Prison & Penitentiary
The first six arrested as conspirators in the assassination - David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, and Edman Spangler - were held under close military guard on the Navy ironclads Montauk and Saugus anchored in the Eastern Branch (now Anacostia River) of the Potomac River, near the Navy Yard. A short distance downstream from the Navy Yard, where the Eastern Branch joined the main Potomac River, was the Washington Arsenal, the present-day site of Fort Lesley J. McNair.
Others arrested in connection with the Lincoln assassination were held at the Old Capitol Prison, located opposite the U.S. Capitol on the present-day site of the U. S. Supreme Court. One of those was Mrs. Surratt, owner of the boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators often met. She had been arrested on April 17th, three days after the assassination.
Old Capitol Prison. Courtesy Library of Congress
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton soon concluded that Mrs. Surratt had been part of the conspiracy. On April 29th, he ordered that Mrs. Surratt and the six men being held on the Navy vessels be transferred to the penitentiary on the grounds of the Washington Arsenal. The men were transferred later that night and Mrs. Surratt the next day. Seven of the eight persons who would be tried for conspiracy were now incarcerated at the Arsenal, which would also be the site of their trial.
Dr. Mudd arrived at the Old Capitol Prison from Bryantown on April 24th. While seriously annoyed with Dr. Mudd and other Southern-Marylanders who had not fully cooperated in the hunt for Booth, the Government wanted to put on trial only those persons who had actually conspired with Booth. Dr. Mudd was being held as a witness, not as a conspirator. Stanton had not ordered that Dr. Mudd be transferred to the Arsenal prison when he transferred Mrs. Surratt and the other men there on April 29th. Dr. Mudd was simply one of a number of people who had been brought to the Old Capitol Prison because the authorities believed they had information about various events connected with the assassination. But that was about to abruptly change with the arrest and interrogation of Louis Weichmann.
Louis Weichmann was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison on April 30th, the same day Mrs. Surratt was moved from there to the Arsenal. Weichmann had been a boarder at Mrs. Surratt’s boarding house, and was a long-time friend of her son John. When Dr. Mudd saw Weichmann at the Old Capitol Prison, he must have become very worried. Weichmann had been at the December 1864 meeting in Washington that Dr. Mudd had with John Wilkes Booth, John Surratt, and Weichmann. Dr. Mudd had signed a sworn statement that this meeting did not happen. Booth was dead and John Surratt was in hiding. Weichmann was the only person who could tie Dr. Mudd to this meeting, and Weichmann was now under arrest and being grilled by the Government.
Because of his intimate knowledge of what took place at the Surratt boarding house, Weichmann was interrogated personally by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. In a book Weichmann wrote after the trial, he recounted Stanton’s reaction when he told Stanton of Dr. Mudd’s meeting with Booth:
He [Stanton] now requested me to state who had introduced me to John Wilkes Booth. “Dr. Samuel A. Mudd,” answered I. “Did you say Dr. Mudd?” queried Mr. Stanton. “Yes, sir.” And then I related the story of the meeting of Booth, Mudd, Surratt, and myself...
Then Stanton, half rising from his desk, and bringing down his clenched hand on the table with much force, exclaimed with great earnestness to General Burnett, “By God, put that down, Burnett; it is damned important.”
This changed everything. Dr. Mudd had been caught in a lie. The Government now considered Dr. Mudd to be a conspirator, not a witness. On May 4th, he was transferred to the Arsenal Penitentiary and placed in cell 176. Like the others before him, he surrendered his personal effects, was handcuffed, and had chains put on his feet. An armed guard was posted outside his cell, and the iron door shut. This cell would be his home for the next two and a half months.
The Arsenal Penitentiary
Dr. Mudd arrived at the Old Capitol Prison from Bryantown on April 24th. While seriously annoyed with Dr. Mudd and other Southern-Marylanders who had not fully cooperated in the hunt for Booth, the Government wanted to put on trial only those persons who had actually conspired with Booth. Dr. Mudd was being held as a witness, not as a conspirator. Stanton had not ordered that Dr. Mudd be transferred to the Arsenal prison when he transferred Mrs. Surratt and the other men there on April 29th. Dr. Mudd was simply one of a number of people who had been brought to the Old Capitol Prison because the authorities believed they had information about various events connected with the assassination. But that was about to abruptly change with the arrest and interrogation of Louis Weichmann.
Louis Weichmann was arrested and brought to the Old Capitol Prison on April 30th, the same day Mrs. Surratt was moved from there to the Arsenal. Weichmann had been a boarder at Mrs. Surratt’s boarding house, and was a long-time friend of her son John. When Dr. Mudd saw Weichmann at the Old Capitol Prison, he must have become very worried. Weichmann had been at the December 1864 meeting in Washington that Dr. Mudd had with John Wilkes Booth, John Surratt, and Weichmann. Dr. Mudd had signed a sworn statement that this meeting did not happen. Booth was dead and John Surratt was in hiding. Weichmann was the only person who could tie Dr. Mudd to this meeting, and Weichmann was now under arrest and being grilled by the Government.
Because of his intimate knowledge of what took place at the Surratt boarding house, Weichmann was interrogated personally by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. In a book Weichmann wrote after the trial, he recounted Stanton’s reaction when he told Stanton of Dr. Mudd’s meeting with Booth:
He [Stanton] now requested me to state who had introduced me to John Wilkes Booth. “Dr. Samuel A. Mudd,” answered I. “Did you say Dr. Mudd?” queried Mr. Stanton. “Yes, sir.” And then I related the story of the meeting of Booth, Mudd, Surratt, and myself...
Then Stanton, half rising from his desk, and bringing down his clenched hand on the table with much force, exclaimed with great earnestness to General Burnett, “By God, put that down, Burnett; it is damned important.”
This changed everything. Dr. Mudd had been caught in a lie. The Government now considered Dr. Mudd to be a conspirator, not a witness. On May 4th, he was transferred to the Arsenal Penitentiary and placed in cell 176. Like the others before him, he surrendered his personal effects, was handcuffed, and had chains put on his feet. An armed guard was posted outside his cell, and the iron door shut. This cell would be his home for the next two and a half months.
The Arsenal Penitentiary
Artist's sketch of the Arsenal Penitentiary, in T.B. Peterson's book: The Trial of the Assassins and Conspirators.
During their first month at the Arsenal prison, whenever they were in their cells, the prisoners were required to wear a padded hood that covered their entire head. There was an opening at the mouth to allow for eating, but no openings to see out of. The hood was tied around the neck and induced a terrible feeling of claustrophobia. After Edman Spangler was pardoned in 1869, he wrote about the use of the hood in an article for the New York World Newspaper, dated June 24, 1869:
Spangler, I’ve something that must be told, but you must not be frightened. We have orders from the Secretary of War, who must be obeyed, to put a bag on your head.” Then two men came up and tied up my head so securely that I could not see daylight. I had plenty of food, but could not eat with my face so muffled up. True, there was a small hole in the bag near my mouth, but I could not reach that, as my hands were wedged down by the iron. At last, two kind-hearted soldiers took compassion on me, and while one watched the other fed me.
... The next morning someone came with bread and coffee. I remained there several days, suffering torture from the bag or padded hood over my face. It was on Sunday when it was removed and I was shaven. It was then replaced.
... On every adjournment of the court, I was returned to my cell, and the closely-fitting hood placed over my head. This continued until June 10, 1865, when I was relieved from the torture of the bag, but my hands and limbs remained heavily manacled.
In his Reminiscences of the Civil War, General August V. Kautz, a member of the Military Commission that tried the eight prisoners, recalled his shocked reaction when the prisoners were brought into court the first time on May 9th wearing hoods, chains, and black cloaks:
The prisoners in the number of eight were brought in behind a railing. They were masked and chained, and clad in black dominos so that we could not identify the prisoners. The Commission decided that they must be brought in so that we could recognize the different prisoners and be able to identify them. The mystery and apparent severity with which they were brought into the court room partook so much of what my imagination pictured the Inquisition to have been, that I was quite impressed with its impropriety in this age. The prisoners were never again brought into court in this costume.
At some point that day, either in the courtroom or afterwards, Dr. Mudd was not hooded like the other prisoners. General Hartranft’s superior, General Winfield Hancock, asked why he wasn’t hooded. General Hartranft replied:
Dr. Mudd has been treated since he has been in this prison precisely the same as each of the other prisoners, except that he has not been hooded, which was in accordance with your instructions. I disclaim all intention of granting to Dr. Mudd any privileges.
No further mention is made in the prison records of Dr. Mudd not being hooded like the other prisoners.
Although the prisoners no longer wore the hated hoods in the court room, the hoods were replaced as soon as they left the court room and returned to their cells. On June 6th, General Hartranft wrote to his superior:
The prisoners are suffering very much from the padded hoods, and I would respectfully request that they be removed from all the prisoners except 195. This prisoner does not suffer as much as the others, and there may be some necessity for his wearing it, but I do not think there is for the others.
Four days later, on the evening of June 10th, the hoods were removed from all the prisoners except Lewis Powell in cell 195, and never used again.
Spangler, I’ve something that must be told, but you must not be frightened. We have orders from the Secretary of War, who must be obeyed, to put a bag on your head.” Then two men came up and tied up my head so securely that I could not see daylight. I had plenty of food, but could not eat with my face so muffled up. True, there was a small hole in the bag near my mouth, but I could not reach that, as my hands were wedged down by the iron. At last, two kind-hearted soldiers took compassion on me, and while one watched the other fed me.
... The next morning someone came with bread and coffee. I remained there several days, suffering torture from the bag or padded hood over my face. It was on Sunday when it was removed and I was shaven. It was then replaced.
... On every adjournment of the court, I was returned to my cell, and the closely-fitting hood placed over my head. This continued until June 10, 1865, when I was relieved from the torture of the bag, but my hands and limbs remained heavily manacled.
In his Reminiscences of the Civil War, General August V. Kautz, a member of the Military Commission that tried the eight prisoners, recalled his shocked reaction when the prisoners were brought into court the first time on May 9th wearing hoods, chains, and black cloaks:
The prisoners in the number of eight were brought in behind a railing. They were masked and chained, and clad in black dominos so that we could not identify the prisoners. The Commission decided that they must be brought in so that we could recognize the different prisoners and be able to identify them. The mystery and apparent severity with which they were brought into the court room partook so much of what my imagination pictured the Inquisition to have been, that I was quite impressed with its impropriety in this age. The prisoners were never again brought into court in this costume.
At some point that day, either in the courtroom or afterwards, Dr. Mudd was not hooded like the other prisoners. General Hartranft’s superior, General Winfield Hancock, asked why he wasn’t hooded. General Hartranft replied:
Dr. Mudd has been treated since he has been in this prison precisely the same as each of the other prisoners, except that he has not been hooded, which was in accordance with your instructions. I disclaim all intention of granting to Dr. Mudd any privileges.
No further mention is made in the prison records of Dr. Mudd not being hooded like the other prisoners.
Although the prisoners no longer wore the hated hoods in the court room, the hoods were replaced as soon as they left the court room and returned to their cells. On June 6th, General Hartranft wrote to his superior:
The prisoners are suffering very much from the padded hoods, and I would respectfully request that they be removed from all the prisoners except 195. This prisoner does not suffer as much as the others, and there may be some necessity for his wearing it, but I do not think there is for the others.
Four days later, on the evening of June 10th, the hoods were removed from all the prisoners except Lewis Powell in cell 195, and never used again.
