Lincoln The Lesser Known Attack on William Seward

[frontrank2]

A lesser-known part of the Lincoln assassination story is the attack on Secretary of State William Seward. On the night of April 14, 1865, - near the time John Wilkes Booth stalked into Ford's Theatre - Lewis Powell arrived at the Seward residence posing as a courier. He told Seward's servant, William Bell, that he had medicine to give the Secretary of State. Bell, a free African American man working for the Seward family, offered to take the medicine personally to William Seward. Powell ignored Bell, pushing him out of the way and proceeding up the stairs. When he reached the second floor, he found Frederick Seward (one of William Seward's sons) waiting for him. Frederick argued with Powell and demanded the medicine. As they were arguing, Fanny Seward, his sister, opened the door and told them to quiet down because their father was trying to sleep. Powell used this as an opportunity to pull out a colt revolver and shoot Fredrick. The gun misfired, and Powell used it to bludgeon Frederick, fracturing his skull and knocking him out. Bell witnessed this attack and ran outside to get help. Powell then barged into the bedroom and attempted to kill William Seward with a knife. Before fleeing the house, Powell ultimately injured three other members of the household. During the melee, Powell left behind the revolver, shown in this photo, which was later used as evidence during the trial.

https://www.facebook.com/fordstheatrenps/

 

[frontrank2]

 

[jackt62]

Seward was already badly injured from a carriage accident and bedridden when he was brutally assaulted by Lewis Powell. Powell actually was able to talk his way into Seward's home, and inflicted serious wounds on other household members before striking Seward himself. It's a wonder that he was able to survive that attempted assassination but he did recover. Lincoln's murder was bad enough, but imagine if the Booth conspirators had managed to assassinate Vice President Johnson and Secretary of State Seward as well.

 

[Fairfield]

The man often credited with saving Seward's life was a soldier from Maine 8th Infantry, Co. B: George Foster Robinson. Robinson came from the small community of Island Falls; he was drafted. Wounded at Ware Bottom Church in Virginia, he had been assigned nursing duties with Seward after the Secretary's carriage accident; he was on duty the night of the assassination attempt.

Eventually he received a reward of $5000 from the government along with a gold medal; the medal read:
"Awarded by the Congress of the United States to George F. Robinson for his heroic conduct in saving the life of Hon. William H. Seward, secretary of state of the United States, April 14, 1865."

He returned to Maine after the War but eventually moved to California where he died in 1907 but he is buried in Maine. His obituary:

Lewis Payne and Lewis Powell were the same person.

 

[JOHN42768]

A lesser-known part of the Lincoln assassination story is the attack on Secretary of State William Seward. On the night of April 14, 1865, - near the time John Wilkes Booth stalked into Ford's Theatre - Lewis Powell arrived at the Seward residence posing as a courier. He told Seward's servant, William Bell, that he had medicine to give the Secretary of State. Bell, a free African American man working for the Seward family, offered to take the medicine personally to William Seward. Powell ignored Bell, pushing him out of the way and proceeding up the stairs. When he reached the second floor, he found Frederick Seward (one of William Seward's sons) waiting for him. Frederick argued with Powell and demanded the medicine. As they were arguing, Fanny Seward, his sister, opened the door and told them to quiet down because their father was trying to sleep. Powell used this as an opportunity to pull out a colt revolver and shoot Fredrick. The gun misfired, and Powell used it to bludgeon Frederick, fracturing his skull and knocking him out. Bell witnessed this attack and ran outside to get help. Powell then barged into the bedroom and attempted to kill William Seward with a knife. Before fleeing the house, Powell ultimately injured three other members of the household. During the melee, Powell left behind the revolver, shown in this photo, which was later used as evidence during the trial.

https://www.facebook.com/fordstheatrenps/

View attachment 416382

The photo is a Whitney Navy and not a Colt. So either the stories description is wrong or the photo is wrong.

 

[RedRover]

I seem to remember someone telling me Mr. Seward may have been wearing some sort of brace about his head or neck after the carriage accident, which may have protected him during Powell's knife attack.

Joshua Frier of Florida, in his memoir, mentions young Powell, alias Paine, was a curious lad, "very indolent and worthless" though he says that all and all he was generally friendly. Says Frier...

 

[frontrank2]

The photo is a Whitney Navy and not a Colt. So either the stories description is wrong or the photo is wrong.

Good pickup.

 

[rob63]

One thing that I find fascinating is that the location where all of this took place is so close to the White House that you could just about throw a rock and hit it.

https://lincolnconspirators.com/2012/10/29/the-seward-site-then-and-now/

 

[connecticut yankee]

George Foster Robinson

...and the special Congressional medal presented to him for saving Seward's life.