the sadness of knowing that the men in Mrs. Lincoln's family had been fighting for the Southern cause. Thus the President welcomed an opportunity to get away from Washington while visiting the Union troops beleaguering Richmond. Since Bat was the fastest vessel in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, the Navy ordered her to Washington so that she might carry Mr. Lincoln to Grant's headquarters on the James River. The speedy steamer reached the Washington Navy Yard late on the 20th, and Lt. Comdr. Barnes reported in person to Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox. The two men arranged to have suitable accommodations for the President installed in Bat and then proceeded together to the Executive Mansion, where they discussed the proposed voyage with Mr. Lincoln. The next day, Barnes was summoned back to the White House and told by the President that Mrs. Lincoln had decided to accompany him to City Point. Because Bat was not outfitted to accommodate ladies and could not be readily made so, the work on her was stopped; and another fast steamer, the River Queen, was found for the task. Accordingly, Bat's role was changed to escorting the President's unarmed ship during her voyage to the James. She was to stay with River Queen throughout his visit and then to accompany her back to Washington. Plots against the President had been discovered soon after Lincoln's election in the autumn of 1860 and had continued to be hatched throughout his time in office. Consequently, fear for his safety was strong in the Navy Department, especially during the final phase of the war when frustration and hostility in many Southern hearts were being inflamed by growing certainty that the collapse of the Confederacy was imminent. Moreover, besides the threat of assassination, naval leaders were also worried by the possibility that the President's ship would strike a mine or come to grief in some other way. The previous autumn—during a conference to plan an expedition against Fort Fisher – Greyhound, an Army transport similar in design to River Queen – had been set afire by a bomb disguised as a lump of coal that exploded in her boiler. On that occasion, General Benjamin F. Butler and Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter had barely escaped from the blazing vessel with their lives. Thus, Bat's mission was considered to be of the utmost importance. She was to protect the