Michael Leavy 128 pages softcover
The effective end of the American Civil War on April 9, 1865, had hardly
sunk in when, only five days later, another disaster stunned the
battered and bloodied nation. On the night of April 9, Pres. Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated. There would be time for vengeful thoughts
later, but first the Great Emancipator was going to get a royal
send-off. At the center of what would become a three-week national
funeral was a spectacular train that would carry Lincoln's remains, and
those of his deceased son, from Washington, DC, to Springfield,
Illinois. The Lincoln Special steamed slowly out of spring mists,
allowing thousands of mourners lining the tracks a lingering view. It
was a logistics miracle; a romantic pageant of sorrow and wonder,
carried off flawlessly. Through the tears, however, was a sense that
America's identity had turned a corner and was about to enter a dynamic
and hopeful future.
