Chasing Lincoln's Killer

On April 20, Thomas Jones witnessed a large group of man hunters leaving to pursue the fugitives in another county. Knowing the time was ripe, he went to visit Booth and Herold to help them make their move. Jones had a fishing boat to give to them, dropped off by a servant of his. Jones actually refused any more money than would pay for the cost of the boat. Unfortunately, for his efforts, the fugitives managed to head in the wrong direction, away from Virginia.

Questioned again on that same day, Mudd revealed to Lieutenant Lovett that he knew John Wilkes Booth, but not that Booth was at his home. He said the injured man who visited him wore a false beard. This discrepancy, intended by Mudd to try to protect his freedom with partial truths, obviously raised more questions for his interrogators. Finally, shown photos of the two, Mudd said that indeed it must have been Booth at his home. He was released, but of course suspicions against him were only increasing.

Thomas Jones was likewise questioned, but there was not enough evidence to connect him to the escape efforts. He actually went free after brief imprisonment, along with Captain Cox. Jones’s role only became known years later, when he told his tale to a journalist.

Despite the fact that they initially went the wrong direction, the fugitives had been well enough provided for by Jones that they had time to realize their errors and reverse course. 

On April 22, the fugitives righted their mistake and crossed back into Virginia, arriving on April 23. They then went to the home of Elizabeth Quesenberry, a Confederate agent. After initial suspicions, she agreed to help them and gathered two horses to allow them to move south. Then, they went to the house of Dr. Richard Stuart; however, Stuart was only willing to feed them, and refused to harbor them. They sought help from a black neighbor of Stuart’s, named Lucas, but he likewise refused to offer much help. Under duress from the desperate fugitives, he let them stay, and for $20 he allowed them to take his wagon and horses the next day. His son drove them in the wagon to Port Conway, to the home of a fisherman named William Rollins.

While the fugitives and Lucas were still at Rollins’ home, plotting a subsequent move, the wagon was spotted by three Confederate soldiers who decided to investigate. They doubted Herold’s story, that he and Booth were fellow soldiers, and Herold revealed their true identities. The soldiers agreed to help them, and accompanied them to the farm of Richard H. Garrett, who agreed to house Booth, while Herold went with the soldiers to prepare their way. Booth was identified to Garrett as a wounded soldier who needed rest.

Meanwhile, Lafayette Baker, a War Department detective much admired by Stanton, determined that the assassins had fled to Virginia. He sent his cousin, Luther Byron Baker, to investigate. Using photographs of the suspects, he managed to find people who had seen them following the route suspected by Lafayette Baker.

On April 24, as Booth enjoyed dinner with the Garretts, the Union forces gathered nearby and split into two parties: one party made their way toward Port Conway. Mudd was arrested on the same day.

One of the young Garretts returned from town on the 25th, with news of the manhunt and the reward offer. Booth maintained his cover, and continued to ask for aid in reaching the South. David Herold returned, but found that Booth was not yet ready to leave. Garrett, for his part, had started to suspect his guest. Their pursuers had meanwhile learned that Booth and Herold had been accompanied by three soldiers, and they envisioned a firefight. Before Garrett could rid himself of his increasingly undesirable guests, the Union army arrived. Somehow, he managed to convince them to enter his tobacco barn to sleep, and locked them in.

The Army arrived at 11:00 p.m., and a strange series of events unfolded. They were led by Willie Jett, one of the Confederate soldiers who, after his apprehension at an end, agreed to help them find Booth. Hearing the troops arrive, Herold suggested they surrender, but Booth refused. The Garretts quickly revealed their place of imprisonment. Oddly, Baker forced Garrett into the barn, with the ultimatum that if Garrett could not get them to surrender then the barn would be burned. He failed, but Baker and his men still hesitated.

Inside the open barn, Booth and Herold argued about Herold’s desire to leave. In the confusion an officer, Lieutenant Doherty, grabbed Herold and pulled him out. As the officers continued to debate their approach, one of the men, Sergeant Boston Corbett, offered to storm the barn alone; however, he was rebuffed thrice. The officers Baker and Conger returned to the idea of burning the barn, and quickly began a blaze. Booth, who decided to die fighting, stood in the barn’s center with his carbine at the ready.

Corbett, still alert, stepped to a gap in the barn’s side, took aim, and shot Booth in the neck. The soldiers rushed the barn, and Booth allegedly gasped out, “Tell Mother, I die for my country.” The soldiers tried to bind Booth’s wound and save his life, hoping to deliver him alive to Stanton. It was also believed, mostly erroneously, that Booth could provide valuable knowledge about Confederate agents and plots. There was anger at Corbett for his rashness, but his justification of protecting his troops was difficult to refute. Moreover, no orders had been given not to fire, and Corbett’s status as a non-commissioned officer authorized him to make decisions when not countermanding orders.