Manhunt The 12 Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer Summary

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer

“ Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer”, was written by James L. Swanson, a dedicated Lincoln scholar and attorney. He details in his book the incredible escape of John Wilkes Booth’s from authorities, with immaculate descriptions of little-known facts in the case of Lincoln’s Killer. Swanson’s nonfiction book dives into actual pieces of literature written at the time of Lincoln’s assassination by individuals who actually took part in the real-life drama, including John Wilkes Booth himself.April 14, 1865 is a day of infamy in United States history,it is the day that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Swanson delves deep into the minds of Booth and his accomplices , analyzing their every move. Booth flees the scene of the crime with Davey Herold, who has been a willing participant in Booth's secret plots to kill Secretary of State William Seward, Abraham Lincoln, and Vice President Andrew Johnson.

The book begins with a prologue dated March 4, 1865, on the day of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, a photographer is preparing for the event and in the background, the capitol building is under construction. A man is watching, unsatisfied with the events

unfolding before his eyes, who is known even today as John Wilkes Booth. Chapter one details the interesting relationship between Abraham and his wife Mary;Abraham was very superstitious, he believed highly in the power of dreams, while Mary was rumored to have held seances in the White House. As quirky as they were, they were also very devoted to one another and enjoyed time together. The night of April 14 came around and they decided to go see a play titled,Our American Cousin, they even invited along family friends Henry Rathbone and his fiancee, Clara Harris.

John Wilkes Booth ,at the age of twenty-six, was a very handsome man and well known actor, was employed at Ford’s Theatre. Swanson speculated on Booth’s mood, and how he must have felt with the object of his anger at the state of the country in general would be attending the place of his employment. Booth wasn’t an actor in Our American Cousin, but he had watched it being rehearsed so many times before, that he was familiar with the script and characters, plus he knew the entire layout of the theater like he knew himself.

When Booth discovered Lincoln would be paying Ford’s Theatre a visit, he began to set his master plan in motion.

Booth assembled his men;the men he met over the years who were filled with southern pride and anger at the new nation. His conspirators in Lincoln’s assassination and escape were: Lewis Powell, David Herold, John Surratt Jr., Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, and George Atzerodt.To prepare, Booth packed his weapons of choice: a .44 caliber pistol and a Rio Grande camp knife just in case. When Abraham and Mary Lincoln arrived at Ford’s Theatre, they were met with loud applause, even though they didn’t send word of their arrival;the crowd never thought that this would be the last night they would see Abraham Lincoln

alive.

When the Lincolns were in place, it was time for Booth’s master plan, and he didn’t have a moment to lose.Quietly and slowly he walked the steps to the President’s box, he was able to walk through any security that could possibly stop him, since he was a regular and well-liked actor of the theatre. Booth walked into the vestibule outside the presidential box carefully, not wanting to be seen,then taking a pine bar that he had removed from a music stand earlier, he wedged it in so that the door couldn’t be opened. He carried on, closely listening to the stage dialogue. He was waiting for a precise moment, when the scene with Harry Hawk, a comical character, came to center stage and started talking to himself. He would soon repeat a line so hilarious that the whole theatre would break into waves wild laughter,this insured the sound of the fatal shot would be masked. Booth crept through the door to the box and stood behind the president expectantly. All eyes were on the stage while Booth lined up his shot, but just as Booth’s finger was pulling on the trigger, Lincoln laughed and tilted his head to the side, while Booth saw his perfect plan unraveling; the bullet did hit Lincoln’s head, but didn’t kill him instantly as planned, instead lodging into his brain rendering him immediately unconscious.

Suddenly the whole theatre came alive with unrest, somehow feeling that an important event had just taken place. Mary Lincoln and friend Clara were completely beside themselves, while Rathbone was enraged and fought with Booth for a while, then Booth managed to escape with a few stabs of his knife and jumps from the president’s box and landed on the stage below.

The audience was stunned into silence then in Latin Booth yelled, “Sic semper tyrannis!” which means “Thus always to tyrants!” He also shouted, “The South is avenged!” and then ran.

During the events of the theater, Lewis Powell and David Herold rode up to Seward’s household,they came up with a story about being messengers from his doctor with medicine in hand – for he had been in a terrible carriage accident a few days before. Powell was ready and anxious, but Herold was unsure and did not want to go through with it. He decided that, while Powell was working his magic on the people within, he would wait outside.

Powell managed to get inside, and talk his way upstairs into Seward’s bedroom, insisting he had to deliver the medicine himself.Suddenly, Seward’s son went into the hallway to see what all of the noise was about. Powell took out his pistol and began beating the young Seward over the head ;Sergeant Robinson, Seward’s protector, was asked by Seward’s daughter ,Fanny, to check out the commotion.The door was thrown open during the struggle and Fanny saw her brother wounded and bloody and saw as Powell slipped inside. He stabbed at Robinson , then moved to Seward’s bed. Twice he aimed and missed, instead hitting the mattress. Angry, Powell tried for the man’s throat, but only Seward’s cheek was broken open.Robinson and Powell began to duel, while Fanny threw open the window and yelled into the streets, screaming that there was a murderer in her house. Suddenly Augustus (another of Seward’s sons) and Robinson drove him out of the room and back down the stairs. As Powell left, he stabbed the servant who had let him inside in the back, then took off on his horse down the dark streets.

Earlier in the night, Booth brought a borrowed horse to the theatre and found a theatre hand to hold her during the show.Rushing outside, Booth stole the reins, preparing for a quick getaway,however;he had not imagined that Joseph B. Stewart, an army major at the theatre, would pursue him. Booth managed to avoid him and galloped away on his horse. Booth crossed over the bridge into Maryland. At the same time, three of the conspirators – Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt – were all roaming through the city. Atzerodt, however, was the only one of the three that was drunk, he abandoned his plan to kill Andrew Johnson, the vice president, who was staying at the same hotel as Atzerodt, just one floor below. As for the other two conspirators, David Herold managed to get through to Maryland all right, but after him, Lewis Powell was stopped by the guard at the bridge.

While the president laid on his deathbed in the boarding house of William Petersen, the country was in a huge mess. Many rumors spread that Seward had been assassinated as well, while the Secretary of War (Edwin Stanton) and of the Navy (Gideon Wells) were thought to be targeted also. A large group of doctors tended to Lincoln in a back bedroom. They took steps to insure that he was kept warm, but they might’ve also worsened his condition unknowingly, they used their bare, unsanitary pinkies to probe Lincoln’s bullet wound.Booth and Herold met in Maryland and traveled through the night, on to the next phase of the plan. Suddenly he realised he was also in need of medical attention,when he had jumped from the presidential box to the stage he had fractured the bones in one of his legs, near his ankle, which made it hard for him to ride on horseback. Booth’s boot was cut off and had a makeshift splint to keep his leg straight.

April 15, 1865, at 7:22 AM Lincoln breathed his last breath, everyone in the the room became silent. Then the men in the room slowly and carefully lifted Lincoln’s body from the bed and carried him outside to a carriage that was waiting. Abraham Lincoln’s body was taken from Petersen’s boarding house to where it belonged, the White House. Through the whole country, many people destroyed anything that connected them to Booth.At the house where Booth was staying none of the occupants, but Booth himself knew of Lincoln’s assisanation.Booth lied about his leg injury, saying that it was from his horse slipping as they rode through the night and throwing him off, also causing him back pains. Booth was commanded to leave the house, his story not adding up correctly, but Booth and Herold were all right with that; they had another plan. They went to meet a man named Thomas Jones who would help see them off to Virginia by way of the Potomac river without being noticed.Edwin Stanton was becoming nervous,Booth and Herold ended up having to wait several days in a pine thicket until Jones determined it was safe for them to cross the Potomac. During these long days before the river crossing, Booth kept a diary about his doubts and reactions to the stories in the papers.Also during the time they spent hiding, over one hundred people were arrested as suspects in the plot of Lincoln’s murder,including anyone who even wrote or spoke against Lincoln was arrested.

Eventually on April 20, the day came for Booth and Herold to escape over the river with everything they needed including food, transportation, encouragement, and he had not told anyone about their presence. The two made a huge error, instead of going south on the river to Virginia, as was planned, they accidentally went northwest, back towards a different part of Maryland.Meanwhile, Thomas Jones was taken into prison and questioned, but he would not give up any details at all about Booth or those related to him, so he was released without being put on trial.

After Booth and Herold are finally able to take the ferry across the Potomac to Virginia and go to the house of Doctor Stuart, who only allowed them one meal with his family, then they were to be on their way.Soon after Booth and Herold left Lucas’ residence, they met three young Confederate soldiers, then they claimed to be former Confederate soldiers,with Herold giving Booth’s name as James William Boyd. This would have been a clever cover-up, but Booth had his telltale “JWB” tattoo on his hand. This was one of the features written on wanted posters for people to watch out for;however, the men must not have seen it.

Booth and Herold met the Garrett family through the three Confederate boys, and funny enough, none of the Garretts had any clue as to who their guests really were.Over the time spent with the Garrett family , Booth and Herold began to form a bond with them. The next day, while Booth was resting on the front porch, he saw a group of Union cavalry members go by, he yelled at one of the children to fetch his gun and frightened him.That hinted that something must be amiss, so John Garrett kicked them out of his house, and to never come back, but Booth and Herold refused and went to stay in the barn. While they were asleep two of the Garrett boys locked them in the barn.

While Booth and Herold were at the Garrett house, the Union cavalry felt like they were on a wild goose chase, looking high and low. Until they met Willie Jett, one of the three Confederate boys, and he lead them straight to Booth and Herold on the morning of April 26. There were many attempts to lure the men out of the barn, but they wouldn’t budge. Herold was growing weary of the whole ordeal and was allowed to leave the barn, but Booth remained inside. He had major advantages over the group of men, fortified position, they couldn’t see him, and they wanted him alive for questioning. While the group of soldiers were deliberating on what to do, a man named Thomas Corbett was standing by the barn in order to try to see what Booth was doing, he felt threatened so he raised his gun and shot through the barn, hitting him in the throat.Booth was laid on front porch of the Garrett’s and breathed his last breath early that morning.

John Wilkes Booth’s body was taken to Washington by ferry, but was rumored to have been thrown over. Certain authority figures didn’t want there to be a body to be grieved over, but the body was kept in an unmarked grave. Eventually Booth’s body was returned to his family and buried in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore Maryland.

Throughout the book I was kept on the edge on my seat. With accurate facts and painstakingly careful attention to detail, James L. Swanson crafted this novel to take you back into history. I enjoyed the book because of the careful attention to detail and at the same time Swanson didn’t make it dry and unappealing.The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln is a day history will never forget, nor the the man who caused so much pain, John Wilkes Booth.