Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Booth asks Jones to bring him newspapers so he can see the public’s response to the assassination. Jones agrees to do so and leaves. He begins his preparations for Booth’s escape. Because of all the Union cavalrymen, Jones makes a show of following his usual routine to avoid suspicion while sending his Black manservant out in a secret boat to start making fishing trips from Pope’s Creek to Dent’s Meadow. If the servant is seen there regularly, no one will notice when in a few days they land the boat at Dent’s Meadow to ferry Booth over the river into Virginia.

On Easter Sunday, Atzerodt arrives at Hezekiah Metz’s house in Montgomery County, Maryland. He mentions that if Grant was killed, it would have been by someone following him onto a train (revealing he knows details of the assassination plots). That afternoon, he goes to his cousin Hartman Richter’s house nearby. Dr. Samuel Mudd is worried that he will be linked to the conspiracy because he had frequently been seen in public with Booth previously. To throw off suspicion, he tells his cousin, George Mudd, a Union sympathizer, to pass on to the cavalrymen in Bryantown that two strangers had arrived at his farm on Friday night. Stanton and the investigation are still unaware of Booth’s whereabouts.

That day, Jones returns to Booth and Herold with food and newspapers. They hear a cavalry search party pass on the road nearby but are not found. That same day, George Mudd reports to Lieutenant Dana about the strangers at his cousin’s farmhouse Friday evening, but Dana does not follow up on the lead.

On April 17, Jones brings food and newspapers for Booth and Herold. He tells them to kill the horses because he cannot bring feed for them, which Herold does. That evening, authorities return to the Surratt boardinghouse in Washington, where they arrest Mary Surratt. As they are preparing transport, Powell wanders in claiming to be a laborer summoned to do work there. Mary Surratt denies knowing him. “Caught in a lie” (192), Powell surrenders and is arrested. A few hours later, he is identified as Seward’s assassin by the manservant and Gus Seward. Mary Surratt refuses to give up information under questioning and is held in custody. That same day, many of Booth’s other collaborators, associates, and coconspirators are arrested, including Samuel Arnold and Edman Spangler. The assassination attempt is a media sensation, prompting sales of photographs of Booth, mementos, and even a song.

On April 18, Jones returns to see the fugitives, who are in rough shape. Booth is upset that his letter was not published as he directed. Jones goes to Port Tobacco, Maryland, to learn more about the search. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lovett goes to Dr. Mudd’s farm to learn more about the strangers who had arrived Friday night. While Lovett’s team questions Mrs. Mudd, Army detective Captain Williams offers Jones $100,000 for any information about Booth’s whereabouts, but Jones refuses. At the farmhouse, Dr. Mudd denies recognizing the strangers as Booth and his accomplice, but Lovett suspects he is lying.

Lincoln’s funeral procession is held in Washington on April 19. That same day, in Philadelphia, Booth’s sister Asia’s home is raided by authorities. Her husband, John Sleeper Clarke, had found Booth’s manifesto and given it to the US marshal in Philadelphia. Clarke is arrested.

On April 20, Atzerodt is arrested at his cousin’s house in Maryland. A guest had reported his comment about Grant to the authorities. Under questioning, Atzerodt confesses everything he knows. That same day, Stanton puts a notice in the paper offering substantial rewards for information that leads to the arrest of the assassins and their suspected coconspirator, John Surratt.