Evening star., 1961-06-11

the right hands in Washing
ton.
The claims before Con-
gress ended in 1881 with
introduction of a bill to give
Miss Carroll the pay of a
major general from Novem-
ber, 1861, to the end of her
life. But it was never passed.
In its place legislation was
passed to give her a simple
$50 a month pension from
date of passage ''for the i'm
portant military service rem
dered the country by her
during the late civil war"
This final judgment of her
worth by the government
she'd served. broke her heart
and she never renewed the
struggle.
Pathetic Figure
There was probably a no
more pathetic figure of a
woman during the Civil War
period than that Of Mary E.
Surratt. Hauled out of bed
in the middle of the night
to answer the policies ques-
tions, the 45-year-old widow
was carted off first to the
Old Capitol prison, then to
the dreaded old peniten-
tiary. She didn't even know
what the specific charges
were against her. but
in her innocent fortnight
manner she avoided the
traps laid for her by the
relentless and untiring police
and military officers.
When a military. escort
took her to a dark unlighted
cell in the old penitentiary
and manacled her hands and
wrists, she knew that only
Stanton himself could give
her her freedom. Her relent-
less questioner then was
none other than Col. La
fayette Baker, head Of the
Secret Service. But she would
not agree to furnish "cer-
tain information" in return
for her freedom; she didn't
know what they wanted to
know, she insisted If she
could have helped them she
would.
Add to this the misery of
her physical condition itself
(she was just beginning the
change Of life with its ac-
companying illnesSes) poor
food, complete isolation from
her family and friends, no
fresh clothes (three months
later she had on the same
dress and undergarments she
wore the day of her arrest)
and mosquito-infested nights
that left her face and hands
a mass of continuous welts.
"She kept the nest that
Matched the egg," darkly OBJ
served the asSaSSinated
Presidents successor, PreSi-
dent Andrew johnson. But
did she know what was in
the egg? That was the ques-
ton that faced the nine
m a n military commission
which was set up to try the
case in May, 1865.
There was no question of
the fact that the boarding
house maintained by Mrs.
Surratt at SAL H street was
visited frequently by John
Wilkes Booth, the Presidents
assassin now dead after an
unsuccessful flight. There
also was no doubt that he
and her son, John H. Sur
raft, jr., were good friends.
And that two of the other
conspirators with whom she
was being tried. Lewis Payne
and George Atzerodt, had
also visited the house.
Critism
There was much criticism
of the trial because it was
being held before a military
commission rather than in
the civil courts which were
open. The accused could not
testify in their behalf. They
were at the mercy of the
witnesses. And as she sat in
the dock, Mrs. Surratt
gaSped as she heard the
perjured testimony of two of
these witnesses, one of them
Louis Weichmann, a boy
hood friend Of her son,
whom she had treated as
her own son.
Mrs. Surratt was convicted
on circumstantial evidence.
Her only comfort when the
trial was over and she
awaited sentence were the