Flight of the Assassin, Part 2

Rear door into the alley behind the Ford Theatre

Rushing across the stage, Booth advanced knife in hand toward Henry Hawk, the only actor on stage, who turned and fled through the center door and up a stairs.

Hurrying past the star, Laura Keene, Booth headed down the narrow hallway to the rear door, as William Withers, Jr., the orchestra leader inadvertently got in his way. Booth slashed at him twice with the knife, cutting his clothes and knocking him to the ground.

John Wilkes Booth came out the door here, under the light at the rear of the Ford Theater. He limped over to his horse, held for him by 17-year-old stagehand John "Peanuts" Burroughs, at roughly the same time of night as this picture. He mounted the horse, knocked "Peanuts" to the ground with a quick strike to the face with the butt of his knife, and turned his horse, riding rapidly away.

This exhibit in the Ford Museum shows the knife John Wilkes Booth used, as well as the door to the Presidential Box, the stick (at bottom, leaning) he used to wedge the door, and the coat (right, partially visible) that Lincoln wore that night.

Detail showing the knife Booth used to commit a number of assaults during his escape from the Ford Theatre.

Panoramic view of the rear of Ford's Theatre, left , and the alley, right, leading to F Street.

Booth rode from the rear of Ford theater, and turned to his left, dashing up the alley to F Street, where he turned right and rode south east on F street.

Herndon House, on the left.

Booth emerged onto F Street, shown here, through the alley past the second tall building, on the left, and rode toward you in this picture. The large building on the corner at the left is Herndon House, where the conspirator's met to plan the assassinations of Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward. The final meeting had been only a few hours before.

F Street, and the former site of Herndon House

Herndon House is gone now, but the building across from it on the right still remains. I couldn't exactly match the location of the archive picture, which I think was taken from inside a building, although the road climbs steeply here. I climbed up on some construction stuff and held the camera high overhead to get this much angle over the street renovations going on there at the moment.

The Surratt Boarding House.

A couple of streets to the right of this location is the Surratt boarding house. Originally believed to have been the place the conspiracy was hatched, it is now believed that while Booth did visit here on occasion, the assassination planning did not take place here.

The Surratt boarding house as it appears today. It's a fine dining Oriental restaurant known as the "Wok 'n Roll ."

So far, Booth's escape has lasted only a few minutes, and while it hasn't all gone to plan, it's been close enough, and quite successful. As he crosses DC, headed for the Navy Yard Bridge, where he will link up with the other conspirators at a prearranged place on the other side, he hits the first snag in the plan.

The Navy Yard Bridge. Booth would have ridden toward you out of Washington, and turned to his right, south, after crossing.

He is challenged and stopped by a sentry at the bridge, who tells him that no one is allowed to cross after 9:00 p.m. Booth relies on charm to get him across - he can't afford to be stopped here, still inside the city of Washington. Perhaps hoping to use his celebrity to get across, he gives the guard his real name, John Wilkes Booth.

The sentry, not a theatre going man or a love smitten socialite, has never heard of him. But he notes Booths aristocratic bearing and style, as well as speech, and realizes that this is probably not the sort of miscreant that he is supposed to keep from crossing the bridge at night, and lets him pass.

Booth makes a second mistake when the sentry asks him where he is going, and Booth replies "Beantown." Booth was indeed going to pass through or very close to Beantown, and while that was an obvious route any pursuers could easily guess for themselves, it was not something to be passing around. You will note, though, that Booth had trouble all along his escape route with his need for attention, and telling just a bit too much information to people along the way

But for now, Booth had escaped. He rode free to the meeting place, and awaited the arrival of his co-conspirators so they could head south, to Virginia and the Deep South, to hide from vengeance.

Posted by Indiana Reb on: Sunday 1st October 2006, 2:58 PM