Baker, and Everton J. Conger plan the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth. Identification and Autopsy of John Wilkes Booth: Reexamining the Evidence Leonard F. GUllrKl1;C' I \ S enator Carrel Dav;s, KYo' / how' "ew." see" myselfuny i!>juclUry t'videllct' 'hat BOOIII I\'US kiIIe". Senalor Reverdy Johnson, AID: I submit 10 my friend from KellllU'ky ,hOf 'here ort! somt' things ,hat \1'(" must take judicial/lOri/-> of JUSt as In,1I as 'hat Julim Caesar is dead. Senator Davis: I ..uuld rather haw' !Huer It's/imunJ' of III" faCl. I wOn! it provt!d 11101 8001h wus ill Ihat hum. I January-February 1993 Cotl1lot ("ol/t"eil't'. ifhe WO.f ill the baril_ why he lI'as lIot laken ali"t-, I /tavt- never $('('" or Jill' ,'vid('IIU' of tllI)'body, /lWI idf'flfijied Boolh af'N he i.f said 10 1101'(' h,'nl killed. Why.m much SNTl'I'J' oholl/ ii,' ... 77'l'rt' a mystery ami a mO!>i inexp/ic'able mys- tery 10 III)' mimi abow the whole af- fair. ... [Booth) multi hal'e bel''' ('optured jtdl as Irl'lI ali\'(' us deat!. It would harl' hl'l'" "'m'h mort' .wlisfac- tory 10 hOI'e brol/xht him lip hNl' aliv(' ant! to hOl'e intjllirt't! of him 10 r('\'('al til(' whol(' trall.mcrion . . ,[or] bring his hU((I' tip herC' ... leI all who hat! .w'ell /tim IJlaying. all who llHOf'i(l/C'(/ wilh him Oil Ihl' SIU!:l' ur ill Ihc' grt'en ruom or al Ihl' IOI'l'flU' alit! OII/('r public place.\, hal'(.' hod access 10 his bod)' 10 hOI'(' idelllijil'(/ it, Senoror Henry B. Anthony, RI: I am happy 10 r('liel'(' m)' frielld from Kl'muC"ky by i"formillg him thai a small part oflhl' skelelon of 800lh is in 17 125,000 REWARD Will 1M .,..w lbr u.. appr,t d <JI JOIllf a .UUA.TT. 0.. 01 8oa4.b.. ",_,u-. 125,000 REWARD Of our late beloved Abraham Lincoln, II IftLL At LUCE. $50,000 REWARD ww. ="" __ =- ok w."fOPMh.... 1. ....... 110 ...7 .............. .1Uliaipal In--.. 11_ 'NAVY MEOICINE ,he ul/a/omicol IIIl1seum of the Sur- geon General. ... I do flOl kilO\\' holl' it is idelltijied. hili il is ((,rtiJied 10 be that.(lj Thousands o'''wanled'' poster. bearing John Wilke. Booth', liken... were In circulation within days of President Un- coin', murder. Get Booth On the afternoon of Monday. 24 April 1865. 10 days after John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln. a Union army lieutenant. Edward P. Doherty. reported to lafayellc Bak- er's headquarters on Pennsylvania A"cnue in Washington. DC. SO did two men in whom Baker. the War Department's chief detective. placed principal confidence: his cousin. Luther B. Baker, and E"erton J. Conger. Both had been Baker's close aides in a locally active military unit which. under his command. had con- ducted limited field operations earlier in the Civil War. They were now pri- vate cilizens. Lafayette Baker reas- signed them as wspecial detc<'tivcs w carrying Iheir former military rank and ordered them into Virginia to scour Ihe country and wgel LT DoherlY commanded the 16th New York Cavalry detachment as- signed to Ihe mission as an escort. An officer with combat experience. he did nOI relish subordinatinj,t himself to Baker's confidential agents. And wilh this simmering dispute over seniority. Ihe party boarded the federal steam- tug. 101m S, Ide al Ihe Sixlh Slreet wharf and cast off at sundown. They Ihe Potomac River. disembarked at Belle Plain midnight. and crossed funnel-shaped King George County at its narrow westerly side. the neck between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers. The two detectives separated from the main column and rode house to house. arousing inhabitants from sleep with shouted questions, Conger for no clearly stated reason passing himself off as from Maryland. (1) ,. Thl' I, how Harper. Weekly portrayed Booth', final .tand In Garrett', bam. rushed into the barn exelaiming that the man had shot himself. Baker thought Conger had fired the bullet but Hthe idea flashed through my mind that if he had it had better not be known."(4) They took the man's weapons. a Spencer carbine and two pistols. car- ried him first tothe foot ofa locust trcc and then. as fire enveloped the barn. the Garrett's front porch. where he was placed with a mattress beneath his head. One of Doherty's soldiers rushed to Port Royal for a doctor. whose name, Charles Urquhart. would even- tually surface-but not so any record of his strange house call, nor a dealh certificate: nothing at all for posterity beyond the impression that after ex- amining the mortally wounded man. the doctor merely closed his bag and rode off into the predawn gloom. never to be heard from. The man survived the shooting about J hours. White he still breathed, Conger emptied his pockets. the con- tents of which included a liule book in which the Garrells had seen "Mr. Boyd" writing.(5) Conger set out at once with these items for Washington. Accompanying him as far as the steamboat landing at v lafayette C. Baker, the War Depart- ment', chJef detective , I
Garrett's Barn Doheny's troops struck the Rappa- hannock at da..... n and by afternoon were at a fisherman's cottage near the ferry where they displayed photos of John Wilkes Booth. Doheny pressed the fisherman. William Rollins, into servicc as a guide. By nightfall that Tuesday, all his 25 soldiers and the 2 detectives had crossed the river into Caroline County. Acting upon infor- mation from Rollins (or his wife). they rode into Bowling Green and at the Star Hotel hauled a young ex-Con- federate army private named William Jett from his bed at gunpoint. And with Jett now their guide, the cavalry galloped back up the rutted highway to the farm of R'ichard H. Garretl. Two men were sheltered there. One .....as a Washington youth named David E. Herold. The other was older. had a bandaged leg. and supported himself on crutches. He had presented himself to the Garretts as a wounded Confed- erate officer: one of his forearms bore the tattooed letters JWB. and he had given his name as James W. Boyd. After forcing the Garretts to reveal that the pair slept within their large lobacco barn. the troops surrounded it. Luther Baker shouting for the men inside to surrender. The lame man. called Boyd. demanded 10 know why he should do so and asked repeatedly who was besieging him. There followed through the locked barn door a verbal give-and-take dur- ing which no names were ever volun- teered. Herold chose to give himselfup and the door was unlocked for him to come out. As the soldiers seized the young man and tied him to a tree. he maintained that his companion in the barn Htold me his name was Boyd. H(3) Over LT Doherty's objections. detec- tive Conger moved to the rear of the barn and set it afire. Between the barn's gaping side timbers its sole occupant could be seen, a stumbling silhouette against the gathering blaze until a shot rang out and he fell. The bullet had passed through his neck.. shattering vertebrae and severing the spinal cord. Luther Baker reached him first. then Conger January-February 1993 19 An lIIustrallon from Lafayet1e Baker'. memoir portray. the aa.sln'. la.t moments. did not act as severely as I should have done with Mr. Baker."(8) Shortly before II p.m. the party with the body arrived off Alexandria where Lafayette Baker took charge of it. There ensued an unexplained delay of at least 3 hours before it was trans- ferred to a tug and borne across the Potomac to the Washington Navy Yard. What followed is described in a testy letter written by LCDR Edward E. Stone. commanding officer of the ironclad monitor USS Montauk. laid up in the yard for battle repairs. Stone had been ashore at the time but learned from his officers that: Belle Plain was SGT Boston CorbCll. a former hatter and religious mystic who had rechristcned himself after the city in which he claimed to have been born agam. Upon arrival in the Capital. Conger officially rcportcd that Presi- dent Lincoln's killer had been tracked down. cornered. and shot while trying to escape. and that SGT Corbel! had pulled the trigger. Conflict and Myth The foregoing paragraphs recount all that can reliably serve to convey what occurred at Richard Garrett's farm on that April night nearly 128 years ago. Impartial study shows that much else told and retold ever since purporting to detail the capture and demise of John Wilkes Booth is so riddled with connict and myth as to be necessarily viewed with caution. if not dismissed outright. This is significantly the case respect- ing the captive's alleged last words. The detectives Conger and Baker testi- fied that at different moments he mut teredo "Tell Mother I died for my country." "I did what I thought was for the best," "Kill me. oh. kill me." NDid Jett betray me?" "My hands," and finally. NUseless. useless. NLT Doher- ty's report to his superiors contains no reference to any dying utterances and 20 years later he publicly denied that 20 any were made with the exception of "Useless. useless. N(6) On this point. the last word might be granled the Sur- geon General of the Army who con- ducted an autopsy on the body from Garrett's farm: "Immediately after the reception of the injury. there was very general paralysis ... deglutition [swal- lowing] was impracticable and one or two attempts at articulation were unintelligi ble. "( 7) If such differences in testimony are traceable to rivalry for reward money, this possibility alone justifies circum spection. At any rate. not even the record of the body's 18mile journey from the Rappahannock crossing to the Belle Plain landing is without its bizarre aspects. Luther Baker and a two-man military guard had charge of it and once across the river at Port Royal. the detective pushed on ahead of the troops. much to Doherty's con- sternation. As the lieutenant after- wards stated. "under some pretense or other [Baker] managed 10 send the guard back to me with some frivolous message and stole away with the body." And when Doherty reached Belle Plain, the corpse was nowhere in sight. After it had belatedly appeared. to be placed aboard t he waiting steamer. Baker blamed his ex-slave wagon driver for taking the wrong road. Said Doherty in later years. "I a lug came alongside. on board of which "'as Colonel Baker. lhe detective, with a dead body. said 10 be lhat of J.W. Booth. the assassin. Said body was passed on board Wilh the implied ullderstanding that it had been put on board for safekeeping. No orders whalever were left wilh lhe officer of the guard or the commanding offi- cer . concerning it. nor was any wriuen aUlhority for so disposing of il shown to any officer of the vessel. It was a most informal and unmilitary proceeding. which should Ilave been nipped in lhe llud,(9) Following anxious word from the commandant of the Navy Yard that the body was "changing rapidly. What disposition shall be made of it? "(10) the Secretaries of War and Navy con- ferred before breakfast then sent a reply across town: You will permit Surgeon General IJames and Ilis assistant. accompanied by Judge Advocate Genl Holt. Hon Jolin A. Bingham. Special Judge Advocate. Major Eckert. Wm G. Moore. clerk of the War Department. Col. L.c. Baker. Lieut. Baker. Lieut. Col. Conger. ehas Dawson. J.L. Smilh, Gardiner [sic) (phOlographer) as- sistant. to go on board the Monlauk. alld sec the body of John Wilkes Booth. Immedialely after the Surgeon General has made his autopsy. you will have the body plact:d in a strong box. and deliver it to lhe charge of Col. Baker-the box being carefullysealed.(l/) John A, Bingham. a rormer congressman from Ohio. laler served as the only civilian on the commission lhaluied lhe alleged Lincoln assas sination conspirators. NAVY MEDICINE All but 3 of the 13 cited in the above order were connected with the War Departmenl. The exceptions were the photographers Alexander Gardner and his assistant Timothy OSullivan. and Dawson. the latter a clerk at the National Hotel where the assassin had frequently stayed. The wording of the order reflects an official presupposi- tion that the body was indeed Booth's, If the nation (and posterity) wanted more convincing identification. the proceedings aboard the floating iron- clad during the next few hours would have to suffice. A Parade of Witnesses The weather that Thursday fore- noon was warm for April. the Mon- tQuk's armorplate hot to the touch. The body from Garrett's farm lay on a bench alongside the rotatable gun turret. an awning mercifully shielding it from the sun's rays. Shortly before noon. Joseph K. Barnes. Surgeon General of the Army. had come on board -and without informing any officers who he was. or seeming to pay the slightest respect to Military eti- quette ... walks up to the corpse and commences to cut adrift the wrap- pings.-U,l) Testimony was taken. but not from LT Doherty. First thing that morning. Lafayette Baker had prom- ised him career advancement and reward money. But since -publicity might frustrate plans.- Doherty was ordered to -go to your barracks and keep your mouth shut.-(/J) Also -dis- posed of. It cannot be found. accord- ing to Luther Baker. was sworn statement'" he made before Joseph G. Holt. Judge Advocate General of the Army. "before I gave up the body. I was the first to give evidence,"'(4) In the pilot room over the turret. Holt and Bingham. the -SpecialJudge Advocate." took depositions and hur- ried through an abridged set of ques- tions. The hotel clerk Dawson. the only private citizen other than the photographers authorized to -see the body of John WjJhs claimed to have been as intimate [with the actor) as I would be with any guest in the hotel. I distinctly recognize [the body as Booth's)-first from the gen eral appearance. next from the India ink letters J. W.B. on his wrisl.- Which wrist? -rhe left."(l5) (Booth's initials were on his right arm. according to a letter the War Department had just received from the Army's provost marshal general at Baltimore.) For reasons not officially explained. decisions were made to secure addi- tional "'witnesses,- Conveniently at hand. the captain's clerk on Momou/.:. claimed to have known Booth person- ally six weeks, .. and recog- nized [I he body) when it was brought on board, ., from the general appear- ance."(/6) The Momouk's acting-master. Wil- liam W. Crowninshield. had also -known 6 weeks. "was intro- duced to him on two different Qcca- sions. He was about five feet ninc and threequarter inches high." To this oddly meticulous estimate. Crownin- shield added that he idemified the USS Monr.uk (left) at the Phllad"phla Navy Yard about 1902. The Doctors (lett to right): Samuel Mudd set Booth's broken leg, Joseph K. Barnes directed the autopsy on Mon- tauk, ..slsted by Joseph J. Woodward. John Frederk:k May's contradIctory tes- timony lett several questions unan- swered. body "from my knowledge of its gen- eral appearance."CIl) A Washington lawyer related to Man/auk's marine captain had "met [BOOlh] one evening at a 'hop' at the National Hotel" and recognized the cada\'er as Booth's from its appearance ... I do not think I can be mistaken. "(/8) Though readily approachable In the city of Washington. no stage acquaint- ances of John Wilkes Booth viewed the body. No personal friends or rela- ti\'cs of the actor were summoned to identify him. Some of Booth's co- conspirators in an alleged assassina- tion plot were actually on Momauk. shackled within the windlass room and the sail room. but they stayed there. Almost as if to explain why no cate- gorical evidence was sought. it would be reported that "the shaving off the mustache. the outcropping of the beard. the untidy and disordered ap- pearance of the body. had so changed the assassin's look that his stage and street acquaintances would hardly have recognized the corpse as that of John Wilkes At the same time. newspapers reported that the War Department was in possession of Booth's diary. but 2 years would P:ISS before there was any official an- nouncement to this effect. That Booth had indeed shaved off his mustache was reliably reported to the War Department. also that he had fractured a bone in his leflleg, Records do not show who, if any, of the nesses" on Montauk were aware of those reporlS. Booth had rid himself of the mustache on 15 April at the hQme of the Maryland physician. Samuel Mudd. who set his fractured limb. In Virginia. one of Richard Garrell'S daughters would remember that their visitor, Boyd," wore a mus- tache.(lO) After Alexander Gardner 22 photographed the body aboard Mon- tauk. his assistant. Timothy O'Sulli- van. carried the plate to their studio accompanied by a government detec- tive under orders to take possession of both plate and print once it was devel- oped. He was then to deliver these items to the Secretary of War or Lafayette Baker. 11] even went into the dark room. the detective remem- bered. He had not seen the body on MOIllQuk itself. but on his way to the War Department he peeked into the envelope containing the picture. looked just like the pictures attached to the [reward] postcrsexccptthat the hair was longer on the sides, the mus- tache was shaggy and dirty.... Ithink it was Booth... ."(lJ) Everton Conger was asked if "the body on board this boat. which has been recognized by other witnesses as that of John Wilkes Booth. is the man killed by you?"Conger replied yes, and as for recognizing him at Garrett's farm. he did so "from his resemblance to his brother. I had often seen his brother. Edwin Booth. play in the theater." On the same point. Luther Baker testified that he had turned the fallen man over. at his face. Bolh photogr.llphic and 1M slngk prim disaPlX'arro. and saw it was Booth's.judging by the likeness I had. "(21) As ifto enhance the credibility oft he proceedings aboard Montauk. yet one more witness was required. Lafayelle C. Baker, as head of Secretary of War Ed ..... in M. Stanton's detective corps. had already acquired the wanime rep- utation of a scheming bully upon whose sayso innumerable citizens. innocent and guilty alike. were locked up in the Old Capitol Prison. When Baker came calling in person on Dr. John Frederick May to identify the remains on Montauk, deemed it most prudent to obey. But when he stood by the crude bier and the tarpaulin cover was removed. May at once turned to Surgeon General Barnes and said, "There is no resem- blance in that corpse 10 Booth. nor can I believe it to be him. "(24) WaShington-born and eminent in the fields of medicine and surgery. May was middle-aged and married with six children. Thai he was believed to have once removed a tumor from Booth's neck was the stated reason for his appearance on the monitor. After his initial astonishment. he asked if the body had a scar on the back ofits neck and Barnes said it had. Presumably. it would not be a neat scar, as Booth had reopened the wound during a subse- quent stage performance. More likely. it would now resemble "a large. ugly looking scar instead of a neat line. [Barnes] said it corresponded exactly NAVY MEDICINE with my description, Docs [May) recognize the body as Booth's'! do , .. though it is very much altered. It looks to me older ... more fn.. -ckled. I do not recollect that he was at all The doctor could not be mistaken? the scar [and) the featurcs. which though much changed and altered. still have the same appear- ance. I think I cannOi be mistaken. I recogni7e the likeness. I have no doubt. ... Autops)' Joseph K. Barnes was a Harvard- schooled doctor on close tcrms with Secretary of War Stanton. to whom he owed his status in the sphere of mil- itary medicine, Two weeks before. Barnes had been one of a half d07.en physicians engaged in the postmortem examination of the slain President. Now he would conduct an autopsy on the body just identified as the assassin. Barnes was assisted by Joseph J. Woodward. a brilliant young re- searcher in phOiomicrography at the recently established Army Medical Museum. then located two blocks east of the White House. Afterwards. Woodward wrapped in brown paper the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord showing the track of the bullet, These he carried to the Museum where in due course they were mounted and cata logued. Surgeon General Barnes meanwhile wrote to Stanton that the cause of death was gunshot wound in the neck-the ball entering just January-February 1993 RlOCOfa. o! IIIe Columt>le Hi..oriuI Vol2V:Kl. P.n J. lta behind the sterno-cleido muscle 2!h inches above the clavicle. passing through the bony bridge of the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae-severing the spinal cord and passing out through the body of the sterno-cleido of the right side. 3 inches above the clavicle. Paralysis of the entire body was immediate."(27) Barnes referred to a nshot wound." nil> CalQlogup of /hp Surgi- cal Sec/ion of Ihe Uniled S,a/es Army Medical Museum. published under his direction in 1866. describes the wound as caused by: a conoidal carbine bullet [lhat) en!ered the righl side, cOmminuling the base of the right lamina oflhe fourlh fracturing 'tlongi ludinally and separaling il from the spinous process. at the same time fracturing the fifth lhrough ils pt'diclt and lhal IranS-'erst process. The missile passed directl), through lhe canal "..ilh a right irn:lination down\\'ard and 10 lhe rear, emerging through the left bastS of the founh and fifth laminae. which arc com- minuted, and from which fragments were em- bedded In the muscles of the ned.. The bulltl in its course a"oided the large cen Ita] "cutls.I.?B) Without mentioning names. the catalogue numbers the specimens of venebrae and spinal cord--From a case where death occurred a few hours after injury. 26th April -as 4086 and 4087. The year 1875 saw publica- tion of The Medical olld Surgical His- lOry of the IVor of tht' Rebellio" (/861-65). also under Dr. Barnes' direction. The cases reported here are generally identified each by the name of thc soldier victim. but in a section headed -Wounds and Injuries of the appears: "CASE-J.W.B.- was killed on April 26th 1865. by a conoidal pistol ball. fired at the dis- tance of a few yards from a cavalry The details that follow conform with the catalogue entry and go on 10 stale the impracticability of deglutition on the part of the victim and the unintelligibility of his or two attempts at At the National Museum of Health and Medicine (today part of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology). the original card allached to Specimen 4086 quotes the catalogue text. but shows word erasure and substitution done in 1931 to make it read ball. thus corresponding to the lext in Surgit'of lIislor)'. The corpse had a proclivity for dis- appearing acts. LT Doherty had lost it on the trail back from Garreu's farm, The macabre sleight of hand was repealed at the Washington Navy Yard whose commandant. John B. Montgomery. a veteran of the War of 1812. made known his ire and baffle- ment. "The removal of the body [from Mati/auk] was entirely without my knowledge suddenly and unexpect- edly removed , This unusual trans- action depriVed me of opportunity for enclosing the body in a box ... as ordered.-U/) LeDR StOIlC (shortly thereafter to be replaced as MOfl/(Juk's captain by his acting-master. one of the identifi- ers) angrily likened the body's depar- ture to its furtive arrival. "I'm sorry to say that I was not present at eithcr time or I should have put a stop to il. The Disposition Under Lafayeue Baker's supervi- sion. the body was taken in a boat to the grounds of Washington's old peni tentiary. in wartime use. an arsenal. Partly shrouded in a gunny sack. it lay awhile in a small summer house upon a jetty. An inquisitive passerby glimpsed its face and it [as Booth's] from posters and Its next stop was in one of the old cells. then serving as an ordnance store- room. where it was quickly interred. 23 Nal'''''''1 Museum cl Heal'" and Me<licine...... IP A lucite rod traces the path of the bullet that killed the man in Garrett's barn (posterior and anterior [opposite page] views). It may be noted that Surgeon General Barnes' contradictory descriptions 01 the wound, neither 01 whk:h are wholly sup- ported by the anatomIcal specImens, cast further doubt on the reliability of the identification and autopsy. Two years later. during structural ren- ovation. the remains were transferred to anolher part of the facility. That same year the War Department made public the diary entries Booth had written while a fugitive. Conger testi- fying that the booklet containing them was laken off Ihe man killed at Gar- rett's farm.(34) Many of its pages had clearly been cut away. Conger. Stan- ton. and Thomas T. Eckert. his close aide and chief of the military tele- graph. all stated that the booklet was in the same mutilated condition when they had first seen it.(J5) Lafayelle Baker. by that time no longer in government service. testified to the contrary.(J6) Early in 1869. after Stanton's depar- ture from the War Department and in belated response to requests from Edwin Booth. the remains were taken up yet again and removed to a Balti- more undertaker for transfer to the Booth family. There was more talk of identification. and this time to be con- firmed bytocation of a plugged looth in the skull.(37) Joseph. youngest of 24 the Booth brothers. supervised the proceedings. Edwin was not present. Eyewitness recollections. most pub- lished decades later. contained refer- ences to physical features but at the timc it was locally reported that flesh [has] disappeared. leaving nothing but a mass of blackened bones. "(38) Dr. Mudd. when under arrest for alleged complicity in Lincoln's murder. had dcscribed Booth's leg injury as "a straight fracture of the tibia about two inches above the ankle. There was nothing resembling a com- pound In his leiter to Secretary Stanton after the autopsy on MOII/llUk, the Army Surgeon General had stated that left leg and foot wcrc encased in an appliance of splints and bandages. upon the removal of which. a fracture of the fibula (small bone of the leg) 3 inchcs above the ankle joint, accompanied by consider- able ecchymosis. was discovered. "(40) In MOflfQuk's pilothouse that sultry April Thursday no questions had been asked about the leg. However, shortly before hisdealh in 1891 Dr. Maycom- posed a mcmoir in which he attributcd his identification of the body to mark ... unmistakably found by mc upon it. Ncver in a human had a grcater change taken place ... every vestige of resemblance to the living man had disappeared. But the mark of the scalpel during life remaincd indeli- ble in death" scttling once and for all "the identity of the man who had assas- sinatcd the Prcsident." And the leg? "The right limb was greatly contused. and perfectly black from a fracture of onc of the long bones...."(4/) An old man's memory playing him false? This was suggcstcd more than 30 years later and drew it response from May's son. also a doctor. His fathcr's statements were unfailingly reliable. If he said that thc right leg was bruised and discolorcd. "that would undoubt- edly mean that it was the right leg that was brokcn."(41) Leiters that rencctcd puzzlcd or sus- picious minds reached the desk of thc Judge Advocate General of the Army. They had comc 10 the right place. In NAVY MEDICINE MU"'l\lm (>1 H.-I", aM MlICl,c,"e. AfIP All by MO_ Ja<:l<oon. NSHS his memoir Dr. May refers to "'a com- mission of high functionaries of the government formed to obtain evidence as to [ Booth's] idenl ificat ion. "'( 43) The "'commission" was Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt and his assistant Bingham. and the statements they took on MOl1tauk were '.ppropri- ately filed in the Judge Advocate Gen- eral's office. as was documentation detailing the search for Booth and the capture at the Garrett farm. The record oflhe manhunl and oflhe ritual on MOil/Gill. was from the beginning, and would remain. part of the archives of that office. One of the inquiring leiters. in 1912, asked "what became of John Wilkes Booth and whether there is positive proof of his having been shot to death?"'(44) The Judge Advo- cate General replied that "This office has no official information concerning the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth."(45) And when, 3 years later, the secretary of the Washington. DC. based Columbia Historical Society sought the names of the "high tionaries" mentioned by May, the response. from the same Judge Advo- calc GeneraL was that "'this office has no offici.. ; reports or information con- cerning the capture and killing of Booth, nor as to what means. if any, were taken to identify the body of the January-February 1993 man broughl to the Navy Yard at Washington as that of the ass as- sin."'(46) Rererences I. CO"xrf5Sir>l!ul (ilo/>(-. 28 July 1866. p 4292. 2. Baker lC. //i.'wry of 111/' UII;//'d SIUI"5 SI'",,'I S,'",;,"', P 534. J. &mml SWI/luy II/'{uld. 11 Dec 188L See al,o Slalemern or William S. Jell. 6 May 11165. 11I1"'Slif(Ulhm ond Tr;ol Pop"", Rl'lolinx 10 II,.. AJ'sossinOli(m of P,,'sid"1JI tim'ulll. 4. Pitman B. Doheny ll.'stimony of 22 I\lay 1865 in 17,,' ASSiJsS;I1Olivl/ vIl'r/".,idfm UI/culn omllii/" Trial of Ihl' Compiralurs. p 95. 5. I"'/X'odm",m '''''I'Mif(OIiml: Tf!slimullY TiJk<.1l lkfur/' II", Judidury Commill/'I' of Ilt/' 1I00/sl' of RI'f)rl'-'/'I/!Uliw. inlh/' In"/'sliXOliml of Cltargl'S AgaillSl Allduw Jolm.lon. p 481. o. The Repon ofL";ul. I' Doherty. SiXleenth N.Y. DC, 29 April 1865. Wor of litl' H,'bl'1lion: OJ.fil"ial H"fords of Ill/' Ullh", <lnd Gmfl',/frUII' Ar",;/'s. Series I. Vol 46. pp 1317-1322; Carpenler FG. The eaplUre ofJohn Wilkl.'s Booth. Uppim'ol/'s Momhly. Vol 49. Seplernhcr 188J, p 449. 7. Thl' ,lhdif"U1 ami S"rt(i('iJl Hi."ur.!' oj tilt' Wor oflit, H/"bdlion (1861-1865). Vol I. p 452. 8. Edward P. Doherly to Andrew Johnson. 23 Dl.'e 1865. H"/"ord" orllt/' AdiUlall/ (;..n"',,(., OfJici'. 178(fJ1917. 1,1. Ilibhcn 1/isloryoflltl' Wasllillf("'" N'I"y )'ard. p 149. 10. Ibid.. P 146. II. l'holOg,dph of leuer of S(,erclary of Ihe Navy Gideon Wells <I nd Sl.'uetaryofWar Edwin M. Slamon in KaI7.DM. JIIim"S5IQall Era: Tltl' Uf.. iJ",1 PhO/v!:raplts of AII'.wndu (iiJrd"a, p 159. 12. Hibhcn. p 149. 13. Edward 1'. Doheny 10 Andrew .lohn,on. 2J Dee 1865. 14. "",)<'a('/III1/'1II In"l'slixalion, p 48.1. 15. Charles Dawson testimony. 27 April 1l)65. ""'(,Sligolion uml r"al Pal','r5 Rf'ialing 10 III/' Assaninulion vJ Pr,'sit/l'/1/ Lillcoln. 16. Charll.'s M. Collins le'llmon)'. 27 April 1865. """'J'ligalion amI Trial Papers. 17. William w. Crowninshield testimony. 27 April 1865. (,"'f!.'ligUlioll ami Trial PupuJ'. 18. ScalDn Munroe Il.'SIimony,27 April 11165. In"/'5I;xalioll ami Triol PaIJI/fS. 19. N, ... l'ork rrilt'lnf!. 29 April 11165. 20. &'51"" S"mluy flfralt!. II Dee I Ill) I. 21. Ka17. pp 161-162. 22. I'ilman H. E"erton J. Conger ltstimony. 17 May 1865. p 91. Lluhcr IbkerSlaleml.'m. 27 April 1865. R,.'v"/,' of lit/" AdiulllnI (;I'IIf!r"fs OfJic... 178(fs-1917. 13. Mo)' Mark '!f litl' Scolp/"I. 14. Ihid. }5. Jvltn r. Ma)' 11'.llimony. 17 Ap,,1 1lJ65. I""uligoliun and Triol Pap.'r,.. 26. Ibid. 27. Joseph K. Il;lrn\-s 10 Edwin M. Sla11l0n. 27 April 1865. R/'t"Ord., oflit/' AdjulutII G/'ItfT- of.. Offici'. 17/J51917. 28. nil' Calalogul' of til/' SllrJ.:/f'ol S.../"Iiml uf Iltl' Ullill'd SIIII<'. Army M..di<"al MUJl'lIIJI. p 58. 29. Tit/' M"d,,"ul ami S"rX"'ol "iSlOr)' of IIIl' War ofIltf R/"bl'lIion (1861-1865). Vol I, P452. 30. Ibid.. p 452. 31. Hibben. p 147. 32. Ibid .. P 149. J3. &011 IOU. Monograph In David H. Rales COlicClion. 34. 11/I(H"a"hm/'m '''''u1iXa,io'': Tukl''' &'.Iu,,' Iltl' Jmlt";ur)' Cvmm;/I/,,/, of lit/" !lO/IS/" of R"(Jrf!-'/'n!oli,".< itt 11t,lmI'.\"{igalivlI vf Clturx".1 Af(a;nsl Ami",,,' Jultnsml. pp 323-33 I. 25 3S, Ibid. P 324. pp 672-673. 36. Ibid. p 33. J7. "T'M Sallimo" 17 feb 1869: Rosr:or: T. n. WrlJ oICompi,uq. pp 527-5J I; Smilh G. Anw,kun GOlllir: Th,. Sto"'olAm,.,;, ru's UKtndu'y n,,.alrkal f"umil,-Junius. Ed,,in. und John Wilkts Boor". pp 231-249. 38. 11,,. &Ilimo,,. Am",Ir,m. 11 Feb 1869. 39. Samuc:l Mudd 21 April 11165. AS.\fUJ';mJlio" "nd T,illl Papt"s. 40. Joseph K. Barnes 10 Edwin M. Slanlon. 21 April 1865. RI'(,,,,ds 0/ /ltr AdjUlum Grnn ufs Of/i'". 1780's1917, 41. May. Mark oflhe Scalpel. 42. William Maylo George M.llamy. 7 No... 1927. Wilkerson Iile, EH S....-aim ColleC\ion. Grorgelo.....n Unhocl1iil)' Lib..-ry. 4J. Ma)'. Mark of lile Scalpel. 44. John De Ha\ocn 10 War Depanmenl. 26 Jan 1912. RNordJ ol/Iw Adjuumt Gtllt',ufs 178O's1911. 45. Judge' Ad\'l)(';Ite Genc..-rs rt'ply 10 l)c Haven \'ia Adjulanl Genc..-Is orfice. JI Jan 1912. Rrrordsoll/K' Ad''fKUI,.G,.n,.,uf, OfTKt. 178f1s-1917. 46. Judge Ad\'OCale General's reply 10 S. Beall via Adjutant General's Orrice. 7 Dec 1915. RI'l"Q,d, v/lht' A,/w}('ulf' Gnurafs QIP',., 178fYs-1917. Bibliography Ba ker LC. IIi, I"'" olll,t Unitrd S,u,ts S",,iu. Philadc:lphia:LC Baker: 1861. 1"ht &llimfNt Ad,'t'IlMr. 29 April 1865. 1ht' SaI,imfN,. A"K',lrul/. 11 Feb 1869. BaIt'S OH. Manuscnpt. Rare Books Di\'ision. Libra/)' of Congreu. Washington_ DC. n" &swn Sundu)' Ut,lIld. II Dec- IllSl. Carpenln FG. The- capture of John Wilkes Boolh. Uppint'ol/'s Momhl.l. Vol 49. Scp- ltmbcr 1883, 111t C",aloxU#' of rM SulXlrtll SNlilJl1 0/,1,1' Uni,,.d S'Olts Arm)' Mtdirul MuSt'u"" Washinglon. DC;Go\'emmcnt Prinling OrrlC:e; 1866. 1111' CongrtssWnol Globt'. 28 Jul)' 1866. Dohtn)' EP. Caplain Dohtny'li narralil,t. CtntUf)' Maga;"". January 1890. Hibben Ii B. lIiuory o/Iht' Il'asltingw/I No,')' Yard. Washinglon. Prinling Office; 1890. ''''I,,.urJlm/,,,, I",tsligalion: T/'slimvny TnA,t" &-/urt Iht Judi(iary Commil/t,t "I'h,. lIouu 0/ RtprtumOliws ill/"t I",tsligulim, v/ Char/{ts A/{a;ns, Antlrt .., JolmslJI1. 2nd Session. 39th Congress: lsI Session. 40th ConlreliS. WashinglOn. DC:Go,'ernment Prinling Offlee: 1861. n.lmJionopolis Bull,.,in. 12 No... 11196. o"d Triul PofJ't'rs Rtfoling 10 Iht ASSilssino,ion 01 Prtsidtm UnNJJn. RG 153. Records of the of lhe Judgt Ad\'ocatt Genc:raIIArm)'l. Nalional Archives. Washing- Ion. IX. Katz OM. Wimt',u to on fjo: n,.. UI,. ami Pllowgruplts 0/ Alt:O:DmJ.., GQrd"u. New York: Viking: 1991. Ma)' JF. Mark of Ihe Scalpel. Manuscripl Division. Library of Congress. "C. Mu}' W. Ltncr lO Gc:orlle M. Bailey. 1 Nov 1927. Copy in Wilktrson file. E.H. S...aim Col lcC'lion. Special Collcclions Oi\ision. George- lo....n Uni\"C'l1iity Library. Washinglon. DC. n. Mtd"'al"nd lIiSlOr)'o/'''t W..r 01'"'' RrlwlliOll (1861186j). Vol I. Washing- Ion. OC:GO"'ernmtnl Printing orr1; 1875. Munror: S. RolleclionsofLincoln's Assassi- nalion. No,,11 Amtrirun April 1896. TIlt' .. York Tribun,.. 29 April 186S. Paullin C. The- Navy and tilt Booth conspi..-- tors, Illinois S'Olt lIisw,.;NJII Surit'l)' JOUf/loJ. Septembc:r 1940:J3. Pilman B, Tht AJSilssimltiOll 01 PrtJidtnl U",:oln o"d ,Ill' Trilliol/itt ConspirOlrHs. Cin- cinrnni:Moorc. Wlls1ach. and RKortls 0/ ,",, AdjulQnt Grntroft OfJirt. 1780's-1917. RG 94. National Archives. Washinglon. IJC. Rl!'l"Qrtl,, "/Iht Obi"/' 01,1,.. Stl'fl'lar)'o/ Wur. nG 101. Nalional Washington. DC, Rtr'ortls 0/ Ih,. G,."rral fA""I). RG 112_ Nalional Washinglon. DC. The- Rtport of Lieul. Ed ...... rd P. Doheny. Sixlcenlh N.Y. Cavalry. Washinglon. DC. 29 April I86S. Wa,. 01 Iitt RthtllilJl1: Ojf"'''ul Rtt'ords O/IM Union OM Series I. Vol 46, Roscoe: T. Tilt' WrlJ 01 Conspiroq. New York:PrcnliccHall: 1959. SCOll EH. Monograph in lJa\'id H. BalcsCol- Icction. Manuscript Library of Con- grr:ss. Washinglon. IX. Smith G. Amtri(oll GO/hir: Tilt SlOr)' 0/ Amtriro's L"l1l'1l1lary 1'111'01' ....01 f-umily- Jm,ius. f.il ...ill, ollli JoII" Wilkts BoO/h. New York:Simon and Schusler; 1992. Triol 0/11" Allrg,.rI A,sussh,s ami Cv"spira- IOrs/or ,1,.. Murtl.., 0/ Prts/,Ittll Abraham Un- r"ln. Philadelphia:TB PcltniOn and Brolhers: 186S. Wtullif/Xwn Nalional Rtpubliron. 211 April 1865. 0 Leonard F. Gutuklgt is a historian and tile author of c'oc..-I books on na,..1 history. lie resides in AIc,o;andria. VA. The Forensic Evidence 2. For this article. Navy M,dici", requcsted that a siudy be made of the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord sec- lion recovered by Dr. Joseph Woodward following the autopsy aboard USS MomauJc_ A tcam of forensic palhologislS and anthropologisls from lhe National Museum of Heallh and Medicine and the Anned Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington. DC. were able 10 cstablish thatthc fatal wound. caused bya largccaliber. low velocity weapon. entered the neck high on the right side. traversing downward and exiting the neck low on lhe left side. There is no evidence that the wound was self-innicted. pUlling 10 rest one hypothesis that the man in Garrett's barn may have shot himself. The poste- rior aspect of the spinal cord exhibils severe damage consislent with quadriplegic paralysis. The spinal cord's anterior aspect is intact. indicating that respiration might have continued for several hoon. With such a small sample to study. the scientists were unable to dclenninc lhe precise age or tdeRtity of lhe victim. only that he was a young to middk-aged adult. A forensic study of the long bones and skull augmenled by Ihe usc of video superimposition could establish once and for all whether the body of John Wilkcs Boolh reposes in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery. -Jk H NAVY MEDICINE