The Baltimore Plot: The First Conspiracy to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln

In January 1861, Abraham Lincoln's private train steamed from Illinois to Washington, D.C., where he would be inaugurated as the sixteenth President. However, in Baltimore, a group of Confederate conspirators had formed a plot to assassinate the President-in-waiting when his train made its final stop before Washington.When legendary detective Allan Pinkerton got wind of the plot, he advised Lincoln to remain hidden for the remainder of the journey while he conducted an investigation. However, the case was never brought to trial, leading Lincoln to be ridiculed in the press for 'cowardice' - because of which, he vowed never to hide in public again. A promise which, four years later when he sat in full view in the balcony of Ford's Theatre, would cost him his life.