The Conspirator Who Got Away

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Byline: Robert F. Dunn, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, just after Richmond fell to Union forces. He died the next day. Secretary of State William Seward was grievously wounded during an attempt on his life the same evening Lincoln was shot. Amid grief and turmoil and almost immediately, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton took charge and launched a massive manhunt for the perpetrators. By April 26, Booth was dead and eight conspirators had been rounded up. One purported conspirator could not be found, John Surratt.

Because Washington was under military law, some Confederate forces still operating, the eight were tried by a military tribunal. (Interestingly, the decision to proceed with a military tribunal in 1865 was made despite arguments against that …