David Herold

David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) was an accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. After guiding fellow conspirator Lewis Powell to the home of Secretary of State William H. Seward, whom Powell attempted to kill, Herold fled and met with Booth outside of Washington, D.C. They then proceeded to Surrattsville, Maryland where they picked up weapons that Mary Surratt had left earlier for them at her property. Since Booth had broken his leg earlier in the escape, Herold accompanied him to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd. After Mudd set Booth's leg, Herold and Booth continued their escape through Maryland and into Virginia, and Herold remained with Booth until the authorities found them. After becoming trapped in a barn by Union Army troops on the property of Richard Henry Garrett, Herold surrendered to the troops, but Booth, refusing to surrender, was shot by Sergeant Thomas P. "Boston" Corbett through a crack in the barn wall, and died a few hours later. After having admitted his participation in the conspiracy, Herold was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on July 7, 1865, a day after it was imposed.

Early life
David E. Herold was born in Maryland, the sixth of eleven children of Adam George Herold (June 6, 1803 - October 6, 1864) and Mary Ann Porter (January 8, 1810 - February 16, 1883). Adam and Mary were married on Nov. 9, 1828 in Washington, D. C. David was their only son to survive to adulthood. His father Adam was the Chief Clerk of the Naval Storehouse at the Washington Navy Yard for over 20 years. Herold's family was well-off financially and lived in a large brick house at 636 Eighth Street S. E. in Washington, D. C. near the Washington Navy Yard. David attended Gonzaga College High School, Georgetown College, Charlotte Hall Military Academy ( at Charlotte Hall, St. Mary's County, Maryland ), and the Rittenhouse Academy. In 1860 Herold received a certificate in pharmacy from Georgetown College. He then worked as a pharmacist's assistant and as a clerk for a doctor, and was an avid hunter. He became acquainted with John Surratt while attending classes at Charlotte Hall Military Academy in the late 1850s. A few years later, in December 1864, Surratt introduced him to John Wilkes Booth.

For a time in 1864, Herold was employed in Brooklyn, New York, by Francis Tumblety, a quack "Indian Herb" doctor who would be arrested in St. Louis, Missouri in the manhunt following the Lincoln assassination and released for lack of evidence. Years later, Tumblety would be named as one of the Jack the Ripper suspects.

Assassination plot


On the night of April 14, 1865, Herold guided Lewis Powell to the house of Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward. Inside, Powell attempted to kill Seward, severely wounding him and other members of his household. The ensuing commotion frightened Herold and he rode off, leaving Powell to fend for himself. Another conspirator, George Atzerodt, was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, but never made the attempt.

It was during this time that John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater. It is widely believed that Booth broke his leg in leaping from the president's box after the shooting. However, this is contradicted by multiple eye-witness accounts; the evidence suggests Booth broke his leg in a fall from his horse after escaping into Maryland. Booth was first across the bridge into Maryland, and Herold met with him there. They retrieved their weapons cache and proceeded to the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's leg. Herold remained with Booth and continually aided him until Union cavalry caught up with them. Herold and Booth were trapped by authorities on April 26, 1865, after taking refuge in a barn. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused to lay down his arms and suffered a mortal gunshot wound from Sergeant Boston Corbett, who was ratified in his actions, as orders to hold fire had not been given. Herold was tried before a military tribunal. As he had already admitted his involvement in the assassination conspiracy, the only defense his lawyer Frederick Stone (February 7, 1820 – October 17, 1899) could offer was that David was feeble-minded and under undue influence from Booth. His defense being unsuccessful, Herold was convicted and hanged in Washington City On February 15, 1869, David's mother and 5 of his sisters interred his remains in Congressional Cemetery ( Washington, D. C. ) in an unmarked grave, next to the grave of his father Adam. The gravestone memorializing David now present in Congressional Cemetery was placed there in July 1917, at the time of the burial of his sister Mary Alice ( Herold ) Nelson (October 16, 1837 - July 1, 1917) in the cemetery. Mary Alice was the wife of Frederick Massena Nelson (January 1827 - May 11, 1909) of Pomonkey, Charles County, Maryland.

Cultural references
Gore Vidal's fictionalized account of Lincoln's presidency, Lincoln, includes a heavy focus on David Herold. In the Afterword, where Vidal explains the extent to which his novel is true to fact, he writes, "As David's life is largely unknown until Booth's conspiracy, I have invented a low-life for him."

In the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins, David Herold appears in the song "The Ballad of Booth", where Booth forces Herold at gunpoint to write why Booth killed Lincoln. However, when soldiers surround the barn where they hide, Herold runs.