Following his return from Gettysburg, Mr. Lincoln was quite ill.. He wass too ill to even check on the war news at the telegraph office and was confined to the sick room. When examined by the doctor, his orders were to halt all reception of visitors and ban all interference from the president's Cabinet. The doctor said he had a mild case of varioloid which is related to smallpox. He was to remain in quarantine for three weeks.
He did, however, request my presence upon my return from Gettysburg, demanding a full report of the response to his remarks.
I admitted that the reviews were mixed, but that after people read the text in the various newspapers and thought about it more, the comments had become much more positive. I also thanked him for inviting my wife Sally and her father, Stephen Logan, to the proceedings in Gettysburg.
And he presented me with an outstanding gold pocket watch for my services to him as his bodyguard and for my kindness and care for him as president. The watch has a likeness of the president engraved inside.
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