{"id":3086,"date":"2016-03-17T08:49:39","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T12:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=3086"},"modified":"2025-04-18T10:15:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T14:15:28","slug":"on-st-patricks-day-lincoln-presented-a-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/on-st-patricks-day-lincoln-presented-a-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"On St. Patrick\u2019s Day, Lincoln presented a flag"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a>
President Lincoln in 1865<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On St. Patrick\u2019s Day, March 17, 1865, less than a month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln had a captured battle flag<\/a> and freed slaves in mind as he offered \u201ca few words only\u201d to members of the 140th Indiana Regiment.<\/p>\n

Around 4 p.m., he spoke from a balcony at the National Hotel in Washington, D.C., and gave a captured battle flag to Governor Oliver Morton of Indiana. The Hoosier regiment had seized the banner during the fight at Fort Anderson, N.C.<\/p>\n

\"Bombardment<\/a>
Bombardment of Fort Anderson, February 1865<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As he began his address, Lincoln, a native of a southern state and champion of the Union, was in a reflective mood. \u201cI was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, reside in Illinois, and now here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is my duty to care equally for the good people of all the States.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he congratulated the military unit on capturing the flag, he emphasized that \u201cI would not wish to compliment Indiana above other states, remembering that all have done so well.\u201d His words were yet another reflection of his laser-like focus on unity.<\/p>\n

\"Drawing<\/a>
Drawing of Lincoln on a flag-draped platform. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(At that moment, the president might have recalled another Indiana moment. Four years earlier, as he traveled through that state to his first inauguration, he gave a short address and remarked that \u201cwhile some of us may differ in political opinions, still we are all united in one feeling for the Union. We all believe in the maintenance of the Union, of every star and every stripe of the glorious\u00a0[American] flag.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"Col.<\/a>
Col. Thomas Brady led the 140th regiment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Continuing his 1865 speech, Lincoln remarked on a \u201cfew aspects of this great war on which I have not already expressed my views by speaking or writing.\u201d With that, he turned to the plight of slaves and \u201cthe recent effort of our erring brethren, sometimes so-called, to employ the slaves in their armies. The great question with them has been: \u2018Will the Negro fight for them?\u2019 They ought to know better than we; and, doubtless, do know better than we.\u201d<\/p>\n

A century-and-a-half later, one can imagine the troops laughing uproariously at his quip. Perhaps with a half-smile, Lincoln then added that \u201chaving, in my life, heard many arguments, or strings of words meant to pass for arguments, intended to show that the Negro ought to be a slave, that if he shall now really fight to keep himself a slave, it will be a far better argument why [he] should remain a slave than I have ever before heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"About<\/a>
About to raise a flag, Lincoln exhorts his audience. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a>Then the Great Emancipator turned serious. \u201cI have always thought that all men should be free\u2026.Whenever [I] hear anyone\u00a0arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

To win the Civil War, Lincoln said, \u201cWe have to reach the bottom of the insurgent resources; and that they employ, or seriously think of employing, the slaves as soldiers, gives us glimpses of the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was right; the South surrendered a month later. One of the last memos the president wrote before he was murdered went to the Secretary of State. Referring to his son, Lincoln jotted, \u201cTad wants some\u00a0flags. Can he be accommodated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On St. Patrick\u2019s Day, March 17, 1865, less than a month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln had a captured battle flag and freed slaves in mind as he offered \u201ca few words only\u201d to members of the 140th Indiana Regiment. Around 4 p.m., he spoke from a balcony at the National Hotel in Washington,… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,182],"class_list":["post-3086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-abraham-lincoln","tag-st-patricks-day"],"yoast_head":"\nOn St. Patrick\u2019s Day, Lincoln presented a flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/on-st-patricks-day-lincoln-presented-a-flag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On St. Patrick\u2019s Day, Lincoln presented a flag - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On St. Patrick\u2019s Day, March 17, 1865, less than a month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln had a captured battle flag and freed slaves in mind as he offered \u201ca few words only\u201d to members of the 140th Indiana Regiment. 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