The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1895-02-14
Details Of the Capture
Of Booth
By the Man Who was Put
Upon His Trail.
Thrilling Incidents Repeated by the
CaptOr, Now an Old Govern
meut Servant.

Among the Tammany officeholders
who will probably fall under Mayor
Strongs ak in due course Of time is a
man who took leading part in the
April, 1865. He is Edward P. Doh
erty, general inspector of paving in
the department of public works He
is the officer who commanded the
company of cavalry which tracked
Booth to his hiding place after the
assassination of President Lincoln,
and although the tragic events of
thirty years ago are dim in some men,
ories, Captain Doherty remembers
svery detail of Booths capture and
death. At the time of Lincoln's as
sassination he was in command Of
Co. G, Sixteenth New York Cavalry.
stationed at Washington. During the
exciting days following the assassiEa-
ton squads of the troopers in Cap
tain Doherty's company were ordered
to accompany the detectives.
One day Captain Doherty received
an order from General Howard to
report to Colonel Baker, the chief
agent of the war department, with
twenty-five men, we'll mounted, and
with three days rations and forage.
What happened Captain Doherty tells
as follows:
st reported, and Colonel Baker gave
me the photographs Of John Wilkes
Booth, Daniel e. Harold, and others
who were thought to be implicated.
| 81 was ordered to go to Fredericks-
burg, where no troops had yet been.
moved down to the Sixth street
wharf, and Captain Allen of the quar-
termaster's department. furnished me
with the steamboat John s. Ide and
the necessary forage and rations. l
told the captain to take me down the
river as far as Aqua creek. On ar
irving near there I told him to run
up to Belle Plain. I wrote an order
to the captain directing him, after
landing me, ito. anchor out in the river
and to remain there until 6 O'Clock
d. m. of April 26. If he did not hear
from me by that time he was to report
back to Captain Allen at Washington.
This was at IL o'clock midnight.
"Having landed, I struck across the
country toward Port Conway, intend
ing to go up the Rappahannock on
the north side of the river. halted
at 4 o'clock in the morning for the
men to fix their saddles. A negro
came along, and told me that a regi-
ment had gone up to Fredericksburg
lseveral hours before. I halted about
l6 o'clock that evening within a mile
of Port Conway, and ordered the men
to unsaddle and feed. / rode down
with bugler to Port Conway. Here
were some women at the ferryman's
house. I got into conversation with
them, and showed the photographs OF
Booth and the others which had re.
eeived in Washington. The women
picked out the photographs of Booth
and Harold, and told me that they
had been there the night before, and
were going to hire the ferryman, who
was the husband Of one of the women
to take them to Orange courthouse
They offered him $40. But Jett, Rug.
giles, and Bainbridge, three of Mos.
} by's men, rode up just then, and one
lof them, thing it was Jett, recog.
lnized Harold as an old schoolmate
"Harrold took Jett to one side, and
told him that they were the murderers
of the president. Booth showed the
tattOoed letters, j. w. b. on his
arm as a means of Identification The
women told me that Jett was courtine
Ia young woman named Goldman
whose father was keeping a hotel al
Bowling Green, Va, and she had nc
doubt that they had all gone there.
"Booth and Harold decided not to
hire the ferryman, but to ride double
with Mosby's men, and the party, the
women said, rode away in the direc.
ton Of B wiling Green.
Il sent my bugler after Sergeant
Corbett and the rest of the men. ]
told the woman to call her husband
who was out fishing. On his arrival
sent him for hathoat, which was cn
the other side of the Rappahannock
river. Meanwhile my men had ridden
up. We were all ferried across to
Port Royal. Only eight men and
horses could cross at once, SO the ferry
had to make several trips before the
company was all on the other side ot
the river. On the last trip arrested
Rawlins, the ferryman. He got his
horse out and I ordered him Ito guide
me by the nearest road to Goldman's
hotel in Bowling Green. 1t was fif.
teen miles away. Getting near ITO
Bowling Green I left all except eight
men in the outskirts of the town
With this detail I surrounded Gold
mans hotel. There, after some delay,
I arrested Jett. This was about mid
night. Jett denied all knowledge OF
Booth at first.
81 had Stanton's proclamation in
my pocket offering a reward and Civ
ing a description of the assassins. ]
showed this to lett When he had