CHARACTER
Chasing Lincoln's Killerby James L. Swanson

David Herold

David Herold

Quick Facts

  • Role: Young conspirator and indispensable guide during the manhunt for President Abraham Lincoln’s assassins
  • First appearance: Escorts Lewis Powell to the Seward home on the night of April 14; reunites with John Wilkes Booth shortly after (p. 80)
  • Background: Washington, D.C. pharmacist’s clerk; “experienced outdoorsman, hunter, and tracker” (p. 40)
  • Key relationships: Follower to Booth; assigned partner to Powell; primary contact for Dr. Samuel A. Mudd and other Confederate sympathizers

Who They Are

David Herold is the story’s portrait of a follower: eager for belonging, useful in the field, and ultimately undone by fear. He is the conspirator without a cause—drawn more by Booth’s charisma and the thrill of adventure than by ideology. The text paints him as small, boyish, and “crazy-eyed,” a man who looks like a boy and often behaves like one, whether nervously hissing at Surratt’s tavern (p. 90) or making carefree small talk at the Mudd farm when the noose is tightening (p. 104). Herold matters because his competence sustains Booth’s flight, but his character—impressionable, self-preserving—shapes how that flight ends.

Personality & Traits

Herold’s personality is a study in contradictions: capable outdoorsman, careless navigator; steadfast helper, unreliable partner; eager accomplice, reluctant martyr. His behavior repeatedly exposes the fragile line between loyalty and self-preservation.

  • Impressionable and boyish: Acts as if on a lark even after the assassination, “seem[ing] to the Mudds not to have a care in the world” at breakfast (p. 104).
  • Skilled yet fallible outdoorsman: Chosen for his tracking and survival skills (p. 40), but he disastrously rows the boat back into Maryland rather than to Virginia (p. 132).
  • Self-preserving to the point of cowardice: Bolts from the Seward house the instant he hears Fanny Seward scream, “decid[ing] to save himself” (p. 73).
  • Loyal follower—up to a point: Serves as Booth’s legs, messenger, and steward for nearly twelve days, securing food and medical help; yet, when faced with the barn standoff, he pleads to surrender.
  • Boyish presence and frayed nerves: Seen as “one small man on a gray horse” (p. 80) and later a “worn-out, crazy-eyed man” who “seemed more like a boy than a man” (p. 110).

Character Journey

Herold’s arc reveals rather than reforms him. He begins as the plot’s useful tool: the local guide who can move a wounded actor through hostile country. His early flight from the Seward attack foreshadows the fault line that will widen under pressure. He proves essential after reuniting with Booth (p. 80), finding doctors, food, and Confederate contacts, but his errors—most fatefully on the Potomac (p. 132)—lengthen their peril. Exhaustion and fear strip away his bravado. In the burning barn, with soldiers closing in, Herold’s survival instinct eclipses every other allegiance; he begs to surrender and breaks from Booth’s defiant narrative of martyrdom. He ends as he began: a follower—only now, a broken one.

Key Relationships

  • John Wilkes Booth: Herold is Booth’s indispensable subordinate, the countrywise guide to a city-bred assassin. Booth depends on Herold’s navigation and social agility with Southern sympathizers like Dr. Samuel A. Mudd and Thomas Jones, but as the net tightens, Booth’s reliance turns to contempt. Their bond finally snaps in the barn, when Booth hurls a last, scathing judgment—branding Herold a coward and sending him out to surrender (p. 150).

  • Lewis Powell: Assigned to shepherd Powell to the Seward house and guide his escape, Herold instead flees at the first sign of chaos. The abandonment exposes the conspiracy’s internal fragility—ambition without trust—and anticipates Herold’s later surrender. It is the clearest early instance of self-preservation overruling the cause.

  • Dr. Samuel A. Mudd: While Booth rests his broken leg, Herold handles the talking and logistics—eating breakfast with the Mudds and riding to Bryantown with the doctor. There he spots Union cavalry, a discovery that forces a hasty flight (p. 105). The episode underscores his usefulness as a scout and his nervous, almost casual demeanor in moments of mortal risk.

Defining Moments

Herold’s story is punctuated by decisions that reveal who he is—each choice tightening the moral vise around him.

  • Abandoning Powell (April 14): After guiding Powell to the Seward mansion, he hears a scream and bolts (p. 68; p. 73).

    • Why it matters: Establishes his pattern—courage in planning, panic in execution—and foreshadows the barn surrender.

  • Reunion with Booth (April 14–15): Booth feels “relief” upon recognizing Herold; now he has his guide (p. 80).

    • Why it matters: Confirms Herold’s indispensability and locks him into the flight that will test his limits.

  • At the Mudd farm and Bryantown (April 15): Herold eats breakfast, asks for a razor, then rides with Mudd, where he spots Union cavalry (p. 104–105).

    • Why it matters: Reveals his boyish composure and his practical value under pressure—while also edging them closer to danger.

  • The Potomac crossing error (April 20–22): He rows north back into Maryland rather than across to Virginia (p. 132).

    • Why it matters: A severe blunder that adds days to the manhunt, heightens risk, and wears down their resolve.

  • Surrender at Garrett’s Farm (April 26): In the burning barn, Herold pleads to give up and is yanked out and tied to a tree as Booth dies (p. 149–150).

    • Why it matters: The decisive break from Booth’s fatal romanticism; Herold chooses life over legend.

Symbolism & Themes

Herold embodies the impressionable, less-committed follower swept into a charismatic leader’s orbit—the practical hand without the fanatic heart. His choices trace the theme of Conspiracy and Betrayal: ambition shared, courage not. Set against Booth’s ideology of The 'Lost Cause' and Southern Honor, Herold’s motives read as boyish adventure and belonging rather than creed. The barn finale sharpens Heroism vs. Villainy: Booth seeks a doomed hero’s end; Herold confronts the grim reality and capitulates. He is the accomplice who cannot—or will not—die for the story his leader is writing.

Essential Quotes

“David Herold, an experienced outdoorsman, hunter, and tracker, would accompany Lewis Powell, take him to Seward’s home, and guide the assassin, unfamiliar with the capital’s streets, out of the city where he would meet up with Booth.” (p. 40)

This frames Herold’s utilitarian role: not ideologue but enabler. It positions him as the networker and navigator—crucial to execution and escape, less central to motive.

“Relief trickled down the assassin’s spine as he recognized David Herold. The actor was happy to be on safe ground, and now he had his guide.” (p. 80)

Booth’s “relief” confirms Herold’s value and the leader–follower dynamic: Booth supplies the vision, Herold the route. The line also foreshadows Booth’s later fury when that guide chooses survival over solidarity.

As Booth and Herold prepared to leave Surratt’s tavern, Herold impatiently “hissed at him, ‘Lloyd, for God’s sake, make haste and get those things.’” (p. 90)

The hiss shows Herold’s nervous energy and eagerness to prove useful. He is an errand-runner with urgency—a posture that reads as both competence and immaturity.

In the tobacco barn, as soldiers surrounded them, a panicked Herold urged Booth, “You had better give up.” (p. 149)

This is Herold’s core truth under fire: he defaults to preservation. The plea contrasts sharply with Booth’s theatrical defiance, crystallizing their divergent endings.

After Herold begged to be released, Booth denounced him: “You damned coward! . . . Go! Go!” (p. 150)

Booth’s condemnation seals the rupture. The words brand Herold’s surrender as betrayal while revealing Booth’s need for a companion in legend—something Herold refuses to be.