Below you will find excerpts from some of the material that has recently come to me along with a short note about the sender and writer. Perhaps there is a treasured family story that speaks to Lincoln’s City Point visit that you can add. The Contact page explains how to reach me.
Virginia Memoir
A Virginia family preserved the recollection of their ancestor, who served in the 7th Rhode Island Regiment. The soldier was among those who entered captured Petersburg on April 3, 1865, and saw Lincoln during his visit:
“...it was not long before we recognized the foremost man in the party was our beloved Abraham Lincoln. We rushed along the way to greet him and I never will forget the mournful smile that he gave us as he passed thro on his way to the city.”
Upstate New York Archive
A site visitor pointed me to a family collection in an upstate New York archive that contains a newspaper memoir written by a civilian who was standing nearby when U.S. Grant departed City Point for the battle lines on March 29, 1865, and Lincoln saw him off:
“Grant walked back and forth alone, and thoughtfully, near the head of the train. Mr. Lincoln stood in the midst of a little group near the rear steps of the single passenger car, chatting with all in his characteristic way.”
Ohio Letter
I was directed to the University of Chicago site by a visitor and found a letter from a member of the Christian Commission concerning Lincoln’s April 8 tour of the Depot Field Hospital:
“It was like the visit of a father to his children and was appreciated in the same kindly spirit by the soldiers. They loved to talk of his kindness and unaffected manner & to dwell upon the various incidents of this visit as a green spot in the soldier’s hard life.”
