The assassination of Abraham Lincoln : flight, pursuit, capture, and punishment of the conspirators . that God Almighty have mercy upon this man. Thetwo holy fathers having received Mrs. Surratts confes-sion, after the custom of their creed, observed this, as in other respects, Mrs. Surratts last hourswere entirely modest and womanly. The stage was stillfilled with people; the crisis of the occasion had come;the chairs were all withdrawn, and the condemned stoodupon their feet, and the process of tying the limbs began. It was with a shudder, almost a blush, that I sawan officer gath
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln : flight, pursuit, capture, and punishment of the conspirators . that God Almighty have mercy upon this man. Thetwo holy fathers having received Mrs. Surratts confes-sion, after the custom of their creed, observed this, as in other respects, Mrs. Surratts last hourswere entirely modest and womanly. The stage was stillfilled with people; the crisis of the occasion had come;the chairs were all withdrawn, and the condemned stoodupon their feet, and the process of tying the limbs began. It was with a shudder, almost a blush, that I sawan officer gather the ropes tightly three times about therobes of Mrs. Surratt, and bind her ankles with half fainted, and sank backward upon the attendants,her limbs yielding to the extremity of her terror, bututtering no cry. Payne, with his feet firmly laced to-gether, stood straight as one of the scaffold beams, andbraced himself up so stoutly that this in part prevented THE EXECUTION. 205 the breaking of his neck. Heroic! stood well beneaththe drop, still whimpering at the lips. Atzerodt, in his. VIEW OF THE SCAFFOLD AFTER THE TRAI WAS SPRUNG. Captain C. Roth, the executioner, is still living, and says: I receivedorders from General John F. Hartranft to execute i\Irs. Surratt, Payne,Herold, and Atzerodt The orders were that the execution should takeplace at one o clock, July 7, or as soon thereafter as circumstances wouldpermit. It did not come of? as early as was expected, from the fact thatGeneral Hancock, whose presence was necessary, failed to appear. It wasstated that Mrs. Surratts counsel undertook to stop the execution by havingHancock arrested. I saw the gallows built and secured the rope, which wasa three-ply Boston hemp, from the Navy Yard. I made the nooses andplaced them on the beam, saw them adjusted on the victims, then steppedaside and gave the signal to the men underneath the gallows to spring thetraps. A short time afterward the bodies were taken down and burie
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidassassinatio, bookyear1901
