A Tale of Two Presidents

“[Secretary of War] Stanton did not expect the [funeral] train itself to take on a life of its own and to become a venerated symbol in its own right” (212).


The Book   

As a follow-up to Manhunt, James L. Swanson wrote Bloody Crimes: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln and the Chase for Jefferson Davis. Just like his first book, Swanson produces a history book that is as enjoyable as a novel. He simultaneously tells the stories of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral and funeral train with the Union Army’s pursuit of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.

Lincoln’s funeral was unlike anything Washington, DC had seen. A public viewing in the White House was followed by a funeral, a procession to the Capitol, and a public viewing in the Capitol Rotunda. Almost 3,000 people an hour walked through the Rotunda. A thirteen day, 1,645 mile train ride followed. The funeral train stopped in eleven cities. Swanson writes so the reader feels as if they are experiencing the sights and sounds of the train and cities.

As Lincoln’s train traveled northwest in May 1865, Jefferson Davis fled southwest. The collapse of the Confederacy followed him until he was captured in Georgia. Unlike Lincoln, Davis’s journey was far from over: he spent several years in prison and was released to live out his life a free man.

The Place 


Springfield, Illinois is three and a half hours southwest of Chicago. Besides being the state capitol, the only other distinction is Abraham Lincoln’s home and final resting place. The Old State Capitol and the row of shops facing it are preserved as if Lincoln still walked the streets to his law office. The building is a reconstruction of the original, but it is hard to tell. Visitors can walk into the Hall of Representatives, Senate Chamber, and Supreme Court. The Hall of Representatives is where Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech and where his body lay in state. Springfield was the smallest and last town on the funeral train’s route, but the people made sure to welcome their Lincoln back. Seventy-five thousand people walked past the open casket in the only twenty-four hour viewing. 



Cemeteries and tombs aren’t typically on my list of places to see; but of the few I have visited, Lincoln’s Tomb is the most impressive. It is 117 ft. tall and the obelisk towers over you. More like a building than a tomb, you can walk into the structure and file past where the Lincolns are buried. Because of a plot to kidnap his remains, Lincoln is actually ten feet underground.