Today the four convicted assassins of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln are hanged: Lewis Powell (also Payne or Paine), David Herold, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt. General Winfield Scott Hancock, a hero of the war, is the officer in charge of the executions. Hancock is a Baptist. Lewis Powell, one of the most hated men…
Today from prison at Fort Monroe, Virginia, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes General Nelson A. Miles, the prison commandant. He requests permission to write his wife, obtain fresh clothes and reading materials, and receive a visit from the prison chaplain. He also inquires if his guard detail might be downsized. Davis’ treatment is a…
The hunt for Lincoln‘s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, and his accomplices continues, and with a vengeance. Over 1,000 Union soldiers are at work trying to identity and apprehend the perpetrators. The Northern public is angry, clamoring for the deaths of Lincoln’s killer and those associated with him. Aware that he is being hunted down but…