If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.
— A. Lincoln, 1863The Civil War Setting
In this section...
Harewood Hospital
Arid hill, and sodden plain showed alike the horrid trail of war. Forts bristled above every hill-top. Soldiers were entrenched at every gate-way. Shed hospitals covered acres on acres in every suburb. Churches, art-halls and private mansions were filled with the wounded and dying of the American armies. The endless roll of the army wagon seemed never still. The rattle of the anguish-laden ambulance, the piercing cries of the sufferers... made morning, noon and night too dreadful to be borne.
— Mary Clemmer Ames, Washington resident during the Civil War.1
The Civil War provided a dramatic backdrop for Lincoln's refuge at the Soldiers' Home. Washington DC's central role in the war meant that Lincoln was always surrounded by war-related activities, whether he was in the White House or at the Soldiers' Home. In order to see the effects of the war for himself, Lincoln visited many sites near the Soldiers' Home. Residents of Washington became accustomed to seeing their President riding, sometimes alone, around the city. Lincoln ignored the dangers he faced in doing so.
The Soldiers' Home was very close to Fort Slemmer, one of the forts that ringed the city, about a mile from Fort Stevens. It played a key role in repelling Confederate General Jubal Early's July 1864 attack on the city. Lincoln insisted on visiting Fort Stevens when it was under attack and according to some accounts of the action, was nearly shot.
Military hospitals, including Harewood Hospital, Columbia College Hospital, Carver Hospital, and Mount Pleasant Hospital, were located in the outskirts of the city, near the Soldiers' Home. Both President and Mrs. Lincoln frequently visited these hospitals to offer comfort to the soldiers, who cheered heartily for their Commander-in-Chief.2
1Ames, Mary Clemmer. Ten Years in Washington. Hartford, 1874 & 1882. Quoted in The City of Washington: An Illustrated History. The Junior League of Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. p206.
2Pinsker, Matthew. Lincoln’s Sanctuary. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. p8.
