John H. Boyle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Captain John Henry Boyle (died 1880) was an officer of the Confederate Army who found himself in conflict with the law on several occasions, being arrested or captured at least five times and eventually being named as a suspect in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at the conclusion of the American Civil War.
During the 1860 presidential election, Boyle had been accused of voter suppression in Prince George's and Charles counties, Maryland, alongside George Baden, William Berry, and James Judson Jarboe.[1]
On January 20, 1863, Boyle was captured in-uniform at his mother's house in Marlborough, Maryland, and spent five months in the Old Brick Capitol prison awaiting possible execution.[2][1] On May 19, 1863, he was part of a prisoner exchange, and was soon after involved at the Battle of Gettysburg under Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart, who named Boyle in dispatches, "and Mr. John H. Boyle, volunteer aide–I am greatly indebted for valuable assistance rendered, and of whose gallant bearing I cannot too highly make mention."[2][3]
In 1864, U.S. General E. B. Tyler ordered Capt. Thomas Watkins that Boyle should be arrested as a horse thief, having previously been held twice before as a spy.[2] Upon learning he was wanted, Boyle stole a horse from the Davidson, Maryland home where Watkins was staying but was pursued to the J.T. Hardesty shopfront in Collington, Maryland where he shot at Watkins but hit Watkins' horse instead.[2][1]
Boyle was arrested by Watkins, but escaped when he hit Watkins in the head. He moved to safety with help from underground Confederate forces in St Mary's County while repeatedly vowing he'd return to kill Watkins eventually.[1][2][4] Watkins, meanwhile, had to resign his US Army commission due to the head injury.[4]
On November 9, 1864, Boyle sent death threats to Dr. George Mudd, the cousin of Dr. Samuel Mudd, and later sent death threats to Watkins.[1] Boyle eventually returned to Watkin's home on March 25, 1865 with several cohorts. Sources[which?] differ on whether Boyle and his coconspirators knocked on the door and shot Watkins upon being greeted, or whether they snuck in a side door and shot Watkins while he was eating dinner or reading in front of the fireplace. Watkins' wife Julia and infant daughter Margaret were unharmed. The attackers stole three horses and departed as a doctor arrived on-site and spotted them.[2][4] The following day, a local shop named Coffren's in Croom was robbed by three men in Confederate uniforms, presumed to be Boyle and/or cohorts from Mosby's Raiders.[1] Governor Augustus Bradford announced a $1000 reward for Boyle.[2]