The Derringer Booth used to Murder the President

[Shotgun Steve]

During the 72 hours after he made his assassination decision on April 11, Booth hurriedly organized Powell, Atzerodt and Herold for action on April 14. Booth was to kill Lincoln at Ford's Theater. Powell was to kill Secretary of State William Seward at home and Herold was to assist him. Atzerodt was to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. All were to strike at 10:15 p.m.

"Before he went into Ford's theatre," said Boyle, "Booth stopped in a saloon along the side of the theater. As he was having a drink, someone in there recognized him and said, 'You're not the actor your father was,' Booth's answer was 'When I leave the stage, I'll be the most famous man in America.'" A short time later, sneaking into the President's theater box, he shot Lincoln in the head at point-blank range.

Simultaneously, Lewis Thornton Powell and David Herold arrived at the home of Secretary Seward, who had helped write and had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Herold remained outside with the horses as Powell went to the front door. Carrying a Whitney Navy revolver and a 12-inch Bowie knife, he pushed past a servant and was confronted on the stairs by Seward's son, Frederick. Powell tried to shoot him in the head at close range but the revolver would not fire, so he beat him across the head with it. As he entered the elder Seward's room, Powell fought with both a male nurse and Seward's daughter before leaping on the bed and slashing the Secretary of State multiple times with the Bowie knife. On his way out of the building, he fought with both Seward's second son and a State Department courier, whose throat he slashed.

But once out on the street, he found himself alone. Herold, who was supposed to guide Powell out of the city, had heard all the noise and run away. Powell wandered around Washington for days, hiding in the Congressional cemetery at night, where he slept in a tree.

Meanwhile, George Atzerodt, armed with a gun, had checked into Washington's Kirkwood House where the Vice President was also staying. Before the appointed attack time, Atzerodt began drinking in the hotel bar. Drunk and unable to bring himself to actually carry out the murder, he wandered the streets of the capital for the rest of the night.

[Shotgun Franklin]

Few people know the extent of the plot or the folks hanged for it.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

I am not familiar with the story, but wasn't there some doctor who treated Booth for his leg, and was later imprisoned/hanged for being an accomplice?

[Advertising]

[River City John]

Dr. Samuel Mudd. He was not a conspirator, just a doctor in Northern Virginia where Booth happened to have his ankle set.
Imprisoned. While in prison in Gulf area helped treat a Yellow Fever outbreak, much to his honor and sacrifice. Family fought for years to get his name cleared.

Mary Surratt kept the boarding house where the conspirators met at times. She was hanged.
Lewis, or perhaps Louis Payne (I'm going by memory here.) was a mentally deficient young man whose job was to hold horses for those coming and going on theatre business, and was asked to hold Booth's horse for him outside the theatre. Most likely not in on the conspiracy, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hanged.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

So the old cliche' "My name is Mudd" actually had a historical basis ...

Sorry, couldn't resist *S*

[Dr. Bob]

Glad that they are available to view!

[John Smith]

Shouldn't that be Deringer, sinch it was made by Henry Deringer?

[kflach]

I vaguely remember something about a conspiracy but this is the most I've seen on it. Thanks!

[Forty Rod]

So the old cliche' "My name is Mudd" actually had a historical basis ...

Sorry, couldn't resist *S*

Actually, that is thought to be the origin of the phrase.

[Mogorilla]

There are scores and scores of books on the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.   Some good, some bad.   To top it off (working from memory), When they had Booth cornered, the guy in charge was trying to take him alive, an odd ball corporal shot him, later he belonged to a cult, performed a self-casteration, ended life in an assylum. 

[River City John]

Boston Corbett was his name.

Booth was dragged out of the burning barn. Shot in the neck, it must have affected his feeling and arm movement. He asked to have his arms raised so that he could see his hands. Last words were, "Useless. Useless"

Stanton did not want his grave to become a martyr's shrine, so I believe no one really knows where his body was buried. Originall buried in the dirt floor of one of the Forts around Washington, it was disinterred at night and reburied.