly underneath the box occupied by Mr. Lincoln and friends."

In a letter to his parents, he wrote:

"I went to the theatre last night & saw him [Lincoln] for the first time... one of the most horrible and atrocious that has ever been recorded in the annals of history... I first heard the report of a pistol & immediately after a man jumped from Mr. Lincolns box a distance of 10 or 15 feet upon the stage right before & not more than 10 feet from me. He fell partly upon his side but instantly rose & disappeared before any in the vast house full of people could realize what had occurred... as he ran across the stage uttered the words "Sic semper tyrannis."

"The excitement here is terrific, the street-corners & hotels are crowded with people swearing deep & deadly vengance [sic] to all rebels... what the results will be, none can tell. Mr. Lincoln was certainly a "Saul among his people"... No event has ever filled me with such profound sadness as this. I have no heart to prosecute any further the business upon which I came here."

Follow our series as we uncover eyewitness accounts from the night of Lincoln's Assassination!



Image: An 1860's seating chart from Ford's Theatre, with Edwin Bate's location circled in red (NPS)

05/16/2024

It's World Migratory Bird Day, and we are celebrating it here at Vicksburg National Military Park! One of our park's migrating bird species is the Indigo bunting (Passerina Cyanea).

What migratory birds are in your community right now?

(Photo Credit: NPS/ouattrichell)