"Lincoln Cottage" at the Soldiers' Home

James N.

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Front of the house used by the family of Abraham Lincoln during the summers of 1862 through 1864.

The structure known today as the Lincoln Cottage is rather larger than I expected and is one of the buildings on what was known as the Soldiers' Home which is some three miles north-northeast of the White House in Washington, D. C. Lincoln may have been advised of this potential sanctuary as early as his first inauguration in March, 1861, by outgoing President James Buchanan who also spent time here. However, pressures of the war during the spring and summer of 1861 conspired to prevent Lincoln from taking advantage of the location until the following spring.

The death of twelve-year-old son "Willie" in February, 1862, plunged Mary Lincoln into depression and gloom and the President sought a change of scene for her ( seeing as how Willie had actually died in the White House ) as well as relief for him from the constant crowd of office-seekers. The "experiment" proved so successful that they spent that and the next two summers here as well, Lincoln making daily the three-mile "commute" by horseback to the White House for business. On one such trip, someone put a bullet through one of his famous stovepipe hats, sending him clattering on his way! Afterwards, to his chagrin he was accompanied by a troop of cavalry as an escort. One of the poet Walt Whitman's memories of his time spent working in the Washington military hospitals was meeting Lincoln daily as he passed to or from the Soldiers' Home to the White House.

When in July, 1864, Confederate forces led by Lt. Gen. Jubal Early threatened briefly the defenses of Washington, Lincoln was advised to return to the White House. The Soldiers' Home ( still utilized as the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home ) was then near Fort Totten in the ring of Washington fortifications but was still considered too remote for security. Lincoln did as requested, but still ventured to Fort Stevens which lay a little to the west in order to witness firsthand the action there as Early's men probed the Washington defenses.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the...ns-and-battleground-national-cemetery.103589/

Following Lincoln's term in office, several of his successors also utilized the structure. It now has been renovated and restored to its appearance during Lincoln's stay. Operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation it is open to the public for tours by individuals or small groups. When attempting to visit, it is necessary to stop at the guard station and identify yourself as a visitor to the Lincoln Cottage which is easily visible near the entrance. Wandering to other portions of the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home is not allowed. Tours of the Cottage begin in the across-the-street Visitor Center in a turn-of-the-twentieth century building which also houses excellent displays of Civil War Washington and the Lincolns.

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The front entrance is possibly less-known than the rear entrance with its inviting porch as seen below.

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One can easily imagine the Lincolns and their guests enjoying an evening breeze here with Washington City spread out before them, though trees and other structures largely block the view today.

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Furnishings are kept purposely sparse; likely none of these pieces were actually in the house at the time. I thought the lighting jarring at first, but as much as the chandelier and wall fixtures reminded me at first of tasteless 1950's kitsch I was assured they are in fact correct reproductions of the 1850's gas lamps. The woven matting on the floors reflects the type of floor covering used in homes in the summers when the Lincolns were in residence.

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This downstairs room is known to have been used by Lincoln as his study and it was here in the late summer of 1862 that he composed the Emancipation Proclamation. The original desk was seized long ago for the White House's Lincoln Bedroom, so this is a copy of it. Unfortunately there is no record of which of the upstairs bedrooms were used by the Lincolns and they are not part of the tour.

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Between the Cottage and the gate house stands this pavillion, flanked by two Ames Napoleon cannons; below, a modern interpretation of Lincoln leaving for or arriving from "the office".

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