The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse
On the morning of April 2, 1865, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, received a telegram from General Robert E. Lee. There is no more time—the Yankees are coming, it warned. Shortly before midnight, Davis boarded a train from Richmond and fled the capital, setting off an intense and thrilling chase in which Union cavalry hunted the Confederate president.
Two weeks later, President Lincoln was assassinated, and the nation was convinced that Davis was involved in the conspiracy that led to the crime. Lincoln's murder, autopsy, and White House funeral transfixed the nation. His final journey began when soldiers placed his corpse aboard a special train that would carry him home on the 1,600-mile trip to Springfield. It was the largest and most magnificent funeral pageant in American history.
The saga that began with Manhunt continues with the electrifying Bloody Crimes. James Swanson masterfully weaves together the stories of two fallen leaders as they made their last expeditions through the bloody landscape of a wounded nation.
"James Swanson has done it again.
Bloody Crimes is a moving, evocative trip back in time to the tumultuous spring of 1865. Swanson's meticulous research and sparkling prose make it an essential companion to his award winning bestseller,
Manhunt."
Grossdruck-Ausg.
