A New History of the United States / The greater republic, embracing the growth and achievements of our country from the earliest days of discovery and settlement to the present eventful year

by Charles Morris

DEATH OF BOOTH.

The barn was surrounded and the two men were summoned to surrender. Harrold went out and gave himself up. Booth refused and defied the troopers, offering to fight them single-handed. To drive him from his hiding-place, the barn was set on fire. Booth, carbine in hand and leaning on his crutch, approached the door with the intention of shooting, when Sergeant Boston Corbett fired through a crevice and hit Booth in the neck. The wound was a mortal one, and Booth was brought out of the barn and laid on the ground, where he died after several hours of intense suffering. The body was taken to Washington and secretly buried. There is good reason to believe that it was sunk at night in the Potomac.

PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS.

The country was in no mood to show leniency to any one concerned in the taking off of the beloved President. Of the five conspirators tried, four were hanged. They were: Payne, Harrold, G.A. Atzeroot, and Mrs. Mary A. Surratt, at whose house the conspirators held their meetings. Dr. S.A. Mudd, who dressed Booth's wounded ankle, and was believed to be in sympathy with the plotters, was sentenced to the Dry Tortugas for a number of years. He showed so much devotion during an outbreak of yellow fever there that he was pardoned some time later. John Surratt, the assailant of Secretary Seward, fled to Italy, where he was discovered by Archbishop Hughes, and the Italian government, as an act of courtesy, delivered him to our government. On his first trial the jury disagreed, and on the second he escaped through the plea of limitations.

The whole country mourned the death of President Lincoln. His greatness, his goodness, and his broad, tender charity were appreciated by every one. The South knew that they had lost in him their best friend. Had he lived, much of the strife of the succeeding few years would have been saved, and the bitter cup that was pressed to the lips of the conquered South would have been less bitter than it was made by others. The remains of the martyred President were laid in their final resting-place at Springfield, Illinois, and the fame of Lincoln grows and increases with the passing years.

SHERMAN'S NORTHWARD ADVANCES.

The army of General Jo Johnston did not surrender until after the death of President Lincoln. Sherman, as will be remembered, made the city of Savannah a Christmas present to the President. Leaving a strong detachment in the city, Sherman moved northward with an army of 70,000 men, including artillery, the start being made on the 1st of February. Charleston, where the first ordinance of secession was passed and which had successfully defied every movement against it, now found itself assailed in the rear. The garrison, after destroying the government stores, the railway stations, blowing up the ironclads in the harbor, bursting the guns on the ramparts of the forts, and setting the city on fire, withdrew. This took place February 17th. The next day General Gillmore entered Charleston and his troops extinguished the few buildings that were still burning.

It has not been forgotten that Wilmington, North Carolina, had become the great blockade-running port of the Southern Confederacy. The mouth of Cape Fear River was defended by Fort Fisher, a very powerful fortification. General Butler made an attempt to capture it in December, but failed. Another effort followed January 15th, under General Alfred Terry, and was successful. The defeated garrison joined Johnston to help him in disputing the northward advance of Sherman.

There was severe fighting, especially at Goldsborough, but the Union army was so much the superior that its progress could not be stayed. There Schofield reinforced Sherman, who, feeling all danger was past, turned over the command to his subordinate and went north to consult with Grant, reaching his headquarters on the 27th of March. Soon after the surrender of Lee, the whole Confederacy was in such a state of collapse that the Union cavalry galloped back and forth through every portion at will.

Returning to his command, Sherman moved against Johnston, April 10th. Four days later, Johnston admitted in a communication to the Union commander that the surrender of Lee meant the end of the war, and he asked for a temporary suspension of hostilities, with the view of making arrangements for the laying down of the Confederate arms. Sherman consented, and these two commanders met and discussed the situation.