1892 ca. painting (sans parapet) by Eugenie De Land Saugstad. President Lincoln is shown standing on the parapet of Fort Stevens during the battle on July 12, 1864 as he comes under enemy fire. The painting was donated by the artist to the Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site.
On July 12, 1864, panic swept through the streets of Washington, D.C. as news circulated that Confederate forces under the command of General Jubal Early had arrived on the northern outskirts of the District of Columbia. Federal reinforcements from Virginia were hastily rushed to bolster the capital's defenses as a skirmish ensued.
Journalist Noah Brooks recorded the chaotic scenes that unfolded: "The city is in a ferment; men are marching to and fro; able-bodied citizens are gobbled up and put in the District militia; refugees come flying in from the country, bringing their household goods with them; nobody is permitted to go out on the Maryland roads without a pass."
President Abraham Lincoln wanted to see the battle unfolding for himself as he accompanied elements of the Union VI Corps that were dispatched to Fort Stevens, which, as one of 68 forts comprising a 37-mile long defensive ring around Washington, guarded the northern approach to the capital. General Horatio Wright invited the president to view the fighting from atop a parapet.
As Lincoln peered out to catch the sight of the two armies clashing a Rebel bullet shrieked by him and struck the man standing beside him. Dr. Cornelius Crawford of the 102 Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry fell as a bullet tore through his leg.
What happened next has been a source of debate. One of the most well-known accounts is that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a young Union officer and future Supreme Court Justice, shouted "Get down, you damn fool!" as he grabbed the president and pulled him down from the parapet. Another officer present reported that General Wright impressed upon Lincoln that he "was too conspicuous an object to remain in so exposed a position." Lincoln remained in a safe position underneath the parapet inside Fort Stevens for the rest of the battle, which the United States Army carried, driving off Early's Confederate forces and preventing the fall of Washington, D.C.
While various soldiers present at Fort Stevens later claimed to have saved the president's life, what is clear is that on this day, 159 years ago, Abraham Lincoln became the first and only sitting president to come under enemy fire.