The Capitol Dome

L IBR ARY OF CONGRE S S PRIN T S AND PHOTO GR APHS DIVISION THE CAPITOL DOME 25 Fig. 7. Several engines were used to transport Lincoln's body from Washington, D.C. to Spring field, Illinois. One such engine, the "Nashville," of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad carried a portrait of Lincoln mounted on the front. e benediction followed Gurley's prayer; then "the assem- blage slowly left the rotunda." "Carriages drove up as quickly as possible, Captain Lincoln and President Johnson being among the first and Lieutenant General Grant and Vice Admiral Farragut among the last to leave." Secretary Stanton and Commissioner French remained to ensure that guards took their place and admitted no one, while an "attendant carefully brushed every spot of dust from the coffin and catafalque." 40 Finally, Mr. James Nokes, the public gardener, approached the casket, "leaving a number of basket flowers, arranged in admi- rable taste." 41 At the conclusion of the thirty-minute service, the Herald writer noted, the gloomy atmosphere lifted somewhat; the "people walked with livelier steps." e stores re-opened and the city resumed "a more cheerful appearance." "Still, no one forgets that in the heart of the Capitol our murdered President sleeps to-night, beneath the statue of that liberty for which he died, and that to-morrow the people of this city, whom he protected and who loved and honored him, are to see his face for the last time." 42 *** Forty to fifty thousand mourners chose to see Lincoln's face for one last time. During the Capitol's public lying in state, from eight a.m. to six p.m. on a rainy April 20, "people from every part of the United States paid to the dead form of the beloved President their last tearful tribute of affection, honor, and respect." 43 Lincoln's friend, Noah Brooks, wrote: "Guards marshaled the vast procession of sight-seers into a double line which separated at the foot of the coffin, passed on either side, was reunited again, and was guided out by the opposite door, which opened onto the great portico of the building on its east- front." 44 During the viewing, Brooks walked "alone up the winding stairs that lead to the top of the great dome of the Capitol." e unique perspective provided a "weird and memorable" sight. "Directly beneath me lay the casket in which the dead President lay at full length, far, far, below; and, like black atoms mov- ing over a sheet of gray paper, the slow-moving mourners, seen

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