Edward P. Doherty

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Edward P. Doherty (1838-1897)

Edward Paul Doherty (September 26, 1838 – April 3, 1897) was a Canadian-American

US President Abraham Lincoln, in a Virginia
barn on April 26, 1865, twelve days after Booth had fatally shot Lincoln.

Early life

Doherty was born September 26, 1838, in Wickham, Lower Canada, to immigrant parents from Sligo, Ireland.[1] His birth year was long incorrectly believed to have been 1840 but is clearly recorded as 1838 in Wickham's parish records.[2]

He came to

New York State in 1860 and was living there when the American Civil War
broke out.

American Civil War

He enlisted in a 90-day militia unit and was assigned as a

71st Regiment
, along with Doherty, mustered out on August 9, 1861.

Doherty went on to become a

16th New York Cavalry on September 12, 1863. The regiment was assigned to the defense of Washington, D.C.
, for the duration of the war, where Doherty distinguished himself as an officer.

Pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth

On April 24, 1865, 10 days after the assassination of

David E. Herold in a tobacco barn near Port Royal, Virginia, owned by Richard H. Garrett. With the barn surrounded, Doherty called upon Booth to surrender, but Booth refused and threatened to shoot anyone who entered. His accomplice relented and as he surrendered to Doherty, Sergeant Boston Corbett fatally shot Booth through a crack in the side of the barn as the assassin had been aiming to fire at Doherty or Herold. Doherty stated that "the bullet struck Booth in the back of the head, about an inch below the spot where his shot had entered the head of Mr. Lincoln." Booth's spinal cord was severed, and he died two hours later.[4]
Doherty and the men of his regiment returned to Washington, D.C., on April 27, 1865, with Booth's body.

Later military career after

For his service in the capture of

5th Regular Cavalry as a Second Lieutenant on April 19, 1866. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on March 1, 1867, in the 1st Cavalry
and remained in the regular army until mustering out on December 27, 1870.

During his last years in the military, he served some time under

Reconstruction period
.

Later life

Edward P. Doherty's tombstone (note the error in the birth year)

In 1871, after resigning from the United States Army, Doherty went into business in New Orleans. Having returned to New York City in 1886, he was appointed Inspector of Street Pavings, a position that he held from 1888 until he died on the morning of April 3, 1897.

He was Past Commander of Veteran Post Number 436, G. A. R.; as well as a member of the

16th N.Y. Cavalry
which captured President Lincoln's assassin April 26, 1865."

Family

His sister's son,

Speaker of the House
from 1909 to 1911.

Another nephew, Georges Marcil, was the last mayor of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, before the city was annexed to Montreal in 1910.

See also

References

  1. ^ Parker, Alan (May 4, 2015). "The Canadian Who Captured Abraham Lincoln's Assassin". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  2. ^ "Québec, registres paroissiaux catholiques, 1621-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-28000-5937-33?cc=1321742 : accessed 18 December 2015), Drummondville > Saint-Frédéric-de-Drummondville > Index 1816-1876 Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1816-1844 > image 444 of 613; Catholic Church parishes, Quebec.
  3. ^ <Official records for the Union And Confederate Armies, 1861-1865, Series I: Formal reports... Chapter LVIIL pages 1317-1318
  4. ^ "The Death of John Wilkes Booth, 1865". Eyewitness to History/Ibis Communications. Retrieved August 16, 2012. (Quoting Lieutenant Edward Doherty, officer in charge of the soldiers who captured Booth)