Below is a timeline of the events surrounding the assassination of President Lincoln and the greatest man hunt in American history. Just four days after the end of the Civil War, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.
April 14, 1865 Around noon, Booth learns that Lincoln is coming to the theatre that night. He has eight hours to prepare and plan his escape. At 10:15 pm Booth shoots the president, leaps to the stage, and escapes on a waiting horse. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders the man hunt to begin.
April 15 About 4:00 am Booth seeks treatment for a broken leg at Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm near Beantown, Maryland. Cavalry patrol heads south toward Mudd farm. Confederate operative Thomas Jones hides Booth in a remote pine thicket for five days, frustrating the man hunters.
April 19 Tens of thousands watch the procession to the U.S. Capitol, where President Lincoln lies in state. Wild rumors and stories of false sightings of Booth spread.
April 20 Stanton offers a $100,000 reward for the assassins, and threatens death to any citizen who helps them. After hiding Booth in Maryland, Jones puts him in a one-man rowboat on the Potomac River, bound for Virginia. More than a thousand man hunters are still searching in Maryland. In the dark, Booth rows the wrong way and ends up back in Maryland.
April 20-22 Having turned around, Booth follows the sunset west, reflecting upon his actions. Tired, he takes shelter in the swamps at night.
April 23 Booth lands in the northern neck of Virginia where Confederate agents and sympathizers guide him to Port Conway, Virginia.
April 24 Booth befriends three Confederate soldiers who help him cross the Rappahannock River to Port Royal and then guide him further southwest to Richard Garrett's place. A report of a Booth sighting slips through the cracks at Port Royal and reaches Union troops in Washington. They board a U.S. Navy tug and steam west, right past Booth's hideout.
April 25 The 16th New York Calvary, realizing their error, turns around and surrounds the Garrett farm after midnight that night.
April 26 When Booth refuses to surrender, troops set the barn on fire. Boston Corbett shoots the assassin and pulls him out before the barn burns to the ground. Only charred farm equipment remains at sunrise. Booth dies a few hours later.
April 26-27 Booth's body is brought back to Washington, where it is photographed, autopsied, and then taken to a secret burial site.
Pictured is Booth's diary and some of the missing pages recovered from Garrett farm. These documents are thought to contain secret information embedded in codes and pictures. The U.S. Calvary was unsuccessful in decoding any of it, though some say no real effort was ever made.
After the assassination, a trunk owned by Booth was located. In the trunk were coded messages and symbols that were used by the Knights of the Golden Circle. Most of the messages have been de-coded by modern researchers and they tell us that these strange symbols tied Booth to the murder of President Lincoln and the KGC.
|
This secretive organization is said to have stockpiled money and weapons during the Civil War and hidden them around the country to fund a second war effort. Many of the treasures were buried in the southern and western states. However, smaller caches have been reported in some of the northern states and even as far north as Canada.
The Knights of the Golden Circle were very cryptic much like many secret societies. There is not much documented information about where they buried their caches. However, the KGC did leave strange symbols and codes on rocks and bent trees as guides to where these treasures are located.
You should know that many before you have researched endless ciphers, numeral systems, and KGC treasure symbols in hopes of finding lost treasure. Of all the caches hidden around the country, only a few have been found to contain buried treasure. Even fewer yet are believed to hold Confederate currency stolen by the Knights of the Golden Circle towards the end of the Civil War.
Perhaps the most notable of their robberies took place only weeks before Booth's death. Two wagons filled with gold from Virginia banks and the last of the Confederate treasury were hijacked. The thieves were reported standing knee deep in gold before stuffing it in their shirts and riding off on horseback. Worth roughly $100,000 in 1865, today it would be valued at over a million dollars. Other than a few small caches, the majority of the missing gold was never recovered.
|
Conspiracy theorists believe the pages torn from Booth's diary contain clues to finding this treasure trove. If what they say is true, Booth's final resting place may hold the key to finding the largest cache of Confederate gold in history. It stands to reason that this is why the location of Booth's grave was kept secret.
By retracing John Wilkes Booth's every move during the twelve day manhunt, it may be possible to locate where he is buried. Unfortunately, finding these historical locations has proved too challenging for some.
Those who have succeeded never seem to reveal any details of their search. Is it because they found buried treasure? Or is it something far more sinister? We may never know.
 |