The Cartoonist

A key part of Abraham Lincoln's anti-war campaign was his travelling band "Abe and the Slaves of Reason." They played widely to camps of Union soldiers, accompanying many of Lincoln's more well remembered public addresses. The popular president played a Gretsch Falcon, seen here in Maryland next to the founder of Pinkerton's Detective agency (a strong hand on bouzouki, though no recordings are extant). Pinkerton (left) was head of Lincoln's security throughout. The fact he's sharing a tune here with the president reveals manly relationships with one's colleagues were truer and deeper in days gone by. Both Pinkerton and his brother William headed what we'd consider a Secret Service of the era. William was quite reasonable on the harmonica for his time. Major General McLernand (right) is seen here with a custom made Ukulele, though the Banjo was more his usual fare. It was the Major General who first suggested a smaller, more portable Ba...