In 1865, Abraham Lincoln walked the streets of the captured Confederate capital

History
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln walked the streets of the captured Confederate capital

Just days before his assassination, Abraham Lincoln walked through the fallen Confederate capital of Richmond, where he was greeted as a liberator by formerly enslaved people in a city still smoldering from war.

On April 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln arrived in Richmond, Virginia, just twenty-four hours after Confederate forces fled the city. Without a heavy military escort, Lincoln walked the streets while fires still burned in the distance. He was quickly surrounded by thousands of freed slaves who hailed him as a 'Messiah' in one of the most emotional moments of his life.

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