Research Catalog

Title

Every drop of blood : the momentous second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln / Edward Achorn.

Author

Achorn, Edward

Publication

• New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.
• ©2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxxvi, 376 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"By March 4, 1865, the Civil War had slaughtered more than 700,000 Americans and left intractable wounds on the nation. That day, after a morning of rain-drenched fury, tens of thousands crowded Washington's Capitol grounds to see Abraham Lincoln take the oath for a second term. As the sun emerged, Lincoln rose to give perhaps the greatest inaugural address in American history, stunning the nation by arguing, in a brief 701 words, that both sides had been wrong, and that the war's unimaginable horrors-every drop of blood spilled-might well have been God's just verdict on the national sin of slavery. Edward Achorn reveals the nation's capital on that momentous day-with its mud, sewage, and saloons, its prostitutes, spies, reporters, social-climbing spouses, and power-hungry politicians-as a microcosm of all the opposing forces that had driven the country apart. Achorn weaves together the stories of the host of characters, unknown and famous, that had converged on Washington-from grievously wounded Union colonel Selden Connor in a Washington hospital, embarrassingly drunk new vice president Andrew Johnson, and poet-journalist Walt Whitman, to soldiers' advocate Clara Barton, African American leader Frederick Douglass (who called the speech "a sacred effort"), and conflicted actor John Wilkes Booth-all swirling around the complex figure of Lincoln. In indelible scenes, Achorn vividly captures the frenzy in the nation's capital at this crucial moment in America's history and the tension-filled hope and despair afflicting the country as a whole, soon to be heightened by Lincoln's assassination. His story offers new understanding of our great national crisis, and echoes down the decades to resonate in our own time"--

Alternative Title

Momentous second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

Subject

• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 > Inaugurations
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 > Influence
• Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
• 1800-1899
• Inauguration
• Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
• Manners and customs
• Politics and government
• Washington (D.C.) > Social life and customs > 19th century
• Washington (D.C.) > Politics and government > 19th century
• Washington (D.C.) > History > Civil War, 1861-1865
• Washington (D.C.)

Genre/Form

• Creative nonfiction.
• History.

Note

• Subtitle from pre-publication: Hatred and healing at Lincoln's second inauguration.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-321) and index.

Contents

Bloody Gashes on the Face of Heaven -- One and a Half Times Bigger -- A Message from Grant -- The Real Precious and Royal Ones -- Meditation on the Divine Will -- Public Sentiment Is Everything -- Indefinable Fascination -- The Blighting Pestilence -- There Was Murder in the Air -- A Future with Hope in It -- Andy Ain't a Drunkard -- An Excellent Chance to Kill the President -- With Malice toward None -- A Truth That Needed to Be Told -- A Sacred Effort -- Epilogue: The Stuff to Carry Them Through.

Call Number

JFE 21-5848

ISBN

• 9780802148742
• 0802148743

LCCN

2019045236

OCLC

1124773828

Author

Achorn, Edward, author.

Title

Every drop of blood : the momentous second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln / Edward Achorn.

Publisher

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.

Copyright Date

©2020

Edition

First edition.

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-321) and index.

Chronological Term

1800-1899

Research Call Number

JFE 21-5848