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The Roundup LIBERAL REWARDS will be paid for any information that shall conduce to the arrest of either of the above-named criminals , or their accomplices. War Department Poster It was a little after 10:OOP.M. when George Atzerodt walked into the bar of the Kirkwood House and ordered a glass of whiskey. Not far from where he stood was the room of AndrewJohnson, the new vice president. Johnson had taken a room at the Kirkwood House until he could find a more suitable residence for himself and his family. Atzerodt denied later that he agreed to murderJohnson.' But at the assigned hour of 10:OOP.M. he was at the Kirkwood House and he was armed. If Atzerodt had no intention of murdering the vice president he was certainly in the right place at the right time to do it. Atzerodt stared at the yellow flame coming from one of the gas jets above the bar. He had been drinlung for the better part of the day,and everything around him appeared hazy. Picking up his drink, he swallowed the bitter liquid in a single gulp and, shoving the glass across the bar, turned and left the hotel without saylng a word. The barkeep was used to a more garrulous Atzerodt. He sloughed it off as too much drink. His courage evaporated, Atzerodt mounted his horse and galloped down the avenue in the direction of the capitol. As he passed Tenth Street he saw several soldiers and civilians running in the direction of Ford's Theatre.' Could Booth have gone through with his plan? Had he really killed Lincoln? Now Booth would find him and kill him too for failing to carry out his end of the plan. He spurred his horse and galloped east until he reached the PennsylvaniaHouse located on C Streetbetween Sixthand Four and a Half Streets. The Pennsylvania House was Atzerodt's favorite hotel whenever he needed a place to bunk. It was also one of his favorite watering holes. Entering the bar he ordered another whiskey and, swallowing it, headed back out the door. He next returned his horse to the stables of Kelleher and Pywell where he had rented it that aftern~on.~ For the next three hours Atzerodt wandered aimlessly about. In one of many moments of anxiety he tossed his knife into the street, where it landed The Roundup 167 beneath a carriage step.4U'allung dourn to Pennsylvania Avenue he climbed aboard a horse trolley and rode to the Navy Yard, where he tried to talk an old acquaintance into letting him share his room with him. The man refused , telling Atzerodt to go back to his own hotel and stay there for the night.' Atzerodt climbed back on the next trolley and returned to the Pennsylvania House. It was now 2:00 r\.al. and he was tired. The effects of his drinking had finally worn him down. Checlung into the hotel, Atzerodt was assigned to room 53 where he flopped into bed with four other patrons who were sound a~leep.~ At 6:00 A.ar. Atzerodt awoke, pulled on his boots, grabbed his rumpled hat, and left the hotel. He walked out without paying his bill. His mind was still clouded by Booth and what the man might do to him for not "putting Johnson through." He had decided it was time to get out of the city. Twentyfive miles to the northwest was the small community of Germantown in ~Montgomery County, Maryland. Twenty-one years earlier George's father, Henry Atzerodt, had come to the sleepy Maryland community from Germani and purchased a farrn along with his brother-in-law Johann Richter. Henry Atzerodt eventuallysold his interest in the farm toJohann and moved his family to Virginia whiie Johann continued to work the farrn with his son Ernest.: Ernest Hartman kchter, or Hartman as he was known to his family, eventually took over the farm from his father and continued farming in the peaceful Maryland c~mmunity.~ Over the years Atzerodt visited his cousin at the old family homestead. Now he decided he would be safe there. Setting out on foot, Atzerodt headed for Georgetown, located to the west of the city. From here he could catch the stage to Rockville which would take him close to his destination. By the time he reached the bridge that crossed over Rock Creek, Abraham Lincoln's body was being loaded aboard an ambulance for transportation to the...

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