\

LuthM B. Baker (left), COL LafayetteBaker, and Everton J. Conger plan thepursuit of John Wilkes Booth.

Identification and Autopsy

of John Wilkes Booth:Reexamining the Evidence

Leonard F. GUllrKl1;C'

I\

Senator Carrel Dav;s, KYo' /how' "ew." see" myselfuny .~Uf­

i!>juclUry t'videllct' 'hat BOOIIII\'US k iIIe".

Senalor Reverdy Johnson, AID: Isubmit 10 my friend from KellllU'ky,hOf 'here ort! somt' things ,hat \1'(" musttake judicial/lOri/-£> of JUSt as In,1I as'hat Julim Caesar is dead.

Senator Davis: I ~·..uuld rather haw'!Huer It's/imunJ' of III" faCl. I wOn! itprovt!d 11101 8001h wus ill Ihat hum. I

January-February 1993

Cotl1lot ("ol/t"eil't'. ifhe WO.f ill the baril_

why he lI'as lIot laken ali"t-, I /tavt­never $('('" ,m.l'bOl~I', or Jill' ,'vid('IIU' oftllI)'body, /lWI idf'flfijied Boolh af'Nhe i.f said 10 1101·'(' h,'nl killed. Why.mmuch SNTl'I'J' oholl/ ii,' ... 77'l'rt' i~' amystery ami a mO!>i inexp/ic'able mys­tery 10 III)' mimi abow the whole af­fair. ... [Booth) multi hal'e bel'''('optured jtdl as Irl'lI ali\'(' us deat!. Itwould harl' hl'l'" "'m'h mort' .wlisfac·­tory 10 hOI'e brol/xht him lip hNl' aliv('

ant! to hOl'e intjllirt't! ofhim 10 r('\'('altil(' whol(' trall.mcrion . . ,[or] bring hishU((I' tip herC' ... leI all who hat! .w'ell/tim IJlaying. all who llHOf'i(l/C'(/ wilhhim Oil Ihl' SIU!:l' ur ill Ihc' grt'en ruomor al Ihl' IOI'l'flU' alit! OII/('r publicplace.\·, hal'(.' hod access 10 his bod)' 10hOI'(' idelllijil'(/ it,

Senoror Henry B. Anthony, RI: Iam happy 10 r('liel'(' m)' frielld fromKl'muC"ky by i"formillg him thai asmall part oflhl' skelelon of800lh is in

17

125,000 REWARDWill 1M .,..w lbr u.. appr,t d <JI JOIllf a .UUA.TT. 0.. 01 8oa4.b.. ",_,u-.

125,000 REWARD

Of our late beloved Presiden~ Abraham Lincoln,II IftLL At LUCE.

$50,000· REWARDww. ="" __=- ok w."fOPMh.... 1. ....... 110 ...7 ..............~

.1Uliaipal In--.. • 11_

'NAVY MEOICINE

,he ul/a/omicol IIIl1seum of the Sur­geon General. ... I do flOl kilO\\' holl' itis idelltijied. hili il is (·(,rtiJied 10 bethat.(lj

Thousands o'''wanled'' poster. bearingJohn Wilke. Booth', liken... were Incirculation within days of President Un­coin', murder.

Get BoothOn the afternoon of Monday. 24

April 1865. 10 days after John WilkesBooth assassinated Abraham Lincoln.a Union army lieutenant. Edward P.Doherty. reported to lafayellc Bak­er's headquarters on PennsylvaniaA"cnue in Washington. DC. SO didtwo men in whom Baker. the WarDepartment's chief detective. placedprincipal confidence: his cousin.Luther B. Baker, and E"erton J.Conger. Both had been Baker's closeaides in a locally active military unitwhich. under his command. had con­ducted limited field operations earlierin the Civil War. They were now pri­vate cilizens. Lafayette Baker reas­signed them as wspecial detc<'tivcsw

carrying Iheir former military rankand ordered them into Virginia toscour Ihe country and wgel Boolh.~

LT DoherlY commanded the 16thNew York Cavalry detachment as­signed to Ihe mission as an escort. Anofficer with combat experience. he didnOI relish subordinatinj,t himself toBaker's confidential agents. And wilhthis simmering dispute over seniority.Ihe party boarded the federal steam­tug. 101m S, Ide al Ihe Sixlh Slreetwharf and cast off at sundown.

They de5~nded Ihe Potomac River.disembarked at Belle Plain lO~ard

midnight. and crossed funnel-shapedKing George County at its narrowwesterly side. the neck between thePotomac and the RappahannockRivers. The two detectives separatedfrom the main column and rode houseto house. arousing inhabitants fromsleep with shouted questions, Congerfor no clearly stated reason passinghimself off as ~Boyd from Maryland. ~(1),.

Thl' I, how Harper. Weekly portrayedBooth', final .tand In Garrett', bam.

rushed into the barn exelaiming thatthe man had shot himself. Bakerthought Conger had fired the bulletbut Hthe idea flashed through my mindthat if he had it had better not beknown."(4)

They took the man's weapons. aSpencer carbine and two pistols. car­ried him first tothe foot ofa locust trccand then. as fire enveloped the barn.the Garrett's front porch. where hewas placed with a mattress beneath hishead. One of Doherty's soldiers rushedto Port Royal for a doctor. whosename, Charles Urquhart. would even­tually surface-but not so any recordof his strange house call, nor a dealhcertificate: nothing at all for posteritybeyond the impression that after ex­amining the mortally wounded man.the doctor merely closed his bag androde off into the predawn gloom.never to be heard from.

The man survived the shootingabout J hours. White he still breathed,Conger emptied his pockets. the con-

tents of which included a liule book inwhich the Garrells had seen "Mr.Boyd" writing.(5)

Conger set out at once with theseitems for Washington. Accompanyinghim as far as the steamboat landing at

v

lafayette C. Baker, the War Depart­ment', chJef detective

,I~

Garrett's BarnDoheny's troops struck the Rappa­

hannock at da.....n and by afternoonwere at a fisherman's cottage near theferry where they displayed photos ofJohn Wilkes Booth. Doheny pressedthe fisherman. William Rollins, intoservicc as a guide. By nightfall thatTuesday, all his 25 soldiers and the 2detectives had crossed the river intoCaroline County. Acting upon infor­mation from Rollins (or his wife). theyrode into Bowling Green and at theStar Hotel hauled a young ex-Con­federate army private named WilliamJett from his bed at gunpoint. Andwith Jett now their guide, the cavalrygalloped back up the rutted highwayto the farm of R'ichard H. Garretl.Two men were sheltered there. One.....as a Washington youth named DavidE. Herold. The other was older. had abandaged leg. and supported himselfon crutches. He had presented himselfto the Garretts as a wounded Confed­erate officer: one of his forearms borethe tattooed letters JWB. and he hadgiven his name as James W. Boyd.

After forcing the Garretts to revealthat the pair slept within their largelobacco barn. the troops surroundedit. Luther Baker shouting for the meninside to surrender. The lame man.called Boyd. demanded 10 know whyhe should do so and asked repeatedlywho was besieging him.

There followed through the lockedbarn door a verbal give-and-take dur­ing which no names were ever volun­teered. Herold chose to give himselfupand the door was unlocked for him tocome out. As the soldiers seized theyoung man and tied him to a tree. hemaintained that his companion in thebarn Htold me his name was Boyd. H(3)

Over LT Doherty's objections. detec­tive Conger moved to the rear of thebarn and set it afire.

Between the barn's gaping sidetimbers its sole occupant could beseen, a stumbling silhouette againstthe gathering blaze until a shot rangout and he fell. The bullet had passedthrough his neck.. shattering vertebraeand severing the spinal cord. LutherBaker reached him first. then Conger

January-February 1993 19

An lIIustrallon from Lafayet1e Baker'.memoir portray. the a••a.sln'. la.tmoments.

did not act as severely as I should havedone with Mr. Baker."(8)

Shortly before II p.m. the partywith the body arrived off Alexandriawhere Lafayette Baker took charge ofit. There ensued an unexplained delayof at least 3 hours before it was trans­ferred to a tug and borne across thePotomac to the Washington NavyYard. What followed is described in atesty letter written by LCDR EdwardE. Stone. commanding officer of theironclad monitor USS Montauk. laidup in the yard for battle repairs. Stonehad been ashore at the time butlearned from his officers that:

Belle Plain was SGT Boston CorbCll. aformer hatter and religious mystic whohad rechristcned himself after the cityin which he claimed to have been bornagam. Upon arrival in the Capital.Conger officially rcportcd that Presi­dent Lincoln's killer had been trackeddown. cornered. and shot while tryingto escape. and that SGT Corbel! hadpulled the trigger.

Conflict and MythThe foregoing paragraphs recount

all that can reliably serve to conveywhat occurred at Richard Garrett'sfarm on that April night nearly 128years ago. Impartial study shows thatmuch else told and retold ever sincepurporting to detail the capture anddemise of John Wilkes Booth is soriddled with connict and myth as to benecessarily viewed with caution. if notdismissed outright.

This is significantly the case respect­ing the captive's alleged last words.The detectives Conger and Baker testi­fied that at different moments he mut·teredo "Tell Mother I died for mycountry." "I did what I thought was forthe best," "Kill me. oh. kill me." NDidJett betray me?" "My hands," andfinally. NUseless. useless. NLT Doher­ty's report to his superiors contains noreference to any dying utterances and20 years later he publicly denied that

20

any were made with the exception of"Useless. useless. N(6) On this point. thelast word might be granled the Sur­geon General of the Army who con­ducted an autopsy on the body fromGarrett's farm: "Immediately after thereception of the injury. there was verygeneral paralysis ... deglutition [swal­lowing] was impracticable and one ortwo attempts at articulation wereunintelligi ble. "(7)

If such differences in testimony aretraceable to rivalry for reward money,this possibility alone justifies circum·spection. At any rate. not even therecord of the body's 18·mile journeyfrom the Rappahannock crossing tothe Belle Plain landing is without itsbizarre aspects. Luther Baker and atwo-man military guard had charge ofit and once across the river at PortRoyal. the detective pushed on aheadof the troops. much to Doherty's con­sternation. As the lieutenant after­wards stated. "under some pretense orother [Baker] managed 10 send theguard back to me with some frivolousmessage and stole away with thebody." And when Doherty reachedBelle Plain, the corpse was nowhere insight. After it had belatedly appeared.to be placed aboard t he waitingsteamer. Baker blamed his ex-slavewagon driver for taking the wrongroad. Said Doherty in later years. "I

a lug came alongside. on board of which "'asColonel Baker. lhe detective, with a dead body.said 10 be lhat of J.W. Booth. the assassin. Saidbody was passed on board Wilh the impliedullderstanding that it had been put on board forsafe·keeping. No orders whalever were left wilhlhe officer of the guard or the commanding offi­cer . concerning it. nor was any wriuenaUlhority for so disposing of il shown to anyofficer of the vessel. It was a most informal andunmilitary proceeding. which should Ilave beennipped in lhe llud,(9)

Following anxious word from thecommandant of the Navy Yard thatthe body was "changing rapidly. Whatdisposition shall be made of it? "(10)the Secretaries of War and Navy con­ferred before breakfast then sent areply across town:

You will permit Surgeon General IJames andIlis assistant. accompanied by Judge AdvocateGenl Holt. Hon Jolin A. Bingham.· SpecialJudge Advocate. Major Eckert. Wm G. Moore.clerk of the War Department. Col. L.c. Baker.Lieut. Baker. Lieut. Col. Conger. ehas Dawson.J.L. Smilh, Gardiner [sic) (phOlographer) • as­sistant. to go on board the Monlauk. alld sec thebody of John Wilkes Booth.

Immedialely after the Surgeon General hasmade his autopsy. you will have the body plact:din a strong box. and deliver it to lhe charge ofCol. Baker-the box being carefullysealed.(l/)

•John A, Bingham. a rormer congressman fromOhio. laler served as the only civilian on thecommission lhaluied lhe alleged Lincoln assas·sination conspirators.

NAVY MEDICINE

All but 3 of the 13 cited in the aboveorder were connected with the WarDepartmenl. The exceptions were thephotographers Alexander Gardnerand his assistant Timothy O·Sullivan.and Dawson. the latter a clerk at theNational Hotel where the assassin hadfrequently stayed. The wording of theorder reflects an official presupposi­tion that the body was indeed Booth's,If the nation (and posterity) wantedmore convincing identification. theproceedings aboard the floating iron­clad during the next few hours wouldhave to suffice.

A Parade of WitnessesThe weather that Thursday fore­

noon was warm for April. the Mon­tQuk's armorplate hot to the touch.The body from Garrett's farm lay on abench alongside the rotatable gunturret. an awning mercifully shieldingit from the sun's rays. Shortly beforenoon. Joseph K. Barnes. SurgeonGeneral of the Army. had come onboard -and without informing any

officers who he was. or seeming to paythe slightest respect to Military eti­quette ... walks up to the corpse andcommences to cut adrift the wrap­pings.-U,l) Testimony was taken. butnot from LT Doherty. First thing thatmorning. Lafayette Baker had prom­ised him career advancement andreward money. But since -publicitymight frustrate plans.- Doherty wasordered to -go to your barracks andkeep your mouth shut.-(/J) Also -dis­posed of. It cannot be found. ~ accord­ing to Luther Baker. was ~a swornstatement'" he made before Joseph G.Holt. Judge Advocate General of theArmy. "before I gave up the body. Iwas the first to give evidence,"'(4)

In the pilot room over the turret.Holt and Bingham. the -SpecialJudgeAdvocate." took depositions and hur­ried through an abridged set of ques­tions. The hotel clerk Dawson. theonly private citizen other than thephotographers authorized to -see thebody of John WjJhs Booth.~ claimedto have been ~merely as intimate [with

the actor) as I would be with any guestin the hotel. I distinctly recognize [thebody as Booth's)-first from the gen·eral appearance. next from the Indiaink letters J. W.B. on his wrisl.- Whichwrist? -rhe left."(l5) (Booth's initialswere on his right arm. according to aletter the War Department had justreceived from the Army's provostmarshal general at Baltimore.)

For reasons not officially explained.decisions were made to secure addi­tional "'witnesses,- Conveniently athand. the captain's clerk on Momou/.:.claimed to have known Booth person­ally ~about six weeks, .. and recog­nized [I he body) when it was broughton board, ., from the general appear­ance."(/6)

The Momouk's acting-master. Wil­liam W. Crowninshield. had also-known Booth~ 6 weeks. "was intro­duced to him on two different Qcca­sions. He was about five feet ninc andthreequarter inches high." To thisoddly meticulous estimate. Crownin­shield added that he idemified the

USS Monr.uk (left) at the Phllad"phla Navy Yard about 1902.

The Doctors (lett to right): Samuel Muddset Booth's broken leg, Joseph K.Barnes directed the autopsy on Mon­tauk, ..slsted by Joseph J. Woodward.John Frederk:k May's contradIctory tes­timony lett several questions unan­swered.

body "from my knowledge of its gen­eral appearance."CIl) A Washingtonlawyer related to Man/auk's marinecaptain had "met [BOOlh] one eveningat a 'hop' at the National Hotel" andrecognized the cada\'er as Booth'sfrom its ~general appearance ... I donot think I can be mistaken. "(/8)

Though readily approachable In thecity of Washington. no stage acquaint­ances of John Wilkes Booth viewedthe body. No personal friends or rela­ti\'cs of the actor were summoned toidentify him. Some of Booth's co­conspirators in an alleged assassina­tion plot were actually on Momauk.shackled within the windlass room andthe sail room. but they stayed there.Almost as if to explain why no cate­gorical evidence was sought. it wouldbe reported that "the shaving off themustache. the outcropping of thebeard. the untidy and disordered ap­pearance of the body. had so changedthe assassin's look that his stage andstreet acquaintances would hardlyhave recognized the corpse as that ofJohn Wilkes Booth.~(l9) At the sametime. newspapers reported that theWar Department was in possession ofBooth's diary. but 2 years would P:ISSbefore there was any official an­nouncement to this effect.

That Booth had indeed shaved offhis mustache was reliably reported tothe War Department. also that he hadfractured a bone in his leflleg, Recordsdo not show who, if any, of the ~wit­

nesses" on Montauk were aware ofthose reporlS. Booth had rid himself ofthe mustache on 15 April at the hQmeof the Maryland physician. SamuelMudd. who set his fractured limb. InVirginia. one of Richard Garrell'Sdaughters would remember that theirvisitor, ~Mr. Boyd," wore a mus­tache.(lO) After Alexander Gardner

22

photographed the body aboard Mon­tauk. his assistant. Timothy O'Sulli­van. carried the plate to their studioaccompanied by a government detec­tive under orders to take possession ofboth plate and print once it was devel­oped. He was then to deliver theseitems to the Secretary of War orLafayette Baker. 11] even went intothe dark room. ~ the detective remem­bered. He had not seen the body onMOIllQuk itself. but on his way to theWar Department he peeked into theenvelope containing the picture. ~h

looked just like the pictures attachedto the [reward] postcrsexccptthat thehair was longer on the sides, the mus­tache was shaggy and dirty.... Ithinkit was Booth... ."(lJ)·

Everton Conger was asked if "thebody on board this boat. which hasbeen recognized by other witnesses asthat of John Wilkes Booth. is the mankilled by you?"Conger replied yes, andas for recognizing him at Garrett'sfarm. he did so "from his resemblanceto his brother. I had often seen hisbrother. Edwin Booth. play in thetheater." On the same point. LutherBaker testified that he had turned thefallen man over. ~Iooked at his face.

°Bolh Ih~ photogr.llphic plal~ and 1M slngkprim disaPlX'arro.

and saw it was Booth's.judging by thelikeness I had. "(21)

As ifto enhance the credibility oft heproceedings aboard Montauk. yet onemore witness was required. LafayelleC. Baker, as head of Secretary of WarEd ..... in M. Stanton's detective corps.had already acquired the wanime rep­utation of a scheming bully uponwhose say·so innumerable citizens.innocent and guilty alike. were lockedup in the Old Capitol Prison. WhenBaker came calling in person on Dr.John Frederick May to identify theremains on Montauk, ~I deemed itmost prudent to obey. ~(23) But whenhe stood by the crude bier and thetarpaulin cover was removed. May atonce turned to Surgeon GeneralBarnes and said, "There is no resem­blance in that corpse 10 Booth. nor canI believe it to be him."(24)

WaShington-born and eminent inthe fields of medicine and surgery.May was middle-aged and marriedwith six children. Thai he was believedto have once removed a tumor fromBooth's neck was the stated reason forhis appearance on the monitor. Afterhis initial astonishment. he asked if thebody had a scar on the back ofits neckand Barnes said it had. Presumably. itwould not be a neat scar, as Booth hadreopened the wound during a subse­quent stage performance. More likely.it would now resemble "a large. uglylooking scar instead of a neat line.[Barnes] said it corresponded exactly

NAVY MEDICINE

with my description, ~(15) Docs [May)recognize the body as Booth's'! ~I

do , .. though it is very much altered.It looks to me older ... more fn..-ckled.I do not recollect that he was at allfreckled.~ The doctor could not bemistaken? ~From the scar [and) thefeaturcs. which though much changedand altered. still have the same appear­ance. I think I cannOi be mistaken. Irecogni7e the likeness. I have nodoubt. ...~(16)

Autops)'Joseph K. Barnes was a Harvard­

schooled doctor on close tcrms withSecretary of War Stanton. to whom heowed his status in the sphere of mil­itary medicine, Two weeks before.Barnes had been one of a half d07.enphysicians engaged in the postmortemexamination of the slain President.Now he would conduct an autopsy onthe body just identified as the assassin.Barnes was assisted by Joseph J.Woodward. a brilliant young re­searcher in phOiomicrography at therecently established Army MedicalMuseum. then located two blocks eastof the White House. Afterwards.Woodward wrapped in brown paperthe cervical vertebrae and spinal cordshowing the track of the bullet, Thesehe carried to the Museum where in duecourse they were mounted and cata·logued. Surgeon General Barnesmeanwhile wrote to Stanton that thecause of death was ~a gunshot woundin the neck-the ball entering just

January-February 1993

RlOCOfa. o! IIIe Columt>le Hi..oriuI ~-'Y.Vol2V·:Kl. P.n J. lta

behind the sterno-cleido muscle 2!hinches above the clavicle. passingthrough the bony bridge of the fourthand fifth cervical vertebrae-severingthe spinal cord and passing outthrough the body of the sterno-cleidoof the right side. 3 inches above theclavicle. Paralysis of the entire bodywas immediate."(27)

Barnes referred to a ~gu nshotwound." nil> CalQlogup of /hp Surgi­cal Sec/ion of Ihe Uniled S,a/es ArmyMedical Museum. published under hisdirection in 1866. describes the woundas caused by:

a conoidal carbine bullet [lhat) en!ered therighl side, cOmminuling the base of the rightlamina oflhe fourlh ~erlebra, fracturing 'tlongi·ludinally and separaling il from the spinousprocess. at the same time fracturing the fifthlhrough ils pt'diclt and in~ol\'ing lhal IranS-'erstprocess. The missile passed directl), through lhecanal "..ilh a right irn:lination down\\'ard and 10

lhe rear, emerging through the left bastS of thefounh and fifth laminae. which arc com­minuted, and from which fragments were em­bedded In the muscles of the ned.. The bulltl inits course a"oided the large cen Ita] "cutls.I.?B)

Without mentioning names. thecatalogue numbers the specimens ofvenebrae and spinal cord--From acase where death occurred a few hoursafter injury. 26th April 1865~-as 4086and 4087. The year 1875 saw publica­tion of The Medical olld Surgical His­lOry of the IVor of tht' Rebellio"(/861-65). also under Dr. Barnes'direction. The cases reported here aregenerally identified each by the nameof thc soldier victim. but in a section

headed -Wounds and Injuries of theSpine~ appears: "CASE-J.W.B.­was killed on April 26th 1865. by aconoidal pistol ball. fired at the dis­tance of a few yards from a cavalryn=volver.~(19) The details that followconform with the catalogue entry andgo on 10 stale the impracticability ofdeglutition on the part of the victimand the unintelligibility of his ~one ortwo attempts at articulation.~(jO)Atthe National Museum of Health andMedicine (today part of the ArmedForces Institute of Pathology). theoriginal card allached to Specimen4086 quotes the catalogue text. butshows word erasure and substitutiondone in 1931 to make it read ~pistol

ball. ~ thus corresponding to the lext inSurgit'of lIislor)'.

The corpse had a proclivity for dis­appearing acts. LT Doherty had lost iton the trail back from Garreu's farm,The macabre sleight of hand wasrepealed at the Washington NavyYard whose commandant. John B.Montgomery. a veteran of the War of1812. made known his ire and baffle­ment. "The removal of the body [fromMati/auk] was entirely without myknowledge suddenly and unexpect-edly removed , This unusual trans-action depriVed me of opportunity forenclosing the body in a box ... asordered.-U/)

LeDR StOIlC (shortly thereafter tobe replaced as MOfl/(Juk's captain byhis acting-master. one of the identifi­ers) angrily likened the body's depar­ture to its furtive arrival. "I'm sorry tosay that I was not present at eithcr timeor I should have put a stop to il. ~(jZ)

The DispositionUnder Lafayeue Baker's supervi­

sion. the body was taken in a boat tothe grounds of Washington's old peni·tentiary. in wartime use. an arsenal.Partly shrouded in a gunny sack. it layawhile in a small summer house upon ajetty. An inquisitive passerby glimpsedits face and ~recogni1.ed it [as Booth's]from posters and circulars.~(jj) Itsnext stop was in one of the old cells.then serving as an ordnance store­room. where it was quickly interred.

23

Nal'''''''1 Museum cl Heal'" and Me<licine...... IP

A lucite rod traces the path of the bullet that killed the man inGarrett's barn (posterior and anterior [opposite page] views).It may be noted that Surgeon General Barnes' contradictorydescriptions 01 the wound, neither 01 whk:h are wholly sup­ported by the anatomIcal specImens, cast further doubt onthe reliability of the identification and autopsy.

Two years later. during structural ren­ovation. the remains were transferredto anolher part of the facility. Thatsame year the War Department madepublic the diary entries Booth hadwritten while a fugitive. Conger testi­fying that the booklet containing themwas laken off Ihe man killed at Gar­rett's farm.(34) Many of its pages hadclearly been cut away. Conger. Stan­ton. and Thomas T. Eckert. his closeaide and chief of the military tele­graph. all stated that the booklet wasin the same mutilated condition whenthey had first seen it.(J5) LafayelleBaker. by that time no longer ingovernment service. testified to thecontrary.(J6)

Early in 1869. after Stanton's depar­ture from the War Department and inbelated response to requests fromEdwin Booth. the remains were takenup yet again and removed to a Balti­more undertaker for transfer to theBooth family. There was more talk ofidentification. and this time to be con­firmed by·tocation of a plugged loothin the skull.(37) Joseph. youngest of

24

the Booth brothers. supervised theproceedings. Edwin was not present.Eyewitness recollections. most pub­lished decades later. contained refer­ences to physical features but at thetimc it was locally reported that ~the

flesh [has] disappeared. leavingnothing but a mass of blackenedbones. "(38)

Dr. Mudd. when under arrest foralleged complicity in Lincoln'smurder. had dcscribed Booth's leginjury as "a straight fracture of thetibia about two inches above the ankle.There was nothing resembling a com­pound fracture.~(39) In his leiter toSecretary Stanton after the autopsy onMOII/llUk, the Army Surgeon Generalhad stated that ~the left leg and footwcrc encased in an appliance of splintsand bandages. upon the removal ofwhich. a fracture of the fibula (smallbone of the leg) 3 inchcs above theankle joint, accompanied by consider­able ecchymosis. was discovered. "(40)In MOflfQuk's pilothouse that sultryApril Thursday no questions had beenasked about the leg. However, shortly

before hisdealh in 1891 Dr. Maycom­posed a mcmoir in which he attributcdhis identification of the body to ~my

mark ... unmistakably found by mcupon it. Ncver in a human had agrcater change taken place ... everyvestige of resemblance to the livingman had disappeared. But the mark ofthe scalpel during life remaincd indeli­ble in death" scttling once and for all"the identity of the man who had assas­sinatcd the Prcsident." And the leg?"The right limb was greatly contused.and perfectly black from a fracture ofonc of the long bones...."(4/)

An old man's memory playing himfalse? This was suggcstcd more than 30years later and drew it response fromMay's son. also a doctor. His fathcr'sstatements were unfailingly reliable. Ifhe said that thc right leg was bruisedand discolorcd. "that would undoubt­edly mean that it was the right leg thatwas brokcn."(41)

Leiters that rencctcd puzzlcd or sus­picious minds reached the desk of thcJudge Advocate General of the Army.They had comc 10 the right place. In

NAVY MEDICINE

~."O<\&I MU"'l\lm (>1 H.-I", aM MlICl,c,"e. AfIP

All by MO_ Ja<:l<oon. NSHS

his memoir Dr. May refers to "'a com­mission of high functionaries of thegovernment formed to obtain evidenceas to [ Booth's] idenl ificat ion. "'(43) The"'commission" was Judge AdvocateGeneral Joseph Holt and his assistantBingham. and the statements theytook on MOl1tauk were '.ppropri­ately filed in the Judge Advocate Gen­eral's office. as was documentationdetailing the search for Booth and thecapture at the Garrett farm. Therecord oflhe manhunl and oflhe ritualon MOil/Gill. was from the beginning,and would remain. part of the archivesof that office. One of the inquiringleiters. in 1912, asked "what became ofJohn Wilkes Booth and whether thereis positive proof of his having beenshot to death?"'(44) The Judge Advo­cate General replied that "This officehas no official information concerningthe pursuit and capture of John WilkesBooth."(45) And when, 3 years later,the secretary of the Washington. DC.based Columbia Historical Societysought the names of the "high func~

tionaries" mentioned by May, theresponse. from the same Judge Advo­calc GeneraL was that "'this office hasno offici.. ; reports or information con­cerning the capture and killing ofBooth, nor as to what means. if any,were taken to identify the body of the

January-February 1993

man broughl to the Navy Yard atWashington as that of the ass as­sin."'(46)

RererencesI. CO"xrf5Sir>l!ul (ilo/>(-. 28 July 1866. p

4292.2. Baker lC. //i.'wry of 111/' UII;//'d SIUI"5

SI'",,'I S,'",;,"', P 534.J. &mml SWI/luy II/'{uld. 11 Dec 188L See

al,o Slalemern or William S. Jell. 6 May 11165.11I1"'Slif(Ulhm ond Tr;ol Pop"", Rl'lolinx 10 II,..AJ'sossinOli(m of P,,'sid"1JI tim'ulll.

4. Pitman B. Doheny ll.'stimony of 22 I\lay1865 in 17,,' ASSiJsS;I1Olivl/ vIl'r/".,idfm UI/culnomllii/" Trial of Ihl' Compiralurs. p 95.

5. I"'/X'odm",m '''''I'Mif(OIiml: Tf!slimullYTiJk<.·1l lkfur/' II", Judidury Commill/'I' of Ilt/'1I00/sl' of RI'f)rl'-'/'I/!Uliw.• inlh/' In"/'sliXOliml ofCltargl'S AgaillSl Allduw Jolm.lon. p 481.

o. The Repon ofL";ul. Ed,,"~rd I' Doherty.SiXleenth N.Y. Ca,'alr~'. Wa~hington. DC, 29April 1865. Wor of litl' H,'bl'1lion: OJ.fil"ialH"fords ofIll/' Ullh", <lnd Gmfl',/frUII' Ar",;/'s.Series I. Vol 46. pp 1317-1322; Carpenler FG.The eaplUre ofJohn Wilkl.'s Booth. Uppim'ol/'sMomhly. Vol 49. Seplernhcr 188J, p 449.

7. Thl' ,lhdif"U1 ami S"rt(i('iJl Hi."ur.!' oj tilt'Wor of lit,· H/"bdlion (1861-1865). Vol I. p 452.

8. Edward P. Doherly to Andrew Johnson.23 Dl.'e 1865. H"/"ord" orllt/' AdiUlall/ (;..n"',,(.,OfJici'. 178(fJ··1917.

1,1. Ilibhcn ~lli. 1/isloryoflltl' Wasllillf("'"N'I"y )'ard. p 149.

10. Ibid.. P 146.II. l'holOg,dph of leuer of S(,erclary of Ihe

Navy Gideon Wells <I nd Sl.'uetaryofWar EdwinM. Slamon in KaI7.DM. JIIim"S5IQall Era: Tltl'Uf.. iJ",1 PhO/v!:raplts ofAII'.wndu (iiJrd"a, p159.

12. Hibhcn. p 149.13. Edward 1'. Doheny 10 Andrew .lohn,on.

2J Dee 1865.14. "",)<'a('/III1/'1II In"l'slixalion, p 48.1.15. Charles Dawson testimony. 27 April

1l)65. ""'(,Sligolion uml r"al Pal','r5 Rf'ialing 10

III/' Assaninulion vJ Pr,'sit/l'/1/ Lillcoln.16. Charll.'s M. Collins le'llmon)'. 27 April

1865. """'J'ligalion amI Trial Papers.17. William w. Crowninshield testimony. 27

April 1865. (,"'f!.'ligUlioll ami Trial PupuJ'.18. ScalDn Munroe Il.'SIimony,27 April 11165.

In"/'5I;xalioll ami Triol PaIJI/fS.19. N,· ...· l'ork rrilt'lnf!. 29 April 11165.20. &'51"" S"mluy flfralt!. II Dee I Ill) I.21. Ka17. pp 161-162.22. I'ilman H. E"erton J. Conger ltstimony.

17 May 1865. p 91. Lluhcr IbkerSlaleml.'m. 27April 1865. R,·.'v"/,' of lit/" AdiulllnI (;I'IIf!r"fsOfJic... 178(fs-1917.

13. Mo)' Jf~ Mark '!f litl' Scolp/"I.14. Ihid.}5. Jvltn r. Ma)' 11'.llimony. 17 Ap,,1 1lJ65.

I""uligoliun and Triol Pap.'r,..26. Ibid.27. Joseph K. Il;lrn\-s 10 Edwin M. Sla11l0n.

27 April 1865. R/'t"Ord., oflit/' AdjulutII G/'ItfT­of.. Offici'. 17/J«5·1917.

28. nil' Calalogul' of til/' SllrJ.:/f'ol S .../"Iiml ufIltl' Ullill'd SIIII<'.• Army M..di<"al MUJl'lIIJI. p 58.

29. Tit/' M"d,,"ul ami S"rX"'ol "iSlOr)' of IIIl'War ofIltf R/"bl'lIion (1861-1865). Vol I, P 452.

30. Ibid.. p 452.31. Hibben. p 147.32. Ibid .. P 149.J3. &011 IOU. Monograph In David H. Rales

COlicClion.34. 11/I(H"a"hm/'m '''''u1iXa,io'': 7"'~'/llIIo"y

Tukl''' &'.Iu,,' Iltl' Jmlt";ur)' Cvmm;/I/,,/, of lit/"!lO/IS/" of R"(Jrf!-'/'n!oli,·".< itt 11t,·lm·I'.\"{igalivlI vfClturx".1 Af(a;nsl Ami",,,' Jultnsml. pp 323-33 I.

25

3S, Ibid.• P 324. pp 672-673.36. Ibid.• p 33.J7. "T'M Sallimo" A",~rkun. 17 feb 1869:

Rosr:or: T. n. WrlJ oICompi,uq. pp 527-5J I;Smilh G. Anw,kun GOlllir: Th,. Sto"'olAm,.,;,ru's UKtndu'y n,,.alrkal f"umil,·-Junius.Ed,,·in. und John Wilkts Boor". pp 231-249.

38. 11,,. &Ilimo,,. Am",Ir,m. 11 Feb 1869.39. Samuc:l Mudd ~Ialemenl. 21 April 11165.

AS.\fUJ';mJlio" "nd T,illl Papt"s.40. Joseph K. Barnes 10 Edwin M. Slanlon.

21 April 1865. RI'(,,,,ds 0/ /ltr AdjUlum Grnn·ufs Of/i'·". 1780's·1917,

41. May. Mark oflhe Scalpel.42. William Maylo George M.llamy. 7 No...

1927. Wilkerson Iile, EH S....-aim ColleC\ion.Grorgelo.....n Unhocl1iil)' Lib..-ry.

4J. Ma)'. Mark of lile Scalpel.44. John De Ha\ocn 10 War Depanmenl. 26

Jan 1912. RNordJ ol/Iw Adjuumt Gtllt',ufsOJTK~. 178O's·1911.

45. Judge' Ad\'l)(';Ite Genc..-rs rt'ply 10 l)cHaven \'ia Adjulanl Genc..-I·s orfice. JI Jan1912. Rrrordsoll/K' Ad''fKUI,.G,.n,.,uf, OfTKt.178f1s-1917.

46. Judge Ad\'OCale General's reply 10 M~ry

S. Beall via Adjutant General's Orrice. 7 Dec1915. RI'l"Q,d, v/lht' A,/w}('ulf' Gnu·rafs QIP'·,.,178fYs-1917.

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Libra/)' of Congreu. Washington_ DC.n" &swn Sundu)' Ut,lIld. II Dec- IllSl.Carpenln FG. The- capture of John Wilkes

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Leonard F. Gutuklgt is a historian and tileauthor of §c'oc..-I books on na,..1 history. lieresides in AIc,o;andria. VA.

The Forensic Evidence

2.

For this article. Navy M,dici", requcsted that a siudybe made of the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord sec­lion recovered by Dr. Joseph Woodward following theautopsy aboard USS MomauJc_ A tcam of forensic

palhologislS and anthropologisls from lhe NationalMuseum of Heallh and Medicine and the Anned Forces

Institute of Pathology in Washington. DC. were able 10cstablish thatthc fatal wound. caused bya largccaliber.low velocity weapon. entered the neck high on the rightside. traversing downward and exiting the neck low onlhe left side. There is no evidence that the wound wasself-innicted. pUlling 10 rest one hypothesis that the

man in Garrett's barn may have shot himself. The poste­rior aspect of the spinal cord exhibils severe damageconsislent with quadriplegic paralysis. The spinal cord'santerior aspect is intact. indicating that respirationmight have continued for several hoon.

With such a small sample to study. the scientists wereunable to dclenninc lhe precise age or tdeRtity of lhevictim. only that he was a young to middk-aged adult.

A forensic study of the long bones and skull augmenledby Ihe usc of video superimposition could establish onceand for all whether the body of John Wilkcs Boolhreposes in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery. -J k H

NAVY MEDICINE