Some years ago, while searching archival databases for late-war images of Abraham Lincoln, I stumbled across a copy of a mass-produced carte de visite from 1865 that struck me as at once odd and illuminating. Titled “Washington and Lincoln (Apotheosis),” it depicts Lincoln ascending to heaven in a near cheek-to-cheek embrace with George Washington, who holds a laurel wreath over the head of the recently assassinated president. The intent of its creator, artist Stephen James Ferris, seems clear: to assuage the large swath of Americans then in mourning by elevating their martyred leader to divine status, while at the same time putting him on a level with the country’s first president.

The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon

George Washington embraces Abraham Lincoln and places a wreath over his head in this illustration.

Beyond reflecting the widespread grief over Lincoln’s death, the image also implicitly acknowledged the country’s profound and enduring reverence for Washington. Indeed, the nation’s Revolutionary generation—and founding documents—maintained a special place in the hearts and minds of northerners and southerners during the Civil War. As the essays that comprise this issue’s cover story (“The Patriots,” p. 24) reveal, supporters of both the Union and the Confederacy—from political leaders like Lincoln and Jefferson Davis to rank-and-file troops—looked to the country’s founding, and Founders, as inspiration in, and justification for, their respective causes. With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence nearly upon us, we thought it a perfect time to probe some of the many through lines between two of the most important events in American history.

Have a comment about this or any other article in the issue? Please email us at [email protected].

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We recently learned of the death of Chris Calkins, who passed away April 1 following a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Longtime readers of the Monitor might remember Chris from the profile we published of his career with the National Park Service in our Spring 2015 issue (“Living History: Following Lee’s Footsteps”), which highlighted his dedication to telling the story of the war’s final days in Virginia and the leading role he played in the establishment of the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield Historical State Park in 2008. He was also a devoted advocate for battlefield preservation and interpretation. Our condolences to his family, friends, and admirers.