The Conspirators and Their Trial and
Execution
At about 10 p. m. on April 14, 1865, at almost the
same time that Booth assassinated President Lincoln, Lewis Paine entered
the residence of Secretary of State William H. Seward, Madison Place,
Lafayette Square, on the pretext of delivering medicine to Seward, who
had been injured in a carriage accident. Paine fractured the skull of
Frederick Seward, a son of the Secretary, with his revolver, slashed a
male nurse, and stabbed Seward twice in the face. Only the fact that he
was wearing a steel brace around his neck and broken jaw saved Seward's
life.
The conspirators were quickly rounded up following
Lincoln's assassination. Atzerodt, who had been assigned to kill Vice
President Johnson, lacked the courage to carry out the plan, and was
captured 6 days afterwards. Arnold and O'Laughlin were apprehended 3
days after the murder. On April 17, Mrs. Surratt was arrested at her
boarding house, along with Paine who had walked in while the police were
there. Dr. Mudd was arrested on April 21.
The military tribunal established to try the
conspirators did not distinguish between the plan for abduction and the
assassination. Paine, Herold, Atzerodt, and Mrs. Surratt were hanged.
Dr. Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlin were sentenced to life imprisonment at
Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Dr. Mudd and Arnold were
pardoned by President Johnson in 1869, and O'Laughlin died of yellow
fever in 1867. Spangler, charged with aiding in Booth's escape, was
sentenced to 6 years' imprisonment but was pardoned with the others.
John Surratt, who had fled to Europe, was captured at Alexandria, Egypt,
and tried in Washington by a civil court in 1867. He was freed when the
jury disagreed.
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