{"id":2176,"date":"2015-04-23T09:19:38","date_gmt":"2015-04-23T13:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2024-10-24T13:08:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T17:08:51","slug":"american-flags-nation-bids-lincoln-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/american-flags-nation-bids-lincoln-farewell\/","title":{"rendered":"With American flags, a nation bids Lincoln farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lincoln's<\/a>
Lincoln’s funeral car (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through the closing days of April 1865 and into the opening days of May, a train adorned with American flags<\/a> and signs of deep mourning moved north from Washington, D.C. It would eventually turn west to Springfield, Illinois. It bore the body of Abraham Lincoln.<\/p>\n

\"Flags<\/a>
Flags and a wreath decorate one of the engines that pulled Lincoln’s funeral train. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stopping in many cities along the route, the train gave hundreds of thousands of Americans the chance to bid farewell to the fallen president. They lined the tracks and grasped small American flags<\/a> in their hands as the funeral car clacked by. They draped black bunting from their windows at home and their shops in town, and they lowered Old Glory to half-staff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Where the train stopped, cities hosted elaborate ceremonies that featured specially designed biers on which the president\u2019s casket rested. Those biers were festooned with still more flags.<\/p>\n

\"Flags<\/a>
Flags fly atop a memorial arch in Chicago as Lincoln’s casket is carried from the train. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A newspaper recorded that \u201cbefore the [railroad] car left Philadelphia [it] was draped in mourning\u2026.Above each window a silver star has been fixed, and it contrasts beautifully with the black mourning\u2026.Four small flags\u2026have been fastened upon the railing in the rear of the car, and two similar ones on the railing in front.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the train approached New York City, a reporter jotted notes about the flags he saw: \u201cAt Mount St. Vincent a large black flag with white letters bore the words: \u2018We mourn our Nation’s loss.\u2019\u201d At Yonkers, \u201cdraped flags are profusely displayed.\u201d At Hastings, a funeral arch was erected near the depot, and \u201cit was heavily draped and artistically adorned with flags, wreaths and insignia of grief.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A flag that flew from the Lincoln funeral train. (Smithsonian Institution)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chugging through vast expanses without sizable towns, the train was still saluted by scatterings of people. Said The New York Times: \u201cThousands of people were passed, quiet observers of the fleeting train\u2026.Far beyond the city limits we only see here and there a national flag, with the appropriate mourning badge, before some solitary house, the occupants being on the doorstep\u2026.Two small boys are on a hilltop, holding in their hands miniature draped flags, and stand with heads uncovered\u2026.Flags at half-mast continue to be seen at houses draped with mourning\u2026.Signal men bear in their hands white square flags, bordered with black.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At last, the train pulled into Springfield, Illinois\u2019 capital. \u201cFrom the crown of the dome\u201d of a catafalque, observed a reporter, \u201cis a staff on which is the national flag at half-mast with black streamers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lincoln was finally home.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through the closing days of April 1865 and into the opening days of May, a train adorned with American flags and signs of deep mourning moved north from Washington, D.C. It would eventually turn west to Springfield, Illinois. It bore the body of Abraham Lincoln. Stopping in many cities along the route, the train gave… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,28,24,284],"class_list":["post-2176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-abraham-lincoln","tag-american-flags","tag-half-staff","tag-mourning"],"yoast_head":"\nWith American flags, a nation bids Lincoln farewell<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A train adorned with American flags and signs of deep mourning moved north from Washington, D.C. 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