Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Lincoln’s Flight to Washington,” February 28, 1861

    Source citation
    “Lincoln’s Flight to Washington,” Fayetteville (NC) Observer, February 28, 1861, p. 3: 2.
    Original source
    Baltimore (MD) American
    Newspaper: Publication
    Fayetteville Semi Weekly Observer
    Newspaper: Headline
    Lincoln’s Flight to Washington
    Newspaper: Page(s)
    3
    Newspaper: Column
    2
    Type
    Newspaper
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Transcriber
    Don Sailer, Dickinson College
    Transcription date
    The following text is presented here in complete form, as it originally appeared in print. Spelling and typographical errors have been preserved as in the original.

    LINCOLN’S FLIGHT TO WASHINGTON. – We copy all the essential facts and statements in relation to this strange movement, from the vast mass that fills the papers. We expected before this to have had some definite and authorized contradiction of the foul slander, as it doubtless is, that an organized conspiracy, and of eminent Southern men too, had been formed to murder the President-elect. We hope soon to see a thorough exposure of it.

    P. S. This morning’s mail brings the following, a special Washington dispatch to the Baltimore American, a reliable paper, which vouches for its accuracy, on the assurance of Marshal Kane, of Baltimore:

    “The coup d’etat and sudden arrival here of the President –elect was much condemned by his Republican friends, who declared that he should not have run on his first approach to slave territory. This has led to the following authentic statement.

    “It appears that a few hundred men, particularly obnoxious to the people and public sentiment of Baltimore, had determined to avail themselves of the opportunity to use Mr. Lincoln, and to accompany him in procession from the depot to his hotel.

    “They applied to Marshal Kane for protection by the police. He advised against the proceeding, assuring the parties that while Mr. Lincoln, in his passage through Baltimore, would be treated with the respect due to him personally and to his high official position, there was no guaranty that the proposed procession would be similarly respected. He thought, moreover, that the proceeding would be calculated to place the people of Baltimore in a false position, as neither they nor the citizens of Maryland sympathized with Mr. Lincoln’s political views. He advised, therefore, that the idea of a procession should be abandoned, lest it might provoke some indignity which would involve the character of Baltimore and be very unpleasant to the President elect.

    “It appears, however, that the parties insisted on their programme, when Mr. Lincoln was advised of the facts, and urged to pass immediately through to Washington.”

    The American says, –

    “There was no indignity offered to the friends who accompanied Mrs. Lincoln, but there was an evident outbreak of indignation against the little squad of Baltimore office-seekers who had visited York, and desired to give prominence to their claims for official position. On the appearance on the platform of the Baltimore Republican Committee, they were received with groans and hootings. A rush was made at Wm. E. Beale and Francis S. Corkran, but they were protected by the police, and neither of them were injured further than knocking their hats over their eyes.

    “The prevailing feeling excited by Mr. Lincoln’s quiet passage through Baltimore was one of relief and of gratification, though expressions of disappointed curiosity were frequently heard.”

    How to Cite This Page: "Fayetteville (NC) Observer, “Lincoln’s Flight to Washington,” February 28, 1861," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/34996.