George Atzerodt
| George Atzerodt | |
|---|---|
Atzerodt in 1865
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| Born |
George Andrew Atzerodt June 12, 1835 Dörna, Thuringia, German Confederation (now Anrode, Germany) |
| Died | July 7, 1865 (aged 30) Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation | carriage repair business |
| Criminal penalty | Death by hanging |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Conviction(s) | Conspiracy to assassinate Andrew Johnson |
George Andrew Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7, 1865) was a conspirator, with John Wilkes Booth, in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Assigned to assassinate U.S. Vice President Andrew Johnson, he lost his nerve and did not make an attempt. He was executed along with three other conspirators by hanging.
Atzerodt was born in Dörna, today part of Anrode, Germany. 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.
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. Atzerodt was willing to join in Booth's earlier conspiracy to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln, as he later admitted in his trial, which began May 1, 1865.
According to the prosecution, Booth assigned Atzerodt to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson on April 14, 1865. On that morning, Atzerodt booked room 126 at the Kirkwood House in Washington, where Johnson was staying. However, he could not muster the courage to kill Johnson so he began drinking at the hotel bar. He presumably got drunk and spent the night walking the streets of Washington.
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."
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. He was apprehended at the house of his cousin, Hartman Richter, in Germantown, Maryland.
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