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Title: Bedside Vigil for Abraham Lincoln

Description: A contemporary drawing of the bedside vigil for Abraham Lincoln (February 25, 1809-April 15, 1865), sixteenth President of the U.S. (1861-1865), in the William Petersen boarding house where the president had been taken after being shot in Ford's Theatre by American stage actor John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838-April 26, 1865) on April 14, 1865; sitting calmly amid the confusion to Lincoln's right is Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802-February 11, 1878), who was Secretary of the Navy in the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln; earlier that evening, when Welles heard the news that the president had been shot, he swore out loud: "Damn the Rebels, this is their work!," referring to Confederates who had recently lost the American Civil War (1861-1865); Welles hastened to the Petersen house and sat quietly by the dying president's bedside all that night and until Lincoln's death the next day; Lincoln had been shot by American stage actor John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838-April 26, 1865); as Secretary of the Navy during the war, Welles' build-up of the Navy to blockade Southern ports was a major factor of the Union's victory; he also was instrumental in creation of the Navy's Medal of Honor;

Category: Political Figures

Topic: U.S. Presidents

Subject: Abraham Lincoln

Keywords: American Civil War (1861-1865), assassinations, presidents of the U.S., secretaries of the U.S. Navy, U.S Navy, U.S. Navy Medal of Honor, U.S. Presidents.