The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

"The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth" by George Alfred Townsend is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The work centers around the infamous assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, detailing Booth's background, the conspiracy behind the act, and the subsequent pursuit and fate of his accomplices. At the start of the narrative, Townsend sets the scene in Washington, D.C., on the fateful day of April 14, when Booth, the well-dressed actor, prepared for his heinous deed at Ford's Theater. It describes Booth’s meticulously planned approach, including his interactions and movements leading up to the assassination. He manages to capture the atmosphere of the theater, the audience's excitement, and the moment of the assassination itself, illustrating Booth's actions with vivid detail. The opening portion establishes not only the dramatic tension of the event but also begins to build an intricate portrayal of Booth's character and the gravity of his crime against a beloved leader. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

George Alfred Townsend was an American journalist and novelist who worked under the pen name Gath. He was one of the youngest war correspondents during the American Civil War. Over the course of his career he worked for multiple newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Press, New York Herald, New York World and Chicago Tribune. He became well known as Washington D.C. correspondent for the New York World and his coverage of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He turned his daily reports into a book, The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, published in 1865. In 1871, he established and edited the Washington D.C. newspaper the Capital along with Donn Piatt, but left the venture soon after its creation.