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Lewis Thornton Powell (April 22, 1844 – July 7, 1865) was an American Confederate soldier who attempted to assassinate William Henry Seward as part of the Lincoln assassination plot. Wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, he later served in Mosby's Rangers before working with the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland. John Wilkes Booth recruited him into a plot to kidnap Lincoln and turn the president over to the Confederacy, but then decided to assassinate Lincoln, Seward, and Vice President Andrew Johnson instead, and assigned Powell the task to kill Seward. Co-conspirator David Herold was to guide Powell to Seward's home, then help him escape, but fled before Powell was able to exit the Seward home. He arrived at the boarding house run by Mary Surratt, mother of co-conspirator John Surratt, three days later while the police were there conducting a search, and was arrested. Powell, Mary Surratt, Herold, and George Atzerodt were sentenced to death by a military tribunal, and executed at the Washington Arsenal. Early life Lewis Powell was born in Randolph County, Alabama, on April 22, 1844, to George Cader and Patience Caroline Powell. He was the youngest son in a family of eight children. Powell's father was ordained a Baptist minister in 1847, and in 1848, the family moved to Stewart County, Georgia, where his father had received an appointment as pastor of Beulah Church in the village of Green Hill. About this time, Powell's father freed the three slaves he owned. Powell and his siblings were all educated by their father, who was the local schoolmaster. In his early years, Powell was described as quiet and introverted, and well liked by others. He enjoyed carving, fishing, singing, reading, and studying. He also loved attending church, Sunday school, and prayer meetings. He often nursed and cared for sick and stray animals, earning the nickname "Doc" from his sisters. Powell could also be immensely stubborn, and the entire family was well known for their hot tempers. When Powell was 13, his jaw was broken by a mule kick, leaving the left side of his jaw more prominent. In 1859 the Powells were forced to sell their farm and they moved to the village of Bellville in Hamilton County, Florida. The following year, George Powell established a church in Apopka, a town on the border between Orange and Seminole County, and the family moved to a farm outside Live Oak Station in Suwannee County. Military service 2nd Florida Infantry and capture On June 12, 1861, Lewis Powell left home and traveled to Jasper, Florida, where he enlisted in Company I of the 2nd Florida Infantry. He was accepted because he lied about his age – he claimed to be 19. Powell's unit fought in March and April 1862, in the Peninsula Campaign. Powell became a battle-hardened and effective soldier. He won praise from his commanding officers, and claimed that when he shot his rifle he did so to kill – never to wound. He was alleged to have carried the skull of a Union soldier with him, which he used as an ashtray. His one-year enlistment having expired, Powell received a two-month furlough, during which time he returned home to visit his family. He re-enlisted at Jasper on May 8, 1862. In November 1862, Powell fell ill and was hospitalized at General Hospital No. 11 in Richmond, Virginia. He returned to active duty within a few weeks, and fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg. His unit was then assigned to Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, which was organized at the beginning of 1863. Third Corps finally went into combat at the Battle of Gettysburg. Powell was shot in the right wrist on July 2. He was captured, and sent to a prisoner of war hospital at Pennsylvania College. Transferred to Camp Letterman, the vast medical field hospital northeast of Gettysburg, on July 6, Powell worked as a nurse in the camp and at Pennsylvania College until September 1, when he was turned over to the Provost Marshal. He was taken by train to Baltimore, Maryland, and—still a POW—began working on September 2, at West Buildings Hospital. In Baltimore, Powell met and developed a relationship with a woman named Margaret "Maggie" Branson, who was volunteering as a nurse. It is believed that Branson assisted Lewis in escaping from the hospital on September 7. Some historians contend that she actually provided him with a Union Army uniform. Escape and Mosby's Rangers Margaret Branson took Powell to her mother's boarding house at 16 North Eutaw Street in Baltimore. Maryland was split during the Civil War. West of the Atlantic Fall Line the central and western parts of the state largely being settled by Germans from Pennsylvania and other Northerners during the 18th Century, tended to support the Union, as evidenced by Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks' plan to stop secession by moving the Maryland General Assembly to Frederick, where on April 29, 1861, secession had been voted down 53–13, this taking place before Maryland was placed under martial law. East of the Fall line, the city of Baltimore and all of the land between the Mason-Dixon Line and the Potomac and the Eastern Shore for the most part was peopled by Confederate sympathizers, who either directly or indirectly aided the Confederacy. The few exceptions to this rule included Hicks' successor, Augustus Bradford, who had his home in North Baltimore burned to the ground in 1864 by Frederick native Confederate General Bradley T Johnson and his Maryland troops. Johnson was the first to concoct the idea of kidnapping President Lincoln while he was visiting the soldiers home, but whether there were any direct connections to Booth and Powell is unknown. The Branson boarding house was a well-known Confederate safe house and frequent rendezvous point for members of the Confederate Secret Service – the Confederacy's spy agency. Powell may have spent up to two weeks at the Branson house before heading south. While still in Maryland, he learned the location of Harry Gilmor and his "Gilmor's Raiders"—a unit of Confederate cavalry detached from Second Corps—and spent a few days with them. He crossed into Virginia and on September 30, he ended up at the home of John Scott Payne, a prominent doctor and Confederate sympathizer who lived at Granville Tract, a plantation about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Warrenton. By now, Powell was wearing a ragged Confederate uniform, and Payne welcomed him into the home for a meal and a night's stay. They discussed the exploits of Colonel John S. Mosby's Mosby's Rangers, a large detached unit of partisans based in Warrenton. Powell joined Mosby the following day. For more than a year, Powell served under Mosby. Mosby considered Powell to be one of his most effective soldiers, and Powell earned the nickname "Lewis the Terrible" for his ferocity and murderousness in combat. He lived as a civilian with the Paynes, putting on his uniform and participating in military activities only when conducting a partisan raid. Powell participated in a number of ac.... Discover the Eve Gaddy popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Eve Gaddy books.