This magnificent 19-th century fort became obsolet prior to the Civil War because of the invention of the parrot rifled cannons with their 3 mile range.  For this reason it has maintained it's nearly original appearance.   Ft. Jefferson's most inglorious claim to fame came in 1865 when the 4 "Lincoln Conspirators" were convicted of complicity in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who innocently set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg following the shooting, was eventually pardoned following his gallant efforts at treating the almost 300 garrisoned men who were struck with yellow fever at the fort during the 1867 epidemic.