In an attempt to break free, Lee sends the II Corps deep into Union territory. They reach within a few miles of Washington and threaten Baltimore. On July 10th, the capital seems lost, but Lincoln maintains his composure and remains in the city within sight of the Confederate lines. Only after several days do the Confederates retreat. As the Confederates approach, President Lincoln mounts his horse, climbs the hill overlooking Fort Stevens, and watches the battle, while bullets whizz past him. It is the only time in American history that a president is exposed to this danger. Then a young Union officer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who will later become a Supreme Court Justice, shouts at the president, still wearing his tall, recognizable hat, “Get down, you fool!”
