Port Royal

History: The morning of April 23^rd, 1865, nine days after John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth and David Herold finally managed to cross the Potomac River into Virginia. They arrived at Mrs. Quesenberry’s cottage. She fed the men and they were sent away to Dr. Stuarts’ house, Cleydael, where they only stayed briefly.

On April 24^th 1865 Booth and Herold arrived here in Port Royal, and went to the Brockenbrough-Peyton House. They were accompanied by three former Confederate soldiers. The owner, Randolph Peyton, wasn’t home when they arrived. Sarah Jane Peyton, his sister, let them in after they told her that Booth was a wounded Confederate soldier looking for a place to stay. Miss Peyton eventually told the group that it would be improper for them to stay while Mr. Peyton was out of the house. She told them to go to the Garrett Farm, about three miles south.

The group traveled to the Garrett Farm in the afternoon of April 24, 1865, and Federal soldiers were closing in quickly. In the early morning hours of April 26, members of the 16th New York Cavalry captured Booth and Herold in the Garrett tobacco barn. Herold surrendered, but Booth stayed in the barn. The barn was set on fire. Booth was shot, and he died on the Garrett house front porch. Herold was later executed for his role in the assassination. 

More to Explore: For more information on things to see and do, please visit www.virginia.org

Photo Credits:
   1. “Brockenbrough-Peyton House” Courtesy of National Park Service.