Scenes from Civil War New York: Lincoln’s Funeral Hearse

ECW is pleased to welcome back Jonathan W. White and Timothy Justin Orr, authors of New York City in the Civil War (Arcadia, 2025) with another scene from Civil War New York. Part of a series.

This sketch depicts the hearse that carried Lincoln’s body through the streets of New York City. The funeral car consisted of a platform, fourteen by eight feet, and it mounted a canopy that featured a miniature Temple of liberty. The car was drawn by sixteen gray horses, each covered with black livery, and each led by a groom. Soldiers from the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Companies, 7th N.Y.S.M., (who had provided round-the-clock protection for Lincoln’s casket while it lay in state at City Hall) marched hollow square at the position of “reverse arms.” The procession had got off to a late start due to a delay in getting Lincoln’s casket into the car, which forced Major General John A. Dix to quicken the pace of the march to keep to the inflexible timetable, which provoked jeers from the people who wished to see Lincoln’s catafalque for longer. Still, it was an incredibly somber moment. So reflected a member of the 7th N.Y.S.M.: “The appearance of Broadway as the procession moved was memorable. The elegant and elaborate decorations of the buildings with emblems of sorrow, the immense concourse of people, and the oppressive silence, only broken by solemn dirges, the tolling of bells, and the booming of minute-guns, were among the impressive features of the occasion.”

————

Today’s scene relates to “A City’s Memories of War,” Chapter Twelve in Jonathan and Tim’s book New York City in the Civil War.