Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln

Event Details

• Date: April 14, 1865
• Location: Ford's Theatre, attending a performance of "Our American Cousin"
• Attendees with Lincoln:
  • Mary Todd Lincoln (wife)
  • Major Henry R. Rathbone
  • Clara Harris (Rathbone's fiancée)

Assassination

• Assassin: John Wilkes Booth
• Method:
  • Shot Lincoln with a derringer pistol
  • Dropped pistol and waved a dagger
  • Booth leapt from the presidential box, broke a leg, and escaped on horseback
• Immediate Aftermath:
  • Dr. Charles Leale attended Lincoln
  • Bullet lodged behind Lincoln's right eye
  • Lincoln paralyzed and barely breathing
  • Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m.

Concurrent Attack

• Accomplice: Lewis Powell (alias Lewis Paine, Lewis Payne)
• Target: Secretary of State William Henry Seward
• Method: Entered Seward's home claiming to deliver medicine
  • Attacked Frederick Seward (son), William Seward (Secretary), and others
  • Seward survived due to a metal surgical collar

Conspirators

• Captured and Fate:
  • Booth was shot and captured hiding in a barn
  • Other conspirators:
    • Lewis Powell
    • George Atzerodt
    • David Herold
    • Mary Surratt
  • Executed by hanging on July 7, 1865, at the Old Penitentiary

Historical Impact

• Secretary of State Seward:
  • Survived attack
  • Continued service under Johnson administration
  • Negotiated purchase of Alaska in 1867

Visual References

• Images Provided:
  • Martyr of Liberty image
  • Lincoln's funeral procession in New York City

Additional Information

• These events were part of a larger conspiracy involving at least four other individuals in addition to Booth.