Assassin John Wilkes Booth and fellow conspirator David Herold, after hiding out in the Maryland woods for nearly a week, on Saturday, April 22, 1865, finally reached Virginia, crossing the Potomac in a fishing skiff. On the following day the two men crossed the Rappahannock River at Port Conway, Virginia and made their way to the farm of Richard H. Garrett, where they decided to spend the night, not realizing that Federal troops were closing in on them. At approximately 2 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26, Union troops surrounded the barn where Booth and Herold were located and demanded their surrender. When Booth refused to surrender as did Herold, the barn was set afire and Booth was mortally wounded. Most historians acknowledge Sergeant Boston Corbett as the man who shot Booth.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.