The Journey Home

Charles Magnus
The 25th of April 1865 in New York
Hand-colored wood engraving
Prints & Photographs Division (49.9)
Digital ID# ppmsca-12377

Lincoln would not return to his adopted home of Springfield, Illinois, until his funeral cortege retraced the journey he had made as president-elect five years earlier. The cortege traveled 1,662 miles in fourteen days by train through Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and finally to Springfield. During the funeral train's slow journey more than 7,000,000 saw Lincoln's coffin and more than 1,500,000 viewed his body. In this engraving, printmaker and publisher Charles Magnus captured the solemnity of April 25, 1865, as the Lincoln's funeral procession approached New York's City Hall.