What Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Was Really Like

Thomas J. Craughwell was a historian and the author of "Stealing Lincoln's Body," and once wrote of Abraham Lincoln's funeral, "There were so many memorable moments along the way that it would be the labor of a lifetime to catalog them all." And that's not entirely surprising: Sure, there was no social media or internet to spread news and photos fast, but for a country still reeling from the division and death of the Civil War, the assassination of the president sent countless people reeling — and searching for ways to process grief and shock.

Lincoln's funeral was a massive, sprawling event that meant stops at major cities across the northwest, and all the logistical issues that went with that. There was such a clamour to be a part of the ceremonies that honored the fallen president that cities fought over the right to host Lincoln's funeral train at stops along the way to his final resting place. There was a fight of fighting over that, too: It was ultimately chosen by Mary Todd Lincoln, as she recalled her husband's request to be buried in a peaceful, countryside setting.

The somber proceedings started with two periods of lying in state — starting on April 18 and 20 — first in the White House, and then in the Capitol. Documents preserved by the American Battlefield Trust describe the air of sorrow and grief that settled over the city. So, what was it truly like to witness the last journey of America's beloved Abraham Lincoln?

Abraham Lincoln famously returned to Springfield, Illinois, for his burial, and the logistics of organizing the funeral were wildly impressive — especially considering there weren't many options for high-speed communication way back in the late 19th century. After Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, his coffin was closed in preparation for burial on May 4. In between, he traveled 1,645 miles through 400 towns in seven states. Preparations for all of that took just four days.

Journalist Noah Brooks wrote about the sense of widespread grief and mourning that had settled over Washington, D.C. All businesses closed, flags flew at half mast, and "Nature seemed to sympathize in the general lamentation, and tears of rain fell from the moist and comber sky," he wrote (via Abraham Lincoln's Classroom). "The wind sighed mournfully through the streets crowded with sad-faced people, and broad folds of funeral drapery flapped heavily in the wind ..."

Preparations also meant ensuring the president's body remained in a state for viewing, and that meant the application of a new-fangled technology: embalming. In a heartbreaking twist, Lincoln's body was prepared by the same doctor who had embalmed his beloved son, Willie, in 1862. While those who saw Lincoln's body early in the journey remarked on how lifelike he remained, that wasn't the case by the time it reached New York City. By then, New York Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant observed (via The Washington Post), "the genial, kindly face of Abraham Lincoln [was but] a ghastly shadow."

Abraham Lincoln was moved from the White House to the Capitol, in a procession that included six white horses and a procession of Union soldiers — led by a group of Black soldiers. Bringing up the rear were around 40,000 recently freed Black men, women, and children, in a solemn procession described in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (via Mr. Lincoln's White House): "Despite the enormous crowd the silence was profound. It seemed akin to the death it commemorated. ... A solemn sadness reigned everywhere."

William Gamble, an officer with the Union army and supervisor of the honor guard that stood watch over Lincoln in the Capitol, recalled: (via Abraham Lincoln's Classroom), "It seemed as if a million of people had assembled and that Washington was a living mass of human beings of all kinds, shades, and colors. I have never dreamed of such a sight before and never expect to witness such an assembly again."

Gamble's eye-witness account is as heartbreaking. He wrote that while he stood watch, he saw the full spectrum of responses: Many cursed, more cried, and occasionally, they tried to reach out and touch the dead president. He wrote of one older woman who leaned forward to kiss him, quickly: "I could not find it in my heart to say a word to her, but let her pass on as if I did not see it. You can form no idea of the scenes I saw."

There were around 150 people who rode on Abraham Lincoln's funeral train, but Mary Todd Lincoln was not among them. She didn't attend any part of the funeral, and those few who saw her reported her absolute devastation at events as they unfolded. One reported (via Biography), she was "more dead than alive — broken by the horrors of that dreadful night ..." As insistent as she had been that her husband's final resting place would be in Springfield's Oak Ridge cemetery, she also refused to move back there. 

There was, however, another Lincoln who journeyed with him: Willie Lincoln. Lincoln family seamstress Elizabeth Keckley would later write of the devastation that 11-year-old Willie's 1862 death had brought the family, quoting Abraham's reaction to his death days after being diagnosed with typhoid fever (via The Washington Post): "My poor boy. He was too good for this earth. God has called him home. I know that he is much better off in heaven, but then we loved him so. It is hard, hard to have him die!"

After his death, Willie had been placed in a temporary vault with the idea that once his father's presidency was over, they would return to Illinois as a family. And they did: Willie's casket was placed in the train even before his father's, and they made the journey side-by-side.

Since many newspapers published the itinerary of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train, Americans knew when it was going to be passing through their area. Even if they weren't in one of the major cities where it stopped, thousands and thousands of people still turned out to pay their respects in a very poignant, beautiful way.

The train averaged only about 20 miles per hour as it passed through populated areas, and as it chugged along — both through cities and towns, and through the countryside — it glided down tracks flanked by thousands of grieving Americans. There were families, there were mourners mounted on horseback, there were entire choirs singing funeral songs and hymns as the train passed, musicians who turned out to play dirges, and armed mourners who fired salutes. Clad in mourning clothes, some waved black scarves, and held bouquets of wildflowers. Since stops in cities coincided with daytime viewing hours, much of the travel was done throughout the night. Torches, lanterns, and bonfires were lit along the tracks, as if guiding the train along.

The train did stop in cities, towns, and stations where there wasn't a public viewing organized, and even then, grieving people turned out en masse. Many stops had small groups that were organized and allowed on the train, leaving flowers and tokens on the president's casket.

When Abraham Lincoln's funeral was held on May 4, 1865, that actually wasn't the end of things. Lincoln's body has actually been moved a whopping 17 times, over fears he was going to be a target for grave robbers and body snatchers. Was he? Yes.

At the time, the grave-robbing trade was alive and well in America. Grave robbing was driven in large part by the medical industry for a number of reasons, but Lincoln was perhaps predictably a unique case. There was at least one fully-fledged plot to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, and it was the brainchild of a gang of Chicago counterfeiters. The Secret Service put an end to that plot, but it made it pretty clear that a permanent solution needed to be found.

For starters, that included a group of civilians organized specifically to guard the beloved leader's body. Over the course of almost two decades, Lincoln's remains were moved to secret locations and carefully guarded, until Robert Todd Lincoln insisted that a final memorial and monument be constructed. On completion in 1901, there were questions about whether or not he was still in the casket, so they decided to open it. He was: A group of witnesses confirmed that yes, Lincoln actually was in the casket, which was then entombed beneath two tons of concrete. Interestingly, the last surviving member of that group of witnesses is believed to be Charles Beaver, who died in 1966.