Abraham Lincoln

“He Joked And Made Light Of The Occurrence”

Posted on April 22, 2016 Updated on April 22, 2016

Riding was about his only exercise. He had a good seat, but was a hard rider, so that he tired out a lot of horses, and on his rides and drives he had to put up with the precautions of Stanton, who insisted on his being accompanied by a bodyguard. Sometimes, however, when the military situation was causing him great anxiety, or when the receipt of a disturbing telegram had made it impossible for him to sleep, he would — in summer, when he was staying at his country quarters — get up in the middle of the night and ride off unattended to the War Department. On such occasions, he was always exposed to the risk of assassination. One night iq August, at about eleven o’clock, the sentinel at the Soldiers’ Home heard a rifle shot, and soon afterwards approaching hoof beats. In two or three minutes a horse came dashing up, and the man recognized the President, arriving thus belated, and bareheaded. To the sentry, who took the horse’s bridle, Lincoln said, “He came pretty near getting away with me, didn’t he. He got the bit in his teeth before I could draw the rein.” The man asked him where Ms hat was. ” Somebody fired down at the foot of the hill. The horse bolted, and my hat was jerked off.” The sentry and a corporal went off in the direction of the shooting, and found the President’s hat, with a bullet hole through the crown. Next morning, when Lincoln saw the hat, he joked and made light of the occurrence, but added that he wished to have it kept quiet. Thenceforward he never rode alone.

By Emil Ludwig,”Abraham Lincoln: And the Times that Tried His Soul” ,Ludwig-416-03