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The Assassination That Changed America Forever
In the spring of 1865, a nation stood at the precipice of healing after four brutal years of civil war. On April 14, as citizens celebrated the Union victory, one man's hatred would forever alter the course of American history. "Killing Lincoln" has captivated readers since its publication, becoming one of the most widely read historical accounts of the assassination. The book has sold over 3 million copies, spent 73 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and was adapted into a National Geographic Channel special narrated by Tom Hanks. What makes this historical thriller so compelling is its minute-by-minute approach to those fateful days when America lost its greatest president just as peace was dawning. Through O'Reilly and Dugard's vivid storytelling, we experience the tension, drama, and heartbreak of a nation's darkest hour-a tragedy whose repercussions continue to echo through American society more than 150 years later.
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The Final Days of the Civil War
By early April 1865, the tide of war had definitively turned against the Confederacy. General Robert E. Lee's once-mighty Army of Northern Virginia found itself trapped in Petersburg, Virginia, with Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant pressing in from all sides. The Confederate soldiers, reduced to eating rats and raw bacon while living in muddy trenches, faced a desperate situation. Lee's last hope was to escape south toward the Carolinas, where he might continue the fight through guerrilla warfare-a prospect that terrified President Abraham Lincoln, who dreamed only of healing the divided nation.
On April 1, Lincoln paced alone on the deck of the River Queen at City Point, Virginia, watching artillery fire in the distance. Despite warnings about assassination attempts, the president remained exposed, seemingly unafraid. That night, he fell into a deep sleep filled with disturbing dreams, perhaps premonitions of what was to come.
The next morning, Grant launched his attack on Petersburg. The battle became a direct contest between the two legendary generals, with Grant's superior numbers and resources giving him the advantage. Union forces poured into Confederate trenches in a massive assault, engaging in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Within hours, Lee's right flank had collapsed, and Petersburg lay exposed. Lee, dressed in his finest gray uniform and ceremonial sword-prepared for possible surrender-realized he must escape immediately to have any chance of continuing the Confederate struggle.
As night fell on April 2, Lee crossed the Appomattox River with his rapidly diminishing army, beginning what would become the final chase of the Civil War. Grant, rather than bombarding the retreating Confederates, chose a more strategic approach-he would get ahead of Lee and cut him off, setting up a massive roadblock with his 100,000-man army.
The following day, Lincoln arrived in Petersburg to meet with Grant. The two men shared a warm, respectful ninety-minute conversation on a veranda, watched by former slaves drawn to see "Father Abraham." After Grant departed to join his army, Lincoln received electrifying news-Richmond, the Confederate capital, had fallen. "Thank God that I have lived to see this," he exclaimed, unaware that he had just twelve days to live.
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The Desperate Flight of Lee's Army
Lee's army trudged forty miles toward Amelia Court House, desperate for the promised 350,000 rations supposedly awaiting them. The Confederate retreat presented a grim spectacle-a twenty-mile line of hollow-eyed soldiers in tattered clothes and rotting boots, many wearing captured Union overcoats for warmth. Discipline had collapsed as men deserted at every pause, with the remaining troops suffering from exhaustion, starvation, and constant fear of Union attack.
Despite these horrors, Lee remained optimistic after escaping Petersburg, believing he could defeat Grant on open ground. Upon reaching Amelia Court House, the men eagerly opened the waiting train cars only to discover a devastating truth-the crates contained ammunition and artillery harnesses, but no food whatsoever. This catastrophic supply failure would seal the fate of Lee's army.
As Lee's starving forces continued their desperate march through the night, they endured relentless rain and chill while being constantly harassed by Union cavalry. The column moved shoulder to shoulder on muddy roads, with men dropping from exhaustion and starvation. Dead horses and soldiers littered the roadside, with no time for proper burials. Soldiers abandoned bedrolls and weapons, lacking the strength to carry them. When the army stopped to rest, many simply collapsed, with some refusing to rise when ordered to march again.
Lee's force had dwindled from 30,000 to just 15,000 in three days. The remaining men staggered like drunks, some losing the power of speech, yet they would still find strength to fight when necessary. These were men who wanted no part of Lincoln's America, viewing the North as an evil empire that threatened their way of life.
Finally, Lee received good news: 80,000 rations had been rushed to Farmville, just nineteen miles away. He immediately swung his army in that direction-his final chance to keep the Confederate struggle alive. But Union forces were closing in, and time was running out.
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The Black Thursday of the Confederacy
On April 6, 1865, the most ferocious battle of the war's final days erupted at Sayler's Creek. Despite being up all night, General Robert E. Lee appeared composed as he rode into Rice's Station at dawn. His starving, exhausted army cheered him despite their desperate condition. Lee's trusted generals were positioned strategically: Longstreet at the front, Gordon guarding the rear, with Anderson and one-legged General Ewell supervising the ten-mile supply column between them.
Lee's hopes were dashed when scouts reported Union cavalry had already pushed ahead toward High Bridge, threatening to cut off their escape route. A desperate battle ensued as Confederate forces tried to secure their retreat path, but Union General Custer succeeded in driving a wedge between Confederate divisions at Marshall's Crossroads.
The fighting at Sayler's Creek became savagely hand-to-hand as ammunition depleted-men bayoneting, clubbing with muskets, and even biting each other's throats. Custer's cavalry charged through pine thickets behind rebel lines, sabers swinging, while Union artillery fired canister and grape into the Confederate ranks. One by one, rebels surrendered, their gaunt faces moving some Union soldiers to share their food.
By nightfall on this "Black Thursday of the Confederacy," Lee had lost 8,000 men (killed or captured), 13 battle flags, 300 wagons, 70 ambulances, and ten top officers, including his eldest son Custis. Though devastated and hearing his generals call the situation hopeless, Lee still could not bring himself to surrender.
The end finally came on Palm Sunday, April 9, at Appomattox Court House. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, now cornered with just 8,000 men surrounded by Grant's 60,000, had no choice but to surrender. "I would rather die a thousand deaths," Lee said reluctantly.
Dressed in an impeccable gray uniform with ceremonial sword, Lee rode forth to meet Grant, who arrived in a mud-spattered private's uniform with lieutenant general's stars-a stark contrast to Lee's immaculate appearance. Grant offered surprisingly lenient terms: the Confederates could simply put down their weapons and go home, with Lee not even required to surrender his sword.
When Lee returned to his lines, his men gathered spontaneously along the road, cheering their beloved general who told them, "Men, we have fought this war together and I have done the best I can for you." Each group cheered as Lee passed, only to break down in sobs afterward. The Civil War was over, but an even darker chapter in American history was about to begin.
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The Birth of a Conspiracy
While Washington erupted in wild celebration at news of Lee's surrender, John Wilkes Booth stood alone at a pistol range a mile from the White House, practicing with his small .44-caliber Deringer. The 26-year-old actor's mood swung between rage and despondence over the Confederate defeat. With his original kidnapping plot now pointless and co-conspirators abandoning him, Booth fired his last shot, slid the Deringer into his pocket, and stormed out.
In a tavern, he knocked back a drink and contemplated his new mission. "Our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done," he told himself. The time had come for assassination.
Booth, the son of a famous actor and himself a celebrated performer, had been a Confederate sympathizer throughout the war. Handsome and charismatic, he maintained a secret engagement to Lucy Hale, daughter of a pro-Union senator who knew nothing of Booth's Confederate activities. Their relationship was strained by politics and Booth's seething hatred for Lincoln.
Despite publicly dismissing the threat, Lincoln secretly believed he'd die in office. His desk contained a packet marked "Assassination" with over eighty death threats. "If I am killed I can die but once," Lincoln said, "but to live in constant dread is to die over and over again." He once told Harriet Beecher Stowe, "I have the impression that I shall not last long after it is over."
On April 11, just two days after Lee's surrender, Lincoln delivered a speech from the White House balcony. Booth and two co-conspirators-David Herold, a former pharmacy clerk and hunting enthusiast, and Lewis Powell, a former Confederate soldier and spy-listened from the crowd. When Lincoln suggested extending voting rights to educated blacks and Union veterans, Booth seethed with rage. "Shoot him now. Put a bullet in his head right this instant," he commanded Powell, who refused. "I'll put him through. By God. I'll put him through," Booth sneered as he stormed away, now certain he would assassinate Lincoln.
That night, Lincoln shared a haunting dream with friends. He described wandering through the White House hearing subdued sobbing but seeing no one. Finally reaching the East Room, he discovered a corpse, guarded by soldiers. When Lincoln asked who had died, a soldier answered, "The President. He was killed by an assassin."
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The Long Good Friday
On Good Friday morning, April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln rose at 7 a.m. to perfect spring weather. Though not a churchgoer, Lincoln was deeply religious, finding comfort in daily Bible reading. After navigating past petitioners sleeping in the White House hallway, he settled in the library to read Scripture before beginning his day.
Later, Lincoln joined his family for breakfast, including son Robert who had just returned from witnessing Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Lincoln savored this rare extended family meal, listening intently as Robert described "the stately elegant Lee" and Grant, "the small stooping shabby shy man in the muddy blue uniform." Despite his severe weight loss that made him look like "a skeleton with clothes," Lincoln was relaxed and happy, convinced that peace had finally arrived.
Meanwhile, John Wilkes Booth was finalizing his murderous plan. After visiting Mary Surratt's boardinghouse and securing his getaway horse-a spirited bay mare with a white star on her forehead-he galloped recklessly down Pennsylvania Avenue. When Booth spotted General and Mrs. Grant leaving town in a carriage-eliminating one of his primary targets-he glared at them so intensely that Julia Grant would later recall the crazed man who stared them down.
That afternoon, during a carriage ride with Mary, Lincoln displayed unusual cheerfulness, telling her, "I consider this day, the war has come to a close." For the first time, he spoke of future plans-a trip to Palestine and returning to Illinois to practice law again. "We have had a hard time of it since we came to Washington, but the war is over, and with God's blessing we may hope for four years of peace and happiness," he told her.
Despite Mary's headache and the Grants' cancellation of their theater plans, Lincoln felt obligated to attend Ford's Theatre that evening, with Major Rathbone and Clara Harris as last-minute replacements for the Grants. Before departing for the theater, Lincoln made a chilling confession to his bodyguard William Crook: "I believe there are men who want to take my life. And I have no doubt that they will do it." When Crook expressed hope that he was mistaken, Lincoln replied with fatalistic acceptance: "If it is to be done, it is impossible to prevent it."
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The Fatal Shot
As Lincoln arrived at Ford's Theatre at 8:25 PM, the previously disgruntled audience erupted in cheers upon seeing the president. Orchestra director William Withers stopped the show to play "Hail to the Chief" as Lincoln acknowledged the crowd with two bows before settling into his rocking chair. Despite his dislike of public attention, Lincoln worked the crowd before retreating to the partial privacy of the state box, where he held Mary's hand affectionately.
Meanwhile, bodyguard John Parker abandoned his post guarding the only entrance to the state box, heading to Taltavul's saloon with footman Charles Forbes for drinks-a fatal dereliction of duty for which he would never be punished.
At approximately 10:00 PM, Booth entered Ford's, visibly nervous despite attempts to appear calm. After charming ticket taker John Buckingham with his celebrity, Booth ascended to the dress circle, passing two Union officers who recognized but didn't stop him. Finding the state box unguarded except for a messenger, Booth presented his card and entered unchallenged.
Inside the darkened hallway, Booth jammed a wooden music stand against the door to prevent anyone from entering, then peered through a small peephole he had carved earlier. He saw Lincoln seated with his back to him, waiting for Harry Hawk's upcoming line about the "sockdologizing old man-trap"-the moment Booth had chosen to strike. Through the peephole, Booth stared directly at the back of Lincoln's head, just four feet away.
At precisely 10:15 PM, as the audience laughed at Hawk's line, Booth emerged from the shadows with his Deringer in his right hand and knife in his left. He aimed at Lincoln's head and pulled the trigger just as the president leaned forward, the ball entering behind his left ear and traveling diagonally across his brain. Lincoln instantly slumped forward in his rocking chair.
Major Rathbone sprang to action but received a deep knife wound to his arm when he confronted Booth. Shouting "Freedom!" Booth attempted to leap dramatically from the box to the stage, but his spur caught in the flag, causing him to fall awkwardly and break his left fibula. Despite his injury, Booth brandished his knife, declared "The South shall be free!" and limped across the stage past a terrified Harry Hawk.
Clara Harris and Rathbone cried for someone to stop Booth as chaos erupted in the theater. Women fainted, men climbed over seats, and cries of "Hang the scoundrel!" filled the air. Despite his broken leg, Booth managed to escape through the stage door, kicking young "Peanut John" Burroughs before mounting his horse and riding off into the night.
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The President's Final Hours
Dr. Charles Leale, just 23 years old and a physician for only two months, was first to reach Lincoln. After examining the president, he ordered him placed on the floor and conducted a thorough examination, finally discovering a small blood clot above the left ear. Leale performed emergency resuscitation, straddling Lincoln's chest, clearing his airway, and even performing mouth-to-mouth. The president's breathing improved, but Leale solemnly announced, "His wound is mortal."
Deciding Lincoln must be moved from the theater floor, Leale rejected suggestions to take him to the White House, knowing he'd die during the journey. Four soldiers formed a human sling to carry the president, with Leale walking backward cradling Lincoln's head. Outside in the chaotic street, they searched for shelter amid the growing, frenzied crowd until Henry Safford, a 25-year-old War Department employee, called from the steps of William Petersen's boarding house: "Bring him in here."
Lincoln was laid diagonally across a bed too small for his frame in William Clark's neat but cramped room. Ironically, John Wilkes Booth had often rented this very room, even lying on this same bed just three weeks earlier.
Dr. Leale stripped Lincoln's body, noting the president's well-defined muscles-evidence of his vigorous life. Finding Lincoln's feet icy cold, he applied mustard plaster from shoulders to ankles to warm him. Lincoln's possessions were cataloged: a monogrammed handkerchief, money, newspaper clippings, a pocketknife, and broken glasses mended with string.
Throughout the night, a succession of officials and family members rotated through the room. Mary Lincoln wept at her husband's side, collapsing when she heard an unnatural noise from his lungs. By dawn, Lincoln's breathing became labored, then intermittent. At 7:21 a.m. on April 15, 1865, he drew his final breath, his heart stopping fifteen seconds later. After five minutes of silence, Dr. Barnes placed silver coins over Lincoln's eyes while Leale folded the president's arms across his chest. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton solemnly declared, "Now he belongs to the ages."
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The Manhunt
With Lincoln's death, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton launched the biggest criminal dragnet in American history. He recalled his former spymaster Lafayette Baker, giving him carte blanche to take over the entire investigation. Baker posted a $30,000 reward and plastered photographs of John Surratt, David Herold, and John Wilkes Booth around town.
Meanwhile, Booth and Herold had successfully fled to Maryland, hiding at Confederate sympathizer Dr. Samuel Mudd's house. Booth's severe leg injury and their exhausted horses forced them to seek refuge. Dr. Mudd splinted Booth's broken fibula but refused to loan his carriage for their escape, fearing it would implicate him in the conspiracy.
After leaving Mudd's farm, Booth and Herold hid in Zekiah Swamp with its quicksand bogs and dense hardwoods. They were eventually aided by Thomas Jones, a skilled smuggler who had ferried agents and diplomats across the Potomac throughout the war. Jones brought them provisions and urged patience despite the harsh conditions, warning that cavalry were everywhere.
The newspapers devastated Booth. Rather than being celebrated, he was labeled a scoundrel and coward for shooting Lincoln in the back. Even the staunchly anti-Lincoln papers now portrayed Lincoln as a hero and Booth as an abomination. Southern papers called the assassination "the most deplorable calamity" to befall America.
The manhunt intensified as seven hundred Illinois cavalry, six hundred men from the Twenty-second Colored Troops, and one hundred from the Sixteenth New York Cavalry Regiment entered Maryland's treacherous swamps. Their search method was brutally simple: forming two lines, the soldiers marched straight through the swamps from one side to the other. They waded through foul water up to their armpits, sank into poisonous slime, battled wood ticks, and navigated deceptive logs and morasses. Incredibly, eighty-seven brave soldiers would drown during this weeklong search.
After six miserable days hiding in the swamp, Booth and Herold finally crossed the Potomac into Virginia. Despite their successful crossing, they were running out of places to hide as Union forces closed in from all directions.
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Justice Served
On April 26, twelve days after the assassination, Booth and Herold were cornered at Richard Garrett's farmhouse in Virginia. When Federal cavalry surrounded the property at two A.M., the pair were trapped in the barn where they had been sent to sleep. Herold decided to surrender, earning Booth's disgust: "Go away from me, damned coward."
Lieutenant Baker threatened to burn the barn unless Booth surrendered. As flames began consuming the structure, Booth prepared to fight: "Well, Captain, you may prepare a stretcher for me. Draw up your men. Throw open the door. Let's have a fair fight."
Sergeant Boston Corbett, a religious zealot who once castrated himself after experiencing lust, disobeyed orders and shot Booth through the neck, severing his spinal cord. The paralyzed actor was pulled from the burning barn but died by morning. John Wilkes Booth's life ended at just twenty-six years of age, his body thrown into a garbage wagon.
The investigation into the broader conspiracy led to the arrest of Mary Surratt, who had provided Booth's conspirators with weapons and lodging. After a seven-week trial featuring 366 witnesses, Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold were sentenced to hang.
On July 7, 1865, the four climbed the gallows. "Mrs. Surratt is innocent!" Powell cried before being hooded. Mary, terrified of falling, begged the executioner, "Please don't let me fall." When the trapdoors opened, Mary's neck didn't break immediately. She swung for five agonizing minutes before dying. Mary Surratt became the first and only woman ever hanged by the United States government.
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The Legacy of a Martyred President
One week after the assassination, Abraham Lincoln's body was loaded aboard a special train for his return to Illinois. Lincoln's funeral procession through Washington had drawn one hundred thousand mourners lining the route to the Capitol. His special train retraced his journey to Washington in reverse, stopping in twelve cities and passing through 444 communities. Thirty million Americans paid respects in what would be called "the greatest funeral in the history of the United States."
Mary Lincoln never recovered from her husband's assassination, wearing only black for the rest of her life. After son Tad's death in 1871, she spiraled into mental instability, was briefly institutionalized, and died in 1882 at sixty-three.
The saga of Lincoln's assassination continues to this day, with historians and amateur sleuths debating endless conspiracy theories. Secretary Stanton took control of Booth's autopsy, photographs, and diary-curiously, the photographs disappeared and eighteen pages were cut from the diary, fueling speculation about wider government involvement.
It's eerie that Lincoln found solace in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, given that both men met similar ends-betrayed by countrymen and dying before their fifty-sixth birthdays, unable to complete their life's work. Just as Caesar's story has been told for centuries, Lincoln's tragedy should be known by every American.
Lincoln's life and death continue to shape us as a people. His assassination robbed America of its greatest leader at the moment when his wisdom and compassion were most needed for healing the nation's wounds. The bitter divisions that followed Reconstruction might have been softened had Lincoln lived to implement his vision of "malice toward none, with charity for all." Instead, the country endured decades of continued strife and injustice.
America is a great country, but like every nation, it is influenced by evil. John Wilkes Booth epitomizes the evil that can harm us, even as President Abraham Lincoln represents the good that can make us stronger. In the end, Lincoln's legacy of preserving the Union and ending slavery far outlasted Booth's desperate act of violence-proving that while hatred may claim momentary victories, it is love, justice, and reconciliation that ultimately prevail.
