A group of three southern conspirators: Sammons White, James Cooker and Andrew Jackson Westfield have decided on a deadly course of action: an decapitation attempt on the "abolitionist" and "[slur]" government of Winfield Scott. Months of vitriolic attacks on the President have taken a toll on the psyche of many hot-blooded men of the South, White chief among them. A former soldier discharged for being overly brutal towards Indians, he spends his days working as a professional slave-catcher. The idea that abolition is imminent not only attacked his worldview of a hierarchy of races, but also endangers his source of income.
The other conspirators were charged with assassinating Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Attorney General William H. Seward. They agreed on the date of September eleventh in the year of our Lord, 1850.
On the day of the decapitation strike, Westfield was the only one to reconsider. His nerves got the better of him and he decided to simply go for a drink, or many.
Cooker, a burly man, was sent to assassinate Webster, who was at his boardinghouse sick in bed with cirrhosis. The assassin entered the house, which was mostly empty except for a servant and a few women, who were told that the Secretary has received important foreign intel. Cooker entered the room, paced to the bad and started stabbing Webster with his army knife until the floor was filled with blood and the sound alarmed the whole house. Finally, when he was satisfied with the job, Cooker ran away.
The main target, President Scott, was watching a military parade from a balcony with general Zachary Taylor the only person there with him. White, dressed in a soldier's uniform, came to the balcony on the excuse that there were military news from the Comanche frontier. Cooker entered the balcony, drew his Colt, walked forward, pointed it at Scott and fired. After a few blurry moments, Taylor saw the President slouch and collapse. Drawing his sword the general lounged at the assassin, who threw himself off the balcony. The landing on the ground broke all bones in White's legs and he fell into a coma.
The news of the assassination spread like lightning and shocked all who heard. For the first time in American history, a president was assassinated. "The blood is on the libelers and rabble-rousers. They want the death of our Union." declared the sickly Senator Henry Clay. It seemed the country was at a breaking point.
Vice-President Millard Fillmore hurried from his vacation in Pennsylvania to the D.C. to take the oath of office, following the Tyler precedent set 10 years ago.
