In 1864, John Wilkes Booth led a plot to abduct Abraham Lincoln and bring him to Richmond, Virginia, where he was used as a bargaining chip by the Confederate government. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln occurred on April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., with three conspirators, Samuel A. Mudd, David Herold, and Samuel Arnold, attending Georgetown College.
On the eve of his first inauguration, Lincoln snuck into Washington at night, evading the would-be assassins who waited for him. On April 14, 1865, Booth was shot in the head while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. The conspirators, including John Wilkes Booth, had promised his mother that he would not fight for the Confederacy, but remained in the North during the Civil War due to his hatred of the Confederacy.
The Lincoln Conspiracy is a little-known but true story about a failed assassination attempt on the sixteenth president. The plot involved meeting with Confederate spies in the summer of 1864, and Booth spearheaded a plan to abduct Lincoln, bring him to Richmond, Virginia, and use him as a bargaining chip. Emmett McLoughlin, a former Franciscan priest, wrote An Inquiry in the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, implicating the Vatican for Lincoln’s murder. President Andrew Johnson signed an executive order on July 5, 1865, confirming the military conviction of a group of people who had conspired to kill the late President Abraham Lincoln.
📹 The Trial and Execution of the Lincoln Conspirators
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In 1961 when I was in 4th grade we studied the Civil War & had to memorize the Gettysburg address & recite it before the class individually. We also learned the songs of that time period. That summer I went to visit some relatives who lived in Virginia & saw an old plantation & the main house & slaves quarters. History came alive for me that year. So grateful that our history truly shows so many that stood up against evil & fought for freedom for so many. If we do not learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. True history is so important. It should make us grateful. That’s why so many people are trying to come here.
While I was in the Army, we had a class on military tribunals. This was a case that was brought up in the discussion. The main reason that they were tried by tribunal is that since the North was still at war with the South, and Lincoln was the President, and those who committed the crime were Southern sympathizers it was viewed as a war crime or as an action by the enemy to Decapitate the leadership of the United States. Now, military courts are different from civilian courts. In the military you are guilty until proven innocent, thus the burden of proof is on the defense and not the government.
My earliest recollection of a family trip was to Springfield, IL to see Lincoln’s home. I was four years old and barely remember the trip, but I bought a tiny toy log cabin that I kept for years until letting it go to be part of a sale to benefit an animal shelter where I lived overseas. I remember I was in awe of Lincoln at the time. My parents said I called him “Winkle.” I just knew he was a great man. One of my earliest memories. And a good one, too.
This is why history is so important and why it must be preserved regardless of how it makes people feel, i was never taught this when I was in school growing up, as African-American born and raised in the south they barely ever talked about the civil war when I was in school they made sure to skim over it and rush through it because they didn’t want to make anybody uncomfortable and that was over 15 plus years ago, I don’t even think they talk much about history today with the kids especially the civil war unless they’re trying to demonize all white people which isn’t right, in my opinion and this might sound bias but I personally believe had they kill any other president I would have been all for them going to a civilian Court, but since they killed Lincoln in my opinion are greatest president ever and knowing that if he had lived I believe African Americans back then life for them would have been a little bit easier Lincoln would have shut down the clan quickly he would never allow Jim Crow laws he never would have allowed what happened at wounded knee and everything else that followed, with all that said I have no problem with the conspirators being sent before the tribunal.
I have two great great uncles, Benjamin and Enoch Ellis who were a part of Lincoln’s bodyguard detail. An interesting thing happened years ago when my brother and I were still in high school. He dated a girl who’s last name is Surratt. My dad, who is a scholar with genealogy, traced her heritage back to Mary Surratt. We marveled at the coincidence of this occurrence which took place in Southeast Kansas. I mean, what are the odds?
One of the relatively unknown facts about the Lincoln Conspiracy Trial, and was something that the War Department went to great lengths to cover up, is that Hugh Louis Paine and Lewis Thornton Powell were separate individuals. Hugh Louis Paine was on of the four condemned, and was executed instead of his third cousin, Lewis Thornton Powell. The Prosecutors, and Lafayette Baker(Chief of the War Bureau of Detectives)were quite aware that Paine was innocent, but as long as he was willing to be hung in his cousin’s place, they were comfortable with that.
It was said that on Execution Day, troops caught five young boys that sneaked their way into the military compound via a section of crumbling wall in a basement service area… When asked, the kids answered, “We just come here to see the hungin’s, that’s all!” Their efforts were not rewarded, as each one was personally escorted back to their homes, and to their parents, whom were not at all pleased with their antics!
In my opinion, justice was served with the exception of John Surrat. Military courts only consider facts, and that’s the way all courts should be. It’s so easy to look at this with today’s weak mindset and think it was harsh. Think of what the people then had been through. I can only speculate that an overwhelming majority of the citizens alive then were for exacting swift justice and closing the book on the conspirators and the Civil War, and I don’t blame them. People are so soft today, they would not be capable of enduring all the things that the people in the 19th century did. You had to be strong to survive and that is sorely missing from our world today. Peace is achieved only through strength and that applies both individually as well as universally.
Ive study the Lincoln association my whole life. I ran the Booth reenactment tour that follows his excat trail he followed that night. I volunteered at Dr. Mudds home in Charles County Maryland. Booth thought he would inspire the south to keep fighting. When he learned a few days after that his actions were condemned even in the south, he was furious and filled with anger. Theres a lot of details you left out and really should have covered the assassination in more detail.
Of course there is no right answer, as it is in scholarly pursuits sometimes, but who could give a more definitive answer? And should they have been trialled in military court? Wouldn’t the precedent of civilians being trialled in military court be enough to determine whether they should have been tried by court marshal? And that the crime was of National Significance, and a crime against the Commander in Chief, means it can also be taken into military jurisdiction? After all, The Lieber Code which Lincoln introduced into law does make reference to civilians Article 148. It says “The law of war does not allow proclaiming either an individual belonging to the hostile army, or a citizen, or a subject of the hostile government, an outlaw, who may be slain without trial by any captor, any more than the modern law of peace allows such intentional outlawry; on the contrary, it abhors such outrage”… The important part to question here, is “slain without trial by any captor, any more than the modern law of peace allows such intentional outcry”. Here, I’d like to consult a legal scholar, in regards to Martial Law and “modern law of peace”, that, if the civil courts are suspended, and I’m unaware of any proclamation stating otherwise, doesn’t that mean that the military courts have jurisdiction? After all, Habeas Corpus wasn’t in effect and the military were given the power to silence dissenters. Love the topic, very interesting.
haha in these times the trials wouldn’t be over for a decade and appeals would take another while the insurrectionists in congress would keep trying to derail it. (wow even back then stanton was concerned about a drawn out appeals process… 🙂at some point due process becomes justice delayed is justice denied but where does it shift?)
First of all the guy sounds a little weird in the way he talks but as far as him being guilty there’s overwhelming evidence against them I hate it when these jerks try to make something into a conspiracy that is not and problem with Mary was she lied when she was question when they were searching for these guys that got her in serious trouble no one knew for sure if she was part of a conspiracy or not but she definitely tried to hide them we know one thing someone killed him they know who did it there’s no doubt about it and they found the connection and the evidence is there I believe these were the only four that was involved had they been found guilty by civilian court they still would have got hung with the possible exception of Mary but you never know back then they didn’t play around yeah I hate people try to create conspiracies that are not there like this commentator just to make a story more interesting