The Lincoln assassination, which is coming up to its 150th anniversary next month, continues to intrigue people, with some trying to determine the exact sequence of events, while others try to prove a completely different conspiracy, especially when it comes to the final disposition of John Wilkes Booth.
That Capitol Hill, and especially the Navy Yard bridge play their role in the assassination is well-known, but there are also a few other ways that the Hill found itself embroiled in the conspiracy. I will look at a few of these over the next couple of weeks.
George Atzerodt is one of the lesser members of the conspiracy. His job on April 14, 1865, was to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, a job he seems to not only have failed at but failed even to attempt. Atzerodt, who was born in Germany and had emigrated as a boy to the United States, was a well-known drunk, and had failed at numerous jobs over the years. Meeting John Wilkes Booth had given him some direction, even if was just a hate of the Union and its President.
On April 14, Atzerodt had picked up his horse at John Fletcher’s stable just south of Pennsylvania Avenue, near Ford’s Theater. While his purpose that evening was the assassination of Johnson, Atzerodt still found time to have a beer with Fletcher, before riding off with the words that his horse should be “good upon the retreat” that night. Atzerodt then returned to the Kirkwood Hotel, where he had taken a room just one floor from where the Vice President was staying.
Picture of George Atzerodt, taken by Alexander Gardner, probably on a monitor docked at the Navy Yard, on which the conspirators were kept after their arrest. (LOC)
However, instead of making his attempt, Atzerodt fled, and was not seen for several days. His horse was, however, found near Lincoln Hospital by a Lieutenant John J. Toffey. Toffey managed to capture the horse with the assistance of a sentry from the hospital. He then turned in the horse at the headquarters of General Augur, before returning to the vicinity of the hospital to undertake an ultimately fruitless search of the surrounding houses.
John Fletcher, who had lost the horse he had rented to John Wilkes Booth, was requested to come to General Augur’s, in order to identify and retrieve his horse. Fletcher was unable to do so, as it was not actually his horse, but was able to tell the investigators that it, in fact, belonged to Atzerodt – an important break in the case, as it connected together more members of the conspiracy.
Atzerodt was arrested on April 20th, tried, convicted and hanged, along with the other conspirators, on July 7, 1865. What, exactly, he had been doing during that time is unknown, most sources assume that he continued on with his drinking for several days. Why his horse should have been wandering around in East Washington has never been determined.