Band at the execution

[NHjohn]

(06-29-2014 12:02 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Wait a minute...I thought the topic was the Arsenal Penitentiary, not the Old Capitol Prison as you state near the end of the above. Lt. Colby - was he attached to Old Capitol or the Arsenal? The list of prisoners that you mention were incarcerated at the Old Capitol, not the Arsenal.

Have I/we been searching for an orange in a bushel of apples?

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"According to Colonel N. T. Colby, who became prison superintendent at the end of the war: “That which is commonly known as the Old Capitol Prison, and which figured so conspicuously in the history of the late war, consisted, really, of two separate and distinct edifices, locally known by the names of the Old Capitol and the Carroll buildings, and were situated, the first, on the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and East First street, and the other on the corner of Maryland avenue and East First – a block apart, and both facing the Capitol building and East Capitol Park."

I just found the fly in the ointment regarding the band situation. We are talking about apples and oranges! Col. Colby, as cited by NHJohn, was attached to the Old Capitol Prison (once on the site of where the Supreme Court Building now sits). He was not at the Washington Arsenal/Penitentiary, which is blocks away on the waterfront. If there was a band associated with Colby's command, it would have been at the prison, not the penitentiary.

In finding this, however, I also caught a serious error on a website that I have respected and used before - mrlincolnswhitehouse.org - maintained through the Lincoln Institute. At the very end, they make the grievous mistake of saying that the four Lincoln conspirators were hanged at the Old Capitol, as was Henry Wirz. Yes, to Wirz, but a flat F- to the hanging of the conspirators. Shame on them.

Ahhh...haaaaa! I like apples and oranges, just not in the same barrel. Now that makes sense, because something wasn't making sense. That's why when there was the explosion at the Arsenal in 1864, the Finley Hospital Band was sent to the Arsenal to lead the funeral procession. Colby was in charge of "state prisoners" and the facility known as "The Old Capitol Prison." I suspect this isn't the first time penitentiary and prison were confused. No wonder I couldn't understand why Hartranft and Colby were both said to be in charge. Now, the question becomes, what units were stationed at the Arsenal in April-June, 1865 as a matter of regular assignment due to it being a working Federal arsenal? What extra units were called in to pull security in, and around the Arsenal due to the trial/execution? Does anybody have a source for that?