On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Fordâs Theatre in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the American Civil War.
At 10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer pistol into the back of Lincolnâs head. After stabbing Rathbone, who immediately rushed at him, in the shoulder, Booth leapt onto the stage and shouted, âSic semper tyrannis!â (âThus ever to tyrants!ââthe Virginia state motto).
At first, the crowd interpreted the unfolding drama as part of the production, but a scream from the first lady told them otherwise. Although Booth broke his leg in the fall, he managed to leave the theater and escape from Washington on horseback.
Several soldiers carried Lincoln to a boardinghouse across the street and placed him on a bed. When the surgeon general arrived at the house, he concluded that Lincoln could not be saved and would probably die during the night.
Finally, Lincoln was pronounced dead at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, at the age of 56.
MILITARY HSITORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
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