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| Last Photo Taken Of Lincoln |
President
Abraham Lincoln had much to be cheerful about on this April 14th Good
Friday, just two days before Easter. He had been re-elected as President of the
United States in November of 1864, and had given his Second Inaugural address just
six weeks before on March 4th.
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| Lincoln's Inauguration |
Lincoln
had not been sure of his re-election. He was despised by many, due to the
strife and death that had occurred during the Civil War; a war which had raged for four long years.
Then
on Sunday, April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his
army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. The War of the
Rebellion was over!
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| Lincoln Speaking |
Two
days later, on Tuesday, April 11, President Lincoln gave his speech on
Reconstruction in which he said that “the
seceded States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation with the
Union.” He went on to stress that it was not only possible to bring them
back “into proper practical relation”,
but “easier, to do this, without
deciding, or even considering, whether these states have even been out of the
Union, than with it.” Lincoln would attempt to restore peace quickly. The South would be treated
as a Prodigal Son.
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| Mary Todd Lincoln |
Meanwhile,
Lincoln’s wife Mary had decided that they should take some time for
themselves. She had arranged for them to see a new play, “Our American Cousin”, which was being performed at Ford’s Theatre.
She issued an invitation to General Grant and his wife to attend with them, but
the Grants’ declined the invitation. Mary then invited Major Henry Rathbone and
his fiancée Clara Harris who accepted.  |
| Presidential Box, Ford's Theatre |
The two couples arrived at
the theatre, running a bit late. The
play had already started, but the performance was halted as the President and
Mrs. Lincoln took their seats in the Presidential Box. The orchestra played “Hail To The Chief” and the audience gave
the President an enthusiastic standing ovation. Mrs. Lincoln, holding the
President’s hand, leaned into him and said, “What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so?" The
president simply smiled and replied, "She
won't think anything about it." Those would be the President’s last
words.
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| John Wilkes Booth |
Lincoln
and Mary seemed to enjoy the play. Members of the audience saw them nod and smile
during the first two acts. At 10:25 p.m., during the third and final act, John
Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor, stopped at the door of the Presidential Box
and presented his card to an usher. The door was opened, and Booth entered into
the anteroom of the theatre box. Once in, he wedged the door shut with a wooden
stick and waited until the upcoming “laugh
line” was delivered by one of the characters on stage to make his move.
As
the audience laughed and clapped, Booth stepped into the Presidential Box and
shot Lincoln at point-blank range. Major Rathbone attempted to stop
Booth, but was knifed as Booth fought to escape. Booth then vaulted
over the box railing onto the stage and pretended to be part of the show,
raising the bloody knife above his head and spewing Latin as he ran off into
the wings. It wasn’t until the laughter died down that the screams of Mrs.
Lincoln and Miss Harris could be heard, and Rathbone’s cry of “Stop that man!” spurred audience members
to give chase. |
| Charles Leale |
Attending
the play that night was Charles Leale, a young Army surgeon. He quickly made
his way to the Presidential Box and offered what assistance he could. He later
reported that the President seemed to be paralyzed and was barely breathing.
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| Major Rathbone |
Leale
quickly assessed the situation. Major Rathbone was loosing blood from a deep
gash made in his chest and upper left arm. President Lincoln had a bullet hole
in the back of his head next to his left ear. Leale attempted to remove the
bullet, but instead dislodged a clot of blood; the bullet had gone too far
into the President’s skull to be removed. Leale then made the difficult proclamation,
“His wound is mortal. It is impossible
for him to recover.”
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| Petersen's Boarding House |
Lincoln
was carefully carried into the rainy night, across the street to a boarding
house owned by German tailor, William Petersen. Numerous doctors were in
attendance during the President’s final hours, including Lincoln’s personal
physician, Robert K. Stone.
While
a distraught Mary Lincoln sobbed in the boarding house parlor, Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton took control of the situation and began making decisions for the
country as the President’s life ebbed away. Dr. Leale stayed with the President,
and held his hand so that Lincoln would know “in his blindness, that he had a friend.”
President
Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 on the morning of Saturday, April 15, 1865; the
first President to be assassinated. He was 56 years old. As those who witnessed
his final breath knelt in prayer, Stanton said, "Now he belongs to the ages.” 
The
16th President of the United States was dead.
~ Joy
