Capítulo 4
The Fatal Shot: Lincoln's Final Evening
At 8:30 PM, the Lincolns arrived at Ford's Theatre with their guests, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancee Clara Harris. The president had invited General and Mrs. Grant to join them, but they had declined to visit family in New Jersey. As the Lincolns entered, the orchestra struck up "Hail to the Chief," and the audience rose in enthusiastic applause. Lincoln acknowledged their admiration with a bow before settling into the rocking chair specially placed for him in the flag-draped box.
The play was a popular comedy, and Lincoln laughed heartily at the performance. After four years of war, countless sleepless nights, and the weight of a nation's survival on his shoulders, he could finally enjoy an evening's entertainment. Seated just a few feet away, Mary was delighted to see her husband so relaxed and happy.
Meanwhile, Booth was making his final preparations. He entered the theater around 9:00 PM, crossing beneath the stage through a trapdoor and emerging onto Tenth Street. After fortifying himself with a whiskey at the Star Saloon next door, he returned to Ford's. Astonishingly, he found the passageway to the president's box completely unguarded except for Lincoln's servant Charles Forbes, who recognized the famous actor and allowed him to pass.
Booth slipped into the dark vestibule leading to the box and barricaded the door with the wooden plank he had hidden earlier. Through the peephole he had drilled, he could see Lincoln sitting in profile, leaning slightly forward in his rocking chair, absorbed in the play. Booth waited patiently for the perfect moment-a line in the play guaranteed to produce uproarious laughter that would mask the sound of his shot.
At approximately 10:13 PM, as actor Harry Hawk delivered the line, "Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal; you sockdologizing old man-trap!" the audience erupted in laughter. Booth opened the door, raised his Deringer pistol, and fired a single shot into the back of Lincoln's head at nearly point-blank range.
The bullet entered Lincoln's skull behind his left ear, tore through his brain, and lodged behind his right eye. The president slumped forward immediately, never regaining consciousness. Major Rathbone, momentarily stunned, lunged at Booth, who slashed him deeply in the arm with his knife before leaping from the box to the stage below.
The jump was about twelve feet, and though Booth had planned this dramatic escape, his spur caught on the Treasury Guard flag decorating the box. He landed awkwardly, breaking the fibula in his left leg. Despite the injury, he rose to his full height at center stage, brandished his bloody knife, and shouted what he intended as his immortal line: "Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged!" Then he limped rapidly across the stage and disappeared into the wings.
The audience, initially confused, thought the action might be part of the play. Then Clara Harris's scream pierced the theater: "The President has been shot!" Pandemonium erupted as people realized what had happened. Some audience members pursued Booth while others rushed to the presidential box. In the chaos, Booth mounted his waiting horse and galloped into the night, leaving behind a mortally wounded president and a nation about to plunge into fresh trauma.
Capítulo 5
A Night of Terror: The Coordinated Attacks
As Booth fled Ford's Theatre, his co-conspirator Lewis Powell was approaching the home of Secretary of State William Seward. Just days earlier, Seward had been seriously injured in a carriage accident that left him bedridden with a broken jaw and arm. The Secretary's face was so swollen his children could barely recognize him, and doctors had warned he needed constant supervision.
Powell's plan was simple but audacious. Dressed in light-colored clothes and carrying a small wrapped package, he would pose as a messenger delivering medicine from Seward's doctor. David Herold waited outside with horses for their escape. When William Bell, Seward's African American servant, answered the door, Powell insisted he must deliver the medicine personally. After arguing his way upstairs, he encountered Frederick Seward, the Secretary's son, who became suspicious and refused to let him enter his father's bedroom.
When his attempt at deception failed, Powell abandoned pretense. He drew his revolver and tried to shoot Frederick, but the gun misfired. Enraged, Powell beat him savagely with the pistol, fracturing his skull in multiple places. The commotion brought Seward's daughter Fanny to the hallway, where she unwittingly revealed her father's location. Powell pushed past her into the bedroom, where he found Seward lying helpless in bed, protected only by his nurse, Sergeant George Robinson.
In the ensuing struggle, Powell stabbed Robinson repeatedly, then leaped onto the bed and slashed at Seward's face and neck. The metal splint supporting Seward's broken jaw deflected the knife just enough to prevent fatal wounds, though the Secretary was grievously injured. Another son, Augustus Seward, and a State Department messenger rushed in to help, but both were stabbed before Powell finally fled, shouting, "I'm mad! I'm mad!" as he ran from the house.
Outside, Herold had panicked at the sounds of screaming and fled, leaving Powell to escape alone through unfamiliar streets. Meanwhile, George Atzerodt, assigned to kill Vice President Johnson, lost his nerve entirely. After drinking heavily in the bar of the Kirkwood House where Johnson was staying, he abandoned his mission and wandered drunkenly through the city.
Back at Ford's Theatre, Dr. Charles Leale, a 23-year-old army surgeon who happened to be in the audience, rushed to Lincoln's aid. Finding the president paralyzed and barely breathing, he quickly determined the wound was mortal. "His wound is impossible for him to recover from," Leale announced grimly. With the help of other doctors in attendance, he cleared Lincoln's airway and performed artificial respiration, temporarily stabilizing him.
Deciding the president should not die in a theater, they carried Lincoln's limp body across the street to the Petersen boarding house. There, in a small back bedroom, they laid him diagonally across a bed too short for his 6'4" frame. Mary Todd Lincoln, overcome with grief, alternated between hysterical sobbing and desperate pleas for her husband to speak to her.
As midnight approached, Washington descended into chaos. Wild rumors spread that Confederate armies were attacking the city, that General Grant had been killed, that the entire government was being systematically murdered. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton arrived at the Petersen house and effectively took control of the government, turning a small back room into an emergency command center. From there, he ordered the city sealed, dispatched telegrams nationwide alerting authorities to the assassination, and began organizing what would become the largest manhunt in American history.
Capítulo 6
The Escape: Booth's Flight into Maryland
While Washington reeled from the assassination, Booth was making his escape. Despite his broken leg, he galloped through the dark streets, passing the Capitol and heading toward the Navy Yard Bridge, which connected the city to Maryland. The bridge was guarded, with a 9:00 PM curfew in effect, but Booth arrived just after 11:00 PM. When questioned by Sergeant Silas Cobb, he gave his real name and claimed he was heading home to Charles County, Maryland. After some hesitation, Cobb allowed him to pass-a crucial mistake that gave Booth his freedom.
Shortly after, David Herold arrived at the same checkpoint. Though Cobb was now more suspicious, Herold's innocent appearance and convincing story earned him passage as well. The two conspirators reunited on the Maryland side and rode southeast toward their first planned safe house, the home of Mary Surratt's tenant, John Lloyd.
As they rode, Booth questioned Herold about the other conspirators. Herold admitted abandoning Powell after hearing screams at the Seward house and knew nothing of Atzerodt's attempt on Vice President Johnson. Booth likely shared his successful assassination at Ford's Theatre, reveling in his first chance to describe his deed. Despite his pain, the actor was elated-he had accomplished what he believed would make him a hero throughout the South.
Around midnight, they reached the Surratt tavern in Surrattsville (now Clinton), Maryland. Lloyd, who had earlier received a message from Mary Surratt to have "the shooting irons" ready, provided them with weapons, ammunition, and whiskey. Booth couldn't dismount due to his injury, so Herold collected the supplies. After a brief rest, they continued toward the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, a Southern sympathizer who had previously met Booth.
By dawn on April 15, they reached Mudd's isolated farmhouse. The doctor examined Booth's leg, cut off his boot, and set the broken bone. He also provided a crude crutch and allowed the fugitives to rest upstairs. Though Mudd would later claim he didn't recognize Booth, evidence suggests he knew exactly who his patient was and what he had done.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Lincoln fought for life through the night as doctors monitored his failing pulse and breathing. Secretary Stanton interviewed witnesses, dispatched cavalry units into Maryland, and ordered nationwide alerts. At 7:22 AM on April 15, Abraham Lincoln drew his final breath. After a moment of reverent silence, Stanton reportedly said, "Now he belongs to the angels" (though some accounts record the phrase as "Now he belongs to the ages"). The Secretary then cut a lock of Lincoln's hair for Mary Jane Welles, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, and telegraphed the tragic news to a stunned nation.
As church bells tolled across the North and black crepe appeared on doorways, Booth and Herold slept at Mudd's farm, unaware that the first cavalry patrol was already riding toward Maryland. They had gained perhaps seven hours' head start-precious time that would soon be running out as the largest manhunt in American history gathered momentum.
Capítulo 7
The Manhunt Intensifies: Closing the Net
April 15 became known as "Black Easter" as news of Lincoln's death spread across the nation. Churches draped their pulpits in black, and ministers hastily rewrote their Easter sermons to address the national tragedy. In Washington, Secretary Stanton mobilized thousands of soldiers and detectives to hunt down the assassins, while in Maryland, Booth and Herold prepared to continue their journey south.
After resting at Dr. Mudd's farm for about 12 hours, the fugitives departed in the afternoon, with Booth wearing a makeshift splint and using a crutch. Mudd directed them toward the home of Samuel Cox, another Southern sympathizer. After traveling through the night, they reached Cox's plantation on April 16. Though initially hesitant, Cox agreed to help after Booth revealed his identity and deed.
Cox arranged for Thomas Jones, a Confederate agent who had run a secret mail service across the Potomac during the war, to hide the fugitives. Jones devised a cautious plan-he led Booth and Herold to a dense pine thicket where they could hide while manhunters swept through the area. "Trust me completely," Jones told them. "Do not leave this spot under any circumstances until I come for you."
For the next five days, Booth and Herold remained hidden in the thicket, surviving on limited food and water Jones brought them. The pine needles provided some cushioning for Booth's injured leg, but he suffered greatly from pain and exposure. Jones also brought newspapers, which Booth read eagerly, expecting to find himself celebrated as a hero of the South. Instead, he was shocked to discover universal condemnation of his act. Even Southern newspapers denounced the assassination as a terrible crime that would bring further suffering to the defeated Confederacy.
Frustrated, Booth began writing in his date book, justifying his actions: "I struck boldly, and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends; was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted 'Sic semper' before I fired. In jumping, broke my leg. I passed all his pickets, rode sixty miles that night with the bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every jump."
Meanwhile, the manhunt was making progress. On April 17, detectives arrested several of Booth's associates, including Michael O'Laughlen, Samuel Arnold, and Edman Spangler. The most significant capture came when Lewis Powell, lost and desperate after two days hiding in a tree, appeared at Mary Surratt's boardinghouse precisely as military investigators were questioning her. His arrival led to both their arrests.
On April 20, George Atzerodt was captured at his cousin's farm in Maryland. Under questioning, he quickly implicated the others and revealed details of the original kidnapping plot. That same day, Secretary Stanton issued a new proclamation increasing the reward for Booth's capture to $50,000, with $25,000 each for Herold and John Surratt (who had actually fled to Canada before the assassination).
That night, Thomas Jones finally determined it was safe for Booth and Herold to attempt crossing the Potomac. He provided them with a small boat, showed Booth the compass bearing to follow to Virginia, and refused payment beyond the cost of the boat. But after Jones departed, the fugitives became disoriented in the darkness and accidentally rowed back to the Maryland shore, farther north than before. This critical navigation error cost them another full day of hiding before they could attempt the crossing again.
Capítulo 8
Trapped in Virginia: The Final Days
On the night of April 22, Booth and Herold finally succeeded in crossing the Potomac, reaching Virginia soil on April 23-nine days after the assassination. Though they had escaped Maryland, their situation remained desperate. Booth's leg had become infected, causing him constant agony. The pair sought help from Elizabeth Quesenberry, a former Confederate spy who arranged horses for their journey south toward Richmond.
Their next stop was the home of Dr. Richard Stuart, but the doctor, recognizing them as fugitives, refused to help beyond providing a meal. Despite Booth's gentlemanly demeanor and Confederate credentials, Stuart practically ordered them to leave. Insulted by this lack of Southern hospitality, Booth later wrote Stuart a letter enclosing money for the unwelcome meal and expressing his bitterness.
Forced to move on, they spent the night at the cabin of William Lucas, a poor farmer who reluctantly provided shelter. The next day, Lucas's son Charlie drove them by wagon to Port Conway on the Rappahannock River. There, by chance, they encountered three Confederate soldiers returning home: Willie Jett, Mortimer Ruggles, and Absalom Bainbridge. Herold, desperate for help, confessed their identities. Rather than turning them in, the soldiers agreed to help them cross the river to Port Royal.
In Port Royal, Jett arranged for Booth and Herold to stay at the farm of Richard Garrett, introducing Booth as a wounded Confederate soldier named James W. Boyd. Unaware of his guests' true identities, Garrett welcomed them into his home. While resting at the farm, Booth actually discussed the assassination with his unwitting hosts, defending it as necessary for the Southern cause.
Meanwhile, the manhunters had made a crucial breakthrough. Lafayette Baker, a War Department detective with a flair for self-promotion, intercepted intelligence about men crossing the Potomac. He dispatched Lieutenant Edward Doherty, Luther Baker (his cousin), and Everton Conger with the Sixteenth New York Cavalry in pursuit. Their orders were simple: find and capture the assassins, preferably alive.
On April 25, David Herold returned to the Garrett farm after briefly leaving to explore the area. The Garretts, growing suspicious of their guests, refused to let them sleep in the house that night. After considering alternatives, Booth and Herold settled in the tobacco barn. The suspicious Garretts quietly locked the barn door, then kept watch from the corn house, fearing the strangers might steal their horses.
Around 11:00 PM, the cavalry patrol reached Bowling Green and captured Willie Jett, who revealed the fugitives' location. At 12:30 AM on April 26-day twelve of the manhunt-the Sixteenth New York Cavalry surrounded the Garrett farmhouse. When questioned, Richard Garrett admitted that two men were locked in his tobacco barn.
Lieutenant Baker called out to the barn: "We are going to send in this man Garrett to get your arms, and you must come out and deliver yourselves up." John Garrett entered the barn but quickly fled when Booth threatened to shoot him. Rather than storming the barn immediately, Baker offered Booth a chance to surrender, threatening to set the barn on fire in fifteen minutes if he refused.
As the standoff continued, Herold lost his nerve. "Let me out!" he cried. "This man is going to shoot me!" When Baker promised fair treatment, Herold surrendered, leaving Booth alone. "You damned coward!" Booth shouted as Herold thrust his empty hands through the doorway and was seized by the soldiers.
Alone and cornered, Booth prepared for his final performance. As Conger set fire to the barn, Booth called out, "Well, my brave boys, prepare a stretcher for me!" He stood in the center of the barn, balancing on his crutch with his weapons ready, illuminated by the growing flames. Through a crack in the barn wall, Sergeant Boston Corbett saw Booth raising his carbine and fired. His bullet struck Booth in the neck, severing his spinal cord and paralyzing him instantly.
Soldiers rushed into the burning barn and carried Booth to the Garrett's porch. Blood pooled beneath his head as he whispered, "Tell mother I die for my country." In extreme pain, he begged, "Kill me!" but the soldiers wanted him alive for questioning. Looking at his useless hands, Booth murmured his final words: "Useless, useless." As the sun rose on April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth died, ending the twelve-day manhunt for Abraham Lincoln's assassin.
Capítulo 9
Justice and Aftermath: The Conspirators' Fate
With Booth dead and Herold captured, the manhunt was over, but the quest for justice was just beginning. Lieutenant Doherty wrapped Booth's body in an army blanket and transported it back to Washington by steamer. To confirm the body's identity, Secretary Stanton ordered an inquest and autopsy aboard the ironclad USS Montauk. After positive identification, Booth's body was secretly buried in an unmarked grave at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary to prevent his burial place from becoming a shrine for Southern sympathizers.
The War Department arrested dozens of people suspected of involvement in the conspiracy, including Thomas Jones, Captain Cox, and the Garrett family. Most were released within weeks, but eight defendants were selected for trial before a military commission: Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, Samuel Arnold, Michael O'Laughlen, Edman Spangler, and Dr. Samuel Mudd.
The trial began on May 10, 1865, and lasted nearly two months. Prosecutors presented evidence of both the assassination and the earlier kidnapping plot. The defendants were not allowed to testify on their own behalf, but their lawyers argued vigorously for them. On June 30, the commission announced its verdicts: Surratt, Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt were sentenced to death by hanging; Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlen received life imprisonment; and Spangler was sentenced to six years.
Mary Surratt's daughter Anna pleaded with President Johnson for clemency, but he refused to intervene. On July 7, 1865, the four condemned conspirators were executed on a specially built gallows at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary. Mary Surratt became the first woman executed by the federal government, a fact that generated considerable controversy. Some historians still debate whether she received a fair trial or was punished primarily for her son's involvement.
The aftermath of the assassination shaped the course of Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson, who became president upon Lincoln's death, lacked Lincoln's moral authority and political skill. His lenient approach to the defeated South and battles with Congress led to his impeachment in 1868, though he narrowly avoided removal from office. Many historians believe that had Lincoln lived, Reconstruction might have proceeded more successfully, with greater protection for freed slaves and a more genuine reconciliation between North and South.
Those who survived the events of April 1865 carried their scars for life. Secretary Seward recovered from his wounds but lost both his wife and daughter to illness in the following year. Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone married, but Rathbone never recovered psychologically from his failure to protect Lincoln. Eighteen years later, in a fit of madness, he murdered Clara with weapons chillingly similar to those Booth had carried.
Dr. Mudd was pardoned by President Johnson in 1869 after helping combat a yellow fever outbreak at his prison in the Dry Tortugas. Before his death in 1883, he confessed to knowing all along that his patient was Booth. John Harrison Surratt, who had fled to Europe and served in the pope's army under a false name, was eventually captured in Egypt and returned to America. His trial ended without a verdict in 1868, and charges were dismissed, but he lived the rest of his life under the shadow of his mother's execution.
Capítulo 10
Legacy: Lincoln's Unfinished Work
Today, Ford's Theatre stands as both monument and working playhouse, restored in the 1960s to its appearance on that fateful night in 1865. The basement museum displays assassination relics including Booth's weapons, personal items, and the compass that guided his escape. Across the street, the Petersen house where Lincoln died is preserved as it was, the small back bedroom a solemn space where visitors can contemplate the loss of America's 16th president.
Though Booth achieved his immediate goal of killing Lincoln, he failed utterly in his larger ambitions. He did not inspire the South to fight on, nor did he prolong the war or revive slavery. Instead, his act transformed Lincoln into a martyr whose vision for reconciliation and racial equality gained moral authority through his sacrifice. The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, which Lincoln had championed, was ratified in December 1865. The 14th and 15th Amendments, granting citizenship and voting rights to Black Americans, followed during Reconstruction.
The assassination's most profound legacy may be what America lost with Lincoln's death. His unique combination of political genius, moral clarity, and compassionate leadership might have guided the nation through Reconstruction with greater wisdom than his successors could muster. Without him, the promise of genuine equality for freed slaves was compromised by political expedience and persistent racism. The "malice toward none" that Lincoln envisioned gave way to bitter partisan divisions that would take generations to heal.
Yet Lincoln's unfinished work continues. His vision of America as a nation dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal remains both inspiration and challenge. The final words of his Gettysburg Address-"that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth"-still define America's highest aspirations.
In the small back bedroom of the Petersen house, as Lincoln's family and friends gathered around his deathbed, they vowed to continue his work. That promise echoes across the generations, reminding us that the struggle for justice, equality, and national unity did not end in 1865. Like the manhunt for his killer, Lincoln's larger mission remains unfinished-a continuing journey toward the "more perfect union" he gave his life to preserve.
