Okla-homey
4/14/2009, 06:32 AM
April 14, 1865: Lincoln is shot
144 years ago today, actor John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theater in Washington.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8864/zzzztheaterfords.jpg
Ford's Theater, a few blocks from the White House.
Five days earlier, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the largest Confederate army to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war was nearly over, although there were still Confederate forces yet to surrender.
The president had recently visited the captured Rebel capital of Richmond, and now Lincoln sought a relaxing evening by attending a production of Our American Cousin, a very popular comedy starring Laura Keene.
Ford's Theater, seven blocks from the White House, was crammed with people trying to catch a glimpse of Grant, who was rumored to be in attendance. The general and his wife had cancelled abruptly for an out-of-town trip.
Lincoln occupied a booth above the stage with his wife; Henry Rathbone, a young army officer; and his fiance, Clara Harris, daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris. The Lincolns arrived late for the comedy, but the president was in a fine mood and laughed heartily during the production.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6838/zzzzfordtheatre.jpg
At 10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. Rathbone rushed Booth, who stabbed the soldier in the shoulder. Booth then leapt from the president's box to the stage below. Unfortunately for the assasin, he caught his spur in one of the flags festooning the box, and broke his leg as he landed.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3482/zzz450wilkesbooth.png
John Wilkes Booth was a member of America's most famous acting family
Booth shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus ever to tyrants!"--the Virginia state motto) and ran from the stage. There was a pause, as the crowd initially thought the unfolding drama was part of the production, but a scream from Mrs. Lincoln told them otherwise. The stricken president was carried from the box to a house across the street, where he died the following morning.
Booth was one of the most famous actors of his day, and Lincoln had seen him perform. He was a Maryland native with southern sympathies who hoped to aid the Confederacy by taking out the Union's political leadership in one night.
With Confederate president Jefferson Davis still free and General Joseph Johnston's army still in the field in North Carolina, Booth thought the Confederate cause was not yet lost.
He sent George Atzerodt to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Lewis Paine to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward. Atzerodt could not muster the courage to carry out his assignment, but Paine burst into Seward's home and stabbed him as lay sick in bed. Although seriously wounded, Seward eventually recovered.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4249/zzz450conspiratorsatzer.png
German-born George Atzerodt immigrated to the United States with his family in 1843, at the age of eight. The family settled in Maryland. Atzerodt eventually opened a carriage repair business in Port Tobacco. An acquaintance in Port Tobacco would later, at Atzerodt's trial, describe him as "a good natured kind of fellow" who was "a notorious coward." During the Civil War, Atzerodt helped Confederate agents--including John Surratt--cross the Potomac River. Surratt invited Atzerodt to Washington, where he stayed for a time at Mary Surratt's boarding house until he was evicted for drinking alcohol in his room.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1971/zzzmanacledsweater001.jpg
In 1861 Lewis Payne (a/k/a Lewis Powell) joined the 2nd Florida Infantry. Wounded at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, Payne was captured by Union troops and consigned as a POW nurse at Gettysburg Hospital. While at Gettysburg Hospital, Payne developed a relationship with a volunteer nurse named Margaret Branson. Transferred to West Buildings Hospital in Baltimore in September 1863, Payne --most likely with the help of Branson--escaped within a week of his arrival. Payne fled Baltimore, finding his way behind lines toVirginia, where he met up with and joined a Confederate Calvary outfit known as Mosby's Rangers. While serving in the Mosby's Rangers, it is likely that Payne began his involvement with the Confederate Secret Service.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2623/insane7zo.jpg
144 years ago today, actor John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theater in Washington.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8864/zzzztheaterfords.jpg
Ford's Theater, a few blocks from the White House.
Five days earlier, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the largest Confederate army to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The war was nearly over, although there were still Confederate forces yet to surrender.
The president had recently visited the captured Rebel capital of Richmond, and now Lincoln sought a relaxing evening by attending a production of Our American Cousin, a very popular comedy starring Laura Keene.
Ford's Theater, seven blocks from the White House, was crammed with people trying to catch a glimpse of Grant, who was rumored to be in attendance. The general and his wife had cancelled abruptly for an out-of-town trip.
Lincoln occupied a booth above the stage with his wife; Henry Rathbone, a young army officer; and his fiance, Clara Harris, daughter of New York Senator Ira Harris. The Lincolns arrived late for the comedy, but the president was in a fine mood and laughed heartily during the production.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6838/zzzzfordtheatre.jpg
At 10:15, Booth slipped into the box and fired his .44-caliber single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. Rathbone rushed Booth, who stabbed the soldier in the shoulder. Booth then leapt from the president's box to the stage below. Unfortunately for the assasin, he caught his spur in one of the flags festooning the box, and broke his leg as he landed.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3482/zzz450wilkesbooth.png
John Wilkes Booth was a member of America's most famous acting family
Booth shouted, "Sic semper tyrannis!" ("Thus ever to tyrants!"--the Virginia state motto) and ran from the stage. There was a pause, as the crowd initially thought the unfolding drama was part of the production, but a scream from Mrs. Lincoln told them otherwise. The stricken president was carried from the box to a house across the street, where he died the following morning.
Booth was one of the most famous actors of his day, and Lincoln had seen him perform. He was a Maryland native with southern sympathies who hoped to aid the Confederacy by taking out the Union's political leadership in one night.
With Confederate president Jefferson Davis still free and General Joseph Johnston's army still in the field in North Carolina, Booth thought the Confederate cause was not yet lost.
He sent George Atzerodt to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Lewis Paine to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward. Atzerodt could not muster the courage to carry out his assignment, but Paine burst into Seward's home and stabbed him as lay sick in bed. Although seriously wounded, Seward eventually recovered.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4249/zzz450conspiratorsatzer.png
German-born George Atzerodt immigrated to the United States with his family in 1843, at the age of eight. The family settled in Maryland. Atzerodt eventually opened a carriage repair business in Port Tobacco. An acquaintance in Port Tobacco would later, at Atzerodt's trial, describe him as "a good natured kind of fellow" who was "a notorious coward." During the Civil War, Atzerodt helped Confederate agents--including John Surratt--cross the Potomac River. Surratt invited Atzerodt to Washington, where he stayed for a time at Mary Surratt's boarding house until he was evicted for drinking alcohol in his room.
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1971/zzzmanacledsweater001.jpg
In 1861 Lewis Payne (a/k/a Lewis Powell) joined the 2nd Florida Infantry. Wounded at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, Payne was captured by Union troops and consigned as a POW nurse at Gettysburg Hospital. While at Gettysburg Hospital, Payne developed a relationship with a volunteer nurse named Margaret Branson. Transferred to West Buildings Hospital in Baltimore in September 1863, Payne --most likely with the help of Branson--escaped within a week of his arrival. Payne fled Baltimore, finding his way behind lines toVirginia, where he met up with and joined a Confederate Calvary outfit known as Mosby's Rangers. While serving in the Mosby's Rangers, it is likely that Payne began his involvement with the Confederate Secret Service.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2623/insane7zo.jpg