Lincoln’s Friend and Body Guard..Ward Hill Lamon

Lincoln’s friend and personal body-guard was Ward Hill Lamon. Abraham Lincoln was in constant danger from his earliest forays into politics and especially after he was elected President in 1860. Lamon recognized this vulnerability and accompanied the candidate wherever he traveled.

Abraham Lincoln and Ward Hill Lamon became acquainted in 1847, both were lawyers practising in Illinois. Soon thereafter they became partners and opened an office in Danville,Illinois. This partnership lasted until 1857, when Lamon moved to Bloomington and became the county District Attorney.

Ward Hill Lamon, was an imposing presence, boisterous, hard-drinking, would fight at the drop of a hat and usually came out on top in physical confrontations. Lincoln and he were an odd pair, one that wore his temper on his sleeve and the other calm and compromising. The future President developed a trust in the former Virginian that lasted his lifetime.

Lamon accompanied Lincoln everywhere and assisted in his failed Senate bid in 1858. Lincoln was 18 years older than Lamon, but appreciated his exuberance and loyalty. In 1860, Ward Hill Lamon played a critical roll in his friends’ Presidential nomination by forging tickets to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, in order to pack the floor with Lincoln supporters.

After Lincoln’s victory, hoping for a post as Minister to Paris, Ward Hill Lamon cleared his calendar in Illinois, closed his office and prepared to leave for Washington. After realizing the dangerous state of the current political climate Lincoln summoned Lamon to Springfield and related;

“On the 11th I go to Washington, and I want you to go along with me. Our friends have already asked me to send you as Consul to Paris. You know I would cheerfully give you anything for which our friends may ask or which you may desire, but it looks as if we might have war. In that, I must have you. So get yourself ready and come along. It will be handy to have you around. If there is to be a fight, I want you to help me to do my share of it, as you have done in times past. You must go, and go to stay.”

Ward Hill Lamon and detective Allan Pinkerton accompanied Lincoln on the train to Washington. Lamon and Pinkerton disagreed on the logistics of protecting the new President. Rumors of an assassination attempt were rife and Lamon offered a revolver and a bowie-knife to Lincoln, an offer that both the President and Pinkerton rejected. The stealthy planning of Lincoln’s journey to Washington was released to the press and Pinkerton alleged that Lamon had given a drunken interview to a reporter with the New York Herald. Many of the disagreements that Lamon and Pinkerton had, would haunt the President’s friend for remainder of his life.

Despite the death threats, Lincoln arrived in Washington safely and after the inauguration, appointed Ward Hill Lamon, U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia. In addition to his many administrative duties as Marshal, his foremost concern was the life and safety of President Lincoln. It has been often related that Lamon could be found patrolling the grounds adjacent to the White House or lying wrapped in his cape, asleep, outside of the Presidents bedroom.

Because of his close friendship with the President, Lamon was the brunt and target of negative rumor, jealousies and innuendo regarding his position as Marshal in the District. Lamon’s hard-drinking and boisterous demeanor fueled much of the dissention in political circles and drove many to seek his resignation.

One of the less than flattering events involving Ward Hill Lamon was when President Lincoln sent him to Ft. Sumter, South Carolina, to gather, first hand, facts from the commander of the fort, Major Robert Anderson and Governor Francis Pickens. It was later discovered that Lamon’s visit was a cover for the official visit of another of Lincoln’s friends Stephen Hurlburt, sent to gauge Union sentiment in North Carolina. Congress had a field day with Lamon’s supposedly failed visit and used this as fodder to further sully his reputation.

Ward Hill Lamon was fighting an uphill battle against the power elite of Washington. Probably his heavy drinking didn’t endear him to the sophisticates of the Capitol, but no one could question his devotion to the President. Lamon’s instructions to the President included that Lincoln never attend any public event without his presence. On April 14, 1865, Ward Hill Lamon was on an assignment from Lincoln in Richmond and at the urging of his wife, Mary, President Abraham Lincoln attended the theater that evening.

After Lincoln’s assassination Ward Hill Lamon wrote;

“No one knew Mr. Lincoln better, none loved him more than I. My friendship did not begin with his official career. I was near him in private life; I was near him in all the darkest hours of the late struggle; I was near him when the first rational hope of peace dawned upon the land. In truth, I might say without offense to the people of his State and mine, that I retained his confidence unshaken as he retained my affections unbroken, until his own life was offered up the last great sacrifice to domestic discord, on the very threshold of peace, and in the actual blaze and glory of the nation’s triumph.”

Bummer

 

 

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