Then and Now: Relay House and the Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy

By Ray Chism and Kimberly Box

In April 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. While we now mark that as the end of the Civil War, for some the war was still not over.

Union troops were still garrisoned in Relay and Elkridge to protect the rail line into Washington. Erastus Tyler was the resident general stationed at the Relay House and William Reynolds was one of the soldiers under his command.

In a last desperate effort to rally the Confederate troops, John Wilkes Booth led a group of conspirators to kill President Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Henry Seward on April 14, 1865.

Booth enlisted Lewis Powell to kill Secretary of State Seward and George Atzerodt to kill Vice President Johnson. Booth was the only one of the three who was successful. Powell did manage to stab Secretary Seward and his son in their home that night; both recovered from their wounds.

Atzerodt rented a room next to the vice president on that fateful night, but lost his nerve and never made an attempt on the vice president’s life.

A six-man cavalry unit was sent from Washington to look for Atzerodt. Tyler sent Reynolds from Relay to search for him as well.

Reynolds met up with the cavalry unit and they joined forces in their search.  They found Atzerodt at his cousin’s farm in Germantown. He was taken to Monocacy Junction, where he was put on a train to Relay.

Atzerodt spent the night at the Relay House under heavy guard before being sent on to Washington the next day. He was tried and hanged for his role in the conspiracy.

Tyler took a lengthy statement from Atzerodt the night he stayed at the Relay House, but it has never been found.

William Reynolds has been all but lost to history. He did not share in the reward money offered for the capture of the conspirators and died in January 1866 in comparative poverty, leaving a pregnant widow.

Historian Ray Chism is the author of several books. He and Kimberly Box will write a series of articles about historical subjects in this area.