On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot while attending a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and their guests Major Henry R. Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris.
As the play was in progress, John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, entered the presidential box with a derringer pistol and shot Lincoln in the back of the head.
Abraham Lincoln slumped forward, and despite immediate medical attention, he succumbed to his injuries the following morning.
After John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln and wounded Major Rathbone, Booth jumped from the balcony onto the stage, injuring his leg in the process.
He then fled the theater and escaped on horseback. Dr. Charles Leale, a physician in the audience, rushed to the presidential box and found Lincoln severely injured, with the bullet having entered through his left ear and lodged behind his right eye.
Despite efforts to save him, Lincoln’s condition was critical. He was moved across the street to a boarding house, but after nine hours of medical attempts, he died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865.
At nearly the same time Booth shot President Lincoln, his co-conspirator Lewis Powell (also known as Lewis Paine or Lewis Payne) attacked Secretary of State William Henry Seward at his home on Lafayette Square.
Seward, who was bedridden due to a recent carriage accident, was targeted by Powell, who posed as a messenger with a delivery of medicine.
When Powell forced his way into the mansion, he brutally assaulted Seward’s son, Frederick, who attempted to protect his father.
Powell then slashed Seward’s throat twice and fought off other members of the household, including Seward’s son Augustus, a hospital corps veteran, and a State Department messenger. Despite Powell’s violent attack, Seward survived his injuries.
Powell, believing his mission complete, escaped into the night, but his attack did not prove fatal due to a metal surgical collar that saved Seward’s life.
Seward survived and continued to serve in the Johnson administration, notably overseeing the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.
John Wilkes Booth was eventually located and killed on April 26, 1865, while hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.
Alongside Booth, four other conspirators were involved: Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, David Herold, and Mary Surratt.
They were tried and convicted, and on July 7, 1865, were hanged at the Old Penitentiary, now part of Fort McNair.
