Ward Hill Lamon - Lamon As U.S. Marshal and His Relationship With Lincoln 1861-1865

Lamon As U.S. Marshal and His Relationship With Lincoln 1861-1865

Shortly after his inauguration in 1861, Lincoln appointed Lamon United States Marshal of the District of Columbia; he resigned his commission in June 1865. One of Lamon's first acts as Marshal was to visit Fort Sumter, South Carolina in March, 1861 to meet with Major Robert Anderson, commander of the fort, and Governor Francis Pickens. Reports vary on Lamon's responsibilities with regard to that visit. One account chronicles that Lamon was just one of a few emissaries sent by Lincoln, the first being Captain Gustavus Fox, who went to determine if Fort Sumter could be relieved by sea. Lamon was sent concurrently with another Illinois friend of Lincoln's, Stephen Hurlbut, with the implication that Lamon was sent to take the focus off of Hurlbut's visit as Hurlbut was there to measure anti-Union sentiment in Charleston (he discovered it was high). Lamon incurred Lincoln's displeasure by meeting with Governor Pickens and informing him of the government's interest in withdrawing from Fort Sumter. Another account represents Lamon as traveling with the full confidence of Lincoln: "It called for courage and the trip was made over the objection of Secretary Seward. 'Mr. Secretary,' said Lincoln, 'I have known to be in many a close place and he's never been in one he didn't get out of. By Jing. I'll risk it. Go, Lamon, and God bless you.'" Yet another account characterizes Lamon as being under Seward's influence and angering Lincoln: "It was under Seward's influence that he actually told Governor Pickens that he had come to arrange for the withdrawal of the garrison, and that after his return he wrote the governor that he would be back in a few days to assist with the evacuation. He also gave Major Anderson the impression that no relief would be attempted. All this was outrageous, and when Lincoln heard of Lamon's letter to Pickens, he indignantly denied that the man possessed any authority to make such a statement." Missions to Fort Sumter aside, the marshal's position was not an onerous one and afforded Lamon legitimate access to the President. What Lamon took upon himself, however, was to represent himself as Lincoln's bodyguard, which he did out of friendship rather than the requirements of the position. Lamon took this so seriously that his friend Leonard Swett recounted that in the three months he stayed with Lamon in the Fall of 1864, he saw Lamon leave every night to go to the White House where he patrolled the grounds. On one of these patrols, he dealt a blow between the eyes to a man skulking in the bushes on the White House grounds, killing him. The man was taken to the Secret Services offices, where he was searched and found to be a Southern gentleman in possession of two pistols and 2 knives. Presidential secretary John Hay adds to this portrait of devotion by noting in his diary that one night he observed Lamon wrap himself up in his cloak and lie down to sleep in front of Lincoln's bedroom door. Lamon was not in Washington on the night of Lincoln's assassination, being on assignment in Richmond. In his Recollections of Abraham Lincoln Lamon reveals that before he left for Richmond, he implored the president not to "go out at night after was gone, particularly to the theatre." After the assassination, Lamon accompanied the funeral procession to Springfield, Illinois.