Bat Chosen To Carry President Lincoln To Richmond, Virginia
An interesting period for Bat—one in which she rendered her most notable service—began on 20 March when General Grant invited the President to visit his headquarters at City Point, Virginia. At this time both the Commander-in-Chief and Mrs. Lincoln were worn out by the burdens of presiding over the wartime White House. Each was completely drained of strength by almost four years of the most bloody fratricidal war; by grief over the loss of their son, Willie; and by the sadness of knowing that the men in Mrs. Lincoln's family had been fighting for the Southern cause.
Thus the President welcomed an opportunity to get away from Washington while visiting the Union troops beleaguering Richmond. Since Bat was the fastest vessel in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the Navy ordered her to Washington so that she might carry Mr. Lincoln to Grant's headquarters on the James River. The speedy steamer reached the Washington Navy Yard late on the 20th, and Lt. Comdr. Barnes reported in person to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox. The two men arranged to have suitable accommodations for the President installed in Bat and then proceeded together to the Executive Mansion where they discussed the proposed voyage with Mr. Lincoln.
Read more about this topic: USS Bat (1864)
Famous quotes containing the words chosen, carry, president and/or lincoln:
“During my administration the most unpleasant and perhaps most dramatic negotiations in which we participated were with the various leaders of Iran after the seizure of American hostages in November 1979. The Algerians were finally chosen as the only intermediaries who were considered trustworthy both by me and the Ayatollah Khomeini. After many aborted efforts, final success was achieved during my last few hours in the White House.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“When autonomy is respected, the two-year-old does not carry this unfinished task into later stages of growth. In adolescence, the youngster will again concentrate on independence, but he wont have to blast the roof off the second time around if it is already well established.”
—Dorothy Corkville Briggs (20th century)
“I thought my razor was dull until I heard his speech and that reminds me of a story thats so dirty Im ashamed to think of it myself.”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Norman Z. McLeod. Groucho Marx, Horsefeathers, as a newly-appointed college president commenting on the remarks of Huxley Colleges outgoing president (1932)
“Holding myself the humblest of all whose names were before the convention, I feel in especial need of the assistance of all.”
—Abraham Lincoln (18091865)