John Lockwood
AUTHOR

John Lockwood

History
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John Lockwood is National Mall Historian for the National Park Service, and he has written many articles on Washington's history and the Civil War.. His brother, Charles [pictured], is the author of 10 books about American history, cities, and architecture, including Bricks and Brownstone, the definitive history of the New York City townhouse. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., the two brothers have pursued life-long passions for history—one which began while they were still boys. When they visited the Lincoln Home in Springfield, Illinois, John and Charles walked around the house turning the doorknobs. “What are you doing?” their mother asked. “We want to touch the same doorknobs that Lincoln touched!” As teenagers in Washington, the two brothers accompanied their parents on visits to battlefields at the start of the 1961-1965 Civil War Centennial. "Walking around battlefields like Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania Courthouse was a moving experience," recalls John. “Most locations were still surrounded by farmland and forest, and in some areas we were the only visitors. You could really feel the profound heroism and tragedy of these locations.” On Saturdays, the two brothers left home to explore the Smithsonian Institution and the Capitol on their own. “In those days," the Capitol was wide-open,” recalls Charles. “You could climb to the top of the dome, wander the hallways near the House and Senate, and explore all the nooks and crannies of the basement—all of it intact from well over 100 before.” Several years ago, John stumbled upon the story of The Siege of Washington when he was reading Winston Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. There, he found a tantalizing reference that Washington was “dangerously isolated” in April 1861 immediately after the fall of Fort Sumter—a story that John knew little about, despite his deep knowledge in Washington history. John assumed, like almost every other episode of the Civil War, that a book had been published about the subject, but found none. “You've discovered one of the last untold Civil War stories,” Charles told John . “You've found the needle in the historical haystack.” Working together, John and Charles Lockwood completed The Siege of Washington, which tells how the Confederates isolated Washington from the North, and how Southerners plotted to capture the city, imprison Lincoln and his cabinet, and put Jefferson Davis in the White House. “Only the last-minute arrival of Northern volunteer troops saved the city,” says John. “If the Confederates had taken the city, it might have ended the Civil War before it had really even begun, radically transforming the course of American history.
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