Full Title

The Assassin's Vision

Description

A song for medium or low voice and piano that describes the escape of President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. The lyrics convey that God will seek vengeance on the assassin, who will be haunted by his actions. The song has three verses that each utilize the exact same piano accompaniment, however the vocal line has slight rhythmic variations from verse to verse. The composer's note reads: "This Ballad was suggested on seeing the representation of the assassin BOOTH wildly fleeing through the forest on his horse, startled by the apparition of his victim appearing in the trees & around him." Part of the Library of Congress Civil War Sheet Music Collection, associated with the Union side.

Transcription

Verse 1
The Assassin rode on his fiery steed,
His murd'rous work was done
In the darksome night with fleeting speed,
Through woods his cours-'er run!
As he hurried away from the scene of death,
On his death, On his brow were looks of despair;
Before him! around him! The evenings breath
Told him God's vengeance was there!

Verse 2
The pale moon beamed as onward he fled,
The stars looked down from on high,
The hills and valleys were crimson red
As blood to the murd'rer's eye!
He shuddered! he trembled! And oft looked around,
And dreary seemed each passing breeze,
And lo! the assassin bound
Saw a vision appear in the trees.

Verse 3
Heaven had witnessed! he could not escape!
The assassin's fate was sealed--
"Vengeance is mine!" saith God in his might,
As the vision that night revealed.
The assassin rode on with trembling and fear,
And mournfully murmur'd the breeze;
Before him! around him! all vivid and drear,
The vision appeared in the trees.

Source

Library of Congress Classification M1640.T

Rights

Public Domain. Suggested credit line: Civil War Sheet Music Collection, Library of Congress, Music Division.

Tags

Cite this Item

Turner, J. W. (composer & lyricist). "The Assassin's Vision". Cleveland: S. Branard's Sons, 1865. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1029

Creator

Turner, J. W. (composer & lyricist)

Publisher

Cleveland: S. Branard's Sons, 1865

Date

1865

Material

Sheet Music

Full Title

In memoriam Abraham Lincoln: National Chant

Description

Choral work honoring President Lincoln's legacy that features four part chorus, a soprano solo, and a solo vocal quartet, with piano or organ accompaniment. It is dedicated "To a Mourning World" and sets an "exquisite and popular poem" by W. Dexter Smith. Part of the Library of Congress Civil War Sheet Music Collection, associated with the Union side.

Transcription

[Chorus]
Columbia weeps! Columbia weeps!
Her cherished son,
Who struck her fetters to the ground,
Who saved the land of Washington,
Has passed from earth's most distant bound;
Has passed from earth's most distant bound

[Soprano solo]
His spirit went to realms on high,
His dust, alone, the earth could claim,
His memory will never die
While freemen live to bless his name,
His memory will never die
While freemen live to bless his name.

[Solo quartet]
Columbia swears, anew, her vow
To guard the birthright of the free;
Unsheathed her sword of Justice, now
Since Mercy, since Mercy fell by Tyranny

[Solo and chorus]
Our nations hopes and fears alike
Are with the land our fathers trod,
And while for Freedom, now, we strike,
Our future is alone with God!
And while for Freedom, now, we strike,
Our future is alone with God! alone with God!

Source

Library of Congress Classification M1640.K

Rights

Public Domain. Suggested credit line: Civil War Sheet Music Collection, Library of Congress, Music Division.

Tags

Cite this Item

Keller, M. (composer); Smith Jr., W. Dexter (lyricist). "In memoriam Abraham Lincoln: National Chant". New York: Wm. Hall & Son, 1866. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1028

Creator

Keller, M. (composer); Smith Jr., W. Dexter (lyricist)

Publisher

New York: Wm. Hall & Son, 1866

Date

1866-05-01

Material

Sheet Music

Full Title

Lincoln, in memorium

Description

Chorus for four mixed voices and piano accompaniment. Lyrics dedicated to "Col. Theo. S. Chase. Qr. M. Genl. of Mo. [Quartermaster General of Missouri]." The work opens with a short introduction in the style of a funeral march, followed by a two verses and a refrain. The verse is sung in unison or by a soloist and the refrain is in four vocal parts.

Transcription

Verse
Rest chieftain rest, now Columbia is free,
Rest for thy labors are o'er...;
Rest in the silence freemen hath made thee,
Rest on thy own native shore... .
Rest as thy glory floats over the sea,
Rest for thy work is well done;
Rest where archangels wait to receive thee,
Rest on the soil that thou hast won.

Chorus
Breathe a sad requiem ye millions now free,
Saviour of Freedom is waiting for thee.
Breathe a sad requiem ye millions now free,
Saviour of Freedom is waiting for thee.

Verse
Rest noble chieftain, our nation is free,
Rest on Columbia's proud shore.,
Rest while freemen will ever deplore thee
Rest with the brave, now no more...
Rest chieftain rest, soon heaven will wake thee,
Rest where our banner shall wave
Rest where in grace thy shadow reveals thee,
Rest in the land of the brave. [Chorus]

Source

Library of Congress Classification M1640.W

Rights

Public Domain. Suggested credit line: Civil War Sheet Music Collection, Library of Congress, Music Division.

Tags

Cite this Item

Woolcott, Francis (composer); Fox, Wm. P. (lyricist). "Lincoln, in memorium". Cincinnati: John Church, Jr., 1865. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1025

Creator

Woolcott, Francis (composer); Fox, Wm. P. (lyricist)

Publisher

Cincinnati: John Church, Jr., 1865

Date

1865

Material

Sheet Music

Full Title

Lincoln's requiem

Description

Lincoln's requiem was composed for chorus (mixed voices, 4 parts) and piano. Associated with the Union side, the song mourns President Lincoln's death and praises his legacy as an advocate for freedom and liberty. The lyrics consist of five verses and a refrain. Part of the Library of Congress Civil War Sheet Music Collection.

Transcription

Verse:
Dead! dead! how swift the dire news flies,
And wakes a nation's agonies!
From town to town, from mouth to mouth
Swift spreads the dreaded message forth;
In lowly cot, in lordly hall,
This grief enshrouds and covers all.
And on the breast drops ev'ry head,
In sorrow for the noble dead.

Chorus:
Oh, weep for fallen greatness! weep!
Let tears express our woes;
But while our Lincoln's soul doth sleep,
Brave men strike down his foes!

Verse:
Dead! dead! but not as warriors die,
He fell not shouting battle cry--
Not in the open light of heavn'--
Not in his home his soul was risen--
Not on the plain where hand to hand
The brave cross blade with foemen's brand,
But where the waves of pleasure flow,
Death aim'd his shaft thro' secret foe. [Chorus]

Verse:
Dead! dead! and now when hopes were high,
And wars dread curse was passing by,
When traitors had their madness stay'd,
And hero hands sheathed vegeful blade,
When homes and hearthstones gleamd afar,
To manly hearts grown tired of war,
And long wooed peace had left the sky,
It was no time for him to die. [Chorus]

Verse:
Dead! dead! and when the millions free
Sent up their shouts of liberty,
When from the depths of bondage wrung,
Sweet freedoms song, by freedmen sung,
When million hearts their thanks out pour'd
And angel ears in pleasure heard,
When words his hand has trac'd live on
It is not meet to mourn him gone. [Chorus]

Verse:
Dead! dead! and has he died in vain?
Shall we in lethargy remain?
His years of patriot toil forget
Shall unavenged his life sun set?
No! for this blow in treach'ry given,
The smoke of strife shall rise to heav'n,
And 'till our flag in triumph waves
His foes and ours find bloody graves! [Chorus]

Source

Library of Congress Classification M1640.B

Rights

Public Domain. Suggested credit: Civil War Sheet Music Collection, Library of Congress, Music Division.

Tags

Cite this Item

Butterfield, J. A. (composer); Boynton, Irene (lyricist). "Lincoln's requiem". Chicago: H. M. Higgins, 1865. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1021

Creator

Butterfield, J. A. (composer); Boynton, Irene (lyricist)

Publisher

Chicago: H. M. Higgins, 1865

Date

1865

Full Title

In memoriam, A. Lincoln

Description

"In memoriam, A Lincoln" was composed by Gertrude I. Ladd. The ballad is set for voice and piano in English. It contains two verses of lyrics that discuss President Lincoln's assassination as a sacrifice for freedom in the United States. Part of the Library of Congress Civil War Sheet Music Collection.

Transcription

Within the nations heart today,
In honor brightly set,
There lives a cherish'd memory
That buddeth greenly yet
And ever will time cannot change
The love which death has made
Sacred to all, yet to become
The people's heritage.

But words are ever weak for praise,
There is no need to dwell
Upon the strong and tender heart
That all could read so well;
Always for worthy victories won
Is paid a costly price,
Then freedom at her need has had
A worthy sacrafice.

Source

Library of Congress Classification M1640.L

Rights

Public Domain. Suggested credit line: Civil War Sheet Music Collection, Library of Congress, Music Division.

Tags

Cite this Item

Ladd, Gertrude I. . "In memoriam, A. Lincoln". New York: C. M. Tremaine, 1866. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1020

Creator

Ladd, Gertrude I.

Publisher

New York: C. M. Tremaine, 1866

Date

1866

Material

sheet music

Full Title

P.W. Oakley to Norman Henry Ives

Description

P.W. Oakley of St. Louis, Missouri, wrote this letter to Norman Henry Ives in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 22, 1865, a week after John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Oakley and Ives shared the bond of having been injured during the Civil War--Ives, a native of Illinois, had been discharged from the U.S. Army after suffering a leg wound at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862. Oakley begins the letter by discussing his injury. He then turns to his thoughts about the assassination of Lincoln, referring to the slain president as "Uncle Abe." Oakley suggests that Lincoln would have shown more lenience to Confederates than his successor, Andrew Johnson, would (speculation that would prove untrue). He also expresses hope that Confederate leadership would "pull hemp"--be hanged--for the assassination. Oakley then goes on to brag about the size of his 10-month-old son. Ives kept this letter and eventually passed it down through his family. His great-great-granddaughter Arlis Groves, a social science teacher at Toby Johnson Middle School in Elk Grove, California, now holds this letter and contributed it to Remembering Lincoln.

Transcription

April 22, 1865
St. Louis Mo
Friend Ives
Dear Sir,
I just got your note of Apr. 10th. I was glad to receive a line from my brother soldier. It has been a long time since I had a line from you. I am glad that you have got around once more. I can get around very well, but my limb discharges yet. It is very sore. I am haveing a peace of bone coming out, & I hope when it gets out that it will close up. We aught to be thankful to god that we came out as well as we did, many a poor man has lost his life since this war began. What a loss we have met with. (Aughful to think of, when we think of Uncle Abe. & to think that it was a Reb. that took his life. The Rebs. have lost a good friend in the death of our Chief Magistrate, for he has gave the Rebs more lenity than Andy Johnson will. I say when they struck at the heart of Mr. Lincoln they struck at the heart of all loyal men in America, & I hope to god that Andy Johnson will make the head men of the south pull hemp. You are aware how I once felt in regard to this war. But, I say today, kill the last traitor to his country. By the way, Ives, I have got the bigist son of his age in the west. 10 months old and his weight is 40 lbs. Have you seen a biger one than that? If so, let me know it. My wife is well. And so is my son. Ives, some day you will get your money that I owe you. I shant forget your kindness nor nether shall I forget that I ow you. I would like to see you & if you should come to St Louis, come and see me. Say what you are at in your next.
Yours &c,
P.W. Oakley

Source

Arlis Groves, great-great-granddaughter of Norman Henry Ives

Rights

This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching , private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

Cite this Item

P.W. Oakley. "P.W. Oakley to Norman Henry Ives". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1016

Creator

P.W. Oakley

Date

April 22, 1865

Full Title

Thomas Stewardson, Jr. Diary Entry: Lincoln Lying in State at Independence Hall

Description

This photocopy displays two pages from the diary of Thomas Stewardson, Jr. Stewardson, a member of The Union League of Philadelphia, recorded his experience viewing President Lincoln's body while lying in state at Independence Hall.

Transcription

Sunday April 23rd – The Union League was appointed to receive the body of our good President last Eve’g, at Independence Square. As a member of the League I was in a manner obliged to look for a moment upon the face of the honoured dead. I say obliged, because I [should not?], otherwise have made any effort to do so, my impressions of the Man being so pleasant that I feared to disturb my memory with any possible disappointment. But it turned out well. Homely in feature he was, as all the world knows, but a better face and a face which more clearly told of a good man. I never looked upon, even as it lay there lifeless. Gentle and tender, honest, open, pure. I feel, as nearly every man, woman, and child does feel, a personal and warm love for the man as well as an exalted respect for the ruler, [never?] saw him living, though I have had several opportunities to do so – Such universal sorrow never followed any one to his grave in this country, since the days of Washington, and there was another deep feeling (which happily Washington’s death did not demand) which made most intense the emotions of the mourners of Abraham Lincoln. The good and now murdered, martyred Lincoln! Well, so it had to be, but if that stab has not struck Slavery the death blow, through the body of the Great Emancipator, then possibly Lincoln had died in vain, which [it were?] treason against God’s Providence to believe.



He is now lying in Independence Hall, near the famous old Bell with its motto made to speak again “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land, and to all the Inhabitants thereof.”

Source

The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia (Object ID: XI.2.1973.2)

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution, as “Courtesy of The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia.” Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast or commercial use requires written permission. For permission, please contact The Abraham Lincoln Foundation.

Tags

Cite this Item

Thomas Stewardson, Jr.. "Thomas Stewardson, Jr. Diary Entry: Lincoln Lying in State at Independence Hall". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1013

Creator

Thomas Stewardson, Jr.

Date

April 23, 1865

Material

Ink and Paper

Full Title

Union League of Philadelphia Funeral Invitation Letter

Description

Secretary of The Union League of Philadelphia, George H. Boker, wrote to League members about their role in receiving President Lincoln's body during the funeral procession through Philadelphia.

Transcription

UNION LEAGUE HOUSE,
Philadelphia, April 21, 1865.

SIR:

The Committee of the Select and the Common Councils of Philadelphia, having conferred upon the “UNION LEAGUE” the honor of receiving the body of the late President of the United States on its arrival in Independence Square, you are requested to meet your fellow-members at Concert Hall, at an hour to be hereafter announced, for the purpose of assisting at that ceremony.
It is the earnest desire of the Board that every member of the League, wearing his badge, shall be present on this occasion.

George H. Boker,
Secretary.




[Transcription by: Ricarda H., Dr. Susan Corbesero’s Class, Ellis School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

Source

The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia (Object ID: XI.2.003)

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution, as “Courtesy of The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia.” Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast or commercial use requires written permission. For permission, please contact The Abraham Lincoln Foundation.

Tags

Cite this Item

George H. Boker. "Union League of Philadelphia Funeral Invitation Letter". Union League of Philadelphia. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1006

Creator

George H. Boker

Publisher

Union League of Philadelphia

Date

April 21, 1865

Material

ink on paper

Full Title

"A Nation's Mourning Hymn," by Henry C. McCook

Description

Clergyman Henry C. McCook wrote this hymn in honor of President Lincoln. As noted in the passage below the hymn, McCook wrote the text the day following Lincoln's assassination. McCook's congregation, located in St. Louis, Missouri, sang this hymn during their service dedicated to the President.

Transcription

A Nation’s Mourning Hymn.

HENRY C. McCOOK.

Source

The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia (Object ID: XI.2.001)

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution, as “Courtesy of The Abraham Lincoln Foundation of The Union League of Philadelphia.” Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast or commercial use requires written permission. For permission, please contact The Abraham Lincoln Foundation.

Tags

Cite this Item

Henry C. McCook . ""A Nation's Mourning Hymn," by Henry C. McCook ". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/1003

Creator

Henry C. McCook

Date

April 16, 1865

Material

Ink and Paper

Full Title

Clara Barton's Diary

Description

Clara Barton, who in 1865 was directing the Missing Soldiers Office answering families' pleas for information on their loved ones, responded with few words to the Lincoln assassination. The Missing Soldiers Office was located three blocks east of Ford's Theatre. In few words, she described the confusion that Washingtonians felt after the event and the anguish that she felt, both over the death of the president as well as the death of her nephew the previous week–sometimes conflating the two.

Transcription

Friday, April 14, 1865

Assassination of President

Lincoln

Was returning from a call at

Mr. Upperman’s when it was

Rumored on the street.



Saturday, April 15, 1865

President Lincoln died at

7- o clock this morning

the whole city in gloom

no one knows what to do



Dr. Sidney came

Vice President Johnson

Inaugurated President



Sunday, April 16, 1865

Assassins not detected.

Known to be J. Wilks Booth,

The attempted murder of Mr.

Seward + family was sup-

posed to be by one Surrat-

I was quiet all day.



Monday, April 17, 1865

Attempted to offer some help

Went to Surg Genl office

Could get no one.

The President embalmed in

Preparation to be laid in state

Tomorrow,

Mailed 100 letters



Tuesday, April 18, 1865

President Lincoln laid in

State—dept went in bodies

To see him. Resolutaions passed

at the Mars rooms in

Honor of the President and

Commemoration of poor Irving

Fannie not returned –

Heard this evening that

The assassination of Mr. Seward[?]

Had been arrested at –

2 o clock this morning

- dressed as a laborer, on HE st –

Borrowed some tables to write on



Wednesday, April 19, 1865

Funeral of President Lincoln

I remained in doors all day.



Thursday, April 20, 1865

President lain in state

At the capital

Sally + Fannie + Vester

Return from Mas.

Poor Bubby is at rest –



Friday, April 21, 1865

President Lincoln remains

taken on to Baltimore

great search for Booth -



[Transcription provided by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum.]

Source

Library of Congress, Clara Barton papers, MSS11973

Rights

This item is in the public domain.

Tags

Cite this Item

Clara Barton. "Clara Barton's Diary". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 5, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/997

Creator

Clara Barton

Date

April 15, 1865