Lincoln's Avengers: Justice, Revenge, and Reunion after the Civil War

by Elizabeth D. Leonard Ph.D.

Overview

Did the federal government mete out justice or revenge in response to Lincoln's assassination?

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was murdered by John Wilkes Booth, and Secretary of State William H. Seward was brutally stabbed. Clearly a conspiracy was afoot. Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt was put in charge of the investigation and trial. He first set out to punish all of Booth's accomplices and then wanted to go after Jefferson Davis, whom he felt had instigated the assassination—despite stern opposition, not least of all from Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson. Elizabeth D. Leonard tells for the first time the full story of the two assassination trials. She explores the questions that made these trials pivotal in American history: Were they to be used to make the South pay for secession? Were they to be fair trials based on the evidence? Or were they to be points of reconciliation, with the South forgiven at all costs to create a solid union?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393326772
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/17/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Elizabeth D. Leonard is the John J. and Cornelia V. Gibson Professor of History at Colby College. The author of several books, including Yankee Women, All the Daring of a Soldier, Lincoln’s Avengers, and Men of Color to Arms!, she lives in Waterville, Maine.

Table of Contents

	Preface	XI
	Acknowledgments	XV
1	"That Fearful Night" The Assassination and the Making of an Avenger	3
2	"A Vindictive Clique of Villains" The Pursuit and Capture of the Suspects	33
3	"A Disposition to Preserve Law and Order" Joseph Holt and the First Trial of the Assassins	67
4	"A Stupendous Retribution" Conviction and Punishment of Eight Co-Conspirators	103
5	"In Violation of the Laws and Customs of War" Going After Henry Wirz of Andersonville	137
6	"Forbearance and Forgiveness" Andrew Johnson's Vision for Southern Restoration	165
7	"Traitors, Confessed Perjurers and Suborners" The Unraveling of Revenge	193
8	"A Well-Dressed and Very Presentable Young Man" The Trial of John Surratt Jr.	229
9	"The Wicked Man Now Acting as President" The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Collapse of Holt's Agenda	265
	Epilogue	291
	Notes	305
	Index	357