John Wilkes Booth and the Richmond Grays
“When the John Brown raid occurred,
Booth left the Richmond Theater for the scene of strife
in a picked company with which he had affiliated for some time. From his
connection with the militia on this occasionhe was wont to
trace his fealty to Virginia”. [1]
“John [j]oined a Virginia regiment at Richmond on the
occasion of John Brown's attack and
proclaimed himself a champion of the South.” [2]
“I remember hearing Booth once say that he had been
a member of the Richmond Grays and had been with them when
John Brown was hanged and noted
[t]he pride he showed in having been one of the group.” [3]
“The Richmond Enquirer says that when John Brown’s famous
Harper’s Ferry raid occurred in 1859, J. Wilkes Booth,
the assassinator of Lincoln, was playing an engagement
at the Richmond Theatre, and volunteered and left
that city as a member f of the Grays to aid in putting
down that disturbance. He proved to be
well-versed in military tactics and an able soldier.” [4]
“This idealized city of his love [Richmond] had
deeper hold upon his heart than any feminine beauty…” [5]
A true understanding of the why behind the events of the Lincoln Assassination requires us to know who its chief architect was, the historic John Wilkes Booth who lived 26 years and 103 days preceding April 14, 1865. Focusing solely on that night and Booth's last 12 remaining days on earth does not address John Wilkes Booth, the man, nor give us a knowledgebase from which to understand why for him, that event was inevitable. Understanding Booth’s actions on that night requires that we look to the pivotal time in his life six years earlier that defined him, as he himself said, back to the Antebellum Richmond of 1859.
John Wilkes Booth's life's ending, including its culminating moment 12 days earlier, can be found in its beginning, in the “idealized city of his love”, the Antebellum Richmond of Governor Henry Alexander Wise, of its 1st Regiment of Volunteers and Booth's proud uniformed inclusion amongst his Band of Brothers, the Richmond Grays during their unforgettable journey to Charlestown to defend Virginia's sacred soil from invasion in the aftermath of the John Brown Raid.
In his own lifetime, the road for John Wilkes Booth, including its tragic forks, the first not taken in 1861 and then three years later chosen when desperately seeking to rejoin his lost comrades in that "last ditch", led to Richmond. 150 years later, if our goal is to learn his historic truth, they still do.
John Wilkes Booth's life's ending, including its culminating moment 12 days earlier, can be found in its beginning, in the “idealized city of his love”, the Antebellum Richmond of Governor Henry Alexander Wise, of its 1st Regiment of Volunteers and Booth's proud uniformed inclusion amongst his Band of Brothers, the Richmond Grays during their unforgettable journey to Charlestown to defend Virginia's sacred soil from invasion in the aftermath of the John Brown Raid.
In his own lifetime, the road for John Wilkes Booth, including its tragic forks, the first not taken in 1861 and then three years later chosen when desperately seeking to rejoin his lost comrades in that "last ditch", led to Richmond. 150 years later, if our goal is to learn his historic truth, they still do.
“Have you ever seen Booth Mr. Boyd? Is he an elderly man?”(Richard Garrett)
“I saw him once in Richmond, about the time of the John Brown raid,
and I thought he was rather a young man.” (John Wilkes Booth, as Mr. Boyd)
“I saw him once in Richmond, about the time of the John Brown raid,
and I thought he was rather a young man.” (John Wilkes Booth, as Mr. Boyd)
John Wilkes Booth, spoken as “Mr. Boyd” to Richard Garrett on the evening of April 25, 1865, less than 12 hours before his death at the Garret Farm. [6]
1 Townsend, George Alfred. The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1865.Page 22
2 John T. Ford's Recollections', Baltimore American, June 8, 1893
3 Ferguson, W. J., “Lincoln’s Death”, Saturday Evening Post, February 12, 1927, pg. 37
4 Sprit of Jefferson, August 18, 1874
5 Clarke, Asia Booth. The Unlocked Book: A Memoir of John Wilkes Booth by His Sister Asia Booth Clarke. New York; G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1938. pg. 118
6 “Richard H. Garret; An Authentic History of the Capture of J. Wilkes Booth at the Garrett Farm”, Alexandria Gazette, April 29, 1868)
1 Townsend, George Alfred. The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1865.Page 22
2 John T. Ford's Recollections', Baltimore American, June 8, 1893
3 Ferguson, W. J., “Lincoln’s Death”, Saturday Evening Post, February 12, 1927, pg. 37
4 Sprit of Jefferson, August 18, 1874
5 Clarke, Asia Booth. The Unlocked Book: A Memoir of John Wilkes Booth by His Sister Asia Booth Clarke. New York; G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1938. pg. 118
6 “Richard H. Garret; An Authentic History of the Capture of J. Wilkes Booth at the Garrett Farm”, Alexandria Gazette, April 29, 1868)