The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1869-04-11

SKETCHES on THE wAY--BooTH's RIDE-How TIE
D0oroB LOOKS AND WHAT BE sAYs-HIs Ac-
r COUNT OF BOOTHS AND HARoLD's VISIT AFTER
THB AssAssINArIos-wHAf He THINKS OF HIS
OWN TRIAL AND CoEDEMSArI0S--HIs REPORTED
confession TO CAPTAIN DUTToSA SHAM, WHICH
HE SAYS WAS coScocrED BIZ SECRETARY STANTON.
t fCorsspondepce New York Herald.l
WASHINGTON, March Is. 1869.
It win be many, many years ere the tragic story
of President Lincone assassination ceases to ex-
ercise its fearful fascination over mems minds.
The thrilling horrors of the deed assumed by cir.
cumstances Q character that made II the most
surpsssipg tragedy In the history OF the world.
The head of the nation shot dead 10 public play.
house. in the center Of the capital, on Good Fri.
day evening, and the assassin boldly escaping
from the scene OF his awful crime, make a subject
OF more terrible interest and wierd influence than
any tale fiction has ever furnished. The profound
thrill OF surprise, grief and Indignation that shot
through the hearts Of thirty millions Of people
and went circling round the earth wherever hu-
manity and civilization duelt attested the magni
tude Of the offense and the desperate purpose OF
the assassin. II was no wonder, IN the angry time
that followed, with the nations pulse stfever
beat and the cry for vengeance ringing through
the land, that ell who were In ever so remote
manner identified with the chief c0nspirator
should be rashly judged and summaflly dealt with.
In that period Of lightning passion, when storm
cloud Of wrath hung above the country like pail,
one was hurried TO her account for whom no hu-
Inuu resu,ution can ever be made and yet, per.
inundated to the blind and reckless vengeance Of
the hour. Among those caught up 10 the prevail
Ing mselstrom u suspicion at the time was DR..
Samuel kudd, OF whom the public have very fully
heard &c the surgeon that Get the broken leg OF
Booth. and who was sentenced for life to the Dry
Tortugss. Time, which removes rs TO calm,
unprejudiced standpoint from the exciting
events OF o past period, has brought to him his
freedom from living tomb, and has given him the
fot
and to rise above the ponderous weight Of odium
hesped upon his name. Men did not stop to in
qure, 10 ponder, 10 investigate the possibility OF
perjury on one side or Innocence on the other
when Judgment was silenced by the fierce demand
for speedy resribution. To crafty this Mrs. Sur
raft was sacrificed and DR.. Audd was consigned 70
an outcast felon's doom. In Other and calmer
times 1t is safe 10 presume neither result would
have occurred; the one would not have passed
into history the reproach OF great nation as be-
ing the victim Of Judicial murder, and the other
would have escaped the torture worse than death
Of blighted name and hopes forever ruined. Your
correspondent anxious as well TO see the returned
prisoner OF the Dry Tortugas as TO ride over the
thirty miles Of ground that witnessed the mad and
fearful fight Of Booth, took wagon aud gallant
team Of bays and ratified away from Washington
In the breezy sir Of yesterday morning. East OF
the capitol half mile Is bridge that crosses q
branch Of the Potomac-an old bridge, very une-
venly aoored and altogether rudely constructed.
The night OF the l4th Of April, 1865. sentiaels
stood az either end of this causeway and saw
Booth fash past them, followed by Harold, the
frat announcing himself as doctor rushing to
sick call, the latter the messenger sent In haste
for the doctor. The conspirators were in no mind
to observe the rule that al other equestrisns
have TO follow, Of walking their horses across the
bridge. They few with the wind, wheeled to the
left through the village Of Uniontown and olaf.
tered over broad. maosdam road into Mary.
land. We followed the trail Of the assassin's ride
I'D hill and down hill fer several miles until We
reached point on the road called Good Hope.
Standing here you take your last glimpse OF
Washington, the silvery Potomac and the balloon.
like dome of the capitol, and having made up
your mind to the enterprise you plunge into the
most heayen-forsaken country within hundred
miles Of Washington. Yet this u 6 portion OF MY
Maryland where the very landscape Ia supposed
to call forth poetic and patriotic enthusiasm and
every reod of soil supports freeman bold and
brave. We roll down a great billowy Incline OF
red earth, Cross tremulous bridge OF rotten
boards, and mount steep ascent OF furroaed
mud Of the othe; side. No fences anywhere, no
green thing in sight, no trim farm houses, no peo-
pie with white faces, save ever and anon bank
fupt aud hopeless loskiDg farmer stretched on .
load Of manure and cornstalks and gazing de-
jectedly at 9 team OF palsled ponies. By the
wayside every few miles blacksmith blows bis
bellows for the edifcation and delight OF few
forlorn loafers, who seem to sustsin themselves
between watching the sickly blaze Of the fur
mace and poking fun at the impecunious son OF
Washington and civilization could hardly be
dreamed Of; and now we begin TO understand
why Booth selected Il for his line OF fight. Bat
Booth, be 1t known, had long previous to the
night Of the assassination mapped out this part OF
Maryland as the course by which he intended to
abdnct President Lincoln into the Confederacy
After q thirty-ive miles journey he intended to
strike the Potomac, and, crossing over, hold on
his journey through the least known and widest
portion Of Virginia. Giving up his abduction
oh onoa and raaOlvin0 n QazQQatQQtiQQ hQ still
found the route serviceable as Q means OF escsp-
ing capture. No better could be selected, for no
man unacquainted with the country could follow
fugitive through il without being lost, and yet
there are no dense forests or impossible streams
in the way, but there is constant dipping OF the
soil united with low broken ridges Of hills, over
spread by O Sahara-like loneliness and an utter
absence Of wayfarers on the highway, that make
IL admirably adapted for the purposes OF fee.
ing criminal. Eight or ten miles from Washing
ton we passed Surrsttsvile, once the happy coun-
try residence Of the unfortunate family Of S1rratt
This was q favorite resort or Booth. Here the
girl was supposed 10 live to whom he was accns
toned to soy he was afianced, and whenever the
business Of the conspiracy took him from Wash
ington he generally accounted for his absence by
saying that his marriage was near at hand. and
he had been making preparations for It's oonsum.
nation. SuIras hD1ss' PANIED ,- Shi'e sno
shutters and wide. shady verandas. looked the
| only redeeming feature of the road. II was once
q tavern, in the good old times before the war
when the chiyalry Of Maryland lived In clover
and niegers abounded on every tobacco plants
ton in the State. Butthere 1t stands. untenanted
and all its former inmates have left its neighbof
| hood forever.
wepull up tolesrn the bearings OF the road at or
old fashioned grocery, mile or SO beyond Sur
| rattsville, and q whole party who have been en-
gagged playing cards and drinking whisky CONF
| forth TO give the desired informstiop. Such 9
team % ours Ia seldom in that vicinity, SO VI
1 imme dately become the center OF much curioul
l observation. Where we are going Is theme o
varied speculation and there are many meditativt
l mouths wondering IL our visit means treat To-
| all HANDS round Here we learned that Bootl
stopped to replenish his brandy flask, riding mp 4
| the door on his horse and waking up the inmate
| by loud knocking with the handle Of his whip o
| abe stock Of bis revolver, can't say which. W,
leave very soon. The roads are In a, terrible con
diton. mud holes on every side, and our objecty,
| point ia still afar off, Now We pass school-hous
! sixteen feet long by twelve. Six Of the scholar
are out at play. chopping wood, and two Of tn
| female pupils are engaged in milking COWS fol
| pastime, no doubt. Now We come 20 q swollel
stream with a very uneaven bed; the vagol
| keels partly over, and the horses struggle fear
fully 70 exsricate X. AL right again; but Boot