Guarding Lincoln: Private Bruno Albaugh, Co. K, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry

Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln, and Tad Lincoln surround Abraham Lincoln. A portrait of Willie, the Lincolns' deceased son, hangs on the wall.¹

I've been noodling about my Aunt Sharon's family tree the past few weeks, extending her family back a couple of generations. This week, I discovered an unknown family story: that of her great-grandfather, Bruno Albaugh, a German immigrant from Meadville, Crawford Co., Pennsylvania. 

Bruno, born about 1836, enlisted in the Union Army on 15 August 1862 in Meadville.² He may have seen notices like the one shown below pasted around town and like many other men of his age and condition, 26 years old and unattached, he heeded the call to arms. Perhaps it was patriotism that spurred him or a longing for adventure away from his farming life in Meadville. Maybe he wished to join forces with  his friends and neighbors who also enlisted that day from his community or felt passionate about the Union's cause. The bounty offered for serving might also have been an enticement. Bruno's motivations may have been a combination of any or all of these reasons, and he enlisted for a three-year term to serve in the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry, and was assigned to Co. K.³

Bruno likely saw these enlistment notices in Meadville.4

 

The enlisted men immediately set out for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where they organized on 4 September 1862. They then moved to Washington D.C. and were attached to the Defences [sic] of Washington through February 1863.⁵

And it's here that Pvt. Bruno Albaugh's story takes a bit of a turn. Rather than continue with his comrades in the 150th to join the Army of the Potomac in February 1863 and the battles that followed at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, etc., Company K's men were assigned to be bodyguards for President Abraham Lincoln.⁶

President Lincoln was said to have disregarded his own safety and never have seen the need for a personal guard no matter how many plots against him were discovered. While a company of regulars was originally assigned to his protection, eventually they were sent back to their regiments, and Companies C and H of the 150th Pennsylvania were assigned to the duty.⁷

Being strangers in Washington, the two companies mistakenly proceeded to Soldier's Rest (a large military facility near the railway depot), rather than Soldier's Home (Lincoln's summer residence), which was located three miles outside the city. The soldiers on duty at Soldier's Rest turned them away, not having received orders for the change. Companies C and H returned to their regiment. The regulars, however, had received their orders and had left, leaving Soldier's Home unguarded. Authorities ordered a new detail, and Companies D and K were sent and installed to guard the President. Company D was later sent to duty at Soldier's Rest, leaving Company K—Bruno Albaugh's unit—to guard Soldier's Home and the Lincoln family.⁸

Soldier's Rest facility with the Capital in the distance.9

A rendering of Soldier's Home (right), now known as the Lincoln Cottage.10

The Lincoln Cottage is a historical landmark in Washington D.C. today.11

President Lincoln himself expressed his desire to keep Company K close at hand, evidenced by a letter he wrote on 1 November 1862:

Executive Mansion

Washington, Nov. 1, 1862

Whom It May Concern

Captain Derrikson, with 

his Company, has been, for

some time keeping guard at

my residence, now at the Sol-

dier's Retreat. He, and his

Company are much agreeable

to me, and while it is deemed

proper for any guard to remain

none would be more satisfac-

tory to me than Capt. D. and 

his Company.

                        A. Lincoln

Lithograph of President Lincoln's letter regarding Co. K.12

Members of Company K accompanied the President back and forth daily to his office at the White House, three miles away. In winter, the Lincolns moved back to their home at the White House, and Company K went along as well, "encamping for the winter in the grounds near the mansion."¹³

One Christmas, Lincoln's regard for Company K was again on display. The President and Mrs. Lincoln visited the company. "He spoke a few words complimenting the men upon their fine soldierly bearing, referring to the rapidity with which the time was passing and great events transpiring, and said that he had come to regard them as part of his family..."¹⁴

The following spring, Company K's commander, Captain Derickson, accepted a different position, and there was some desire among the men of Company K to return to their regiment and the battlefield. While some men applied to be reassigned to other companies and return to battle, many of Company K's soldiers remained to complete their assignment in guarding the President and his family. Bruno Albaugh was among them. The men came under fire in July 1864 when General Early invaded Maryland but suffered no losses. Company K remained on duty alternately at the White House and the Lincoln's summer home through June 1865, when they were mustered out.¹⁵

Albaugh's entry in Samuel Bates' History of the Pennsylvania volunteers, 1861-5.¹⁶

But before Company K could complete their service to the Union, Lincoln was assassinated on 15 April 1865. One might rightly ask, "Where were his bodyguards?" 

Bruno's Company K was not assigned to guard the President on this particular duty. In November 1864, the Washington police force created the first permanent presidential protection detail, consisting of four officers. But on the night of Lincoln's assassination, only one man was there to guard the President, John Frederick Parker. He failed miserably. Not only did he arrive to his post three hours late, but he also left the theatre at intermission to have drinks at the Star Saloon next door. At 10 p.m., John Wilkes Booth entered Ford's Theatre; Parker's chair was empty. The fatal shot was fired. It's not known whether Parker ever returned to his post that night.¹⁷

How did the men of Company K, who had for three years seen to the President and his family's welfare, react to the news of this grievous failure of protection? It was an inglorious end to Co. K's service to the President and his family.

Pvt. Bruno Albaugh had a unique Civil War experience, despite its tragic conclusion. Did he, like some of his comrades, long for the battlefield, or was he justifiably proud that he served in such an important role throughout the Civil War? What words might he have heard from Lincoln himself through those years? Did he interact with Mrs. Lincoln, Robert, or Tad Lincoln? No doubt he saw the President nearly every day, riding his horse or passing in a carriage on the way to the White House. How did he view this man, his ideas, and the war in which they were all embroiled? 

While we may never know the answers to these questions, it is certain that Pvt. Bruno Albaugh had an enviable seat from which to witness this pivotal moment in U.S. history.

Until next time...

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved. 

 

BONUS: View an informative video about the history of the Lincoln Cottage and Lincoln's time there, including mentions of the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQxmPRdo6g4. 

 

NOTES

¹ Frederic B. Schell, Lincoln Family, c. 1865; imaged, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2019645948/ : accessed 18 Nov. 2025); citing Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

² Bruno Albaugh entry, muster-out roll, Co. K, 150th Regiment, Pennsylvania, in the month of August 1862; imaged, "Pennsylvania, U.S., Civil War Muster Rolls, 1860-1869," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9040/records/208636 : accessed 12 Nov. 2025); citing Pennsylvania Civil War Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1861–1866. Records of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, Record Group 19, Series 19.11, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. 

³ Ibid. 

⁴ Notice 

⁵ National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UPA0150RI : accessed 17 November 2025), "The Civil War: Battle Unit Details, Union Pennsylvania Volunteers, 150th Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry."

⁶ Ibid. 

⁷ Thomas Chamberlain, History of the One hundred and fiftieth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, Second Regiment, Bucktail Brigade (Philadelphia: F. McManus, Jr. & Co., 1905), 656; imaged, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/02682905.3276.emory.edu/page/49/mode/2up?q=co.+k : accessed 15 Nov. 2025); citing Emory University Robert W. Woodruff Library. 

⁸ Ibid. 

⁹ Charles Magnus, Soldier's Rest, Washington, D.C. (New York: Charles Magnus, 1864); imaged, Smithsonian (https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_745294 : accessed 17 Nov. 2025); citing Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection, National Museum of American History, Washington.

¹⁰ Charles Magnus, Soldier's Home, Washington, D.C., (New York and Washington, D.C., Charles Magnus, 1863); imaged, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.07425/ : accessed 17 Nov. 2025); citing Prints and Photographs Division.

¹¹ Carol M. Highsmith, Abraham Lincoln's summer cottage, Washington, D.C., photograph, 21 February 2008; Wikimedia Commons (https://loc.gov/pictures/resource/highsm.04297/ : accessed 15 Nov. 2025); crediting Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, part of Carol M. Highsmith's America Project in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive. 

¹² Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65; prepared in compliance with acts of legislature (Harrisburg, Pa.: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869), n.p., after p. 656; imaged, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyofpennsyl04bate/page/674/mode/2up : accessed 12 Nov. 2025); citing University of Pittsburgh Library System. 

¹³ Chamberlain, History of the One hundred and fiftieth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, Second Regiment, Bucktail Brigade, 657.

¹⁴ Ibid. 

¹⁵ Ibid., 657-8. 

¹⁶ Ibid., 675. 

¹⁷ Paul Martin, " Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard," Smithsonian Magazine, 7 April 2010 (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lincolns-missing-bodyguard-12932069/ : accessed 15 Nov. 2025)/