Changes

==Prelude==

==Prelude==

[[Image:Lincoln1865.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Abraham Lincoln on April 10, 1865]]

[[Image:Lincoln1865.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Abraham Lincoln on April 10, 1865]]

Abraham Lincoln was the subject of death threats almost from the day he was elected president in November of 1860.  This made his trip to Washington and his 1861 inauguration all the more harrowing, at least to his bodyguards; at one point he switched trains in Baltimore and arrived at the Capitol in disguise.  In the summer of 1862 an unknown assailant managed to fire a bullet at him, putting a hole in his stovepipe hat as he was riding in a carriage for the Old Soldiers Home just 3 miles north of Washington (TL 26, pg. 10).

Abraham Lincoln was the subject of death threats almost from the day he was elected [[President of the United States of America|president]] in November of 1860.  This made his trip to [[Washington]] and his 1861 inauguration all the more harrowing, at least to his bodyguards; at one point he switched [[train]]s in [[Baltimore]] and arrived at the Capitol in disguise.  In the summer of 1862 an unknown assailant managed to fire a bullet at him, putting a hole in his stovepipe hat as he was riding in a carriage for the Old Soldiers Home just 3 miles north of Washington (TL 26, pg. 10).

As the Civil War was drawing to a close, there were many in the South who sought the means to end the war on their terms.  Advertisements ran in Southern papers calling for the killing of the president, with the payment of large rewards to the men who made it happen.  One such add was placed in an Alabama newspaper by George Washington Gayle, who promised his fellow Southerners that if funds were raised to a total of one million dollars, he would personally see to it that Lincoln's end was violent (TL 26, pg. 11).  Both Lincoln's personal bodyguard, the barrel-chested Ward Hill Lamon, and the Secretary of War [[Edwin M. Stanton]], were fearful for the president, having heard rumors and more against Lincoln's life.  Occasionally he would laugh off such rumors, and sometimes he would quietly acquiesce to heeding their advice.  But during the years of war, he was often heading out to the War Department, usually walking alone (TL 26, pg. 11).

As the Civil War was drawing to a close, there were many in the South who sought the means to end the war on their terms.  Advertisements ran in Southern [[newspaper|papers]] calling for the killing of the president, with the payment of large rewards to the men who made it happen.  One such add was placed in an [[Alabama]] newspaper by George Washington Gayle, who promised his fellow Southerners that if funds were raised to a total of one million dollars, he would personally see to it that Lincoln's end was violent (TL 26, pg. 11).  Both Lincoln's personal bodyguard, the barrel-chested Ward Hill Lamon, and the Secretary of War [[Edwin M. Stanton]], were fearful for the president, having heard rumors and more against Lincoln's life.  Occasionally he would laugh off such rumors, and sometimes he would quietly acquiesce to heeding their advice.  But during the years of war, he was often heading out to the [[War Department]], usually walking alone (TL 26, pg. 11).

On the evening of April 11, 1865, Lincoln was entertaining Lamon and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, who pressed him about the strange dreams he had been having.  Lamon related what he said later:

On the evening of April 11, 1865, Lincoln was entertaining Lamon and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, who pressed him about the strange [[dream]]s he had been having.  Lamon related what he said later:

:''"About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."''

{{QuoteBox|About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed [[soldier]]s who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the [[White House]]?' I demanded of one of the soldiers, 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.}}

   

   

===The Booths===

===The Booths===