In one of his reminiscences of Lincoln, Ward Lamon tells how keenly the
President-elect always regretted the “sneaking in act” when he made the
celebrated “midnight ride,” which he took under protest, and landed him
in Washington known to but a few. Lamon says:
“The President was convinced that he committed a grave mistake in
listening to the solicitations of a ‘professional spy’ and of friends
too easily alarmed, and frequently upbraided me for having aided him
to degrade himself at the very moment in all his life when his behavior
should have exhibited the utmost dignity and composure.
“Neither he nor the country generally then understood the true facts
concerning the dangers to his life. It is now an acknowledged fact that
there never was a moment from the day he crossed the Maryland line, up
to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by
violence, and that his life was spared until the night of the 14th of
April, 1865, only through the ceaseless and watchful care of the guards
thrown around him.”