The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 21, 1898, Page 19

NDAY, AUGUST 21, 1898. PRESENTED TO MAJOR GEORGE IN SAVING From a Photograph OBVERSE F. ROBINSON FOR HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE MEDAL THE LIFE OF SECRETARY SEWARD. il to The Sunday Call. y and paval heroism and a pa- throughout the Union comparatively few know that living in the little city of Po- Angeles County there lives one of the fore- - Civil War—a man to whom Congress w gold medals ever struck for Sl oting him a gift of $5000 and its e is Major Foster Robinson. He lives in a beautiful orange grove along San An- nd so modest Is he about the e traordi tion with some of hi c chapter in Ame hors do not know tk of Major Robinson the Seward would have been the moment that Pr to his country roism. Nearly ted in the familiar oward last thirty 1 the Secretary of s the soldler’s midnight struggle from ve been giv brav the Lincoln assassina- ct on April 14, 1865, the incoln, -President d. It was ne army, would Lincoln, and as- hed with the Presi- , then a young ination mi w. “how I guar quasi-nurse at the pril, 1365. I had been gon- ital in Washington for sev- in the leg—received in the t pi I w; -4 to some employ- were a drug in the rd and helper in the wounc were frequently stationed of the foremost men :d by some of the 1885, early in c Sex [ [ £ tz ! ¢ was beaut d X, 1 ich better. on General v that the broken bone re I of the ormal meeting o d porter in ch aw a tall yo e curbing on to the ground g man the street, " said h r M ard. T've s to see him mysel? T'm in haste and 1t he had The rict orders to admit nger on repeating tted to the vestibule. nd see Mr. Frederick olored man. He went lighted fiight of followe im- nd bim, « the scene of e erime g of all his grim resolution t rtal v, now only remained ghtful scheme to slay Presi- Vice-President Johnson and t parts of the city at the same sassin in the Seward house Miss Se rd heard the v up the front stairs, and carelessn ol ick-chamber. upon roisily approach The hall was partially Jighted, as I have saic d the siairs were built in two short flights, with lan s between, so that one could not look from the head of the stairs to the bottom. At the top way Frederick W, . who had been called nger from the vard away. arned later that ed porter, met the he door of the sickroom was sked young Mr. Seward in a whisper young stranger. -nt me with this medicine for Secre- d. It must be taken immediately. I am the student, and as T compounded the prescription: I 1 Mr. Seward himself how and when to take the of the ““pr. Verdi h rederick Seward whispered something to the effect see if his father was awake. Then he silently door of the Secretary’s room, and In the dim the gas flame tiptoed over to the bed where his ! He turned and went back as sflent : cat to - Janding at the head of the stairs, where he said in a hat he would not disturb the patient at that hour. @ he closed the door. e there came the sound of blows as if some one d by a rattan. Not a word was spoken. I chair and threw open the hall door in tithe \ll, powerful, beardless young man strike rd two powerful blows on the head with a Mr. Seward reeled and staggered. tranger jumped through the door at me. I h in the feeble gaslight. He dealt me an scalp and forehead with his knife. I staggered forward while blood started down my face and beard ‘In a fraction of a second the stranger, wearing a long, light overc a black slouch hat and wearing cavalry iss Seward a punch that threw her aside. “When I glanced at him next he had pounced upon the bedside nearer us, but further from the recumbent patient. The assassin had his now broken navy pistol in his left hand and a long he knife in his right. He knelt on the bedside, le nd across the bed, and placing his pistol on th chest, he struck madly and fran- tically at the head a It was all done so quickly that the telling it makes it seem slow. I remember that the thought of felling the stranger with a chalr or of baating him on the head with a heavy silver water pitcher near at hand flitted through my mind, but the chairs were too heavy and there was a big chunk of ice in the pitcher. “T saw (a thousand times quicker than it takes to tell it) the assassin strike at the Secretary’s head and lay open a gash in his cheek. But for the surgeon’s bandages about the fractured lower jaw, a mortal wound In the neck would have been made. “I leaped upon the stranger from the rear, snatched his - elbow 25 his right hand gripped the knife for a surer and move powerful stroke. and thus diverted the blade in the nick of time. The knife went into the Secretary’s shoulder ang frc awful blow on t HOW 1 SAVED SECRETARY OF STATE SEWARD FROM ASSASSIN. PAYNE BEING A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HiS CABINET. instead of his face. “Then began a terrific hand-to-hand grapple. The as- sassin threw back his hand and gave me a deep cut in the right shoulder as I pulled and tugged him from the bed. A second later he gave me another cut there. In a twinkling he turned upon me with the ferocity of an enraged tiger, while Secretary Seward rolled off the further side of the bed. The assassin struck at me several times, once glving me a slash across the left shoulder. I clenched my arms about him with my utmost strength, while he was trying to force me away so that he could use his arms either to thrust his bloody knife into me or beat me icto insensibility with the blows from his pistol. “Meanwhile Miss Seward had pushed up the window in the sickroom and had scrcamed ‘Murder! murder!’ and then had shricked in the hall for heip for her father. Although weak from my hospital experience and my use of crutches for six months previous, I was a strong young man at that time. I realized at the very moment of the assassination that it was a political one. While we struggled in a vise- like embrace, I stayed, as best I could, the descent of the knife ‘upon me. My antagonist vainly tried to raise his hands to beat or to stal, me. He writhed and squirmed in enzied desperation. 5 “He sud?}enly dropped his pistol and with all the strength of his shoulders and arms tried to push me from L REVERSE OF THE GOLD MEDAL GIVEN BY CONGRESS TO MAJOR GEORGE F. ROBINSON EOR PERSONAL BRAVERY IN SAVING SECRETARY SEWARD FROM THE HANDS OF ASSASSIN PAYNE AT THE TIME The medal commemorates the most sensational event in American history, the attempt to assassinate President Lincoln and the officers of his Cabinet. son, then lately recovered from a wound received in the ceident the sick chamber, beat down those who opposed him with a loaded pistol, and then, with a drawn Knlf or Robinson sprang upon him retary rolled unconsciot P On the night planned for the attempt Major Robix ick chamber, the Cabinet officer having met with e at his victim several times when and uloody fight followed. The and the assin panted and struggled for the mastery. him or to throw me. I clung to the man with even greater intensity. No man who has never experienced a hand-to- hand conflict for life or death knows what a thrilling mo- ment it is. We swayed back and fcrth in tight embrace. All I saw was my desperate big antagonist and that knife blade. I grasped the z sin’s right wrist. He ceased for a second his stabbing tactics and tried to throw me. Then, summoning all my strength. I tried to throw him by using my shoulder under his arm as a fulcrum. My wounded leg gave wav and I partially staggered. The assassin made a snatch at my throat. The despair of the moment brought back my full strength, and I tripped the villain somewhat off his feet. While I had him in that position I urged him a few feet across the room toward the hall door. My sud- denly born idea was to get him tq the hall and throw him over the bannister to the floor below. “When we were about half way across the room, and AR about the head and shoulders. He bounded down the stairs. , a messenger in the State Departmeny was the stairs to get help, he having been roused RECOUNTED by Major George F. Robinson, o012 Whom Congress Bestowed a Gold Medal Mr. Hansell fleeing dow “How long was the assassin Payne in the house? “Not more than three n suddenly and was over so quickly that we had ideas of it for a time. 4 L sassin was gone I turned to find Secretary Seward on the carpet at the further side of the bed. His daughter was g over him, e room f{rom hers, naturally wild with alarm. tuined up the gas and gave attention He was bleeding profusely. in which he lay, the gaping gash in the cheek, the wound in his ehoulder and his ghastly I lifted the patient to his bed and found that his for HIS HERO.C SERVICES in Saving the a bend into Secretary. Secretary Seward’s Li'e at the Peril of His Own. sight. still alive. the room in a dazed condition. fractured that he was {ll for months, and 7, At \ N NN N LA RAREEATEA SRS NN m PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS ASSASS!NATED. war, while out riding that day. Payne came and, wounded, from his bed. notwithstanding Seward, he was badly screaming for help, while we were in flerce grapple, 1: all the time trying to cut or stab me, I felt some one taking hold of me at my r . It flashed into my mind thkat here was an accomplice of the murderer. Another swerve of our bodies, and I saw in the dim light that it was Major Augustus Henry Seward. He had heard his sister's shriek, had sprung out of bed and had come into his father's room to find, as he at first thought, two drunken soldiers scuffling in the darkness. So he was trying to push us out of the room. “As soon as I saw Major Seward I called to him, 'Hold that man’s hand; get that knife!’” But the major reached around me from behind and got his hands on the assassin's shoulders as to push him along through the hall door. assassin came against the woodwork of the door and eby regained a firm footing. “As quick as lightning he freed himself from my’ grasp, and raising his right arm gave Major Seward several stabs it DOES THE GERMAN EMPEROR KNOW THE GAUSE of the Mysterious Death of Von Hahnke? HE mystery surrounding the death of Lieutenant von Hahnke, about which so much was heard nearly a year back, has been re- called to mind by the recent per- formances of the German Em- peror at Odde, where his Majesty has been inaugurating, with a vast amount of ceremony, a monument erected by himself to the deceased officer. If any- thing, the proceeding at Odde serve only to deepen the mystery. It will be remembered that the official version of the accident attributed Von Hahnke's death to his losing control of his bi- cvcle at a dangerous spot on a narrow down-hill road, and falling in conse- quence into a raging torrent beneath. Certain persons, including one or more brother officers of the deceased, were said to have witnessed the acci- dent, but the names of these witnesses have never been disclosed, nor, so far as can be ascertained, was any in- quiry into the affair held by the local authorities. Ugly rumors have been current con- necting the disappearance of Von Hahnke with the subsequent appear- ance of the Emperor with a black eye— in explanation of which another strange and unauthenticated story was official- ly put forward. Then, nearly two months after the event, it was an- nounced that the lieutenant’s body had been recovered, aithough it had pre- viously been demonstrated by practical experiments that no human body could a few hours. this is not given. it was recovered? hold together at this spot for more than The bodv thus discovered, after hav- ing been in the water weeks, was brought back to Germany with much ceremony and received a quasi-public funeral in which the Em- peror figured conspicuously. made in Germany at the time showed that German editors had received other versions of the story of Von Hahnke's death, but that thev were afraid to publish anything on the subject. Now we have the further extraordin- ary fact that, in addition to the unpre- cedented honors paid to him last year, the Emperor has himself erected and himself inaugurated a monument young naval name was hardiy known outside own ship and his own family at the time of his death. We also see the Ger- man press supplied over and over again with narratives strongly suggestive of official inspiration, detailing all the cir- cumstances of the tragedy. mation, however, as to the evidence on which the narratives are conspicuously wanting. In one account it is stated brother officer of the Hohenzollern was with Von Hahnke at the time of the accident, but, strange to say, his name An old man, and two children are also stated to have wit- nessed the accident. urally arises, when and by whom was their evidence taken? official identification of the body when Did the Norwegian authorities hold no {nquiry before send- ing it off to Germany? Were the old man, the two children and the brother officer interrogated by any official or tribunal? If so, why had the result not been made public? The function at Odde and the news- paper accounts of it all have the air of being inspired by some more im- portant motive than that of commem- orating the accidental death of an un- known individual of humble rank. If that motive be to dispose of the sinis- ter stories that have been in circula- tion, it is strange that such cumbrous means are adopted, while the much simpler one of publishing the evidence nearly eight Inquiries on which the official story rests is to avolded. lieutenant—whose ——— e his “Are you invited to Washington's Fourth-of-July dinner, George?” asked Samson of George the Third. “Certainly,” replied the King. 'All infor. _ And are you going?” queried Sam- son. founded is “Of course. Why not?” sald the King. “George and I buried the hatchet that a years ago, and now we're having a brand new ax made that we're going to bury.” ‘“Where are you going to bury it?” asked Samson. “In the head of any jay who tries to make further trouble between us,” re- plied the King, suavely. Samson immediately took his jaw- bone out of his locker as a measure of self-protection in case any of his re- marks should be misunderstcod. The question nat- Was there any by Miss Seward’s screams and our strugsies. overtook Mr. Hansell half way down and across the back. Then the assassin went out of the front door like a rocket, leaped into his saddle, and, striking his spurs into his horse’s flanks, was off down the avenu heart still beat, althcagh he seemed pulseless. 3 the agonized mother and daughter that the Secretary was Frederick Seward was walking aimlessly about From a Photograph. was detailed yne managed to escape on horseback, but he was afterward caught, tried and executed. The fellow gave him a slash o It all came upon us so confused When iinutes. The excitement was awful. weeping hysterically. Mrs. Seward ran first to the The pool of blood pale face all made a frightful 1 assured His skull was so severely he never fully recovered until cranium. I brushed 2ver saw. “While we were the sickroom. and he looked at “‘How badly ““I can't tell. my reply. “Thy side. “‘Don’t say a been shot at Ford ““Why, I mean raid of Mosby “Surgeon a few minutes. He senger came for him to hasten to the side of Presi- dent Lincoln, who was still alive. The surgeon general called another sur- geon for Secretary Seward. The fami- ly physician was also summoned. “In response toa request from some one in the Seward family a detail of soldiers arrived from the military headguarters to act as guards about the house. The officer in com- mand asked how they should be placed, and I showed him. It may be said in this connection that a guard remained there all the four remaining years that Mr. Seward was Secretary of State. It is unnec- essary to add that there was no sleep in the Seward house that night. I was taken back to Douglas Hospital the next day and was in bed for sev- eral weeks. It was several months be- fore my wounds healed. “I learned a few days after the as- s ation who was the villain that had attacked Secretary Sewvard It was Lewis Payne. He was a very tall, blue-eyed man of about 24 years of age. He weighed about 160 pounds, was mus- for duty in Secretary Seward's to the house toward midnight, forced his w into cular and bold. sprang upon Secretary Seward. He had stabbed I saw him in the he forced the assassin back. A fierce old Washington ran into the room, and amid the din Robinson Prison, and also o when he was tried along with Mrs. Surratt, Atze- rodt, Herold and other conspirators. He was hanged with three others July 7, 1865.” . Major Robinson was an important witness in the famous trial of the conspirators in Washington. Congress quickly recognized his heroism. He was given a vote of thanks and awsrded a gift of 35000 and to him was presented a golden medal struck for the occasion. The medal is, of course, very Lighly valued at the major's house. There never was but one larger, and it is similar in size and somewhat similar in execution to the ones given General Grant and Admiral Farragut. It is heavy, three inches in diameter and a Guarter of an inch thick. On one side is a profile of Major Robinson in bas-relief, around which are artistically ar- ranged the following words: R ot SR o SR S R R o R R e b i o B R I Awarded by Congress of the United States to * % George F. Robinson for His Heroic Conduct in * } Saving the _ife of the Hon. William H. Seward, D Secretary of Suate of the United States, April i4, ¥ : 1865. BS LA R R R O e On the reverse side is the picture in bas-relief of the struggle of Major Robinson with the assassin Payne at the bedside of Secretary Seward. The assassin is pictured with his knife raised on high, the Secretary is lying semi-pros- trate and Major Robinson is stayin~ the murderous hand in a downward stroke. The medal contains some $225 worth of gold. The steel die for it took weeks of artistic labor and cost upward of $2000. For a few years Major Robinson was a clerk in the War Department at Washington. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Grand Army of the Republic and he has always been devoted and enthusiastic in that order. When the Hayes administration came in Major Robinson’s friends insisted that he have a substantial and permanent reward. The Legislature of Maine (his native State) passed a reso- lution asking that the risk of his life and his saving of the life of Secretary Seward on such a supreme occasion as the 1éth of April, 1865, be remembered by the President of the United States. James A. Garfield, Senator John A. Logan and others took the Major’s case to Fresident Hayes and he appointed him paymaster in the United States army with the rank of major. In August, 1896, Major Robinson was retired from the army, having reached the prescribed age limit. The only relic he has of the night when assassination and conspiracy stalked abroad in Washington is the knife with which Payne almost killed Secretary Seward and the major him- self. The weapon was dropped at the curbing in front of the Seward home when Payne excitedly leaped on his horse after committing his crime and rode away. After the trial and conviction of the conspirators Joseph Holt, Judge Ad- vocate General of the United States, gave the knife to Major Robinson. It is as formidable a weapon for cutting and slashing the human anatomy as was ever seen. Its blade is thirteen inches long and one and one-half inches wide. It is as sharp, even now, as a razor, and in the hands of a strong man could easily be sent through a pine board an inch thick. If Assassin Payne had eyer had a good blow with the knife at the chest or stomach of Secretary Seward as he lav in bed the blade would undoubtedly have gone through him. bleeding on the bed; Major wounds in the shoulder; Frederick W. Seward was badly in- jured; a pool of blood was at the bedside, the broken pistol lay in parts near the bed, while blood ran from four wounds 1 had on my forehead and shoulders. tary he slowly opened his eyes dead; call the police; “Sweeter words were pro Seward, her son and daughter. “When did I hear of President Lincoln’s assassination? When Surgeon General Barnes came (in response to a mes- sage that Miss Seward dispat: by many men high in Governt showed deep anxiety and th I was engage surgeon general came to take my As he did he moved close by my “ “Where's Stanton a; ““What do you me; the whole Government,’ guerrillas. neral Barnes did not answer. bed and went into the hall, which had filled back to the Secretary “Thank God. they're safe! 1 t-!l:v;m of the Secretary’s injuries. Ten minutes later a mes- From a photograp!. a surgical operation took place on his the blood from my face and helped at stanching the flow from the Secretary’s cheek and shoulder. “It was indeed as gory a sight as many & There was the Secretary, apparently war veteran lifeless and Seward was bleeding from washing the bloody face of the Secre- and said faintly, ‘T am not i close the house.” et phy p er heard by Mrs. at once) he was followed hority. The surgeon htfuln when he came Into washing the knife wounds, actec is the Secretary hurt?’ asked he. You had best see that for yourself,” was place at the bad- de. dent Lincoln has just like a scheme to kill off nking of the threatened that He left the Jith people in to some one there. ¥Then he came le and said in an undertone, He w on with an examina- poke / [ o R SSES THE KNIFE WITH WHICH PAYNE AT- TACKED SECRETARY SEWARD. EX- ACT SIZE. From a photosraph.