Lincoln Under Enemy Fire: The Complete Account of His Experiences During Early’s Attack on Washington
This short but interesting volume tells the tale of Abraham Lincoln’s visits to Fort Stevens on July 11 and 12, 1864, when Jubal Early’s Confederates were approaching the city of Washington. On both of those dates the President came under enemy fire, thus becoming the only president to be shot at by enemy soldiers during a war. The book has a nice Introduction written by Charles M. Hubbard which provides background information for the events of those two days. It includes many of the stories about Lincoln’s visits to the fort and some assessment of those tales. Basically the story goes that in July of 1864 Jubal Early took his army down the Shenandoah Valley, pushed aside a rag-tag Union army thrown together at Monocacy and approached the city of Washington eventually reaching Fort Stevens a mere seven miles from the capital. The Federals, thanks to troops thrown together by Gen. Lew Wallace and the assistance of the Sixth Corps sent to Washington by Grant who was at Petersburg, were able to fend off the Confederate onslaught. It helped that the Confederates were worn out by the hot weather and long marches. On two consecutive days Lincoln visited the fort and stood upon the parapets in full view of the enemy soldiers and sharpshooters. Being the tall man that he was, along with his top hat, he became an excellent target and the Confederates did let lead fly in his direction. Luckily he was not hit. The main story is about how the soldiers in the fort got the President out of harm’s way. The author collects and puts together numerous first-person accounts in the attempt to give the full story of what happened on those two days. Alas, at least this reviewer was still as confused at the end of the book as when he started reading it. Who is to be believed and who was just embellishing a good story? What we know as truth was that Lincoln was at the fort. He got shot at. Others in the area included Maj. Gen. Horatio Wright, Capt. Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Aunt Betsy” Thomas and Dr. C C.V.A. Crawford who was wounded near Lincoln. Is the famous story about Holmes shouting at the President “Get down, you damned fool, before you get shot!” true or was it “Aunt Betsy” shouting at Lincoln that he was a fool? Was it the calmer story that when Crawford was wounded Wright took the President and told him that he had better get to a safer place? It is all for the reader to decide on his/her own. Originally published in 1948, the book is well written and researched. It is a short easy read and may answer some questions but it doesn’t answer all the questions. A good read and recommended. Reviewer: Blake A. Magner Blake A. Magner is the former Civil War News Book Review Editor. He makes his living as an editor, writer, cartographer and photographer of Civil War history. He is author of Traveller & Company: The Horses at Gettysburg.
|
Illustrated, footnotes, bibliography, index, 138 pp., 2009 reprint. The University of Tennessee Press, 110 Conference Center, 600 Henley St., Knoxville, TN 37996, $35 plus shipping.