Regulating the Transportation of the Remains of President Abraham Lincoln
War Department, Washington City, April 18, 1865
Important official War Department broadside order issued just four days after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, formally establishing the regulations for transporting the late President’s remains from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois. Printed within a decorative border, the order details the military supervision and procedures governing what would become one of the most famous funeral processions in American history—the Lincoln Funeral Train.
The order places all railroads used in the transportation under the authority of the War Department and directs that locomotives, railcars, and personnel involved in the journey be subject to the command of Brigadier General Daniel C. McCallum, Superintendent of Military Railroad Transportation. It specifies the composition of the funeral train—limiting it to nine cars including baggage and hearse car—and outlines the arrangements for public honors at cities along the route. The document is issued “By Order of the Secretary of War,” and printed with the name of E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant General.
Lincoln’s funeral train traveled nearly 1,700 miles through seven states, retracing the route of his 1861 inaugural journey and allowing millions of Americans to pay their respects. Surviving contemporary printed orders relating directly to the organization of this historic procession are highly sought after.
Folded as issued with light age toning. A powerful and historically significant artifact from the immediate aftermath of the Lincoln assassination and national mourning.