page_title: Henry Lawrence Burnett
section_title: Lincoln assassination trial
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Lawrence Burnett / Career / Lincoln assassination trial
caption_attribution_description: English: B.Gen. Henry Lawrence Burnett, USA (1838-1916)
context_page_description: Henry Lawrence Burnett was an American lawyer and, after serving as a major in the Cavalry Corps, he was a colonel and Judge Advocate in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a prosecutor in the trial that followed the Abraham Lincoln assassination. He was appointed to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers in 1866, to rank from March 13, 1865.
context_section_description: After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Burnett was called upon by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to be an Assistant Judge Advocate General.  Along with him were John Bingham and Joseph Holt, the Judge Advocate General. The accused conspirators where George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Powell, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlen, Edman Spangler, Samuel Mudd and Mary Surratt.
  The trial began on May 10, 1865. The three spent nearly two months in court, awaiting a verdict from the jury. Holt and Bingham attempted to obscure the fact that there were two plots. The first plot was to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the Confederate prisoners the Union had. The second was to assassinate Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward to throw the government into chaos.
  It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of a diary taken from the body of Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth. The diary made it clear that the assassination plan dated from 14 April. The defence surprisingly did not call for Booth's diary to be produced in court. Holt was accused of withholding evidence, but it was never proven.
  On June 29, the eight were found guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. Arnold, O'Laughlen and Mudd were sentenced to life in prison, Spangler six years in prison and Atzerodt, Herold, Paine and Surratt were to hang. They were executed July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be executed. O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler, and Mudd were pardoned by Andrew Johnson in early 1869.
  Following the completion of the trial, in October 1865, Burnett asked to be mustered out on December 1, 1865, which was granted.  Senator John Sherman and Holt asked for him to be appointed a brevet brigadier general, which he accepted in May 1866. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Burnett for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers, to rank from March 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.
caption: Brig. Gen. Henry Lawrence Burnett
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