Saturday, May 20, 1865
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Proceedings
Prior to the court convening on this day, David Herold was taken into the court room and was temporarily released from his handcuffs. He was given a pen, ink and some paper and commenced in writing out a confession of sorts. He continued writing until the court began to assemble at about 10:30 when he was seated in the prisoner’s dock and restrained once again.[1] Unfortunately, the confession David Herold wrote on this day has never been found.
The court convened at 11 o’clock.[2]
Present: All nine members of the military commission, the eight conspirators, Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, Assistant Judge Advocates Bingham and Burnett, the recorders of the court, lawyers Frederick Aiken, John Clampitt, Walter Cox, William Doster, Thomas Ewing, and Frederick Stone.
Absent: Reverdy Johnson
Seating chart:
The conspirators were seated in the same manner as the previous day.
The reading of the prior session’s testimony began.
Break
At 1 o’clock, the reading of the testimony was paused for the court’s normal recess for lunch. During this time the conspirators were returned to their cells. At 2 o’clock, the court reassembled and the reading of yesterday’s testimony continued until about 2:30.[3]
Testimony began
Charles A. Dana, the Assistant Secretary of War, testified about his seizure of a Confederate cipher cylinder. Dana was sent into Richmond after the fall of the Confederate capital, and found a cipher cylinder in the office of Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin.[4] The cylinder was a tool for encoding and decoding letters written with a Vigenère cipher.
The Confederate cipher cylinder apparatus was entered into evidence as Exhibit 59.
Maj. Thomas T. Eckert, the War Department’s lead telegraph operator, was asked to compare the Confederate cipher cylinder (Exhibit 59) with the paper cipher found in John Wilkes Booth’s room (Exhibit 7). Eckert testified that they used the same principle and then provided two Confederate dispatches written in cipher that had been intercepted and decoded by the War Department.[5] The point of Eckert’s testimony was to demonstrate that Booth must have been in contact with Confederate authorities due to his possession of one of “their” ciphers. However, as this post explains in detail, there was nothing proprietary about the Confederacy using a Vigenère cipher and no conclusions can be drawn from Booth’s possession of a Vigenère table.
The two Confederate dispatches that were originally written in Vigenère ciphers and intercepted by the Union War Department were entered into evidence as Exhibits 60 and 61. Neither of these dispatches relate to the conspirators or the assassination of Lincoln.
Andrew Jackson Hamilton, the military governor of Texas, was asked about the handwriting contained in Exhibit 42, the letter discussing the proposal to burn Union ships and towns. Hamilton verified that the letter to Jefferson Davis had been written by Confederate senator Williamson S. Oldham.[6]
Dr. Joseph K. Barnes, the Surgeon General of the Army, was recalled after having testified the day before. This time Barnes testified that he had performed the autopsy on the body of John Wilkes Booth on April 27, 1865. Barnes described the scar on Booth’s neck that had been one of the ways he was identified. The scar was the result of a small tumor that had been removed by another physician months before the assassination.[7]
Frank Bloise, an African American resident of Charles County, Maryland, was in Bryantown when Dr. Mudd arrived there on April 15. Bloise testified about seeing Dr. Mudd in the same store and that soldiers were in the area. Bloise also testified that he learned the news of Lincoln’s assassination before he left Bryantown.[8] Bloise’s wife, Eleanor, and daughter, Becky Briscoe, had both testified the day before about seeing Dr. Mudd and another man (David Herold) ride down towards Bryantown.
John H. Ward, a resident of Charles County, Maryland, testified that on April 15 he was making his way towards Bryantown from his nearby home when he saw a large detachment of soldiers. Unsure why they were there and thinking they might be searching houses, he returned home. While at home a neighbor, Charles Bloise, came and informed him that Lincoln had been assassinated. Ward then traveled to Bryantown where the soldiers verified Lincoln’s assassination and told him that a man named Booth had committed the murder. After a while, Ward returned home. The prosecution asked Ward if he saw Dr. Mudd in Bryantown, but Ward was unsure. He believed he might have seen Mudd, but was not willing to swear on it.[9] Ward’s testimony was less about Dr. Mudd’s presence at Bryantown (as the Bloise family had already established that) but to show that the name of the assassin was known to those who inquired about it.
Lt. David D. Dana, a lieutenant with the 13th NY Calvary and brother of the Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana, testified about his occupation of Bryantown on April 15. Dana and his men arrived in Bryantown at around 1 o’clock in the afternoon and immediately informed the citizenry of the assassination of the President. Dana also reported the news that the assassin was J. Wilkes Booth. According to Dana, by 1:15 the whole village knew of Lincoln’s assassination and the name of the assassin.[10]
Robert Nelson, an African American resident of Washington, D.C., testified that on the morning after the attack on Secretary of State William Seward he found a knife without a sheath on the street in front of the Secretary’s house. Nelson presented the knife to an officer stationed outside of the Seward home, who then directed him to another officer inside the home.[11]
Dr. John Wilson, the Medical Inspector of the Army, supported the testimony of Robert Nelson stating that he was inside the Seward home on the morning of April 15 and that Nelson turned the knife he found over to him.[12]
The knife, found in front of the Seward home and believed to have been the one used by Lewis Powell on the night he attacked the Seward household, was entered into evidence as Exhibit 62.
Joseph B. Stewart, a Union major and lawyer, was present at Ford’s Theatre when Lincoln was assassinated. Stewart narrated how he was one of the first to act after the shot was fired, chasing John Wilkes Booth backstage and out into the alley behind the theater. According to Stewart’s testimony, after making his way into the wings of the theater during his pursuit of Booth, he heard the back door to the theater slam shut. When he approached the door he found a man in the process of turning towards him but he continued his pursuit by opening the door and exiting. Stewart was asked if he recognized any of the prisoners on the stand. Stewart stated his shaky belief that Edman Spangler may have been the man standing near the door on his approach and exit. Stewart could not swear by the identification but stated that, of all the prisoners, Spangler looked the most like the man he saw. The prosecution asked Stewart questions that created the implication that the man was not as concerned as the others gathered backstage and that he might have been the one who closed the door after Booth passed through. Thomas Ewing, Spangler’s defense, established the unreliability of Stewart’s identification of Spangler based on the fact that Stewart only saw a profile of the man’s face, in the dark, as he was focused on getting the door open. Ewing also got Stewart to state that it was very possible that Booth shut the theater door himself as he ran through and that this man had nothing to do with it. During Stewart’s testimony, he was presented with Exhibit 48, the plan of Ford’s Theatre that had been offered into evidence previously. Under the direction of the court, Stewart marked his path through the backstage area and the location of people he encountered onto the plan.[13] According to the research of historian Thomas Bogar, author of the book Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination, Edman Spangler was on the other side of the stage when the assassination occurred making Stewart’s identification very unlikely.[14]
Robert Anson Campbell, first teller with the Ontario Bank of Montreal, testified about his knowledge of two accounts held by his bank. The first was the account of Jacob Thompson, an agent of the Confederate Secret Service, who, from May of 1864 through April of 1865, deposited over $600,000 into his account with about $1,700 remaining. The second account was one held by John Wilkes Booth. Campbell testified that Booth opened this account on October 27, 1864 and that he deposited $455 into it at that time. That money had never been withdrawn. In addition to starting the account, Booth bought a bill of exchange worth 61 pounds, 12 shillings, and ten pence sterling. Campbell was shown Exhibit 37, the bill of exchange found on Booth after his death, and identified it as the bill he bought in October of 1864.[15] Campbell’s testimony did not relate to any of the conspirators on trial but was meant to imply a connection between Booth and Confederate operatives, though there is no proof Thompson and Booth’s accounts were connected in anyway.
The bank book for Jacob Thompson’s account was entered into evidence as Exhibit 63. Booth’s bank book regarding his account at the Ontario Bank had previously been entered into evidence as Exhibit 11.
At this point Judge Advocate General Holt announced that the court room was to be cleared of all visitors as the following testimony was deemed too sensitive to be released to the general public at this time. The only ones allowed to remain in the court room were the commissioners, conspirators, lawyers, guards, and official court reporters. The newspaper reporters and guests departed.[16] This was the first time the court had been closed to the public since May 13th.
Sandford Conover, a key witness for the government’s case regarding the involvement of Confederate officials in Lincoln’s assassination, testified at length about meeting with important members of the Confederate Secret Service in Montreal, Canada. According to Conover, he was born in New York but was in South Carolina when the Civil War broke out. He was drafted into the Confederate army where he worked as a clerk in Richmond. Conover stated that in December of 1863, he deserted from the Confederacy. In October of 1864, he made his way to Canada where he used the alias James Watson Wallace. During his time in Canada, Conover gained the trust of notable Confederate agents like Jacob Thompson, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tucker, William C. Cleary and others. Conover stated he saw Booth in Montreal in October of 1864 and that John Surratt was there four or five days before the assassination of Lincoln. According to Conover, the assassination of Lincoln was discussed openly with him by Jacob Thompson in early February of 1865 and that Thompson even encouraged Conover to join Booth in the plot. Conover described seeing blank commissions for the Confederate army signed by the Confederate Secretary of War. These commissions were to be filled in by agents in Canada with the names of anyone who committed acts of guerilla warfare on the Confederacy’s behalf. Conover stated that a commission had been made out for Booth so that, in the event he was captured in Canada after assassinating the President, he would be considered a Confederate officer and not liable for extradition. As a witness, Conover linked the Confederate agents in Canada to every act of black flag warfare including Lincoln’s assassination.[17] Unfortunately, all of Conover’s testimony was later discovered to be false.
In June of 1865, Sandford Conover’s testimony was leaked to the press and it quickly unraveled. Conover claimed that, during his time in Canada, he was acting as a secret correspondent for the New York Tribune. He testified that he had written to the New York Tribune in February and March of 1865 about the plots against Lincoln. These claims were later denounced as false by the editors of New York Tribune. The Toronto Globe investigated some of Conover’s claims and found that not all of the men Conover testified about meeting with were present in Montreal during the time periods Conover swore to. Worried about the damage Conover’s perceived perjury would do to their case against Confederate leaders, Holt ordered that all of the suppressed testimony be published including the prior testimonies of Dr. James Merritt and Richard Montgomery. Both Merritt and Montgomery testified about conversations with Confederate officials about the proposed assassination of Lincoln, thus supporting Conover’s claims. All three men would later be recalled to the witness stand in the closing days of the trial in order to counter claims of perjury in the press and help salvage the government’s case against the Confederacy. But the press continued to investigate and poke holes in the claims made by these men. On the day of the four conspirators’ execution, the Toronto Globe published a letter from Sandford Conover to Confederate Secret Service agent Jacob Thompson dated March 20, 1865 in which Conover introduced himself to Thompson. This showed that, contrary to Conover’s claim to have been intimate with Thompson since the fall of 1864, Thompson had never heard of Conover prior to that date. In the end, the perjury of Conover and the others was conclusively determined in 1866, when James Merritt testified before a congressional committee. Merritt admitted that both he and Richard Montgomery had committed perjury in their testimony against Confederate leaders. According to Merritt, Conover had secured both men to lie and they had been paid for their services. Later, in November of 1866, Sandford Conover, whose real name was Charles A. Dunham, was indicted for perjury. He was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison.[18]
At the conclusion of Conover’s testimony, the court adjourned at around 5 o’clock. Dr. Mudd and David Herold were permitted to stay in the court room in order to converse with their shared lawyer, Frederick Stone. At 5:30, they were returned to the cells.[19]
Recollections
From General Kautz’ diary:
“The prosecution continued today. We adjourned a little earlier about five o’clock. An important witness was called and his testimony was taken with closed doors. He very strongly implicates the rebels in Canada…The trial exudes some interest. We have had some more rain today.”[20]
On Sunday, May 21, General Kautz made another entry in his diary related to the trial:
“I called to see Genl. Denver in the evening, and spent the evening. I am a little disgusted with his views, he is now taking a stand against the commission.”[21]
General Doster, counsel for Lewis Powell, later wrote in his memoirs about how the testimony that occurred on the day before (May 19th) caused Powell to open up to him for the first time:
“By the time the prosecution had got to the middle of their evidence concerning Payne, and when he had been identified, standing up with his hat and coat on, by Seward’s negro boy, the approaching danger seemed to thaw him out. [This] Saturday afternoon he asked me what next day was. I answered, ‘Sunday.’ He then said if I could get down to the arsenal and could procure a private interview with him he would like to tell me something. I saw him next day in the court room alone, although sentinels were at each door, outside. He then gave me the history of his life disconnectedly, but kept very still about his share in the transaction, at first. He inquired how Mr. Fred. Seward was getting along and, when he was told, said he was sorry he had hurt the young man and owed him an apology. This he said often afterwards.”[22]
Newspaper Descriptions
“The prisoners were brought in previous to the opening of the court, and appears much as usual, but somewhat drooping from the great heat of the room. The windows are all raised so far as the casings will admit, and the door behind the prisoners leading to their cells is also thrown wide open to afford whatever fresh air may be obtained from that rather unpromising quarter. Two or three glittering bayonets at the open door, however, give intimation that no faint hope of escape nee be entertained by any prisoner from this temporary raising of the bolts.
A mild looking, middle aged gentleman in spectacles, with a rose bud in his button-hole, and who sits placidly reading the morning paper near Mrs. Surratt, would hardly be taken for the jailor but for the huge key dangling at his waist. He keeps a watchful eye, however, to the left as he reads; and presently as Herold – who is apt to indulge in all sorts of sprawling, slack-twisted attitudes – slides down upon his knees as if to whisper between the rails to a gentleman seated below him, the jailor admonishes him to take his seat, which Herold does with his never failing grin.
The prisoners, as we have already stated, are confined in the range of cells formerly occupied in penitentiary times by female prisoners. They are secured there much as they appear in the Court room, with the exception that in their cells they are required to wear a close fitting padded cap, with eye holes and breathing holes, designed to keep them from attempting suicide as Payne did on the monitor, by butting his head against his prison walls. There are 64 cells in this (female) department of the prison, and the prisoners are not placed in adjoining cells but are scattered through the different tiers. The prisoners are properly cared for and fed, an attendant being constantly on duty at each cell. In the case of Mrs. Surratt the prison diet has been varied somewhat, to the extent of allowing her toast, &c, when she had been ill. She spends most of her time reading a prayer book. Herold’s mood is mercurial, sometimes exuberantly buoyant, and sometimes as much depressed. Mudd pays considerable attention to his personal appearance and is particular as to cleanliness of body. Like Mrs. Surratt he occupies much of his time in reading religious books. Atzerodt is stolid and uncommunicative for the most part. O’Laughlin conducts himself quietly; seems to feel his situation the most deeply of any of the prisoners, and walks his cell much of the time. Payne displays the same cool audacity invariably, whether in his cell or in the court-room; and exhibits not unfrequently that sort of devil-may-care reckless spirit of good humor that springs from high physical condition. When spoke to he replies with off-hand bluffness, using barely enough words to convey an answer, and is equally costive of speech in making known his wishes. Who and what is this man Payne is the great mystery of the day. There have been various reports concerning him and his antecedents, but it is believed that all are at sea concerning him; and it is doubtful if his real name is Payne. Arnold appears in his cell as in the court room, quiet and pleasant, and gives his attendants little trouble. Spangler, despite his lugubrious face, is said to be uniformly light hearted and exceedingly talkative. His appetite is superb, and when the ordinary ample prison allowance is given him, and he is asked if that is enough, he signifies that he can manage a little more. He has already learned to distinguish the voices of the different guards, and calls to them as they pass, seeming to feel inclined for conversation to break the loneliness of his confinement.”[23]
Mrs. Surratt
“Mrs. Surratt sat at the end of the dock, her veil drawn over her face and leaning her head first upon the railing and then against the wall.”[24]
“Mrs. Surratt maintains the appearance of deep despondency, remaining closely veiled, and occasionally resting her head upon her hand as if bowed down with grief.”[25]
Lewis Powell
“Payne sat with his head thrown back against the wall, and presenting a sullen, defiant appearance.”[26]
David Herold
“Herold, in the end of the dock, and next to Mrs. Surratt, sat with his head against the wall and gazing upon those in the room.”[27]
George Atzerodt
“Atzerodt presented the same appearance, his villainous countenance being instantly noticed by the visitors at the court.”[28]
Dr. Mudd
“Mudd sat with his head down, his eyes bent upon the floor.”[29]
Samuel Arnold
“Arnold sat gazing through the open window at the end of the dock, and occasionally glancing about the court room.”[30]
Michael O’Laughlen
“O’Laughlin and Spangler sat with their heads down and gazing upon the floor, both seeming to be sorrowful and hopeless.”[31]
Edman Spangler
“O’Laughlin and Spangler sat with their heads down and gazing upon the floor, both seeming to be sorrowful and hopeless.”[32]
Visitors
“A large number of visitors were in attendance, the court-room being densely and inconveniently crowded, many being unable to obtain seats. A number of ladies were present this morning, and occupied seats in the east end of the room.”[33]
“The Court room, to-day, was thronged with spectators to a great extent than on any previous occasion. Even during the morning, when nothing is done except to read the evidence submitted the previous day, which is usually a tedious and monotonous proceeding where it is of great length, as upon the present trial, every seat in the room was occupied with spectators, and many were glad even to secure standing room.”[34]
“The various exhibits in the case – knives, pistols, boots, clothes, the saddle, photographs, and other articles which were found with the prisoners, and which have been mentioned – are the subjects of much curiosity, among the visitors. During the recess of the court, many availed themselves of the opportunity to inspect the various articles.”[35]
“The court-room is crowded with visitors this afternoon, and as the prisoners are brought in there is a general buzz throughout the room of ‘That’s Mrs. Surratt!’ ‘That’s Mudd!’ ‘That’s Payne, sure!’ ‘That’s Arnold – no that’s O’Laughlin!’ &c., &c.”[36]
“Among those present this afternoon are Lt. Col. [Henry] Lecomte, of Switzerland; John Hitz, Consul General of Switzerland; C[harles] A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, and Mr. Sam. Wilkeson, of the New York Tribune.”[37]
Ivory G. Kimball was a clerk in the Treasury Department and attended the trial on May 20, 22, and 26. In 1912, Kimball wrote a memoir of his life in which he discussed visiting the court room.
“The grounds were surrounded by high brick walls about one-fourth of a mile from the building. The first sentinels were met at the outer gate and they were thickly posted all the way to the building. They were also placed all around the building. After getting inside the inner wall and just around the building, sentinels were posted every ten feet. The court room was a large square room in the third story of the building with heavily barred windows. The room was entered from the east and Gen. Hartranft sat at a small table immediately inside the door. On the north side was a long table at the head of which sat Gen. Hunter, at his right, Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace, at his left, Maj. Gen. Kautz, a cavalry officer, then the other generals composing the court. At the further end on the side sat Gen. Holt, Judge Advocate General, and with him sat his two assistants. On the south side of the room was a small table for the reporters and between the two was the witness stand. Very few spectators were admitted and they sat on the east side.
On the west side behind a railing which stretched across the room, with a soldier between each two, sat the eight conspirators. The first commencing on the south side was Mrs. Surratt seated in an arm chair. She was rather a good looking woman of about fifty years of age, of rather large build, with black hair and good features, one whose appearance would never cause her to be suspected of the crime with which she was charged. Her legs were chained but otherwise she was not fastened. She was dressed in black with a veil over her face and kept her eyes fixed on her hands. Next to her was Harold, Booth’s companion. He was a small idiotic appearing man and his face showed no strength of character. Next to him sat the most noted character of the eight, Payne, who attempted to assassinate Secretary Seward. He was a young man, about twenty-two years of age, of very strong physique, tall, broad shouldered, well proportioned with a large neck, evidently a man of immense strength, for in the struggle at the time of the attempted assassination of Secretary Seward, he mastered several men and would have accomplished his purpose had not Seward rolled behind and under the bed in the struggle. Payne had black hair which hung over his left eye. He was dressed in a pair of pants and a woolen shirt with shoes and stockings. He was handcuffed with a heavy iron bar about one foot long between his wrists, his legs were chained together and had a very heavy iron ball attached to the chain. The ball was so heavy that it was as much as the soldier who had charge of him could carry.
Next to him sat Atzerot, a little fellow who looked like a Dutchman. His part had been to kill Gen. Grant [sic]. He was chained as was Payne. Next to him sat O’Laughlin whose task it had been to kill Secretary Stanton. He was quite small with long black hair and whiskers, and looked like a Frenchman. Next to him sat Spangler, the stage carpenter at the theater. It was claimed that he assisted Booth in preparing the theater for the assassination of Lincoln and then assisted him to escape. His face impressed me as one of the most villainous of the lot. Next to him sat Dr. Mudd, the man at whose house in Maryland Booth had stopped on his flight from Washington to have set the bone which was broken as he jumped onto the stage at the theater. Booth lay concealed at his house for twelve hours and it was charged that Mudd afterwards assisted him to escape. Dr. Mudd was a sandy-haired man, larger than any of the others except Payne. The last one in the row was Arnold who spent most of his time looking out of the window.”[38]
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[1] John F. Hartranft, The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators: Their Confinement and Execution, as Recorded in the Letterbook of John Frederick Hartranft, ed. Edward Steers, Jr. and Harold Holzer (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2009), 101.
[2] Hartranft, Letterbook, 101.
[3] Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[4] William C. Edwards, ed., The Lincoln Assassination – The Court Transcripts (Self-published: Google Books, 2012), 411.
[5] Edwards, Court Transcripts, 411 – 413.
[6] Ibid., 413 – 414.
[7] Ibid., 414.
[8] Ibid., 414 – 415.
[9] Ibid., 416 – 419.
[10] Ibid., 419 – 420.
[11] Ibid., 420 – 421.
[12] Ibid., 421.
[13] Ibid., 421 – 431.
[14] Thomas A. Bogar, Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination: The Untold Story of the Actors and Stagehands at Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.: Regnery History, 2013) 114.
[15] Edwards, Court Transcripts, 431 – 434.
[16] Ibid., 435.
[17] Ibid., 435 – 448.
[18] Seymour J. Frank, “The Conspiracy to Implicate the Confederate Leaders in Lincoln’s Assassination,” Mississippi Valley Histroical Review 40, no. 4 (1954): 634-653.
[19] Hartranft, Letterbook, 101.
[20] August V. Kautz, May 20, 1865 diary entry (Unpublished diary: Library of Congress, August V. Kautz Papers).
[21] August V. Kautz, May 21, 1865 diary entry (Unpublished diary: Library of Congress, August V. Kautz Papers).
[22] William E. Doster, Lincoln and Episodes of the Civil War (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1915), 265.
[23] Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[24] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[25] The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), May 22, 1865, 4.
[26] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[27] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[28] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[29] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[30] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[31] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[32] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[33] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[34] The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), May 22, 1865, 4.
[35] Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[36] Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[37] Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), May 20, 1865, 2.
[38] Ivory G. Kimball, Recollections from a Busy Life (Washington, D.C.: Carnahan Press, 1912), 82 – 83.
The drawing of the conspirators as they were seated on the prisoners’ dock on this day was created by artist and historian Jackie Roche.
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