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The Capital Crime
With the fall of Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, on April 3, and the subsequent surrender of Confederate forces under General Lee at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, something decisive had to be done. Listening to a speech given by President Lincoln at the White House on the night of April 11, Booth became irate and determined to avenge the South. He drew the remainder of his gang together.
John Surratt had already been sent to assist Gen. Edwin Lee in getting the last of the Confederate gold into Canada and to investigate the prisoner-of-war camp in Elmira, New York; Arnold and O'Loughlen had distanced themselves from Booth. Herold, Atzerodt, and Powell, however, were still ready to assist. Booth would assassinate the president, Surratt the Vice President, and Powell the Secretary of State. Herold would serve as scout in helping their escape.
By mid-day of April 14, Booth learned of Lincoln's intent to attend the play, Our American Cousin, at Ford's Theatre that night. He hurriedly prepared his plan of action. Visiting the Surratt boardinghouse, he learned that Mrs. Surratt would be visiting her country home that afternoon on a business matter. Booth left a package with her to deliver to the tenant, John M. Lloyd. It was discovered later that the package contained field glasses that Booth would need for his escape through Southern Maryland.
By approximately 10:15 that night, Booth easily entered the Presidential Box at Ford's Theatre and fired a shot into the back of Lincoln's head. Escaping out the back door of the theater, he would meet up with Herold outside the city and head to Surratt House to retrieve the supplies that had been hidden there. Atzerodt failed to attack the Vice President, and Powell's vicious attack on Secretary of State Seward failed to kill the statesman. Both conspirators would be captured and placed on trial in the following weeks. |