American Civil War Primary Sources | Gideon Welles

Excerpt from Diary of Gideon Welles
Covering events from April 1865; first published in 1911

A Cabinet member recalls the day President Lincoln died

"The giant [Lincoln] sufferer lay extended diagonally across the bed, which was not long enough for him. He had been stripped of his clothes. His large arms, which were occasionally exposed, were of a size which one would scarce have expected from his spare appearance. His slow, full respiration lifted the clothes with each breath that he took. His features were calm and striking."