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Planning the Capture of Booth

Alexander Gardner American, Scottish
1865
Not on view
Alexander Gardner’s long-term relationship with the federal government and the Army of the Potomac gave him unparalleled access to subjects other photographers could not attain, especially in the days following John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of the president. Here, Secret Service Director Colonel Lafayette Baker sits and studies maps of the area where Booth was believed to be hiding in Maryland or Virginia. The portrait, in wood-engraving form, illustrates a long article published by Harper’s Weekly on May 13, 1865. According to the news story, government agents found Booth in a barn near Port Royal, Virginia, and demanded that he surrender. He refused, and when they warned him that soldiers would set fire to the barn, Booth responded: “Well then, my brave boys, prepare a stretcher for me.” Booth was shot as he attempted to escape the conflagration and died three hours later.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Planning the Capture of Booth
  • Artist: Alexander Gardner (American, Glasgow, Scotland 1821–1882 Washington, D.C.)
  • Date: 1865
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 27.1 × 24.5 cm (10 11/16 × 9 5/8 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Gift, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.100.1223
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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Planning the Capture of Booth and Harold, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Woodcut
Planning the Capture of Booth and Harold
Alexander Gardner
1865
Mrs. Greenhow and Daughter, Imprisoned in the Old Capitol, Washington, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Mrs. Greenhow and Daughter, Imprisoned in the Old Capitol, Washington
Alexander Gardner
1862
Naval Blockade, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Naval Blockade
Alexander Gardner
1865
Indians with Government Agents, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Indians with Government Agents
Alexander Gardner
early 1860s
Queen Emma of Hawaii and Her Entourage, Alexander Gardner American, Scottish, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Queen Emma of Hawaii and Her Entourage
Alexander Gardner
1865

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