The Darkest Dawn: Lincoln, Both and the Great American Tragedy

 

The Darkest Dawn: Lincoln, Both and the Great American Tragedy – Thomas Goodrich

When I first came across this book, my initial thought was “Do we really need yet another book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?”   Well, probably not.  This book, though, was actually a very satisfying read.  What differentiates this work from mostly what is already out there is the author’s use of mood and atmosphere; he doesn’t solely focus on the historical events but also the time and the places.  I felt like I was actually there and could experience the feelings, the sights, and the (unfortunately) smells of Washington D.C. in 1865.  If ever I was commissioned to write a screenplay for a movie of this catastrophic historical event, I think I would use Thomas Goodrich’s book as my main source. This is a book that really makes the reader feel.

As the subtitle suggests, this book does a great job showing the “great American tragedy” that John Wilkes Booth’s bullet set in motion, and many would argue has never recovered. As tragic as the U.S. Civil War was, this book takes place immediately after the surrender at Appomattox. Abraham Lincoln is re-elected for a second term, and the entire union is relieved and ecstatic at the victorious conclusion of the war. Obviously, there are still some on the losing side that can’t (not “won’t”, but “can’t”) accept the outcome, and confederate sympathizer and well-known actor John Wilkes Booth’s gun ends the very short time of jubilation and manages to plunge the nation right back into turmoil. 

Yes, the details of the assassination and the aftermath are told to us here, but what makes this book different is how this event sparked panic, fear, and a lot of ridiculous speculation into the minds of the common man in the streets of Everytown U.S.A.  Citizens everywhere are mad and unnerved and frivolous witch hunts are conducted everywhere en masse in the midst of frenzied mobs.  If you even look suspicious, you could find yourself at the end of the lynch man’s rope.  Also, God forbid if you manage to say anything negative about the recently deceased president, or if your neighbors don’t think you’re “mourning enough”.   This was a crazy time.

Although the author does give these events their due diligence (and we must remember that much of this turbulence in the streets has been overlooked by historians who mainly cling to ‘facts’) he does tend to overdo it a bit.  It seems like Thomas Goodrich is trying to uncover every single memory of every single citizen in every single town about the aftermath concerning every single feeling after the assassination. I feel he could have cut back on many of these instances of recollections he presents and still have told a great tale.

There are many elements of this tragedy that the author focuses a shorter amount of attention to, such as the plot to kill (or kidnap) all of Lincoln’s high level cabinet members including Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of state Frederick Seward.  Yes, these events are mentioned, but there’s not a lot of intricate details about the planning and failed execution that one may find in other historical works.  The same can be said for the pursuit of Booth as he tries to escape towards Maryland and is eventually shot and killed inside a burning warehouse.  We do read about the events, but not as much detail as one may wish.  Again, though, the main goal of the author seems to be more about the broken spirit of the country and how the citizens tried to cope.

Speaking of the spirit of the country, we also read quite a bit about the capture, trial, and execution of four of the conspirators who were involved.  Although “involved” might not be the best word to use.  We read about how three of the four doomed individuals probably only had a very minor role in the events and certainly didn’t deserve death by hanging, but the mood of the country was so dark and the citizens were rapaciously wanting revenge, that lesser heads end up prevailing.  There’s a quite a bit here about the actual event, and it’s quite sad, scary, and tragic to read about the events and how people who didn’t deserve to die in such a way were forced to feed the fire of the ignorant mobs.

For novices who know little about the assassinations, or even for readers who are very familiar with the events, this book was a good introduction or supplement to one’s historical education about arguably the darkest time in the country’s history.  One has to seriously ponder that the path of the United States might have been much brighter had Lincoln lived and guided the country through the aftermath of such a terrible ordeal.