16. Garrett asked Booth and Herold to surrender
Within the dark interior of the barn, lit only with moonlight through the cracks in the walls, Booth was invisible to Garrett, who stated, “Gentlemen, the cavalry are after you…You had better give yourselves up”. Booth responded by accusing Garrett of betraying him, and demanded he leave the barn or he would be shot. Garrett ran back through the door. Conger, Baker, and Doherty appraised the situation. Booth and Herold were armed, but opposing them were two dozen well-armed cavalrymen. Booth was crippled, he could not walk without the aid of a crutch, and he could not run at all. Histrionics aside, Booth was not believed to be willing to die as a martyr for a lost cause.
The three Union officers were well aware that Secretary of War Stanton preferred the President’s assassin be brought in alive. Only he could reveal the true extent of the conspiracy, including any potential links with the collapsing Confederate government and Jefferson Davis. Northern newspapers were speculating over Booth’s links to the confederacy, and if proven they could affect the manner in which the surrendering Confederates were treated by their captors. The officers decided to talk Booth and Herold into surrendering. Baker gave Booth fifteen minutes to consider his fate before the barn would be set afire.