Lincoln in Annapolis - Annapolis, MD
N 38° 58.698 W 076° 29.762
18S E 370413 N 4315432
President Abraham Lincoln visited Annapolis, MD in February 1865 on his way to join Secretary of State William Seward in a meeting with the Confederate peace commissioners.
Waymark Code: WME7RG
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 04/15/2012
Views: 5
A bronze plaque about 3 feet x 2 feet is afixed to a pole rising about 4 feet from ground level in a tree covered plaza near the intersection of West Street and Calvert Street in downtown Annapolis, MD. This location was where the train depot then stood and where Lincoln entered and left Annapolis during his brief visit. On the lower left corner of this marker, a photo of Lincoln that was taken by Alexander Gardner on February 5, 1895, the day after Lincoln returned to Washington DC from visiting here, has been integrated into the marker. The text of the commemoration reads as follows:
“Induced by a dispatch from General Grant, I join you at Fort Monroe as soon as I can come.”
Lincoln to Secretary Seward, 9:00 AM, February 2, 1865
(sent in cipher)
LINCOLN IN ANNAPOLIS
February 2, 1865: President Abraham Lincoln arrived at the Annapolis & Eldridge Railroad depot near this site. He walked through town to the steamer Thomas Collyer at the Naval Academy wharf, accompanied only by his valet Charles Forbes, post quartermaster Capt. Gardner Blodgett, and presidential guard Andrew Smith. Lincoln was enroute to the Hampton Road Conference at Fort Monroe, VA, having decided only that morning to join Confederate peace commissioners meeting there with Secretary of State William Seward. Ice blocked the normal Potomac River route.
February 4, 1865: Lincoln and Seward returned to Annapolis aboard the River Queen. A special train met the party at the wharf just after 7:00 AM and returned to Washington, ending Lincoln’s only visit to Annapolis.
Annapolis Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, February 8, 2009”
It was in this location that Captain Blodgett met Lincoln at the old train depot and escorted him and the others who accompanied the President.
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