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
Arriving at Garrett's, the cavalry was so disposed of as to prevent
any one from escaping, and after having extorted, by threats, the
information that Booth and Herold were concealed in the barn, it
was at once surrounded. They were ordered to come out and surrender
themselves, which Booth refused to do. After a considerable parley,
Herold came to the door and gave himself up. He was followed by the
maledictions of Booth, who accused him of cowardly unfaithfulness in
thus deserting him. Booth still refusing to surrender, a wisp of hay
was fired and thrown in on the hay in the barn. From this start the
barn was soon lighted up with the flames of the burning hay. Booth
was known to be armed and desperate, and as the burning hay began to
illuminate the barn he was seen, carbine in hand, peering through the
cracks, and trying to get an aim. He had before offered to fight the
crowd for a chance of his life if the Colonel would but withdraw his
men one hundred yards. Being answered that they had come to capture
him, not to fight, he was preparing to sell his life as dearly as
possible. At this moment, Sergeant Boston Corbett, of the Sixteenth
New York Cavalry, fired at Booth through a crack in the barn, upon his
own responsibility, and struck him on the back part of his head, very
nearly in the same part where his own ball had struck the President,
only a little lower down, and passing obliquely through the base of
the brain and upper part of the spinal cord; it produced instantly
almost complete paralysis of every muscle in his body below the seat
of the wound, the nerves of organic life only sufficing to keep up a
very difficult and imperfect respiration, and a feeble action of the
heart for a few hours, when, with the coming of the morning of the
26th of April, 1865, twelve days after the commission of his crime and
commencement of his flight, the malefactor expired. He was perfectly
clear in his mind, but could not swallow, and was scarcely able to
articulate so as to be understood, although he seemed anxious to talk.
He requested the officer, who was waiting over him and trying to
minister to him, to tell his mother that he died for his country. Thus
was avenged, not the loyal North alone, but the cause of justice, the
cause of freedom, the cause of humanity. Amongst the articles found on
his person the most important as bearing on the conspiracy in which he
was engaged was a bill of exchange, as follows:--
No. 1492.
Stamp.
THE ONTARIO BANK,
MONTREAL BRANCH.
_Exchange for £61 12s. 10d._
MONTREAL, 27th October, 1864.
Sixty days after sight of this first exchange (second and
third of same tenor and date unpaid) pay to the order of J.
Wilkes Booth sixty-one pounds, twelve shillings, and ten pence
sterling. Value received and charge to account of this office.
To Messrs. GLYNN, MILLS & CO., London.
[Signed]
H. STANUS, _Manager_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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