Manhunt Episode 5 Fact-Check: 8 Biggest True Story Changes & Inaccuracies

Manhunt episode 5 saw many of the primary characters involved in the hunt and capture of John Wilkes Booth moving into position for the end of the chase, and in doing so, historical facts were occasionally abandoned in favor of a more engaging and exciting narrative. While episode 4 focused on the conspiracy behind the assassination, Manhunt episode 5 featured a new villain in the form of President Andrew Johnson and his plans for Reconstruction. The Apple TV+ drama stuck fairly close to the truth regarding the final stages of the hunt for Booth, although there were some slight inconsistencies.

Manhunt episode 5 stuck to the facts when it came to the most significant elements of the sociopolitical climate in post-Civil War America, but it played fast and loose with the timeline. It’s been well-established at this point that many of the non-Booth-related events depicted in Manhunt didn’t actually occur in the 12-day period in which he was on the run. However, each of them is a direct consequence of Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln, so comparing them directly using Tobias Menzies’ Edwin Stanton as a conduit creates a picture of the greater implications of America’s most infamous murder.

8

John Wilkes Booth Wasn’t Confronted By Confederate Soldiers Returning Home

The incident is a good depiction of how Booth was perceived.

Many of the interactions that John Wilkes Booth has in Manhunt are fabricated, simply because there are no witnesses to what actually occurred on his journey after he assassinated Lincoln. That was the case in Manhunt episode 5, in which Booth was shown impersonating a Confederate soldier and getting caught lying to actual Confederate soldiers trying to make their way home from the final battle of the Civil War. In reality, there is no way to know if this interaction happened at all, but it seems highly unlikely that if it did, it unfolded as it’s shown in episode 5.

Caught in a lie, Booth revealed his identity to the tired and wounded Confederate soldiers, clearly expecting to be embraced as the hero he envisioned himself to be. In fact, the opposite happened; Booth was literally spit on for his cowardly murder and for impersonating a soldier, having not earned any true honor on a battlefield. It’s an important scene, as it’s the first notion Booth gets that he is viewed not as a hero, but as a despicable villain, even by those who fought for the same side as him.

7

Special Field Order 15 Unfolded Differently

The origin of the order was shifted a bit to align with the show’s narrative.

Manhunt episode 5 provided a glimpse at one of Lincoln’s most important objectives coming out of the Civil War: the reintegration of newly freed black Americans into society. Edwin Stanton is shown attempting to maintain Lincoln’s vision for Reconstruction throughout Manhunt, and episode 5 contains the best example of how this was supposed to play out. His vision never came to be, and the effects have persisted in America for far more than a century.

Stanton and two black religious leaders met with General William Tecumseh Sherman to describe what would provide the greatest assistance in getting freed men and women a clean start after being granted freedom. After telling Sherman that owning their own land would be the best step forward, the Union general issued Special Field Order 15 on the spot, which granted the famous “40 acres and a mule” to newly freed Americans and their families. The order was painted in the show as a significant step forward, when in reality it was a Band-Aid at best, which was unfortunately short-lived.

In reality, Sherman met with Stanton and 20 black leaders and laymen, and issued the order several days later. It was also not intended to be a permanent solution to jump-start a society for newly freed Americans; it was an effort to find a place for the thousands of black citizens who joined up with Sherman on his “March to the Sea” at the end of the Civil War, during which he ravaged Confederate infrastructure. Manhunt episode 5 overlooks some of the details to make it seem like a more morally significant gesture than it was.

6

Mary Simms Never Had a Land Grant

There is no record of Simms being one of the freed Americans to get a land grant.

Mary Simms is shown not only receiving a land grant, but also beginning to set up a community and makeshift school on the land, which she opens to her neighbors. In reality, Mary Simms is intended to be a representation of how newly freed black Americans were treated in the post-Civil War period, meaning her story in Manhunt doesn’t align with that of the real Mary Simms. Ergo, there is no record that Mary Simms was one of the new citizens who received a land grant.

5

Mary Simms Testified Against Mudd Much Later

Their face-to-face confrontation didn’t occur as shown.

In Manhunt episode 5, Edwin Stanton and his men finally realize the connection between John Wilkes Booth and Dr. Samuel Mudd. That brings them to Mudd’s doorstep, and while Mudd is adamant that he didn’t know anything about who Booth was when he treated him, Mary Simms points Stanton in the direction of the proof he needs (in the form of Booth’s boot) to prove Mudd is lying. She also staunchly accuses her tormentor Mudd of lying as he is hauled away, finally meting out a bit of justice for his mistreatment of her and her brother.

The real Mary Simms actually left Mudd nearly a year before Booth ever set foot in his house. Therefore, Mary’s terrifying interaction with Booth and her subsequent accusations against Mudd never happened as they are shown in Manhunt. However, Simms did later testify in the trial of Dr. Samuel Mudd about his criminal activity as a Confederate agent, which helped lead to his conviction.

4

Edwin Stanton Didn’t Track Booth South Himself

Stanton wasn’t the gumshoe he is depicted as.

Part of what makes Manhunt such an engrossing thriller is the cat-and-mouse detective game being played between Booth and Edwin Stanton. Stanton venturing across the northeast in search of leads while combating the plots to unravel Lincoln’s vision for the reunified United States is what carries the action outside of Booth’s slow journey towards a decimated Richmond. However, that simply isn’t accurate to history.

The real Edwin Stanton did in fact organize the hunt for Booth, and in the months following Lincoln’s death he fought for his vision against those who would see it undone. He simply wasn’t the boots-on-the-ground detective that Manhunt depicts him as. As the Secretary of War and a lawyer, Stanton was responsible for leadership, but he mostly dispatched others in the actual pursuit of Booth and the clues that ultimately led to his capture.

3

Andrew Johnson’s Political Meddling Was Far More Severe

Johnson’s devastating effects on Reconstruction ran deep.

Put simply, Andrew Johnson was made Lincoln’s Vice President in an attempt to bridge the gap between Lincoln and the Radical Republicans that supported him and those who sympathized with or fought for the Confederacy. He was, in fact, the last American president to own slaves. In Manhunt, Johnson is shown meeting with Confederate leaders and initially pushes back against them in favor of the land grants, which does not align with history. In reality, Johnson’s sympathy for slave owners was evidenced at every turn.

Per the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the real Andrew Johnson vetoed all federal laws that would have protected former slaves from the terror that they faced in the former Confederacy. He is shown using a slur in Manhunt which is symbolic of the effect he had on furthering the cause of white supremacy in general in the post-Civil War era. Many of the trials and tribulations that black Americans have endured in the last century can be traced back to Johnson’s staunch opposition to Lincoln’s original vision for Reconstruction.

2

Andrew Johnson Rolled Back Land Grants Months Later

His actions didn’t actually fall in line with the hunt for Booth.

As with the majority of the events in Manhunt, the timeline around Andrew Johnson rolling back land grants did not align with history. While the show was fairly accurate at depicting the suddenness of the eviction, the actual legal process and execution of the orders played out over a number of months. Johnson’s efforts to impede the integration of newly freed slaves and refugees resulted in a number of devastating pieces of legislation being passed at the state level in the South, most notably some of the later Black Codes, which restricted African Americans’ freedom to unspeakable levels.

1

Stanton’s Asthma Was Not As Dire As Its Depicted

It was a real problem for Stanton, but his time was not quite up while chasing Booth.

Edwin Stanton did in fact suffer from chronic asthma for much of his life, and given the lack of advanced medical techniques available in the 19th century, it was a serious impediment in his day-to-day life. However, at the time of his pursuit of Booth, Stanton was not reaching the point of no return, as his doctor indicates earlier in the show. In Manhunt episode 5, Stanton collapses as he and his men finally discover Booth’s location due to his asthma. In reality, the chronic asthma did claim Stanton’s life, but four years after John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln.

Source: Encyclopedia Brittanica