Anthony S. Pitch

Pitch writes an illuminating, documented history of the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, shortly after his second inauguration. The book begins with Lincoln's train ride to Washington to begin his Presidency in 1861 and the fears that he would never make it, because of the death threats and charged atmosphere of the country. Lincoln lived his whole Presidency under threat and had grown fatalistic. He had recurring dreams of his death and he put himself under pressure to end the war and establish guidelines for peace, always fearing that he wouldn't have time to do what was needed. John Wilkes Booth was a cannon poised to go off and only delayed by his need to set a scene that would make his name a legend. His actions and those of his associates are documented here along with the following hunt and trial. After covering the evidence given at the trials, Pitch discusses some of the conspiracy theories and unanswered questions that supported them. He also touches on the possibility of innocence surrounding Mary Surratt, noting its circumstantialness and its resting on the testimony of 2 men. It is amazing the amount of detail that Pitch located through unpublished letters, diaries and journals, including varying views of the same scene seen though various eyes. Very well done.… (more)

I've read several books on the Lincoln assassination, but I still found this fresh and full of insights and information that make it well worth reading. He seems to have concentrated on finding fresh private documentation to supplement the usual official documents. Pitch, for example, quotes the wistful letters of Sallie Hartranft, whose husband John had been mostly at war beginning in April 1861, and whose return home was delayed by his duties as a provost marshal during the trial of the conspirators. He brings to life people who are usually just background figures. Compared to books like Edward Steer's Blood on the Moon and the Kunhardt's Twenty Days, it focuses less on the the funeral and more on the trial of the conspirators.

One subject that is weak, or perhaps should simply described as not covered, is the legal issues involved. Each author is entitled to decide what to cover, so I make this a comment rather than a criticism. After reading Benn Pitman's The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators, I would have to say that the various books I have read on the assassination deal with these issues very poorly, even one book that was supposed to be addressing the legal issues. At least in Blood on the Moon, Speers discusses criminal conspiracy laws. In fact, military tribunals had been accepted throughout this period. The case of Clement L. Vallandigham, a Northern Copperhead arrested for uttering "disloyal sentiments and opinions" was quite controversial, but when it was appealed to the Supreme Court, the Court refused to hear it on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction over military courts, a lily-livered decision in my opinion, but that it where matter stood when the assassins were tried. (see James M. McPherson "As Commander-in-Chief I have a Right to Take any Measure Which May Best Subdue the Enemy", in This Mighty Scourge".

This is a nuanced, well-written, and deeply involving account of the assassination and the ensuing trial, well-worth reading even for those who are already familiar with the events.… (more)