Book Excerpt: ‘A Horse for Mr. Lincoln’ (Part 2)

Depiction of Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address at the Dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 19, 1863. Everett Collection/Shutterstock

Editor’s note: The following is the second in a series of excerpts from “A Horse for Mr. Lincoln” by the Hon. Preston Manning, a self-described “lifelong fan of Lincoln.” Illustrated by Henri de Groot, the book is a work of fiction and looks at how events in the United States might have turned out differently, with the country being much more unified today if Abraham Lincoln had not gone to the theatre on that fateful night of April 14, 1865.

The other excerpts can be found in the following links: Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4. 

4. THE FATEFUL NIGHT

When I returned to the Oval Room of the White House—which served as both a library and parlor—the whisky had already been poured and Mr. Lincoln and his guests were seated in front of the blazing hearth for there was still a chill in the April air.