Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was shot while attending a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., on the evening of April 14, 1865. Booth, a prominent stage actor and Confederate sympathizer, entered the presidential box during the third act and fired a single shot from a derringer pistol into the back of Lincoln’s head. After stabbing Major Henry Rathbone, who attempted to apprehend him, Booth leaped from the box to the stage, breaking his leg but escaping on horseback.

The assassination was part of a broader conspiracy orchestrated by Booth to decapitate the Union government in the aftermath of Confederate defeat. Simultaneously, co-conspirator Lewis Powell attacked Secretary of State William Seward at his home, severely wounding him with a knife. George Atzerodt was assigned to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson but lost his nerve and failed to carry out the attack.

Lincoln was carried to a boarding house across the street from the theatre, where he died on the morning of April 15, 1865, from his wounds. His death occurred just days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, as the nation was beginning to celebrate the end of the Civil War. The assassination plunged the country into mourning and complicated Reconstruction efforts.

Booth was tracked to a tobacco barn in rural Virginia, where he was shot and killed on April 26, 1865, after refusing to surrender to federal troops. Eight defendants were tried by a military tribunal. Four were executed by hanging: Powell, Atzerodt, David Herold, and Mary Surratt, who became the first woman executed by the federal government. Four others received prison sentences.

The military tribunal’s proceedings were controversial, particularly the execution of Mary Surratt, whose boarding house had served as a meeting place for the conspirators. Some historians have questioned whether sufficient evidence existed to prove her direct participation in the assassination plot, though others argue that her involvement in supporting Confederate activities justified her conviction.

Booth’s Confederate sympathies and contacts with Confederate agents prompted speculation about official Confederate involvement. The evidence establishes Booth’s own plot, while claims that Confederate president Jefferson Davis directed the assassination remain unproven.