The life crime and capture of John Wilkes Booth with a full sketch of the conspiracy of which he was the leader and the pursuit trial and execution of his accomplices 1865

by George Alfred Townsend

George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914) was a correspondent during the American Civil War who wrote under the pen name "Gath". His works The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth (1865), Campaigns of a Non-Combatant and His Romaunt Abroad During the War (1866), New Washington (1874), Bohemian Days (1880), Tales of the Chesapeake (1880), The Entailed Hat; or, Patty Cannon's Times (1884), Katy of Catoctin; or, The Chain-Breakers (1886), Mrs Reynolds and Hamilton (1890), Columbus in Love (1893), Poems of Men and Events (1899) and Poems of the Delaware Peninsula (1911).

Genres: History, Civil War, True Crime, Biography

Paperback

First published January 1, 1865

About the author

1841-1914

War correspondent during the American Civil War and novelist.

He wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, in 1861 he started to write for the New York Herald.

By 1868, he became a Washington correspondent, working for the "Chicago Tribune," and after 1874, for the "New York Graphic.

His novels included The Entailed Hat (1884), which fictionalized a true story of a woman named Patty Cannon who kidnapped free blacks and sold them into slavery. Townsend's other works include the short story collection Tales of the Chesapeake (1880) and the novel Katy of Catoctin (1887).

Townsend wrote under the pen name "Gath", which was derived by adding an "H" to his initials, and inspired by the biblical passage II Samuel 1:20.

Reviews

[Emilija · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting read about the aftermath of the death of Lincoln and the hunt for Booth, especially as an example of the journalism of the era, but there were some things mentioned that would throw you if you hadn’t researched the topic beforehand.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating collection of articles written in the actual aftermath of the assassination of President Lincoln. These writings offer an intriguing look at the crime and capture of J. Wilkes Booth. Also, it provides a look at the mindset of the people at the time, as they tried to speculate on his motive behind the crime. My only minor displeasure from this read is the same as with any other in-the-moment publication, and that is the fact that assumptions are made as to the general knowledge of events of its readers. Several comments made by the author, such as there being negativity in Washington towards Mary Todd Lincoln at the time of Lincoln's election and occupation of the White House, were unknown to me and will be unknown to anyone who has not studied the subject previously. I had to look several details up on Wikipedia for clarification, because these things were mentioned as merely an aside to the story of the assassination. On a positive note, however, by researching these tidbits further I learned a great deal I never knew about Mary Todd Lincoln.

[Colin MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is interesting both for the details of Lincoln's assassination and the hunt for Booth, and as an example of the journalism of the time.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

aaaaah, kinda just not of note