Introduction

This book explores three frock coats that belonged to Abraham Lincoln and those who cherished them after his untimely demise. Each garment, once recognized as the bloodstained coat Mr. Lincoln wore on that memorable occasion, evoked tears that fell like rain until a renowned historian established only one as the authentic assassination relic and discarded another as a fake. But is it?

(The third frock coat, identified as Lincoln's office suit, endures as a significant emblem of American royalty.)

This work looks beyond the palpable adulation of those who claimed Lincoln's tragedy-soaked raiment and examines the heroic actions of two army surgeons who treated the nation's liberator at the crime scene. It carefully inspects their written accounts and the visual proof to identify which frock coat manifests evidence of the mortal blow that upended a wounded nation yearning to unite as one country, one destiny.