John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. As the nation grieved, a hunt for the killer ensued. Luther Byron Baker’s cousin, Lafayette Baker (also from Lansing) headed the Secret Service investigation, with Luther and Everton J. Conger assisting him. Once they picked up Booth’s trail, they set out in pursuit. Members of the 16th New York Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Edward Doherty, accompanied them.
On the morning of April 26, 1865, the team found Booth and a young accomplice, David Herold, hiding in a Virginia barn. According to Luther Baker’s account (A copy is in the Archives of Michigan.), Luther told Booth “…surrender, or we shall burn the barn and have a bonfire and a shooting match.” Herold surrendered, but Booth refused. The cavalry set the barn afire, but he remained inside. The soldiers could see him through knotholes, and finally, Sergeant Boston Corbett of the 16th New York Cavalry obtained a good view of the assassin. Acting against orders, Corbett shot Booth in the neck, mortally wounding him.
Luther Baker’s personal account of the events – written in 1886 and delivered by him in lectures – can be perused at the Archives of Michigan.
Source: Bob Garrett, “A Bonfire and a Shooting Match”, Seeking Michigan, May 5, 2009.