Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-12-09
JOHN H. SURRATT.
A Full History of His COnnec-
ton with the Plot for the
Abduction of Mr..
Lincoln.
Meeting of the COnspiratOrs in
Washington and their Plans
Some Interesting Facts Concern
ing j. Wilkes Booth.
Surratt's Whereabouts at the
Time of the Assassination.
Special to the Louisville courier-Journal.

Special to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
WASHINGTON, Dec. John II. Sur
raft, one of the alleged conspirators in the
plot to sssassinate President Lincoln,
made full confession or staten INT of bis
knowledge of the same in the shape Of a
lecture delivered in the courthouse at
Rockville, Maryland, a few miles distant
from Washington, last night. 1t is very
long, but the following opening extract
covers the features of it:
"REMINISCENCES.
LADIES AND GENTLEMRN-UpOne enter
ing that door few moments ago the i'm
preston on my mind was Sd strong as to
wildly recall the scenes of three years
ago. ana not unacqusinted with court
room audiences. Sensation. 1 have
stood before them before. True, not in
the character of a lecturer, but as a
prisoner at The bar, arraigned for the high
crime of murder.
In contrasting the two positions | must
confess | felt more ease as the prisoner at
the bar than do as lecturer. Then l
felt confident of success, now l do not;
then had gentlemen of known ability to
do all my talking for me; now, unfortu-
n2tely, l have to do it for myself. l feel
lily capable of performing the task, still
hope you will all judge me kindly. l
am not here to surprise you by any ora
toricsl effort, not a. all; but only 10 tell
simple tale. | feel that some explana-
ton, perhaps, indeed an apology, is due
you for my appearance here this evening.
OBJECT OF THE LECTURE.
In presenting this lecture before the
public, l do it in no spirit of self-justiti-
cation. In trial of sixty one days !
made my defense to the world, and !
have no need or desire to rehearse it, nor
do appear for self justification. On the
contrary, ] dislike notoriety, and leave
my solitude and obscurity unTilliugly.
Neither is it itching for Do'oriety or fame.
| My object is merely to present a simple
narrative of events as they occurred.
stand here through the force of thai
which has obliged many other men to do
things quite as distasteful-pecunisry ne
cessity, for the supply Of which no more
available channel presented itself. So you
will take it kindly, l trust, ard theground
we will have to go over will guarantee
sufficient interest to repay your kind at
tention to this, my first lecture.
will speak of my introduction 70 ].
Wilkes Booth, his plan, its failure, oul
final separation, my trip from Richmond
and thence to Canada, then my orders tC
Elmyrs, and what was done there
| WHERE HE WAS AT THE TINE.
The first intimation l had of Mr.. Lin.
coins death, l was mostly engaged in
sending information regarding the move
ments of the United States army stationed
in Washington and elsewhere, and carry,
| ing dispatches to the Confederate boats or
the Potomac. We had a regular e5tab
| lished line from Washington to the Pc
tomac, and being the only unmarried mar
on the route, had most of The hare
riding to do. Laughter. 1 devised
various ways to carry the dispatches.
Some times in the heel of my boot; some.
times behind the planks of the buggy.
confess that never in my life did CONF
across a mors stupid set of detective:
than those generally employed by The
United States Government They seemed
to have no idea whatever how to search 1
man.
| THE REMOVAL To WASHINGTON.
In 1864, my family left Maryland anG
moved to Washington, where l still took
a more active part in the stirring events
of that period. 1t was a fascinating life
to NE. 1t seemed as if 1 ;cOuld not dc
| too much or run too great risk.
| HIS INTRODUCTION TO BOOTH.
In the fall of 1864, l was introduced
| to John Wilkes Booth, WIN, was giveI
| to understand, wished to know something
about the main avenues leading from
Washington to the Potomac. We met
several times, but he seemed TO be very
quiet with regard to his.purposes.
| BOOTHS PROPOSITION.
| Finally he said: You know, as we'll as
|, the efforts that have been made tC
bring about that much desired exchange
of prisoners. Aside from the genera
suffering they are compelled to undergo,
we are sadly in want of them as soldiers.
We cannot spare one man, whereas the
United States Government is willing &c
let their own soldiers remain in our pris.
ons, because she has no need of the men,
| PLAN FOR THE ABDUCTION.
| | have proposition to submit to you
which l think, if we can carry out, viii
bring about the desired exchange. There
was long and OminOus silence, which
at last was compelled to break, by ask
ing:
"Wel, sir, what isyour proposition
"wALLs HAVE RARs."
L e., 10,
before answering, he arose ard looked
under the bed, into the wardrobe, in tht
the doorway and the passage, and ther
said:
"We will have to be careful; wall:
have ears"
He then drew his chair close to me,
and, in a whisper, said: ut is to kidnaI
President Lincoln and carry him off tt
Richmond
| "KIDNAP PRESIDENT LINCOLN
I said. l confess that l stood sghast a
the proposition, and looked upon 1t as ;
foOlhardy undertaking. To think of sue
cessfully Selling Mr.. Lincoln in the CAPT
tai of the United States, surrounded by
thousands of his soldiers, and carrying
him off to Richmond, looked to me like {
foolish idea. ! told him as much.
HOW IT WAS To BE DONE.
He went on to tell with what facility HI
could be seized in various places in ant
about Washington; a., for example, il
his various rides to and from the Soldier
Home, his summer residence. He en-
tered into the minute details of the pro.
posed capture, and even the various part
to be performed by the actors in the per
Torrance.
was amazed, thundeTstruck, and, il
fact, might also say, frightened at u,
unparalleled audacity of this scheme.
After two days rejecting l told hin9
was willing to Try it. believed it pIac
ticable at that time, though now regar {
it as foolharay Undertaking.
HIS OWN DEFENSE.
hope you will not blame me for gOiD!
thus far, for honestly thought an ex
change of prisoners could be brough
about could we have once obtained pos
session Of Mr. Lincoln's person. Ant
now reverse the case. Where is there ;
young man in the North with one sparl
of patriotism in his heart who would no
have, with enthusiastic ardOr, joined il
any undertaking for the capture of Jeffer
son Davis and bringing him TO Washing
ton? There is not one VINO would no
have done so, and so was led on by
sincere desire to assist the South in gaiI
ing her independence. had no hesita
ton in taking part ia anything honorable
that might tend toward the accomplish
ment of that object. Tremendous ap
plause.
THE IDEA OF ASSASSINATION.
Such thing as the assassination of Mr.
Lincoln l never beard spoken of by an,
of the party; never. Sensations.
| AN ABANDONMENT OF THE PLAN PROPOSED
| Upon one occasion, l remember, W
had called a meeting in Washington 70
the purpose of discussing mstters in gen
eral, as we had understood that the Gov
eminent had received information ths
there was plot of some kind on hand
I