Battle of South Mountain • Turner’s Gap • Fox’s Gap • Crampton’s Gap
The George A. Townsend wayside marker is part of a a trio of Civil War Trails wayside markers across from the War Correspondents Memorial at Cramptons Gap on the South Mountan battlefield.
From the marker:
George A. Townsend
Reporting the Lincoln Assassination
John Wilkes Booth – Escape of an Assassin
Early in 1865, 24-year-old George Alfred Townsend (1841-1914) began working in Washington, D.C. as a reporter for the New York World after stints at the Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Herald. In April and May 1865, using the pen name Gath, he filed daily reports on President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and its aftermath. Townsend had gained a following during the Civil War for his use of interviews – then a revolutionary technique – and his ability to describe feelings as well as relate facts. His coverage of the conspirators’ trial made him a household name.
As a drama critic for the Inquirer, Townsend had met actor John Wilkes Booth and described him as “haughty.” Townsend’s reports on Lincoln’s assassination in 1865 – beginning with “The Murder” on April 14 and ending with “The Executions” on July 7 – were products of long days spent interviewing witnesses and even longer nights transforming those interview into articles for a news-hungry public. Late in 1865, his articles were published in book form as The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth.
Townsend pursued a literary career to build on his reporting success. He had a gift for mixing fact and fiction, perfecting this style in the 1886 novel Katy of Catoctin, in which Booth appears. While conducting research for his book, Townsend came upon this site an purchased the property within two months. Townsend wrote about 50 million words in books, novels, speeches, and daily newspaper columns during his 50-year career – many of which were composed here at Gathland.
From the caption to the photo on the left:
George A. Townsend in 1860, then a 19 year old reporter for the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
From the caption to the photo in the center:
Townsend’s articles on the Booth trial were collected and published in 1865.
Courtesy Chicago History Museum
From the caption to the photo on the upper left of the right side:
John Wilkes Booth.
Library of Congress
From the caption to the photo on the upper right:
Assassination of Lincoln, Harper’s Weekly, Apr. 29, 1865
From the caption to the photo on the lower right:
George A. Townsend, Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), and David Gray, ca. 1870s.
Library of Congress