Booth's women

[Steve]

Here the text of the letter in question about the lady:

NAVY-YARD, Washington, D.C., April 27, 1865.

SIR: It appears from the best information I can gather from the officers of the ship that on the 27th instant, at 1.30 a.m., a tug came alongside, on board of which was Colonel Baker, the detective, with a dead body, said to be that of J. W. Booth, the assassin. Said body was passed on board with the implied understanding that it had been put on board for safe-keeping.

No orders whatever were left with the officer of the guard or the commanding officer of the vessel concerning it, nor was any written authority for so disposing of it shown to any officer of the vessel. It was a most informal and unmilitary proceeding, which should have been nipped in the bud. The only restrictions to viewing the corpse were to strangers and workmen not employed on board of the vessel. Persons known to the officers of the Army and Navy were permitted to come on board. A lady accompanied by two naval officers came on board, to visit the ship, and not to gratify a morbid curiosity.

About 11 o'clock a.m. Surgeon-General Barnes came on board, and, without asking for the captain of the guard or commanding officer of the vessel, or showing any written authority or informing any officer who he was, or seeming to pay the slightest respect to the military etiquette due one officer from another, walks up to the corpse and commences to cut adrift the wrappings. He was stopped by Captain Munroe, with the inquiry as to his authority for so doing. He replied, "by order of the Secretaries of War and of Navy," and afterwards Major Ekert produced the written order. Hair was cut from the corpse by one of the assistants who accompanied Surgeon-General Barnes, and I am led to believe that it was a portion of that hair which some naval officer very foolishly boasted of possessing.

As soon as the order from you to permit no visiting except by passes from the Secretary was received, it was promptly obeyed. The proceeding of taking the body from the ship was of the same informal nature.

I am sorry to say that I was not present at either time, or I should have put a stop to it.

No persons except those duly authorized have been permitted even to see the prisoners now confined on board.

E. E. STONE,
Lieutenant-Commander.

To Commodore J. B. ,
Commandant.


The wording, "A lady accompanied by two naval officers came on board, to visit the ship, and not to gratify a morbid curiosity", suggests the woman boarded the ship for other reasons, not to see Booth's body.