Anthony Boyle and Will Harrison as John Wilkes Booth and David Herold in Manhunt
The first two episodes of Manhunt will premiere on the streaming platform AppleTV+ this Friday, March 15, 2024! After that, new episodes will be released each Friday until April 19, when the series concludes its seven-episode run. Over the past week, the actors and the showrunner have been doing press junkets while several sites have published reviews of the series. The overall consensus from the critics has been very favorable to the series. It’s clear we are going to be treated to a well-written and expertly acted adaptation of James Swanson’s popular book. I’m very much looking forward to seeing it finally come to fruition.
Once the series begins its run, it is my intention to publish my own review of each episode as it is released. I don’t know how complex my reviews will be, but my goal will be to give some historical context to the events portrayed on the screen. This will undoubtedly involve a great deal of historical nitpicking, as I have already done when breaking down the trailers that have been released. However, my intention in pointing out possible areas of conflict between what is shown on screen and how we think an event actually went is not intended to take away from the hard work done by the producers, directors, and actors. I am well aware that this program has been created for entertainment and not for true historical accuracy. This is not a documentary. It is a dramatic interpretation of the death of Lincoln and the search for his assassin.
Matt Walsh as Dr. Samuel Mudd in Manhunt
Even with this in mind, I still feel that, as an educator, there is value in pointing out the differences between fact and historical fiction. The series has the potential to bring new individuals into the Lincoln assassination story. I want to create a space where folks can find answers to questions they have about what they see in the series. I’m reminded of how I saw the musical Hamilton and immediately spent my train ride back home reading about the “ten-dollar founding father” and the differences between what I saw on stage and the real man. I know there are other people like me who like to know how “based on a true story” a film or show really is. My hope is that my reviews might provide some of the historical context an inquisitive mind is looking for.
I’m putting all this out there early because I don’t want to be too much of a spoiler for you all. For those of you who want to see the episode for yourself before reading my review, you may want to wait to read my next few blog posts until you’ve seen the corresponding episode.
Remember the only way to watch it is on the AppleTV+ streaming service. I signed up for my account today. It’s $10 a month after a one-week free trial. There’s an app that will allow me to watch it on my devices, and I even got it as a widget for my Amazon Fire Cube so I can watch it on my TV. While I know not everyone is thrilled about yet another streaming service, I’m willing to shell out a Hamilton for the ability to watch this series. If you’re a follower of this blog, I have a feeling you might be willing to spend $10 to watch this show, too.
Coincidentally, Manhunt is not the only Lincoln assassination-related media being released this week. Today is the release date for a new Blu-Ray version of the 1977 film The Lincoln Conspiracy. I had preordered this off of Amazon and it was just dropped off while I was composing this blog post.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, The Lincoln Conspiracy is one stinker of a film based on an even worse stinker of a book. The book claims that Edwin Stanton, along with other high-level politicians and bankers, conspired to have Abraham Lincoln kidnapped and removed from office. The group used Booth as their agent in the kidnapping plot which proved unsuccessful. Taking matters into his own hands, Booth proceeded to kill the President. Worried that their treachery would be found out, Stanton and Lafayette Baker orchestrated a cover-up, which included having a different man killed in Booth’s place at the Garrett farm. The book is really all the conspiracy theorists’ greatest hits rolled into one romance novel-sized paperback. The movie adaptation stars Bradford Dillman as Booth wearing perhaps the worst mustache I’ve ever seen.
It’s ironic that The Lincoln Conspiracy has a Blu-ray release the same week AppleTV+’s Manhunt is set to air. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of quality and scholarship. For too long, Edwin Stanton has been demonized by conspiracy theorists and forced into the role of a villain. It will be refreshing to see him in a more sympathetic and heroic light in the series to come.
Tobias Menzies as Edwin Stanton in Manhunt
LincolnConspirators.com 
Likewise, I subscribed solely for “Masters of the Air” (disappointing) and “Manhunt.” As always, looking forward to your exemplary commentary. Hoping it provides a welcome boon to the dedicated folks at the Mudd Farm.👍🏻
Likewise, I subscribed for “Manhunt” and look forward to your always-exacting commentary. Hoping it offers a visitation boom for the dedicated folks at the Mudd Farm.👍🏻
For those of you who have T-Mobile, recently they had a free offering of Apple+. It was not a trial, but an actual subscription. I don’t recall the actual particulars of the offer, but if you are a T-Mobile customer, you may be able to find it on their phone app.
I am looking forward to this series, but even more, I’m looking forward to reading your insights and comments. It’s important to state the fact vs. fiction in cases like these, where people who are unfamiliar with this topic may watch the show and believe everything is true. I’m reading Swanson’s “Manhunt” in anticipation! I’m hoping the series doesn’t showcase conspiracy theories, though it may have an agenda. “The Lincoln Conspiracy” 1977 movie looks hysterical! I must get it. Still, my favorite screen portrayal of Booth is Jesse Johnson in “Killing Lincoln”. Thank you and can’t wait to read your posts.
Greetings, I have been following your site for a while, and I have a question about life after the assassination. I’m a descendant of the Bossieux family, my full name is Evan Peter Bossieux Coleman. I have verified this connection through multiple DNA services, along with family connections through social media. I have been studying the family for several years and came across a photo in the National Archives of 2 of my uncles with Booth after the assassination of John Brown. Here is a link to Richmond Magazine from 2019 that references that moment. https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/slaverys-most-determined-foe/ I’m investigating a rumor that the Bossieux family harbored Booth after the assassination. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Here is a link to the same photo from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016650150/ Thank you for your time. Evan P. Bossieux Coleman
Evan,
While I know about the Bossieux connection to JWB’s time with the Richmond Grays guarding John Brown, I’ve never come across any reference to the family while studying Booth’s escape after the assassination. Unless some members of the Bossieux family lived in Southern Maryland, King George County, or Caroline County, Virginia, I just don’t see how they could have had contact with Booth during his escape.
Also, for what it’s worth, I have never agreed with the commonly held identification of Booth in those pictures of the Richmond Grays. The man holding the knife looks nothing like Booth to me. I’m of the belief that the knife holding man could be your relative, Cyrus Bossieux. If Booth is in these pictures of the Grays, I believe the blurry face over the knife-wielder’s shoulder looks the most like the future assassin.
I too am looking forward to this series. I know up front that creative liberties will be taken, but my hope is that it gives me a feeling of being in the moment of these events. I’ve read so much on this topic that it will be nice to see it in live action instead of just in print. Looking forward to Dave’s reviews also as there’s always something new to be learned!
Comments on Manhunt’s portrayal of Boston Corbett.
First off, the writers did a masterful job of introducing him as a new character. In a tightly written couple of scenes they managed to give his backstory succinctly and set him up as major impediment to Booth’s plans.
I have a couple of quibbles with their version of Corbett’s story. There is NO, I repeat ZERO evidence that he was an alcoholic. Yes, he was a widower; his “good Christian wife”, Susan Rebecca Corbett died of “disease of the liver” not from a troubled pregnancy. (These ideas were not created by the Manhunt writers, however. Many books have made both claims, but there is no substantiation for them. They just keep getting repeated.)
I’m not sure that Corbett personally led the charge back to Garrett’s farm. (BTW, the farm was roughly fifteen miles from Bowling Green. That’s where Stanton was being treated in the miniseries.) Corbett was very active during the last phase of the search/capture, but he was fourth in command of the 29-man posse. Doherty (who was left out of Manhunt altogether). Byron Baker and detective Conger were in command.
Of course, the writers of Manhunt had to streamline the Garrett family for the sake of brevity. Instead of a family of two as shown (absent father and comely daughter) there was a full house of Garrett’s and the Booth interaction mostly centered on Jack Garrett. Lieut. Doherty and the two detectives were the ones trying to convince Booth to give himself up. Fictional Corbett threatened Miss Garrett and demanded to know where the fugitives were. In real life this did not happen.
Corbett was shown sitting alone in the rain, engaged in a conversation with the Lord. He was described by a friend as being “the only man in our regiment who openly professed his religion.” This was not a big deal in the 16th NY Cavalry, but he had frequently been physically assaulted and suffered continual tormenting in the infantry unit he had belonged to before.
I would like to have had the writers tone down the “crazy eyes” portryal of Corbett a little. Many shows which bother to portray self-identified Christians at all, overplay them as totally consumed near jihadist zealots or hypocrites. Corbett was evangelical, of course, but he did not try to impose his beliefs on others. The tenants of his faith were to tell the truth, perform good works, and bear witness to God’s grace. As he usually did, he even prayed for Booth’s soul as he fired to keep Booth from harming others. That would have been a nice bit of dialog to add.
If I could have added one more Corbett scene in Manhunt: it would be one where he testified at the conspiracy trial about David Herold at Garrett’s. I understand that the episode was already long enough, but the writers pretty much glossed over the obvious guilt of poor Davy. I’d have swapped the scene where Herold asked for Booths’ diary and put Corbett on the witness stand instead.
The shooting of Booth was wrong, wrong, wrong. The soldiers had not sent Herold in to coax Booth out. Wilkes was not headed for the barn door to give up when he was shot. Recall the section of the Parady letter I posted recently: Booth was “just in the act of raising his carbine when crack went a pistol.” My interpretation is that Corbett had been watching the assassin and made no effort to use violence. Suddenly, Booth raised his rifle in a threatening way and Corbett fired to keep the fugitive from harming any of the soldiers.
All in all, Manhunt did a good job of portraying Corbett. The actor, William Mark McCullough, was wonderfully cast. The costuming was excellent, the dialog was mostly true to historical facts and the shooting, albeit inaccurate, at least removed any doubt about the identity of the armed man in the barn. Many other recreations either suggested that the wrong man – a Booth lookalike – was killed or that Booth shot himself.