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[Illustration: T. M. Harris]
ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN
A History of the Great Conspiracy
Trial of the Conspirators by a Military Commission
and a Review of the Trial of John H. Surratt
by
T. M. HARRIS
Late Brigadier-General U. S. V. and Major-General By Brevet
A Member of the Commission
Boston, Mass.
American Citizen Company
7 Bromfield Street
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1892,
By T. M. HARRIS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
All Rights Reserved.
Typography by Fish & Sancton, 198 Washington St., Boston.
EXPLANATION.
It is perhaps necessary that the author should explain the sense in
which the term, "Great Conspiracy," in the title of his book, is used.
It is not at all in the same sense in which it is used by General
Logan in his book. In that it is used as the equivalent of the Great
Rebellion, only that it broadly covers all that led to and culminated
in the war against the government, designated as "The Rebellion." It is
only here used to designate the conspiracy that resorted to the policy
of assassination as a means to give aid to the rebellion; and the
reader who follows the author through will then be able to perceive why
he designates this a "Great Conspiracy."
PREFACE.
It is now more than twenty-seven years since the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States,--an event of the
greatest importance at the time, not only to the people of the United
States, but to the civilized world. The trial of the conspirators by
a military commission created the greatest possible interest; and the
proceedings and testimony were published from day to day by all of the
great newspapers of the country, and read with avidity. The judgment of
those who carefully studied the testimony at the time was formed upon a
competent knowledge of the facts.
And yet, even then, the fate of the prisoners on trial before the
Commission, to be found innocent or guilty according to the evidence,
constituted the great point of interest, and thus tended to divert
attention from the evidence against the other parties charged not only
with being co-conspirators, but as being the instigators of the plot.
Since that time a new generation has come on to the stage of action,
and as the official report of the trial by Ben Pittman, published at
the time, is in the hands of but comparatively few people, a concise
history of this great event, in popular form, but founded on the
evidence, seemed to the writer to be due and called for at the present
time.
The necessity for this has been emphasized by a recent revival of
efforts that have been made from time to time, ever since the
execution of the assassins that were condemned to death, to prejudice
public sentiment against the government by the assumption of the
innocence of one of the parties executed--Mrs. Surratt.
Only a few months since (May 30, 1891), La Salle Institute in New York
City was crowded by an audience that came together expecting to hear
Cardinal Gibbons and Father Walter review the case of Mrs. Surratt.
Neither the cardinal nor the father appeared, but a Mr. Sloane arose
and read to the audience a letter from Father Walter on the subject.
This letter contained nothing new to those who were familiar with the
case at the time of its occurrence. It was substantially the same that
was published over his signature shortly after her execution. After
stating that he was her confessor, and that his priestly vows did not
permit him to reveal the secrets of the confessional, he very calmly
and positively states his belief in her entire innocence, basing that
belief on what he professes to know. He then relates the efforts he
made to get a reprieve and a postponement of her execution for a few
days, and expresses the belief that could he have succeeded in this for
only ten days he could have saved her life.
He then complains of the manner in which he was treated by the
President, Andrew Johnson, and Judge Holt, who referred him back and
forth, each to the other, and that between them he could get nothing
accomplished.
A story has also been gotten up of a Union soldier who was a member of
the conspiracy and knew all of its members and secrets, who affirms
the innocence of Mrs. Surratt. The most rational and, at the same
time, charitable thing to be said about this story is, that this Union
soldier was manufactured for the occasion.
That portion of the press of to-day that inherits the old copper-head
animus, greedily publishes all such things as these, and indulges in
the wildest latitude of editorial comment and false statements. They
have buried all of the members of the Commission but one many times;
have followed all of the principal actors in the scene to violent and
miserable deaths; and have made it manifest that had the Almighty Ruler
of the Universe viewed the matter in their light, and been as swift in
his retributions as they would have had him to be, not one who had any
connection with the arrest, trial, and execution of the assassins of
the great and good President would have been left alive.
They have manifested an especial venom of feeling against the then
Secretary of War, Hon. E. M. Stanton, iterating and reiterating the
absurd and false statement that he died from the violence of his own
hand, being crazed with remorse. Why they should thus select Mr.
Stanton as the especial object of their hatred cannot be seen from
any connection he had with this case. His part, though important and
involving great responsibility, was, in fact, a very subordinate
one. He selected the officers to be embraced in the order of detail
for the Commission, under the order of the President, that was all.
Judge Holt conducted the trial and recorded the proceedings under the
President's order, and when he handed that record over to the President
his connection with the case ended. President Johnson then held the
temporal destiny of this woman, as well as that of all the others
convicted, in his own hand. He and he alone was responsible.
From all this it appears that the time has come when a clear, concise
history of this conspiracy and trial should be given to the world. To
this task the writer has addressed himself, and he offers this volume
as the result of his labors. The facts herein narrated in regard to
the assassination, as well as to the parts enacted by each of the
individual members of the conspiracy, are drawn from the testimony
before the Commission. They have been thrown into the form of a
connected narrative, and there has been nothing stated as a fact but
what is fully sustained by the evidence which formed the basis of
the decisions of the Commission. Nothing has been admitted into this
narrative but what rests on the specific testimony of unimpeachable
witnesses. The author only deems it necessary that the opinion, or
belief, of Father Walter, and all others of his persuasion, shall be
confronted by the testimony in the case, in order that an intelligent
judgment shall be reached. At the time of this trial there were just
two classes of people in this country--the friends and the enemies of
the government. The former were united and determined in their purpose
and effort to preserve and perpetuate the government established
by our fathers under the constitution that included in its purpose
and provisions the union of the states and made us a nation. The
latter were madly bent on its overthrow, and so judged favorably or
unfavorably of the occurrences of the times, as they tended to favor
or hinder the accomplishment of their purposes. The feelings of both
parties had been wrought up to the highest pitch of intensity because
the matters at issue had been submitted to the arbitrament of the
sword. The result of this appeal was clearly foreshadowed at the time
of the assassination of the President, and before the conclusion of
the trial of his murderers the cause of the Confederacy had collapsed.
The rebellion was virtually overcome. The deep political scheme to
give it a new lease of life and bring to its aid new elements of
success by the assassinations that had been planned, had been too
long delayed, and its execution had become utterly impracticable. The
soldiers of the rebellion had fought their fight--a brave and plucky
and protracted fight. They realized the hopelessness of their cause
and, though greatly disappointed and mortified at their failure, they
had the consciousness that they had done all that brave men could do
to win success, and so were ready to accept the result, return to their
homes, and resume citizenship under the government they were unable to
overthrow. Not so with the secret active enemies of the government.
They were not willing to accept defeat, but were, nevertheless (happily
for the country), in a condition that they could only show their
enmity by maligning and villifying the authorities they were unable
to overthrow; and of this privilege they fully availed themselves.
Thus it has come to pass that the magnitude, scope, and purpose of
the assassination conspiracy are unknown to the present generation.
All that a large majority of those who have come upon the stage of
action since that time know of this, in many respects, one of the most
important trials that has ever occurred in our history, is what they
have learned through the efforts of these vituperators; and they have
never seen it referred to other than as the trial of Mrs. Surratt.
The Commission was not called upon to render a decision as to the
innocence or guilt of the persons charged by the government with being
co-conspirators with John H. Surratt and John Wilkes Booth, who were
not in the custody of the government and so not before the Commission;
but the government, having assumed the responsibility of charging
Jefferson Davis, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson,
William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young, and
others, with thus conspiring to kill and murder Abraham Lincoln, Andrew
Johnson, Wm. H. Seward, and Ulysses S. Grant, was under the necessity
of vindicating its honor and dignity before the world by presenting
the evidence in its possession on which its charge was founded. It
will be my purpose to present this evidence, and to show the full
significance and purpose of the plot, and with whom it originated.
Many of the prominent actors in this tragedy have been summoned before
a higher tribunal to answer for the deeds done in the body. There we
are content to leave them, assured that "all things are naked and open
to the eyes of Him with whom they have to do," and that there will be
no mistakes made in the decisions there rendered. And toward those who
yet remain, it is with no feelings of personal enmity that the author
shall write. He only knows them as they are revealed in the testimony,
and by this he shall endeavor to deal fairly and candidly. They made
themselves conspicuous in their connection with public affairs of
the greatest importance, and so their acts belong to the public. If
they have made a bad record, it is due to the truth of history that
their acts shall be fully unfolded. History is a truthful narration
of events that have occurred; and its conclusions must be based on a
consideration of all of the facts, taken in their proper order and
relation to the events. The aim of the writer has been to give a candid
and reliable history of the Great Conspiracy as deduced from the
evidence before the Commission and to be found in the official report
of the proceedings published by Ben Pittman immediately after the trial.
The asperities of the great conflict have been largely obliterated by
the many happy years of peace that have intervened since that unhappy
period. We have but one country and one flag, which almost all have
learned to love as of old. Let us draw wisdom and virtue from the
history of the past, learning as well from our errors and mistakes as
from our virtues, that we may, by a course of well-doing, gain the
favor of Him who holds the destiny of nations in His hands, and who
pulls down one and sets another up.
The stability of a popular government must rest on the virtue and
intelligence of its people. Our institutions were established on this
basis alone, and on this alone can they stand. The divorcement of
Church and State by the framers of our constitution was one of the
wise conclusions which they drew from the past; but it was no part of
their purpose to divorce religion from the State. On the contrary,
their politics was a part of their religion and was deduced from the
teachings of God's word. Let us beware of the effort of the present
time to divorce politics from religion because we rightly divorce the
Church from the State.
There is no morality that can make a man a valuable and a reliable
citizen of a free state except the morality of the Christian religion
as taught in God's word. It is the duty, therefore, of every parent and
every teacher to instill into the minds of our youth this Christian
morality as a basis for the highest patriotism and noblest citizenship.
Let the American flag float over every school-house, and the morality
of the Bible be taught with the authority inherent in God's word. Then
will the days of assassinations, whether political or religious, come
to an end. Owing to a variety of causes, the facts connected with this
most important event in our nation's history have been slurred over
and obscured. Scarcely one in a thousand of our people to-day have any
knowledge of their existence.
The object of the writer will be to revive them and bring them out
clearly to the knowledge of all.
T. M. HARRIS.
RITCHIE C. H., W. Va.
CONTENTS.
EXPLANATION 3
PREFACE 5
CONTENTS 13
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY 17
CHAPTER II.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE PLOT 24
CHAPTER III.
ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT AND ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION
OF SECRETARY SEWARD 34
CHAPTER IV.
THE NEWS COMMUNICATED TO THE WORLD, AND ITS EFFECT 47
CHAPTER V.
UNRAVELLING THE PLOT--PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF BOOTH AND
HEROLD--DEATH OF BOOTH 51
CHAPTER VI.
UNRAVELLING THE CONSPIRACY--ARREST OF SPANGLER, O'LAUGHLIN,
ATZERODT, MUDD, AND ARNOLD 60
CHAPTER VII.
QUESTIONS PRELIMINARY TO THE TRIAL--WHAT SORT OF TRIAL
SHOULD BE GIVEN, CIVIL OR MILITARY 82
CHAPTER VIII.
A MILITARY COMMISSION--ITS NATURE, CONSTITUTION, DUTIES,
AND JURISDICTION 96
CHAPTER IX.
CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMISSION, AND TRIAL 98
CHAPTER X.
EVIDENCE IN REGARD TO ATROCITIES NOT EMBRACED IN THE CHARGE
AND SPECIFICATIONS, FOR WHICH DAVIS AND HIS CANADA
CABINET WERE RESPONSIBLE 118
CHAPTER XI.
EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY THE GOVERNMENT TO SUSTAIN ITS CHARGE
AND SPECIFICATIONS 147
CHAPTER XII.
THE GOVERNMENT WITNESSES AGAINST DAVIS AND HIS ASSOCIATES
IN THIS CRIME 163
CHAPTER XIII.
A CRITICISM OF NICOLAY AND HAY 177
CHAPTER XIV.
JACOB THOMPSON'S BANK ACCOUNT--WHAT BECAME OF THE MONEY 182
CHAPTER XV.
THE CASE OF MRS. SURRATT 192
CHAPTER XVI.
FATHER WALTER 204
CHAPTER XVII.
CONCLUSION 211
CHAPTER XVIII.
FLIGHT AND CAPTURE OF JOHN H. SURRATT 212
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
INDICTMENT AND TRIAL 229
CHAPTER II.
A CRITICISM OF THE DEFENSE 253
CHAPTER III.
TREATMENT OF WITNESSES AND EVIDENCE BY THE COUNSEL FOR
THE DEFENSE, AND THEIR ANIMUS TOWARD THE GOVERNMENT
AND APPEALS TO THE POLITICAL PREJUDICES OF JURORS 259
APPENDIX 317
PREFACE TO APPENDIX 319
ARGUMENT OF JOHN A. BINGHAM 325
CONTROVERSY BETWEEN PRESIDENT JOHNSON AND JUDGE HOLT 407
PART I.
ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN.
[Illustration: A. Lincoln ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The rebellion of the slave-holding states, and the attempt to establish
a separate government by force of arms, was solely in the interest
of the institution of slavery. The Southern Confederacy was to rest
on this institution as its corner-stone. By the establishment of the
Confederacy it was intended to end, forever, the agitation of this
question, and establish the system of human slavery as one of the
permanent institutions of the world. And all this in the nineteenth
century of the Christian era! Preparatory to this the pulpit and the
press had been suborned, the Christian conscience of the country had
been debauched, and the doctrine that slavery was a Divine institution
was taught, and accepted as true, by one-half of the American people.
A doctor of divinity, or even a common preacher, who could prove this
to his own satisfaction, and that of his hearers, at once achieved
popularity, and had his great learning and ability heralded by the
secular press throughout the South land. Neither was this kind of
preaching confined to the South. It found a distinct and earnest echo
in many places in the North. It was argued, and no doubt sincerely
believed, that slavery was the best condition for securing the
happiness and welfare of the African race--the condition in which
the negro could be most useful to the world; that his condition had
been greatly improved by his transplantation from a heathen land and
the environments of barbarism to a Christian land and civilized and
Christian environments; and that subjection to a higher and superior
race was necessary to his deriving the highest benefit from the change.
Slavery, it was taught, was a patriarchal institution, and that it was
only through it that the highest ideal of human civilization could be
attained. It was natural that a people whose judgment had crystalized
around such opinions as these should be intolerant of opposition, as
they had closed the door to discussion on this question; and so for
several generations a contrary opinion was not tolerated, or allowed
to find expression, in the slave-holding states. The agitation of this
question, in its moral aspects, by constantly increasing numbers of
earnest, able men in the North, at last led to the organization of
a political party opposed to this institution, and the question of
slavery thus became a political question.
The friends of the institution instinctively recognized the danger that
thus confronted them, and began to strengthen their fences by most
stringent measures to repress discussion and shut out the light. This
was a tacit admission that they felt themselves unable to stand before
the world in argument. It may be laid down as an axiom, that whenever
a political party forecloses discussion on any subject, but more
especially on a great moral issue, it is not only on the wrong side of
that issue, but has an intuitive perception of that fact.
It may also be accepted as an axiom, that the more inconsistent a man's
attitude is on any great moral question the more intolerant will he be
of opposition. Not only were the most stringent laws passed to prevent
the discussion of the institution of slavery in its moral aspects in
the Southern States, but also the most lawless and violent measures
were resorted to, so that it was as much as a man's life was worth to
undertake to make a public argument against slavery in a slave-holding
state, and even to be found earnestly opposed to the institution in
sentiment was to put personal safety in jeopardy. The making of this
question a political question tended largely to de-sectionalize it. No
party could hope to succeed, as a National party, without the vote of
the South, and this could only be secured by concessions to the demands
of the slave holders in the interest of that institution; and so the
party that was willing to concede the most to their demands became the
dominant party in the nation. Thus the leading Democratic politicians,
all over the North, became the staunch advocates of slavery; and we
all know with what blind confidence, and fierce determination, the
masses follow their political leaders. The culmination of the contest
over this question, resulting in the election of Abraham Lincoln
to the Presidency by a party openly opposed to slavery, caused its
friends to take their appeal from the ballot box to the sword; and
this appeal found those who were the friends of the institution from
political party considerations scattered all over the North in quite
formidable numbers, constituting an enemy in the rear of our armies
that gave to the administration of President Lincoln no little anxiety
and embarrassment, making it necessary for him, as early as September,
1862, to proclaim martial law and suspend the writ of _habeas corpus_
in respect to all persons in the United States who were found to be
actively disloyal, and engaged in efforts to aid the rebellion. The
following is a copy of his proclamation:--
GENERAL ORDERS NO. 141.
WAR DEPARTMENT,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 1862.
The following Proclamation by the President is published for
the information and government of the Army and all concerned:
_By the President of the United States of America._
A PROCLAMATION.
Whereas it has become necessary to call into service not only
volunteers but also portions of the militia of the States
by draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in
the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately
restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering
this measure and from giving aid and comfort in various ways
to the insurrection: Now, therefore, be it ordered: First,
That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary
measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents,
their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all
persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia
drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and
comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States
shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and
punishment by court-martial or military commission. Second,
That the writ of _habeas corpus_ is suspended in respect to
all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the
rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal,
military prison, or other place of confinement, by any military
authority, or by sentence of any court-martial or military
commission. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-fourth day of
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the
eighty-seventh.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
"By the President,
"WILLIAM H. SEWARD, _Secretary of State_.
By order of the Secretary of War,
"L. THOMAS, _Adjutant General_."
"Official."
This disloyal element was rendered much more formidable by the fact
of its perfect combination, through secret, oath-bound organizations
under the names of Knights of the Golden Circle and Order of American
Knights. These secret orders no doubt had their origin in the South,
preparatory to secession and war; but after the war had been commenced
it was chiefly in the North that they were useful to the rebel cause,
and it was through these that the assassination of the President-elect
was to have been accomplished at Baltimore when on his way to the
Capital in 1861, and thus his inauguration as President was to have
been prevented. We thus see the desperate character of the political
leaders of the rebellion, who were ready to frustrate the expressed
will of the people by resorting to assassination. We need not think
strange that a rebellion which was ready to resort to such means in its
incipiency should finally expire under the weight of this infamy.
By these secret organizations, the enemies of the government, wherever
they might be, possessed the means of a secret recognition amongst
their members. And under whatever circumstances they might be placed,
the obligations of their oath afforded them confidence and security.
They constituted a brotherhood, and by their secret grips, signs,
passwords, etc., they had a guarantee of unity of sentiment and of
purpose, and of faithfulness to each other and to the obligations of
their oath.
These organizations were regarded as allies by the rebel government,
and were counted on as a valuable factor to secure the success of its
arms. This element in the North kept itself in constant communication
with the rebel government and the rebel armies, and thus, in a large
degree, filled the place of spies in giving information. To furnish
facilities for communication with its friends in the North, as also
for various other purposes in aid of the rebel cause, the Confederate
Government sent a number of its ablest civilians to Canada, at an
early period of the war, as its secret agents, who established their
headquarters at Montreal. This cabal consisted of the following
persons: Jacob Thompson, who had been Secretary of the Interior under
Buchanan's administration; Clement C. Clay, who had been a United
States Senator from Alabama; Beverly Tucker, who had been a Circuit
Judge in Virginia; George N. Sanders, William C. Cleary, Prof.
Holcomb, George Harper, and others. Of these, Thompson, Tucker, and
Clay seem to have held semi-official positions, and we will designate
them as Davis's Canada Cabinet. The others named, as also others
unnamed above, appear to have acted as aids, in a subordinate capacity,
in the execution of their plots. They all claimed to be acting as
agents of the Rebel Government upon their oaths on the trial for the
extradition of the St. Alban's raiders.
The proclamation of martial law and suspension of the writ of _habeas
corpus_ in September, 1862, had the effect of restraining the open,
active efforts of these secret disloyal organizations to cripple the
resources at Mr. Lincoln's command for suppressing the rebellion,
inasmuch as any such efforts were met by arrest, military trial, and
imprisonment; yet, inasmuch as they created a necessity for a military
police at all important points in the North, they felt that they were
still rendering valuable service to the rebellion by thus weakening
the force at the front; and whilst it was necessary to conduct their
operations with much more secrecy, their organizations were not
disbanded. They went on to effect a complete military organization,
thoroughly officered and drilled, and in many cases armed, holding
themselves ready to take the field in any emergency that might arise
that would justify so bold a measure. The Canada Cabinet watched over
these organizations with great interest, and directed their operations,
and by many schemes sought to bring about an emergency that would
enable them to bring this army, which they had hidden away in secrecy,
into the field of active operations for the success of their cause.
The officers of these secret military organizations were chosen from
the local political leaders in the different localities where they
existed, and kept themselves in communication with the Canada Cabinet,
and through this medium the Confederate Government was kept informed of
their strength, organization, plans, and purposes. So bold and active
did they become, in spite of the efforts of the military police for
their suppression, that the government finally found it necessary,
through its secret service department, to possess itself of a thorough
knowledge of these organizations, and in this way was enabled to
capture the arms and munitions of war which had been secured and were
hidden away in secrecy by them, and also to arrest the leading officers
of these organizations in several states. Whilst by these means these
treasonable combinations were seriously crippled, they were unchanged
in animus and still struggled to maintain their existence. They kept
themselves in communication with the Canada conspirators, and ready
to co-operate with them for the success of their schemes should the
conditions become sufficiently promising to justify them in declaring
themselves openly.
It was in the summer of 1864 that Jacob Thompson, according to the
testimony before the Commission, declared that he had his friends all
over the Northern States, who were willing to go to any length in order
to serve the cause of the South. Jefferson Davis's Canada Cabinet kept
up a constant correspondence with their chief, through secret agents
who travelled directly through the states, and even through the city of
Washington.
So potent was the aid of secret signs, grips, pass-words, etc., as a
means of recognition, and so universally were the members of these
secret orders diffused over the country, that they could go anywhere.
Should one agent find it necessary to stop his task for fear of
detection, another would take it up; and where men could not go, women
went, to carry communications. The Canada Cabinet was well supplied
with money by the government at Richmond, and in this department of the
service Jacob Thompson seems to have been Secretary of the Treasury.
He kept his deposits largely in the Ontario Bank of Montreal, and his
credits there arose from Southern bills of exchange on London. The
object of the writer in this introductory chapter has been to place
clearly before his readers the formidable character of the conspiracy,
which, with the President of the Confederacy at its head, and organized
by his Canada Cabinet, was intended to throw the loyal North into a
state of chaotic confusion and bring to the aid of their sinking cause
the disloyal element all over the North, by a series of assassinations
which would leave the nation without a civil and military head and
without any constitutional way of electing another President, and
at the same time would deprive the armies of the United States of a
lawful commander. This was the last card of the political leaders of
the rebellion, the last desperate resort to retrieve a cause that had
been manifestly lost in open warfare. It may seem like temerity in the
writer to make such a charge involving a total disregard of the laws of
civilized warfare, and such utter moral depravity on the part of these
conspirators, and to claim for their wicked project the approval of
Jefferson Davis, but the evidence in the possession of the government
and adduced before the Commission, it will be seen, fully justified
the government in making this charge. The persons brought before the
Commission, though in full sympathy in sentiment with their employers,
were merely the tools and hired assassins of the Canada Cabinet, acting
under the advice and sanction of their chief. I shall now proceed to
bring before my readers the denouement of their plot, and, from the
evidence given before the Commission, show that the origin, scope and
purpose of the conspiracy have been truly indicated above.