A private funeral for President Lincoln was held in the East Room of the White House at noon on April 19, after which the body was conducted to the Capitol Building, a distance of about one mile. An estimated 40,000 people lined Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the procession, which included a regiment of cavalry, two batteries of artillery, a battalion of marines, two regiments of infantry, generals, admirals, the family of the deceased, the cabinet, President Johnson, Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, ex-Presidents, and many other notables. It was the largest procession of its kind ever staged in the nation's capital to that time, and set a standard and precedent for all subsequent presidential funerals.

This is the official Order of the Procession, given to mourners who attended the private funeral. Only a few copies are known to exist, the present example being the only one to appear on the market in recent memory.