George Atzerodt
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George Andrew Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7th, 1865) was a former carriage repair businessman, and one of the co-conspirators of John Wilkes Booth for planning to kill President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of State William Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson on April 14th, 1865.
As part of Booth's henchmen, Atzerodt was a constitutional coward as he only wanted to go capture plot, but not to murder.
Early life edit
George Atzerodt was born in Dörna in the Prussian Province of Saxony, today part of Anrode, Thuringia, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1843 at the age of eight. As an adult, he opened his own carriage repair business in Port Tobacco, Maryland.
Despite having lived in the United States for most of his life, Atzerodt could not speak English fluently.
Involvement in conspiracy edit
Atzerodt was one of Booth's henchmen in the failed attempts to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for Confederate prisoners, along with Booth's childhood friends, Michael O Laughlin and Samuel Arnold.
According to the prosecution, Booth assigned Atzerodt to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson on April 14, 1865.
On that morning, Atzerodt booked room 126 at the Kirkwood House in Washington, where Johnson was staying. But at 10:15 P,M., the same time that Booth shoot Lincoln at Ford's Theater and Lewis Powell nearly attacking Secretary of State William Seward at his mansion, Atzerodt could not muster the courage to kill Johnson. Instead, he began drinking at the hotel bar. He got drunk and spent the night walking the streets of Washington. He dropped his knife in a nearby gutter, and a sharp-eyed woman saw this and reported it to the police immediately.
During his stay at the hotel, Atzerodt had asked the bartender about Johnson's whereabouts. That aroused suspicion the next day after Lincoln was assassinated. An employee of the hotel contacted the police regarding a "suspicious looking man in a gray coat."
The military police then conducted a search of Atzerodt's room on April 15 and found that he had not slept in it the night before. Additionally, he had a loaded revolver concealed under his pillow as well as a concealed Bowie knife. The police also found a bank book belonging to Booth in the room. Atzerodt was arrested on April 20. He was apprehended at the house of his cousin, Hartman Richter, in Germantown, Maryland.
Arrest and trial edit
Next week, Lincoln's photographer, Alexander Gardner takes some photos of George Atzerodt and the conspirators, as well as the autopsy photo of their leader, John Wilkes Booth, who was killed by Boston Corbett before being tried.
Next month, Atzerodt and 7 remaining henchmen were put on trial on May 10, where they were accused for being part of the conspiracy for trying to throw the reunited states into disaster. The trial last about one month until June 30th, that all of the defendants are found guilty.
Four other conspirators were sentenced to be transferred to Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas; Dr Samuel Mudd (the doctor who set Booth's leg on the night of the murder), Ned Spangler (employee at Ford's Theater), and two of Booth's childhood friends Mike O'Laughlin and Sammy Arnold.
And as for the other four; Atzerodt, Powell, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, were all sentenced to be executed by hanging.
Execution edit
| “ | May we all meet in the other world. God take me now. | „ |
| ~ One of his last words before getting executed by hanging |
On July 7th, 1865. George was sentenced to death by hanging, along with the other henchmen by the order of new president Andrew Johnson, including Lewis Powell, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, who became the first and only woman hanged by the government.