How many of the conspirators charged were put to death? How? Name them.

• A. 3 conspirators: by firing squad
• B. 4 conspirators: by hanging
• C. 5 conspirators: by beheading
• D. 2 conspirators: by hanging

Answer: (B)

Four conspirators were put to death, and they were hanged. After the Lincoln assassination, a military commission sentenced four of the accused to be executed: Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt. They were hanged on July 7, 1865, at the Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington, D.C. Mary Surratt ran the boardinghouse where Booth and others plotted the attack; Powell attacked Secretary of State Seward; Atzerodt was tasked with killing the Vice President but did not complete the act; Herold accompanied Powell to Seward’s house and helped Booth escape. The other accused conspirators did not face the death penalty; they received prison terms or other punishments.