Assassination Of Abraham Lincoln

Alright, let's not pretend this is going to be pleasant. You want me to take a Wikipedia article, which is already drier than a desert hermit's wit, and... embellish it? Fine. But don't expect me to pretend this is anything other than a task.

Here we go. Try not to bore me.

1865 murder in Washington, D.C., US

This is about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. It happened on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.. Lincoln was only a month into his second term, and the American Civil War was just about done. He was watching a play, Our American Cousin, with his wife, Mary Todd. Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris, were also there. Then, John Wilkes Booth, an actor with a penchant for the losing side – the Confederate States – decided to make his mark. He shot Lincoln in the head. They rushed Lincoln across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. A rather dramatic exit, wouldn't you say?

Booth, along with his band of merry, misguided conspirators – Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt – had a change of plans. Initially, they were thinking of kidnapping Lincoln. Why? To give the Confederacy a leg up, I suppose. When that little scheme fizzled, they escalated to murder. The targets? Lincoln, Secretary of State William H. Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson. The idea was to decapitate the federal government and somehow, miraculously, revive the dying Confederate cause. Booth managed to kill Lincoln, but Powell only managed to wound Seward. Atzerodt, bless his heart, got drunk and didn't even bother with Johnson. Pathetic.

Booth, naturally, fled. He made his way into Maryland, presumably to meet up with Herold. Meanwhile, Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, kicked off what was, at the time, the biggest manhunt in American history. Thousands of soldiers. After twelve agonizing days, they cornered Booth and Herold at a tobacco farm in King George County, Virginia. Booth, refusing to surrender, was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett. The rest of the crew – Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt – were rounded up and eventually hanged. John Surratt, however, proved more elusive, finally being nabbed in Egypt in 1866. He got off with a mistrial. Typical.

Johnson, thrust into the presidency, was hastily sworn in on April 15th. Lincoln's state funeral was a grand affair on April 19th, followed by a funeral train that snaked its way through seven states to Illinois. Lincoln became the third US president to die in office, and the first to be assassinated. The whole sordid affair sent shockwaves around the world, solidifying Lincoln's status as a martyr and ushering in the somber Reconstruction era.

Background

Abandoned plan to kidnap Lincoln

Let's talk about John Wilkes Booth. Born into acting royalty in Maryland, he was a celebrity in his own right. But his loyalties lay south. By late 1860, he was already entangled with the pro-Confederate Knights of the Golden Circle in Baltimore. [1]

The Confederacy, desperate for any advantage, had passed a law in May 1863 prohibiting the exchange of Black soldiers. Lincoln responded by halting all prisoner exchanges until all Northern soldiers, regardless of race, were returned. This was a direct response to the Confederacy's brutal treatment of Black prisoners and their white officers. [2]

Booth, seeing an opportunity in this exchange stalemate, hatched a plan to kidnap Lincoln. The idea was to force the Union to resume prisoner exchanges. [3] He recruited a rather motley crew: Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Powell (also known as "Lewis Paine"), and John Surratt. Surratt's mother, Mary Surratt, had moved her boarding house from Surrattsville, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., making her home a regular haunt for Booth and his associates.

The Surratt boarding house, a hub for plotting.

Booth and Lincoln weren't exactly friends, but Lincoln had seen Booth perform at Ford's Theatre. [4] : 419 [5] [6] In fact, Booth later claimed Lincoln admired him and had tried to get him to visit the White House. [7] : 325–26 Booth even attended Lincoln's second inauguration on March 4, 1865, later writing in his diary about the missed opportunity: "What an excellent chance I had, if I wished, to kill the President on Inauguration day!" [3] : 174, 437n41

Their kidnapping attempt on March 17 went south when Lincoln changed his plans last minute, opting for a ceremony at the National Hotel instead of a play at Campbell General Hospital. [3] : 185 Booth, coincidentally, was staying at the National Hotel, so he was close, but the timing was off. [3] : 185–86, 439n17 [8] : 25

Meanwhile, the Confederacy was crumbling. Richmond, Virginia, fell on April 3rd, and on April 9th, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. [9] : 728 Despite the obvious collapse, Booth remained stubbornly devoted to the Southern cause. He decided assassination was the only way to salvage it.

Previous assassination attempt

You know, it's almost poetic that Lincoln survived an attempt on his life even before Booth's infamous act. Back in August 1864, Lincoln was riding alone, as he often did, to his summer cottage at the Soldiers' Home. [10] [11] It was late, around 11 p.m., and he was probably lost in thought. [12] [13] [14] The property's sentry, John W. Nichols, heard a rifle shot from a distance. Shortly after, Lincoln appeared at the gate, his horse spooked, his hat gone. [12] [13] [14] [17]

Lincoln explained that his horse, "Old Abe," had bolted after the shot. [13] Nichols noticed the president's hat was missing, and Lincoln confirmed that someone had fired a sniper rifle at him. The horse, terrified, had taken off at a "breakneck speed," knocking the hat from his head. [10]

Nichols managed to calm the horse and Lincoln entered the cottage. [11] [17] Nichols and another corporal went to investigate the road. Near the entrance, they found Lincoln's hat. [13] [14] [17] Upon closer inspection, they discovered a bullet hole through the crown. [13] [14] [16] [17] [18] Lincoln, thankfully, was unharmed. [15] Nichols observed that the shot was fired upwards, suggesting the shooter was hidden nearby. [13]

The next day, Lincoln downplayed the incident, suggesting it was just an incompetent hunter. [11] [12] [13] [14] He requested silence on the matter, though Nichols remained convinced of the shooter's intent. [12] [13] [14] [17]

Lincoln's bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, reported Lincoln's somewhat dismissive take on the event:

"Last night, about 11 o'clock, I went out to the Soldiers' Home alone, riding Old Abe, as you call him, and when I arrived at the foot of the hill on the road leading to the entrance of the Home grounds ... by the report of a rifle, and seemingly the gunner was not fifty yards from where my contemplations ended and my accelerated transit began ... with one reckless bound he unceremoniously separated me from my eight-dollar plug-hat.... at a break-neck speed we soon arrived in a haven of safety ... in the face of this testimony in favor of your theory of danger to me, personally, I can’t bring myself to believe that any one has shot or will deliberately shoot at me with the purpose of killing me.... I have about concluded that the shot was the result of accident. It may be that some one on his return from a day’s hunt.... This whole thing seems farcical. No good can result at this time from giving it publicity."

— Ward Hill Lamon, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847-1865

After this close call, Lincoln was assigned a bodyguard and never rode alone again. [11] [13] [15] [18] The identity of the shooter remains a mystery, though some whisper it was Booth himself, a known "crack shot." [18] [20]

Motive

Booth's motivations are as murky as a swamp in twilight. His letters speak of avenging the South. [21] Doris Kearns Goodwin suggests a rivalry with his more Union-friendly brother, Edwin Booth, might have played a part. [22] David S. Reynolds believes Booth admired the daring of abolitionist John Brown, with his sister, Asia Booth Clarke, quoting him as saying, "John Brown was a man inspired, the grandest character of the century!" [23] [24]

Lincoln’s speech on April 11, advocating voting rights for freed slaves, particularly angered Booth. "That means nigger citizenship," he allegedly spat. "That is the last speech he will ever give." [25] [26] He urged Powell to shoot Lincoln then and there. Whether Booth considered Powell a better shot, or simply didn't want to get his own hands dirty, is debatable. Powell, however, refused, fearing the crowd. Booth, armed or not, was determined. "By God, I'll put him through," he vowed to David Herold. [27] [4] : 91

Lincoln's premonitions

It’s said that three days before his death, Lincoln recounted a disturbing dream to Ward Hill Lamon. He dreamt he was in the White House, hearing mournful sounds, only to find a corpse in funeral vestments in the East Room, guarded by soldiers. When he asked who had died, the soldier replied, "The President... he was killed by an assassin." [28]

But Lincoln added a peculiar detail: in the dream, it wasn't him who was killed, but "some other fellow." [29] [30] Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell suggests such dreams aren't surprising, given the known threats. [29]

For months, Lincoln had looked gaunt, yet on the day of his assassination, he seemed unusually cheerful. [31] : 346 His wife, Mary Lincoln, found this talk of happiness unsettling, fearing it might invite bad luck. Lincoln also mentioned a recurring dream of being on a "singular and indescribable vessel that was moving with great rapidity toward a dark and indefinite shore," a dream he’d had before major Union victories. [32]

Preparations

An advertisement for Our American Cousin, from the Washington Evening Star on April 14, 1865.

Booth's day began at midnight. He scribbled a note to his mother, assuring her all was well, though he was "in haste." His diary entry for that day was more chilling: "Our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done." [9] : 728 [31] : 346

Later that day, around noon, Booth visited Ford's Theatre to collect his mail. He overheard that Lincoln and Grant would be attending that evening's performance of Our American Cousin. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. He knew the theatre intimately, having performed there himself. [8] : 12 [4] : 108–09 He then went to Mary Surratt's boarding house in D.C., asking her to deliver a package to her tavern in Surrattsville, Maryland. He also instructed her to tell her tenant, Louis J. Weichmann, to prepare the weapons and ammunition Booth had stashed there. [8] : 19

Ford's Theatre

The conspirators convened for the last time around 8:45 pm. Booth assigned roles: Powell to assassinate Secretary of State William H. Seward at his home; Atzerodt to eliminate Vice President Andrew Johnson at the Kirkwood Hotel; and Herold to guide Powell, who was unfamiliar with the city, to Seward's residence and then to a rendezvous point in Maryland.

Booth was the only one with any real notoriety. Access to the presidential box wasn't exactly a public affair. Booth, being a recognized face, could likely enter the theatre's upper levels without much suspicion. It was also assumed, correctly as it turned out, that the box entrance would be guarded. Booth, being the only one likely to get past a guard without arousing suspicion, was the designated shooter. His weapon of choice? A single-shot Philadelphia Deringer pistol. The plan was for all attacks to happen simultaneously, shortly after 10 pm. [4] : 112 Atzerodt, however, had second thoughts about the murder part, but Booth pressured him to go through with it. [3] : 212

Assassination

Lincoln arrives at the theater

Contrary to Booth's earlier intel, Grant and his wife, Julia Grant, had declined the Lincolns' invitation. Apparently, Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Grant weren't exactly bosom buddies. [33] : 45 [b] After a string of other rejections, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris – daughter of New York U.S. Senator Ira Harris – finally accepted. [8] : 32 Mary Lincoln had a headache and considered staying home, but Lincoln insisted they attend, as the newspapers had announced his presence. [35] Even William H. Crook, one of Lincoln's bodyguards, advised against it, but Lincoln felt obligated to his wife. [36] He told Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax, "I suppose it's time to go though I would rather stay," before helping Mary into the carriage.

The presidential party arrived fashionably late. They settled into their box, which had been fashioned from two adjoining boxes by removing a partition. The audience of roughly 1,700 rose to their feet as the orchestra played "Hail to the Chief". [37] Lincoln occupied a rocking chair, specially chosen from the Ford family's private collection. [38] [39]

The actors even threw in a line for the President: when the heroine asked for a draft-free seat, the response, originally "Well, you're not the only one that wants to escape the draft," became "The draft has already been stopped by order of the President!" [40] A witness noted that Mary frequently nudged Lincoln, pointing out things on stage, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy her commentary. [41]

At one point, Mary leaned over to Lincoln, who was holding her hand, and whispered, "What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" Lincoln’s reply? "She won't think anything about it." [8] : 39 These are often cited as Lincoln's last words, although a family friend, N.W. Miner, later claimed Mary told him Lincoln's final words were about wanting to visit Jerusalem. [42]

Booth shoots Lincoln

Lincoln's usual security was, predictably, lacking that night. Crook was on duty elsewhere, [43] and Lamon, his personal bodyguard, was away in Richmond on Lincoln's orders. John Frederick Parker was supposed to be guarding the Presidential Box. [44] During the intermission, however, he wandered off to a nearby tavern with Lincoln's valet, Charles Forbes, and Coachman Francis Burke. Booth, meanwhile, was having a few drinks, waiting for his moment. It’s unclear if Parker ever returned to the theatre, but he certainly wasn't at his post when Booth made his move. [45] Still, a celebrity like Booth might have been admitted regardless. Booth had even prepared a brace to block the door after entering, suggesting he anticipated a guard. After his tavern stop, Booth entered Ford's Theatre again, this time through the main entrance. He flashed a calling card to Charles Forbes and proceeded toward the Presidential Box. Navy Surgeon George Brainerd Todd observed the scene:

About 10:25 pm, a man came in and walked slowly along the side on which the "Pres" box was and I heard a man say, "There's Booth" and I turned my head to look at him. He was still walking very slow and was near the box door when he stopped, took a card from his pocket, wrote something on it, and gave it to the usher who took it to the box. In a minute the door was opened and he walked in.

Once inside, Booth secured the door with a wedge. A second door led directly into Lincoln's box. Evidence suggests Booth had drilled a peephole in this door earlier that day. [47] [48] : 173 Booth knew the play by heart and timed his shot for around 10:15 pm, coinciding with a line delivered by actor Harry Hawk: "Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal; you sockdologizing old man-trap!" As Lincoln laughed at the line, [49] : 96 Booth opened the door, stepped in, and fired his pistol at point-blank range. [50]

The bullet entered Lincoln's skull behind his left ear, tore through his brain, and lodged near the front after fracturing both orbital plates. [c] [53] Lincoln slumped forward, then fell backward in his chair. [55] [56] Rathbone turned just in time to see Booth standing in a cloud of gunsmoke, less than four feet away. Booth shouted something Rathbone took for "Freedom!" [57]

Booth escapes

The murder weapon: Booth's Philadelphia Deringer. Booth's dagger.

Rathbone, without missing a beat, lunged at Booth. Booth dropped the pistol and drew a dagger, slashing Rathbone's forearm. As Booth prepared to leap from the box to the stage – a twelve-foot drop – [58] his spur snagged on the Treasury flag decorating the box, causing him to land awkwardly on his left foot. He stumbled across the stage, and for a moment, the audience, confused, thought it was part of the show.

Booth raised his bloody knife and bellowed something to the crowd. The common story is that he shouted the Virginia state motto, Sic semper tyrannis! ("Thus always to tyrants"), either from the box or the stage. Witness accounts, however, are divided. [9] : 739 Most heard the Latin phrase, but Booth himself and some others claimed he only yelled "Sic semper!" [59] [60] Some didn't recall any Latin at all. As for the English part, the consensus leans towards "The South is avenged!" or "Revenge for the South!" or "The South shall be free!" Two witnesses distinctly remembered him saying, "I have done it!"

Immediately after Booth landed, Joseph B. Stewart scrambled over the orchestra pit and footlights, pursuing Booth across the stage. [58] The screams of Mary Lincoln and Clara Harris, and Rathbone's cry of "Stop that man!" [8] : 49 galvanized others into joining the chase, and chaos erupted.

Booth, making his escape through a side door, stabbed orchestra leader William Withers Jr. [61] [62] As he mounted his waiting horse, Booth shoved away Joseph Burroughs, [a] who was holding the reins, striking him with the hilt of his knife. [64] [65] [66] [63]

Death of Lincoln

Charles Leale, a young Union Army surgeon, pushed through the panicked crowd to the Presidential Box. He found the door barred from the inside, but Rathbone eventually removed the wedge Booth had used. [4] : 120

Inside, Leale found Lincoln slumped in his chair, his head lolling to the right, cradled by Mary. "His eyes were closed and he was in a profoundly comatose condition, while his breathing was intermittent and exceedingly stertorous." [67] [68] Initially thinking Lincoln had been stabbed, Leale moved him to the floor. Meanwhile, another doctor, Charles Sabin Taft, was being lifted into the box from the stage.

After Leale and a bystander, William Kent, cut away Lincoln's collar and unbuttoned his shirt, they found no stab wound. Leale then located the gunshot wound behind Lincoln's left ear. He deemed the bullet too deep to remove but managed to dislodge a blood clot, which seemed to ease Lincoln's breathing. [4] : 121–22 It became clear that removing subsequent clots was crucial for maintaining his breathing. Leale administered artificial respiration and allowed actress Laura Keene to hold the President's head. He pronounced the wound mortal. [8] : 78

Leale, Taft, and Albert King, another physician, decided Lincoln needed to be moved. The White House was too far; the nearest building across the street, the house of tailor William Petersen, was chosen. [70] It was raining as soldiers carried Lincoln across the street, [69] and laid him diagonally on a small bed in Petersen's first-floor bedroom. The exceptionally tall president barely fit. [4] : 123–24

Once everyone else, including Mrs. Lincoln, was cleared from the room, the doctors examined Lincoln again. Finding him cold, they applied hot water bottles and mustard plasters, covering him with blankets. Later, more medical professionals arrived: Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes, Charles Henry Crane, and Lincoln's personal physician, Robert K. Stone. [d]

Skull fragments and probe used.

All agreed Lincoln wouldn't survive. Barnes probed the wound, finding the bullet and fragments of bone. Throughout the night, as bleeding continued, they worked to relieve pressure on the brain by removing blood clots. [73] Leale, meanwhile, held the comatose president's hand, "to let him know that he was in touch with humanity and had a friend." [4] : 14 [74]

"The following minutes, taken by Dr. Abbott, [e] show the condition of the President throughout the night" ( Evening Star , Washington D.C., April 15, 1865) [75] Medical illustration of the bullet's trajectory (1953).

Lincoln's elder son, Robert Todd Lincoln, arrived around 11 pm. Young Tad Lincoln, however, was kept away, having been at a play when he heard the news. [8] : 129 Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton were also present. Stanton, taking charge, insisted the sobbing Mrs. Lincoln leave the room. For the rest of the night, he essentially ran the country from that house, coordinating the hunt for Booth and his accomplices. [4] : 127–28 Guards kept the public at bay, but many officials and physicians paid their respects. [73]

Initially, Lincoln's features were calm, his breathing slow. Later, one eye swelled, and his face became discolored. [76] Maunsell Bradhurst Field, writing to The New York Times, described Lincoln breathing "regularly, but with effort, and did not seem to be struggling or suffering." [77] [78] Lincoln's deathbed after his body was removed. [f] As death neared, Lincoln's appearance became "perfectly natural" [77] (save for the discoloration). [80] Shortly before 7 am, Mary was allowed back to his side, [81] and, as reported, "she again seated herself by the President, kissing him and calling him every endearing name." [82]

Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15. [83] Mary Lincoln was not present. [84] [85] In his final moments, his face softened, his breathing quieted. [86] Field noted there was "no apparent suffering, no convulsive action, no rattling of the throat ... [only] a mere cessation of breathing". [77] [78] According to Lincoln's secretary, John Hay, at the moment of death, "a look of unspeakable peace came upon his worn features". [87] The assembled group knelt for prayer, after which Stanton uttered either, "Now he belongs to the ages" or, "Now he belongs to the angels." [4] : 134 [88] [89]

With Lincoln gone, Vice President Johnson became the 17th president. The presidential oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Salmon Chase sometime between 10 and 11 am. [90]

Powell attacks Seward

Booth had tasked Lewis Powell with assassinating Secretary of State William H. Seward. Seward, however, was confined to bed at his home on Lafayette Square, recovering from a carriage accident on April 5. Herold guided Powell to Seward's house. Powell was armed with an 1858 Whitney revolver and a Bowie knife.

William Bell, Seward's majordomo, opened the door for Powell around 10:10 pm. Powell claimed he had medicine from Seward's physician and needed to show Seward how to take it. He managed to get upstairs to Seward's bedroom. [8] : 54 [9] : 736 [91] At the top of the stairs, Seward's son, Assistant Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward, confronted him. Powell repeated his medicine story, but Frederick, suspicious, said his father was asleep.

Hearing the commotion, Seward's daughter, Fanny, opened the bedroom door, revealing Seward's location. Powell, feigning departure, suddenly spun around and aimed his revolver at Frederick's forehead. The gun misfired, so he used it to bludgeon Frederick unconscious. Bell, hearing the shouts, ran outside for help.

Artist's depiction of Lewis Powell attacking Seward's son Frederick.

Fanny opened the door again, and Powell shoved past her to Seward's bedside. He slashed at Seward's face and neck, cutting his cheek. [8] : 58 Fortunately, the splint on Seward's broken jaw prevented the blade from severing his jugular vein. [9] : 737 Seward survived, though with significant facial scarring.

Seward's son Augustus and Sergeant George F. Robinson, a guard, were alerted by Fanny's screams and sustained stab wounds while grappling with Powell. As Augustus reached for a pistol, Powell fled downstairs, [92] : 275 encountering Emerick Hansell, a State Department messenger, whom Powell stabbed in the back before running out, yelling, "I'm mad! I'm mad!" Herold, spooked by the screams, had already fled, leaving Powell to navigate the city alone. [8] : 59

Atzerodt fails to attack Johnson

Booth assigned George Atzerodt the task of killing Vice President Andrew Johnson, who was staying at the Kirkwood House. Atzerodt was supposed to enter Johnson's room at 10:15 pm and carry out the deed. [9] : 735 Atzerodt rented the room above Johnson's and, on the night of the assassination, went to the bar downstairs. He asked the bartender about Johnson's character and habits, then, after getting thoroughly drunk, he wandered off and ditched his knife. He eventually found a room at the Pennsylvania House Hotel and went to sleep. [4] : 166–67 [92] : 335

Earlier that day, Booth had dropped off a note for Johnson at the Kirkwood: "Don't wish to disturb you. Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth." [91] One theory suggests Booth was checking if Johnson was expected at the hotel that night. [4] : 111 Another posits that Booth, anticipating Atzerodt's failure, intended the note to implicate Johnson in the plot. [95]

Conspiracy to kill the Vice President. George Atzerodt. Andrew Johnson. "Don't wish to disturb you Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth".

Reactions

Lincoln was mourned across the nation, North and South, [92] : 350 and indeed, the world. [96] Foreign governments issued proclamations and observed periods of mourning. [97] [98] On Easter Sunday, the day after his death, Lincoln was eulogized in countless sermons. [92] : 357

On April 18, a mile-long line of mourners, seven deep, waited to view Lincoln's body in its walnut casket in the White House's black-draped East Room. Special trains brought thousands from other cities; some even slept on the Capitol's lawn. [99] : 120–23 Millions witnessed the funeral procession on April 19, [8] : 213 and even more lined the 1,700-mile route of the funeral train that carried Lincoln's remains to Springfield, Illinois. [100] : 31–58 [49] : 231–38

Poet Walt Whitman penned "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My Captain!" among other works, in tribute. [101] [102]

Ulysses S. Grant declared Lincoln "incontestably the greatest man I ever knew." [9] : 747 Robert E. Lee expressed his sadness. [103] Elizabeth Blair, a Southerner by birth, noted, "Those of Southern born sympathies know now they have lost a friend willing and more powerful to protect and serve them than they can now ever hope to find again." [9] : 744 The great orator Frederick Douglass called the assassination an "unspeakable calamity." [103]

Across the Atlantic, British Foreign Secretary Lord Russell deemed Lincoln's death a "sad calamity." [98] In China, the chief secretary of state for foreign affairs, Prince Gong, was "inexpressibly shocked and startled." [97] Ecuadorian president Gabriel García Moreno lamented, "Never should I have thought that the noble country of Washington would be humiliated by such a black and horrible crime; nor should I ever have thought that Mr. Lincoln would come to such a horrible end, after having served his country with such wisdom and glory under such critical circumstances." [97] [98] Liberia issued a proclamation calling Lincoln "not only the ruler of his own people, but a father to millions of a race stricken and oppressed." Haiti condemned the act as a "horrid crime." [98]

T. D. Bancroft, a temperance advocate, was present at the assassination and later lectured widely on the event. [104]

Flight and capture of the conspirators

Booth's escape route. Booth and Herold. Reward broadside featuring John H. Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, and David E. Herold.

Within half an hour of leaving Ford's Theatre, Booth crossed the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland. [8] : 67–68 A Union sentry, Silas Cobb, questioned him. Booth claimed he was heading home to Charles, a nearby town. Despite regulations forbidding civilians to cross after 9 pm, Cobb let him pass. [105] Herold crossed the same bridge less than an hour later [8] : 81–82 and met up with Booth. [8] : 87 After retrieving weapons and supplies from Surattsville, they rode to the home of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, who set Booth's broken leg [8] : 131, 153 and fashioned him a pair of crutches. [8] : 131, 153

Booth claimed in his diary that he broke his leg jumping from the presidential box. [106] However, he and Herold told Mudd he broke it falling from his horse afterward. [106] The diary itself is questionable, more a manifesto than a factual account, with Booth embellishing details. For instance, his claim "I shouted sic semper before I fired" is contradicted by every eyewitness. [107]

After a day at Mudd's, Booth and Herold hired a guide to take them to Samuel Cox's house. [8] : 163 Cox, in turn, led them to Thomas Jones, a Confederate sympathizer who hid them in Zekiah Swamp for five days before they could cross the Potomac River. [8] : 224 On April 24, they reached the farm of Richard H. Garrett in King George County, Virginia. Booth, posing as a wounded Confederate soldier, was given shelter.

A letter written on April 15th to Navy Surgeon George Brainerd Todd detailed the rumors swirling in Washington about Booth:

Today all the city is in mourning nearly every house being in black and I have not seen a smile, no business, and many a strong man I have seen in tears—Some reports say Booth is a prisoner, others that he has made his escape – but from orders received here, I believe he is taken, and during the night will be put on a Monitor for safe keeping – as a mob once raised now would know no end. [46]

The hunt for the conspirators was unprecedented, involving thousands of soldiers and civilians. [Edwin M. Stanton](/Edwin_M._Stanton) personally oversaw the operation, [108] offering rewards of $50,000 for Booth and$ 25,000 each for Herold and John Surratt. [109]

On April 26, soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry surrounded Garrett's farm. They found Booth and Herold sleeping in the barn and threatened to set it ablaze. Herold surrendered, but Booth defiantly cried out, "I will not be taken alive!" [8] : 326 The soldiers set the barn on fire, [8] : 331 and Booth emerged with a rifle and pistol.

Booth died in the Garrett farmhouse on April 26.

Sergeant Boston Corbett crept up behind the barn and shot Booth in the head, "about an inch below the spot where his [Booth's] shot had entered the head of Mr. Lincoln," [110] severing his spinal cord. [8] : 335 Booth was carried outside, unable to swallow, and told a soldier, "Tell my mother I die for my country." He died on the porch three hours later, gazing at his hands and whispering, "Useless... useless." [8] : 336–40 [91] Corbett, despite disobeying orders to capture Booth alive, was hailed as a hero. [49] : 228

Others

Without Herold, Powell got lost and didn't reach the Surratt house until April 17. He claimed to be a hired ditch-digger, but Mary Surratt denied knowing him. Both were arrested. [4] : 174–79 George Atzerodt hid at his cousin's farm near Germantown, Maryland, roughly 25 miles northwest of D.C., and was arrested on April 20. [4] : 169

The remaining conspirators were caught by the end of April, except for John Surratt, who fled to Quebec, then Europe, eventually joining the Pontifical Zouaves in the Papal States. A former schoolmate recognized him in 1866 and alerted U.S. authorities. Surratt was arrested but escaped, only to be captured in Egypt in November 1866. [111]

Conspirators' trial and execution

Portraits of the conspirators, minus Mudd, from Benn Pitman's The assassination of President Lincoln and the trial of the conspirators.

Scores of people were arrested, including peripheral figures and anyone who had even the slightest contact with Booth or Herold. This included Louis J. Weichmann, a boarder at Mrs. Surratt's; Booth's brother Junius, who was in Cincinnati; theatre owner John T. Ford; James Pumphrey, who lent Booth his horse; John M. Lloyd, the tavern keeper who supplied Booth and Herold with weapons; and Samuel Cox and Thomas A. Jones, who helped them cross the Potomac. [99] : 186–88 All were eventually released except: [99] : 188

Samuel Arnold
George Atzerodt
David Herold
Samuel Mudd
Michael O'Laughlen
Lewis Powell
Edmund Spangler (theatre stagehand who held Booth's horse)
Mary Surratt

The accused were tried by a military tribunal convened by Johnson. [112] The prosecution was led by U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, assisted by Congressman John A. Bingham and Major Henry Lawrence Burnett. Lew Wallace was the only lawyer on the tribunal.

Critics like former Attorney General Edward Bates and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles argued for a civil court. However, Attorney General James Speed contended the conspiracy was military in nature, the defendants acted as enemy combatants, and martial law was in effect. (The United States Supreme Court later ruled in Ex parte Milligan that military tribunals couldn't be used where civil courts were functioning.) [4] : 213–14 A simple majority was needed for a guilty verdict, and a two-thirds majority for a death sentence. The only avenue for appeal was President Johnson. [4] : 222–23

Execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair.

The trial lasted seven weeks and heard testimony from 366 witnesses. On June 30, all defendants were found guilty. Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were sentenced to hang. Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlen received life imprisonment. [113] Edmund Spangler was sentenced to six years. Five tribunal members recommended clemency for Mary Surratt, but Johnson, claiming he never saw the letter, did not intervene. [4] : 227

Surratt, Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt were hanged on July 7 in the Old Arsenal Penitentiary. [8] : 362, 365 Surratt was the first woman executed by the U.S. government. [114] O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Mudd, Arnold, and Spangler were pardoned by Johnson in February 1869. [8] : 367 Spangler maintained his innocence until his death in 1875, insisting his only involvement was holding Booth's horse.

John Surratt's civil trial in 1867 ended in a hung jury, and he was released. [4] : 178 [116] : 227

Notes

^ a b Burroughs was also known as "John Peanut", "Peanut John", John Bohran, and other aliases. [63]
^ There is evidence to suggest that either Booth or fellow conspirator Michael O'Laughlen, who resembled Booth, followed the Grants to Union Station late that afternoon and discovered that they would not be at the theater. The Grants later received an anonymous letter from someone who claimed to have boarded their train intending to attack them but was thwarted because the Grants' private car was locked and guarded. [34]
^ Though the steel ball Booth used as a bullet was of a .41 caliber, the deringer type was a small, easily concealable gun known to be inaccurate and usually just used in close quarters. [51] The bullet most probably passed mainly through the left side of the brain, causing massive damage including the skull fractures, hemorrhaging, and secondary severe edema of the brain. While Dr. Leale's notes mention Lincoln's bulging right eye, [52] the autopsy only specifically states the damage to the left side of the brain. [53] [54]
^ Sometime before 2am that Saturday morning, Mary Lincoln sent for Elizabeth Keckley, to come see her. Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott escorted Keckley through the streets of Washington DC. Mistakenly, they first went to the White House, and then Abbott got Keckley safely to Petersen House. He left Petersen House before Lincoln died and was not present at Lincoln's deathbed. [71] [72]
^ This Dr. Abbott is Ezra Walker Abbott, who is listed by The Evening Star as one of the 6 doctors present at Lincoln's deathbed, the rest being R.K. Stone, C.D. Gatch, Neil, Hall, and Lieberman. [75]
^ Julius Ulke, who was a boarder at the Petersen House, took this photograph shortly after Lincoln's body was removed. [79]

There. Satisfied? Don't ask me to do that again unless you want to be truly disappointed.