Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.Near the end of the American Civil War, Lincoln's assassination was part of a larger political conspiracy intended by Booth to revive the Confederate cause by eliminating the three most important officials of the federal government.Beyond Lincoln's death, the plot failed: Seward was only wounded, and Johnson's would-be attacker became drunk instead of killing the vice president."[7]: 174, 437n41 On March 17, Booth and the other conspirators planned to abduct Lincoln as he returned from a play at Campbell General Hospital in northwest Washington."[20][8]: 91 According to Ward Hill Lamon, three days before his death, Lincoln related a dream in which he wandered the White House searching for the source of mournful sounds: I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered.This provided him with an especially good opportunity to attack Lincoln since, having performed there several times, he knew the theater's layout and was familiar to its staff.Booth planned to shoot Lincoln at point-blank range with his single-shot Philadelphia Deringer pistol and then stab Grant at the theater."[33] A member of the audience observed that Mary Lincoln often called her husband's attention to aspects of the action onstage, and "seemed to take great pleasure in witnessing his enjoyment".[8]: 120 Leale found Lincoln seated with his head leaning to his right[44] as Mary held him and sobbed: "His eyes were closed and he was in a profoundly comatose condition, while his breathing was intermittent and exceedingly stertorous.After giving Lincoln artificial respiration, Leale allowed actress Laura Keene to cradle the President's head in her lap.Throughout the night, as the hemorrhage continued, they removed blood clots to relieve pressure on the brain,[62] and Leale held the comatose president's hand with a firm grip, "to let him know that he was in touch with humanity and had a friend".Stanton insisted that the sobbing Mrs. Lincoln leave the sick room, then for the rest of the night he essentially ran the United States government from the house, including directing the hunt for Booth and the other conspirators.[66] Maunsell Bradhurst Field wrote in a letter to The New York Times that Lincoln then started "breathing regularly, but with effort, and did not seem to be struggling or suffering.[70] Shortly before 7 am Mary was allowed to return to Lincoln's side,[71] and, as Dixon reported, "she again seated herself by the President, kissing him and calling him every endearing name.On the night of the assassination, Seward was at his home on Lafayette Square, confined to bed and recovering from injuries sustained on April 5 from being thrown from his carriage.William Bell, Seward's maître d', answered the door when Powell knocked at 10:10 pm, as Booth made his way to the Presidential Box at Ford's Theater.[12]: 58 However, the splint (often mistakenly described as a neck brace) that doctors had fitted to Seward's broken jaw prevented the blade from penetrating his jugular vein.[80]: 357 On April 18, mourners lined up seven deep for a mile to view Lincoln in his walnut casket in the White House's black-draped East Room.[87]: 120–23 Hundreds of thousands watched the funeral procession on April 19,[12]: 213 and millions more lined the 1,700-mile (2,700 km) route of the train which took Lincoln's remains through New York to Springfield, Illinois, often passing trackside tributes in the form of bands, bonfires, and hymn-singing.[91] Southern-born Elizabeth Blair said that "Those of Southern born sympathies know now they have lost a friend willing and more powerful to protect and serve them than they can now ever hope to find again.[12]: 67–68 A Union Army sentry named Silas Cobb questioned him about his late-night travel; Booth said that he was going home to the nearby town of Charles.[12]: 163 Cox, in turn, took them to Thomas Jones, a Confederate sympathizer who hid Booth and Herold in Zekiah Swamp for five days until they could cross the Potomac River.An April 15 letter to Navy Surgeon George Brainerd Todd from his brother tells of the rumors in Washington about Booth: Today all the city is in mourning nearly every house being in black and I have not seen a smile, no business, and many a strong man I have seen in tears – Some reports say Booth is a prisoner, others that he has made his escape – but from orders received here, I believe he is taken, and during the night will be put on a Monitor for safe keeping – as a mob once raised now would know no end.[94] Booth and Herold were sleeping at Garrett's farm on April 26 when soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry arrived, surrounded the barn, and threatened to set fire to it.[12]: 336–40 [79] Corbett was initially arrested for disobeying orders from Stanton that Booth be taken alive if possible, but was later released and was largely considered a hero by the media and the public.[8]: 174–79 George Atzerodt hid at his cousin's farm in Germantown, Maryland, about 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Washington, where he was arrested April 20.[8]: 169 The remaining conspirators were arrested by month's end – except for John Surratt, who fled to Quebec where Roman Catholic priests hid him.[96] Scores of persons were arrested, including many tangential associates of the conspirators and anyone having had even the slightest contact with Booth or Herold during their flight.[87]: 186–88 All were eventually released except:[87]: 188 The accused were tried by a military tribunal ordered by Johnson, who had succeeded to the presidency on Lincoln's death: The prosecution was led by U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, assisted by Congressman John A. Bingham and Major Henry Lawrence Burnett.[citation needed] The use of a military tribunal provoked criticism from former Attorney General Edward Bates and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, who believed that a civil court should have presided, but Attorney General James Speed pointed to the military nature of the conspiracy and the facts that the defendants acted as enemy combatants and that martial law was in force at the time in the District of Columbia.
conclusion of the American Civil WarJohn Wilkes BoothAbraham LincolnFord's TheatreWashington, D.C.Andrew JohnsonWilliam H. SewardPhiladelphia DeringerHenry RathboneFrederick SewardAugustus SewardFanny SewardGeorge F. RobinsonConfederate Statespresident of the United StatesOur American CousinPetersen Housefuneral and burialAmerican Civil Warassassinationpolitical conspiracyConfederatefederal governmentLewis PowellDavid HeroldSecretary of StateGeorge AtzerodtVice PresidentMary SurrattCarte de visiteMarylanda family of prominent stage actorsKnights of the Golden CircleBaltimoreConfederate States CongressPresidentJefferson Davis54th MassachusettsFort WagnerkidnapblackmailSamuel ArnoldMichael O'LaughlenJohn SurrattSurrattsville, MarylandWhite Housesecond inaugurationCampbell General HospitalNational HotelRichmond, VirginiaUnion ArmyGeneralRobert E. LeeArmy of Northern VirginiaUlysses S. GrantArmy of the PotomacBattle of Appomattox Court HouseEarly life and careerFamilyHealthSexualityPatentSpot ResolutionsPolitical career, 1849–1861Lincoln–Douglas debatesViews on slaveryViews on religionElectoral historyPresidencyTransition1st inaugurationHannibal HamlinThe UnionEmancipation ProclamationTen percent plan13th Amendment2nd inaugurationReconstructionConventionSecondLyceumPeoriaLost SpeechHouse DividedCooper UnionFarewell addressGettysburgPoetryThe Suicide's SoliloquyBixby letterMcCullough letterState funeralMemorialsDepictionsBibliographyTopical guideDoris Kearns GoodwinEdwin BoothDavid S. ReynoldsabolitionistJohn BrownAsia Booth ClarkeniggerWard Hill LamonEast RoomcatafalqueJoe NickellBaltimore PlotFirst LadyMary LincolnAntietamMurfreesboroVicksburgEvening Starboarding houseLouis J. Weichmannpoint-blank rangepistolJulia GrantClara HarrisU.S. SenatorIra HarrisNew YorkWilliam H. CrookSpeaker of the HouseSchuyler Colfax