Lincoln in Bronze

Life in Washington, DC was difficult for President Abraham Lincoln and his family. Just months after becoming the 16th President of the United States, the southern states seceded and America's union of states was broken. As if dealing with a civil war was not enough, in his third son Willie died of fever in 1862. Lost in their grief, the Lincolns fled the confusion of the White House for a more peaceful life at a cottage at Soldiers' Home in northeast DC. The Lincolns lived there for more than a year and President Lincoln would travel between the cottage and the White House on horseback.

Today, the Lincoln's cottage at Soldiers' Home has been restored and in tribute to Lincoln, this bronze statue of the president and his faithful horse, Old Bob, greet visitors. Lincoln was such a remarkable man. Even though he must have felt as if the sky was always falling, he still found the determination and ways to move himself, his family and our fragile nation forward.