Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-05-06
THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION.
Kew Facts and New Theory.
Washinpton Cor Cincinnati Com m araial


Q Washington Cor. Cincinnati Commercial.
3 found myself in country made e
nous by the flight Of the assassin Boot
The people remember yet, with tn
liveliest dissatisfaction, their treatmer
by the Government. The wild excite
ment that followed the horrible even
exposed an entire countryside to crue
abuse. The troops sent out upon th
track of the assassin might have lAi
waste all Of Charles county without re
monstrance from the power at Washing
ton that directed the search. That sucl
outrage was not done, is owing to til,
officers in immediate command. This i.
the one great defect in the character o
the most remarkable man the war
brought into notice. refer to Edwin
M. Stanton. He is as impulsiVe as 8
woman, and Vindictive as Satan. The
blind wrath that followed the crime de-
feated its own ends, and was productive
of very sad results. 1t left the murder
shrodded in myt terry, by sweeping down
the innocent and the guilty, aud thereby
shutting the door to evidence by hanging
or intimidating witnesses. No man
dared say what he knew, for his know
ledge was considered guilt, with swift,
ready punishment in its wake.
An intelligent gentleman, living in
the neighborhood Of DIR. Mudd, told me.
that to-day facts are whispered about
the countryside that would have been of
the grayest importance on the trial, bnt
the witnesses were frightened by the
indiscriminate manner in which all were
alike condemned. And now, although
he knew of certain events bearing upon
the crime, if the witnesses were called
upon they would either deny all knowl~
edge or fly the country. He told me OF
one that | think ought yet to be hunted
up and the evidence put to record, as in
teresting in historical point of view, if
no other.
He told me with great hesitation and
confidentially that after Booth and his
young companion left DIR. Mudd's they
wakened up lad, living in o miserable
hut on the roadside, and offered him ten
dollars if he would guide them to some
point on the Potomac where they could
find means to cross into Virginia. Any
one who has seen the couztry and ap,
preciated its wild network of roads, can
understand the demand. The lad, bright
enough for one of his class, and not know
ing, of course, the sort Of work he was
contracting for, readily consented and,
saddling his mule, rode at the head of
the assassins. The mule was one some
what stifened by old age and hard work,
and the guide found himself crowded on
by his two strange companions, and so
near that he heard much Of their conVer>
sation. One of the two, who complained
Of his leg, did not say much, but the
other talked necessarily. Twice during
their midnight ride they stopped, and
the hurt man proposed ending the BUSH
ness. The other urged him on, however.
Whenever their talk referred to their
fight and escape, the more silent one
cursed somebody for coward and trai, !
tor, in not putting out the lights. Had
that been done, we might now be COM
Portable in Washington" he said, sew
eral times, to which his companion re-
piled with words of comfort and encourS
agement.
In this way, then, the three pushed
on, climbing hills, crossing brooks, pass
ing faTm~hOuses hushed in sleep, until
the bread Potomac was reached, and the
guide received his pay and left them.
When one considers the shattered
condition of Booths leg, the indomitable
will and powers Of endurance, shown in
tbat NIL ,,,rbf ria rnrna ont ~ hnII
relief What he must have suffered in
mind and body, defes common words
to indicate. But one. important fact
leaks out, in the aforementioned and
disconnected talk. | have always beS
lieved, from a careful examination Of the
few circumstances attending the crime
that the sO>called trial gave US, that the
assassination, hOweVerlong premeditatod,
was hastily planned. This is evident,
when we remember that Booth could
not have known that Mr.. Lincoln would
attend the theater until noon of the night
the murder occurred. The Surrattville
matter of ropes and concealed weapons
referred to previously planned abduc>
ton that had been long abandoned, and
we recognize in the great crime itself
three cOnspirators, Booth, Payne, and
one unknown. 1t was evidently Booths
intention to have the gas turned off on
the report of the pistol, and the un-
known murderer whose duty it was to
plunge the startled audience into utter
darkness, failed him at the critical mo,
ment, and so brought the chief actor on
the stage, for all to gaze upon and recog-
nize.
1t was admirably planned, but had
the plot been carried cut, there was yet
cIew to the assassin. My friend,
Capt. McGowaD, attended Forl's
Theater that night, and finding the
house crowded, procured camp-stOol,
and seated himself in the passage-w way,
next the private box occupied by the
President and his party. A lover Of the
drama, he was we'll acquainted with the
actors, and saw Booth lounge in and
pause, for q moment, near the door of
the private box. Then he came slowly
down the passage, and stood near Capt.
McGowan, and looked earnestly at a
paper he took from his hat. He could
see into the box, where he was, and the
maneuver was evidently executed to sats
isfy himself as to the position Of his vice
tim. He then walked back and entered
the fatal place. Almost Immediately
after, the loud report Of the pistol start
led the house. Capt. McGowan is q cool,
self-possessed man, and would have
identified the assassin even had the gas
been turned off, as the great criminal in>
tended.
lam inclined to the belief that John
Surratt's hand was relied on TO cover
in darkness the crime and fight of the
assassin. lie lacked the courage neces-
sary 10 carry out the design, and he sub
sequently lacked the courage to save his
poor mother. .l
Remarkable Railroad Accident.
The Knoxville Press and Herald of
Tuesday is responsible for the following:
As the eastern bound train on the East
Tanna.oao anH Nsro1n,a - uaafor