Abraham Lincoln Visits the Wounded at City Point, VA - Abraham Lincoln on Waymarking.com

President Abraham Lincoln spent the last day of his two week stay at City Point touring the Depot Field Hospital, where he visited more than 6,000 patients, including Confederate Col. Henry L. Benbow. At first, Benbow hesitated to shake the President’s hand, saying, “Mr. President, do you know to whom you offer your hand?” Lincoln replied that he did not. When Benbow reminded Lincoln that he was a Confederate officer who had fought the Union as hard as he could for four years, Lincoln answered, “I hope a Confederate colonel will not refuse me his hand.” Benbow responded by extending both hands to clasp the President’s proffered arms.

The marker describing this story is located near the entrance to John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell. The main text describes the Depot Field Hospital, the largest army hospital that served City Point during the Civil War:

"I think this is a very good place with the exception of too many lice.” - Stephen P. Chase, 86th New York Volunteers.

Lice may have been the only problem the staff of the Depot Field Hospital could not handle. The largest of seven hospitals built at City Point during the Siege of Petersburg, the facility put to use all the Union army had learned since the beginning of the Civil War. While severely wounded soldiers were sent to the North, those who remained in the field received the best medical care available. Running water, pumped from the Appomattox River, helped keep this 200-acre complex “as neat as a pin,” according to one observer.

African American women worked in the hospital laundry, ensuring that each soldier received fresh linen. Other women, black and white, toiled in the kitchens. Not only did these women provide meals and clean bedding, they also bolstered soldier morale, reminding the men of the comforts of home. One wounded Pennsylvanian informed his family that “I suppose I eat a heartier dinner than I would of on account that it was a lady that prepared it for me. She was so kind it made me almost feel that I was at home.”

Location Type: Historic Marker Property Type: Public Date of Event: 4/7/1865 Location Notes: Located at: John Randolph Medical Center 411 West Randolph Road Hopewell, VA 23860 URL for Additional Information: Not listed

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