The Assassin's Accomplice by Kate Clifford Larson

Author:Kate Clifford Larson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2010-08-07T04:00:00+00:00

On April 15, the day following the assassination, federal authorities in search of Booth and Herold in Piscataway, south of Washington, received an important tip from an innkeeper named Nodley Anderson. Though some of his information proved wrong, Anderson had correctly surmised that John Lloyd, the tavern keeper in Surrattsville, may know something. His presumption was that if Booth and Herold had not traveled through Piscataway, they more than likely went through Surrattsville on their way south.21 Soldiers were immediately dispatched to the Surratt Tavern to pursue the lead.

When the soldiers arrived and questioned Lloyd, he denied everything. He claimed that he had not seen the two men, nor did he know Booth or anyone else who may have been involved in the assassination. Within hours, a separate contingent of Washington police detectives arrived at the tavern and questioned Lloyd. He repeated what he told the federal officers: he saw and knew nothing. Once they left, Lloyd promptly packed his bags and fled to the village of Allen’s Fresh, thirty miles south in Charles County, to stay with his wife’s family.

By Sunday, officers and detectives had set up temporary headquarters in Surrattsville, beginning an extensive interrogation of residents in the area and coordinating ongoing searches throughout Southern Maryland. Delays in pursuing Lloyd and the repeated questioning of him wasted critical opportunities to glean important information. Soldiers and detectives were racing in different directions, following various clues, leads, and false tips. It was not until Tuesday, the eighteenth, that a small detachment of soldiers and detectives were sent to Allen’s Fresh in pursuit of Lloyd.22

In the meantime, Lloyd was becoming more terrified with each passing hour. But he knew his time was running out; investigators were receiving tips from other witnesses who’d observed odd comings and goings at the tavern during the days and weeks leading up to the assassination. Union supporters, a silent minority in the region who had remained fearful of their pro-Southern neighbors throughout much of the war, finally felt empowered to divulge whatever knowledge they had. Some fingered Lloyd and the Surratt family, including Mary.23

Not realizing that law enforcement officials were on their way to arrest him, Lloyd, by coincidence, headed back to Surrattsville with his wife that morning. He had not made up his mind about what he was going to do, but he knew he had to return to the tavern. Along the road, the couple ran into the detectives and soldiers. They promptly arrested Lloyd and escorted him back to Surrattsville.

Lloyd was taken to a makeshift jail and interrogation room that had been set up in Robey’s post office. Captain George Cottingham assumed custody of Lloyd and began what would become several days of back-and-forth questioning, stalling, intimidation, and obfuscation, manipulating Lloyd and wearing him down in the hopes of extracting a confession. Between the eighteenth and the twentieth, several other police detectives and army officers grilled Lloyd. He defied them, too.

On April 20, while Lloyd was undergoing heated questioning, Secretary of War Edwin

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