Booth's Escape from D.C. to Maryland

From Wikipedia "Assassination of Abraham Lincoln."

Within a half hour of fleeing Ford's Theatre, John Wilkes Booth crossed the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland.  An army sentry questioned him about his late-night travel;  Booth said he was going home to the nearby town of Charles.

Even though it was illegal for civilians to cross the bridge after 9 p.m., the guard let him cross.

David Herold made it to the same bridge  less than an hour later and rendezvoused with Booth.

After retrieving weapons and supplies they had previously stashed at Surrattsville, they  went to the home of Samuel A. Mudd, a local  doctor, who splinted  the leg Booth had  broken when jumping from the presidential box at Ford's Theatre.  He later made a pair of crutches for Booth.

And, who was the sentry at the bridge who let Booth and Herold cross?

Why, it was Sgt. Silas T. Cobb.

More On Him Later.  --Old B-Runner

What Happened to the Conspirator Bodies?

A tennis court at Fort McNair marks where the four Lincoln conspirators were hanged July 7, 1865.

All four bodies remained buried at the Arsenal Penitentiary for four years, until after Johnson's presidency ended.  Their bodies were then turned over to their families.

Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt's body was kept by the federal government for four years before being released to her daughter Anna and then was buried in Washington, D.C.'s

George A. Atzerodt's body was claimed by his brother and had it buried in an unmarked grave in Glenwood Cemetery, Washington, D.C..   There is some question whether he is buried here.

Lewis Paine   Very interesting story.

David E. Herold--  Buried at Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D.C. at family plot.  No marker placed.  But now there is one.

--Old B-Runner

Booth's Body Transferred Back to Washington for Autopsy-- Part 2

As word spread of the assassin's body being on board the USS Montauk, the scene aboard the ship and nearby river bank  took on a circus-like atmosphere as hundreds of  curiosity seekers jostled for a glimpse of Booth's remains.

Aboard the Montauk, an inquest was held, and the corpse, already in the initial stages of decomposition, was carefully examined.  Friends and acquaintances of Booth were summoned to identify the body.   Dr. John Frederick May, a surgeon who had removed a cyst from Booth's neck in 1863, quickly recognized and identified the unusual scar left by the operation.

The federal government was determined to keep Booth's remains out of reach of both those  who wished to desecrate them and those who wished to sanctify him as a martyr.

That night, under cover of darkness, the body was taken by rowboat  to nearby Greenleaf's Point, where it was wrapped in an army blanket, placed in a wooden gun box and secretly buried in the basement of the Washington Arsenal.  It remained there until 1869, when the Booth family was finally granted permission to rebury John Wilkes in an unmarked grave in the shadow of  his father's impressive obelisk in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery.

--Old B-Runner

Booth's Body Transferred Back to Washington for Autopsy-- Part 1

From American Battlefield Trust "Stalking John Wilkes Booth."

David Herold surrendered at the Garrett barn in Virginia, but John Wilkes Booth refused.  Union Sgt. Boswton Corbett shot Booth in the neck and paralyzed him from the waist down, but he retained consciousness.  Booth was then  dragged out of the barn to the porch of the Garrett home where he lingered before dying at around 7 a.m..

Among his last words were, "Tell my mother I died for my country."

His body was then placed in a wagon and taken to Belle Plain, Virginia,   There, it was placed on the steam tug John S. Ide and carried up the Potomac River, under the Naval Yard Bridge to the Washington Navy Yard, where his body was transferred to the deck of the monitor USS Montauk.

The Byline site's "The Capture, Death and Burial of John Wilkes Booth" by Ray Stannard Baker said that the John S. Ide was the same boat on which Lt. Edward P. Doherty and 25 members of the 16th New York Cavalry, including Sergeant Boston Corbett as second in command had left Washington  a little after 3 o'clock Monday, April 24 and gone to Belle Plain Landing to search for Booth, having intelligence that he was in the area.

--Old B-Runner

April 30, 1865: What Happened to the Other Conspirators?

Michael O'Laughlin and Samuel B. Arnoldm boyhood friends of Booth and conspirators in his earlier plan to abduct Lincoln and in his later plans to assassinate top government officials, were sentenced to life in prison.

Another accomplice, Edward Spangler, stagehand at the Ford Theater was sentenced to six years in prison.

The remaining two of the eight who had been incarcerated on the monitors --  Ernest Hartman Richter, a cousin of Atzerodt, and Joao Celestini, a Portuguese sea captain -- were released without being brought to trial.

--Old B-Runner

April 30, 1865: The Conspirators Removed to the Arsenal Penitentiary, Trial and Four Executions

In real time.

The eight suspects in the Lincoln assassination plot who had been imprisoned on the monitors USS Montauk and Saugus were transferred to the  Arsenal penitentiary, located in the compound of what is now Fort McNair.  This was also the site of their military trial which returned its verdict June 30, 1865.

Three of the eight, along with Mrs. Mary Surratt, were hanged in the penitentiary on July 7.  The three hanged this date were:

Lewis Paine who made  the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Secretary of State Seward

George A. Atzerodt who had been designated by Booth to murder Vice President Johnson

David E. Herold who had accompanied  Booth in his escape from the city and until their capture.

--Old B-Runner

April 27, 1865: Booth's Body Delivered to USS Montauk-- Part 1

The Lincoln Assassination and Search for the Conspirators in Real Time.

APRIL 27TH, 1865:  The body of John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, and David E. Herold, who had accompanied Booth in the escape from Washington and was with the actor when he was shot, were delivered on board the USS Montauk, anchored in the Anacostia River off the Washington Navy Yard.

Booth had been slain and Herold captured at John M. Garrett's farm three miles outside Port Royal, Virginia, in the early hours of the previous day.

--Old B-Runner

April 25, 1865: Search for Booth Continues

APRIL 25TH, 1865:  The search for President Lincoln's assassins followed rumors in all directions, and warships in the large Union Navy were available to speed the investigation.

The Navy Department ordered Commodore Radford (he had been at Fort Fisher) at Hampton Roads:  "Send a gunboat to the mouth of the Delaware  for one week to examine and arrest all suspicious characters and vessels."

Gettin' the Booth.  --Old B-Runner

April 22, 1865: Still Looking for J.W. Booth

These entries are taken from the Civil War Naval Chronology.

APRIL 22ND, 1865:  Secretary Welles warned the Potomac Flotilla that "[John Wilkes] Booth was near Bryantown last Saturday [April 15], where Dr. Mudd set his ankle, which was broken by the fall from his horse.  The utmost vigilance is necessary in the Potomac and Patuxet to prevent his escape.  All boats should be searched...."

The condition of alert remained in effect until word of the assassin's death on 26 April was received.

--Old B-R'er

April 18, 1865:Farragut to Serve as a Lincoln Pallbearer, Navy Continues Search for Conspirators

APRIL 18TH, 1865:  Vice Admiral Farragut, in whom President Lincoln had placed great confidence, wrote to his wife:  "All the people in the city are going to see the President in state.  I go tomorrow as one of the pallbearers."

Meanwhile the Navy was carrying out Secretary Welles' instructions to search "all vessels going out of the [Potomac] river for the assassins.  Detain all suspicious persons.  Guard against against all crossing of the river and touching of vessels or boats on the Virginia shore."

--Old B-R'ers

April 17-25, 1865-- Part 3: Confinement of Conspirators on the Monitors

APRIL 17TH-25TH, 1865:  The last of the eight conspiracy suspects to be incarcerated on board the monitors was David E. Herold.

The prisoners were kept below decks under heavy guard and were manacled with both wrist and leg irons.  In addition, their heads were covered with canvas hoods the interior of which were fitted with cottonpads that tightly covered the prisoners' eyes and ears.

The hoods contained two small openings to permit breathing and the consumption of food.

An added security measure was taken with Paine by attaching a ball and chain to each ankle.

--Old B-Runner

April 17-25, 1865-- Part 2: Conspirators Moved to the Monitors

APRIL 17-25TH, 1865:  Edward Spangler, a stagehand at Fort Theatre and Booth's aid, along with Michael O'Laughlin and Samuel B. Arnold, close associates of Booth during the months leading up to the assassination, were also caught up in the dragnet.

O'Laughlin and Paine, after overnight imprisonment in the Old Capitol Prison, were transferred to the monitors at the Navy Yard.

Theyw ere joined by Arnold on the 19th and Spangler on the 24th.

George A. Atzerodt, the would-be assassin of Vice President Andrew Johnson and Ernest Hartman Richter, at whose home Atzerodt was captured, were brought on board the ships on the 20th.

Joao Celestino, Portuguese sea captain who had been heard to say on the 14th that Seward ought to be assassinated, was transferred from Old Capitol Prison to the Montauk on the 25th.

--Old B-Runner

A Fort Fisher and Wilmington Connection with the Lincoln Conspirators

The Lincoln conspirators, with the exception of Mary Surratt, were incarcerated aboard the monitors Saugus and Montauk after they were captured.  Both ships had been prepared for this purpose at Washington Navy Yard on April 15th.

The USS Saugus had been present at both battles of Fort Fisher.  After the second battle, she was towed to Norfolk for repairs and spent the rest of the war on the James River.

The USS Montauk was not at the battles of Fort Fisher, but participated in the follow up action on the Cape Fear River that led to the fall of Wilmington, North Carolina.

--Old B-R'er

April 17-25, 1865-- Part 1: The Monitors Montauk and Saugus and the Lincoln Conspirators

APRIL 17TH TO 25TH, 1865:  Four of the five Lincoln assassination suspects arrested on the 17th were imprisoned  on the monitors USS Montauk and USS Saugus which had been prepared for this purpose on the 15th and were anchored off the Washington Navy Yard on the Anacostia River.

Mrs. Mary E. Surratt was taken into custody at the boarding house she operated after it was learned that her son was a close friend of John Wilkes Booth and that the actor was a frequent visitor at the boarding house.

Mrs. Surratt was jailed at the Carroll Annex of Old Capitol Prison.

Lewis Paine was also taken into custody when he came to Mrs. Surratt's boarding house while she was being arrested.

--Old B-Runner

April 16, 1865: Navy Honoring the Fallen President

I am doing the assassination of Lincoln in real time in regards to the U.S. Navy's role in it.

APRIL 16TH, 1865:  The Navy Department directed on April 17, that a gun be fired in honor of the late President Lincoln each half hour, from sunrise to sunset, that all flags be kept at half mast until after the funeral, and that all officers wear mourning crepe for six months.

--Old B-Runner

April 16, 1865: Looking for Lincoln's Assassin

APRIL 16TH, 1865:  Secretary of the Navy Welles directed:  "To prevent the escape of the assassin who killed the President and attempted the life of the Secretary of State, search every vessel that arrived down the bay.

"Permit no vessel to go to sea without such search, and arrest and send to Washington any suspicious persons."

Response was immediate; ships took stations "on the coast of Maryland and Virginia."

--Old B-Runner

April 15, 1865: In Case the President's Assassin Is Taken to Washington Navy Yard

APRIL 15TH, 1865:  Welles sent a telegram to Commodore John B. Montgomery, Commandant of Washington Navy Yard:  "if he military authorities arrest the murderer of the President and take him to the Yard, put him on a monitor and anchor her in the stream, with a strong guard on vessel, wharf, and in the yard.

Call upon the commandant of the Marine Corps for guard.  Have vessel immediately prepared to receive him at any hour, day or night, with necessary instructions.  he will be heavily ironed and so guarded as to prevent escape or injury to himself."

--Old B-R'er

April 15, 1865: Death of Abraham Lincoln and His last Trip to Washington Navy Yard on April 14th

APRIL 15TH, 1865:  Secretary Welles announced the assassination of President Lincoln to the officers and men of the Navy and Marine Corps.  Welles wrote:  "To him our gratitude was justly due, for to him, under God, more to any other person, we are indeed for the successful vindication of the integrity of the Union and the maintenance of the power of the Republic."

The President had continually demonstrated a keen interest in the Navy and far-seeing appreciation of seapower.

Late in the afternoon of the 14th he had taken what was to be his last trip to the Washington Navy Yard (which he visited often during the war) to view three ironclads there that had been damaged during the Fort Fisher engagement.

There were four monitors and the ironclad USS New Ironsides at Fort Fisher.  I have read these three ships were monitors, which leaves the New Ironsides out.  The four monitors were the Canonicus, Mahopac, Saugus and double-turreted Monadnock.

Most likely, the Monadnock was the one not viewed by Lincoln the day before he died because  it was at Hampton Roads on April 7 and then sailed for Havana on April 17th.

--Old B-Runner

April 14, 1865: President Lincoln Shot

APRIL 14TH, 1865:  President Lincoln was shot shortly after 10 p.m. while watching "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre.  He died at 7:22 a.m. the next morning.

Rear Admiral Porter, who had departed Hampton Roads on the 14th, learned, when his flagship, the USS Tristram Shandy, put into Baltimore on the morning of the 15th, that the President had been shot.

The admiral immediately went to Washington, D.C., where he learned the President had died.  The reaction of the tough, battle-hardened sea dog to the news expressed the grief of the nation.  Porter, who had bid a merry farewell to Lincoln exactly one week before at City Point, bowed his head a and wept.

--Old B-Runner

Pirates, Revolution and Ironclads-- Part 2: The CSS Georgia, Water Witch and Rattlesbake

The CSS Georgia ironclad was sunk in 1864 to prevent capture by General Sherman's Union forces.  It was relatively forgotten until the 1960s when Savannah River dredging revealed the remains.  In 2013, a portion was recovered and that continued to 2015.  However, none of the ship is currently on display.

The USS Water Witch was captured by the Confederate Navy and the Rattlesnake, passenger ship turned into a gunboat and then a blockade-runner.  Both were sunk just south of the Savannah River.

The Water Witch was sunk by Confederates to avoid capture.  The Rattlesnake was sunk in a battle with the ironclad Monitor USS Montauk.  This ship served as a temporary prison for six of the Lincoln assassination conspirators.

Artifacts from the Water Witch and a full scale model of it can be seen at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

--Old V-Runner