Wednesday, May 22, 1861.Washington, DC.
| President writes Gov. Morgan (N.Y.): "I wish to see you face to
face to clear these difficulties about forwarding troops from New York."
Abraham Lincoln to Edwin D. Morgan,
22 May 1861, CW, 4:382.
Around noon, President Lincoln participates in a flag-raising ceremony at
Washington, D. C.'s General Post Office building. He remarks, "I . . . shall
take pleasure in performing the part assigned me upon this occasion, and I hope
in a satisfactory manner." A newspaper reports, "The ropes . . . were then
placed in the hands of the President, when, amid the most deafening applause
from the crowd below, the flag was raised to its prominent position. . . . [The
flag] remained for a moment or two motionless, when suddenly, a gentle wind
rising from the north, its ample folds were extended . . . in a most graceful
and beautiful manner, eliciting one universal outburst of applause from the
assembled multitude." Sun (Baltimore, MD), 22
May 1861, 4:1;
Remarks at Raising of the Flag over the
General Post Office Building, 22 May 1861,
CW, 4:382-83; New York
Herald, 23 May 1861, 1:2-3; Evening Star (Washington, DC), 22 May 1861, 3:1. |