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3 Abandon All Hope On May 1, President Andrew Johnson issued an executive order directing that the persons charged with Lincoln’s murder stand trial before a specially convened military tribunal. In this same executive order, Johnson appointed John Frederick Hartranft as special provost marshal and military governor of the military prison at the Washington Arsenal. In fact, Hartranft had received his orders two days earlier, on April 29, and had already assumed his position at the prison. It became Hartranft’s responsibility to see to the defense of the arsenal and to supervise every aspect of the prisoners’ daily lives, from making sure they were fed and clean to ensuring that no one communicated with them except on the written orders of Secretary of War Stanton. It would prove to be the most unpleasant episode in his long military career. Hartranft was the prototypical military officer, a strict adherent to protocol . At the time of his appointment, he was assigned two aides-de-camp, Captain R. A. Watts of the 17th Michigan Volunteers and Second Lieutenant D. H. Geissinger of the 205th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The following day, three “assistants” were added to his staff: Colonel Levi Axel Dodd of the 211th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Lieutenant Colonel William H. H. McCall of the 200th Pennsylvania Volunteers (see page 75 herein), and Lieutenant Colonel George W. Frederick of the 209th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Hartranft clearly wanted a full contingent for his new assignment. As distasteful as this special duty proved to Hartranft, he probably took some satisfaction in the fact that Secretary of War Stanton wanted it performed by only the best and most reliable officers. Hartranft and Major General Win- 22 the story field Scott Hancock, commander of the Middle Military District (which included Washington, D.C.), were Stanton’s only choices for their respective posts. Hartranft reported directly to Hancock, a combat veteran recognized by his peers as an outstanding field commander. He eventually rose to command the II Corps of the Army of the Potomac and earned the admiration of the men in the ranks as well as his superior officers. To these men he was known as “Hancock the Superb.” In 1880 he would become the Democratic Party’s candidate for president, fated to lose narrowly to James A. Garfield. Now responsible for the defense of the arsenal and its prisoners, Hartranft ordered a detail consisting of ten enlisted men and a sergeant to station themselves along 4 ½ Street from the arsenal to Pennsylvania Avenue, a distance of nearly ten city blocks. Their instructions were to “maintain perfect order along the street, being attentive and vigilant.” These soldiers were replaced at regular intervals, as were the troops stationed inside the arsenal. Early on the morning of April 29, Hartranft received into his custody six of the eight conspirators who were being held on board the monitors Saugus and Montauk. Mary Surratt and Samuel Mudd were not among them. Still held in the Old Capitol Prison, Mrs. Surratt would join the others on the evening of April 30. Mudd and Willie Jett would be transferred from the Old Capitol Prison to the penitentiary on May 4. (Jett was one of the three Confederate soldiers who accompanied Booth and Herold across the Rappahannock River at Port Royal, Virginia, on April 24. Jett had then found lodging for Booth and Herold at the farm of Richard Garrett, approximately five miles south of the river. Jett was arrested in Bowling Green, Virginia, shortly after midnight on Wednesday, April 26, and guided a troop of cavalry to the farm, where Booth was killed and Herold arrested.) On the days that followed, the nation waited breathlessly for any news of the accused, including plans for their trial. Reporters worked tirelessly, interviewing eyewitnesses to the crime and detailing the government’s effort to track down Lincoln’s killers. But the news of the day was dominated by accounts of Lincoln’s funeral train as it slowly made its way west to Illinois. On May 4, the last of eleven official funeral services took place at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield. The next day, the press turned its full attention to those responsible for the nation’s grief. Paranoia reigned among government officials during the days leading up to the conspiracy trial. In his report dated May 1, Hartranft wrote: “I have the honor to report that I took charge of eight Prisoners in the cells of this prison, about [blank] o’clock...

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