James A. Garfield photo

Funeral of President Garfield: Announcement to the Public

September 20, 1881

ELBERON, N. J., September 20, 1881

The remains of the late President of the United States will be removed to Washington by special train on Wednesday, September 21, leaving Elberon at 10 a. m. and reaching Washington at 4 p.m. Detachments from the United States Army and from the marines of the Navy will be in attendance on arrival at Washington to perform escort duty. The remains will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol on Thursday and Friday, and will be guarded by deputations from the Executive Departments and by officers of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Religious ceremonies will be observed in the Rotunda at 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon. At 5 o'clock the remains will be transferred to the funeral car and be removed to Cleveland, Ohio, via the Pennsylvania Railroad, arriving there Saturday at 2 p.m. In Cleveland the remains will lie in state until Monday at 2 p.m., and be then interred in Lakeview Cemetery. No ceremonies are expected in the cities and towns along the route of the funeral train beyond the tolling of bells. Detailed arrangements for final sepulture are committed to the municipal authorities of Cleveland, under the direction of the executive of the State of Ohio.

JAMES G. BLAINE,

Secretary of State.

OFFICIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUNERAL.

ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT FOR THE FUNERAL AT WASHINGTON CITY OF JAMES A. GARFIELD, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The remains of the late President will lie in state in the Rotunda of the Capitol until 3 o'clock p.m. on Friday, the 23d instant, when they will be borne to the depot of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and thence conveyed to their final resting place at Cleveland, Ohio.

ORDER OF PROCESSION.

FUNERAL ESCORT.

(Under command of Brevet Major-General R. B. Ayres. )

Battalion of District of Columbia Volunteers,

Battalion of marines.

Battalion of foot artillery.

Battery of light artillery.

CIVIC PROCESSION.

(Under command of Chief Marshal Colonel Robert Boyd.)

Clergymen in attendance.

Physicians who attended the late President.

Guard of honor. Guard of honor.

Hearse.

Bearers. Bearers.

(The officers of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps in the city, and not on duty with the troops forming the escort, in full dress, will form, right in front, on either side of the hearse--the Army on the right and the Navy and Marine Corps on the left--and compose the guard of honor.)

Family of the late President.

Relatives of the late President.

Ex-Presidents of the United States

The President.

The Cabinet ministers.

The Diplomatic Corps.

The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Senators of the United States.

Members of the United States House of Representatives.

Governors of States and Territories and Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

The judges of the Court of Claims, the judiciary of the District of Columbia, and judges of the United States courts.

The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Interior Departments.

The Assistant Postmasters-General.

The Solicitor-General and the Assistant Attorneys-General.

Organized societies.

Citizens and strangers.

The troops designated to form the escort will assemble on the east side of the Capitol and form line fronting the eastern portico of the Capitol precisely at 2 o'clock p.m. on Friday, the 23d instant.

The procession will move on the conclusion of the religious services at the Capitol (appointed to commence at 3 o'clock), when minute guns will be fired at the navy-yard by the vessels of war which may be in port, at Fort Myer, and by the battery of artillery stationed near the Capitol for that purpose. At the same hour the bells of the several churches, fire-engine houses, and the schoolhouses will be tolled.

The civic procession will form in accordance with directions to be given by the chief marshal.

The officers of the Army and Navy selected to compose the guard of honor and accompany the remains to their final resting place will assemble at 4 p. m. at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad depot, where they will receive the body of the late President and deposit it in the car prepared for the purpose.

ROBERT T. LINCOLN,

Secretary of War.

WILLIAM H. HUNT,

Secretary of the Navy.

J. DENT,

President Board of Commissioners District of Columbia.

CIRCULAR.

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

Washington, September 22, 1881.

The officers of the Army in this city not otherwise ordered for special duty on this occasion will assemble in full uniform at 3 p.m. on the 23d instant on the east front of the Capitol and form line, right in front, on the right of the hearse, to act as a guard of honor to the remains of the late President of the United States from the Capitol to the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad depot.

By command of General Sherman:

R. C. DRUM, Adjutant-General.

GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 22.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MILITIA,

September 21, 1881.

Pursuant to orders from the honorable Secretary of War, the troops comprising the militia of the District of Columbia will assemble in full-dress uniform at 3 p.m. on the 21st instant on Sixth street NW., the right resting on Pennsylvania avenue, the left extended south, to take part in and form a portion of the escort to the remains of the late President, and will also hold themselves in readiness to participate at the funeral ceremonies on Friday, the 23d instant. The formation will be as follows on both occasions:

Washington Light Infantry Corps, Captain W. G. Moore.

Union Veteran Corps, Captain S. E. Thomason.

National Rifles, Captain J. O. P. Burnside.

Washington Light Guards, Lieutenant F. S. Hodgson.

Butler Zouaves, Captain C. B. Fisher.

Capital City Guards, Captain W. S. Kelly.

Washington Cadets, Captain C. A. Dolan.

The officers of Light Battery A, District of Columbia Artillery, will report to adjutant-general District of Columbia Militia for duty as aids on both occasions.

A. WEBSTER,

Adjutant-General District of Columbia Militia.

James A. Garfield, Funeral of President Garfield: Announcement to the Public Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/203783