Mr. Lincoln a Copperhead? Well no, but . . .

Abraham Lincoln
February 12, 1809- April 15, 1865

For years, pennies of copper bore on the “heads” side of the coin the inscription of none other than Abraham Lincoln. Would this have made President Lincoln a latent “Copperhead”?

The Copperhead Democrats were Lincoln's political enemies. Northerners, they opposed the war against the South. Considered lethal to the war cause, they were dubbed “Copperheads” after the venomous snake. With time, they accepted the moniker, sporting copper coins on their lapels to proclaim their sentiments. (More than a century earlier in England, the Methodists had been named by their detractors as well.)

The most prominent of the Copperheads was Clement Vallandigham, a congressman from Ohio. Formerly an editor of the Dayton Empire newspaper, Vallandigham was a powerful orator.


Lincoln had placed General Ambrose Burnside in charge in Ohio, and the general was aghast at the outright dissent being expressed against the war and against the president. Burnside issued General Order No. 38, threatening penalties to anyone expressing public sympathy for the Confederacy. In a speech at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Vallandigham challenged General Order No. 38, provoking his arrest by soldiers at his home in the wee hours.

After Vallandigham's arrest by military officials, his supporters burned down the Dayton Empire's rival newspaper, the Republican. Vallandigham was denied a writ of habeas corpus* and a military court convicted him of "uttering disloyal sentiments" and attempting to hinder the prosecution of the war. Initially sentenced to prison until the close of the war, Vallandigham's sentence was changed. Lincoln ordered him exiled to the Confederate states.

One biography describes how Vallandigham, “unintentionally aided the war effort by becoming a symbol of treasonous activity.” A Copperhead who unintentionally aided the war effort. An interesting twist of history, no?



An irony too, that we see Lincoln's likeness on copper pennies.

In one cents, Mr. Lincoln was a Copperhead.


*writ of habeas corpus recognizes the right of a citizen to know on what charges he or she is jailed. Lincoln suspended writ of habeas corpus several times during the war. President Jefferson Davis did so in the Confederate states until this power was withdrawn by the Confederate Congress.

Photos provided for free at this site: