His name was "MUDD"

Conspiracy of Confederate Sympathizers

John Wilkes Booth, a popular actor, ended his full-time stage career in May of 1864. The Maryland native wanted to spend most of his time on his primary interest--supporting the Confederate States of America. Within months, Booth was working actively with Confederate partisans. A Plan to capture President Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war brought Booth into contact with Dr. Samuel Mudd, John Surratt, his mother Mary, Lewis Thorton Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and others. This plan failed when on the day chosen for the capture, President Lincoln changed his plans and did not travel on the road where conspirators were waiting.
This March 17, 1865, failure was quickly followed by two major Confederate defeats. Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, was abandoned to Union troops and on Palm Sunday, April 9th, Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to General Grant. It would be only five days after this surrender, April 14, 1865, That President Lincoln was to be assassinated.
Booth had decided to assassinate President Lincoln while Powell was to kill Secretary of State Seward, and Atzerodt was to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson. With the President and Vice President dead, this would then place the Senate Pro Tempore as acting President, but it would require the Secretary of State to put a new election in motion. Booth hoped to throw the country into political chaos, and hopefully the Confederacy would rise again. Powell did injure six people while attacking Seward. Seward was injured with a knife to his cheek, but he was not dead. It seemed that Atzerodt got drunk, and did not attempt to assassinate Johnson.
Within hours of Lincoln's shooting, Booth fled Washington on horseback and met Herold on the road. Both men rode into southern Maryland. The pain from the broken small bone in his left leg (broken in the escape from the State Box at Ford's Theatre) led Booth and Herold to stop at Dr. Mudd's home for medical aid.
On April 26th, twelve days after having killed the President, Booth and Herold were surrounded while hiding in a tobacco shed in Port Royal, Virginia (Garret’s Farm). Herold surrendered to the Union troops, but Booth held out and was shot, by a young soldier, Boston Corbett, while the shed burned down around him.
The other conspirators were soon arrested. Atzerodt, Herold, Powell, and Mrs. Surratt were all found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Mary Surratt, became the first woman to be executed under federal orders. The hangings took place in what is now Fort McNair. Dr. Mudd and two others involved in the original capture attempt were sentenced to life in prison. Edman Spangler, who held Booth's horse during the assassination, was sentenced to six years hard labor. In 1869, President Andrew Johnson pardoned the surviving conspirators.
This whole episode I find interesting. There were many Maryland natives who were sympathetic to the Confederacy. Lincoln was afraid that Maryland was to secede to the Confederacy and he, somewhat, declared Martial Law upon that state. The natives became even more outraged at Lincoln.
Dr Mudd, after setting and bandaging Booth's injured limb, let him and the friend accompanying him stay in his home overnight. It was only on the following morning that Dr Mudd heard of the assassination and, his suspicions aroused, immediately informed the authorities of what had occurred. Nonetheless, he was arrested, subsequently to be tried by a military court. All Mudd had done was an innocent act of mercy and his duty as a doctor. But in the eyes of a vengeful prosecution and of a grieving nation, embittered to the point of hysteria, he was an accomplice in the conspiracy. In their minds, he had committed treason. He was sentenced to a life of hard labour and, in chains, taken to Fort Jefferson, the country's most notorious prison. Overnight "his name is Mudd" became a contemptuous charge. There is no doubt that this tragic incident made the phrase known worldwide. However, with the passing of years, its origin was forgotten and Mudd's name changed into mere "mud."
The conspiracy trials were held by military court. Under the law at that time, military trials could be used for civilian matters when there was no civil courts available. There was civil court’s available in Washington D.C. This was, by all definition, a lynching by the government during this time. There were a great many sympathizers for the conspirators, from around the world. The day the hangings took place. Over a thousand people attended. Afterwards, cake and lemonade was to be served in celebration. The four conspirators were buried in shallow graves next to the gallows, and in later years released back to their families. Although the conspirators acknowledged they acted alone without the Confederate governments consent. I believe, the Confederate government did know of their actions. The kidnapping plot of the President was to release Confederate troops. That doesn’t sound like demands of mere outraged Maryland natives, it sounds like the demand of a government. Besides, most of the conspirators admitted to being Confederate agents. If the conspirators had implicated the Confederates knowing of the assassination plot, maybe Robert E. Lee, himself would have stood trial.
The government also took control of the Ford Theater, closed it down. It would not have been proper for a place of entertainment to remain open after such a great President was assassinated there. The government later used the building for war records. It was renovated, and brought back to life, as an historic National site in 1968.

Much has been written about Lincoln, the Civil War, and those turbulent times. If the North had not won the war, where would this country be today? Lincoln, through his wisdom, made the right decisions at the right time. For his Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, it would also be a long road to making this country whole again. Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee senator, would later be accused of being too sympathetic to the southerners. That is a whole other story.

Song of the Week
Lee Ritenour, with Chris Botti, and Lisa Fischer, bring us a Twist of Motown with a rendition of "Papa was a Rolling Stone".