The Complete History of the Fort Lincoln Cemetery Property in the Town of Colmar Manor, Maryland.

The History of the Town of Colmar Manor, Maryland

In 1632, George Crawford was given a tract of land in the area by King Charles I of England. Crawford's son, Cecelius, who was also known as the second Lord Baron of Baltimore, took possession of the land after his father's death and encouraged settlement upon it. Exactly who settled there at that time is uncertain, although the land on which Fort Lincoln Cemetery is situated was part of the original grant from Lord Baltimore to George Conn and remained in the Conn family for more than 200 years. It is believed that a Spring House was erected on the Conn land-grant in 1683 (discussed later in the article), making it one of the oldest structures in Maryland.

By the late 1700's Bladen'sburg, which included some land on the west side of the Anacostia River, was a thriving port town. 

1782 Rochambeau map showing the roads to Annapolis, Snowden’s Iron Works, and George Town.
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In the early 1800s, the Baltimore and Washington Turnpike (Bladensburg Road) offered easy access from Washington to Bladensburg and beyond. On August 24, 1814, British troops advancing toward Washington, D.C., met resistance from American forces under the command of Brig. Gen. William H. Winder. The subsequent dash resulted in the American troops making a hasty retreat toward Washington D.C. Commodore Joshua Barney and a contingent of Marines and sailors fought a rearguard action on the heights (now the Fort Lincoln Cemetery) of what is now the Fort Lincoln Cemetery. Barney was wounded and captured. Many soldiers on both sides were killed on the battleground around Bladensburg and what is now Colmar Manor.

By 1861, it was another war that brought military forces to the area. During the Civil War, the land that is now Colmar Manor belonged in part to the Shreve Estate. It was there and on the same heights where Commodore Barney had unsuccessfully fought the British 47 years earlier that Union forces constructed a fort to serve as apart of the Ring of Civil War Union Forts to defend the City of Washington, D.C. 

Because Abraham Lincoln visited the heights often and partook of the cold water from the Old Spring House, the fort was named Fort Lincoln. During the war, the 3rd Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Battalion and Company E of the 4th Colored-troops reportedly encamped in and around the fort.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery, Colmar Manor, Maryland

There are three historically significant spots located on the Fort Lincoln Cemetery property. The first is one of the oldest colonial-era structures in the state of Maryland, the Old Spring House. The second is the location of the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812 which is located in the cemetery marked by a plaque. And the third historical spot is the Civil War defense, Fort Lincoln, an earthworks fortification marked today with cannons. 

The Old Spring House

The Spring House, built on the spot of a natural spring, is the oldest standing building on the cemetery property and maybe the oldest structure still standing in Maryland. Tradition says a Spring House was erected on the George Conn property in 1683, however, the Spring House was probably not constructed until around 1765 after one of Conn's kin actually bought the land.

The Spring House is reportedly one of the oldest buildings still standing in Maryland.

The Spring House served two purposes, first to keep leaves and dirt away from the spring water, which was sometimes thought to have healing powers, and to keep milk, butter, and other dairy products cool. The cool spring water was fed into a trough inside the structure—in this case just 300 square feet—where it cooled the air. The thick stone walls kept heat from escaping.

President Abraham Lincoln visited the heights (now the Fort Lincoln Cemetery) often meeting with troops to discuss strategy, sitting under the old oak tree, and drinking the cold water from the Spring House.

Today, the spring still feeds cool water through the inside of the Spring House.

The Location of the Battle of Bladensburg during the War of 1812

The Battle of Bladensburg was fought in Maryland on August 24, 1814, and this British victory left Washington D.C. perilously open to the British invasion. The embarrassing defeat of American forces under General William Winder allowed British Army Officer Robert Ross’ men to subsequently march into nearby Washington D.C. and set fire to public buildings, including the presidential mansion (later to be rebuilt and renamed as the White House) over August 24th and 25th. Devastating American morale by destroying the very symbols of American democracy and spirit, the British sought to swiftly end an increasingly unpopular war.

Though neither side had gained a clear advantage in the first two years of the War of 1812, that changed in the spring of 1814 when Britain was able to disentangle itself from fighting France in the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon’s exile in April 1814, British forces could be replenished with thousands of veterans. These soldiers were different than the soldiers Americans had faced in Upper Canada; these men had fought against Napoleon and his Imperial Guard and wanted a quick end to this war against a young country.  

British military leaders drew up a plan to decisively end the war, crafting a strategy to take control of the New England states and focus an attack on New Orleans, thereby separating north and south by cutting off critical transportation routes in both regions. In addition to destroying American trade, the British also planned to degrade American morale by arranging attacks on coastal cities such as Washington, Baltimore, Charleston, and Savannah.

With this in mind, General Robert Ross arrived in Maryland, fresh from the Napoleonic Wars. Despite having recently been wounded in February at the Battle of Orthes, Ross returned to take charge of British troops on the east coast. Ross marched his 4,500 men from Benedict, Maryland towards Washington, D.C. with a goal of weakening American resolve.

American General William Winder organized his forces, believing that Washington, D.C., and Baltimore would need to be defended. Because Bladensburg, just northeast of D.C., was key to both Washington and Baltimore’s defense, Winder deployed across the roads that led into the young nation’s capital. Though Winder had around 6,500 men at his disposal, most of his men at Bladensburg were poorly trained militia and their resolve would crumble in the face of the war-weary British. 

Though Americans positioned themselves well against an attack with artillery covering a bridge over the eastern branch of the Anacostia River, they were overwhelmed when the British attacked at noon on August 24th. Fording the river above the bridge and beating back troops who defended the bridge, British General Ross’ 4,500 men steadily advanced against American artillery and rifle fire, gaining control of the west bank. Under heavy British pressure, the left flank of the American line of defense crumbled. As the left flank was enveloped, Americans fled the scene. Their general, Winder, had not prepared a plan for American retreat and his panicked men ran from the battle instead of maneuvering in a controlled retreat to defend Washington D.C. against the impending attack. With American forces scattered, the road to America’s capital was now wide open.

As the British marched into Washington in 1814, they held in their memory the bitter date of April 27th1813—the day Americans had burned of the Canadian capital, York. They carried vengeful appetites as they entered Washington, D.C. the evening of August 24, 1814.

President Madison and his cabinet had fled the city, Dolly Madison and White House slave Paul Jennings famously saving critical relics of their new republic, among them a portrait of George Washington. It was a good thing that the first lady and Jennings saved these symbols of American democracy as British forces wasted no time in setting the presidential mansion, the Capitol, the Treasury, and the War Office ablaze in the evening of August 24th.

The embarrassing defeat at Bladensburg, coupled with the destruction of Washington, D.C., depleted American morale. For both sides, the Battle of Bladensburg helped usher in a conclusion to a costly and frustrating war.

Detailed Map of the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814.
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The burning of Washington went down in history as the only foreign attack on the nation’s capital until the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. 

The cemetery property was an active part of the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds until 1820. 

The Bladensburg Dueling Grounds

The general reason for dueling was almost always the same–a man in public life felt that his honor and ability to command respect in public life had been impugned, leading him to believe that the only way to defend this reputation was to challenge his antagonist to a duel. 

A small creek meanders toward the Anacostia Riveron the north side what is now the Fort Lincoln Cemetery. The creek is sandwiched between two hills and was lined with many trees. It was along this creek, according to various accounts, that “gentlemen of the area have settled their political and personal differences since 1732."

The Dueling Grounds, as the area came to be known, is a small spit of land, a fraction of its original size, along Dueling Creek, formerly in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, and now within the town of Colmar Manor, just to the northeast of Washington, D.C. Dueling Creek, formerly known as '"Blood Run" and "The Dark and Bloody Grounds," was a tributary of the Anacostia River, which used to be called the East Branch Potomac River.

Ravine at Bladensburg, Maryland, famed for fatal duels. 1904
One-half of a stereograph card.

From 1808 the grove witnessed approximately 50 duels by gentlemen, military officers, and politicians, settling "affairs of honor." A formalized set of rules and etiquette, called "the code duello" was usually enforced by the duelers and their seconds. The exact number of duels and the names of all the participants who fought at the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds may never be known because surviving records are obscure, the events are not well documented, and, dueling was illegal. Following the Civil War, dueling fell out of favor as a means of settling personal grievances and declined rapidly; the last known duel was fought there in 1868.

One of the most famous disputes of the 19th century was between Commodore Stephen Decatur and James Barron, which was settled there on March 22, 1820. Decatur, who had gained prominence during military operations against the Barbary Pirates off of North Africa in the early 1800s, and Barron, who had lost his command by a court-martial in 1807 and was stripped of his Commodore title, had been feuding for over 13 years. After exchanging angry letters and insults during that time, Barron finally challenged Decatur to a duel. 

The code of the duel required that the combatants be accompanied by friends, known as seconds. The seconds arranged for the duel's location and the form of the duel, which included the choice of the weapon. On March 22, 1820, Barron brought a set of 50 caliber Holmes Percussion pistols to Bladensburg; however, the seconds decided to use Decatur’s instead. Both men were wounded, Decatur, the U.S. naval hero, later died at his home in Washington D.C.

The Antique Stephen Decatur Dueling Pistols.

The Union Civil War Fort Lincoln (1861-1865)

By 1865 the Ring of Civil War Union Fort defenses of Washington D.C. was said to include some 68 named fortifications, 93 detached batteries, 20 miles of rifle pits, blockhouses at three key points, and 32 miles of military roads. At the beginning of the civil war, there was only Fort Washington, a single fort protecting the city. Click to read the Fort Lincoln article.

The Fort Lincoln Cemetery

Fort Lincoln Cemetery was chartered in 1912 by an act of the Maryland General Assembly. The first burial occurred in 1921. The 176-acre property was historically significant long before it became a cemetery. 

Grounds at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.

The property was an active part of the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds until 1820. Fort Lincoln an earthworks fortification was established in 1861 to help protect Washington D.C.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery Garden of Ascension.

Horace W. Peaslee designed Fort Lincoln’s Little Church, which was built in 1929. The church, designed in the form of a cross, contains eight stained-glass windows portraying the “Seven Ages of Man,” as depicted in Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It.” The rear cloister of the church contains individual or family vaults for those who prefer entombment. There is a small bell tower with a bell to the left of the junction of the cross. The sanctuary, with its manual organ, serves for baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, Sunday concerts, and funerals. The lower chamber of the church is the crematorium. The Little Church building won an architectural award from the Board of Trade.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery Little Church.

At the cemetery entrance, a floral clock was built in 1938. The clock contains a face of 32 feet in diameter, of which 28 feet is planted surface. It runs using a highly accurate Seth Thomas electronic timekeeping mechanism. The numbers are 21 inches high and 12 inches wide. The minute hand weighs 300-350 pounds and is 18 feet 4 inches in length. The hour hand weighs 200-250 pounds and is 14 feet 9 inches long.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery Floral Clock.

At the original entrance is an old gatehouse and office. The gatehouse was built in 1919, was designed by Horace W. Peaslee. The gatehouse was torn down after 1978 to build the Fort Lincoln Funeral Home. The administration building was built in 1972 near the newer cemetery entrance.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery Tranquil Oaks Cremation Garden.

Fort Lincoln Cemetery Tranquil Oaks Cremation Garden.

The Community Mausoleum was built in 1947 and sits just behind the Little Church. A wing was added in 1952, which has a small 100 seat chapel. Above the front entrance is a beautiful carving that depicts the Biblical story of Abraham entombing his wife, Sarah. The stained-glass windows of the chapel include colorful scenes from Arthurian literature and the "Quest for the Holy Grail." Other stained-glass windows through the mausoleum were created by Henry Lee Willet, and depict Christian stories and children’s poems. Opposite the second floor entrance is a monument made of Indiana limestone commemorating the August 24, 1814 Battle of Bladensburg stand by the Marines under the command of Commodore Joshua Barney. 

The Liberty Bell

Near that mausoleum sits a 1976, Bicentennial, replica of the Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell at Fort Lincoln Cemetery is a half-size (22¼" diameter, 23½" height, and weighs 290lbs) Christoph Paccard Bell Foundry replica that was cast in 1976. The foundry, now in its seventh generation, began in 1796. The 1976 replica bells can be distinguished from the 1950 bells by their ornamental surface crack and lack of a serial number.

NOTE: The original Liberty Bell is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although no immediate announcement was made of the Second Continental Congress's vote for independence—and so the bell could not have rung on July 4, 1776, related to that vote—bells were rung on July 8 to mark the reading of the United States Declaration of Independence. While there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells rung on the 8th. After American independence was secured, the bell fell into relative obscurity until, in the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who dubbed it the "Liberty Bell."

The Liberty Bell at Fort Lincoln Cemetery is a half-size (22¼" diameter, 23½" height, and weighs 290lbs) Christoph Paccard Bell Foundry replica that was cast in 1976.

District of Columbia-Maryland Boundary Markers Map

A 1790 Act established that 40 boundary markers be placed at the District of Columbia-Maryland line to set aside land as the seat of government. The survey was begun by Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant and completed by Major Andrew Ellicott. After the Virginia sandstone markers were placed in 1792, a variation in the original land survey was detected to discover the Northeast Number 7 boundary stone was wholly on Maryland land. 

Boundary Stones Map of Washington D.C.

The Daughters of the American Revolution placed an ornamental iron fence around this stone and others around 1916 to protect them from damage.

Boundary stone in a protective cage, the early 1900s.

The older half of Fort Lincoln Cemetery contains traditional grave sites with headstones and a few private mausoleums. The newer sections are laid out according to the memorial park concept. Here, religious and historical gardens contain markers set flush to the earth.

The Battery Jameson Civil War Fortification

A 190-foot section of Battery Jameson, a Civil War fortification built-in 1862, still stands on the Fort Lincoln Cemetery grounds. The cannons that were originally installed in the fort are no longer there, but 12-pound boat howitzers designed by John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren, known as the father of American Naval ordinance, cast around 1863, were placed on the Fort Lincoln grounds in 1921.

Battery Jameson earthworks, Fort Lincoln.

The Great Lincoln Oak Tree

The Fort Lincoln Cemetery land was home to the great “Lincoln Oak,” a majestic tree under which President Abraham Lincoln met with troops during the Civil War. In 1991, lightning hit and killed the nearly 500-year-old tree. Cemetery management planted a new white oak tree at the site and installed a plaque commemorating the original tree.

THE LINCOLN OAK - This gnarled and ringed stump, attesting to its age, is all that remains of the majestic oak tree that once shaded the old Spring House. Steeped in history, it was put to rest by forces of nature. Its passing will never be forgotten and its existence will be remembered forever as a sentinel over these historic grounds.

There is a 13-foot high bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting in thoughtful meditation, looking thin and war-torn. Created by Andrew O’Connor, a noted Lincoln scholar, and sculptor. It was commissioned by the Rhode Island Lincoln Memorial Commission for the State House, but they were never able to raise enough funds to pay for it. The status sat in a foundry until 1947 when it was placed at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.

Statue of Abraham Lincoln at Fort Lincoln Cemetery.

MORE UNIQUE LINCOLN ARTICLES

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

President Lincoln Speaks at the Great Central Sanitary Fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 16, 1864.

During the Civil War, Northerners organized sanitary fairs to raise funds on behalf of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC), a charitable relief organization that promoted the welfare of Union Soldiers. The USSC was founded on June  9,1861 and deactivated in May of 1866.

President Lincoln institutes a centralized banking system to fund the Union in the Civil War in February of 1863. The USSC was a way to help subsidize the cost of the war.

The Great Central Fair Buildings, Philadelphia, 1864.

For three weeks in June 1864, the USSC held the Great Central Fair in Logan Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Several of these fairs had been held around the country and now it was Philadelphia’s time to prove their patriotism. 

Union Avenue Under Construction at the Great Central Sanitary Fair, Philadelphia, 1864.

Hand tinted stereoview of Union Avenue by Robert Newell. Although the tinting is not up to the standards of early English genre views, it nonetheless provides an idea of how colorful the gallery actually was.

Massive tents were constructed and filled with wonderful displays to be enjoyed and goods to be purchased. A visitor could buy everything from floral arrangement to rubber boots made in India, from pianos to a horse carriage. School children created so many handmade goods that one woman seeing the piles of their creations before the sale started remarked “Oh, what a waste of time and stuff! Poor children! How mortified the children will be when the fair is over to find their work in vain.” At the end of the Fair, they were completely sold out and this project of the school children alone raised over $15,000 ($250,000 today). It is phenomenal that the entire fair raised more than 1 million dollars ($16.573,000 today) during the third year of a devastating war.

The temporary building was supposedly constructed in 40 days.

On June 16, President Lincoln, his wife Mary, and a contingent of officials came from Washington D.C. to attend the event. The crowds crushed him as he attempted to walk down “Union Avenue," the main hall specially constructed for the event. Reports from fairgoers claimed he looked like he was enjoying himself although he didn't have the freedom to wander the fair like everyone else.

Central Office of the USSC in Washington, D.C.

Later that afternoon, Lincoln shared a light meal with a group of dignitaries and citizens. After the group toasted the President, he got up to address the crowd:

I suppose that this toast was intended to open the way for me to say something. [Laughter.] War, at the best, is terrible, and this war of ours, in its magnitude and in its duration, is one of the most terrible. It has deranged business, totally in many localities, and partially in all localities. It has destroyed property, and ruined homes; it has produced a national debt and taxation unprecedented, at least in this country. It has carried mourning to almost every home, until it can almost be said that the "heavens are hung in black.''

Although a self-educated man, Abraham Lincoln was well-read and was speaking to a well-educated audience. They would have caught that his comment, “heavens are hung in black,” was a reference to the opening lines of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, where the Duke of Bedford begins the play with a similar line, “hung be the heavens with black” mourning the death of the former King.

Lincoln, who enjoyed going to the theater, knew that a few productions of Shakespeare's plays hung black curtains on the back of the stage to represent that the production was a tragedy. The current war they were all experiencing, in “almost every home” was certainly such a tragedy.

Yet it continues, and several relieving coincidents [coincidences] have accompanied it from the very beginning, which have not been known, as I understood [understand], or have any knowledge of, in any former wars in the history of the world. The Sanitary Commission, with all its benevolent labors, the Christian commission, with all its Christian and benevolent labors, and the various places, arrangements, so to speak, and institutions, have contributed to the comfort and relief of the soldiers. You have two of these places in this city—the Cooper-Shop and Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloons. [Great applause and cheers.]

Lincoln’s speech was labeled as the “Speech at the Great Central Sanitary Fair.” To our 21st century ears, it sounds like a cleaning convention. But the USSC was a well-known volunteer group of citizens and businesses that presented ideas to General Winfield Scott, Head of the Army, beginning within weeks of the start of the war. Their purpose was “... to bring to bear the upon the health, comfort, and morale of our troops the fullest and ripest teachings of sanitary science in its application to military life.” The USSC, along with the Christian Commission, became involved in supplying medical, nutritional, spiritual, and sanitary assistance to the Union troops.

Locally, two establishments opened in Philadelphia within weeks of the beginning of the war to provide for the troops. The Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon was the largest of the two main providers, the other being the locally beloved Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. Both establishments provided a bed, hot meals, opportunities to wash-up and bathe, and medical care for any soldier traveling through Philadelphia for individuals or for Regiments. Mr. Cooper eventually added a hospital on the second floor of his Saloon. Both establishments kept their doors open until the end of the war. Together they served well over a million men.

And lastly, these fairs, which, I believe, began only in last August, if I mistake not, in Chicago; then at Boston, at Cincinnati, Brooklyn, New York, at Baltimore, and those at present held at St. Louis, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia. The motive and object that lie at the bottom of all these are most worthy; for, say what you will, after all the most is due to the soldier, who takes his life in his hands and goes to fight the battles of his country. [Cheers.] In what is contributed to his comfort when he passes to and fro [from city to city], and in what is contributed to him when he is sick and wounded, in whatever shape it comes, whether from the fair and tender hand of woman, or from any other source, is much, very much; but, I think there is still that which has as much value to him [in the continual reminders he sees in the newspapers, that while he is absent he is yet remembered by the loved ones at home—he is not forgotten. [Cheers.]

A telling comment was made by a woman from New York, who was upset that her state did nothing for the traveling soldiers while “Philadelphia lets no regiment, of whatever State, whether going to or from battle, pass hungry through her streets.” Soldiers from other states also noted that “anyone who thinks there is any lack of support for the war has only to march through Philadelphia.”

Another view of these various institutions is worthy of consideration, I think; they are voluntary contributions, given freely, zealously, and earnestly, on top of all the disturbances of business, [of all the disorders,] the taxation and burdens that the war has imposed upon us, giving proof that the national resources are not at all exhausted, [cheers;] that the national spirit of patriotism is even [firmer and] stronger than at the commencement of the rebellion [war].

Next, Lincoln’s subject shifts to the war itself. Despite the patriotism of the Fair, the country was war-weary. The Presidential and federal elections were coming in the fall. Lincoln himself had just been re-nominated as a candidate of his party, although they were not calling themselves Republicans this time around, but rather National Unionists (1864–1865). His nomination had many detractors, and as poorly as the war was going, and how long it was dragging out, it did not look like he could win re-election. Lincoln took this opportunity to talk to this important electorate about the upcoming months:

It is a pertinent question often asked in the mind privately, and from one to the other, when is the war to end? Surely I feel as deep [great] an interest in this question as any other can, but I do not wish to name a day, or month, or a year when it is to end. I do not wish to run any risk of seeing the time come, without our being ready for the end, and for fear of disappointment, because the time had come and not the end. [We accepted this war; we did not begin it.] We accepted this war for an object, a worthy object, and the war will end when that object is attained. Under God, I hope it never will until that time. [Great cheering]

The political opponents of the President, the Democrats were willing to settle for peace immediately, even though it would probably mean either letting the South form their own country, or bring them back into the United States as slaveholding states. Neither was the object that the North went to war to fight for. The war had been extremely costly in lives and treasure, and Lincoln did not want to see that squandered in vain.

Speaking of the present campaign, General Grant is reported to have said, I am going through on this line if it takes all summer. [Cheers.] This war has taken three years; it was begun or accepted upon the line of restoring the national authority over the whole national domain, and for the American people, as far as my knowledge enables me to speak, I say we are going through on this line if it takes three years more. [Cheers.] My friends, I did not know but that I might be called upon to say a few words before I got away from here, but I did not know it was coming just here. [Laughter.] I have never been in the habit of making predictions in regard to the war, but I am almost tempted to make one. [(Do it---do it!)]---If I were to hazard it, it is this: That Grant is this evening, with General Meade and General Hancock, of Pennsylvania, and the brave officers and soldiers with him, in a position from whence he will never be dislodged until Richmond is taken [loud cheering],

Lincoln knew that the Battle for Petersburg, Virginia had started the day before. Generals Grant, Meade, and the popular Philadelphia born Hancock would hold down their position for almost nine months, in the trenches around Petersburg, before they finally captured Richmond in April 1865, just before the South surrendered.

and I have but one single proposition to put now, and, perhaps, I can best put it in form of an interrogative [interragatory]. If I shall discover that General Grant and the noble officers and men under him can be greatly facilitated in their work by a sudden pouring forward [forth] of men and assistance, will you give them to me? [Cries of "yes.''] Then, I say, stand ready, for I am watching for the chance. [Laughter and cheers.] I thank you, gentlemen.

Using his personal talent of involving the crowd, Lincoln wraps up with a hopeful look forward. He asks the audience for their help in “men and assistance” which probably had the multilayer meaning of not only their continued help raising money on the home-front, but possibly in raising the final troop counts to finish the war, and also their votes in the upcoming election. The crowd responded in the affirmative by cheers and verbal agreement.

United States Sanitary Commission Flag.

President Lincoln finished the speech on a positive note with the encouraging voices of the citizens of Philadelphia wafting through the air on a beautiful and festive summer evening. One can only imagine this was a light-hearted celebratory event for the President, amongst so many other events where the war and politics were overwhelming in 1864.

The Great North-Western Sanitary Fair opens in Chicago, Illinois. 

The last great Sanitary Fair of the war to raise funds for the United States Sanitary Commission and the Chicago, Illinois Civil War Soldier's Home located at 739 East 35th Street on May 30, 1865 and ran through June 24, 1865. 

The Great North-Western Sanitary Fair, Chicago, Illinois. 

The affair, with its centerpiece of Union Hall among the specially constructed buildings near the lakefront, raised more than $270,000 for sick and wounded soldiers. A highlight was the visit of General Grant and General Sherman. 

Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D.