Editing George Atzerodt

{{Short description|American assassin (1835–1865)}}{{Infobox criminal
| caption           = Atzerodt in 1865
| birth_name        = Georg Andreas Atzerodt
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1835|6|12}}
| birth_place       = Dörna (now in [[Unstruttal]]), [[Province of Saxony|Saxony]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]],  [[German Confederation|Germany]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1865|7|7|1835|6|12}}
| death_place       = [[Arsenal Penitentiary]], [[Fort McNair]], [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| resting_place     = [[Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)|Glenwood Cemetery]]
| occupation        = Carriage repair business
| conviction_status = [[Executed]]
| conviction        = [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Conspiracy to assassinate Andrew Johnson]]
| image_name        = George Atzerodt2.jpg
| conviction_penalty = [[Capital punishment|Death]]
| death_cause       = [[Execution by hanging]]
}}
'''George Andrew Atzerodt''' (June 12, 1835&nbsp;&ndash; July 7, 1865)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln27.html |title=Abraham Lincoln's Assassination&nbsp;– George Atzerodt |publisher=Abraham Lincoln Research |date=December 29, 1996 |access-date=2008-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/lincolnconspiracy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020203032751/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/lincolnconspiracy.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2002-02-03 |title=The Trial of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators 1865 |first=Douglas |last=Linder |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |access-date=2008-11-08 }}</ref> was a German American repairman, [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] sympathizer, and [[Conspiracy (political)|conspirator]] in the [[Lincoln assassination|assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln]]. He was assigned to assassinate Vice President [[Andrew Johnson]], but lost his nerve and made no attempt.<ref>Hamner, Christopher. "[http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24242 Booth's Reason for Assassination] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202112805/http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24242 |date=December 2, 2010 }}." [http://www.teachinghistory.org Teachinghistory.org]. Accessed 12 July 2011.</ref> Atzerodt was tried by a military tribunal, sentenced to death for conspiracy, and hanged along with three other conspirators.

==Early life==
Atzerodt was born in {{ill|Dörna|de}} (now part of [[Unstruttal]]), in the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] [[Province of Saxony]]. He immigrated to the United States in 1843 at the age of eight. As an adult, he opened his own carriage repair business in [[Port Tobacco, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://porttobacco.blogspot.com/2010/09/yep-got-it.html|title=Port Tobacco Archaeological Project|author=Jim|date=8 September 2010 }}</ref> Despite having lived in the United States for most of his life, Atzerodt could not speak English fluently.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Griffin|first1=John Chandler|title=Abraham Lincoln's Execution|date=2006|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=9781455600106|page=186|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFI9CkR8LzgC&q=george+atzerodt+speak+english&pg=PA186|access-date=29 May 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayres|first1=Thomas|title=That's Not in My American History Book: A Compilation of Little-Known Events and Forgotten Heroes|date=2000|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|isbn=9781589795129|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780965191180/page/138 138]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780965191180|url-access=registration|quote=george atzerodt speak english.|access-date=29 May 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Conspiracy==
{{moresources|section|date=September 2022}}
In January 1865, some years after opening his failed carriage repair business, Atzerodt was introduced to [[John Wilkes Booth]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], by [[John Surratt]].<ref>Jampoler, Andrew C. A., The Last Lincoln Conspirator: John Surratt's Flight from the Gallows, Naval Institute Press, 2009. p</ref> Atzerodt was willing to join in Booth's earlier conspiracy to kidnap [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]], as he later admitted in his trial.

According to the prosecution, Booth assigned Atzerodt to assassinate [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Andrew Johnson]] on April 14, 1865. On that morning, Atzerodt booked room 126 at the [[1111 Pennsylvania Avenue|Kirkwood House]] in Washington, where Johnson was staying. At 10:15 P.M. that night, the same moment John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln at [[Ford's Theatre|Ford's Theater]], [[Lewis Powell (conspirator)|Lewis Powell]] attacked the already injured Secretary of State [[William H. Seward|William Seward]], but Atzerodt could not muster the courage to kill Andrew Johnson. Instead, he began drinking at the hotel bar, becoming heavily intoxicated, and lost his nerve. He spent the rest of the night drunkenly walking the streets of Washington. He dropped his knife in a nearby gutter; a sharp-eyed woman saw this and reported it to the police immediately.

During his stay at the hotel, Atzerodt had asked the bartender about Johnson's whereabouts. That aroused suspicion the next day, after Lincoln was assassinated. An employee of the hotel contacted the police regarding a "suspicious looking man in a gray coat".<ref>Pitman, Benn ; ''The assassination of President Lincoln and the trial of the conspirators&nbsp;...'' Clark, N.J.: Lawbook Exchange, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-58477-600-0}} ; p. 144.</ref>

The military police then conducted a search of Atzerodt's room on April 15 and found that he had not slept in it the night before. Additionally, he had a loaded [[revolver]] concealed under his pillow as well as a concealed [[Bowie knife]]. The police also found a bank book belonging to Booth in the room. Atzerodt was arrested on April 20, at the house of his cousin, Hartman Richter, in [[Germantown, Maryland]].

==Trial and execution==
[[File:Execution Lincoln assassins.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Execution of [[Mary Surratt]], [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Lewis Powell]], [[David Herold]] and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865, in the courtyard of Washington Arsenal (now [[Fort Lesley J. McNair|Fort McNair]]). Digitally restored.]]

Atzerodt's trial began on May 1, 1865. Atzerodt's [[Lawyer|attorney]], [[Captain (land)|Captain]] William Doster, stated to the court that he intended "to show that George Atzerodt was a constitutional coward; that if he had been assigned the duty of assassinating the Vice President, he could never have done it; and that, from his known cowardice, Booth probably did not assign to him any such duty."<ref name="umkcAtz">{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/atzerodt.html|title=The Trial of the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators 1865&nbsp;– George Atzerodt|first=Douglas|last=Linder|publisher=Law.umkc.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124155531/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/atzerodt.html|archive-date=2011-01-24}}</ref> However, that was to no avail.

After the conviction, Atzerodt offered a confession to Reverend Butler, a minister who came to his cell to offer him comfort. Butler said that Atzerodt admitted going to the meeting in March to help plan the kidnapping of Lincoln while he attended a play at a hospital.

Atzerodt said he first heard about Booth's plan to assassinate the President just two hours before the shooting. Atzerodt said that Booth really wanted David Herold to assassinate Vice President Johnson because he thought that Herold had "more pluck" than Atzerodt did. Atzerodt said Booth wanted him to "back up" Herold and "give him more courage".<ref name="umkcAtz"/>

Atzerodt and three other convicted conspirators ([[Mary Surratt]], [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Lewis Powell]], and [[David Herold]]) were [[hanging|hanged]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on July 7, 1865. Atzerodt's [[last words]] were "May we all meet in the other world. God take me now."<ref name="umkcAtz"/> He was re-interred in [[Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)|Glenwood Cemetery]] in 1869.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/port-tobacco-times-and-charles-county-ad/167624940/ |title=Within the past week the remains... |date=1869-02-19 |newspaper=The Port Tobacco Times and Charles County Advertiser |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2025-03-09}}{{Open access}}</ref>

==Depiction in media==
* Atzerodt appears in the season 1 episode "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" of ''[[Timeless (American TV series)|Timeless]]'', portrayed by Travis MacDonald. In the episode, he makes an attempt to assassinate Johnson but is stopped by Rufus and other soldiers and arrested by the authorities.<ref>{{Citation |last=Marshall |first=Neil |title=The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln |date=2016-10-10 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5970594/?ref_=ext_shr |access-date=2024-01-19 |series=Timeless |others=Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett}}</ref>
* Atzerodt appears in ''[[Manhunt (miniseries)|Manhunt]]'', played by Tommie Turvey. In this depiction, he is arrested on the night of the assassination rather than six days later.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Germany|United States|Biography}}
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110124155531/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lincolnconspiracy/atzerodt.html Biography and Images of George Atzerodt, Assassination Conspirator]. ''University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law''. Accessed December 9, 2004.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120723021435/http://www.samuelmudd.com/ Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Research Site]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atzerodt, George}}
[[Category:1835 births]]
[[Category:1865 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century executions of American people]]
[[Category:American failed assassins]]
[[Category:Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)]]
[[Category:Civilians who were court-martialed]]
[[Category:Executed American assassins]]
[[Category:Executed failed assassins]]
[[Category:Executed people from Thuringia]]
[[Category:Lincoln assassination conspirators]]
[[Category:Confederates executed by the United States military by hanging]]
[[Category:People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Saxony]]
[[Category:People of Maryland in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Prussian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:German assassins]]
[[Category:German people executed abroad]]