Killing Lincoln

Dr. Samuel Mudd attends to Booth, who has not only fractured his left foot but was flung from his horse. He is in immense pain, as well as hungover. More than these things, he is experiencing for the first time what it’s like to be a hunted man. The two rode all night, only stopping at a tavern owned by Mary Surratt to procure guns she hid for them. Herold told the Confederate owner that they had just killed Lincoln. The two would have made it all the way to the Potomac River had it not been for Booth’s foot and the need to stop. The author notes how Booth’s demeanor has changed, as if killing Lincoln has taken his confidence away. The two need Booth’s wits to survive, yet he is in pain and too dependent on Herold at this point. His leg must have a splint on it, which means he can now only ride with one leg.

Baker is in New York when he hears Lincoln has been shot. Disgraced, he thinks of a way to spin the tragedy to his gain. He later receives word from Stanton to return to Washington, DC “and find the murderer of our president” (246). Baker may have misunderstood and thought his role was to find and kill Booth, or to act as some sort of super-spy. The author notes how interesting it is that Stanton knows exactly where Baker is. When Baker arrives, he is given full authority over the investigation, despite all the other detective forces on the case. Evidence exists that Booth and Baker are connected via an address in New York, yet Baker claims he does not know who Booth is. He then posts a reward for Booth and his accomplices and has posters put up with their pictures.

David Herold realizes that he needs a buggy to transport Booth. He asks Dr. Mudd for his, but the doctor refuses. The doctor knows that he and his wife will be implicated if fugitives are seen in their personal carriage and, though a Confederate sympathizer, he doesn’t want to hang. Mudd suggests that they go to the nearest town, Bryantown, to get supplies. The two head to town, but Herold gets cold feet, thinking that a stranger like him will draw attention. Indeed, the Union cavalry now has Bryantown surrounded and is questioning everyone, not letting anyone leave. The author notes that Herold has a sixth sense for escape and intuitive thinking.

Booth and Herold set out for the Zekiah Swamp. The swamp is the perfect hiding place, with bogs, quicksand, and old-growth trees. The two get lost, however, and have to return to Mudd’s farm and try again the next day. They camp out in a grove of trees and await the signal from a man who is supposed to rescue them. The man is someone they met while visiting a Confederate sympathizer who still has 40 slaves. Herold wonders if it will be a trap but then hears the signal and is met by Confederate sympathizer Thomas Jones.

Thomas Jones is a smuggler who ferries people and cargo up and down the Potomac River. His skills are so expert that Northern newspapers used him to get their papers into the South despite blockades during the war. Jones visits twice, the second time bringing newspapers. He tells them that the cavalry is searching for them and that they must be patient, as they may have to wait might be a long time. He also brings them some food. When Jones leaves, Booth looks at the newspapers, hoping for some recognition of his crime. To his horror, even the Southern papers paint him as a coward and criminal. Booth rants to Herold: “Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made men the instrument of his punishment” (252).

Mary Surratt is still a suspect and has been since the night Lincoln was shot. Louis Weichmann, the boarder who didn’t like Booth from before, has given information about Booth and other conspirators meeting at Surratt’s, which has been suggested as the hub of the conspiracy. This information therefore implicates Mary Surratt. She and her daughter Anna are taken into custody as the house is surrounded. Before they leave, however, a man knocks at the door. The man is Lewis Powell, who soon realizes that he has made a mistake. He tries to give a false name, but detectives see blood on his clothes. They take him into custody and search him, finding items like a clipping of Lincoln’s second inaugural address. Then William Bell is sent for and the servant immediately identifies Powell in a lineup. A ball and chain are placed on him, and later, a canvas bag is put over his head with only a small hole in it to allow him to eat and breathe.

The cavalry continues its search of the Maryland countryside, making its way to the swamps. None of the soldiers want to wade into the disgusting water, and eighty-seven people will drown in the search while combing the swamps. Anyone with anti-Union sentiments, or even anyone who looks suspicious, is arrested. Lafayette Baker continues his manhunt and sends a telegraph operator to Point Lookout to aid in sending messages.

The cavalry unit visits Dr. Samuel Mudd. Mudd had previously told his cousin George, who is a Union sympathizer, that two men visited his house and he provided shelter for them on the night of Lincoln’s assassination. Dr. Mudd had hoped the story would work as a cover, as he was sure George would pass this information on to authorities but that they’d see him as a victim whose life was in danger and not a co-conspirator. Instead of going to the police, George went to the military. Lieutenant Alex Lovett questions Mudd and Mudd’s story breaks down. Even though he’s rehearsed it, he contradicts himself. Lovett doesn’t arrest him yet because he wants to find evidence that links him to Booth. 

Atzerodt makes an escape plan that takes him northeast instead of south, landing him deeper into pro-Union territory. Although the plan is genius, essentially hiding out in plain sight, Atzerodt makes several mistakes. He doesn’t continue forward movement, and at a dinner one night, he drunkenly supports Lincoln’s assassination. US Marshals get wind of this and arrive at his cousin’s house in Germantown, Maryland. Atzerodt goes into custody without a fight or appeal to his innocence. He’s chained and hooded and is hung three months later, despite not harming anyone or wanting to even be in on the plot.

Lincoln’s funeral procession gets underway, overseen by Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln’s body is placed on a train bound for his native Illinois along with the body of his late son Willie. The author notes that, despite Lincoln wanting a quiet burial, over the next 150 years, his casket will be opened six times and moved seventeen times. His body has been embalmed so well and so much that it’s practically mummified. The funeral itself was held on Wednesday, April 19. Mary is still inconsolable, and eventually moves out of the White House on May 22. After the funeral, Lincoln’s body was paraded through the streets of Washington, D.C. Now his body is on its final journey, on the train for Illinois, on what will be called “the greatest funeral in the history of the United States” (264). Items of his assassination, including the Deringer bullet, the probe instrument that found it, and the rocking chair he was shot in, will soon be placed in a museum.

Lieutenant Lovett returns to Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home and continues his questioning. Mudd again gives unsatisfactory answers, but Lovett wants to search the house this time. Mudd has his wife Sarah retrieve some items, including a boot and a razor that one of the perpetrators used to shave off his beard. Lovett again asks Mudd if he knows who the two men are and Mudd says he has no idea. Lovett then points to the boot, which has been cut so that the inside of it can clearly be seen, where “J. Wilkes” is marked. Dr. Samuel Mudd is then arrested.

When Lafayette Baker hears about the abandoned boot, he rightly deduces that Booth cannot be traveling on horseback and that his escape options are limited, most notably to the Potomac. He also rightly deduces that Booth will head to the mountains of Kentucky, as if Baker truly knew Booth’s plan all along. He decides that Booth will land at Port Tobacco, which is wrong, though not by much.

Booth and Herold have been hiding out in the swamps for six days. Booth’s confidence and happiness at killing Lincoln are long gone. He’s accustomed to the finer things in life and is miserable in his current state. When the two prepare to go to bed again, they hear the whistle. Jones arrives with news that the time is right for an attempt. They pass Jones’s home and Booth asks to be let in to warm himself, but Jones warns them that his slaves might inform the authorities. They push on to the Potomac, where they can see pro-Confederacy Virginia—and safety—across from them. The problem is that the river currents are tricky. Also, Union boats are prowling the river to try and stop smugglers. In the dark, they can unintentionally run into one of these boats. Their goal is to reach Machodoc Creek, where a Mrs. Queensbury will then assist them. The author notes that Jones helps Booth and Herold because they are two men who need help. In actuality, he’s disgusted by what Booth has done. Jones is never punished for his role because testimony against him later comes from a non-white resident of Maryland and so is ignored.

Booth and Herold set off but realize they’re going the wrong way. Moreover, they nearly paddle into the Federal gunboat Juniper. They eventually land onshore back in Maryland. A day later, they try again and make it to Virginia, with Kentucky being their next destination.

The telegraph operator in Port Tobacco receives false evidence stating that Booth and Herold have made their crossing. Although the men smuggled over are not Booth and Herold, Baker sends out cavalry to try and apprehend them, with the two senior officers being Baker’s cousin, Lieutenant Luther Baker, and Colonel Everton Conger. Baker places his cousin in charge, despite the difference in rank. The men take a boat to Virginia and question the inhabitants of Belle Plain, Virginia, but get no leads. They next make it to Port Conway, where they again meet with no luck. The men are exhausted from riding all day and night, and Lieutenant Baker gives command back to Colonel Conger. Just when the men are set to leave so that they can make their ship in time for a return trip, they receive word from someone who has positively identified Booth and Herold at Port Royal’s ferry crossing. The two men passed through with a small band of Confederates the previous day. The soldiers are exhausted, yet they again ride off in pursuit, arriving at a farm at 2:00 A.M. They surround the farm, with no concrete evidence that Booth and Herold are inside.

Booth is back in good spirits, being among Southerners and with more creature comforts. Although he confided in Southern soldiers about his true identity, to everyone else, including the Garretts, he’s a wounded soldier returning from Petersburg. Word soon arrives, however, that Federal cavalry have crossed the Rappahannock River. When Booth is physically shaken by this news, the Garretts get suspicious and ask Booth and Herold to leave. The men refuse and are given shelter in the barn. The Garretts are worried that Booth and Herold might steal their horses, and so the brothers, William and John, sleep outside the barn with their pistols. At 2:00 a.m., the dogs begin barking. John Garrett runs inside the barn and tells Booth and Herold to surrender because the barn is surrounded. Booth tells John to leave and yells at him for betraying him.

John Garrett flees and locks the door. Then Herold admits that he wants to surrender, which angers Booth. Booth shouts out that Herold wants to surrender, and Herold leaves and is arrested. Lieutenant Baker warns Booth that the barn will be burned, but Booth becomes dramatic yet again and tells the soldiers to prepare a stretcher for him, and then says, “One more stain on the old banner!” (275).However, historians don’t know exactly what this refers to. The barn is set on fire, and Booth sees Baker entering the barn. He takes aim but is shot in the neck by Sergeant Boston Corbett. The bullet hits his spinal cord, paralyzing him. It’s noted that Corbett is a zealot much in the same way as Booth, though Corbett is a fanatic for religion. In fact, the man cut off his own testicles years earlier after “experiencing lust” (275). Booth is too injured to move and dies by morning. His body is thrown in the back of a wagon. The actor-turned-assassin dies at 26.

Finding Lincoln’s killers is the topic on everyone’s mind. Secretary of War Stanton has once again taken over the investigation, pushing Baker out of the picture. Some people in the South think of Booth as a martyr and hang pictures of him up, but most want the people responsible dead. Mary Surratt is one such person still in prison. A trial for all the co-conspirators began on May 10. Even though the men all look like they are guilty, Mary manages to find sympathy, with some Americans wondering if she should be spared her fate. Mary quickly undergoes a transformation in jail, as do all the victims. Mary suffers from female problems like excessive menstruation, as well as endometriosis. Due to the poor conditions in jail, all of the criminals suffer from bloating, sweating and horrible skin conditions. After nine days of deliberations, the jury finds Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold guilty, with their sentence being death by hanging. Michael O’Laughlen, Dr. Samuel Mudd, Ned Spangler, and Samuel Arnold will be incarcerated.

Mary Surratt’s priest, and later others, soon come to her defense, with their argument being that she was a woman trying to make ends meet. Her daughter, too, comes to her defense, and her lawyer hopes to get a meeting with Andrew Johnson to plead her case, though he’s thwarted at every turn. Mary believes that she will be spared as well. On the morning of July 7, she still believes she will be spared. The four are marched up to the gallows. Powell pleads her innocence, but the group is prepped for their hanging. Their crimes are read in alphabetical order and then the signal is given, and the trapdoors are released. Although the men die instantly, Mary’s neck doesn’t break immediately like the others. She struggles for a full five minutes before dying, making her “the first and only woman ever hanged by the United States government” (282).

The afterword summarizes what happens to some of the major and minor players in Lincoln’s assassination. It details the secret burial of Booth’s body and strange occurrences surrounding missing photos of his body and missing journal pages, indicating that Stanton, who was in charge of these things, had a part in the plot. Mary Lincoln’s life is also summarized, with her moving out of the White House, losing Tad to a strange illness, and seeking money from the government. Others, like Robert Lincoln and Lucy Hale, live to old ages and have success in life, while people like Stanton and Baker lived in infamy until death. Baker died at home, though it was later revealed that he was perhaps poisoned by arsenic. Many of the clues in fact lead to Stanton, but still they are all conjecture.