Blood
On the Moon The Assassination of Abraham LincolnBlood
On the Moon The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
When one considers the vast literature concerning the Lincoln
assassination, it is a wonder that nearly all of it was written
by avocational authors. In fact, only three full-length book treatments
published before 2001 came from the pen of a professionally trained
historian. (The three works are: Thomas R. Turner. Beware the
People Weeping: Public Opinion and the Assassination of Abraham
Lincoln [Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1982]; William
Hanchett. The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies [Urbana: University
of Illinois Press, 1983]; and Thomas R. Turner. The Assassination
of Abraham Lincoln [Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 1999].)
Now Edward Steers Jr., a practiced researcher (he holds a PhD
in Molecular biology and is the retired Deputy Scientific Director
for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
diseases at the National Institutes of Health), brings his skills
to bear upon the topic of the assassination.
Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
takes a refreshingly new look at what has become a somewhat stale
topic. Steers disregards the work done by others, and writes this
book using mainly primary sources. That meant combing through
the microfilmed records of the Judge Advocate General and the
Adjutant General's office. When he uses reminiscences, he makes
every effort to collaborate those statements. The effort pays
off. Not only does it make Steers' book more authoritative, but
he also finds many facts and pieces of evidence previously overlooked.
In addition to these important sources, Steers utilizes the research
that has appeared in the pages of The Surratt Courier,
and the files of the indefatigable assassination expert, James
O. Hall.
The story of the assassination as told in the simplest terms,
that it was a single mad act of a deranged person, has been repeated
so many times that it has become almost universally accepted.
Steers' version is quite different. He portrays the assassination
as a calculated act of war, carefully planned and skillfully executed.
(162)
The research done by William Tidwell, James O. Hall, and David
Gaddy, (the trio co-authored Come Retribution: The Confederate
Secret Service and the Assassination [Jackson: University
Press of Mississippi, 1988], and Tidwell followed up with April
'65: Confederate Covert Action in the American Civil War [Kent,
OH: Kent State University Press, 1995]) resulted in a strong yet
highly circumstantial case that the assassination was a conspiracy
that involved the highest levels of the Confederate government.
Lincoln scholars have not universally accepted these conclusions.
But Steers argues rather convincingly in support of these theories.
He traces the beginnings of the conspiracy back to the Judson
Kilpatrick raid on Richmond and the papers found on Capt. Ulrich
Dahlgren indicating that the high-level Union government representatives
approved targeting Jefferson Davis and other high Confederate
officials for assassination. Thus, the Union government instituted
the policy of "black flag warfare," where anyone and
anything could be considered a target. All bets were off so far
as a conflict confined merely to military battles, and the Confederate
government responded in kind.
No doubt, Steers incorporation of the conspiracy theory in his
book is what will cause this most controversy. However, some of
the most seasoned Lincoln scholars are beginning to accept the
fact that the assassination was more than a simple conspiracy.
William Hanchett, who supported a simple conspiracy theory in
his 1983 book, The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies, has in
recent years made clear his own belief in black flag warfare.
(See Hanchett's John Wilkes Booth and the Terrible Truth About
the Civil War [Racine, WI: Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin,
1994].)
Yet other assassination experts remain unconvinced by the Confederate
conspiracy theory. Thomas R. Turner, in his 1999 book, The
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, refutes the claims made
in Come Retribution and April '65. Turner goes so
far as to assert that political assassination would not have been
option for a "Victorian gentleman" like Jefferson Davis.
(p. 73) (However, if you subscribe to such a notion, it must then
be explained how an armed conflict that kills 600,000 American
soldiers could be regarded as being within the acceptable boundaries
of Victorian sensibilities). In any event, one can rest assured
that Steers inclusion of a high level Confederate conspiracy will
not pass unchallenged.
Steers offers engaging and succinct accounts of the hunt, capture,
trial and punishment of those who aided Booth. In well-argued
sections, the author outlines the cases against Dr. Samuel Mudd
and Mary E. Surratt, maintaining that both were appropriately
found guilty and that their sentences were just. In the case of
the former, Steers successfully presents evidence that condemns
Samuel Mudd without merely rehashing the facts presented in his
excellent book His Name Is Still Mudd (Gettysburg, PA:
Thomas Publications, 1997).
Dr. Steers emphasizes Mudd's intense dislike for African Americans.
Such an attitude provides plenty of motive for Mudd's willingness
to participate in the Lincoln kidnapping plan, and to assist Booth
during his flight from Washington in the aftermath of the assassination.
This hatred for African Americans also induced Mudd to attempt
to escape imprisonment at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas after
Black troops were posted there to serve as guards. (237-39)
One aspect of this book that particularly appealed to me was that
Steers allowed his research to tell the story, and he spent relatively
little time debunking old theories and assumptions. However, as
old sensationalist ideas die hard, the author did devote one chapter
near the end of the book to deal with one of the more pernicious
myths. In the chapter "Life After Death," Dr. Steers
addresses the old stories of Booth escaping death at Garrett's
farm. In doing so, Steers analyzes the reminiscences and testimony
of one Wilson D. Kenzie, who has been called "the linchpin
of the Booth escape theories." Kenzie claimed that he was
at the Garrett farm on April 26, 1865, and saw the body of the
man who was shot in the barn. Kenzie stated in an affidavit signed
on March 31, 1922, some 57 years after the event, that he had
personally met John Wilkes Booth in 1864, and that the dead man
was definitely not Booth. George Bryan dismissed Kenzie's claims
in his 1940 book The Great American Myth (New York: Carrick
& Evans, 1940) and Steers does an equally good job demolishing
Kenzie's claim.
This otherwise minor incident was of great interest to me, as
the Kenzie family later settled in Horicon, Wisconsin, located
a mere nine miles from my home. Many citizens in my area are well
acquainted with the family and their story, and have come to the
conclusion that Booth did in fact escape death at the Garrett
farm. Most of these people reached this conclusion not by examining
the historical record, but because the Kenzie family were "very
nice people," and that they cannot imagine one of them making
up such a tale!
Edward Steers' book Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of
Abraham Lincoln is a masterful tale. Well researched, skillfully
written, and easily read, it presents a sometimes complex story
in a concise and well-documented manner. Surely some historians
will take exception to some of Steers' conclusions, but such is
the fodder of historical discourse. In the meantime, I believe
Blood on the Moon stands alone as the definitive book on
the subject of the Lincoln assassination.
Daniel Pearson
January 2002
