309
soon learned that some of his fellow
plotters had been arrested. George
Atzerodt, assigned to kill the vice
president, had lost his nerve and
got drunk instead, and Michael
O’Laughlen, who was to kill
secretary of war Edwin Stanton,
failed for the same reason. Lewis
Powell, assigned to assassinate
William Seward, caused severe
wounds to the secretary of state’s
face and neck, but did not manage
to kill him. Booth was the only one
of the assassins to succeed.
The authorities set to work
tracking Booth down through his
known associates. A boarding-
house kept by Mary Surratt was
identified as having been used by
the conspirators, and, by chance,
Lewis Powell arrived at Surratt’s
door as she was being questioned.
Both were taken into custody.
On 26 April, Booth and Herold
were traced by federal troops to a
tobacco barn on a farm outside Port
Royal, Virginia. Herold surrendered,ASSASSINATIONS AND POLITICAL PLOTS
but Booth chose to remain inside
the barn. The authorities responded
by setting the barn alight, hoping
to flush Booth out.
As the blaze grew fiercer, one of
the soldiers shot Booth in the neck,
reportedly because the assassin
had raised his gun as if to shoot.
Whoever fired the final shot, it is
known that Booth was dragged
from the barn, and died hours later.Trial and execution
In May and June 1865, the eight
people accused of President
Lincoln’s murder were tried by a
military commission. Several of
them had been involved in the
failed plot to abduct the president,
but their role in the assassination
itself was less apparent. Over seven
weeks, 371 witnesses testified, and
seven of the accused were found
guilty of at least one charge.
Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell,
George Atzerodt, and David Herold
received the death penalty for their
part in the conspiracy. Dr Samuel
Mudd was sentenced to life in
prison, as was Michael O’Laughlen,
who died of yellow fever after two
years behind bars. Edman Spangler
received a six-year sentence. ■Four of Booth’s co-conspirators
were executed by hanging on 7 July- Among them was Mary Surratt,
the first woman to be put to death
by the federal government.
I have too great a soul to die
like a criminal. Oh may
[God] spare me that and let
me die bravely.
John Wilkes Booth306-309_Lincoln_Assassination.indd 309 13/12/2016 10:10