Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

by James L. Swanson

  Mary Surratt’s country tavern in Surrattsville (now Clinton), Maryland, still stands, and is a splendid museum and research center maintained by the Surratt Society.

  The language from John H. Surratt’s postal commission comes from a reading of the original document, now in a private collection.

  My account of the visit of Booth and Herold to the Surrattsville tavern, and their direct quotations, come from the testimony of John Lloyd. See Poore,

  The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, pages 118–126; and Pitman, The Assassination, pages 86–87.

  The primary source for Dr. Leale’s actions is his own account, published, among other places, in Charles Leale, Lincoln’s Last Hours (n.p.: privately printed, 1909).

  Maunsell Field’s abbreviated recollections were published in an article and in his memoirs, Memories of Many Men and of Some Women (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874), pages 321–329.

  For another account of what happened inside the Petersen house, this one by George Francis, one of the boarders, see Ralph G. Newman, “The Mystery Occupant’s Eyewitness Account of the Death of Abraham Lincoln,” Chicago History, Spring 1975, pages 32–33. Francis’s May 5, 1865 letter is the source for two of Mary Lincoln’s statements: “Where is my husband! Where is my husband!” and “How can it be so? Do speak to me!”

  Rathbone described his fainting in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, at page 197. Also see Pitman, Assassination of the President, at page 79.

  For more on the doctors, see Harry Read, “‘A Hand to Hold While Dying’: Dr. Charles A. Leale at Lincoln’s Side,” Lincoln Herald, Spring 1977, pages 21–25, and Charles Sabin Taft, “Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours: From the Note-Book of an Army Surgeon Present at the Assassination, Death, and Autopsy,” Century Magazine, February 1895, pages 634–636.

  Dr. Taft’s recollections were also published in Abraham Lincoln’s Last Hours: From the Notebooks of Charles Sabin Taft,M.D., an Army Surgeon Present at the Assassination, Death and Autopsy (Chicago: privately printed, 1934).

  Welles’s account appears in his diary, volume 2, at pages 283–290.

  The midnight telegram to General Grant, and all other telegrams in this chapter, appear in The War of the Rebellion:A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901; Official Records). The telegrams are collected in series 1, volume 46, part 3, and appear in chronological order at pages 752–989.

  For more on Corporal Tanner, see Howard H. Peckham, “James Tanner’s Account of Lincoln’s Death,” Abraham Lincoln Quarterly, March 1942, pages 176–183. Tanner is the source of Mary Lincoln’s statement, “Oh, my God, and have I given my husband to die?”

  The quotations from Walker, Greenawalt, and Keim about George Atzerodt come from Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, at, respectively, pages 391–395, 341–352, and 400–402. Hezekiah Metz’s testimony appears at pages 353–357, and Sergeant Gemmill’s at pages 357–361.

  Dr. Abbott’s statistics on the stricken president’s pulse and respiration were published in all the major newspapers, including the New York Times, New York Tribune,Philadelphia Inquirer, and, in Washington, D.C., the Daily Morning Chronicle and National Intelligencer. They also appeared in contemporary books about the assassination, including The Terrible Tragedy at Washington: Assassination of President Lincoln (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., 1865), at page 28.

  The account of the first raid on Mary Surratt’s Washington, D.C., boardinghouse is drawn from Floyd E. Risvold, ed., A True History of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of the Conspiracy of 1865,by Louis J. Weichmann, Chief Witness for the Government of the United States in the Prosecution of the Conspirators (New York: Knopf, 1975), at pages 174–179. Also see Steers, Blood on the Moon, pages 173–174.

  The sources on Dr. Mudd include his three written statements, based on interrogations of him by Lieutenant Lovett and Colonel Wells, and on the testimony of those officers at the conspiracy trial. Lovett’s testimony appears in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, pages 258–272, and in Pitman, The Assassination of President Lincoln, pages 87–88. Wells’s testimony appears in Poore at volume 1, pages 281–293, and in Pitman at pages 168–169. Joshua Lloyd’s testimony appears in Poore, volume 1, at pages 273–281, and in Pitman at page 90; William Williams’s testimony appears in Poore, volume 1, at pages 294–301, and in Pitman at pages 88–89; and Simon Gavacan’s testimony appears in Poore, volume 1, at pages 301–304, and in Pitman at pages 89–90.

  The best account of Dr. Mudd is Edward Steers Jr., His Name Is Still Mudd: The Case Against Doctor Samuel Alexander Mudd (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Thomas Publications, 1997). Steers’s Blood on the Moon includes updated coverage on Mudd at pages 144–154. Also see Edward Steers Jr., “Dr. Mudd and the ‘Colored’ Witnesses,” Civil War History, volume 46, December 2000, pages 324–336.

  The material on Mudd’s treatment of Booth’s leg comes from the doctor’s three statements, and all Mudd quotations come either from his three written statements or from the testimony of Lovett and Wells. Mudd’s statements are collected in From War Department Files: Statements Made by the Lincoln Conspirators Under Examination, 1865 (Clinton, Maryland: The Surratt Society, 1980) at pages 29 and 34.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The “Sam” letter, originally published in newspapers all over the country within a few days of its discovery in Booth’s hotel room, can be found in Kauffman, American Brutus, at pages 66–67.

  Stanton’s telegram to General Dix, revealing some of the content of the Sam letter, appears in the Official Records, as do all other telegrams quoted in this chapter.

  The lock of Lincoln’s hair cut by Stanton and presented by him to Mary Jane Welles, the envelope addressed by Stanton, and the dried flowers from the president’s White House funeral were examined in a private collection. Most accounts of Lincoln’s death quote Stanton as saying that Lincoln belongs to the “ages,” not the “angels.” In my view, shared by Jay Winik, the most persuasive interpretation supports “angels” and is also more consistent with Stanton’s character and faith.

  For an account of the removal of Lincoln’s remains from the Petersen house, and the names of the men who carried him out, see Steers, Blood on the Moon, at pages 268–269. I obtained a typescript of William Clark’s letter from the archives of the Surratt Society. For more on Clark, see W. Emerson Reck, “The Riddle of William Clark,” Lincoln Herald, Winter 1982, pages 218–221.

  Matthews’s account of his reading of Booth’s letter to the National Intelligencer is in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” pages 150–153.

  Townsend’s description of Booth’s young seductress is from The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1865), page 24.

  The breakfast conversation at Dr. Mudd’s comes from Mrs. Mudd’s statement taken during her interrogation. The account of the crutches comes from Dr. Mudd’s three statements.

  Caldwell’s testimony on Atzerodt pawning his pistol is in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, page 148. Also see Pitman, Assassination of the President, at page 148.

  The story of Dr. Mudd is one of the major controversies that has long bedeviled students of the Lincoln assassination. I agree with Steers and other historians on the nature and extent of Mudd’s knowledge and culpability. Despite the claims of Mudd’s defenders, he was not an innocent country physician who merely performed his Hippocratic oath, and treated an injured man he believed was a stranger. Based on a review of the evidence, I am certain that Mudd recognized Booth the moment the assassin walked through his door, and I am convinced that Mudd delayed reporting Booth’s visit, thus allowing the assassin a head start from the troops at nearby Bryantown. I have chosen not to bog down the narrative by writing an analytical, legal brief arguing the pros and cons of Mudd’s case. That discussion is available in other texts, and I do not rehearse it here. Instead, I have written, in real time as much as possible, what I believe happ
ened.

  My account of Thomas Jones comes primarily from his memoirs, J.Wilkes Booth:An Account of His Sojourn in Southern Maryland After the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, His Passage Across the Potomac, and His Death in Virginia (Chicago: Laird & Lee, 1893). All direct quotations come from him. Booth did not live long enough to write about Jones, and David Herold, after his capture, did not reveal how the Confederate agent had helped them.

  For additional material on Jones, see John M. and Roberta J. Wearmouth, Thomas A Jones: Chief Agent of the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland (Port Tobacco, Maryland: Stones Throw Publishing, 2000).

  CHAPTER SIX

  Much of the material for this chapter, and all direct quotations from Thomas Jones, come from his short memoir. Booth, Herold, and Jones were the only witnesses to their interactions, just as Jones had planned.

  Somerset and James Leaman’s testimony about their conversations with Azterodt are in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, page 504. Also see Pitman, Assassination of the President, at page 150. Asia Booth Clarke’s story about John’s love of nature is from her memoir, The Unlocked Book, pages 54 (“burrowing”) and 69 (“good men’s bones”).

  The dialogue from the second raid on Mary Surratt’s Washington boardinghouse appears in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, pages 15–19 and pages 33–34, and in Pitman, The Assassination, pages 121–124.

  The dialogue with Lewis Powell appears in Poore, volume 2, pages 9–11, and in Pitman, pages 122–123.

  The letters of Madlock and Severs are in a private collection.

  A number of examples of postassassination artwork, including “The Assassin’s Vision” carte-de-visite, are illustrated in Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, page 54.

  Booth’s notebook entry appears in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong” at pages 154–155.

  Townsend’s vicious descriptions of Port Tobacco and of the Brawner Hotel come from his Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, page 52. All telegrams are from the Official Records.

  Booth’s letter to his mother is in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” pages 130–131; and his “To Whom it May Concern” manifesto is on pages 124–127.

  Asia Booth Clarke revealed her husband’s betrayal in The Unlocked Book, page 91.

  Richter’s comment about George Atzerodt appears in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, pages 515–517. Also see Pitman, The Assassination, page 153. The story of Atzerodt’s arrest appears in Steers, Blood on the Moon, at pages 169–170. Atzerodt’s confessions are published in “‘Lost Confession’ of George A. Atzerodt,” in Steers, ed., The Trial, pages civ–cvi, and in From War Department Files.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The narrative of April 20 in the pine thicket, and all direct quotations, are drawn, as before, from the memoir of Thomas Jones, the only surviving witness to the events that happened there.

  For a thorough analysis of the river crossing, see William A. Tidwell, “Booth Crosses the Potomac: An Exercise in Historical Research,” Civil War History 36, April 1990, pages 325–333.

  Townsend’s research appeared in George Alfred Townsend, “How Booth Crossed the Potomac,” Century Magazine, April 1884, and is reprinted in John M. and Roberta J. Wearmouth, Thomas A. Jones: Chief Agent of the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland (Port Tobacco, Maryland: Stones Throw Publishing, 2000), at page 56. Wearmouth covers Townsend’s correspondence with Jones at pages 45–54, and Jones’s “reunion” with Captain Williams at pages 154–159.

  Osborn H. Oldroyd’s firsthand but frustratingly brief account of Jones’s visit to his Petersen House museum is found in Oldroyd’s The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, D.C.: Osborn H. Oldroyd, 1901), at page 101.

  Herold’s remarks about partridge shooting, Davis, and Hughes all come from his statement while in custody, which is published in Hall, On the Way, page 8.

  Booth’s journal entry on being “hunted like a dog,” the low point of his despair since the manhunt began, appears in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” page 7.

  All the telegrams are from the Official Records.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Herold’s remark about the gunboat comes from his statement while in custody on April 27, 1865, published in Hall, On the Way, page 7.

  All the telegrams are in the Official Records.

  Herold’s encounter with the Quesenberrys was described in her May 16, 1865, statement to Colonel Wells, and is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 108.

  The fugitives’ visit to Dr. Stuart was described in his statement of May 6, 1865, and published in Hall, On the Way, page 114.

  Bryant’s statement of May 6, 1865, is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 116.

  Lucas’s statement of May 6, 1865, is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 122.

  Both drafts of Booth’s letter of complaint are in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” at pages 157–159.

  The translation of Shakespeare’s passage from Macbeth that Booth quoted in his note to Dr. Stuart comes from the definitive volume of the collected works, David Bevington’s The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Fifth Edition (New York: Pearson, 2004), at page 1277.

  Rollins’s two statements of April 25, 1865, and May 20, 1865, are published in Hall, On the Way, at pages 126 and 127.

  William Jett gave a statement on May 6, 1865, and also testified at the conspiracy trial on May 17, 1865. Both of his accounts are published in Hall, On the Way, at pages 135 and 139.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Beckwith telegram, and all the other telegrams in this chapter, appear in the Official Records.

  The narrative of Booth’s time at Garrett’s farm, and all direct quotations, are drawn from several accounts. This collection of sources includes statements, reports, and testimony, and covers the pursuit to Bowling Green, the arrival at Garrett’s farm, the parley with Booth, Herold’s surrender, and the shooting and death of the assassin.

  Captain Edward P. Doherty’s major accounts can be found in his report of April 29, 1865; his testimony at the conspiracy trial of May 22, 1865; and in his March 21, 1866, letter to Secretary of War Stanton. See Hall, On the Way, pages 27–36.

  Colonel Everton J. Conger’s accounts can be found in his statement at the inquest aboard the Montauk on April 27, 1865; his testimony at the conspiracy trial on May 17, 1865; at the impeachment investigation of Andrew Johnson on May 13 and 14, 1867; and at the trial of John H. Surratt on June 25, 1867. See Hall, On the Way, pages 40–63.

  Luther Byron Baker’s accounts can be found in his April 27, 1865, statement at the inquest aboard the Montauk; his testimony at the impeachment investigation of Andrew Johnson on May 22, 1867; and his testimony at the trial of John H. Surratt on June 25, 1867. See Hall, On the Way, pages 74–98.

  In general, the accounts of Doherty, Conger, and Baker agree on what happened at Garrett’s farm. They vary in minor details, of course, a reflection not only of the frailty of memory, but of the competition for reward money. For example, the parties disagreed about who really “captured” David Herold, pulled him from the barn door, and ordered him bound. Their accounts of Booth’s dialogue vary somewhat in the actor’s choice of particular words, or the sequence of some of his sentences. But they all agree on the substance of the parley with Booth, on all of the sentiments that he expressed, and on their dealings with the Garrett family.

  I have not included every possible variation from their accounts. Instead, I used my best judgment and the major accounts left by the principals to construct what I believe is the most reasonable account of the climax of the manhunt.

  For ease of reference for the reader, I do not cite to every page of microfilm at the National Archives, to every document, and to every report where this material can be found. Instead, I refer the reader to James O. Hall’s On the Way to Garrett’s Farm: John Wilkes Booth and David E. Herold in the Northern Neck of Virginia, April 22–26, 1865 (Clinton, Maryland: The Surratt Society), an indispens
able volume that collects in one place much of the significant evidence, and which refers readers interested in more to the specific microfilm reels and pages

  Boston Corbett’s major accounts can be found in his report of April 29, 1865; his May 17, 1865 testimony at the conspiracy trial; and an April 14, 1877 newspaper article in the Philadelphia Weekly Times. See Hall, On the Way, pages 155–162.

  Members of the Garrett family left behind considerable commentary about their visitors. John M. Garrett’s statement was taken at Colonel Lafayette Baker’s office on May 20, 1865, and Garrett testified on June 25, 1867, at the trial of John H. Surratt. His recollections are reprinted in Hall, On the Way, pages 140–146. Richard H. Garrett’s revealing letter of April 4, 1866, to Grandison Manning appears in Hall, On the Way, at page 170, and Rev. Richard Baynham Garrett’s letter of October 24, 1907, appears at page 174.

  Also see William H. Garrett, “True Story of the Capture of John Wilkes Booth,” Confederate Veteran, volume xxix, number 4, April 1921, pages 129–130, and Betsy Fleet, ed., “A Chapter of Unwritten History: Richard Baynham Garrett’s Account of the Flight and Death of John Wilkes Boothe,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, volume 71, number 4, October 1963, pages 387–404. This article includes Edwin Booth’s letter of thanks to the Garretts and the story about John Wilkes Booth amazing the Garrett children with his pocket compass.