The Lincoln Assassination
A Timeline of Events Leading Up to a National Tragedy
The Civil War ended in April of 1865. In order to celebrate the Union's victory, President Abraham Lincoln, along with wife Mary, Union officer Major Henry Rathbone, and Rathbone's fiancee, Clara Harris, decided to attend a production of Our American Cousin at Washington, D.C.'s Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. This joyous occasion would ultimately turn tragic.
John Wilkes Booth, Actor, Southern Sympathizer, Co-Conspirator, and Presidential AssassinPresident Lincoln was not the only famous figure in Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865. A twenty-six-year-old, popular stage actor named John Wilkes Booth was also in the audience, apparently there to enjoy a performance of a play called Our American Cousin. Unbeknownst to other patrons, Booth was also a Southern sympathizer and a co-conspirator in an assassination plot. This plot was aimed not only at Lincoln, but Vice President Andrew Johnson, General Ulysses S. Grant, and Secretary of State William Seward were also targeted. Furthermore, Booth and his would-be partners in crime had tried unsuccessfully to kidnap the president for over a year.
How Booth Pulled Off the Lincoln AssassinationBooth gained entrance into the theatre unnoticed by managing to slip past the president's careless security detail. Then, Booth waited for the funniest line in the play, which he knew would command the audience's full attention. This line, spoken by American character Dundreary to his snobbish British relative, goes:"Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal-- you sockdologizing old man-trap." While the crowd roared with laughter, Booth turned the doorknob leading to the president's box. Next, he stepped behind Lincoln quietly and aimed his derringer point blank behind Lincoln's left ear. While the audience was still laughing at the actors on stage, Booth fired a .44-caliber bullet that tore through Lincoln's brain diagonally. The president slumped forward, and Booth leapt from the stage balcony, badly injuring a leg. According to some in the audience, Booth quoted Virginia's state motto, "Sic semper tyrannis (Thus always to tyrants)," as he fled. Others claimed that Booth shouted, "The South is avenged!"
Failed Assassination Attempts
Booth and his cohorts planned to assassinate members of Lincoln's cabinet as well. Secretary of State William Seward was stabbed by Confederate spy Lewis Powell after Powell talked his way into Seward's home. Fortunately, Seward survived the attack. Union General Ulysses S. Grant was also targeted in the plot, but Grant was out of town. Finally, "hired gun" George Atzerodt was supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson, but Atzerodt drank himself into a stupor and was unable to carry out the plan.
Death of a President
As for the president himself, he, of course, was not so lucky. After being shot, Lincoln was taken to a boarding house that was located across the street from the theatre. Lincoln never once regained consciousness, and there was nothing doctors could do to save his life. Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865. He was 56 years old and had been simultaneously revered and reviled in life.
Source:
Various Authors. "Murder at the Theatre-- Assassination, 1865," exerpted from Abraham Lincoln: An Illustrated History of His Life and Times, p. 114. New York: TIME Books, Time Inc., 2009.
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