Frederick Hatch. Protecting President Lincoln: The Security Efort, the Thwarted Plots and the Disaster at Ford's Theatre. Jeferson: McFarland & Co., 2011. vii + 200 pp. $45.00, paper, ISBN 978-0-7864-6362-6.

Reviewed by Mark Neels

Published on H-CivWar (April, 2012)

Commissioned by Martin P. Johnson (Miami University Hamilton)

The discipline of “Lincolnia” has, in recent leased at an impressive rate. William Hanchett’s years, produced unprecedented levels of scholar‐ 1983 The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies, and Ed‐ ship. From biographies of his individual cabinet ward Steers Jr.’s more recent Blood on the Moon: members, to literary studies of his most famous The Assassination of (2005) ex‐ speeches, to chronicles of the macabre odyssey in‐ amined the numerous conspiracies to kill the volving his corpse, it seems that every year schol‐ president, while Michael Kaufman’s American ars produce new research on almost every facet Brutus (2004) provided the most recent and thor‐ of the life of the sixteenth president of the United ough biography of the assassin himself. States. Of particular interest to scholars and Civil Approaching Lincoln’s bicentennial in 2009, War bufs alike, over the last sixty years, have works were issued in even greater numbers. The been the occurrences surrounding Lincoln’s mur‐ same year as Kaufman’s book, Elizabeth Leonard der in April, 1865. The historiography of this topic released Lincoln’s Avengers (2004), which--along stretches back almost to the day that Lincoln died. with Edward Steers Jr.’s The Trial (2003)--is an ex‐ Even more, over the last quarter century, alone, cellent account of the trial of the assassins in the no less than eight full-length treatments have late spring and summer of 1865. In 2006, James been published regarding this singular event. The Swanson’s Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lin‐ frst attempt at a scholarly examination of the as‐ coln’s Killer gave an account of the search by fed‐ sassination might possibly belong to Lloyd Lewis’s eral troops for that is so dra‐ 1929 The Assassination of Lincoln: History and matic in its narrative that it gave Hollywood’s The Myth, but Jim Bishop’s 1955 The Day Lincoln Was Fugitive (1993) a run for its money. Swanson’s Shot rightly deserves the title of the most popular 2010 Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jeferson Davis version of this story. In more recent times, howev‐ and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse exam‐ er, accounts of the assassination have been re‐ ined the other federal manhunt occurring in the H-Net Reviews days following the assassination, and serves as an um, he is the writer, editor, and publisher of the excellent companion piece to his earlier work. Journal of the Lincoln Assassination, which he And in 2008, another conspirator, , founded in 1987. As well, he has contributed to was highlighted in Kate Larson’s The Assassin’s the Lincoln Herald, Sea Classics, American Histo‐ Accomplice, which subsequently became the basis ry, Surratt Courier, and Walt Whitman--An Ency‐ for ’s 2011 flm The Conspirator. clopedia. This list of credentials, however, sug‐ Furthermore, this list of works is not exhaus‐ gests that this book is his frst attempt at a full- tive! Indeed, even more titles come to mind that, length nonfction account of the assassination, at one level or another, touch upon the Lincoln as‐ and, unfortunately, I believe that it falls short of sassination. For instance, one of the most recent contributing much in the way of new information works, Nora Titone’s 2010 My Thoughts Be Bloody, on an otherwise well-examined subject. expands upon Kaufman’s examination of John Abraham Lincoln’s assassination came as a Wilkes Booth by focusing on the tumultuous rela‐ shock to a nation numb from the constant pres‐ tionship between John and his brother, Edwin, ence of death and war during the late Civil War. and the impact that this family feud had on John’s However, what made it a shock was not that the deeds at Ford’s Theatre. Several primary-source death of an incumbent president was unprece‐ collections have also recently been published, in‐ dented--Lincoln was, after all, the third sitting cluding The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators: president to die in ofce, and the second to die Their Confnement and Execution, as Recorded in within a ffteen-year period. What made his death the Letterbook of John Frederick Hartranft (2009), so shocking was the manner in which it occurred, edited by Edward Steers Jr. and Harold Holzer, for Lincoln was the frst president to be mur‐ and The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence dered. Yet even this fact should not have been en‐ (2009), edited by William C. Edwards and Edward tirely surprising to Lincoln’s family and friends. Steers Jr. Even television personality Bill O’Reilly As some of his friends remembered, Lincoln was has weighed in on the topic, with his 2011 Killing sometimes preoccupied with mysterious dreams Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that and portents, which he often took as a sign of his Changed America Forever. own imminent demise. And although associates of With so much already said about this event, the president often brushed these eerie warnings then, the challenge is to discover new avenues of of as the workings of an over-active imagination, research from which to add to the already exten‐ it is nonetheless surprising that, as Hatch at‐ sive scholarship. In Protecting President Lincoln: tempts to show, more of an efort was not made to The Security Efort, the Thwarted Plots and the increase the president’s protection during a time Disaster at Ford’s Theatre, Frederick Hatch ac‐ when the president’s life was more threatened knowledges this challenge, and seeks to examine than at any other time in American history. the death of President Lincoln by highlighting the Hatch’s book, instead of focusing on any one daunting task of protecting the nation’s chief ex‐ aspect of the Lincoln assassination, provides a ecutive during the greatest crisis in American his‐ general overview of the various facets of this tory. event. Subjects briefy examined include biogra‐ An examination of Hatch’s credentials sug‐ phies of Lincoln, Booth, and the several conspira‐ gests that he is well read in the evidence sur‐ tors; an overview of the causes of the Civil War, as rounding Lincoln’s assassination. According to well as the evolution of Booth’s plot from a plan to both his publisher, as well as a listing of speakers kidnap the president to a conspiracy to murder at the 2012 Conference of the Surratt House Muse‐ him; and even a review of the odyssey of Lincoln’s

2 H-Net Reviews corpse from the time of his death to the moment Guard,” then, hoping that the rest of the book will that concrete was poured over his casket, sealing be as strong, but is disappointed by the otherwise the president away from public view for all ages. lack of focus on the main issue of Lincoln’s securi‐ The strongest part of the book, in fact, happens to ty. be a chapter entitled “The Missing Guard,” which This criticism aside, there are still some gems provides a discussion of Lincoln’s security detail that will--if nothing else--raise eyebrows among on the night of the assassination, in which Hatch Lincoln scholars. Aside from the above-mentioned reveals the unreliable character of Lincoln’s body‐ chapter, perhaps the greatest strengths of Hatch’s guard, John F. Parker. While he accompanied Lin‐ work are the interesting discussion about the sup‐ coln to the theatre that night, Hatch observed, posedly light security detail at the White House, in Parker clearly did not remain at his post in front which he argues that quite a bit more protection of the presidential box, thus inadvertently leaving was provided for Lincoln than originally thought, Lincoln vulnerable. In this chapter, Hatch asks and the biographical sketch of John Wilkes Booth. very compelling questions. Why wasn’t Parker at Still, most of this information can be found in his post? Where did he go? And, why wasn’t he greater detail in other sources, such as Kauf‐ asked to testify at the trial of the conspirators? man’s American Brutus and Titone’s My Thoughts Likewise, Hatch’s examination of sources is Be Bloody. Ultimately, while the book may be use‐ strongest in this section of the book, in that he ful to the general reader with little or no knowl‐ fairly weighs the pros and cons of relying on edge of this topic, the fact that it lacks a clear ar‐ sources written decades after the events they de‐ gument means that it will not be particularly scribe. valuable to historians seeking a greater under‐ Aside from the reminiscences of those closest standing of Lincoln’s assassination. to Lincoln during the Civil War years, very little ink has been spilled on the topic of the security ing detail assigned to the president during the war. True, several recent television documentaries (the o History Channel’s The Hunt for John Wilkes 14-15, Booth, and Stealing Lincoln’s Body immediately enthusiastic come to mind) have sought to at least mention this lesser-known facet of the assassination story. d And one recent book, Michael Kline’s The Balti‐ ought more Plot (2008), provides the frst full-length ac‐ ell count in nearly forty years of the earliest attempt by an assassin to assassinate the president. But, to my knowl‐ edge, no single volume before Hatch’s work has ed attempted to make the issue of security the cen‐ d terpiece of its narrative. To this end, I eagerly ex‐ d pected Hatch to provide new insights on how the d many attempts on Lincoln’s life were thwarted by the likes of Alan Pinkerton, Ward Hill Lamon, and ed other men. Instead, Hatch only succeeds in ad‐ his dressing the question of why Lincoln was so mis‐ ed erably guarded the night of April 14, 1865. The ed reader turns from the chapter on “The Missing

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Citation: Mark Neels. Review of Hatch, Frederick. Protecting President Lincoln: The Security Efort, the Thwarted Plots and the Disaster at Ford's Theatre. H-CivWar, H-Net Reviews. April, 2012.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=35192

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