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The '''Baltimore Plot''' was an alleged conspiracy in late February 1861  to assassinate [[President-elect]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] en route to his [[inauguration]]. The [[Pinkerton National Detective Agency|Pinkerton Agency]] helped foil the plot. A key role was played by [[Allan Pinkerton]] who accompanied and advised the president-elect throughout the journey. Though the truth of the matter remains in doubt, clearly Lincoln and his advisors believed that there was a threat and took actions to avoid it.

On [[November 6]], [[1860]], Lincoln was elected as the 16th [[President of the United States]], the first [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to hold that office.

Shortly after his election, the South made it clear that secession was inevitable, which greatly increased tension across the nation. President-elect Lincoln survived an alleged assassination attempt in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] and on [[February 23]] [[1861]] arrived secretly in disguise to Washington, D.C. The South ridiculed Lincoln for this seemingly cowardly act, but the efforts at security may have been prudent.

==Background==
[[Allan Pinkerton]], eponymous founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was commissioned to provide security for the president-elect Lincoln on his journey from Philadelphia to Washington D.C., through Baltimore. 

Maryland, a [[slave state]] with strong Southern sympathies, was considered dangerous territory through which to travel for the controversial politician. 

[[User:DGHistory58|DGHistory58]] ([[User talk:DGHistory58|talk]]) 18:21, 23 November 2007 (UTC)==Lincoln's actions: appropriate, unnecessary, or cowardly==

On [[February 11]], [[1861]], President-elect Abraham Lincoln boarded an east-bound train in [[Springfield, Illinois]] at the start of a [[Whistle stop train tour|whistle stop tour]] in seventy towns and cities ending in Washington, DC. While en route to Washington, Lincoln was introduced to Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton's National Detective Agency of Chicago, who had been hired by the Baltimore, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad to investigate suspicious activities along the Baltimore route and the destruction of railroad property. Pinkerton became convinced that a plot existed to ambush Lincoln's carriage between the Calvert Street Station of the Northern Central and the Camden Street Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, allowing conspirators to assassinate the President-elect during his passage through Baltimore on [[February 23]], [[1861]].  Pinkerton tried to convince Lincoln to cancel his stop at [[Harrisburg]], [[Pennsylvania]] and proceed straight through Baltimore, but Lincoln insisted upon keeping to his schedule. 

On the evening of the 22nd, telegraph lines to Baltimore were cut to prevent communications from passing between potential conspirators. Meanwhile, Lincoln left Harrisburg on a special train, arriving in Baltimore in the middle of the night. Since a city ordinance prohibited night time rail travel though the downtown area of the city, the railcars had to be horse-drawn between the President Street and Camden Street stations. 
Pinkerton famously clashed with his agent, [[Ward Hill Lamon]], over the President-elect's protection.  Lamon offered Lincoln "a Revolver and a Bowie Knife" but Pinkerton protested that he "would not for the world have it said that Mr. Lincoln had to enter the National Capitol Armed."<ref>Cuthbert, N: ''Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, 1861,'' page 79.  Huntington Library, 1949.</ref> Lamon would later publicly argue that there was no plot to assasinate the president in 1861."It is perfectly manifest that there was no conspiracy, -- no conspiracy of a hundred, of fifty, of twenty, of three; no definite purpose in the heart of even one man to murder Mr. Lincoln in Baltimore."<ref>Lamon, W: ''Life of Abraham Lincoln,'' page  513.  James R. Osgood and Company, 1872.</ref>


Once Lincoln's rail carriage had safely passed through Baltimore, Pinkerton sent a one-line telegram to the president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad: "Plums delivered nuts safely."

On the afternoon of [[February 23]], Lincoln's scheduled train arrived in Baltimore. The large crowd that gathered at the station to see the President-elect quickly learned that Lincoln had already passed by and had to be content with viewing [[Mary Todd Lincoln]], her sons, and John Hay, Lincoln's private secretary. . Even though the rest of the Lincoln party, including Mrs. Lincoln and the children, had been on this train as originally scheduled, they had already alighted from the train in an unscheduled stop several blocks north of the station. ⏎
⏎
The newspapers, however, harpooned Lincoln for slipping through Baltimore in the dead of night. [[Adalbert J. Volck]], a Baltimore dentist and caricaturist, was inspired to pen his famous satirical etching, "Passage Through Baltimore." Volck's image of a startled Lincoln in his nightshirt peering out of the side of his rail car as it passes through Baltimore has become part of the Lincoln iconography. 

Most historians believe that Pinkerton perception of an assassination plot was incorrect and Lincoln came to regret that he slipped through the city unannounced."<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000015/html/t15.html teaching American History]</ref> 

In ''Lincoln and His Administration'', Chittenden argues that there was no need for any precautions, such as a disguise, because Lincoln “entered the sleeping –car at Philadelphia, and slept until awakened within a few miles of Washington.” 
This account contradicts other first hand accounts which acknowledge the fact that Lincoln must have awakened in Baltimore and traveled the distance from  President Street to [[Camden Yards station]] in order to continue his journey south by train because the lines to not meet in the city.

Legitimate or not – many sources report that, “There is little doubt that the feeling and sentiment of the people of Baltimore is very bitter against Mr. Lincoln, so much so, indeed, that violence might have been attempted.”

The plot – according to Pinkerton, a captain of the roads reported that there was a plot to stab him… The alleged plan was to have several assassins, armed with knives, interspersed throughout the crowd that would gather to greet Lincoln at XXX station. When incoln emerged from the car, which he must do to change trains, at least one of the assassins would be able to get close enough to kill him.


Under the direction of Pinkerton. Snuck through town at night

Lincoln Apologists. 



Quote - Source:    Harpers article [http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/articles/1861_assassination_plot.htm]
 

Key players in this mystery -<br>
[[Allan Pinkerton]] - Head of the Pinkerton Agency  <br> 
[[Kate Warne]] - female Pinkerton agent who is credited with gathering and supplying information which helped convince Allan Pinkerton that there was a plot to assassinate Lincoln in Baltimore.<br>
[[Ward Hill Lamon]] - Personal friend of Lincoln who accompanied him through Baltimore. <br> 
[[George Proctor Kane]] - Baltimore's Marshall of Police who protected [[Mary Todd Lincoln]] as she passed through the city. He escorted her to the home of John Gittings.<br>
John Gittings - Hosted [[Mary Todd Lincoln]] in Baltimore.<br>

[[Hattie Lawton]] - also known as Hattie H. Lawton <ref>Cuthbert (1949) Lincoln 
and the Baltimore Plot. p. 4.</ref>,  Lawton was part of Pinkerton's Female Detective Bureau, formed in 1860 to ‘worm out secrets’ by means unavailable to male detectives.

[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Cipriano Ferrandini]] - a hairdresser from [[Corsica]] who [[emigrated]] to the United States, and established himself as the long-time barber and hairdresser in the basement of Barnum's Hotel, in Baltimore. There he practiced his trade from the mid 1850's to his retirement long after the close of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. He was accused, but never indicted for plotting to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on [[February 23]], [[1861]]<br>


Alternate spellings for his name include include:<br>
[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Siprono Fernandini]] in 1910<br>
[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Sip Ferrandine]] in 1900<br>
[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Cipri Ferrandini]] in 1880<br>
[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Ciprian Ferrendinie]] in 1870<br>
[[Ferrandini, Cipriano|Cipri Ferrandini]] in 1850<br>

==Planning a coup==

==Date==
President-elect Lincoln evaded possible assassins in Baltimore, and on February 23, 1861, arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C. – From wiki
==Aftermath==
[[Image:Lincoln_in_a_cattle_car.jpg]]
Whether or not the President-elect was ever in any real, Lincoln's efforts to reach Washington, D.C. safely instantly became a cause celebre across the nation.

When [[The New York Times]] published Joseph Howard, Jr.'s account of the journey, the nation, "rocked with laughter, bringing abuse and ridicule down on Lincoln." <ref>Harper, Robert S. , Lincoln and the Press. MacGraw Hill, New York, 1961 (pg.89)</ref>.

Several elements of the initial New York Times article of [[February 23]], [[1861]] were particularly damning. Primarily, the fact that such a negative report came from an ardently Republican newspaper gave it instant credibility Harper pg. 90& - much more than it would have enjoyed if it had come from a [[Copperheads (politics)|Copperhead]] or Southern source. <br>

Substantively, the article was a direct assault on Lincoln's manliness. The article states that Lincoln was reluctant - read: too scared -  to go and was only compelled to go by Colonel Sumner's indignation and by the insistence - read: shame - of his wife, Mrs. Lincoln, and several others. &Harper pg. 89&. <br>

For the remainder of his presidency the story of his sneaking, like a coward, through Baltimore would be told and retold by his enemies, with particular effect by cartoonists of the day. He was drawn many variations of Scottish headwear, which eventually morphed into a Scottish [[balmoral]] and [[kilt]]. The absurd disguise was frequently accompanied by a terrified expression on the President's face, to further undermine the public's image of his courage and manliness.

Click the following link -
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/march/plot-kill-lincoln-1861.htm <br>
to view images of the types of political cartoons that plagued Lincoln throughout his presidency. <br>
Scotch plaid cap and very long military cloak,so that he was nearly unrecognizable." Newspapers of all parties mocked the move, and in [[Vanity Fair]] cartoon, the kilt was traded for a dress the president had borrowed from his wife. By the time Abraham Lincoln arrived in Washington, he was the laughing stock of the entire country.[http://books.google.com/books?id=CZh2pgihScoC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=lincoln+cartoon+in+kilt&source=web&ots=EzuPgodUlw&sig=7iHJn7WkmayFNU26g-H0BRru3Q4 ]

"New York Tribune was nonetheless forced to admit: "It is the only instance recorded in our history in which the recognized head of a nation... has been compelled, for fear of his life, to enter the capital in disguise." More blunt was the denunciation by the Baltimore Sun:

"Had we any respect for Mr. Lincoln, official or personal, as a man, or as President elect of the United States...the final escapade by which he reached the capital would have utterly demolished it.... He might have entered Willard's Hotel with a "head spring" and a "summersault," and the clown's merry greeting to Gen. Scott, "Here we are!" and we should care nothing about it, personally. We do not believe the Presidency can ever be more degraded by any of his successors than it has by him, even before his inauguration.[http://www.historynet.com/historical_figures/3704871.html?showAll=y&c=y]

==Notes==
Lamon, W: Life of Abraham Lincoln, page 513. James R. Osgood and Company, 1872.

==References==
{{Reflist}}<br>

*Cuthbert, Norma Barrett (ed.). ''Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, 1861.'' (1949) 

*Evitts, William J., ''A Matter of Allegiances- Maryland from 1850-1861''(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,1974)
 
*Pinkerton, A. (1883). ''The Spy of the Rebellion''; being a true history of the spy system of the United States Army during the late rebellion. Revealing many secrets of the war hitherto not made public. Comp. from official reports prepared for President Lincoln, General McClellan and the provost-marshal-general. New York, G.W. Carleton & Co.
* J Hist Dent. 2001 Mar;49(1):17-23.


[[Category:History of the United States (1849–1865)]]
[[Category:Causes of war|American Civil War, Origins of the]]
[[Category:History of Maryland]]
[[Category:Abraham Lincoln]]