BORA marks Lincoln inaugural address
with re-enactment at county courthouse

Lincoln portrayer Larry Elliott repeated the final remarks with a flourish.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

March 4 marked the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address. With the assistance of Elliott and the Battle of Richmond Association (BORA), the speech was re-created at the Madison County Courthouse.

The main courtroom was filled with spectators, some in period-appropriate dress, to see Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd, portrayed by Mary Elliott, bring the event to life.

Mary, portraying Mary Todd Lincoln, held a Bible as Madison Circuit Judge William G. Clouse, administered the oath to her husband in the role of Lincoln. Before entering into character, Larry Elliott told the crowd he believed the speech was the most important Lincoln ever delivered.

“It was what, when and how he delivered it that made the speech so important,” he said. “Our nation was in a terrible Civil War, brothers against brothers, that had lasted almost four years. Our nation was desperate for reconciliation and the message that Abraham Lincoln gave March 4, 1865, as the war was coming to a close. Both sides needed to heal and forgive.”

Other speakers also explained the importance of the address.

Dr. Marshall Myers, president of the Madison County Civil War Roundtable, said that Lincoln used the opportunity to boldly explain the cause of the Civil War.

“Lincoln chastised the war, both the North and South, and discouraged the slavery that had eaten away at the fabric of the republic for generations,” Myers said.

The bottom line of Lincoln’s address was that “slavery, quite boldly, was the cause of the war, and a seething, salty wound in the bottom of politics. God, to say the least, was not pleased with America,” Myers said.

Reenacting history is important to engage new audiences in moments of the past, Emily Burns, Battle of Richmond Association president, remarked.

“As historians and preservationists, we get to recreate historic moments such as this one. We get to replay them for future generations so that we can continue to learn from our local, state and national history,” she said.

Apart from teaching about history, Elliott explained that he portrays Lincoln for many reasons.

“The most important reason is because he literally, single-handedly saved our great nation,” he said.