Plot Against Abraham Lincoln

Background

At the time, Abraham Lincoln was listed as president-elect. The record is categorized as foiled or abandoned plot with a medium confidence level.

Event details

The reported method was planned ambush. Foiled; Lincoln secretly passed through Baltimore en route to inauguration.

Aftermath

Lincoln arrived safely in Washington after secretly traveling through Baltimore in the early hours of February 23, 1861, escorted by Pinkerton detective Allan Pinkerton and a small security team. His change of route was quickly reported in newspapers, and some mocked it as cowardly—a charge that stung Lincoln for years. The alleged conspirators were never formally charged; the full scope of the plot was disputed at the time and has been debated by historians since. No prosecutions resulted, and several of the suspected ringleaders enlisted in the Confederate Army when war broke out. The episode established Pinkerton's detective agency as a key player in federal intelligence and demonstrated the value of advance security work.

Historical significance

The Baltimore Plot introduced the American public to the concept of advance-intelligence-driven protective security, legitimizing the idea that a president's route and schedule could be secretly changed to neutralize a credible threat. Allan Pinkerton's role established his detective agency as a de facto federal intelligence arm and created a template for the Secret Service's later development. The controversy over Lincoln's clandestine arrival—depicted as cowardly in hostile newspapers—exposed the political costs of visible security precautions, a tension that would recur throughout presidential history. Historians continue to debate how organized the alleged conspiracy actually was, making the episode a case study in the difficulty of distinguishing genuine plots from rumor and exaggeration.

Sources

• Baltimore Plot — Wikipedia contributors
• The Lincoln Conspiracy (Balsiger & Sellier) — Schick Sunn Classic Books
• List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots — Wikipedia contributors