Banners unveiled for Lincoln funeral anniversary

SPRINGFIELD - Banners marking the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral have been unveiled.

The banners commemorating the event include a replica of the horse-drawn hearse and are being hung on light posts at the entrance of Oak Ridge Cemetery. The will also line a Springfield thoroughfare leading to the cemetery where Lincoln is entombed.

Sixty banners costing about $50 apiece will be hung in advance of next spring's event.

The assassinated 16th president's body was carried by train in 1865 from Washington, D.C., to Springfield. A procession with Lincoln's body in a funeral carriage moved through the president's hometown to the cemetery. He was buried May 4.

The re-enactment next year will include a replica of the funeral carriage, with 5,000 Civil War re-enactors expected to take part.