[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. A Military Commission pass to the trial of the Lincoln conspirators signed by Major General David Hunter. Washington, ca. May-June 1865.

Single oblong sheet; 2 x 3 3/8 in. (51 x 89 mm). Printed pass, unaccomplished, signed "D. Hunter"; light wear to verso from when mounted, pencil notations on same.

THE TRIAL OF THE CONSPIRATORS.

With the death of John Wilkes Booth on 26 April 1865 and the arrival of the last conspirator, David E. Herold, in Washington later that day, all that was left to do was prosecute those still alive who could answer for the plot leading to the death of President Lincoln. On Andrew Johnson's orders, a military tribunal was put together to be presided over by Major General David Hunter (1802-1886). Members of Lincoln's cabinet objected to the conspirators being tried by a military court. Still, Attorney General James Speed said in response that as martial law was in effect at the time of the assassination, all believed to have been involved were effectively enemy combatants.

For seven weeks, a total of 366 witnesses filed in and out of a makeshift courtroom on the third floor of the Old Arsenal Penitentiary (now Fort McNair). Eight defendants were tried: Herold, Powell; Mary Surratt; George Atzerodt; Booth's childhood friends and members of the kidnapping conspiracy Michael O' Laughlen and Samuel Arnold; Ford's Theatre stagehand Edmund Spangler; and Dr. Samuel Mudd, who had set Booth's broken leg the night of the assassination, and who was also alleged to have been somehow involved in the kidnapping conspiracy. On 7 July 7 Herold, Powell, Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt were hanged while Spangler, O'Laughlen, Arnold, and Dr. Mudd were sent to Fort Jefferson to serve out their sentences. O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867 while the other three were pardoned by President Johnson in 1869.

Following the trial, Hunter gave extra passes to the military tribunal to friends and souvenir hunters, often signing his name at the bottom.

Provenance:

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California

Exhibition:

Blood on the Moon, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, 19 April-16 October 2005

Property from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Foundation

This lot is located in Chicago.