Weatherman2020
Diamond Member
On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln and his young son Tad visited the city of Richmond, Virginia, just days after the Confederates abandoned their former capital and Union forces-including African American soldiers-captured the city.
A large crowd gathered around Lincoln as he walked the streets toward the former Confederate White House. Many in the crowd were black men, women, and children whose freedom was guaranteed by the Union victory that now seemed inevitable.
Admiral David Dixon Porter later recalled: "I should have preferred to see the President of the United States entering the subjugated stronghold of the rebels with an escort more befitting his high station, yet that would have looked as if he came as a conqueror to exult over a brave but fallen enemy. He came instead as a peacemaker, his hand extended to all who desired to take it."
A large crowd gathered around Lincoln as he walked the streets toward the former Confederate White House. Many in the crowd were black men, women, and children whose freedom was guaranteed by the Union victory that now seemed inevitable.
Admiral David Dixon Porter later recalled: "I should have preferred to see the President of the United States entering the subjugated stronghold of the rebels with an escort more befitting his high station, yet that would have looked as if he came as a conqueror to exult over a brave but fallen enemy. He came instead as a peacemaker, his hand extended to all who desired to take it."