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. SurrattHarris, T. M. (Thomas Mealey)
History
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
Harris, T. M. (Thomas Mealey)
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination; Surratt, John H. (John Harrison), 1844-1916
stood holding out the package in his left hand, grasping with his right
hand the pistol in his overcoat pocket. Frederick requested him to give
him the package, saying he would deliver it; but Payne persisted in
saying that that would not do; he _must_ see Mr. Seward,--he _must_ see
him.
Frederick finally said, "I am the proprietor here, and his son; if
you cannot leave your message with me, you cannot leave it at all."
Payne still continued parleying with Frederick for some time; but
finding that his talking availed nothing, he started as if to go down
stairs. This, however, was only a feint on his part in order to throw
Frederick off of his guard and to get rid of the porter who stood
behind him. He again walked so heavily that the porter requested him
not to make so much noise; but at that moment, Payne, having prepared
himself for the encounter, turned quickly, and making a spring towards
Frederick, struck him two or three times with the pistol, which he had
all the time held in his hand, fracturing his skull and knocking him
senseless to the floor. Having learned which was the room occupied
by the invalid by seeing Frederick go into it, Payne rushed past the
prostrate man, opened the door of the Secretary's room, and was met by
Sergeant Robinson. Having broken and thrown down his revolver in his
encounter with Frederick, he had drawn his dagger, and at his first
encounter with the sergeant he struck him with his knife, cutting an
ugly gash in his forehead, and partially knocking him down. He then
pressed rapidly forward, knife in hand, to where the invalid lay in his
bed. Throwing himself upon him, he commenced striking at his face and
neck with his dagger. The Secretary was reclining in a half-sitting
posture, having the coverings well drawn up about his neck and chin,
to which circumstance the failure of the would-be assassin to take
his life was no doubt due. The sergeant, as soon as he recovered his
equilibrium, sprang upon Payne, and Major Seward, having been awakened
by the screams of his sister, sprang into the room in his night-dress.
Finding the sergeant grappling him in such a way as to hinder the
effectiveness of his thrusts at the Secretary, and probably thinking
that he had accomplished his purpose, he turned his attention toward
making his escape. In disentangling himself from the grasp of the two
men who now had hold of him, he gave to Major Seward several severe
cuts about the head and face, crying all the time, "I am mad! I am
mad!" Finally, pulling himself loose, he started to make his way to the
street. Meeting a Mr. Emrick W. Hansel, another nurse, on the stairs,
he made a thrust at him with his knife, inflicting an ugly wound. He
now left the house, leaving five of its inmates stabbed, cut, and
bleeding behind him. Having reached the street, he deliberately threw
his dagger away, mounted the horse which he had hitched in front of
the door, and rode off. Thus, for the time being, this inhuman monster
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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 — John Shaqi
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