The Century illustrated monthly magazine . or bad faith. It was hisnature to find excuses for his adversaries. In hisdeath the nation lost its greatest hero; in his deaththe South lost its most just friend. PURSUIT AND DEATH OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH. [John Wilkes Booth was my schoolmate in Maryland, many years ago; and by a strangecoincidence three of my particular friends were concerned, in one way or another, with hispursuit and death. Two of them were Confederate officers—Major M. B. Ruggles, son ofGeneral Daniel Ruggles of the old army, and Lieutenant A. R. Bainbridge, both of whom,with Captai
The Century illustrated monthly magazine . or bad faith. It was hisnature to find excuses for his adversaries. In hisdeath the nation lost its greatest hero; in his deaththe South lost its most just friend. PURSUIT AND DEATH OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH. [John Wilkes Booth was my schoolmate in Maryland, many years ago; and by a strangecoincidence three of my particular friends were concerned, in one way or another, with hispursuit and death. Two of them were Confederate officers—Major M. B. Ruggles, son ofGeneral Daniel Ruggles of the old army, and Lieutenant A. R. Bainbridge, both of whom,with Captain Jett, also of Mosbys command, met Booth and Herold in their flight and aidedthem to cross the Rappahannock. The other friend is Captain E. P. Doherty, who com-manded the detachment of the i6th New York Cavalry that captured the fugitives. Fromthe lips of all three I have heard accounts of the incidents that they witnessed, and thenarratives that follow are given in the words of Major Ruggles and Captain Doherty.^—Prentiss Ingraham.]. MAJOR RUGGLESS NARRATIVE. T the close of the civil warColonel Mosby, to whosecommand I belonged, sur-rendered to General Han-cock, at Millwood, Vir-ginia. In company withtwo comrades, A. R. Bain-bridge, now in business inNew York, and William Jett, now dead, Istarted for my home in King George County,Virginia. We had heard from United Statesofficers of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln,and that the assassin had been captured inWashington, and little dreamed, when we rodeup to the bank of the Rappahannock River,that we were there to come face to face withJohn Wilkes Booth. Port Conway is on the King George sideof the river, there about three hundred yardswide, and opposite Port Royal. The ferry wasowned by a man named Rollins, but the scowwas run — that is, poled across—by PeytonWashington, a negro. The scow was on the 1 The proofs of this article have been read and cor-rected (Nov., 1889) by Colonel Ingraham, Major Rug-gles, Lieutenant Bai
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