George Atzerodt
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George Andrew Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7, 1865) was a German American repairman, Confederate sympathizer, and conspirator in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was assigned to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, but lost his nerve and made no attempt. Atzerodt was tried by a military tribunal, sentenced to death for conspiracy, and hanged along with three other conspirators.


Early life

Atzerodt was born in (now part of Unstruttal), in the Prussian Province of Saxony. He immigrated to the United States in 1843 at the age of eight. As an adult, he opened his own carriage repair business in Port Tobacco, Maryland. Despite having lived in the United States for most of his life, Atzerodt could not speak English fluently.


Conspiracy

In January 1865, some years after opening his failed carriage repair business, Atzerodt was introduced to
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
in Washington, D.C., by
John Surratt John Harrison Surratt Jr. (April 13, 1844 – April 21, 1916) was an American Confederate States of America , Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; he was also suspected of ...
. Atzerodt was willing to join in Booth's earlier conspiracy to kidnap President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, as he later admitted in his trial. According to the prosecution, Booth assigned Atzerodt to assassinate
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Andrew Johnson on April 14, 1865. On that morning, Atzerodt booked room 126 at the Kirkwood House in Washington, where Johnson was staying. At 10:15 P.M. that night, the same moment John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater, Lewis Powell attacked the already injured Secretary of State William Seward, but Atzerodt could not muster the courage to kill Andrew Johnson. Instead, he began drinking at the hotel bar, becoming heavily intoxicated, and lost his nerve. He spent the rest of the night drunkenly walking the streets of Washington. He dropped his knife in a nearby gutter; a sharp-eyed woman saw this and reported it to the police immediately. During his stay at the hotel, Atzerodt had asked the bartender about Johnson's whereabouts. That aroused suspicion the next day, after Lincoln was assassinated. An employee of the hotel contacted the police regarding a "suspicious looking man in a gray coat". The military police then conducted a search of Atzerodt's room on April 15 and found that he had not slept in it the night before. Additionally, he had a loaded
revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
concealed under his pillow as well as a concealed Bowie knife. The police also found a bank book belonging to Booth in the room. Atzerodt was arrested on April 20, at the house of his cousin, Hartman Richter, in Germantown, Maryland.


Trial and execution

Atzerodt's trial began on May 1, 1865. Atzerodt's attorney, Captain William Doster, stated to the court that he intended "to show that George Atzerodt was a constitutional coward; that if he had been assigned the duty of assassinating the Vice President, he could never have done it; and that, from his known cowardice, Booth probably did not assign to him any such duty." However, that was to no avail. After the conviction, Atzerodt offered a confession to Reverend Butler, a minister who came to his cell to offer him comfort. Butler said that Atzerodt admitted going to the meeting in March to help plan the kidnapping of Lincoln while he attended a play at a hospital. Atzerodt said he first heard about Booth's plan to assassinate the President just two hours before the shooting. Atzerodt said that Booth really wanted David Herold to assassinate Vice President Johnson because he thought that Herold had "more pluck" than Atzerodt did. Atzerodt said Booth wanted him to "back up" Herold and "give him more courage". Atzerodt and three other convicted conspirators ( Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, and David Herold) were hanged in Washington, D.C., on July 7, 1865. Atzerodt's last words were "May we all meet in the other world. God take me now." He was re-interred in Glenwood Cemetery in 1869.


Depiction in media

* Atzerodt appears in the season 1 episode "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" of '' Timeless'', portrayed by Travis MacDonald. In the episode, he makes an attempt to assassinate Johnson but is stopped by Rufus and other soldiers and arrested by the authorities. * Atzerodt appears in '' Manhunt'', played by Tommie Turvey. In this depiction, he is arrested on the night of the assassination rather than six days later.


References


External links


Biography and Images of George Atzerodt, Assassination Conspirator
''University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law''. Accessed December 9, 2004.
Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Research Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atzerodt, George 1835 births 1865 deaths 19th-century executions of American people American failed assassins Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Civilians who were court-martialed Executed American assassins Executed failed assassins Executed people from Thuringia Lincoln assassination conspirators Confederates executed by the United States military by hanging People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis People from the Province of Saxony People of Maryland in the American Civil War Prussian emigrants to the United States German assassins German people executed in the United States