by african-american troops. this is just over an hour. >> good morning, and welcome to fort stevens. my name is kim elder and i'm the program manager for the national park service for the civil war defenses of washington. i'd like to welcome and thank each of you all for joining us this morning for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stevens.

ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of colors and the singing of the national anthem by anita frasier.

♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly

streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave ♪ [ applause ]

>> you may take your seats. the invocation will be delivered by the senior pastor of st. luke's baptist church, the reverend aubrey lewis. >> let us bow our heads. eternal father, this morning we come to celebrate a historic occasion, one that has tremendous significance in the life of african-americans and to the life of washington, d.c. we thank you for the opportunity to be here, and we ask our blessings on this gathering.

we ask, lord, that you continue to be with each of us as we go about doing the things that we do on a daily basis, and continue to allow us to be a shining beacon as we travel throughout the city. bless this occasion and all those that are part of it. . in jesus' name we pray, amen. >> please welcome rock creek park superintendent tara morrison. [ applause ] >> good morning, everyone. on behalf of the national park service, welcome to rock creek park and the historic fort stevens. we are pleased that you have joined us today as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle of fort stooens. the national park service has been commemorating the ses kwi

centennial with programming that have enlightened not only the visitors but the national park service. the fort stevens commemorative programs held over the last few months would not have been possible without the program manager kim elder and our friends from the alliance defenses of washington, specifically president and vice president. they worked together over the last two years to plan a series of events that would not only interest and engage those already knowledgeable about the civil war, but would also include themes that would appeal to new audience. that is the key, ensuring that we are creating opportunities for new audiences to become engaged and informed about our nation's history. thank you kim, susan and loretta for your hard work in creating those opportunities. [ applause ]

i'd also like to thank the national park service employees and volunteers who worked and are working today to execute the plan here this weekend. we'd also like to thank council member mary bouzer who has been supportive of our efforts to ensure that the residents of the district of columbia are aware of the battle of fort stevens and the role of the neighboring community during the war. we're pleased to have with us today mr. c.r. gibbs and mr. bars. both will discuss the battle of fort stevens and will share why this battle played a pivotal role in our country's history. we again thank you for joining us this morning and hope that you stay for this afternoon's events and also for tomorrow's events at the battleground cemetery. thank you. [ applause ]

>> good morning. my name is doug jimmerson and i'm going to sing a few very significant period songs that remain wonderful songs in our american musical heritage. the first was called at the time "red, white and blue", columbia the gem of the ocean. ♪ ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white

and blue ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ thigh banners make tyranny tremble ♪ ♪ when born by the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ the wine cup, the wine crumb bring hither ♪ ♪ may the reeds they have won never wither ♪ ♪ nor the star of their glory grow dim ♪ ♪ may the service unite never sever ♪ ♪ but they to their country so true ♪ ♪ the army and navy forever ♪ three cheers for the red, white and blue ♪ ♪ three cheers for the red, white, and blue ♪ ♪ three cheers for the red,

white and blue ♪ ♪ the army and navy forever ♪ three cheers for the red, white and blue ♪ >> thank you, there you go. [ applause ] i want you to participate. that's wonderful. all right, and this one honoring national hymn and please join me on the chorus. the battle hymn of the republican. ♪ he is trample iing out the vintage where the grapes of wrath have store ♪ ♪ of his terrible swift sword ♪ his truth is marching on

♪ his truth is marching on ♪ i have seen him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camping ♪ ♪ they have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps ♪ ♪ i can read his righteous sentence ♪ ♪ by the dim and flaring lamps ♪ his day is marching on ♪ glory, glory hallelujah ♪ glory, glory hall lie lieu ya ♪ ♪ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ his day is marching on ♪ he have sounded forth the

trumpet that shall never call retreat ♪ ♪ he has lifted out the hearts of men before his judgment seech ♪ ♪ be jubilant my feet ♪ our god is marching on ♪ glory, glory, hallelujah ♪ glory, glory, glory, hall lie lieu ya ♪ ♪ glory, glory, glory, ha hallelujah ♪ ♪ his truth is marching on [ applause ] >> thank you very much. you know, during the civil war that tune was probably sung more than any other, but not with those words. they sang john brown's body and it wasn't about the john brown of harper's ferry. it's about some obscure person in massachusetts. but the glory, glory, glory was

from the original. that was not written by julia ward howe. that was in the original song. very interesting. and so i am going to make this a ra rather brief program. i'm going to do two more. and i think this next one is arguably our greatest patriotic song and the one least remembered, unfortunately. but it was a significant come o composition for the civil war and when the union bands played this and the soldiers sang this, it just struck terrible fear in the hearts of the reds. the battle cry of freedom.

♪ ♪ ♪ down with the traitor, up with the star ♪ ♪ while we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again ♪ ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ we are springing to the call for 300,000 more, shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ and we'll fill the vacant ranks ♪ ♪ of our brothers gone before ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ ♪ the union forever hurrah, boys, hurrah ♪ ♪ down with the traitor, up with the star ♪ ♪ while we rally round the flag,

boys, rally once again ♪ ♪ shouting the battle cry of freedom ♪ [ applause ] >> hurrah! thank you. and then i have discovered in my research, i'm a muse kolgs and historian. i have a real passion for the life of lincoln, of course. and what i have discovered is that during lincoln presidency, you know, the marine band was at every significant occasion, and usually they closed their program with "yankee doodle." so we'll close with "yankee doodle" ♪ ♪ along with captain gordon ♪ we saw the men and boys as

thick as hasty pudding ♪ ♪ yankee dood l, keep it up ♪ yankee dan and whip the girls be handy ♪ ♪ and there was general washington on a snow white charger ♪ ♪ he looked as big as all outdoors and said he looked much larger ♪ ♪ yankee doodle, keep it up ♪ yankee doodle demandy and whip the girls me handy. ♪ ♪ yankee doodle went to town riding on a point pony, stuck a'er in his hat and called it macaroni ♪ ♪ yankee doodle, keep it up ♪ yankee dandy, mind the music and the step and with the girls

be handy ♪ [ applause ] >> thank you. thanks so much. enjoy your wonderful day here at fort stevens. >> our first speaker this morning is mr. cr gibbs. mr. gibbs is noted local historian, international lecturer, author and historian of the african dees. he's also among the scholars at the smithsonian featured on its online academy. he has conducted research on black civil war units as well as served as technical adviser to 9 francis thomas company on a film. he has written numerous books, and friends of frederick douglas. his articles have appeared in numeral respected journals in. colluding the bulletin and

african-american inventors. please welcome mr. c.r. gibbs. [ applause ] >> good morning, everyone. i will leave it to my esteemed colleague to describe the ebb and flow of battle that occurred here. what i want to do for a few minutes today is to offer some reflections on the contributions of african-americans to the defenses of washington. frr all too often, our understanding of what happened here and the movement within the city is that, okay, we know about elizabeth thomas whose house was destroyed by lincoln. the fort itself sits on part of an african-american neighborhood called vinegar hill. but the story is actually much larger than that, and i think perhaps the best way to begin is by sharing with you a portion of

a letter written on june 7th, 1862 from the engineer in charge of the defenses of washington to the military governor of the district of columbia. general, i had the honor to request a detail of contrabands for work on the maryland side of the potomac. as the government insists, it would be advisable to get some return for the expense. i could easily employ 250 and discharge the hired laborers now working on these forts and thus very much diminish the expense of finishing the work. posted as follows. at forts franklin, alexander and riply, at fort gaines and pennsylvania, massachusetts and slocum, 30. totten, 20. bunker hill and saratoga, 20.

lincoln, 20. migs, dupont and davis, 20. and it goes on and on. the point here is that by june of 1862 only the most ardent folk seemed to be against. the use of black men in at least building the forts and securing the gair sons that helped to fortify the city. in fact, this very same request would ultimately not go filled because the other authorities were reluctant to give up their contrabands to work on forts north of the potomac. there was much. greater use of contraband later made on the outside of the potomac. these men, these self-emancipated black folk who would decide they wouldn't necessarily wait for a federal executive decree and proclamation, but they took it upon themselves to risk life and

limb in order to answer the clarion call that beats in the hearts of all of us. the desire to be free. to be self-determining, to be independent. and in fact, when these laborers came to many of the forts surround i surrounding the district, many of the soldiers were happy to see them. a member of the 50th regimen reported that a detail was sent in every morning to work on the forti fortificatio fortifications, but from north carolina was sent to take our places in the ditches and we willingly turned over our picks and shovels. one soldier who had done duty in fort lincoln and here at fort stevens who served at the search regimens said the time for drafting as come. speaking of fort stevens, everyone around here, from fort

lincoln, walker wrote our first work will be to dig or help dig a chain of pits connecting these forts. though we hear 500 nebrasgros w be here soon. they were not spectators during the earliest attack on washington, d.c. for example, a unit of the colored troops marched up streets tailing alongside and black men in the neighborhood were in the services. for this unit of colored troops on 12th street we have no authority than the daughter of joseph henry, the director of the smithsonian at the time. also e we know in addition to 500 white troops called up to defend alexandria, 800 colored men were also called up with the journal adding these men will no

doubt do good work should their services be required in the defense of the city. no less authority than noah brooks in washington and lincoln's time says, quote, contraband were also thrust into the service. and at 12:00 on july 11th, there were in the fortifications of washington 60,000 men armed and equipped for fight. you must understand that this desire to be free, this desire to participate did not simply occur at this, but all throughout the forts and batteries and camps that comprise the military defenses of washington. we are amazed at the black people that were able to across the potomac and make their way to battery. those who took life and limb in hand and went to fort stanton or port dupont or fort carol and

this is part of the untold story of the importance of the defenses of washington. you see, these installations typified hope, but not simply hope, not simply freedom or security, they also sim bymbol liezed opportunity. a black men was caught on the navy yard bridge trying to get into d.c. he told the union troops he had walked 60 miles just to come here. he believed that under the capital dome, there would be freedom as well as justice, as well as opportunity. but we don't have to go to the capital to find that out. if you were to walk with me down georgia avenue about half a mile, quarter mile to the intersection of georgia and missouri, we'd probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of another camp. and in that camp, we would find

in the book when this crew war was over, the touching story of a place called camp wrightwood and how this union officer, this man from the tenth massachusetts was changed when he met a freedom-seeking black men just a quarter mile down the road who came in and worked for him, he's a bright-looking group that described him, 17 years old and since his master paid $40 for him six years ago, he was the only slave his master had and his master will never get him again if i can help it. ladies and gentlemen, you must understand that this person to person connections between freedom-seeking black folk and the soldiers in the union army forged bonds that would not be forgotten once the guns were over. and we find out, in fact, that black folk in defense of the

city is actually nothing new. we know that free blacks wielded pick axes and shovels to help guard the nation's capital. in fact, one commenter would say that the free people of this city speaking of the war of 1812 acted as it becomes patriots. there's the exception of any failing to be on the spot conducted themselves with us most order and priority. and indeed when news of the war struck this city, when what had happened reverberated back to the district, a black explorer, a man who had served and explored with john charles fremont offered the services of the black men in the war to protect the city. finally, it's important that we acknowledge not simply the activities of free blacks or contraband to the defenses of washington, but that we also

acknowledge members of the united states colored troops for we also had this idea that they were somewhere missing in terms of this great contest and yet we have evidence now of only the sixth u.s. city or 28th or the wonderful job the 45th u.s. colored troops did as they helped to repair fort mcpherson on the grounds of arlington national cemetery. but i have an article from the evening star from december 14th, 1865 that also mentions u.s. colored troops after the end of the war when these posts were still important. i know many of you will recall george patten that a soldier does his duty. he goes where he is told and that's what these men did. so we find colored troops in slocum and lincoln and mayhem and baker and stanton and carol, according to the evening star

from december the 14th, 1865. these men, freedom-seeking black folks, self-emancipated contrabands had all one thing in common. they were willing warriors. willing workers and willing defenders of their national capital in times of crisis. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, mr. gibbs. please welcome d.c. council member were ward four, moour y'all bouzer. [ applause ] >> good morning, everybody. and welcome to ward four and i'm certainly delighted to be here with you to celebrate the 150th

anniversary of the battle of fort stevens. there's really so much great history here in our capital city, and i am often and proud to celebrate the part that ward four played in the history of our city and certainly in the history of our nation. we're very proud of it. we know that the only civil war battle to take place in the district of columbia took place here at fort stevens. the only time a sitting president in the united states in the history of our country has come under hostile fire from an enemy combatant was here at fort stevens. and we know at the battle of fort stevens, the nation's capital was saved from eminent attack. you may also know that even before fort stevens was built to detective the capital from confederate soldiers, this land fgs taken from a free black

woman named elizabeth thomas. we were very proud here in ward four and in the district of columbia to recognize elizabeth thomas forever and ever here at this land by naming this street in her honor, the elizabeth thomas way. we know, too, that she was never fully kpcompensated for her lan or for her sacrifice for our great country, but fortunately today we in this city have a wonderful relationship with our federal partners and we really want to acknowledge the hard work that they have done to acknowledge this great anniversary and to build a great relationship with our community so that our parks, our national monuments are really a part of the communities and the people they serve. so i hope you will join me in acknowledging really two great women who are leading the national park service in d.c.

and fort stevens and right here in ward four. our superintendent, give her a round of applause. [ applause ] and our park manager kim elder, give her a round of applause. [ applause ] they have -- and i know the difference between leaders who want us in the parks and leaders who don't. and we have people that want to keep these parks alive and we need to acknowledge their service. we have 150 great years of history to celebrate here, and i wanted to calm not only to represent the 75,000 people of ward four and the 20 great neighborhoods i have the

privilege to serve, but also our city. i went to the council and there was unanimous decision to acknowledge today with the resolution. so superintendent morrison, may i present you with the following. i'll read a few of the statements here. this resolution says, whereas fort stevens originally named fort massachusetts from the home state of the soldiers who constructed it was built to defend the district of columbia against attacks from the confederate army from the north along seventh street pike now known as georgia avenue. whereas fort massachusetts was renamed fort stevens after the death of general stevens at the battle of chantilly on september 1st, 1862. whereas in the summer of 1864 general grant moved most union troops to the south leaving only 9,000 troops to defend the district of columbia. whereas on july 11th and july

12th, 1864, the battle of fort stevens occurred and was the only civil war battle to take place in the district of columbia. whereas the union army's sixth corps brought reenforcements to fort stevens where president lincoln met them and became the only sitting president in our history to come under hostile attack. and whereas on the evening of july 12th, 1864, confederate troops began to withdraw from fort stevens and from the district of columbia. this victory saved the nation's capital, helped ensure president lincoln's reelection and aided in the preservation of the union. following the battle of fort stevens, the military road school, one of the first schools in the district to educate african-american children was established on the grounds of fort stooeevens. whereas the military road school although closed in 1954 remains

an essential part of the history of fort stevens and the civil war history of the district of columbia. fort stevens now serves as one of many civil war defenses operated and maintained by the national park service and the district of columbia as a place of enjoyment and a memorial to all those who served and saved our country. be it resolved by the council of the district of columbia that this resolution be cited the battle of the 150th anniversary recognition resolution of 2014. [ applause ] >> thank you, council member. please welcome members of the 2014 civil war junior ranger

campers. >> as i mentioned earlier, part of our responsibility is ensuring that we are engaging new audiences in sharing this history. so for the first year and in honor of the 150th anniversary of the civil war, we conducted our first civil war junior rangers camp and we today would like to pin our three representatives here today, cooper, na veed, and nita.

>> they are now officially junior rangers. [ applause ] thank you, ladies.

>> our next speaker today is mr. ed vars, he's a united states marine corps veteran of world war ii. in military historian and author known for his work on the american civil war and world war ii eras. he's especially known for his historic tours and extremely popular tour guide with historic battlefields for the smithsonian associat associates. he served as chief historian of the national park service from 1981 to 1994. please welcome mr. ed vars. [ applause ] >> first off, i want to thank my colleagues of the national park

service and the people in the neighborhood for working so well together to commemorate the battle of fort stevens. an important milestone in the reyun any indication of our country and the emancipation of american blacks. let us turn back the clock to the last days of june 1864. at that time it was not a given that the union will triumph in the civil war. in fact, things were not going well. the new general chief of the

union army has in his campaign against general lee's army has lost over 100,000 men in a period between the third day of may and the 18th day of june. that is twice as many men as robert e. lee had in his army. and the first lady of the land who referred to general grant as a butcherer. even worse than the disaster at pearl harbor had been the disaster that befell the union army on the 18th day of june at petersburg. at this time the president of

the united states is confronted by a number of problems. his great army in the east are undoubtedly not accomplishing their mission, which is to give the union victory by the time of election day in november 1864. general sherman is not doing much better in georgia as the union army is licking their wounds following the battle. so things were not going well on the military front. things were not going well on the political front. the president had felt well when

the republican convention meeting in baltimore had renominated him for a second term. they had dumped maine who had been his vice president of first administration to replace him with governor johnson of tennessee. and the ticket that they will go to the voters will be the union ticket, not the republican ticket. as the president and his family prepare to move from the white house to the sumger white house located about one mile from where we are on the grounds of the soldiers home the president

is confronted with other problems politically. egotistical and o -- opinionated twice submitted his resignation and on the last day of the old congress, which it turns on the 4th day of july, he hands in his resignati resignation. lincoln is going to take great courage because he has a revolt in a radical wing of the republican party, which is passed the wade davis bill that is taking the steps of reconstruction of the south out

of the president's hands and transferring it to the congress and the president shows great courage as he vetoes the wade davis bill. things are not getting well in virginia. general lee has detached too early with the second corps, and they have dealt with general hunter and lynchburg. early in his 15 to 16,000 men are now sweeping down the shenandoah valley. they well remember the valley of humiliation, the shenen do away valley from what happened there in 1862 and it had been the

route that the confederate hs followed to their defeat in gettysburg in '63. it looks like a repeat as his men march through lexington on the 26th day of june. on the 1st day of july they march through winchester, virginia, and on the 5th day of july they will cross the potomac river. is it going to be another repetition of what had happened in '62 and '63? general grant seemed to not be overly concerned about the threat to washington by the

general's men. the president of the railroad is telling him it's a real threat and grant is going to move rather slowly. as the confederates will now move toward isolating the union troops, which evacuated harpers ferry on maryland heights and close in on frederick, maryland. on frederick, maryland, they have occupied it on the 8th day of july. a union army has been assembled there on the banks of the river and on the 9th day of july at the battle, who would write the

most popular novel written in the 19th century by american author ben purr. when evacuates and leaves the battlefield he falls back on baltimore leaving washington uncovered. many of the thousands of men who had been manning the washington forts, the '87 forts and batteries had been called to fill the vacant ranks as we talked about in those wonderful songs we were led in as they are father abraham's call. and they are going to become instant infantrymen.

many of them we have just heard from our lecturer, many by the black men and -- of what becomes originally fort massachusetts but is now fort stevens. so the day or the 10th day of july is an unseasonably hot day. the men are wearing more uniforms and i'm an honorary member of company b of the mts regimen. the proudest things i have is attending some of their rallies. i'm glad to see they are here in full strength.

[ applause ] the forts were e departure of the heavy ar till riss, one of them being fort massachusetts. heavy artillery which becomes a trivia pursuit question. you don't like to be. what union regiment lost more men in 15 minutes in the civil war? it's the first massachusetts heavy artillery. one of these ones at the forts against lee's lines at peterburg. we'll lose 642 men out of a little over 850, losing more men in a single battle than any

other unit in the civil war. that's a trivial pursuit question that you don't like to be one of the victims in it. so as they sweep down, they are tired and the confederates are going to reach rockville, just up the road from where we are wn the evening of the 11th. on the 5th day of the month, the presidential family and their close advisers move from the white house into the soldier's home. on the night of the 10th, secondary staten, he's a rough customer. i heard the people weep about secretary rumsfeld. you don't know what a tough

secretary of war staten is. if you wept about secretary rumsfeld, you'll commit harry caray over secretary staten, as he sends the message out, directing the president and his family to remove back to the white house. the guard, in company of the 150th pennsylvania, the buck tails, have left the soldier's home and will be stationed in another fort. the president will be up early on the morning of the 11th. the confederates had paused at rockville and john mccauselin with his calvary sweeps down the

georgetown pike, now wisconsin avenue, arriving at tenially circle while the rest of the confederate army moves cross-country on farm roads leading from rockville to turn in to the 7th avenue extended, now georgia avenue. and by noon, they are approaching silver spring. the president, i can imagine the secret service. now, the secret service will not be responsible for the president's security until two other presidents have died at the hands of an assassin. not until the summer of 1902 does the secret service become responsible for the big man in

the white house. you can imagine him on that day as the president goes out and visits fort stevens and other forts. yes, he is here at fort stevens on the afternoon around 1:00 on the 11th day of july. the confederates are in silver spring. men moved across into the district line, moving into occupying ground now embraced by walter reid. and the president is going to be shot at, but this isn't the important one. the important one he gets shot at is going to be on the next day, as he circulates.

he makes a stop down at -- there is no haines point at that time. where haines point is now, he watches the boats and ships arrive with the members of the 6th corps, two divisions of them under wright and detachments of the 19th corps that have come all the way from louisiana to hampton road and have joined the troops up. and some of the troops could remember this tall man, seven foot tall when he has his top hat on, now if we knew we were going to have two 6'4" presidents, we would have had a better measurement of them. we have two 6'4" presidents, one

is abraham lincoln, the other is lyndon baines johnson. you do not know which is the taller, because they don't go to have any such things as that. and they see the president nibbling on a piece of hard taft. they then move out throughout georgetown pike, out through georgetown, because the first reports the general received, the confederates are in the area of rockville. but they are going to be detoured, turn in and move out 7th street extended georgia avenue. there's a lot of excitement in washington that night as the 6th corps arrive to help out with the militia, the 108 men, the

imbi corps of the next day. the confederates are having a real ball up in silver spring. montgomery blair is going to lose his house, franklin, to the confederates, who show that they can burn houses pretty well, too. francis blair, adviser to all presidents from andrew jackson to abraham lincoln, he's not at home, but he has a good liquor closet, and some of the confederates, particular jubal early, is a good drinking man, and they are consuming francis p. blair's liquor supply, and they are very delighted as they get more and more, because one of the confederates there is john c. breckenridge. who is the youngest man ever to

be vice president of the united states. being vice president under james buchanan, and the confederates are feeling good. now, lincoln had kept construction going on the capitol dome. the dome has been completed. you can see it from the soldier's home, and they are debating, because breckenridge had been expelled from the senate in october 1861 as when he left the vice presidency and then the senate. as they get more and more influenced by what they are drinking, they boast, tomorrow we'll march down massachusetts avenue and we'll escort general breckenridge into the capitol, into the senate chamber, which he had presided over and place him back there.

well, the president is going to pay a visit out here again on the wealth. he's going to arrive out here and he's going to bring mary with him. now mary and he, there have been causalities out here, and close to the walls of fort stevens is a hospital. they go in and visit several wounded union soldiers there and then mary sits down. out here also is the secretary of state. the secretary of state, of course, is william seward. soon to arrive is going to be gideon wells, secretary of the navy, and his wife. now mary gets the one cabinet member that mary gets along well with, mrs. wells. she doesn't get along with others. the president will go up and stand on that paraben, where in

the 1960s they'll put up a monument there. the principle speaker there will be one of breckenridge's soldiers that they put up that monument to commemorate where lincoln is standing there in his top hat, seven feet tall, looking out over the sloping ground in front of him, where the confederates have taken shelter in the house in a grove about a quarter of a mile away. as he's standing there, there's a spat. standing next to him is dr. crawford of the 102nd pennsylvania. he is shot in the thigh and blood spurts over the president. now i often wonder what the secret service would do now,

because the president has blood on him and now horacio g. wright has a tough job. that is, he's got to get the president off the banquet, the firing step, getting him down where he's not exposed. there's two versions of how he does it. one, that he will ask the president politely to please step down. the other is, that he will put his hand on him, might have been bad for him in the days when we had secret service around, and they help him down off and he sits on the level ground, the step just back from the paraben and sits down with his back to the par apin.

after awhile he'll go over and talk to mary. mary will swoon and the president will say mary will not make a very good soldier, as she swooned. so while the president has been under fire, a man has been shot near him, and by 4:00, the 6th corps is ready to take the offensive. and they will move out from in front of fort stevens, moving across the ground, the slopes down to where walter reid is now, beyond battleground cemetery, where 40-odd men of the union soldiers who were killed here are buried and the union troops and the confederates pulled back. lincoln will not take his eye

off the big picture. tuesday the 12th. on the 14th, he is back out at the -- taking care of business. so he is going to do, and i want you to take another little tune there, because he's going to sign a bill calling for 500,000 more men. and there's one of the tunes in that, we are coming father abraham, 500,000 more. so he's showing his commitment to continuing the war. he's also curtailed negotiations carried out through on the same day with mr. blair, through

frank blair, and horace greeley with meetings up in buffalo, where they are going to meet with confederate representatives and he's going to order them, direct them, they will not -- there are two things he will not compromise on. he will not step back on the emancipation proclamation or that bill that's working its way through the house and the senate abolishing slavery by congressional amendment, and he will not step back on the confederacy having an independent nation. so great things have happened here. it's wonderful to see the group out here today to talk about these events. too often these events here in

washington are kind of forgotten. and as early pulls back to virginia, he's going to say one thing. well, we didn't capture washington, but we sure as hell scared the hell out of abraham lincoln. we have to remember what abraham lincoln is going to write on the 24th day of august, that is five weeks after this day. and that day things are still not going well. butler's army and stymied in front of richmond and petersburg. sherman is stymied in front of atlanta. and president will write a letter to the file and he will say, and the democrats have met

in chicago, adopted a peace declaring the war a failure and nominating for president george b. mcclennan and pendleton of ohio as vice president. and the president will write that day, as of this day, we will probably lose the election. therefore, we will have to work with the left to save the union after election day and before he's inaugurated as president on march 4th, because he will not be able to say it at at day. but, of course, just like everybody could remember, my age or younger can remember harry truman on the night, on election eve, a little after 12:00 in

1948 when he pulled out the headlines of "the chicago tribune," dewey wins. lincoln would do the same thing with the letter he'd written to the files. cabinet member, put it in an envelope, members of the cabinet signed their names on it, he opens it up and reads it to what they had signed, because with that election, father abraham will be in for another term, and it's wonderful to come out here and be with this group here and think of the great events that took place here. thank you so much. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mr. bearss. before closing, we have a few announcements. >> thank you again, mr. bearss, mr. gibbs, everyone for joining us again today. we do want to acknowledge, we have a lot of special guests in the audience, but we actually have the great grandson of captain simon e. chamberlain of company k., the 25th new york calvary, the first calvary to deploy here on july 11th here at fort stevens when early's troops arrived.

with mr. -- i'm sorry, would mr. chamberlain please stand. [ applause ] we will close the benediction, but we do hope each of you will come over and join us. just across the street you'll get some instructions. it's the moment to join us for the first fine of the civil war here in the district of columbia since 1864, 150 years ago today. fire a canon, yes. >> please welcome again reverend louis as he leads us through the benediction. >> please stand.

now lord we ask for our blessings that as we leave this place, that the street fellowship of the holy communion will rest, rule and abide with us now and forever screeria -- -