A Cottage That Belongs to the Ages

By LAWRENCE BIEMILLER

Early in September 1862, after a train trip marked by tedious delays, a 25-year-old Union Army private named Willard A. Cutter arrived in Washington as a member of Company K of the newly formed 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Luckily for Matthew Pinsker — and anyone else interested in history — Company K was sent to a height of land overlooking the city to guard the Soldiers' Home, where Abraham Lincoln and his family were spending the summer in a cottage on the grounds.