IT is here in these closing pages the sad duty of these wonderful old negatives to record one of the deepest tragedies in the history of the world. In it the greatest Republic of the earth, at the close of the most terrific conflict ever waged by fellow countrymen, saw its champion of Liberty fall at the hands of an assassin. The great Lincoln looked forward to years of peace among a re-united people. On the night of April 14, 1865, he was murdered at Ford's Theater. The bitter tidings swept the country. The American Nation was bowed down with grief. The rendezvous of the conspirators was found to be the house of Mrs. M. E. Surratt, located in the very heart of Washington. Mrs. Surratt, her daughter Anna, Miss Fitzpatrick and a Miss Holahan were arrested. George A. Atzerott, and one named Powell, were later captured. The principal assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was found eleven days after the murder and was shot when he refused to surrender. His companion, Harold, who had been a fugitive with him, was taken prisoner. The trial of the conspirators took place in Washington before a military commission. On July 6, 1865, sentence was pronounced and on the following day the four conspirators—Harold, Atzerott, Powell and Mrs. Surratt—were hanged. Two of Brady's cameras were taken into the prison yard and placed near the scaffold. When the warrant was being read one camera was used and the historic view is now in the Eaton Collection. When the drop was sprung, the second negative was exposed and the tragic scene is here recorded. Mrs. Surratt is hanging at the left. The ghastliness was such that many of the guards turned their heads. It is believed to be the first time that the camera has been used to perpetuate the execution of political conspirators. The negatives are in excellent condition and their historic value is beyond purchase.
PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN PRISON YARD IN WASHINGTON AT HANGING OF MRS. SURRATT AND THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION CONSPIRATORS IN 1865
THE funeral procession of Lincoln as it passed through New York was witnessed by nearly a million people. The body was taken to Springfield, Ohio, his old home town to which he had not returned since he left it to go to Washington as President of the United States. Lincoln was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, about two miles from Springfield. Immediately after the close of the war the Government began inquiry into the cruelties alleged to have taken place in many of the prisons. The result was the arrest of Captain Henry Wirtz, the jailor at Andersonville. He was given trial before a military commission and convicted of brutally murdering Union prisoners. Wirtz was sentenced to death and hanged on the tenth of November, 1865. The execution took place in Washington within short distance of the National Capitol, and Brady's cameras were taken into the prison yard. The negative was taken as the condemned man stood on the scaffold, with head bowed, listening to the reading of his death warrant. Another negative was secured after the noose had been tightened around his neck and the drop had been sprung. The photographs perpetuate a tragic moment. It will be seen that the soldiers on guard were standing at "attention." The evidence against Wirtz was overwhelming. Many witnesses testified to the cruelty of the accused man and the horrors enacted within the dead lines at Andersonville. Prisoners were forced to go forty-eight hours without food. Many of them became insane; others committed suicide. There were deliberate, cold-blooded murders of peaceable men. No opportunities were afforded for cleanliness and the prisoners were covered with vermin. The execution of Wirtz met public approval and this photograph shows him in his last moments of life.
PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN WHILE DEATH WARRANT WAS BEING READ TO WIRTZ, THE KEEPER OF ANDERSONVILLE PRISON IN 1865