PREPARATIONS FOR THE EXECUTION OF THE PLOT.
The evidence which will be hereafter referred to shows that John Wilkes
Booth and John H. Surratt had, as early as the latter part of October,
or early in November, 1864, entered into a contract with Davis's Canada
Cabinet to accomplish the assassinations they had planned, and that
they immediately entered upon their work of preparation. It would seem
from the evidence, that at that time the purpose was to execute their
designs at a much earlier date than they did; and that this delay was
occasioned by the Canada conspirators.
[Illustration: J. WILKES BOOTH.]
Surratt and Booth, however, were busied from that time on in making
their preparations. The first step was to enlist in the conspiracy a
sufficient number of competent and reliable assistants, to each one
of whom was assigned the part he was to take in it, and to train,
equip, and prepare him for the part assigned him. The assassination of
President Lincoln had fallen to Payne by lot; and to him was entrusted
the task of making all needed preparations. Payne had visited Canada
during the fall of 1864, and probably there made the acquaintance of
Booth. To a man of Booth's sagacity, a mere glance at Payne would be
sufficient to impress him with the idea that he was one of the helpers
he wanted; and as we find him as early as February, 1865, transplanted
to Washington City by Booth and Surratt, and from that time on
associating with them very intimately but very secretly, and without
employment, or visible means, passing back and forth between Washington
and Baltimore, and finally provided with quarters in Washington by
Surratt, there can be no doubt that he was early enlisted in the
conspiracy, and supported by the Canada Cabinet through their agents
in Washington--Booth and Surratt. The author is led to conclude
from studying the evidence that Booth and Surratt were acting under a
considerable latitude of provisional instructions, and that to them was
entrusted the selection of the time and place for the accomplishment of
their purpose. There were a number of persons in Canada, members of the
conspiracy, who were expected to take an active part in its execution;
and it is altogether probable that the original plan contemplated the
accomplishment of these assassinations as opportunities could be found
or made, and that for each one a man had been assigned.
John Wilkes Booth and John Harrison Surratt were the leaders of the
conspiracy in Washington, they having proposed to their co-conspirators
in Canada to accomplish for them the assassinations they had planned.
They were stimulated by their intense hostility to the administration
of President Lincoln and desire for the establishment of the Southern
Confederacy, and also by the delusive idea of winning enduring fame and
the lasting gratitude of their countrymen of the South for being thus
the instruments of retrieving the fortunes of their dying cause. But in
addition to these considerations, they had large promises of pecuniary
reward. They were, in fact, the hired assassins of Jefferson Davis and
his Canada Cabinet.
These two men had been engaged for months in making their preparations
for the assassination of the President, Vice-President, Secretary
Seward, and General Grant. They visited and conferred with the Canada
conspirators from time to time during the summer and fall of 1864,
and early winter of 1865. They traversed the counties of Prince
George, Charles, and St. Mary's, Maryland, lying along the north side
of the Potomac below Washington, to prepare the way for escape by
securing confederates along the contemplated route who would assist
in facilitating their flight by aiding them in their progress, or
by concealing them if necessary. Booth had spent some time in this
work during the fall and early winter, making himself familiar with
the geography of the country, roads, etc., under the pretence that
he desired to purchase lands in Maryland. He found in Charles County
Dr. S. A. Mudd, who sympathized with his plans, and entered into them
at least so far as to pledge him any assistance he could give him
in making his escape. Mudd also visited Booth two or three times in
Washington during the winter, introducing him on the occasion of his
first visit to John H. Surratt; and in the course of these visits he
was always found in company with Booth and others of the conspirators
who were to take an active part in its accomplishment, and was no
doubt kept well informed of the progress of their preparations, and
of the time when it would be attempted after that had been determined
upon. Surratt also spent much time during the winter in this part of
Maryland, in preparation for the work. Being at home there, he could
render Booth valuable assistance by procuring friends who would aid him
in his flight, and in getting him across the Potomac at the selected
point. As this was on the line of a regular underground mail route
between Washington and Richmond, with which Surratt was familiar, he,
of course, had no difficulty in making satisfactory arrangements, the
great mass of the population in all of these counties being intensely
disloyal.
They had selected and arranged with Payne, Atzerodt, O'Laughlin,
Arnold, Herold, Spangler, and numerous other parties who were never
made known, to take an active part in the work of assassination, or to
aid them in their escape. Booth and Surratt had provided horses for
the occasion, and, with Atzerodt and Herold, were known to a number of
liverymen of whom they were liberal and frequent patrons.
Surratt provided quarters for Payne at the Herndon House, representing
him to be a delicate gentleman, and stipulating that his meals should
be served to him in his room. Atzerodt, who was to have assassinated
the Vice-President, had taken a room at the Pennsylvania House. Booth,
being an actor, and familiar with the routine of the play and the work
of the assistants on the stage, having selected Ford's Theatre as the
place for the accomplishment of his purpose, proceeded to make himself
at home amongst the _habitues_ of that establishment. He was a very
handsome man, stylish in his dress, dissolute in his habits, a constant
and free drinker, generous in the expenditure of his money on his vices
of smoking and drinking, and of great personal magnetism. He soon
ingratiated himself with the employees of the theatre, and became a
general favorite.
It was necessary that he should have a co-conspirator at the theatre
to assist him in making his escape. He had labored hard with an actor
in New York by the name of Chester, with whom he was acquainted, to
engage him in the conspiracy, that he might station him at the door of
his exit, to see that his way should be clear and the door open at the
critical moment, for which service he offered to pay him three thousand
dollars; but Chester, after several interviews and much importunity,
absolutely declined, and begged Booth never to mention the matter to
him again. Failing to secure Chester, he turned his attention to Edward
Spangler, an employee at the theatre. Spangler was a man of dissipated
habits, low moral tone, and little intellectual culture, and being
politically in sympathy with Booth, he was easily led by him into the
conspiracy. Booth had had a shed fitted up as a stable in an alley back
of the theatre, and had kept his horse in it occasionally for some time
previous, that he might have it convenient when the supreme moment
should have arrived, without exciting suspicion. To reach the private
box fitted up on the occasion for the occupancy of the President and
General Grant, with their wives, it was necessary to pass through two
doors. The first led into a passage behind the box, the second from
this passage into the box. To prevent any one from following him into
the passage and hindering the accomplishment of his purpose, Booth had
cut, himself, or more likely had had Spangler, who was a kind of rough
carpenter, cut a mortise in the plastering of the passage wall, in such
a position with reference to the door that the end of a wooden bar,
three and a half feet long, which had been prepared for that purpose,
could be inserted in the mortise, and the other end placed against the
panel of the door so that it could not be opened from the outside.
That ingress to this passage might not be prevented by the bolting of
the door by the President and his party after entering, the screws of
the fastenings had been drawn, so that it could be easily pushed open.
A hole had been bored through the door to the box, opposite where the
President's chair was placed, with a small bit, and reamed out with a
knife, so that Booth could, after gaining the passage and barring the
door behind him, peep through this hole and assure himself of the exact
position of his intended victim. The manner in which all of these
arrangements had been made, the mortise in the plastered wall, the
bar of wood fitted to the mortise, and in length having been exactly
prepared to fit against the panel of the door and act as a brace, show
that all these preparations had been made with the greatest forethought
and care.
About three weeks previous to the assassination, John H. Surratt,
Herold, and Atzerodt brought to the tavern at Surrattsville, in
Maryland, about ten miles below Washington City, owned by Mrs. Surratt,
and at the time occupied by a man by the name of Lloyd, two carbines,
with ammunition, a monkey-wrench, and a piece of rope. Surratt asked
Lloyd to take charge of these things and keep them secreted, saying
they would be called for before a great while, at the same time showing
him a suitable place about the house in which to hide them. The Surratt
family had lived in this house and kept a country tavern until within
a few months previous, when they had removed to Washington, renting
their tavern to Lloyd, so that Surratt was much more familiar with the
house than Lloyd. These things, as we shall see, were placed there
for the use of Booth and his companion in their flight after the
assassination. As a precautionary measure, Booth, on the Tuesday before
the assassination, sought an interview with Mrs. Surratt, who shortly
after that interview discovered that she had some private business at
Surrattsville that had to be attended to that day, and so she asked
Mr. Wiechmann, a young man who had been a boarder at her house for
several months, to drive her down, saying that she wanted to go and
see a Mr. Nothey who owed her some money. She then sent Wiechmann to
Booth, to get his horse and buggy for the drive. Booth told Wiechmann
that he had sold his horse and buggy, but gave him ten dollars with
which to procure one. Meeting Lloyd on the way down, driving up to
Washington, they stopped; Lloyd got out of his buggy and went to the
side of Mrs. Surratt's buggy, on which she was sitting, when Mrs.
Surratt told Lloyd, as he afterwards testified, in a low voice, so that
Wiechmann did not hear what she said, to have those shooting irons
ready, or handy, as they would be called for before long. On the day
of the assassination Booth again had a private interview with Mrs.
Surratt, after which she again asked Wiechmann to drive her down to
Surrattsville, claiming the same errand as before. On this occasion she
sought an opportunity for a private interview with Lloyd, when she told
him to have the carbines handy, as they would be called for that night,
at the same time handing him a field-glass, which Booth had given to
her, and telling him to have two bottles of whiskey ready.
John H. Surratt left Washington for Richmond on the 25th of March and
returned to Washington on the 3d of April, leaving for Montreal on the
evening of the same day. He showed to Wiechmann--an old college friend
and, at this time, a boarder in his mother's house--nine or eleven
twenty-dollar gold pieces, and sixty dollars in greenbacks, on his
return from Richmond. Surratt, in his Rockville lecture, admits that
he received two hundred dollars in gold from Benjamin to pay expenses
and remunerate for services. Surratt left Washington for Canada on
the evening of the 3d of April, and we find him, by the evidence, in
Montreal on the 6th, where he delivered to Thompson a cipher dispatch
from Jefferson Davis, and a letter from Mr. Benjamin, of Davis's
Richmond Cabinet. After reading these documents, Thompson, laying his
hand on them, said, "This makes the thing all right." The sanction of
the rebel president to his arrangements with the assassins had been
obtained, and authority also for the expenditure of funds to fulfil the
contract. The Canada conspirators who were to take a part prepared at
once, and started for the States, boasting to their friends that they
would hear of the death of Old Abe and others before ten days. This was
on the 8th of April, and nothing now remained but to find, and use, an
opportunity; and Booth selected the appearance of the President at the
theatre as affording the opportunity he sought, and proceeded to make
all his arrangements accordingly.
All things were now ready. Booth had selected the route for his escape
and had provided to be furnished with a field-glass, two carbines,
and two bottles of whiskey at Surrattsville, having sent a notice to
Lloyd to have them ready, as they would be called for that night. He
had provided horses from a livery-stable for himself and Herold, who
was to accompany him. He had also provided a horse for Payne, whose
part was to murder Secretary Seward. He had assembled his assistants
in Washington, to one of whom, Michael O'Laughlin, he had assigned
the task of the assassination of General Grant; and having made these
preparations, he spent the day and afternoon of the 14th of April
looking after the matter generally, and keeping up his courage, or
rather recklessness, with frequent potations of whiskey. To Payne he
had given a one-eyed bay horse, which he had purchased of a man by the
name of Gardner, a neighbor of Dr. Samuel Mudd, in Charles County,
Maryland. Mudd accompanied him, and introduced him to Gardner as a
man who was desirous of purchasing land in that part of Maryland,
and who wished a good driving horse that he could use for a short
time. During the afternoon of the 14th, Booth, Herold, and Atzerodt
hired horses from liverymen, and were to be seen riding here and
there about the streets of Washington, frequently stopping at saloons
to refresh themselves with that which obtunds all moral sensibility
and makes men reckless in wickedness. Booth was acting the part of a
general mustering his forces for the conflict, part of which he thus
displayed openly, but keeping another part in concealment. He kept
himself in active communication with all, and delivered his orders
and instructions. Feeling the full force of the responsibility of
his engagement, and earnestly intent on its complete and thorough
accomplishment, he attended in person to every detail to make failure,
if possible, an impossibility.
It would seem that a previous attempt had been made to assassinate
the President, which had resulted in a failure. It was known that
President Lincoln was in the habit of riding out to the Soldiers' Home
of evenings, passing through a lonely suburb of the city unguarded.
Some time in March, John Wilkes Booth, John H. Surratt, Payne,
Atzerodt, Herold, and two others, left the house of Mrs. Surratt about
two o'clock in the afternoon, on horseback, armed with revolvers
and bowie-knives, and returned about six o'clock under the greatest
possible excitement of rage and disappointment. All the evidence
went to show that this expedition was regarded by them as one of the
greatest importance, involving the necessity of leaving the city,
perhaps for good, as their return in the evening was as much of a
surprise to their friends as it was an occasion of dissatisfaction to
themselves. I think there can hardly be a doubt that they expected to
intercept the President on his way to the Home, and were lying in wait
for him with the purpose of there assassinating him, and then making
their escape. The President, however, upon the earnest advice of his
cabinet, had yielded the point of riding unprotected and alone, and had
accepted the protection of an escort of cavalry on these rides. Booth
and his party finding him thus guarded had been compelled to abandon
the idea of thus finding an opportunity to assassinate him, and so had
to prepare a new plan of operations. There was a rumor, which found
its way into the papers about this time, that there was a plot to
capture the President and carry him a prisoner to Richmond; but however
much Booth's pride and vanity might have impelled him to achieve the
notoriety that would have attended the accomplishment of such a feat,
the difficulties and dangers attending its accomplishment must have
been too obvious to a man of Booth's sagacity, and its success involved
in too much uncertainty, to have justified him in making such an
attempt.
In view of all the facts, I conclude that the real purpose of Booth and
his party on the occasion referred to was to murder the President, and
trust to flight for concealment and safety. But now Booth was fully
possessed with the idea of the practicability of his present plan, and
was determined to know no such word as fail; and that it was entirely
possible that, but for a Providential interference, he might have made
good his escape after murdering the President, we shall hereafter see.
President Lincoln had been convinced by the most undoubted proofs
that a plan for his assassination at Baltimore whilst on his way to
Washington, in 1861, to assume the responsibilities of the office to
which he had been called by the choice of the people, had been arranged
and prepared for by his enemies, and had only been prevented of its
execution by the strategic movement planned by his friends, by which he
passed through that city during the night previous to the morning on
which he was expected.
"From the very beginning of his Presidency Mr. Lincoln had been
constantly subject to the threats of his enemies and the warnings of
his friends. The threats came in every form: his mail was infested with
brutal and vulgar menace, mostly anonymous, the proper expression of
vile and cowardly minds.
"The warnings were not less numerous; the vaporings of village
bullies, the extravagancies of excited secessionist politicians, even
the drolling of practical jokers, were faithfully reported to him by
zealous or nervous friends. Most of these communications received no
notice. In cases where there seemed a ground for inquiry it was made,
as carefully as possible, by the President's private secretary and by
the War Department, but always without substantial results.
"Warnings that appeared to be most definite, when they came to be
examined proved too vague and confused for further attention. The
President was too intelligent not to know he was in some danger. Madmen
frequently made their way to the very door of the executive offices,
and sometimes into Mr. Lincoln's presence.
"He had himself so sane a mind, and a heart so kindly even to his
enemies, that it was hard for him to believe in a political hatred so
deadly as to lead to murder. He would sometimes laughingly say, 'Our
friends on the other side would make nothing by exchanging me for
Hamlin,' the Vice-President having the reputation of more radical views
than his chief. He knew, indeed, that incitements to murder him were
not uncommon in the South. An advertisement had appeared in a paper of
Selma, Alabama, in December, 1864, opening a subscription for funds to
affect the assassination of Lincoln, Seward, and Johnson before the
inauguration."[1]
In view of all this danger he would say "that he could not possibly
guard against it unless he were to shut himself up in an iron box, in
which condition he could scarcely perform the duties of a President.
By the hand of a murderer he could only die once; to go continually in
fear would be to die over and over."
To his faithful and devoted friend, Father Chiniquy, who on several
occasions warned him of his danger, and of the ultimate source of its
inspiration, he said, "I see no other way than to be always prepared to
die. I know my danger; but man must not care how and where he dies,
provided he dies at the post of honor and duty."
We have come to the point now where we find, on the part of his
murderers, all things ready for his taking off; and their intended
victim prepared in mind for his fate, and ready to "die at the post
of honor and duty." What a fearful, and at the same time, sublime
spectacle! The powers of light and the powers of darkness were
contending, as ever, for the supremacy. Satan, the usurper, claims this
world for his kingdom. He has seduced and enslaved the human race, and,
by every false and cunning device, is always resisting every movement
that looks to the disenthralment of mankind, and bringing the world
back to its allegiance to God, its rightful sovereign. How sublime was
the faith of President Lincoln in the ultimate triumph of the right!
How sincerely and believingly could he have sung,
"Thy saints in all this glorious war,
Shall conquer though they die;
They see the triumph from afar,
By faith they bring it nigh."