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Reviews
| Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home. By Matthew Pinsker (Oxford, England; New York City; et al.: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. xiv, 256; maps, illus., chronology, notes, index. Cloth, $30; paper, $15.95.)
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For one-fourth of his presidency Abraham Lincoln lived in a house approximately four miles removed from his office. It was located among several buildings constituting the Soldiers' Home, at what would later be the end of North Capitol Street, well beyond the settled part of Washington during the Civil War. An ongoing military crisis prevented the Lincoln family from moving there in the summer of 1861, but they did so for each of the next three summers. Lincoln typically rose early and rode his horse to work and back, or, if he had guests, rode in a carriage. Mary loved the peace and quiet of the Soldiers' Home, but she also loved to spend summers farther north, generally taking Tad with her. Much of the time, Lincoln kept bachelor quarters and enjoyed visiting with the soldiers on guard duty. |
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Matthew Pinsker has mined rarely used sources to recreate a fascinating story of Lincoln's many days at the Soldiers' home. Lincoln entertained many visitors, many of whom were important. Furthermore, the ever-valuable Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War, also occupied a summer cottage on the Soldiers Home grounds. Therefore, serious matters, including the Emancipation Proclamation, were as likely to be discussed there as at the White House. Though Lincoln objected, he soon found himself accompanied by mounted soldiers during his almost daily trips to the White House and back. There is evidence that a would-be assassin shot at Lincoln on the Home grounds, and he was fortunate to avoid stopping a bullet when he visited nearby Fort Stevens, under fire from Confederate raiders. |
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Even educated people were unclear about the immediate causes of the water and mosquito-borne diseases that ravaged our cities until late in the 19th Century, but they knew from experience that higher ground, cooler breezes, and fewer people made for better health - especially during the hot weather. Perhaps better health, and an escape from the intense social atmosphere of the Capital worked as a tonic for Mary Lincoln; removed from the public stage she seems to have been free of the demons that sometimes possessed her. |
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Though called a cottage, the building that served as the Lincolns' summer home was, at the least, a rich man's cottage, having fourteen rooms. The banker George W. Riggs built it for himself in 1842, but sold it to the government in 1851, where it began its continuing career as part of the Soldiers' Home, now the United States Soldiers' and Airmen's home. First to enjoy it as a summer home was James Buchanan; Rutherford B. Hayes and Chester Arthur were later tenants, the building having been named the Anderson Cottage, after Captain Robert Anderson, the Union's hero of Fort Sumter. |
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In 2000, President William Jefferson Clinton designated it a national landmark, and awarded public funds for its restoration. Lincoln enthusiasts have since raised further money, and commissioned this engaging and highly informative book by Matthew Pinsker. The restored building will commence its new career as a historic Lincoln site in a ceremony scheduled for February 18, 2008. |
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