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Abraham Lincoln Assassination n.p., ca. 1865 Composite CDV of John Wilkes Booth & Other Lincoln Conspirators CDV [LINCOLN ASSASSINATION]. "Booth & His Associates." Carte-de-visité. N.p., ca. 1865. 1 p., 2.5" x 4". Light wear; scattered stains on verso. This carte-de-visité is an albumen composite of seven cartes-de-visité of John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators. The image of Booth is in the center, and those of Atzerodt, Spangler, O'Laughlen, Payne/Powell, Arnold, and Herold (clockwise from top center). Except for the image of Booth, the remaining photographs were likely taken by photographer Alexander Gardner after they were arrested and confined aboard two naval monitors anchored in the Washington Navy Yard on the Anacostia River. Historical Background As the Civil War drew to a close, actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators, Lewis Powell (alias Payne), David Herold, and George Atzerodt, plotted to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln to aid the Confederacy. As the Confederacy's fortunes faltered, they decided to assassinate Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward to revive the Confederate cause. Booth assigned Powell and Herold to kill Seward, Atzerodt to kill Johnson, and reserved the president for himself. Powell attacked and severely wounded Seward, Atzerodt got drunk and failed to target Johnson, and Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. After a twelve-day search, authorities found and surrounded Booth and Herold in a tobacco barn on the farm of Richard Henry Garrett. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused, and the pursuers set the barn on fire. Sergeant Boston Corbett mortally wounded Booth in the burning barn, who died a few hours later. By the end of April, authorities captured Powell and Atzerodt. They also arrested Mary Surratt, the owner of a boarding house where the conspirators met; Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's leg while he was fleeing through the countryside; Confederate veteran Samuel Arnold and Michael O'Laughlen, who were involved in the kidnapping plot; and Ford's Theatre stagehand Edman Spangler, who had a passing acquaintance with Booth. Authorities were unable to capture John Surratt, who fled to Canada and then Europe. A tribunal of military officers tried the eight conspirators between May 9 and June 30. They found all eight guilty of various crimes related to the assassination conspiracy, and sentenced four—Powell, Herold, Atzerodt, and Surratt—to death. They sentenced Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlen to life in prison and Spangler to six years in prison. They were imprisoned in Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas off Key West, Florida. O'Laughlen died of yellow fever there, and President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd, Arnold, and Spangler on March 1, 1869. After the last rites and shortly after 1:30 p.m., on July 7, 1865, the four conspirators condemned to death stood on the drop for about ten seconds, and then Captain Christian Rath clapped his hands. Four soldiers knocked out the supports holding the drops in place, and the condemned fell. Within minutes, they were all dead. The bodies continued to hang and swing for another twenty-five minutes before they were cut down. The bodies were buried in shallow graves in the prison yard. In February 1869, President Andrew Johnson allowed relatives to claim the remains of Surratt, Herold, and Atzerodt. No one claimed the body of Lewis Powell. This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses. WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.