1. Creator/Author:
  2. Adalbert Johann Volck (35)

Passage Through Baltimore

Creator:
Adalbert Johann Volck
Location:
Maryland, Baltimore
Origin Date:
1861-1863
Materials:
paper
Measurements:
overall: 9 1/16 in x 12 in
Item ID:
71.2009.081.2073
Holding Institution:
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
Available for Viewing:
No
Category:
Fine Art

Description

This etching is a cartoon drawn by Adalbert Volck, a Southern sympathizer living in Baltimore, Maryland, during the United State Civil War. Even though this print is untitled here, it was given the title "Passage Through Baltimore" when later published in a book as one of the Confederate War Etchings series. It is making fun of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during his train journey from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D. C. in February of 1861 when Lincoln was persuaded to secretly change his route and time passing through Baltimore because the crowd gathered for his arrival was hostile and boisterous and it was perceived that there was a plot to assassinate him. The cartoon depicts Lincoln wearing a Scotch cap peering nervously from the door of the railroad car after hearing a noise as it travels through Baltimore. The noise came from a cat standing on a hydrant. The words "freight-- Bones, Cap[acit]y: 000" are faintly visible on the side of the car to Lincoln's left. The number 2 appears above the upper left corner of the image. Original etching one of thirty published in Volck's "Confederate War Etchings." Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum