SOUTH OR GARDEN SIDE OF THE WHITE HOUSE.—TREASURY BUILDING IN
THE DISTANCE.
THE WHITE HOUSE AT NIGHT.
INAUGURATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, MARCH 4, 1861.
Process reproduction of an imperfect photograph.
given to President Lincoln his first military salute and to Mr. Buchanan his last.
Note.—In December, 1860, the military forces of the United States consisted of 1108 officers and 15,259 men of the regular army; total, 16,367.
ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL IN 1861.
and. took their places in the carriage. The procession started. During the march to the Capitol I rode near the carriage, and by an apparently clumsy use oi my spurs managed to keep the horses of the cavalry in an uneasy state, so that it would have been very difficult for even a good marksman to get an aim at one of the inmates of the carriage between the prancing horses.
After the inaugural ceremony, the President and the ex-President were escorted in the same order to the White House. Arrived there, Mr. Buchanan walked to the door with Mr. Lincoln, and there bade him welcome to the House and good-morning. The infantry escort formed in line from the gate of the White House to the house of Mr. Ould, whither Mr. Buchanan drove, and the cavalry escorted his carriage. The infantry line presented arms to the ex-President as he passed, and the cavalry escort saluted as he left the carriage and entered the house. Mr. Buchanan turned on the steps, and gracefully acknowledged the salute. The District of Columbia volunteers had
During the night of the 3d of Mareh, notice was brought me that an attempt would be made to blow up the platform on which the President would stand to take the oath of office. I immediately placed men under the steps, and at daybreak a trusted battalion of District troops (if I remember rightly, it was the National Guard, under Colonel Tait) formed in a semicircle at the foot of the great stairway, and prevented all entrance from without. When the crowd began to assemble in front of the portico, a large number of policemen in plain clothes were scattered through the mass to observe closely, to place themselves near any person who might act suspiciously, and to strike down any hand which might raise a weapon.
At the appointed hour, Mr. Buchanan was escorted to Willard’s hotel, which he entered. There I found a number of mounted “marshals of the day,” and posted them around the carriage, within the cavalry guard. The two Presidents were saluted by the troops as they eame out of the hotel
tempt should be made to fire from those windows on the presidential carriage. The small force of regular cavalry which had arrived was to guard the side-street crossings of Pennsylvania Avenue, and to move from one to another during the passage of the procession. A battalion of District of Columbia troops were to be placed near the steps of the Capitol, and riflemen in the windows of the wings of the Capitol. On the arrival of the presidential party at the Capitol, the troops were to be stationed so as to return in the same order after the ceremony.
To illustrate the state of uncertainty in which we were at that time concerning men, I may here state that the lieutenant-colonel, military secretary of the General-in-Chief, who that afternoon recorded the conclusions of the General in conference, and who afterward wrote out for me the instructions regai’ding the disposition of troops, resigned his commission that very night, and departed for the South, where he joined the Confederate army.
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