Bloody Crimes (68 page)

Davis’s death and, 380

fall of Richmond celebrated in, 34-36, 39, 102

Grand Review in, 329-30, 331, 333, 336-37

Lee’s surrender celebrated in, 79-80, 81, 84, 92-93, 102

Lincoln’s funeral ceremonies planned in, 141, 143, 148-52

reaction to Lincoln’s assassination in, 116

Richmond’s nearness to, 3

Washington, Ga., 73, 92, 273, 278-80, 288-89

Washington, George, 53, 143, 170, 188, 221, 265, 278, 293, 382

Washington and Lee University, 386

Washington Daily Morning Chronicle, 180, 323-24

Washington Evening Star, 34-35, 124, 170, 171-72, 173, 178-79, 180

Washington Navy Yard, 94, 156, 164

Washington Post, 381

wax figures:

of Booth, 344, 392-93

of Davis, 344-45

of Lincoln, 344, 392

Webster, Daniel, 52

Weitzel, Godfrey, 47, 62, 63

Welles, Gideon, 75, 79-80, 92, 108, 110-12, 119, 138, 170, 207, 237, 324, 330-31, 336

Welles, Mary Jane, 108, 119-20, 133

Western Railroad Corporation, 187

Westfield, N.Y., 246

West Point, U.S. Military Academy at, 48, 54, 55, 232

Wheeler, Joseph, 238

White House, 3, 15, 16, 18, 60, 78, 84, 93, 96, 103, 110, 111, 114, 119, 130, 131, 140, 151, 153, 156, 161, 164, 167, 215, 337, 400

East Room viewing and funeral in, 146, 148-50, 152, 158-59, 160-63, 181, 183-91, 187, 197-98, 199, 249, 277, 281, 285

Lincoln’s corpse in Guest Room of, 132-39, 143-46, 160

Lincoln’s corpse transported to, 126-27, 131-32, 207

Mary Lincoln’s delayed departure from, 286, 287, 324, 335, 389

other funerals in, 165, 170-71, 173

in War of 1812, 132

White House of the Confederacy, 2, 3, 5, 15, 60, 170, 174, 397, 401-2

evacuation of, 9-10, 12-13, 22, 24-25

Lincoln at, 47, 62-64, 66, 73

photographs sold of, 63

Union seizure of, 31, 32

Whitman, Walt, xiv, 34, 124, 262, 294-95

Wilcox’s Mills, Ga., 204

Wilde, Oscar, 363-65, 364

William P. Clyde, 330

Willis, Lee H., 376

Wilson, Henry, 164

Wilson, James, 256-58, 296-98, 313, 320-22, 330

Winslow, Edward F., 257

Wirt, William, 52

Wirz, Henry, 344, 350, 356

Wisconsin, 57

Wise, John S., 30

Wofford, William T., 67-68

Wood, John Taylor, 9, 25, 33, 88, 92, 122, 302, 310, 312-13, 318

Woodward, Janvier J., 133-36, 138, 354

Wormley, James, 158

wrestling, 55

Yates, Richard, 151

York, Pa., 218

Yorkville, S.C., 243

Acknowledgments

A
number of people helped in my pursuit of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis:

My splendid editor, Henry Ferris, recognized from the start how pairing the final journeys of the two presidents could enhance the power of each story. Our countless conversations and late night editing sessions in his New York office improved the book in immeasurable ways. Henry’s assistants, Peter Hubbard, now an editor in his own right, and Danny Goldstein, brought diligence and enthusiasm to the project.

I am also grateful to the rest of my HarperCollins team: Michael Morrison and Liate Stehlik for supporting this book with energy and personal interest, Lynn Grady and Jean Marie Kelly for bringing it to its audience, and miracle-worker Sharyn Rosenblum, the best publicist in the business.

At the Museum of the Confederacy, President S. Waite Rawls III and historian John Coski provided valuable information about Jefferson Davis. Thanks also to Waite for a moving, late afternoon private tour of the Confederate White House.

At the Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library at Beauvoir, Mississippi, Chairman Richard V. Forte Sr. and curator Richard R. Flowers answered questions about Davis’s last sanctuary and provided the surprising photo of Oscar Wilde. Lynda Lasswell Crist, editor of the
Papers of Jefferson Davis
at Rice University, was a superb guide to the writings of the lost man of American history. Lynda answered questions with good cheer, and supplied numerous documents and transcripts. With the impressive papers project, a model for future historians, she has made a major contribution to the study of American history.

At the Library of Congress, John Sellers is a living treasure who shared his vast expertise on the Lincoln and Civil War manuscript collection. His retirement is a loss to all those who pursue the Lincoln story. In the rare book division, Clark Evans, with his usual effusive charm, made available a number of treasures documenting the final days of Lincoln and Davis. W. Ralph Eubanks, director of publishing and a fine author in his own right, helped me obtain a number of superb photographs and illustrations, as did Helena Zinkham and Barbara Orbach Natanson in the prints and photographs division. I must also thank John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book and author impresario of the National Book Festival, for his support and efforts to spread Lincoln scholarship to a wide popular audience at the best book event in America.

At the Surratt Society, Joan Chaconas, Laurie Verge, and Sandra Walia rendered the same generous assistance that they gave to
Manhunt.
Their expertise and good humor make Mary Surratt’s country tavern and the James O. Hall Research Center two of the most interesting and informative sites on the Lincoln assassination trail.

Many thanks to my “first readers” Michael Burlingame, Ronald K. L. Collins, and Edward Steers Jr. for reading the manuscript with keen eyes, and making valuable suggestions.

At Ford’s Theatre, my friend Paul Tetreault offered good counsel, a public venue to share my research, and the opportunity to participate
in the preservation of an American landmark. Paul is a remarkable catalyst and visionary who understands the potential of Ford’s as both a working playhouse and a museum that tells the story of Lincoln’s life and death. At the National Park Service, Kym Elder, Rae Emerson, and Gloria Swift were always ready to provide assistance, advice, and encouragement.

At the Heritage Foundation, Attorney General Edwin Meese III and Todd Gaziano, director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, provided me with a collegial home during the time I wrote this book. Jessica Kline gave valuable assistance with all computer mysteries. Interns Laura Clauser and Andrew O’Dell helped track down a number of hard-to-find documents and articles.

My friend and literary agent, Richard Abate, grasped the dramatic possibilities of this story about the end days of the two Civil War presidents and made a number of invaluable suggestions on how to think about and tell this tale. He critiqued the manuscript, provided his usual telling insights, and in a number of ways above and beyond the call of an agent, gave this book his “last measure of devotion.”

I also thank my television agent at WME Entertainment, Julie Weitz, for her tireless efforts in translating my work into another medium.

My wife, Andrea E. Mays, occupied with her own book on the hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio, read the manuscript several times, made countless editorial improvements, helped sift through the abundance of art works to select the images, and, whenever I got bogged down in the trees, cut me a path to clarity. Andrea lived with this book for more than two years and helped me bring alive the saga of Lincoln and Davis. Our boys, Cameron and Harrison, ages thirteen and eleven, were our companions on visits to historic sites, my assistants at book signings, and coaches on storytelling. “Readers want blood,” said Cameron. “And knives,” added Harrison.

Finally, my father, Lennart J. Swanson, traveled with me for much of this journey. In a way, he began this book by taking me on an unforgettable trip to Gettysburg when I was ten years old. We have been traveling on that path ever since.

James L. Swanson
Washington, D.C.
July 7, 2010

Also By James L. Swanson

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

Copyright

The maps on pages 275, 300, and 380 were created by Kieran McAuliffe.

All interior artworks, unless otherwise indicated, are from the author’s private collection. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Library of Congress for photographs that appear on the front and back endpapers. Additionally, the author wishes to thank the following for use of the photographs that appear throughout the text: Library of Congress (pp. 4, 112, 137, 191, 211, 226, 264, 334, 335, 343, 346, 362, 377, 399, 403); Ed Steers, Jr. (p. 104); Ford’s Theatre, National Park Service (p. 129); National Museum of Health and Medicine, Walter Reed Army Medical Center (p. 135); Stack’s (p. 142); Indiana Historical Society (pp. 203, 260); Terrell Library, Washington State University (p. 207); Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (p. 230); U.S. Army Center of Military History (p. 360); The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, Beauvoir (p. 364); New Orleans Public Library (pp. 379, 384); North Carolina State Archives (p. 385); Wes Cowan (p. 395).

BLOODY CRIMES. Copyright © 2010 by James L. Swanson.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © AUGUST 2010 ISBN: 978-0-061-98985-8

FIRST EDITION

Designed by Richard Oriolo

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Swanson, James L.

Bloody crimes : the chase for Jefferson Davis and the death pageant for Lincoln’s corpse / James L. Swanson.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Davis, Jefferson, 1808–1889—Captivity, 1865–1867. 2. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809–1865—Death and burial. 3. Fugitives from justice—United States—Case studies. 4. Political prisoners—United States—Case studies. 5. United States—History—Civil War, 1861–1865—Prisoners and prisons. I. Title.

E477.98.S93 2010

973.7’7092—dc22

2010029404

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