Lincoln Arrives in Washington Amid Assassination Fears

Context

Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the November 1860 presidential election as the Republican nominee, who opposed the expansion of slavery into western territories, triggered immediate alarm across the South. South Carolina seceded in December, followed rapidly by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. These states formed the Confederate States of America in February 1861, asserting their right to withdraw from the Union over fears that a Lincoln administration would threaten the institution of slavery.

Outgoing President James Buchanan, a Democrat with Southern sympathies, remained in office during the lame-duck period and proved unable or unwilling to take decisive action against secession. Maryland, a slaveholding border state through which Lincoln’s train had to pass, contained strong pro-Southern sentiment, especially in Baltimore, a city with a history of political violence. Lincoln’s advisers received intelligence of threats against him, heightening concerns for his safety during the final leg of his journey from Springfield, Illinois, to the capital.

What Happened

Allan Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, and his operatives, including the pioneering female detective Kate Warne, investigated reports of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln as he passed through Baltimore. The detective agency concluded that armed men planned to attack the president-elect during a carriage transfer between train stations in the city. Lincoln, initially reluctant to appear fearful, agreed on February 22 to alter his itinerary after consultations with Pinkerton and his close associate Ward Hill Lamon.

That evening Lincoln left his hotel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, wearing a soft felt hat and a wrapped overcoat to disguise his distinctive height and stovepipe hat. He boarded a special sleeper car with Pinkerton and Lamon and traveled overnight through Baltimore without incident, changing trains in the dark between the Calvert Street and Camden stations. The party reached Washington, D.C., at approximately six o’clock on the morning of February 23.

Illinois Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, the only person expecting them at the station, greeted the group and escorted Lincoln by carriage to the Willard Hotel. Lincoln registered quietly and later breakfasted with Senator William H. Seward before paying a courtesy call on President Buchanan at the White House.

Aftermath

Lincoln’s unannounced arrival drew immediate criticism in Northern newspapers and diaries, with some commentators accusing him of cowardice and questioning his fitness for office. He later expressed regret over the decision, stating privately that he doubted an assassination attempt would have succeeded had he followed the original route through Baltimore.

The president-elect remained at the Willard Hotel through the inauguration week, meeting political leaders and preparing for his March 4 swearing-in. Mary Lincoln and the couple’s sons arrived by train the same day under more conventional escort and joined him at the hotel.

Legacy

Lincoln’s safe arrival preserved the continuity of the federal government at a moment when secession threatened its collapse. The episode illustrated the acute security challenges facing the incoming administration and foreshadowed the extraordinary measures that would be required to protect the president during the Civil War.

Historians view the secretive journey as an early demonstration of the depth of sectional hostility and the willingness of some Northerners to accept unorthodox precautions to ensure the survival of the Union. Although the precise details of the so-called Baltimore Plot remain debated, the episode underscored the fragility of the constitutional transfer of power in 1861.