Years of service 1861 - 1865 Role Prosecutor | Name Henry Burnett Battles/wars American Civil War | |
Born December 26, 1838
Youngstown, Ohio ( 1838-12-26 ) Place of burial Slate Hill Cemetery Goshen, New York Rank Major
Brevet Brigadier General Died January 4, 1916, Goshen, New York, United States Service/branch United States Army, Union Army Allegiance United States of America, Union | ||
Battles and wars American Civil War | ||
Henry Lawrence Burnett (December 26, 1838 – January 4, 1916) was a brevet brigadier general for the Union in the American Civil War and a prosecutor in the trial that followed the Abraham Lincoln assassination.
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Early life
Burnett was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1838. Determined not to become a farmer, he ran away from home to get an education and eventually married Kitty Hoffman, the daughter of a judge.
Civil War
When the Civil War broke out, Burnett joined the 2nd Ohio Cavalry, where he rose to the rank of major. After being trampled by a horse and seriously injured, however, he transferred to the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the Department of the Ohio.
Lincoln assassination trial
After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Burnett was called upon by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to be an Assistant Judge Advocate General. Along with him were John Bingham and Joseph Holt, the Judge Advocate General. The accused conspirators where George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Powell, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlen, Edman Spangler, Samuel Mudd and Mary Surratt.
The trail began on May 10, 1865. The three spent nearly two months in court, awaiting a verdict from the jury. Holt and Bingham attempted to obscure the fact that there were two plots. The first plot was to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the Confederate prisoners the Union had. The second was to assassinate Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward to throw the government into chaos.
It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of a diary taken from the body of Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth. The diary made it clear that the assassination plan dated from 14 April. The defence surprisingly did not call for Booth's diary to be produced in court. Holt was accused of withholding evidence, but it was never proven.
On June 29, the eight were found guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. Arnold, O'Laughlen and Mudd were sentenced to life in prison, Spangler six years in prison and Atzerodt, Herold, Paine and Surratt were to hang. They were executed July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be executed.
O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler, and Mudd were pardoned by Andrew Johnson in early 1869.
Later life
After his wife died, Burnett moved to New York State, serving as counsel to the Buffalo and Erie Railroad. He remarried, to Sarah Lansing, only to find himself widowed once again, in 1877. Burnett left his children with his late wife's family and relocated to New York City. He remarried again, to Agnes Tailer, and moved to an exclusive district of the city. In 1898, President William McKinley appointed Burnett federal district attorney for the southern district of New York and upon completion of his four-year term, he was reappointed by McKinley's successor, Theodore Roosevelt.
Seeking a country home away from the city, Burnett and his wife purchased a horse-breeding farm in Goshen, New York, where he raced his stock on the amateur circuit. He died in 1916 and was interred in Slate Hill Cemetery in Goshen.