Original subtitles

Ladies and gentlemen,

everyone sitting in this audience has been exposed

to the traditional story of the assassination

of President Lincoln.

For over a century history books have taught us

that the murder was committed by a crazed actor

named John Wilkes Booth.

The history books go on o say

a few Southern rebels helped him and no one else.

The motion picture you are about to see will shock you

because the true story of President Lincoln's assassination

cannot be found in any history book.

It is a story of corruption, treachery and coverup.

It is a story every American has the right to know.

Open the door.

Colonel Baker.

I have a summons for the following prisoners.

Samuel Arnold,

Dr. Samuel Mudd,

Edward Spangler,

Michael O'Laughlen,

George Atzerodt,

Lewis Paine,

David Herold,

Mary Surratt.

Order, order in court.

This is how it began.

The trial of eight conspirators

for the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

On this hot muggy day in May, 1865,

the government would present its case

to a handpicked military commission.

They would be told that these seven men and one woman,

along with John Wilkes Booth, Jefferson Davis

and other rebel leaders conspired to murder

the president of the United States.

But were the defendants really guilty?

To find out, we must look at the events

leading up to this trial.

They began in the fall of 1864.

Here on a bloody bat tie field,

the Civil War is well into its fourth year.

And though almost 600,000 men have been killed,

there seems no end of sight.

Then on September 2nd, after weeks of fighting,

General Sherman finally captures Atlanta.

Hope sweeps across the North,

And in November, President Abraham Lincoln is reelected.

At the White House, a reception is held

to honor the president.

Senators, congressmen, military officers and cabinet members

arrive to share in the joy of Lincoln's reelection

and the jubilation at the now

inevitable defeat of the South.

Mr. Stanton.

Colonel Baker.

Mr. President.

Well sir, what's the news from the War Department?

Any late word from the General Sherman.

Good news.

Sherman's well on his way to Savannah.

By all accounts, he's leaving hardly enough behind

to feed a crow.

That is good news, Mr. Secretary, and I'm grateful for it.

If we must starve the South to win the war quickly,

then let Sherman get on with it.

But I can find no joy in it.

Well, a little hate can be a mighty handy thing.

How could we win wars without it?

You may be right Mr. Stanton.

We may need hate to win the war,

but we're going to need a lot of trust to win the peace.

Don't you agree Colonel Baker?

If we were all to trust one another, Mr. President,

I'm afraid I'd be out of a job.

Who would need the National Detective Police?

Well, for a man of your talents,

I'm sure we could find something better to do

then the clapping lot of harmless citizens in jail.

Your pardon, Mr. President, scarcely harmless

with rebel spies everywhere plotting in Montreal,

trying to burn New York City planning God knows what crimes.

Who can afford the risks, sir?

Every course has its own risks, Colonel.

Mr. President.

I take it you agree with the colonel's views?

Most certainly.

I wouldn't trust half the people in this room,

beginning with Colonel Baker himself.

You've got as many enemies as friends here tonight.

Adversaries, perhaps not enemies, Lamon.

Trust doesn't require agreement,

but the heavens of democracy

is the most disagreeable form of government there is.

The best.

I don't care what you call 'em,

I wouldn't turn my back on one of 'em.

Ward Lamon has reason to be worried.

For even on this night of Lincoln's reelection celebration,

treachery raises its ugly head.

One of the president's most trusted associates,

Senator John Conness from California,

has chosen not to attend the party.

Instead, he has a business meeting with an actor

named John Wilkes Booth.

I've heard that in your repertoire,

you sometimes play roles not on the stage.

Or am I speaking too boldly?

I would say that smuggling and blockade running

are the biggest business in Maryland as of this moment.

Then I assume you might be interested in a proposal.

I haven't heard it yet.

What do you have to offer?

The passwords and the post roads are changed daily.

Anew list is issued every six weeks

by my Senate committee.

I imagine such a list would have great importance,

particularly in bulk shipments.

How much?

$3,000 per list.

You shall have an answer in two days.

Excellent.

After all time is of the essence.

Indeed it is if the South is yet to be saved.

Well, I don't care who wins this war,

but the war will end and before too long I think,

and with it will end these golden opportunities.

That is your only interest?

Hmm, I'm simply a man with a small pocket

and a large need.

And you, I take it you consider yourself a rebel patriot.

I shall serve the South to my dying breath.

Right.

I should hate to see you die so young.

The South is passing to Booth.

Soon it'll be gone like last night's dream.

I do not accept your cynicism, sir.

The South is far from lost.

I tell you Conness, great and unexpected events

may yet happen.

Events that overnight can change

the entire course of the war.

In fact, I'll wager on it.

It is just three days

after Booth's meeting with Conness.

And the reason for Booth's confidence becomes clear.

For tonight with the help of a Southern sympathizer

named Lewis Paine, Booth plans to kidnap the president,

All right, Lewis, I'll take the rider on the left.

Yours is the one on the right.

But remember I'll grab the president.

Wait, who's there?

They've seen us.

Watch out Mr. President.

Come on.

Look out.

Are you all right?

All right, Lewis, we'll meet again tomorrow.

Mr. Booth.

Colonel Baker, National Detective Police, may I come in?

Well, yes, of course.

Come in, come in.

I see you've spent the night in hard travel.

No, not at all.

I occasionally enjoy an early morning stroll.

Excellent hotel service here.

The bed's already been made.

I requested it.

For a man of your profession, isn't that rather unusual?

I thought all you theater people slept late.

I am not presently engaged in playing a role.

Planning a trip?

No.

Colonel Baker, may I inquire

as to the purpose of this visit?

Yes.

I have messages from your friends.

Friends?

I don't understand.

Perhaps this will make things clear.

Letters from Confederate leaders,

Jefferson Davis, Judea Benjamin.

From Richmond?

Read them.

I expect you'll have an answer.

I'm prepared to transmit it for you.

Yes, yes, of course.

Of course.

Now this must reach Richmond in all haste.

Oh it shall.

And this,

this is for you.

I was instructed to give you money.

Mr. Booth, I'm sure you must find

the circumstances of my visit most unusual.

May I simply say that the times we live in

are extraordinary, aren't they?

Until we meet again.

Unknown to Booth,

Colonel Baker's visit was more

than the delivery of a few letters

his elaborate spy network had intercepted.

Based on information given him by Senator Conness,

Baker's real mission was to verify suspicions

held by Conness and Secretary of War,

Edwin McMasters Stanton.

Bad news from the front?

Excellent news.

Good.

That should help reduce your problems.

On the contrary.

Victory at this moment would be the greatest calamity

that could befall the nation.

The problem at this moment, Colonel, is not the South.

The problem is the president.

All right, what's the latest news

on your wayward actor Booth?

I don't know.

He is still holding onto that scheme

a few of those Maryland planters have been dreaming about.

Seize the president

and make the North release all rebel prisoners of war.

He is bitten off more than he can chew.

One thing to smuggle a few bottles of quinine

across the border,

but it's quite another to kidnap a president.

Mm.

Insanity.

With Booth in there it certainly is.

He's already failed in several attempts

and he is just gonna keep on failing time

after time, after time,

but with someone else.

What do you mean?

Well, it would solve our problem with the president,

with the right man, eh, it could be done.

With Lincoln removed from office,

you'd be free to deal with the South as you saw fit.

No presidential interference as you said, Mr. Secretary,

victory would be a calamity.

Well, what would you like me to do?

Sit down.

Sorry to interrupt your schedules, gentlemen,

to ask you to come to this meeting, but it's important.

What's the matter?

I just left Secretary Stanton,

he's asked me to speak to you.

At this point, it appears we're only weeks

from the end of the war,

but unless something happens to change Lincoln's mind,

the defeat of the South

could have serious consequences for us.

I don't understand.

Senator Chandler to begin with,

the president is about to ask congress

to pay the South $400 million

as compensation for freeing the slaves.

Wouldn't be surprised if next he didn't ask us

to pay the South debts for running a war.

But that's just the beginning, Colonel.

If we can't stop Lincoln,

he's gonna be giving the right to vote back to the rebels.

You realize what that means?

It means there'll be 22 Southern Democratic Senators

and 39 Democratic congressmen back on Capitol Hill.

Now you take all those votes,

add them to the Northern Democrats

and gentlemen, our ability

to control the destiny of this country will be over.

To have spent untold wealth and lives to win the war

and then surrender the victory.

It's madness.

That's what the president is proposing.

You can speculate all you want, Colonel,

but there's nothing we can do.

The secretary thinks there is.

You see, we've uncovered a plot to kidnap President Lincoln,

Kidnap the president?

Exactly.

However, the man planning it is not capable

of carrying it out.

Who is he?

John Wilkes Booth.

The actor, he could never pull it off.

I agree.

Someone else could.

It's an intriguing idea.

If President Lincoln were to be kidnapped,

we could lay the entire blame

on the shoulders of Jefferson Davis, entire Confederacy.

The American people, they'd be outraged

at such a heinous act, they would support you 100%.

Then you could deal with the South on your own terms,

Congress would remain in friendly hands.

So instead of giving them money and the vote,

we'd take what we please.

Can it be done?

Oh, I can find a man for the job.

What are you going to do about Booth?

Leave him to me.

You can't be serious.

Do you have a better idea?

But what if something goes wrong?

Nothing will go wrong.

So?

Representative Jillian?

All right.

But I don't like it.

Secretary Stanton does.

Meanwhile, in another part of Washington,

Booth is preparing a new plan.

Knowing that he needs more manpower,

Booth enlists the help of John Surratt

and quickly hires a group of conspirators.

Michael O'Laughlen and Sam Arnold are boyhood friends

from Baltimore.

George Atzerodt, a German-born carriage maker

at Port Tobacco, has a thriving business

rowing Southern spies across the lower Potomac.

Thank you Edward.

Edward Spangler

is a stage hand at Ford's Theater.

Let's go, Henson.

Edward Henson, a trusted member

of Booth's smuggling group.

From David Herold, a pharmacist clerk,

will come some of the items essential to the plot.

Booth will spend the next few weeks

waiting for an opportunity to kidnap the president,

Captain, thank you for the use of your robbers.

That'll be all.

Captain James William Boyd.

Yes sir.

I'm Colonel Baker.

Come in, please, sit down.

Why are you limping?

A bullet wound in my right leg.

It bothers me from time to time.

Nothing serious.

You've been quite a letter writer.

When you're a prisoner.

It helps to pass the time.

In December, you wrote the prison superintendent.

Last month you sent a letter

to the Assistant Secretary of War, Mr. Dana.

This morning you wrote to Secretary Stanton.

He's referred the matter to me.

Well, I'm grateful for your promptness, sir.

Well, the fact is we'd already done some checking

before your letter to the secretary.

Wartime seems to suit your talents, Captain.

Let's see, you served as a Confederate secret agent

in the border states, mainly Kentucky, Tennessee.

You were captured in 1863 in the company of two other spies.

Both of the others were executed,

but you were given a prison term.

Huh?

A little luck there, huh?

What I want to know,

you've been fighting the Union for four years,

now you wanna work for us,

why?

I'll speak plainly.

Only a fool goes on fighting

after he's had his brains knocked out.

Anybody can see that the South has lost the war.

But on one point, Captain Boyd,

I want you to be absolutely clear.

If ever you play false with me, you're a dead man.

If I hadn't known the odds,

I wouldn't have written that letter.

Yeah.

Well now that leaves the oath.

Please stand.

Raise your right hand, repeat after me.

I, James William Boyd.

Over the years, Thomas,

we've done a great deal of business together

and I've grown to become what I consider friends.

I'm proud to consider you among my friends as well.

Oh yes.

Yeah.

Well, that's what makes this visit

somewhat uncomfortable for me, Thomas.

1, I don't understand.

You have a deal in the works, I know nothing about,

involving that actor John Wilkes Booth.

Well, Mr. Booth and I have many business dealings.

Involving the president.

I don't think I quite follow you.

Oddly enough, I don't think you do either.

Thomas, you are making a big mistake,

but I'm not going to arrest you.

I'm gonna help you.

You see, I don't think that Booth is capable

of the task you've given him.

I want to suggest a replacement.

Is Mr. Paine in?

Who are you?

My name is Eckert.

I work with Colonel Baker.

It's all right Lewis.

Very well. Mr. Eckert,

what is it you want?

I was asked to have a quiet talk with both of you.

The fact is you and your partner here

have been stirring up quite a lot of dust lately

and not much else.

Shooting at people in the dark.

Acting like fools at a circus.

Fools, sir?

I think that was the right word, yes.

All your reckless attacks and loose talk

are creating a very dangerous situation.

Attracting attention without results.

Stay out of the matter from now on.

I'll not tolerate your insults.

It was I who devised the plan to abduct the president

and I intend to carry it through.

You'll do nothing of the kind.

Now listen carefully.

You make one move toward the president or anybody else,

you and your friend will be found floating in the Potomac.

Angry at Eckert's threats,

enraged at being replaced, Booth will ignore the warning

and proceed with his plan to kidnap Lincoln,

Mr. President.

Ward, come in, come in.

You look tired, Mr. President,

you need to get away for a few days, get some rest,

a change of air.

I am going to Ward, I'm going to.

General Grant has invited me to visit his camp

outside Richmond for a few days.

Chairman will be coming up too

and we'll be able to talk over peace terms.

Maybe with a little luck I'll be there for fall of Richmond.

But how soon are you leaving, sir?

We sail Thursday on the River Queen.

Barry and Ted are going along.

Well, I don't see much rest in what you're felling me,

but at least it will be a change.

So Grant thinks we're coming to the end at last.

Oh, I guess the rebels can still dodge and run.

Still can throw away a few more lives,

but running out of time,

running outta space,

running out of everything.

Hard to imagine imagine, isn't it Ward.

Imagine what, Mr. President?

Peace, no war.

It's been war from the beginning for me.

Not sure now I'll know how to handle peace.

Here.

Well I tell you Mr. President,

I wouldn't worry too much about that problem if I were you.

The way things are going,

you're gonna find out there isn't much difference

between war and peace.

Not while you've got men like Ben Wade, Thad Stevens,

Stanton, George Julian,

some of the other radical Republicans after your scalp.

If you don't go along with the way

they want to trim the South,

why sir, you just might have to fortify the White House,

put out patrols to guard against raids from the Congress.

Come on now Ward.

That's the one kind of war

where I know more than the Generals.

Did you come here for anything in particular?

Only to try to get you out for a ride this afternoon,

- but you're booked. - Mr. President,

Yes.

I've just received an urgent request

from the 140th Indiana Regiment.

They're moving through Washington today.

That's one of the greatest regiments we have.

Oh, what do they want?

Oh, they'd like to present a captured rebel flag to you

at a formal review this afternoon.

This afternoon?

Well, no, I've got to be at the soldier's home.

Couldn't they do it another day?

They're moving on at once.

I'll tell you what, take the matter up with Paul,

see if he can't get one of the cabinet members

to serve as my proxy at one place or the other.

You see the trick of authority Ward,

you make the decision, let someone else solve the problem.

Having heard that the president

will be traveling to the soldier's home this afternoon,

Booth has quickly gathered his conspirators.

They assemble near a deserted stretch of road

and prepare for action.

The minute the carriage rounds the bend.

Surratt and I will ride out ahead of it.

When it passes here, the rest of you

will ride out behind it.

Now you four will handle the escort such as there may be.

And remember when we start South, if we're stopped,

I'll do the answering.

All right Surratt, let's go.

Where are those horse hands.

Come on.

Ya, ya, ya, ya, this way.

Come on this way.

Stop the president.

Stop the president.

You didn't leave your horse in the street.

In her stable.

Good.

You're alone?

Yes, I am alone.

Where are the others?

Gone, the craven cowards.

What do you mean gone?

Backed out, quit.

Atzerodt ran for home and Port Tobacco.

I just left Arnold and O'Laughlen in the street,

they're headed back to Baltimore.

I should have shot them both.

I hardly see what good that would've done.

John, would you and Mr. Booth have a brandy?

Ah madam, I would be most grateful for it.

Thank you, Mother.

And as Booth desperately tried

to implement his plan to abduct the president in the North,

men died in the South.

Sherman's troops burned city after city.

Thousands of fives were lost

during the final weeks of the war

until finally the inevitable happened.

On April 9th, Lee surrenders at Appomattox.

Now Booth's plans will no longer save the South.

The war is over.

And though most Northerners are eager

that harsh retributions be demanded from the South.

President Lincoln's first concern is to reunite the country.

To do this, he intends to offer the South

friendship not hatred.

Some 12,000 voters from the heretofore slave state

of Louisiana, have sworn allegiance to the Union.

And they have asked the nation's recognition.

Now, if we reject and spurn them,

we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them.

If on the contrary we recognize and sustain

the new government of Louisiana,

we encourage the hearts of the 12,000

to adhere to their work and to argue for it

and to fight for it and to feed it.

Well, Mr. Secretary,

I hardly need to ask your views on my speech.

I already see the comment on your face.

Indeed, Mr. President, I'm astounded.

You're giving away the fruits of our victory.

And there many of us are beginning to believe

that Grant surrendered to Lee, instead of Lee to Grant.

I implore you, Mr. President, to reconsider

before it's too late.

Of course you seem to have taken.

Now with your leave, I must say goodnight.

Goodnight, Mr. Secretary.

Senator Conness.

Good night, Mr. President.

I'd better be shoving along too, Mr. President.

Ward, can you stay a minute?

Didn't go down very well, did it?

I sure thought Stanton was going to have a fit.

Oh, Stanton.

I know where he stands.

"Hang 'em by the thumbs, let the blood flow."

He's a great believer in punishment that Mr. Stanton.

No Ward, I was thinking about the crowd up there.

It seemed to me they were might lukewarm, wouldn't you say?

Well, I don't think the folks out there

were very interested in hearing

about the problems of reconstruction.

They wanted to hear that they had won a war,

a victory speech,

full of promises to hang Jeff Davis,

reign down fire and brimstone all over the South.

That would've brought out cheers.

And hardened the hate for another hundred years,

200 years.

Now all that ended, day before yesterday at Appomattox.

We fought a war to hold the country together,

now we've got to do it.

We've got to stop thinking of the South as an enemy.

Just what do you propose for Jeff Davis?

Well, that's a problem I'm not eager to face.

It's time for me to go, sir.

Good night, Mr. President.

Morning, Captain Boyd.

Good morning, Colonel.

Ford's Theater?

The President and Mrs. Lincoln

are planning to see our American cousin,

some evening this week.

Mr. Lincoln will be going to the theater with his wife,

but he'll leave it with you.

Once the play is over,

you and two other men will be waiting outside the theater.

When the president comes out,

you will force him into a waiting carriage.

And you will chloroform him.

You'll escape south across the Navy Yard Bridge

to Benedict's Landing on the Potomac.

From there, the Chaffee company will have a ship

waiting to transport you and your prisoner to a safe port.

You make it sound awfully easy, Colonel.

There's sure to be guards to contend with.

And assuming I was able to get Lincoln in the carriage,

an alarm will certainly be telegraphed

to all military checkpoints,

including the Navy Yard Bridge.

This isn't a kidnap plan, it's suicide.

You underestimate us, Captain.

There will be no guard.

He will leave his post during the performance,

never ref um.

True, every road out of Washington will be sealed

except the Navy Yard Bridge.

And due to unforeseen circumstances,

the telegraph will break down at 10 o'clock.

Does that satisfy you?

Good.

I'll let you know what night

as soon as the president makes his reservations.

Oh, and Captain, don't forget,

we want Lincoln kidnapped not killed.

Many thanks.

Thank you, sir.

Have another go?

No, not now, Eddie.

I've got to check for mail at Ford's.

See you later.

All right, sir, there are your tickets.

Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy the show tonight.

Well Wilkes.

I just came by to see if you were holding mail for me.

Oh yes, there are a couple here for you, Wilkes.

Your lady friends are still writing.

So the old scoundrel's coming to see the play.

Yes, but if I were you Wilkes,

I wouldn't call the president an old scoundrel.

Come now, it's a free country, so I'm told.

I should have as much right to speak my views

as any black slave that Lincoln freed.

Mr. President.

Oh yes, Colonel, this matter will only take a moment.

Oh, that's quite all right.

We finished our talk.

Excuse me.

- Mr. President. - Yes.

Well,

first of all, I regret that you and Mrs. Stanton

were unable to accept Ms. Lincoln's

invitation to the theater.

Well, I have many duties to keep me here this evening.

I'm sure you understand.

Oh, of course, of course.

However, my advisors informed me

that I shouldn't go to the theater unescorted.

And I have somewhat of a problem on that score,

as yet my guard John Parker hasn't arrived for duty.

Matter of fact, he's almost two hours late right now.

You couldn't by chance spare your Major Eckert?

I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's impossible Mr. President.

I've already assigned him numerous duties for this evening.

Ah well, nothing is gone as it should today.

Parker's late, Eckert's unavailable.

Mrs. Lincoln is having trouble getting her guests together.

Ah, you can't come,

General and Mrs. Grant canceled,

several others have declined.

1 tell you the truth,

I just as soon stay home as go to the theater.

But where Mrs. Lincoln is concerned,

I'm the one guest who can't refuse.

Well, Captain Boyd.

Good day to you, Colonel.

To what do I owe the pleasure?

Have you heard the president

will be at Ford's Theater tonight.

It will be a performance he'll never forget.

Make sure it is.

Lewis.

Where are the others?

They haven't come.

Then it's hopeless, we can do nothing.

Plan's been changed.

How?

The kidnapping plan can't work.

We're too few.

Besides the Secretary of State, Seward,

was hurt in an accident.

He's at home in bed.

Then what can we do?

Kill them.

Actually, George, it's much safer,

quickly over and done, no captives to worry about.

I'll take the president,

Lewis is going to handle Seward

and you'll take the vice president,

Johnson at Kirkwood House.

Vice president.

And afterward?

Well then we'll all separately take

the route we've covered a hundred times.

You have your weapons.

Then we must strike together between 10

and the quarter hour.

Agreed?

Yes.

Another.

Yeah.

Well, Mr. Booth, will you join me in a drink?

Just one, I think, Eddie, I have an appointment very soon.

Brandy.

Is that the president's carriage

waiting outside the theater?

That's it all right.

He got here in the middle of the first act.

He made it though.

Tell me, Eddie,

how serious were you this morning,

all that talk about wanting some excitement?

I never said anything to you, Mr. Booth,

that I didn't mean.

I have a bit of business to do.

Can you meet me at Good Hope Hill about midnight?

There'll be some money in it for you.

I'll be there.

Good man.

Well 'til later then.

That Wilkes is good.

But he's not half the actor his father was.

When I leave the stage,

I'll be the most famous man in America.

As Booth leaves, John Parker,

the president's bodyguard enters.

Not only has Parker reported for duty three hours late,

but he has left his post at the theater and come to the bar.

Whiskey.

You're not used to the manners of good society.

My God, they shot the president.

Stop that man.

How is he?

Waiting to die.

Henson, I thought I'd missed you.

You've been traveling fast.

You saw no other travel on the road.

None.

Then they've been caught.

Who?

Eddie, we've killed the president

and some of his cursed cabinet too.

So that's what the row at the theater was all about.

Well done Mr. Booth, well done.

Then you're with me, Eddie.

Oh, you know I am Mr. Booth, all the way.

When we cross the Potomac, it'll all be free and clear.

Friends, all the money we need, we'll be heroes my lad.

Now if only the horses hold up, and my leg.

What happened?

Oh, when I jumped to the stage,

I must have sprained my ankle.

At first, didn't bother me,

but now it's beginning to hurt like the very devil.

Well, no use talking.

Let's go.

I've got some weapons to pick up.

So far, luck has been with Booth.

Unknowingly, he was able to escape the city

by using the Navy Yard Bridge,

which was left open for Captain Boyd.

But his accomplices have been less lucky.

Both Paine and Atzerodt failed in their attempts

to kill Secretary Seward and Vice President Johnson,

and they go into hiding.

However, Booths left ankle is broken, not sprained.

And as the pain grows more intense,

he is forced to veer off his planned course

and seek medical care from Dr. Samuel Mudd,

a Southern sympathizer.

How much longer will it take, Doctor?

So you in a hurry to get on Mr. Henson?

I promised 10 be in the city by morning?

I'll tell you, you're not going very far tonight.

Wait, what are you saying?

I'm saying that you're both fools to try to go on tonight.

Why don't you rest yourself for a while in the parlor.

For God sake, where have you been?

I just wrote into Bryantown to try to find a carriage

0 you could travel.

There's none to be had.

This town's filled with soldiers.

They came in last night.

The president died this morning.

In no time at all, the whole countryside will be talking.

We've got to ride Mr. Booth, we've got to ride.

You shaved it clean.

Do you think it'll help?

If a man doesn't look too closely.

Mr. Booth, we don't have much time.

Yes, I'm ready, saddle the mare

and ask Dr. Mudd if he could get me a crutch

50 I can move about.

In torment from the broken left ankle,

Booth rides on with Henson.

But the delay at Dr. Mudd's house has been dangerous.

By Saturday night, April 15th,

the whole countryside knows of the president's murder.

But Booth has prepared well.

He knows the secret pathways of the back country,

has set up connections with Rebel sympathizers

who will give sanctuary.

From Maryland, a planter, Colonel Samuel Cox

and his brother-in-Law, Thomas Jones,

they are given a hiding place in a remote thicket,

There, provided with a new boot, food and even newspapers,

Booth and Henson will remain for the next six days.

Meanwhile, Colonel Lafayette Baker

has had thousands of people arrested

to create confusion and give him a chance

to locate Booth before anyone else does.

Prison Superintendent says he's run outta room.

Tell him to make room.

Major Richards of the Metropolitan Police

has made an urgent request for fresh mounts.

Impossible.

We have no mounts to spare.

They have barely enough for the search parties we have out.

Andrew and Luther Potter, are they here?

They're waiting outside.

Bring them in.

Also that Indian tracker fellow, Whippet Senalgie,

bring him in too.

Andrew, Luther, Senalgie.

I have reason 10 believe that this is the area

we should concentrate on,

Port Tobacco, up and down the Potomac from there.

Now I want you all down there in a hurry.

Senalgie you'll travel alone.

You two boys will stick together.

And you'll report directly to me.

Now understand that clearly, nobody else.

I want Booth dead or alive.

Colonel Conger is here.

Ah?

I thought you might be interested in that.

Rewards total nearly 300,000.

My, Booth is gonna be

the most valuable carcass in the country.

Yeah, and if we don't get him, somebody else is sure to.

I sure hate to see some ignorant country boy,

get all that money and not know how to spend it.

I've got my best people on his trail, Everton.

I think we'll see our share of the reward money.

But I want Booth dead.

If he lives long enough to talk,

his won't be the only head in the noose.

They've caught David Herold,

they just brought him in.

Where was he caught?

Underneath a tree in Prince George County.

He's in the gallery now being photographed.

So we finally have a prisoner that counts.

Oh no, no, Everton, not just a prisoner, we have a guide,

someone who can take us where we want to go.

Have Captain Boyd meet us in the gallery.

You missed your chance the other night,

but now you got the opportunity to capture Booth.

You will.

Unless you want to spend your next few years

back in your old cell.

That terrifying excuse for a man

is gonna give you that opportunity.

Davy Herold, I'm Colonel Lafayette Baker.

I don't have much time.

I want you to answer me quick,

I want you to answer me straight.

How much is your life worth to you?

Everything, sir, everything.

Well right now, your life is forfeit,

you don't own it, I do.

To me, it doesn't make a penny's worth a difference

whether I give it to the hangman or not.

But I tell you what I'm gonna do, Davy.

I'm gonna give you a chance to earn back your life.

One chance, one life.

Fair enough?

I'm gonna release you to Captain Boyd

and you're gonna lead him to Booth.

You know what he looks like,

you were part of the plot,

you knew the plans,

you know where he is.

Davy, Davy,

I want Booth.

You're a brave man, you're a smart man

and you're going to give him to me,

you're gonna give me his life for yours.

Let's go, son.

It is Sunday afternoon, April 16th,

two days after the president's assassination

and Baker has his first pawn in the search for Booth.

Slowly in the coming days, others are rounded up.

Samuel Arnold is arrested at Fortress Monroe,

Monday, April 17th.

Michael O'Laughlen in Baltimore on the same day.

And later that evening, Mary Surratt,

Lewis Paine and Edward Spangler

are apprehended in Washington.

George Atzerodt is caught on April 20th.

Dr. Samuel Mudd on April 21st,

But the main figure is still at large.

A week later than he had planned,

in a boat provided by Thomas Jones,

Booth prepares to cross the Potomac to the Virginia Shore.

And so passed from friendly hand to friendly hand,

the fugitives crossed the Potomac and head south.

He is warned by Jones to avoid the gunboats

which patrol the river.

But they are never far from their pursuers.

Tonight they will stay in the shanty of William Lucas,

but as they go, they will leave behind

one crucial belonging,

Booth's jacket caught on a bush near Gambo Creek.

Meanwhile, Colonel Baker has sent the Potter brothers

along with Captain Boyd and Davy Herald to find Booth.

Loyal or secess?

Secess.

We'll wait.

You coming Mr. Herold?

Why him?

Well, he's acquainted there too.

If we go together, they might be a little more trustful.

All right.

So they made you a Judas goat for the Yankees.

What about you?

The same.

Then you should know this family up here is Union.

If I'd said that you'd think they'd have

sent us up here alone?

Listen to me, Herold, you game to make a run for it?

Look, if you trust Baker, you're crazy.

He wants us to find Booth

then he'll tum us over to the hangman.

We couldn't make a run for it now.

We wouldn't have a chance.

No, not now.

Tonight.

It is Sunday, April 23rd,

10 days after the assassination

and Whippet Nalgie

the Indian scout and tracker

makes the crucial discovery of Booth's

lost jacket and diary.

He immediately turns back toward Washington.

On Monday morning, Booth and Henson

are driven to the Port Conway Ferry Crossing

by William Lucas.

They plan to cross the Rappahannock River to Port Royal

and continue south.

Excuse me, do you know of a driver and buggy we could hire

across the river in Port Royal?

I reckon.

Where do you figure on going?

Up Fredericksburg way.

I'm ready to pay somebody $10 to take us.

Union money?

Union money.

As soon as the ferry gets back,

I reckon I can take it myself.

You know the woods around here pretty good?

Like the back of my hand.

Why?

Well, I tell you the truth,

we just as soon not travel the main road.

We're not too anxious to run into any Union soldiers.

Now why would the Union soldiers

give you anything to worry about?

You wouldn't be having a guilty conscience, now would you?

And what business is it of yours?

Easy gentleman, easy.

Partner, give me a hand.

We we have no quarrel with any one of your uniforms, sir.

May I ask your unit?

Mosby's Irregulars, sir.

And yours?

We wore no uniform.

Spies, eh?

Well, let us say simply that

we were in Confederate service.

We were on an errand in Baltimore when the war ended

and now we're just trying to get home.

My name's Jet.

You, you look familiar.

We haven't met before, have we?

Oh, I'm sure not.

I don't know who you are and I don't want to know.

If you're the man I think you are, I want to help.

Now my men and I are at your service

and we'll make sure you don't run into any Union soldiers.

I'm most grateful to you, sir.

See you ashore.

I feel as though at last

we've been delivered out of a nightmare.

We're among friends, Eddie.

We're safe.

Well, Stanton, what's this all about?

Zachariah has Booth's diary.

For heavens sakes, Chandler, lemme have it.

"Conness said he could supply the new passwords

"every six weeks as they changed for as long as I wished,

"providing each time $3,000 would be forthcoming."

Oh Lord.

"He said he was not a patriot for either North or South,

"rather, a man with a small pocket and a large need.

"Thompson gave me 50,000 in bank notes

"with instructions to take 15,000 to Senator Conness

"and to leave in a sealed envelope 20,000 in notes

"at the home of Senator Wade.

"Baker comes and brings letters,

"but no matter who speaks of Baker,

"do not like him and will not trust him.

"I believe that Baker and Eckert and the secretary

"are in control of our activities,

"and this frightens me."

Oh Lord,

this ever gets out, I'm ruined.

We'll all be ruined.

Here.

George, don't you want to read it?

I never met Booth and apparently I'm not mentioned.

I think I'm better off not reading it.

Still, it does concern you.

Tom, here, put this in the safe.

You may lock up Booth's diary,

but how are you going to silence him

when you bring him into open court?

Good day, gentlemen.

So you're the man General Hancock is lending me

for the special mission?

- At your service, sir. - Very good.

Now these gentlemen are from my agency,

they'll accompany you.

This is Lieutenant Colonel Conger.

- How do you do? - Colonel.

My cousin, Lieutenant Baker.

Lieutenant.

Colonel Conger will have courtesy command

by virtue of his rank.

But you Lieutenant will have direct charge.

And may I tell you that this mission

may be the most important one you'll ever have.

Recognize this man?

Booth, sir.

Yeah, that's he.

But I take it you've never seen him before on stage or off?

Never sir.

Very good.

Now hold onto that picture and make certain

that all of your men are familiar with Booth's, features.

Your duty and theirs is to find him, catch him

and bring him back.

For two days,

Lieutenant Doherty's troops scoured the countryside.

Before dawn on April 26th,

their investigation takes them

to the farm of Richard Garrett.

Who is it?

What do you want?

We're federal troops.

Open that door at once or we'll break it down.

Where are they?

Who?

The two men, we know they're here.

They've gone.

Where?

I don't know.

Back in the woods, I think.

You lying rib.

Take him to the nearest tree and stretch his neck a little.

Maybe we'll get the truth out of him.

Search the house.

The barn.

Look in the barn.

Surround the barn.

Come on out.

We have 22 armed men around this barn.

You don't stand a chance.

Wait, don't shoot.

I'm coming out.

Get him.

Booth, it's your last chance to come out and surrender.

He's not going anywhere.

We'll fire the barn.

Here he comes.

Look out.

Fall back men, fall back.

Gotta admit, we were sure surprised.

We got to Fredericksburg,

we were sure he was just ahead of us moving west.

But as soon as you shot Booth

word must have spread like lightning.

The whole country must know by now.

Come on, take a look at him.

What's the matter?

Well, he sure grew a mustache in a hurry.

Red too.

Everybody knows that Booth had a mustache.

Yeah.

Booth shaved off his mustache

the night he stopped at Dr. Mudd's.

But how could they have shot Boyd?

Because he escaped.

Gave my detectives the slip.

But Doherty unknowingly picked up his trail

and followed him to Garrett's farm.

It was dark.

None of the men knew what Booth looked like.

This is a disaster.

You've already announced the death of Booth to the press.

We'll be a laughing stock.

And that's not all Davy Herold was with Boyd,

and he's going on about the corpse not being Booth.

If we let the country believe Booth is dead,

he'll be forgotten.

But if we admit that we killed Boyd by mistake

and continue the hunt for Booth,

he's liable to be captured alive.

And testify.

Congratulations Colonel Baker

on the killing of John Wilkes Booth.

The government has announced the capture

and death of John Wilkes Booth.

The body on deck has a damaged right leg.

Booth's injury was to his left ankle.

The corpse had a reddish mustache.

Booth shaved his black mustache off,

hardly more than a week ago at Dr. Mudd's.

The man killed at Garrett's farm is in his mid 40s.

Booth is much younger.

Though he goes through

the necessary steps of identification,

Colonel Baker will ensure

that no contrary evidence is released.

Under a new and more generous policy,

bribes are issued secretly,

not only to those most directly involved

in the supposed death of Booth,

but to many who merely participated in the search.

In return, however, each must sign a quitclaim

sealing his lips on any questions he may have

regarding the identity of the corpse.

Now for the defendants in custody, the trial begins.

The mood of the nation demands vengeance

and Stanton is eager to supply it.

The government has an array of dubious witnesses,

many of them rehearsed in their testimony

at the prosecution's so-called school for perjury

at the National Hotel.

By whatever means Stanton is determined to prove

that the conspirators were tools of Jefferson Davis

and the Confederate leaders.

In January of this year,

I saw Jacob Thompson, the Confederate envoy

in Canada several times.

He said he'd received a proposition

to rid the world of Lincoln and several others.

He told me that the persons involved were bold, daring men

capable of executing any plan they undertook.

But he was still awaiting approval from Richmond.

The witness is Richard Montgomery,

alias James Thompson,

wartime double agent and former New York burglar

with a long police record.

Later exposed as an unscrupulous perjurer.

And I heard Sanders say there was any amount of money

to accomplish this assassination.

And that Booth was heart and soul of the project.

Later he read a letter from Jefferson Davis

expressing his approval for whatever measures.

Dr. James E. Merritt,

later pronounced a fraud

after investigation by the Canadian government,

received $6,000 for his day in court.

I had previously talked with Thompson

regarding the assassination of Lincoln and his cabinet

and had been invited to participate.

When Surratt brought the dispatches, Thompson said,

"This makes the thing right.�

Referring to the ascent of the rebel authorities.

He said, "Killing a tyrant was no murder."

Sanford Conover alias James Watson Wallace,

whose right name is Charles Dunham,

is the government's star witness.

He has secretly coached

some of the other government witnesses

on the fictitious testimony for which they have been paid.

In 1867, he will be sent to prison for perjury.

Amid all the accumulating testimony,

fraudulent or valid, much other evidence is suppressed.

The Booth diary will never be mentioned in court

and the defendants are not even permitted to testify

in their own defense.

The issue is never really in doubt.

The verdict on all the defendants is guilty.

Dr. Mudd, Arnold, O'Laughlen and Spangler

receive life prison terms.

The rest, Mary Surratt, Paine,

Atzerodt and Herold must hang.

Stanton acts quickly.

He orders the execution for the next morning.

Mary Surratt will be the first woman

in the history of the United States to be hanged.

And four of the conspirators are forever silenced.

But the questions could not be silenced.

And in 1868, the existence of Booth's diary

finally became known.

A congressional investigation followed.

And who were these frauds,

these trained liars bought and paid for by the government?

Sanford Conover, Richard Montgomery, Dr. James Merritt,

and how many dozen others, criminal perjures

in the employ of government officials.

No less criminal than they.

Congressman Rogers, you are out of order.

And when I asked to see documents and papers,

they are locked away, hidden in boxes.

And I'm told that I can't see them

because it's incompatible with a public interest.

Tell me, since when is the truth incompatible

with the public interest?

The people have every right to know every bit of evidence

50 they can find who all were the accomplices of Booth.

And to find out who changed Booth's purpose

from capture to assassination.

- And to find out. - Gentlemen, I believe

the speculation on the death of our beloved president

has gone far enough.

We all know the fact.

Do we, Mr. Secretary, do we really?

Then, can you explain to me

the sudden appearance of Booth's diary

and why the diary was not submitted in evidence

during the trial.

And Mr. Secretary, what became of the 18 missing pages?

I testified earlier,

those pages were missing when I received the diary.

Furthermore, gentlemen, I believe Congressman Rogers

is trying to direct attention to himself

by referring to issues that are irrelevant and immaterial,

And I think you're hiding something.

Order.

Order.

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, if you ask me,

Mr. Rogers is making a mountain out of a molehill.

The whole matter is really very simple.

John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln

and a few Southern rebels helped him.

Nobody else.

As far as I'm concerned, the case should be closed.

And I'm afraid Mr. Rogers, I agree with Senator Conness.

It appears that nothing more can be accomplished

in this meeting, gentlemen.

The majority are in agreement.

This meeting is adjourned.

So the coverup would continue.

The truth would be concealed for more than a century

after Lincoln's death.

And what of the people so involved in the coverup?

For reasons unclear, Stanton and Baker will become enemies.

Baker retires but will be murdered

by arsenic poisoning on July 3rd, 1868.

Stanton will soon leave the White House.

He too will die a year after Baker,

but not before being nominated

to the highest judicial seat in the country,

The Supreme Court,

John Wilkes Booth,

the actor who has played so many roles

will now vanish in a new one.

After the trial, the Potter brothers

follow Booth's trail to his farm near Harper's Ferry,

then to Philadelphia and finally lose the trail in New York.

There are rumors that he reached Canada, England

and finally, India.

Booth, so eager to play his role in history

is lost in hearsay.

These events took place 111 years ago.

Despite the plotting and deception

of men like Secretary of War, Stanton,

certain radical Republicans and greedy Northern financiers,

President Lincoln's dream of a reunited nation

did come to pass.

Today, America is the symbol of freedom and equality

to the rest of the world.

The world will little note,

nor long remember what we say here,

but it can never forget what they did here.

That we here highly resolve that these dead

shall not have died in vain.

That the nation shall have a new birth of freedom

and that government of the people,

by the people and for the people,

shall not perish from the earth.