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NJREB1863 · 07-06-2013, 03:40 PM

(07-06-2013 01:58 PM)BettyO Wrote: There were drums played at the execution as well - a slow, deadly cadence according to a report written by one of the ten drummer boys who were at the execution - it was a muffled cadence as they marched to the gallows -

Following is what the last "music" the conspirators heard probably sounded like - CLICK HERE.

This is interesting Betty, as I never considered or read there were drummer boys at the execution. I know there has always been a question as to the name of the lone young boy appearing in the Gardner photos, and whether any other young boys were in attendance. This article answers that question, although some drummer "boys" were not all that young, some being late teens or older.

BettyO · 07-07-2013, 09:08 AM

I think that John Elliott and Barry Cauchon identified the young boy in the photos as being the son of one of the officers - NOT a drummer boy. According to this article there were 10 drummers who played during the execution. The MP3 displayed here is the standard cadence which is played at military executions - thanks to Laurie Verge for locating this "tune".... It's rather doleful. The article further stated that the drums were played without snares and that the "boys" (Mr. Chase was 28 years old when he played!) muffled their drum tops with their pocket handkerchiefs.

L Verge · (This post was last modified: 07-07-2013 11:01 AM by L Verge.)

Steve Miller was the first to identify the young boy in the photo as the brother of one of the soldiers stationed at the Arsenal. He did a story for the Surratt Courier many years ago on this. The boy was a spectator, not a drummer.

BettyO · 07-07-2013, 11:41 AM

Thanks, Laurie!

We've come a long way....it's hard to believe that a child that young would be allowed to view such a horrific occurrence as a hanging.

NJREB1863 · 07-07-2013, 01:27 PM

(07-07-2013 11:41 AM)BettyO Wrote: Thanks, Laurie!

We've come a long way....it's hard to believe that a child that young would be allowed to view such a horrific occurrence as a hanging.

As bad as that was, boys around that age traveled with both armies during the war and witnessed more horrific scenes than that on the battlefields, sometimes becoming casualties of terrible wounds or worse themselves. We truly have come a long way indeed.

The audio of the drum beat played that day is haunting and must have added to the trauma the four about to be hung endured.

Linda Anderson · 06-26-2014, 05:56 PM

Crowding Memories by Mrs. Thomas Bailey Aldrich contains Mrs. Aldrich's description of the conspirators at their trial.

"Mrs. Aldrich was the wife of Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907), a key literary figure in the 19th century and a close friend of Mark Twain. This memoir offers much material on Twain, Bret Harte, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edwin Booth, and Longfellow - all friends of the Aldrich family."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1410214...8&n=283155

The book is available on Internet Archive or Google Books.

"The military court was held in a small room in the old arsenal. The surroundings were in their gloomy and sombre shade well fitted for the recital of the grim tragedy. The glittering of the uniforms of the officers who composed the court made a sharp contrast with the wretched prisoners, who were lined up against the walls of the room with a guard upon each side of them.
"Young Herold, a druggist's clerk who had joined John Wilkes Booth immediately after the assassination, and had been with him during the ten days that preceded their capture, was under the fire of the cross-questionings as we entered the court-room. It was a very slight and boyish figure that fronted his stern judges, the face set and colorless like yellow wax, with freckles that seemed almost to illuminate the waxen surface. The brown eyes were in expression as a deer that had been wounded; the whole body and face vibrant with anxious fear, like an animal that has been trapped and sees no escape. One turned away from it with a feeling that no mortal had the right to look at a soul so naked and unveiled.
"At the end of the line sat Lewis Payne, whose attempt had been to murder William H. Seward, Secretary of State. In his face there was depicted neither anxiety nor interest. During the time we were in the court-room, Payne, who was sitting near the open window, watched the swaying of a tree, face and figure expressing indifference to all the transitory things of life - life which he seemed to have no further interest in. One could not but wonder, looking at him as he sat so undisturbed and motionless, what was the composition of his thought.
"Mrs. Surratt sat more towards the centre of the group. She was rather a large woman, wearing a rusty-black woollen dress, and most of the time held before her face a large palm-leaf fan. Of the other five prisoners who were charged with conspiracy and the murder of Lincoln, I have no very distinct remembrance, beyond the tragic vision of seeing them hand-cuffed and an officer standing on each side of a sitting figure.
"We came out through a private door of the court-room which was in the second story of the building, and as we descended a spiral staircase set in grim gray stone a figure coming up the stairs for the moment blocked the way. It was Mr. Edwin Booth whom the Government had sent for; but happily for him, he was not called upon to testify. Years later, when the excitement of war was over, the Government sent word to Mr. Booth of the place of burial of John Wilkes and gave the right of re-interment."

BettyO · (This post was last modified: 06-26-2014 06:22 PM by BettyO.)

Quote:At the end of the line sat Lewis Payne, whose attempt had been to murder William H. Seward, Secretary of State. In his face there was depicted neither anxiety nor interest. During the time we were in the court-room, Payne, who was sitting near the open window, watched the swaying of a tree, face and figure expressing indifference to all the transitory things of life - life which he seemed to have no further interest in. One could not but wonder, looking at him as he sat so undisturbed and motionless, what was the composition of his thought.
"Mrs. Surratt sat more towards the centre of the group. She was rather a large woman, wearing a rusty-black woollen dress, and most of the time held before her face a large palm-leaf fan. Of the other five prisoners who were charged with conspiracy and the murder of Lincoln, I have no very distinct remembrance, beyond the tragic vision of seeing them hand-cuffed and an officer standing on each side of a sitting figure.

Interesting observations - thanks, Linda. I'm downloading the book now as I type.... there are some errors in her recollections as to the seating arrangements of the conspirators in the courtroom. Of course, Mrs. Surratt sat separately from the male prisoners....rather across from the dock in a straight backed chair. Powell sat not near the window, (that was Sam Arnold's seat) but one removed sans the guard and Herold from Mrs. Surratt on the end near the cell block door. Herold sat right next to the door and across from Mrs. Surratt and one seat occupied by a guard, next to Powell.

Linda Anderson · 06-26-2014, 06:35 PM

Thanks, Betty. I was struck by her sympathetic portrayal of Davey Herold.

BettyO · 06-26-2014, 07:08 PM

Same here -

Most folk describe Herold as a clown or "cut up." Mrs. Aldrich gives a more sympathetic description of him.

Linda Anderson · (This post was last modified: 06-26-2014 07:20 PM by Linda Anderson.)

Mrs. Aldrich must have gotten pretty close to the prisoners to see Herold's freckles.

Susan Higginbotham · 10-26-2014, 08:35 AM

Am I seeing things, or is the man at the bottom facing the camera wearing some sort of mask? If so, why? (This is from the photograph showing the hanging bodies.)

L Verge · 10-26-2014, 11:02 AM

(10-26-2014 08:35 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote: Am I seeing things, or is the man at the bottom facing the camera wearing some sort of mask? If so, why? (This is from the photograph showing the hanging bodies.)

I'm pretty sure that it's the way the sunlight is falling across the bottom half of his face with the visor of his kepi casting a shadow above and around his eyes.

BettyO · 10-26-2014, 11:07 AM

Agreed!

Susan Higginbotham · 10-26-2014, 02:26 PM

(10-26-2014 11:07 AM)BettyO Wrote: Agreed!

That makes sense! Thanks, ladies.

BettyO · 10-26-2014, 03:52 PM

What always strikes me about these photos is the fact that the people looking directly at the camera are in many ways, looking at US down through the centuries....little did they dream that 150 years later, we would be looking at them though computer screens and other electronic media. In essence, these unnamed, every-day individuals thus live forever.....