- NoName.Mycrowsoft.com -
"Where do you want to Crow today?" |
-
IvanF's Mycrowsoft Noname Brand Website -
- noname writing
online since May 2002 - |
IvanF's No-Name Overview of Abraham Lincoln,
General Grant and Lee, John Wilkes Brutus Booth, and the US American Civil War
- last updated July 2000 (using Grade 12 course
notes) -
Appomattox Court House Surrender Details
- on February 3rd, 1865, both Union and Confederate leaders
began peace talks on a federal steam ship at Hampton Roads, Virginia; however, the peace
talks amounted to almost nothing after Jefferson Davis refused to give in to any of
Lincoln's demands
- in response, General William Sherman of the Union retook Charlestown from the South; a
Union flag was finally hoisted high above Fort Sumter again
- in Petersburg, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy was outnumbered 2 to 1
by General Ulysses S. Grant; Lee's plan was to use the railroad to transport his troops
into North Carolina where they and Johnston's remaining men would make a final stand
- before Lee could implement his plan, his soldiers were attacked by Grant; Lee withdrew
his men from the railroads and retreated to the town of Appomattox Court House, where he
was surrounded by Grant's men once again; Lee's army now consisted of only 30 000 men, of
which only half had ammo left for their muskets
- as the Union forces marched into the town, they were intercepted by a Confederate
horseman bearing a white flag of surrender
- on April 9, 1865, Grant and Lee met in a private home in Appomattox Court House
- under the terms of the proposed treaty, Lee would have to hand over all of his army's
firearms to Grant; however, Lee would be given food to feed his starving soldiers, was
allowed to keep his men's horses, and was assured that no Confederate leaders would be
hanged as punishment
- Lee signed the treaty; after 4 bloody years, the American Civil War was finally
over
-
however, the result of the war in favour of the North incited a certain
individual to take his Derringer pistol and extract his revenge:
Booth, John Wilkes
Brutus Booth
John Wilkes Booth and the Civil War
The Civil War, by Bruce Catton; copyright 1960 Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston; The
American Heritage Library
- February 1865, Sherman and 60 000 veteran soldiers headed from Savannah to North
Carolina, where they would be joined by 21 000 under Schofield; they were opposed by 30
000 Confederates led by the newly reinstated Joe Johnston, who said, "I can do no
more than annoy him (Sherman)"
- General-in-chief of the Confederates was Robert E. Lee; since he was too far away to
help Johnston, he had to rely on the harsh winter, swampy lowlands, and frozen roads to
slow the Yankees
- However, many of Sherman's men once lived on the frontiers and knew how to improvise
with an axe through any weather; as Johnston heard of the Yankees building bridges and
crossing frozen rivers, he remarked that there has been such as powerful army since the
days of Julius Caesar
- The Yankees mercilessly burned and looted every city in South Carolina as they marched;
Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, was burned down by accident by Yankees, although
many of them confessed that they would have done so purposely if they had gotten the
chance
- In desperation, Confederate Congress at Richmond passed a law to make all black slaves
soldiers; this caused debate throughout the Confederates because service in the military
meant freedom afterwards for slaves
- It's ironic that merely several years earlier, General Pat Cleburne proposed the same
idea, yet was silenced by Congress
- Secretary of State Benjamin offered to abolish slavery if England and France recognize
the south as a country; Europe simply laughed at the Confederates because they realized
that they would soon lose the civil war
- Back in January, a Yankee official, Francis P. Blair, visited the Confederate White
House as a negotiator to unite the north and south once again, and to drive the French out
of Mexico together
- Jefferson Davis of the Confederates saw this as Lincoln's attempt to start peace talks,
so on February 3, both sides met on a Federal steamer at Hampton Roads, Virginia; the
Confederates were represented by Vice-President Alexander Stephens, and Judge John A.
Campbell of Alabama; the Union was represented by Lincoln himself and Secretary Seward
- Lincoln offered no concessions; it is only rumoured that he wrote on a sheet of paper,
"Reunion", and handed it to Stephens to fill the rest; Lincoln continued to
demand abolition of slavery, known as the 13th amendment
- Lincoln even offered to pay concessions to slaveowners who would have to give up slaves
if the south surrendered unconditionally; the Confederates refused and the meeting did not
accomplish anything
- In response, Sherman took over Charleston; the Confederates looked down in shame as the
national flag was raised at Fort Sumter as it was a sign that the Union had won the civil
war
- Robert E. Lee was outnumbered 2 to 1 at Petersburg; in North Carolina, Johnston was
outnumbered 3 to 1; Robert's only hope was to abandon Petersburg and join with Johnston
- The federal army was in a semicircle at Petersburg; it stretched for 40 miles, from
Richmond to the southwest tip of Petersburg; it cut the Confederates off from the
railroads that led south
- Lee hoped to surprise the Union General Grant by attacking the center; it would
hopefully make Grant pull back, opening the railroads for the Confederates to retreat
- March 25, General John B. Gordon launched this attack with success at first by taking
over Fort Stedman; however, by noon, the only Confederates left fighting were the ones in
the original Confederate trenches
- Grant smiled at the success of his plan; he had hoped to stretch out Lee's limited men
by stretching out his own; it worked, and led to Lee's men being crushed in a desperation
attack
- By the end of March, Grant had begun his attack on the remaining Confederates by
attacking from Lee's right; they still failed from the ferocious fighting of the
Confederates; however, 12 000 reinforcements were arriving along with Phil Sheridan, who
had just finished off the Confeds in Shenandoah Valley; he parked his men at a road
junction known as Five Forks directly behind the Confederates in Petersburg; how the
Confeds were surrounded
- April 1, Sheridan defeats George Pickett at Five Forks, and cuts off all Confed.
reinforcements from Johnston; 5000 of Pickett's men were captured, while thousands more
ran away without his order
- Sheridan relieved Major General G.K. Warren of his command of infantry because of his
accidental delay of the attack on Pickett; it was not his fault because the roads he
traversed were too damaged to travel over quickly
- April 2, Grant launched an all-out invasion of Petersburg, Virginia; Lee wrote to
Jefferson Davis that "he can hold his position no longer"; Petersburg and
Richmond were sacrificed to the Federals and Lee began his march to Johnston
- However, Lee was outflanked and was driven west by Sheridan instead of heading south to
North Carolina
- Lee's men were starved from low rations when they were attacked from the rear at
Sayler's Creek; Lee grimly remarked, "General, that half of our army is
destroyed"
- April 9, the Union surrounded Lee at the town of Appomattox Court House; Lee's army was
now down to 30 000, half of which had no ammo for their muskets
- As Union forces marched into the town with guns raised, a Confederate horseman arrived
bearing a white flag at the end of his staff
- Lee met Grant at a parlor of a private home in Appo. Court House; many Generals advised
Lee to begin guerilla warfare by the hills near Appomattox to prolong the war; however,
Lee realized that the south was defeated and continued war would only make Confederates
hate the north more once they were rejoined; Lee wanted to prevent a second civil war
- Grant truly believed that the point of the war was to prove that Northerners and
Southerners would always be fellow citizens; he offered for Lee to give up his firearms
and sign and live up to the formal articles of parole, the Union will not bother the south
again; this pact prevented the much wanted hangings of all Confederate leaders; Lee signed
- Johnston had lost a fight at the end of March as well, and he surrendered as well to
similar conditions
- This allowed the Union to sweep through and conquer Alabama, occupying Selma and taking
Montgomery, the former capital of the Confeds, from Bedford Forrest; Mississippi soon
retired as well, along with all Confederate states to its west
- Jefferson Davis was captured during a final Confederate assault in Georgia; he lived in
a prison cell for the next 2 years and was never hanged; his poor treatment by Northerner
jailers re-earned him the respect of the Southerners, who had blamed him for losing the
war; he emerged from jail as a hero
- March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivers his second, inaugural address; Federal Congress had
already passed the 13th amendment and 17 states had already ratified it;
Lincoln said, "If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses
which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His
appointed time, He now wills to remove and that He gives to both North and South, this
terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein
any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always
ascribe to Him?"
- Lincoln believed that both north and south were guilty of the war, and both sides should
also share in the victory; he believed that the victory was a unification of the country
over a common infliction
- March 27 and 28, Sherman and Lincoln conferred on the steamer, River Queen, at City
Point Virginia; other members included Grant and Admiral Porter, Sherman returned
afterwards to North Carolina with the realization that Lincoln "wanted peace on
almost any terms"; Lincoln was even willing to let Confederate Congress rule in the
south until a permanent, Federal government could be established there
- When Johnston surrendered, Sherman made even more concessions than Lincoln did in the
terms for surrender in hope that Lincoln would approve of a quick reconciliation; Sherman
never found out, for by this time, Lincoln was shot; April 18th, Johnston signs
the surrender which by authorization of Confederate Secretary of War, General John C.
Breckinridge, surrendered every Confed army left
- This document reinstated all political rights for the Confederates along with the
personal and property rights found in the Federal Constitution; it gave so many
concessions to the South that it is believed Lincoln would not have approved of it if he
were still alive (restoration of political rights and amendments were ordered to be left
in the hands of the president)
- On Good Friday evening, April 14, 1865, a disgruntled actor by the name of John
Wilkes Booth felt compelled to finally do something for the cause of the south, even
though he had never enlisted into the army
- He strode into the President's box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, fired a bullet from
his derringer at Lincoln's brain, jumped down from the balcony onto the stage, and rode
off in the middle of the night in hope of returning to the South as a saviour
- Booth had conspired to end Lincoln's life for months; he first wanted to kidnap Lincoln,
bring him to Richmond, and threaten to kill him if the Union took that city; he planned to
kill Lincoln, Grant, Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State Seward with the
help of incompetent outcast friends
- Seward was nearly killed as well when one of Booth's friends, Lewis Paine, stabbed him
with a knife; attacks on Grant and Johnson misfired and the two survived unharmed
- Lincoln is remembered for his quote in Springfield, June 3, 1860: "A house divided
cannot stand", and is also known for his understanding of the South at his second
inaugural address, "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each
invokes His aid against the other
. The prayers of both could not be answered; that
of neither has been fully answered"
- April 15, Lincoln dies, leaving the radical, Andrew Johnson, as President; Johnson at
first desired to force the South into Union principles and terms, but later in life
realized that Lincoln's way was better and risked his career to carry it out
- However, the Federals were controlled at first by Secretary of War Stanton after
Lincoln's death
- Stanton was a ruthless and arrogant patriot of the Northerner cause; he saw Booth as not
a lone operator, but as an agent for the Confederate Congress; he came to this conclusion
from info gathered from the War Department that terrorism in the north were directed by
Confederates in Canada; Booth had recently been in Canada
- Stanton address the entire nation that Jefferson Davis had assassinated Lincoln;
however, since he had no proof, the South soon was cleared of the name John Wilkes Booth
- To create patriotism in the north, Stanton kept Lincoln's body in the Capitol dome, and
had a funeral in the White House; he then transported the body on a special train to
Springfield, Illinois for burial; millions of Americans saw him on the way since Stanton
made stops at Chicago, New York, and other major cities; the train traveled especially
slow so that whoever could not see his body on display could mourn by the train; it took 2
weeks for the train to arrive at Springfield
- The Northerners were so furious from Lincoln's death that they wanted to repeal the
treaty made by Sherman; Grant realized that Sherman had done far more than a General is
permitted to so he sent it to cabinet for approval; the cabinet shortly repealed it
- When Johnston was informed that fighting was to recommence, he immediately signed a
treaty nearly identical to the one Grant had given Lee
- Sherman became outraged not from the disapproval of his terms, but from Stanton's claims
to the whole North that Sherman was insane and disloyal (Stanton backed this up by
claiming that the treaty kept firearms in Confederate hands, permitted slaves, and seemed
to recognize the Confederacy as a nation)
- Sherman's popularity died out shortly after and he became a fierce opponent of Stanton,
however, his respect eventually returned as a man who tried to follow out Lincolnian
policies, and as a forgiving villain in the south
- Johnston lost control of Sherman because Sherman did not want anything to do with
politics; Johnston lost control of Grant simply because he was too patriotic to be handled
- April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth is trapped and killed by Federals near Bowling Green,
Virginia
- After 4 years of fighting, the Union was reconstructed, although racial problems between
Northerners and Southerners struggled onwards even a century after the last shot was fired
at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, Texas
John Wilkes Booth: Die Another Judgement Day -
"Born Under An Unlucky Star
"
- April 14th, 1865
(Good Friday): President Lincoln is assassinated
by a disgruntled, Confederate actor known as Booth, John Wilkes Booth (pg. 199 in
the text book)
- Wilkes, as he was known as by his siblings, was arguably the most
popular actor in both the North and the South (he was the first actor to ever be
mobbed by a zealous gang of fans); however, he often complained about how he was always
compared in talent to his father, Junius Booth (who was 'the first great American
actor to ever grace this gallant, new world')
- Wilkes adored the South because he started his acting career in
Richmond; he also hated the North because his brother, Edwin (who later kicked
him out of the house), believed in Federalism (the brothers were fierce competitors in the
field of acting as well)
- Asia Booth
, Wilkes' favourite sister, recorded in her diaries that
Wilkes often spoke of his childhood visit to a gypsy; Wilkes once handed Asia the
napkin that the gypsy had given him, which read: "You'll break hearts. They'll be
nothing to you. You'll die young, and leave many to mourn you, many to love you
too
"
- Wilkes had affairs with over 8 different women, including one with
Lucy Hale, the daughter of a Union Senator; she invited Wilkes to watch Lincoln's
Second Inauguration Address
- Wilkes later said this to his dear friend and assassination accomplish, Lewis
Powell: "Oh, what an excellent chance I had to kill the president, if I had
wished, on inauguration day!"
- Wilkes loved his mother very much, and chose not to enlist in the
Confederate army to keep a promise that he had made to his mother; Wilkes spent the Civil
War with Lewis Powell, devising methods to kidnap the president; Wilkes and his
group "worked to capture" at least twice, with both attempts ending in
failure
- Wilkes worked in Ford's Theatre in Washington where he made a
living by mostly performing Shakespearean plays; Abraham Lincoln saw Wilkes perform
in The Marble Heart and asked around if he could meet with the actor
- After the assassination, Wilkes attempted in vain to reach Confederate
soil, where he hoped he would be hailed as an unforgettable hero; Wilkes eventually
found refuge in the Garrett family farm in Virginia
- He was soon tracked down by Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty, Detective Luther
Baker, and a Calvary including Sergeant Thomas "Boston" Corbett; and
then
- Wilkes' greatest goal in life was to be remembered for all time, which
came true; his assassination of Lincoln resulted in hundreds of thousands of crying
Northerners crowding around Lincoln's funeral train while cursing the Booth family name
- The assassination once again divided the country, and state rights were
quickly taken away from the South; Secretary of War Stanton convinced the Northern public
that Wilkes was a member of a Confederate conspiracy, and that the South is to blame for
Lincoln's death - he called for harsh punishment to be inflicted upon the South
- April 11th: Wilkes sees Lincoln make another speech and says, "Now,
by God! I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make
"
and it was
More John Wilkes Booth
Info from Mc Pherson, James M. Images of the Civil War. New York: Gramercy
Books, 1992:
- Booth once said, "Oh, what a glorious opportunity there is for a man to immortalize
himself by killing Lincoln"
- He was born on a farm in North Baltimore, Maryland; he became an actor at the age of 17
- He was once a loyal supporter of the Union, but somehow turned to favour the south; his
group at first only wanted to kidnap Lincoln, but Booth convinced them to assassinate
Lincoln and all other Union leaders
- On January 18 and March 20, 1865, Booth and his conspirators attempted to kidnap
Lincoln, but both attempts were foiled when Lincoln chose not to attend Ford's Theatre
- April 14, 1865, Booth was drinking Brandy while picking up his mail at Ford's Theatre
when he learned that Lincoln would soon attend a performance; one of the first things
Booth did was drill a hole through the president's box so that he could watch the play
while shooting at Lincoln
- John F. Parker was supposed to protect Lincoln the night of his assassination, but he
moved to the dress circle to get a better view of the play
- Lincoln arrived at the theatre at 8:25; Booth arrived at 9:00, sneaked into the theatre
using an underground tunnel, arrived in the saloon, and casually ordered a whiskey
- 10:15, Booth is seen in the audience; he then walks up to the president's box, barred
the corridor door shut, waited for the audience to laugh, and shot Lincoln in the skull
just above the left ear
- Booth then jumped over the balcony, got caught in a banner, and landed on the ground
with his knees, breaking his left leg
- Booth was later found in a tobacco farm belonging to the Garrett family; he was
surrounded by Federals led by L.P Baker, who was instructed to bring him back alive
- Booth challenged Baker to 1-on-1 fights twice; Baker refused both
- Without orders, Sergeant Boston Corbett shot and killed Booth in the very spot above the
left ear that killed Lincoln; when interrogated why he shot without orders, Corbett said,
"God direct me"
- Booth died on April 26, 1865; Baker was supposed to throw his into the Anacostia river,
but instead threw a fake body, and paddled down the stream alone; Booth's body was later
found buried below an ammo shed; it was then reburied on Booth family ground
Info from http://www.nps.gov/foth:
- the Booth family name was one of the most famous names in theatrical history of the
time; Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. came to America from England in 1821 and made his name by
performing on the American stage; he left his legacy to his sons Edwin, John Wilkes, and
Junius Brutus, Jr.
- John Wilkes was born on May 10, 1838 in a log house near Bel Air, Maryland, 25 miles
south of Mason-Dixon line; he was brought up by his older brother, Edwin; both Edwin and
John's sister, Asia, would write about John's strange behaviour
- John began acting in 1855 at the Charles Street Theatre in Baltimore and performed
regularly two years later; by this time, he was sick of the comparisons between himself
and his father
- Booth was used as a complementary actor; he would spend every night studying scripts
from dusk to dawn to perform as a secondary character in a theatrical star's rehearsal
- 1857, Booth began acting at Weatley's Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia, the biggest
theatre of the time; although Booth studied intensely here, his lack of confidence
prevented his career from taking off
- William S. Fredericks, the acting and stage manager at the Arch Street Theatre, along
with many other Philadelphia critics, claimed that the 19 year old Booth had no future as
an actor
- September 1858, Booth began acting at the old Marshall theatre in Richmond, Virginia,
where he was popular; it was here where his confidence and Confederate attitude were
nourished
- November 20, 1859, to see first-hand the hanging of the abolitionist John Brown in
Charles Town, Virginia, Booth enlisted in the military; afterwards, Booth left for
Richmond where he was discharged.
- 1864, Booth claimed that he would not join the civil war because he promised his mother
that he wouldn't; however, he did smuggle medical supplies to the Confederates
- Sir Charles Wyndham was just one of many people who commented on the strange magnetism
in Booth's eyes; Charles said that Booth's "eyes were striking features, but when his
emotions were aroused they were like living jewels. Flames shot from them"
- Booth seemed to be popular with many women; he was often seen fondling with Ellen Starr,
who was coincidentally in Washington at the time of Lincoln's dead; 1861, actress
Henrietta Irving slashed Booth with a knife because he would not marry her
- Also, pictures of 5 women were found on Booth's dead body; one was of Lucy Hale, the
daughter of Senator John P. Hale
- May 1864, Booth left acting to concentrate on oil investments; in 1863, he had founded
the Dramatic Oil Company with fellow actors John Ellsler, Thomas Y. Mears and George
Pauncell
- In fall, he gave up on oil; he gave up the company to his brother, Junius, and his
friend, Joseph H. Simonds
- October 1864, Booth visits Montreal and talks with Confederates; November 1864, Booth
checks into the National Hotel in Washington with a letter addressed to Dr. William Queen
of Charles County, Maryland; this letter made Booth meet with Dr. Samuel A. Mudd that same
month over Confederacy issues
- Booth and Dr. Mudd conjured up a plan to kidnap Lincoln and hold him hostage in Richmond
until the release of Confederate prisoners of war
- They tried to kidnap Lincoln on March 17, but Lincoln chose not to visit a hospital
outside of Washington as planned; ironically, Lincoln chose to stay at the National Hotel
- Booth changed his plans to assassination after the Confederate loss at Richmond; 5 days
after General Lee surrendered to Grant, Lincoln was killed
- Booth believed that gov't was a concern for all people and saw the Confederacy as his
true country
- Booth had invested $6000 in his oil company during 1864
- John Wilkes had planned to trade Lincoln for the freedom of tens of thousands of
Confederate soldiers
- 1864, John Wilkes enlists two of his former schoolmates for his cause: Lewis Thorton
Powell, a.k.a. Lewis Payne, and George Atzeroddt; Lewis was enlisted because of his muscle
power, and George was needed because he owned a boat that could transport Lincoln across
Potomac River to Richmond
- Booth spent 10 days in Montreal where Confederates were hiding; these Confederates
terrorized the Union on the northern border and had tried to ruin the presidential
election of 1864
- The Confederates gave Wilkes $300 US in gold; December 1864, Booth opened a checking
account in Washington with 2 deposits of $1750; he closed the account in March 1865
Even More John Wilkes Phonebooth Info
if Lincoln had turned around before he was
killed, he would have instantly recognized Booth; Booth was one of the most famous actors
in America
- November 9, 1863, Lincoln watched Booth perform in
the popular play, The Marble Heart; Lincoln was so impressed with Booth's energy that he
asked to meet him; Booth declined
- Newspapers called Booth the "star of the
first magnitude", "the youngest star in the world", and "the most
handsome man on the American stage" in Boston, New York, Chicago, and even Washington
- Booth performed his last role as the evil Pescara
in The Apostate, just 4 weeks before he assassinated Lincoln
- In the Booth household, Shakespeare was recited as
often as the Bible; to John Wilkes, battles at Gettysburg and Antietam were as theatrical
as the battles in MacBeth and Richard III; Booth did not fear death because he felt that
he had died hundreds of times on stage
- 1899, Joel Chandler Harris noted that Booth
"had all the elements of a genius but seemed powerless to focus on them... He was as
mad as Hamlet was: no more or less
He was so infected and unbalanced by his
profession that the world seemed to him to be a stage which men and women were acting,
living, their parts. There was nothing real to him but that which is most unreal, the
theatrical and the romantic. He had a great variety of charming qualities, and his mind
would have been brilliant but for the characteristics which warped it"
- Booth's father, Junius Brutus Booth came to
America from England in 1821 with Mary Ann Holmes, who would bear him 10 children; Booth
had left a wife and son back in England
- After Junius' death in 1852, the Booth children,
including Wilkes as he was called, tried to conceal their illegitimate births
- Although Junius tried to discourage his children
from the theatre, Wilkes and Edwin became involved in the dramatic arts anyway
- During winters at the Booths' winter home on
Exeter Street, Baltimore, Edwin and friends would rehearse in the backyard; Wilkes often
would disrupt their fun and once, someone threw an oyster shell at his head, leaving a
scar that he combed his hair over
- The Booths often were drunk and depressed; Junius,
although considered to be the first great American actor, would rarely step onto the step
sober; Junius' wild sword-fights and erratic behaviour from alcohol would soon brush onto
his son, Wilkes; ironically, Wilkes never saw his father perform once
- Asia, Wilkes' younger sister, reveals in her
memoirs, The Unlocked Book, that her mother had a nightmare when Wilkes was a baby
"in which she imagined that the foreshadowing of his fate had been revealed to
her"
- At the end of the school year of 1850 or 1851, at
the Milton Boarding School for boys near Cockeysville, Maryland, Asia and her mother
visited Wilkes; Wilkes admitted to Asia that he had visited a gypsy not long before who
told him, "You'll die young
You've got in your hand a thundering crowd of
enemies - not one friend - you'll make a bad end
you'll have a fast life - short,
but a grand one"; Wilkes had written it on a tattered piece of paper which he gave to
Asia; although Asia admits Wilkes tried to laugh the words off, he would often refer to
them later in life
- 1852, Junius Booth dies on a steamboat after
telling his sons, Edwin and Junius Jr., that "he was anxious to be at home again and
meant to retire from stage" (The Mad Booths of Maryland, by Stanley Kimmel)
- after the funeral in Baltimore, Wilkes studied at
St. Timothy's Hall, a military school in Catonsville, Maryland; ironically, this school
wore gray uniforms very similar to the ones later worn by Confederate soldiers
- many of the students had Confederate attitudes;
the teachers entirely Federalists; in one incident, the principle took away the weekend
break because students had killed several chickens; in response, Wilkes and his friends
stole muskets from the armory and threatened the principle that they would defend
themselves; the principle gave into their demands 3 days later
- 1854, Wilkes and Asia work together on a biography
of their dead father; it was published 6 months after Wilkes' death with Asia as the only
author mentioned
- Edwin became famous in the north, while Wilkes
built up his reputation in Richmond between 1858 and 1860
- John Wilkes Booth tried to change his name to J.B.
Wilkes to not-be associated with the Booth name, but by the end of the civil war, he gave
up and was called John Wilkes Booth
- Wilkes toured the north in January 1861; the North
even commented the Wilkes showed more promise than Edwin or even Junius Sr.; Wilkes won
the respect of the people with his politeness and manners
- Edwin was a Lincoln supporter; he saved the life
of Lincoln's son, Robert, at a railroad station in Jersey City and was allowed to perform
Hamlet for Lincoln and the First Lady years later
- Edwin was a Union patriot; he would not discuss
war matters when the family gathered, thus dividing the family; perhaps the only reason
Wilkes stayed in the north is because theaters did not flourish in the south during the
civil war
- According to Asia, Edwin asked Wilkes why he did
not enlist in the Confederate army; Wilkes claimed that he had promised his mother that he
wouldn't; later, he admitted to Asia that he was more valuable to the south as a
blockade-runner, smuggling Quinine into Richmond
- David Carroll noted that Wilkes was "the
recipient of a hundred love letters a week, was followed home by women, was carried off
the stage by them, and was the first actor on record to have his clothes shredded by a
gang of zealous fans"
- Wilkes became famous for his brilliant
performances in Richard III, causing the critics to compare him to the greatness of his
father; November 1864, when Edwin was set to act with Wilkes in Julius Caesar, Asia
observed that he was "trembling little for his own laurels"
- April 26th, 1861, the tabloids reported
that after performing at Green Street Gayety Theatre in Albany, New York, Wilkes returned
to his hotel room with Henrietta Irving; Irving cried that Wilkes had won her love
falsely, tried to stab him in the heart but was blocked, instead cutting him on the head;
she later tried to commit suicide in fear that she had killed him
- Wilkes rode throughout the north openly
proclaiming his hate for Lincoln and support for the south; he always wore the finest
clothing, and was noted for his excellent marksmanship
- March 1864 in Union-occupied New Orleans, Wilkes
sang the Confederate anthem, "The Bonnie Blue Flag" to prove to his peers that
he could do anything that he wanted; he was arrested, and was freed when he acted as if he
didn't know that there was a law prohibiting the singing of that song; he claimed he had
heard it somewhere, and liked the words
- While in Canada, Wilkes spent his time learning
about the roads in southern Maryland; this was the route that spied went from Canada to
Washington
- George Atzerodt, the man Wilkes sent to kill
Vice-president Johnson, backed out at the last minute; Lewis Payne managed to stab
Secretary of State Seward with a knife
- When Wilkes jumped off of the president's balcony,
people thought it was part of the play since they did not hear the gun shot
- Afterwards, people began burning Booth scrapbooks
and playbills with his name were scraped
Info from
http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln/2.htm:
- Wilkes once said, "Our country owed all her
troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment"
- The gypsy told him, "Ah, you've a bad hand;
the lines of cris-cras! It's full enough of sorrow. Full of trouble. Trouble in plenty,
everywhere I look. You'll break hearts, they'll be nothing to you. You'll die young, and
leave many to mourn you, many to love you too, but you'll be rich, generous, and free with
money. You're born under an unlucky star. You've got in your hand a thundering crowd of
enemies - not one friend - you'll make a bad end, and have plenty to love you afterwards.
You'll have a fast life - short, but a grand one. Now, young sir, I've never seen a worse
hand, and I wish I hadn't seen it, but every word I've told is true by the signs. You'd
best turn a missionary or a priest and try to escape it."
- 1850s, at St. Timothy's Hall, Wilkes had joined
the Know-Nothing in politics, a group made to preserve the country for native white
born-citizens; he gave up on school after his father died
- Asia Booth Clarke wrote that Wilkes once told her,
"I must have fame! Fame!"
- He was 5'8", had jet black hair, ivory skin,
lean, and athletic
- 1860, Wilkes earned $20 000 a year from acting; he
was hailed as the "youngest tragedian in the world" after starring in Romeo and
Juliet, The Apostate, The Marble Heart, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Othello,
The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and MacBeth
- 1862, Wilkes was arrested for making anti-Union
remarks in St. Louis; he later told Asia, "So help me God! My soul, life, and
possessions are for the South."
- Summer of 1864, Wilkes stayed at McHenry House in
Meadville, Pennsylvania; this was found on a window pane in the house shortly afterwards:
"Abe Lincoln departed this life Aug. 13, 1864, by the effects of poison."
- November 1864, in a letter to his brother in law,
Wilkes wrote, "This country was formed for the white not for the black man. And
looking upon African slavery from the same stand-point, as held by those noble framers of
our Constitution, I for one, have ever considered it, one of the greatest blessings (both
for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed upon a favoured nation."
- Wilkes' assassination group consisted of Michael
O'Laughlen, Samuel Arnold, Lewis Powell (Paine), John Surrett, David Herold, and George
Atzerodt; Wilkes met with them at Gautier's Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue 3 blocks
from Ford's Theatre
- Samuel B. Arnold said on December 20, 1902 that
"He (Booth) became a monomaniac on the success of the Confederate arms, a condition
which generally follows when a man's thoughts are constantly centered upon one subject
alone."
- 1864, Wilkes met 16-year old Isabel Sumner and
exchanged photos and letters with her; he gave Isabel a ring with "J.W.B. to
I.S." inscribed on it; when he was sick, Isabel sent him flowers
- 1865, Wilkes became involved with Lucy Lambert
Hale, daughter of New Hampshire's abolitionist former senator, John Parker Hale
- March 1865, Wilkes secretly became engaged with
Lucy; Lucy invited him to Lincoln's second inauguration speech
- Wilkes later said, "What an excellent chance
I had to kill the president, if I had wished, on inauguration day!"; Lucy was seen
with Booth in National Hotel the day of the assassination
- April 11th, after Lincoln's speech
where he says, "on the very day intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as
soldiers", Wilkes responded with, "Now, by God! I'll put him through. That is
the last speech he will ever make."
and it was
- "For six months we had worked to capture.
But, our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done."
- Asia once wrote that she knew "that my hero
(JWB) was a spy, a blockade-runner, a rebel
I knew that he was today what he had
been since childhood, an ardent lover of the South and her policy, an upholder of Southern
principles. He was a man so single in his devotion, so unswerving in his principles, that
he would yield everything for the cause he espoused."
IvanF Y2kk 2000