Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-01-28
WILKES BOOTHS DEATH
In a recent number of the New Or

! leans Picoyune appears statemen
purporting to come from Capt. Edwar
p Dorhetry, now a street contracto
i'm New Orleans, in which is detaile
some of the incidents relative to tn
capture and killing of j. Wilkes Booth
the assassin Of President Lincoln
There are many glaring inaccuracies il
| the article, so many statements that ar
not substantiated by facts and by th,
records of the War Department, tha
we have obtained history of the ex
citing event from the lips of Lieutenan
l.. B. Baker, now clerk i'll the Audi
tor Generals office, but who had com
mand of the party which captured the
murderer.
AT the time when Booth shot Pres;
dent Lincoln, April Ia, 1865, in Ford:
Theatre, George L. c. Baker, Chief o.
the detective force of the War Depart
ment, and Lieutenant Baker were in
New York City looking after bounty.
jumpers Secretary Stanton telegraphed
these two officers to come to Washing
ton Immediately. They arrived in
Washington the morning of the third
day after the terrible deed was com
mitted Cavalry had secured the
country in every direction for miles
around Washington, and kilograms
were sent over all the lines. Gen.
Baker gained all the information he
could in regard to the route Booth and
his accomplices would probably take,
and concluded that they would go
down the Potomac, taking in Surrats-
vile, cross the river, and make their
way to Richmond He sent a tcle-
graph operator and detective down
the river by boat to Port Tobacco and
vicinity, with orders to tap the wires
and let him know if there was any
trace of the escaping fugitives. Near
Chappelle Point the detective found a
negro whom he brought to Washington.
and who stated that he was positive
he saw Booth and Harold, whom he
knew well, cross the river in fishing
boat. At first the General discredited
his statement, but on showing him
several likenesses of the assassin and
others, the colored man pointed out
Booth and Harold as the men whom
he saw.
An escort of twenty-five cavalry
men, under Gen. Dorherty, were placed
at Lieut.. Bakers command, who had
orders to bring Booth, dead or alive y
At the request of Lieut.. Baker, Lieut..
Col. f. j. Conger, brother of Con-
gresham 0. D. Conger, an experienced
calvary officer, who had just been mus
tered out of the United States service,
was added to the party. Col. Conger
had raided the country in every direc-
ton, and was valuable on account OF
his familiarity with the roads and for
his undaunted courage and bravery.
The party went on board the tug John
S. Ide, and steamed down to Belle
Plain, near the mouth of Acquia
Greek. They landed about 10 o'clock
at night and commenced the search
Lieut.. Baker and Col. Conger would
leave the escort at short distance
behind them, and call at the various
farm houses, pretending to belong to
Booths party, but from whom they
had been separated in crossing the
river They found very many sympa-
thizers who were ready to aid them,
but could find no one who had seen
Booth. The night was spent in max
ing such inquiries The next morning
the party left the Fredericksburg road,
where they had been searching, and
turned their horses heads across the
country toward the Rappahannock, and
about noon reached the river at Port
Conway. The horses being jaded and
the men exhausted, a rest was made
here and most of the men went to
sleep.
Lieut.. Baker told Col. Conger that
he would ride down the river to the
ferry, about half mile away, Gld see
what he could find. Accompanied by
an orderly, he rode to the ferry, where
he met a fisherman by the name of
Rollins The Lieutenant asked him if
a party Of men, one of them lame, (fOr
Booth had broken his leg in jumping
from the theatre box to the stage), had
crossed the river within day or two?
Rollins said there had, the day before,
and on being shown the likeEesses of
Booth and Harold, he at once recog-
nized them. Lieut.. Baker Immediately
sent the orderly to Col Congcr, asking
him to bring the escort to the ferry at
once. The ferry boat was a crazy
affair, and the afternoon was consumed
in getting the men and horses across
the river Rollins pretended to be a
Union man, and was willing to go as a
guide, but feared persecution from his
unless put under arrest.
This was done. Rollins said that
Booth was accompanied by a Capt.
Jet, one of Mosby's command, who
recently went to Bowling Green, about
eighteen miles distant, to see his sweet
heart Her parents kept a hotel, and
he thought the whole party had gone
there Just about dusk the party set
out for Bowling Green. They had not
gone far before they discovered two
men, mounted On horses, at the fork of
the Fredericksburg and Bowling Green
roads, who seemed to be watching the
movements of the party Lieut. Baker
and Col. Conger gave chase, and the
latter, being mounted on swift horse,
gained so rapidly on the pursued that
they turned their horses into the tim
ber and escaped. One of these horse
men proved afterward to be Harold,
the place of pursuit being only one
and half miles from the Garret place,
where Booth was then sccretcd. Bow
ling Green was reached about mid
night, when the party dismounted and
surrounded the hotel where Jett's
sweetheart was supposed to reside
She was there, and so was Jett, but
Booth and his accomplices were not to
found.
When the building was surrounded
and every avenue of escape was