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George Atzerodt
An important member of Lincoln’s cabinet, Seward had been seriously injured in a carriage accident a week before April 14. While recuperating he was visited by President Lincoln and by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. He was confined to his bed when Lewis Powell came to try to assassinate him. Despite being gruesomely slashed across the face by Powell, Seward was not killed. This did not stop rumors about his death from spreading like wildfire.
Secretary of State William H. Seward Quotes in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer
The Chasing Lincoln’s Killer quotes below are all either spoken by Secretary of State William H. Seward or refer to Secretary of State William H. Seward. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9 Quotes
Whatever papers Booth read, they all condemned him for his heinous act. Even worse, Booth saw the beginning of a change in how Abraham Lincoln was viewed by America. Lincoln was transformed from a controversial and often unpopular war leader into a martyr and hero. Stories reported in the papers condemned Booth by name in the most unforgiving, vicious language.
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Secretary of State William H. Seward Character Timeline in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer
The timeline below shows where the character Secretary of State William H. Seward appears in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Powell to help him murder Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. David Herold would accompany Lewis Powell to Seward’s home, where the Secretary was lying in...
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Chapter 3
Across town, Secretary of State William H. Seward was recuperating from a terrible carriage accident. Only a few days before, the president had...
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...Lewis Powell and David Herold watched the street. They saw no guards and knew that Seward should be an easy target, weak and sure to be in bed after the serious...
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...backed Bell up the stairs, arguing all the way. At the top of the staircase, Seward’s son Frederick halted Powell. Powell told Frederick the same story, and Frederick told him he...
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Fanny Seward then poked her head out into the hall to tell Frederick that their father was...
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...bed, then tried twice to stab him, missing each time. The third time, he hit Seward, slicing his cheek so that the skin hung from a flap and his teeth were...
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Augustus Seward, the secretary’s other son, then rushed in. At first, he thought his father had deliriously...
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Fanny ran to her father’s bedroom. Seward had rolled out of bed to escape Powell, and was on the floor. Sergeant Robinson,...
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Chapter 4
Back in Washington, Fanny Seward and Sergeant Robinson used cloths and water to stop Seward’s bleeding. Doctors soon arrived, confirmed...
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Riding away from the scene of the Seward attack, David Herold regretted abandoning Powell, but was relieved to be safe and outside of...
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...scream for help. Booth felt that this was evidence that Powell had succeeded in killing Seward. Booth may have been angry with Herold for abandoning Powell, who was a loyal follower...
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Chapter 5
...out across Washington, notifying those in the government and people of their acquaintance. From near Seward’s mansion, meanwhile, the news began to spread about another assassination. Those who believed that Seward...
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...shape the Union Army into an efficient fighting force. Earlier that evening, Stanton had visited Seward’s bedside. Only a couple hours later, messengers reached his house with the erroneous news that...
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...to Lloyd that he was “pretty certain that we have assassinated the president and Secretary Seward.” The two men rode off towards a doctor to treat Booth’s injured left leg.
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Chapter 6
John Surratt, whom Stanton suspected of killing Seward, was in upstate New York on the day of the attacks. He realized he was...
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Chapter 7
...had killed the president. Atzerodt laughingly said yes. He also talked about the attack on Seward and his sons. Atzerodt left Metz’s for his cousin’s house, but unbeknownst to him, he...
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Chapter 8
...Washington, the authorities returned to Mary Surratt’s boardinghouse. John Surratt was still suspected of being Seward’s attacker, and the authorities wanted to arrest Mary and her daughter Anna to put pressure...
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...himself to be arrested. Soon, the servant identified Powell as the man who had attacked Seward.
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Chapter 9
...horrified by the details he read about Powell’s savage attack on the members of the Seward family.
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