Description:

UNION CAPTAIN EDWIN BEDEE: EYEWITNESS TO...AND THEN ACCUSED OF LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION!
A fine and excessively rare signed carte-de-visite portrait of a Edwin Bedee, a captain in the Union Army who was witness to, and assisted after the fatal shooting of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth in the Ford Theatre. The photo shows Bedee in full length in union, signed on verso "Capt. E. E. Bedee 12th N. H. Vols". No backstamp. Very slight scuff at bottom affects nothing, overall very good to near fine condition. Edwin Bedee (d. 1908), a printer, enlisted in Albany in August, 1862 as orderly sergeant, and was promoted to second lieutenant. Later, he was appointed messenger in the citizens' corps, and upon the expiration of his term, returned to Meredith, New Hampshire, to join the 12th Reg. New Hampshire Vols. He reached the rank of major, which he held until he mustered out in July 1865. His story the night of Lincoln's fateful shooting is quite unforgettable: Bedee was seated in the second row at the left of the theatre. He saw Booth leap into the President's box, shouting "Revenge for the South!" but, like other members of the audience, for the moment stared in disbelief. As soon as he realized the gravity of the situation, Bedee sprung up in pursuit of Booth across the stage. However, when he heard the scream: "They've got him!", Bedee gave up his pursuit, thinking that Booth had been caught. He then heard Mary Todd Lincoln's scream "My husband is shot!". Bedee rushed back to the President's box along with a physician. He cradled Lincoln's head in his hands, and apparently felt the hole in the back of Lincoln's head where the bullet had entered. During the removal of some of Lincoln's clothing, papers fell from his pocket. Mrs. Lincoln entrusted them to Bedee, saying: "You are an officer. Won't you take charge of these papers?". Bedee helped carry Lincoln to the house across the street, where he waited until Secretary of War Edwin Stanton arrived soon afterward. Bedee delivered the papers to Stanton, writing his own name and regiment upon the wrapper that the Secretary had placed around them. Stanton then charged Bedee with two missions: the first to go to the War Department with a message, and the second to contact the officer in charge at Chain Bridge regarding the fleeing assassin. Following the completion of these assignments, Bedee returned to Stanton, who thanked him for his diligence. He spent the following day with his regiment but that evening was arrested due to a misunderstanding of the connection between the papers Bedee delivered and Lincoln's assassination! Bedee fell from hero to villain within a mere 24 hours and endured arrest for two days. Upon his release, he immediately wrote to Stanton regarding his honorable record during the war, and asked the Secretary to explain the error so as not to blemish his impeccable reputation as a soldier. Stanton complied, and Bedee was thus exonerated and received an official apology from the Department. He remained in service until July 1865, when he mustered out. Bedee spent seven years his life after the service in South Africa, making a fortune in diamonds. In 1892, he bequeathed a memorial to Meredith, New Hampshire that commemorated the 12th Vols., and the old soldier passed away 16 years later in New Hampshire.

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January 20, 2010 10:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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