At midday we arrived at Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C. The cottage is on the grounds of the Soldier's Home 3 miles from the White House. Lincoln spent 13 months of his Presidency in residence at the Cottage. That was one quarter of his Presidency. The Capital City was noisy during the war years with troops drilling and the constant movement of supplies and men. During the summer months the air was unhealthy.
The Soldier's Home is on a hill overlooking the city and provided a magnificent view and cool breezes. The restored Cottage is basically unfurnished with only a few pieces of reproduction furniture in each room. With no artifacts to talk about the tour guides engage the visitors in an interactive discussion using video clips and voice recordings to inform the visitor and then pose questions about the important issues of Lincoln's Presidency and the choices he made. It was both entertaining and informative. Here are some things we learned today.
- In the evenings at the Cottage Lincoln read Shakespeare aloud to whomever would listen. Frequently the listener was his secretary John Jay.
- The Cottage was the 19th century equivalent of Camp David and was also used by President's Buchanan, Hayes, and Arthur.
- 750,000 men were killed in the civil war. The country's population at the time was 3.2 million. Compare that with the current population of 320 million and the 7.5 million that live in New York City.
- Most of the Emancipation Proclamation was written at the Cottage - not the White House.
- The first cemetery for union war dead was adjacent to the Soldier's Home and in view of many of the windows at the Cottage.