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Bibliography: "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" by Jim Bishop

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Bibliography: "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" by Jim Bishop

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Bishop, Jim. The Day Lincoln Was Shot. New York, Harper Perenial, 2013 follows President Lincoln's last days as president before his assassination in Ford's Theatre in 1865.

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On February 12, 1809 Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln.

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Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816. Lincoln's formal schooling was limited to three brief periods in local schools, as he had to work constantly to support his family.

In 1830, his family moved to Macon County in southern Illinois, and Lincoln got a job working on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After settling in the town of New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party, winning election to the Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, and had a grand vision of the expanding United States, with a focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Did you know? The war years were difficult for Abraham Lincoln and his family. After his young son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862, the emotionally fragile Mary Lincoln, widely unpopular for her frivolity and spendthrift ways, held seances in the White House in the hopes of communicating with him, earning her even more derision.

Lincoln taught himself law, passing the bar examination in 1836. The following year, he moved to the newly named state capital of Springfield. For the next few years, he worked there as a lawyer and served clients ranging from individual residents of small towns to national railroad lines.

He met Mary Todd, a well-to-do Kentucky belle with many suitors (including Lincoln's future political rival, Stephen Douglas), and they married in 1842. The Lincolns went on to have four children together, though only one would live into adulthood: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850), William Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862) and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (1853-1871).

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 and began serving his term the following year. As a congressman, Lincoln was unpopular with many Illinois voters for his strong stance against the Mexican-American War. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield in 1849.

Events conspired to push him back into national politics, however: Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence.

With the Whig Party in ruins, Lincoln joined the new Republican Party-formed largely in opposition to slavery's extension into the territories-in 1856 and ran for the Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for the seat in 1855 as well). In June, Lincoln delivered his now-famous "house divided" speech, in which he quoted from the Gospels to illustrate his belief that "this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."

Lincoln then squared off against Douglas in a series of famous debates; though he lost the Senate election, Lincoln's performance made his reputation nationally.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Presidential Campaign

Lincoln's profile rose even higher in early 1860 after he delivered another rousing speech at New York City's Cooper Union. That May, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing over Senator William H. Seward of New York and other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer with only one undistinguished congressional term under his belt.

In the general election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; southern Democrats had nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, while John Bell ran for the brand new Constitutional Union Party. With Breckenridge and Bell splitting the vote in the South, Lincoln won most of the North and carried the Electoral College to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

After years of sectional tensions, the election of an antislavery northerner as the 16th president of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated as 16th U.S. president in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply the federal Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates fired on both the fort and the Union fleet, beginning the Civil War. Hopes for a quick Union victory were dashed by defeat in the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), and Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops as both sides prepared for a long conflict.

While the Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former secretary of war, Lincoln had only a brief and undistinguished period of service in the Black Hawk War (1832) to his credit. He surprised many when he proved to be a capable wartime leader, learning quickly about strategy and tactics in the early years of the Civil War, and about choosing the ablest commanders.

General George McClellan, though beloved by his troops, continually frustrated Lincoln with his reluctance to advance, and when McClellan failed to pursue Robert E. Lee's retreating Confederate Army in the aftermath of the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln removed him from command.

During the war, Lincoln drew criticism for suspending some civil liberties, including the right of habeas corpus, but he considered such measures necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of the enslaved people in the rebellious states not under federal control, but left those in the border states (loyal to the Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln once maintained that his "paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery," he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as one of his greatest achievements and would argue for the passage of a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery (eventually passed as the 13th Amendment after his death in 1865).

Two important Union victories in July 1863-at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania-finally turned the tide of the war. General George Meade missed the opportunity to deliver a final blow against Lee's army at Gettysburg, and Lincoln would turn by early 1864 to the victor at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant, as supreme commander of the Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief speech (just 272 words) at the dedication ceremony for the new national cemetery at Gettysburg. Published widely, the Gettysburg Address eloquently expressed the war's purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of human equality. It became the most famous speech of Lincoln's presidency, and one of the most widely quoted speeches in history.

Abraham Lincoln Wins 1864 Presidential Election

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic nominee, the former Union General George McClellan, but Union victories in battle (especially General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September) swung many votes the president's way. In his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed the need to reconstruct the South and rebuild the Union: "With malice toward none; with charity for all."

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas after staging his March to the Sea from Atlanta, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9. Union victory was near, and Lincoln gave a speech on the White House lawn on April 11, urging his audience to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live to help carry out his vision of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln's Assassination

On the night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president's box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. Lincoln was carried to a boardinghouse across the street from the theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in the early morning hours of April 15, 1865.

Lincoln's assassination made him a national martyr. On April 21, 1865, a train carrying his coffin left Washington, D.C. on its way to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln's funeral train traveled through 180 cities and seven states so mourners could pay homage to the fallen president.

Today, Lincoln's birthday-alongside the birthday of George Washington-is honored on President's Day, which falls on the third Monday of February.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

"Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time."

"I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."

"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot."

"I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle."

"This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men-to lift artificial weights from all shoulders-to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all-to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life."

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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Abraham Lincoln: Facts, Birthday & Assassination | HISTORY

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Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. He led the nation through the bloody conflict and declared all enslaved people free under the Emancipation Proclamation.

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In 1864, Lincoln enters the world of politics by running and winning the election for the U.S. House of Representatives. Lincoln was unpopular with people in Illinois for his stance against the Mexican-American war.

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Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816. Lincoln's formal schooling was limited to three brief periods in local schools, as he had to work constantly to support his family.

In 1830, his family moved to Macon County in southern Illinois, and Lincoln got a job working on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After settling in the town of New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party, winning election to the Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, and had a grand vision of the expanding United States, with a focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Did you know? The war years were difficult for Abraham Lincoln and his family. After his young son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862, the emotionally fragile Mary Lincoln, widely unpopular for her frivolity and spendthrift ways, held seances in the White House in the hopes of communicating with him, earning her even more derision.

Lincoln taught himself law, passing the bar examination in 1836. The following year, he moved to the newly named state capital of Springfield. For the next few years, he worked there as a lawyer and served clients ranging from individual residents of small towns to national railroad lines.

He met Mary Todd, a well-to-do Kentucky belle with many suitors (including Lincoln's future political rival, Stephen Douglas), and they married in 1842. The Lincolns went on to have four children together, though only one would live into adulthood: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850), William Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862) and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (1853-1871).

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 and began serving his term the following year. As a congressman, Lincoln was unpopular with many Illinois voters for his strong stance against the Mexican-American War. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield in 1849.

Events conspired to push him back into national politics, however: Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence.

With the Whig Party in ruins, Lincoln joined the new Republican Party-formed largely in opposition to slavery's extension into the territories-in 1856 and ran for the Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for the seat in 1855 as well). In June, Lincoln delivered his now-famous "house divided" speech, in which he quoted from the Gospels to illustrate his belief that "this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."

Lincoln then squared off against Douglas in a series of famous debates; though he lost the Senate election, Lincoln's performance made his reputation nationally.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Presidential Campaign

Lincoln's profile rose even higher in early 1860 after he delivered another rousing speech at New York City's Cooper Union. That May, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing over Senator William H. Seward of New York and other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer with only one undistinguished congressional term under his belt.

In the general election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; southern Democrats had nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, while John Bell ran for the brand new Constitutional Union Party. With Breckenridge and Bell splitting the vote in the South, Lincoln won most of the North and carried the Electoral College to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

After years of sectional tensions, the election of an antislavery northerner as the 16th president of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated as 16th U.S. president in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply the federal Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates fired on both the fort and the Union fleet, beginning the Civil War. Hopes for a quick Union victory were dashed by defeat in the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), and Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops as both sides prepared for a long conflict.

While the Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former secretary of war, Lincoln had only a brief and undistinguished period of service in the Black Hawk War (1832) to his credit. He surprised many when he proved to be a capable wartime leader, learning quickly about strategy and tactics in the early years of the Civil War, and about choosing the ablest commanders.

General George McClellan, though beloved by his troops, continually frustrated Lincoln with his reluctance to advance, and when McClellan failed to pursue Robert E. Lee's retreating Confederate Army in the aftermath of the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln removed him from command.

During the war, Lincoln drew criticism for suspending some civil liberties, including the right of habeas corpus, but he considered such measures necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of the enslaved people in the rebellious states not under federal control, but left those in the border states (loyal to the Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln once maintained that his "paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery," he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as one of his greatest achievements and would argue for the passage of a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery (eventually passed as the 13th Amendment after his death in 1865).

Two important Union victories in July 1863-at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania-finally turned the tide of the war. General George Meade missed the opportunity to deliver a final blow against Lee's army at Gettysburg, and Lincoln would turn by early 1864 to the victor at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant, as supreme commander of the Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief speech (just 272 words) at the dedication ceremony for the new national cemetery at Gettysburg. Published widely, the Gettysburg Address eloquently expressed the war's purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of human equality. It became the most famous speech of Lincoln's presidency, and one of the most widely quoted speeches in history.

Abraham Lincoln Wins 1864 Presidential Election

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic nominee, the former Union General George McClellan, but Union victories in battle (especially General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September) swung many votes the president's way. In his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed the need to reconstruct the South and rebuild the Union: "With malice toward none; with charity for all."

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas after staging his March to the Sea from Atlanta, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9. Union victory was near, and Lincoln gave a speech on the White House lawn on April 11, urging his audience to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live to help carry out his vision of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln's Assassination

On the night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president's box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. Lincoln was carried to a boardinghouse across the street from the theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in the early morning hours of April 15, 1865.

Lincoln's assassination made him a national martyr. On April 21, 1865, a train carrying his coffin left Washington, D.C. on its way to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln's funeral train traveled through 180 cities and seven states so mourners could pay homage to the fallen president.

Today, Lincoln's birthday-alongside the birthday of George Washington-is honored on President's Day, which falls on the third Monday of February.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

"Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time."

"I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."

"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot."

"I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle."

"This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men-to lift artificial weights from all shoulders-to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all-to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life."

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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Abraham Lincoln: Facts, Birthday & Assassination | HISTORY

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Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. He led the nation through the bloody conflict and declared all enslaved people free under the Emancipation Proclamation.

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In 1860, Lincoln joined the republican party who elected them as their candidate for the presidential election. In the general election Lincoln faced Douglas, who represented the northern democrats; Southern democrats nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. While John Bell ran for the brand new Constitutional Union party. With Bell and Breckenridge splitting the southern votes, Lincoln won most of the North and carried the electoral college to win the White House.

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Abraham Lincoln's Childhood and Early Life

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. His family moved to southern Indiana in 1816. Lincoln's formal schooling was limited to three brief periods in local schools, as he had to work constantly to support his family.

In 1830, his family moved to Macon County in southern Illinois, and Lincoln got a job working on a river flatboat hauling freight down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After settling in the town of New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a shopkeeper and a postmaster, Lincoln became involved in local politics as a supporter of the Whig Party, winning election to the Illinois state legislature in 1834.

Like his Whig heroes Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, and had a grand vision of the expanding United States, with a focus on commerce and cities rather than agriculture.

Did you know? The war years were difficult for Abraham Lincoln and his family. After his young son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862, the emotionally fragile Mary Lincoln, widely unpopular for her frivolity and spendthrift ways, held seances in the White House in the hopes of communicating with him, earning her even more derision.

Lincoln taught himself law, passing the bar examination in 1836. The following year, he moved to the newly named state capital of Springfield. For the next few years, he worked there as a lawyer and served clients ranging from individual residents of small towns to national railroad lines.

He met Mary Todd, a well-to-do Kentucky belle with many suitors (including Lincoln's future political rival, Stephen Douglas), and they married in 1842. The Lincolns went on to have four children together, though only one would live into adulthood: Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), Edward Baker Lincoln (1846-1850), William Wallace Lincoln (1850-1862) and Thomas "Tad" Lincoln (1853-1871).

Abraham Lincoln Enters Politics

Lincoln won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 and began serving his term the following year. As a congressman, Lincoln was unpopular with many Illinois voters for his strong stance against the Mexican-American War. Promising not to seek reelection, he returned to Springfield in 1849.

Events conspired to push him back into national politics, however: Douglas, a leading Democrat in Congress, had pushed through the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), which declared that the voters of each territory, rather than the federal government, had the right to decide whether the territory should be slave or free.

On October 16, 1854, Lincoln went before a large crowd in Peoria to debate the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act with Douglas, denouncing slavery and its extension and calling the institution a violation of the most basic tenets of the Declaration of Independence.

With the Whig Party in ruins, Lincoln joined the new Republican Party-formed largely in opposition to slavery's extension into the territories-in 1856 and ran for the Senate again that year (he had campaigned unsuccessfully for the seat in 1855 as well). In June, Lincoln delivered his now-famous "house divided" speech, in which he quoted from the Gospels to illustrate his belief that "this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."

Lincoln then squared off against Douglas in a series of famous debates; though he lost the Senate election, Lincoln's performance made his reputation nationally.

Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Presidential Campaign

Lincoln's profile rose even higher in early 1860 after he delivered another rousing speech at New York City's Cooper Union. That May, Republicans chose Lincoln as their candidate for president, passing over Senator William H. Seward of New York and other powerful contenders in favor of the rangy Illinois lawyer with only one undistinguished congressional term under his belt.

In the general election, Lincoln again faced Douglas, who represented the northern Democrats; southern Democrats had nominated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, while John Bell ran for the brand new Constitutional Union Party. With Breckenridge and Bell splitting the vote in the South, Lincoln won most of the North and carried the Electoral College to win the White House.

He built an exceptionally strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates and Edwin M. Stanton.

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

After years of sectional tensions, the election of an antislavery northerner as the 16th president of the United States drove many southerners over the brink. By the time Lincoln was inaugurated as 16th U.S. president in March 1861, seven southern states had seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

Lincoln ordered a fleet of Union ships to supply the federal Fort Sumter in South Carolina in April. The Confederates fired on both the fort and the Union fleet, beginning the Civil War. Hopes for a quick Union victory were dashed by defeat in the Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), and Lincoln called for 500,000 more troops as both sides prepared for a long conflict.

While the Confederate leader Jefferson Davis was a West Point graduate, Mexican War hero and former secretary of war, Lincoln had only a brief and undistinguished period of service in the Black Hawk War (1832) to his credit. He surprised many when he proved to be a capable wartime leader, learning quickly about strategy and tactics in the early years of the Civil War, and about choosing the ablest commanders.

General George McClellan, though beloved by his troops, continually frustrated Lincoln with his reluctance to advance, and when McClellan failed to pursue Robert E. Lee's retreating Confederate Army in the aftermath of the Union victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln removed him from command.

During the war, Lincoln drew criticism for suspending some civil liberties, including the right of habeas corpus, but he considered such measures necessary to win the war.

Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address

Shortly after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863, and freed all of the enslaved people in the rebellious states not under federal control, but left those in the border states (loyal to the Union) in bondage.

Though Lincoln once maintained that his "paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery," he nonetheless came to regard emancipation as one of his greatest achievements and would argue for the passage of a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery (eventually passed as the 13th Amendment after his death in 1865).

Two important Union victories in July 1863-at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania-finally turned the tide of the war. General George Meade missed the opportunity to deliver a final blow against Lee's army at Gettysburg, and Lincoln would turn by early 1864 to the victor at Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant, as supreme commander of the Union forces.

In November 1863, Lincoln delivered a brief speech (just 272 words) at the dedication ceremony for the new national cemetery at Gettysburg. Published widely, the Gettysburg Address eloquently expressed the war's purpose, harking back to the Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of human equality. It became the most famous speech of Lincoln's presidency, and one of the most widely quoted speeches in history.

Abraham Lincoln Wins 1864 Presidential Election

In 1864, Lincoln faced a tough reelection battle against the Democratic nominee, the former Union General George McClellan, but Union victories in battle (especially General William T. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September) swung many votes the president's way. In his second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, Lincoln addressed the need to reconstruct the South and rebuild the Union: "With malice toward none; with charity for all."

As Sherman marched triumphantly northward through the Carolinas after staging his March to the Sea from Atlanta, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9. Union victory was near, and Lincoln gave a speech on the White House lawn on April 11, urging his audience to welcome the southern states back into the fold. Tragically, Lincoln would not live to help carry out his vision of Reconstruction.

Abraham Lincoln's Assassination

On the night of April 14, 1865, the actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president's box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and shot him point-blank in the back of the head. Lincoln was carried to a boardinghouse across the street from the theater, but he never regained consciousness, and died in the early morning hours of April 15, 1865.

Lincoln's assassination made him a national martyr. On April 21, 1865, a train carrying his coffin left Washington, D.C. on its way to Springfield, Illinois, where he would be buried on May 4. Abraham Lincoln's funeral train traveled through 180 cities and seven states so mourners could pay homage to the fallen president.

Today, Lincoln's birthday-alongside the birthday of George Washington-is honored on President's Day, which falls on the third Monday of February.

Abraham Lincoln Quotes

"Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time."

"I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."

"I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot."

"I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy indeed if I shall be a humble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and of this, his almost chosen people, for perpetuating the object of that great struggle."

"This is essentially a People's contest. On the side of the Union, it is a struggle for maintaining in the world, that form, and substance of government, whose leading object is, to elevate the condition of men-to lift artificial weights from all shoulders-to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all-to afford all, an unfettered start, and a fair chance, in the race of life."

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

"This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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Abraham Lincoln: Facts, Birthday & Assassination | HISTORY

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Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer, legislator and vocal opponent of slavery, was elected 16th president of the United States in November 1860, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. He led the nation through the bloody conflict and declared all enslaved people free under the Emancipation Proclamation.

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Mary Todd Lincoln was an extravagant woman When she first stepped into the white house she shouted that it was hers, "' It's mine! My very own! At last it is mine!'"(23). She fired the veteran White House steward, rearranged furniture, put famous paintings in storage, hid heirlooms, ordered new decor, raged over food bills, accused servants of stealing, stalked through the corridors, not realizing that her taffeta whispered and warned servants that she was coming.

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During the civil war President Lincoln "issued an order, without consulting the his Secretary of War, that all confederate prisoners who wanted to fight for the Union were to be freed" (16). The secretary of war was not happy with President Lincolns order and went to his office to confront he president.

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Robert Lincoln was President Lincolns oldest son

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Robert Lincoln had just come back from a tour of duty with General Grant, and he was telling his Dad about the tour and his personal opinions on General Grant over breakfast.

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The government in early 1865, had two conversational functions: killing the confederacy and keeping Lincoln alive. The government thought there was a possibility of assassination. Four members of the Washington metropolitan police force were appointed to guard the President. Stanton, the Secretary of War, was not satisfied that four guards were enough so he selected a troop of Ohio light cavalry men who were mounted on fine black horses to act as a presidential escort.

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Ward Hill Lamon was the United States Marshal for the District of Columbia

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Everyone was worried about the Assassination of the President but the most frantic person was Ward Hill Lamon. Lamon was not only scared but he was certain it would happen. Lamon was so scared that some very stressful nights he would sleep in the hall outside the President's bedroom. Lamon and Lincoln were old friends, close enough to quarrel, " The President trusted Lamon as he trusted few men, but he could not share his fears because Mr. Lincoln's philosophy was that he could be killed at any time by anyone who was willing to give his own life in return." (33)

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They day of March 4 was rainy as a crowd stood on Pennsylvania Avenue to watch President Lincoln to get inaugurated for his second term. Lincolns address amounted to less than four pages of copy and it read, Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came... Both read the same bible, and pray to the same God; and each invoked His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but, let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully...With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as god gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish that work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds' to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan-to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." (36)

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Mr. Lincoln was thirty-five pounds underweight. He walked like a man whose feet hurt, he was old and sick. On March 14-a Tuesday- Mr. Lincoln tried to rise from bed and fell back. He could get the strength to get on his feet so Mrs. Lincoln sent for Dr. Robert K. Stone, the family physician. He examined the President and came out of the bedroom announcing that the case was exhaustion. Three hours later he held a cabinet meeting in his bedroom and by Wednesday morning he was out of bed.

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Background- Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) commanded the victorious Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and served as the 18th U.S. President from 1869-1877.

In the third week of March, General Grant felt that the end of the war was a matter of time- a few weeks at most. By telegraph, he invited President Lincoln to come down to City Point, Virginia to see the end.

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Ulysses Grant's Early Years

Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. The following year, he moved with his parents, Jesse Grant (1794-1873) and Hannah Simpson Grant (1798-1883), to Georgetown, Ohio, where his father ran a tannery.

Did you know? Thousands of people worldwide donated a total of $600,000 for the construction of Grant's tomb in New York City. Known officially as the General Grant National Memorial, it is America's largest mausoleum and was dedicated on April 27, 1897, the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth.

In 1839, Jesse Grant arranged for his son's admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The congressman who appointed Grant mistakenly believed his first name was Ulysses and his middle name was Simpson (his mother's maiden name). Grant never amended the error and went on to accept Ulysses S. Grant as his real name, although he maintained that the "S" did not stand for anything.

In 1843, Grant graduated from West Point, where he was known as a skilled horseman but an otherwise undistinguished student. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant in the 4th U.S. Infantry, which was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, near St. Louis. The following year, he met Julia Dent (1826-1902), the sister of one of his West Point classmates and the daughter of a merchant and planter.

After seeing action in the Mexican-American War, Grant returned to Missouri and married Julia in August 1848. The couple eventually had four children: Frederick Dent Grant, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., Nellie Grant and Jesse Root Grant. In the early years of his marriage, Grant was assigned to a series of remote army posts, some of them on the West Coast, which kept him separated from his family. In 1854, he resigned from the military.

Ulysses Grant and the Civil War

Now a civilian, Ulysses Grant was reunited with his family at White Haven, the Missouri plantation where Julia had grown up. There he made an unsuccessful attempt at farming, followed by a failed stint in a St. Louis real estate office. In 1860, the Grants moved to Galena, Illinois, where Ulysses worked in his father's leather goods business.

After the Civil War began in April 1861, Grant became a colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers. Later that summer, President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) made Grant a brigadier general. Grant's first major victory came in February 1862, when his troops captured Fort Donelson in Tennessee. When the Confederate general in charge of the fort asked about terms of surrender for the Battle of Fort Donelson, Grant famously replied, "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted."

In July 1863, Grant's forces captured Vicksburg, Mississippi, a Confederate stronghold. Grant, who was earning a reputation as a tenacious and determined leader, was appointed lieutenant-general by Lincoln on March 10, 1864, and given command of all U.S. armies. He led a series of campaigns that ultimately wore down the Confederate army and helped bring the deadliest conflict in U.S. history to a close. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert Lee (1807-1870) surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War.

Five days later, on April 14, Lincoln was assassinated by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865) while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Grant, and his wife had been invited to accompany the president that night but declined in order to visit family.

From War Hero to President

Following the war, Ulysses Grant became a national hero, and in 1866 was appointed America's first four-star general at the recommendation of President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875). By the summer of 1867, tensions were running high between Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress, who favored a more aggressive approach to Reconstruction in the South.

The president removed a vocal critic of his policies, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (1814-1869), from the Cabinet and replaced him with Grant. Congress charged that Johnson was in violation of the Tenure of Office Act and demanded Stanton's reinstatement. In January 1868, Grant resigned the war post, thereby breaking with Johnson, who was later impeached but acquitted by a single vote in May 1868.

That same month, the Republicans nominated Grant as their presidential candidate, selecting Schuyler Colfax (1823-1885), a U.S. congressman from Indiana, as his running mate. The Democrats chose former New York governor Horatio Seymour (1810-1886) as their presidential nominee, paired with Francis Blair (1821-1875), a U.S. congressman from Missouri. In the general election, Grant won by an electoral margin of 214-80 and received more than 52 percent of the popular vote. At age 46, he became the youngest president-elect in U.S. history up to that time.

Ulysses Grant in the White House

Ulysses Grant entered the White House in the middle of the Reconstruction era, a tumultuous period in which the 11 Southern states that seceded before or at the start of the Civil War were brought back into the Union. As president, Grant tried to foster a peaceful reconciliation between the North and South. He supported pardons for former Confederate leaders while also attempting to protect the civil rights of freed slaves.

In 1870, the 15th Amendment, which gave black men the right to vote, was ratified. Grant signed legislation aimed at limiting the activities of white terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan that used violence to intimidate blacks and prevent them from voting. At various times, the president stationed federal troops throughout the South to maintain law and order. Critics charged that Grant's actions violated states' rights, while others contended that the president did not do enough to protect freedmen.

In addition to focusing on Reconstruction, Grant signed legislation establishing the Department of Justice, the Weather Bureau (now known as the National Weather Service) and Yellowstone National Park, America's first national park. He also tried, with limited success, to improve conditions for Native Americans.

Grant's administration made strides in foreign policy by negotiating the 1871 Treaty of Washington, which settled U.S. claims against England stemming from the activities of British-built Confederate warships that disrupted Northern shipping during the Civil War. The treaty resulted in improved relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. Less successful was Grant's failed attempt to annex the Caribbean nation of Santo Domingo (present-day Dominican Republic).

In 1872, a group of Republicans who opposed Grant's policies and believed he was corrupt formed the Liberal Republican Party. The group nominated New York newspaper editor Horace Greeley (1811-1872) as their presidential candidate. The Democrats also nominated Greeley, hoping the combined support would defeat Grant. Instead, the president and his running mate Henry Wilson (1812-1875), a U.S. senator from Massachusetts, won the general election by an electoral margin of 286-66 and received close to 56 percent of the popular vote.

During Grant's second term, he had to contend with a lengthy and severe depression that struck the nation in 1873 as well as various scandals that plagued his administration. He also continued to grapple with issues related to Reconstruction. Grant did not seek a third term, and Republican Rutherford Hayes (1822-1893), the governor of Ohio, won the presidency in 1876.

Ulysses Grant Scandals

Ulysses Grant's time in office was marked by scandal and corruption, although he himself did not participate in or profit from the misdeeds perpetrated by some of his associates and appointees. During his first term, a group of speculators led by James Fisk (1835-1872) and Jay Gould (1836-1892) attempted to influence the government and manipulate the gold market. The failed plot resulted in a financial panic on September 24, 1869, known as Black Friday. Even though Grant was not directly involved in the scheme, his reputation suffered because he had become personally associated with Fisk and Gould prior to the scandal.

Another major scandal was the Whiskey Ring, which was exposed in 1875 and involved a network of distillers, distributors and public officials who conspired to defraud the federal government of millions in liquor tax revenue. Grant's private secretary, Orville Babcock (1835-1884), was indicted in the scandal; however, the president defended him and he was acquitted.

Grant's presidency occurred during an era dominated by machine politics and the patronage system of political appointments, in which politicians rewarded their supporters with government jobs and the employees, in turn, kicked back part of their salaries to the political party. In order to combat the corruption and inefficiency that resulted from this system, Grant established a civil service commission to develop more equitable methods for hiring and promoting government workers. However, civil service reform faced opposition from Congress and members of Grant's administration, and by 1876 the commission's funding was cut off and reform rules such as standardized exams were discontinued. Lasting reform did not take hold until 1883 when President Chester Arthur (1829-1886) signed the Pendleton Civil Service Act.

Ulysses Grant's Later Years

After leaving the White House in March 1877, Ulysses Grant and his family embarked on a two-year trip around the world, during which they met with dignitaries and cheering crowds in many of the countries they visited. At the 1880 Republican National Convention, a group of delegates voted to nominate Grant for president again; however, James Garfield (1831-1881), a U.S. congressman from Ohio, ultimately earned the nomination. He would go on to win the general election and become the 20th U.S. president before being assassinated in 1881.

In 1881, Grant bought a brownstone on New York City's Upper East Side. He invested his savings in a financial firm in which his son was a partner; however, the firm's other partner swindled its investors in 1884, causing the business to collapse and bankrupt Grant. To provide for his family, the former president decided to write his memoirs. In late 1884, he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

Grant died at age 63 on July 23, 1885, in Mount McGregor, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains, where he and his family were spending the summer. His memoirs, published that same year by his friend Mark Twain (1835-1910), became a major financial success.

More than a million people gathered in New York City to witness Grant's funeral procession. The former president was laid to rest in a tomb in New York City's Riverside Park. When Julia Grant died in 1902, she was buried beside her husband.

Ulysses Grant Quotes

"The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who have helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity."

"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten. Then he who continues the attack wins."

"There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice."

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."

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Ulysses S. Grant - Civil War, Facts & Quotes

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Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) commanded the victorious Union army during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and served as the 18th U.S. president from 1869 to 1877.

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Lincoln left Washington aboard the steamer, River Queen. With him were Mrs. Lincoln, her maid, Tad, bodyguard William H. Crook, and Captain Charles B. Penrose. The River Queen made part at the City Point the following day. In the President's honor, the ranking generals came aboard for two conferences within a few days. Grant told Lincoln that the war had now been reduced to a matter of arithmetic.

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"On this Sunday, the Confederacy died and there was no longer an amalgamation of seceded states. An idea born of pride was gone, and had taken its place in the pages of history. After four years of battling a brother who was bigger, stronger, better fed, better armed, the South was whipped." (42).

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On Monday, April 10 the people of Washington learned that Lee had surrendered to Grant. President Lincoln told the crowd standing outside of the white house that there would be some formal celebration. When Lincoln returned to his desk, he found a message from the Department of State advising him that the formal celebration of Lee's surrender would be held on the evening of Tuesday, April 11th. Lincoln gave a speech at the celebration, "It is also unsatisfactory to some... that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man...I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who served our cause as soldiers..."(53).
John Wilkes Booth sucked in a long breath. He tapped Lewis Paine on the arm. "That's the last speech he will ever make,"(53).

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John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln's assassin

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John Wilkes Booth decided in November 1864 to work his scheme and capture the president. He found all the exits from Washington to the southern states and, after exploring them all he soon decided on the Navy Yard Bridge, at the foot of Eleventh Street.

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During the winter of 1864-1865, on a trip to New York, Booth visited an actor friend, Mr. Samuel Knapp Chester. Booth and Chester went on a walk with each other away from the crowds of people and Booth told Chester his scheme. Booth blurted out that he was now engaged in a conspiracy to capture the heads of the United States Government. Chester told Booth how ridiculous this is said no to the offer Booth was offering. After standing there talking for twenty minutes, "Booth said that he could assure Chester that there would be a fortune, and honor, for those who helped to capture Lincoln. A man could find himself rich almost overnight.
'No,' said Chester.
'Then you will not betray me?' said Booth quietly. 'You dare not.'
'You do not have to be afraid of me, Wilkes.' [Chester]
'I will implicate you anyhow.' [Booth]
'That is unnecessary.' [Chester]
'Our party is sworn to secrecy, Sam, and if you betray us, you will be hunted down through life.' [Booth]
'I will forget all that you have said.' [Chester]
'I urge you to come in with us' [Booth]
'No.' [Chester]
'Your work will be simple, Sam. You understand theaters. All you will have to do is open the back door of Ford's Theatre at a signal.' [Booth]" (68,69).

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A few days before the first attempt at capture, which would be Wednesday, January 18th, Booth stopped by his sister's house to sign an important letter that he had left in her keeping. It was to be released if he was captured or killed, "Right or wrong. God judge me, not man. For be my motive good or bad, of one thing I am sure, the lasting condemnation of the North.

I love peace more than life. Have loved the Union beyond expression. For four years have I waited, hoped and prayed for the dark clouds to break, and for a restoration of our former sunshine. To wait longer would be a crime. All hope for peace is dead. My prayers have proved as idle as my hopes. God's will be done. I go to see and share the bitter end.

I have ever held the South were right. The very nomination of Abraham Lincoln, four years ago, spoke plainly, war -- war upon Southern rights and institutions. His election proved it. "Await an overt act." Yes, till you are bound and plundered. What folly! The South was wise. Who thinks of argument or patience when the finger of his enemy presses on the trigger? In a foreign war I, too, could say, "country, right or wrong." But in a struggle such as ours, (where the brother tries to pierce the brother's heart,) for God's sake, choose the right. When a country like this spurns justice from her side she forfeits the allegiance of every honest freeman, and should leave him, untrammeled by any fealty soever, to act as his conscience may approve.

People of the North, to hate tyranny, to love liberty and justice, to strike at wrong and oppression, was the teaching of our fathers. The study of our early history will not let me forget it, and may it never.

This country was formed for the white, not for the black man. And looking upon African Slavery from the same stand-point held by the noble framers of our constitution. I for one, have ever considered if one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us,) that God has ever bestowed upon a favored nation. Witness heretofore our wealth and power; witness their elevation and enlightenment above their race elsewhere. I have lived among it most of my life, and have seen less harsh treatment from master to man than I have beheld in the North from father to son. Yet, Heaven knows, no one would be willing to do more for the negro race than I, could I but see a way to still better their condition.

But Lincoln's policy is only preparing the way for their total annihilation. The South are not, nor have they been fighting for the continuance of slavery. The first battle of Bull Run did away with that idea. Their causes since for war have been as noble and greater far than those that urged our fathers on Even should we allow they were wrong at the beginning of this contest, cruelty and injustice have made the wrong become the right, and they stand now (before the wonder and admiration of the world) as a noble band of patriotic heroes. Hereafter, reading of their deeds, Thermopylae will be forgotten.

When I aided in the capture and execution of John Brown (who was a murderer on our Western border, and who was fairly tried and convicted, before an impartial judge and jury, of treason, and who, by the way, has since been made a god), I was proud of my little share in the transaction, for I deemed it my duty, and that I was helping our common country to perform an act of justice. But what was a crime in poor John Brown is now considered (by themselves) as the greatest and only virtue of the whole Republican party. Strange transmigration! Vice to become a virtue, simply because more indulge in it

I thought men, as now, that the Abolitionists were the only traitors in the land, and that the entire party deserved the same fate of poor old Brown, not because they wish to abolish slavery but on account of the means they have ever endeavored to use to effect that abolition. If Brown were living I doubt whether he himself would set slavery against the Union. Most or many in the North do, and openly curse the Union, if the South are to return and retain a single right guarantied to them by every tie which we once revered as sacred. The South can make no choice. It is either extermination or slavery for themselves (worse than death) to draw from. I know my choice.

I have also studied hard to discover upon what grounds the right of a State to secede has been denied, when our very name, United States, and the Declaration of Independence, both provide for secession. But there is no time for words. I write in haste. I know how foolish I shall be deemed for undertaking such a step as this, where, on the one side, I have many friends, and everything to make me happy, where my profession alone has gained me an income of more than twenty thousand dollars a year, and where my great personal ambition in my profession has such a great field for labor. On the other hand, the South have never bestowed upon me one kind word; a place now where I have no friends, except beneath the sod; a place where I must either become a private soldier or a beggar. To give up all of the former for the latter, besides my mother and sisters whom I love so dearly, (although they so widely differ with me in opinion,) seems insane; but God is my judge. I love justice more than I do a country that disowns it; more than fame and wealth; more (Heaven pardon me if wrong,) more than a happy home. I have never been upon a battle-field; but O, my countrymen, could you all but see the reality or effects of this horrid war, as I have seen them, (in every State save Virginia.) I know you would think like me, and would pray the Almighty to create in the Northern mind a sense of right and justice, (even should it possess no seasoning of mercy,) and that he would dry up this sea of blood between us, which is daily growing wider. Alas! poor country, is she to meet her threatened doom? Four years ago I would have given a thousand lives to see her remain (as I had always known her) powerful and unbroken. And even now, I would hold my life as naught to see her what she was. O, my friends, if the fearful scenes of the past four years had never been enacted, or if what has been had been but a frightful dream, from which we could now awake, with what overflowing hearts could we bless our God and pray for his continued favor. How I have loved the old flag, can never now be known. A few years since and the entire world could boast of none so pure and spotless. But I have of late been seeing and hearing of the bloody deeds of which she has been made the emblem, and would shudder to think how changed she had grown. O, how I have longed to see her break from the mist of blood and death that circles round her folds, spoiling her beauty and tarnishing her honor. But no, day by day has she been dragged deeper and deeper into cruelty and oppression, till now (in my eyes) her once bright red stripes look like bloody gashes on the face of Heaven. I look now upon my early admiration of her glories as a dream. My love (as things stand to-day) is for the South alone. Nor do I deem it a dishonor in attempting to make for her a prisoner of this man, to whom she owes so much of misery. If success attends me, I go penniless to her side. They say she has found that "last ditch" which the North have so long derided, and been endeavoring to force her in, forgetting they are our brothers, and that it's impolitic to goad an enemy to madness. Should I reach her in safety and find it true, I will proudly beg permission to triumph or die in that same "ditch" by her side. A Confederate doing duty upon his own responsibility.
J. Wilkes Booth." (70,71,72)

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Credit... The New York Times Archives

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The following verbatim copy of a letter, in writing which is the hand-writing of JOHN WILKES BOOTH, the murderer of President LINCOLN, has been furnished us by the Hon. WM. MILLWARD, United States Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It was handed over to that officer by JOHN S. CLARKE, who is a brother-in-law of Mr. BOOTH. The history connected with it is somewhat peculiar. In November, 1864, the paper was deposited with Mr. CLARKE by BOOTH, in a sealed envelope, "for safe keeping," Mr. CLARKE being ignorant of the contents. In January last BOOTH called at Mr. CLARKE's house, asked for the package and it was given up to him. It is now supposed that at that time he took out the paper and added to it his signature, which appears to be in a different ink from that used in the body of the letter, and also from the language employed could not have been put to it originally. Afterward he returned the package to Mr. CLARKE again for safe keeping, sealed and bearing the superscription, "J. WILKES BOOTH."

The inclosure was preserved by the family without suspicion of its nature. After the afflicting information of the assassination of the President, which came upon the family of Mr. CLARKE with crushing force, it was considered proper to open the envelope. There was found in it the following paper, with some 7-30 United States bonds, and a certificate of shares in oil companies. Mr. CLARKE promptly handed over the paper to Marshal MILLWARD, in whose custody it now remains. From a perusal of this paper it seems to have been prepared by BOOTH as a vindication of some desperate act which he had in contemplation; and, from the language used, it is probable that it was a plot to abduct the President and carry him off to Virginia. If this was meditated it failed, and from making a prisoner of the President to his assassination was an easy step for a man of perverted principles. It also appears that BOOTH was one of the party who was engaged in the capture and execution of JOHN BROWN, of Ossawattomie, at which time he doubtless imbibed from WISE and his associates those detestable sentiments of cruelty which have culminated in an infamous crime. The letter is as follows:

_____. _____. 1864

MY DEAR SIR, -- You may use this as you thing most. But as some may wish to know when, who and why, and as I know not how to direct, I give it (in the words of your master)

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN":

Right or wrong. God judge me, not man. For be my motive good or bad, of one thing I am sure, the lasting condemnation of the North.

I love peace more than life. Have loved the Union beyond expression. For four years have I waited, hoped and prayed for the dark clouds to break, and for a restoration of our former sunshine. To wait longer would be a crime. All hope for peace is dead. My prayers have proved as idle as my hopes. God's will be done. I go to see and share the bitter end.

I have ever held the South were right. The very nomination of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, four years ago, spoke plainly, war -- war upon Southern rights and institutions. His election proved it. "Await an overt act." Yes, till you are bound and plundered. What folly! The South was wise. Who thinks of argument or patience when the finger of his enemy presses on the trigger? In a foreign war I, too, could say, "country, right or wrong." But in a struggle such as ours, (where the brother tries to pierce the brother's heart,) for God's sake, choose the right. When a country like this spurns justice from her side she forfeits the allegiance of every honest freeman, and should leave him, untrameled by any fealty soever, to act as his conscience may approve.

People of the North, to hate tyranny, to love liberty and justice, to strike at wrong and oppression, was the teaching of our fathers. The study of our early history will not let me forget it, and may it never.

This country was formed for the white, not for the black man. And looking upon African Slavery from the same stand-point held by the noble framers of our constitution. I for one, have ever considered if one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us,) that God has ever bestowed upon a favored nation. Witness heretofore our wealth and power; witness their elevation and enlightenment above their race elsewhere. I have lived among it most of my life, and have seen less harsh treatment from master to man than I have beheld in the North from father to son. Yet, Heaven knows, no one would be willing to do more for the negro race than I, could I but see a way to still better their condition.

But LINCOLN's policy is only preparing the way for their total annihilation. The South are not, nor have they been fighting for the continuance of slavery. The first battle of Bull Run did away with that idea. Their causes since for war have been as noble and greater far than those that urged our fathers on Even should we allow they were wrong at the beginning of this contest, cruelty and injustice have made the wrong become the right, and they stand now (before the wonder and admiration of the world) as a noble band of patriotic heroes. Hereafter, reading of their deeds, Thermopylae will be forgotten.

When I aided in the capture and execution of JOHN BROWN (who was a murderer on our Western border, and who was fairly tried and convicted, before an impartial judge and jury, of treason, and who, by the way, has since been made a god), I was proud of my little share in the transaction, for I deemed it my duty, and that I was helping our common country to perform an act of justice. But what was a crime in poor JOHN BROWN is now considered (by themselves) as the greatest and only virtue of the whole Republican party. Strange transmigration! Vice to become a virtue, simply because more indulge in it

I thought men, as now, that the Abolitionists were the only traitors in the land, and that the entire party deserved the same fate of poor old BROWN, not because they wish to abolish slavery but on account of the means they have ever endeavored to use to effect that abolition. If BROWN were living I doubt whether he himself would set slavery against the Union. Most or many in the North do, and openly curse the Union, if the South are to return and retain a single right guarantied to them by every tie which we once revered as sacred. The South can make no choice. It is either extermination or slavery for themselves (worse than death) to draw from. I know my choice.

I have also studied hard to discover upon what grounds the right of a State to secede has been denied, when our very name, United States, and the Declaration of Independence, both provide for secession. But there is no time for words. I write in haste. I know how foolish I shall be deemed for undertaking such a step as this, where, on the one side, I have many friends, and everything to make me happy, where my profession alone has gained me an income of more than twenty thousand dollars a year, and where my great personal ambition in my profession has such a great field for labor. On the other hand, the South have never bestowed upon me one kind word; a place now where I have no friends, except beneath the sod; a place where I must either become a private soldier or a beggar. To give up all of the former for the latter, besides my mother and sisters whom I love so dearly, (although they so widely differ with me in opinion,) seems insane; but God is my judge. I love justice more than I do a country that disowns it; more than fame and wealth; more (Heaven pardon me if wrong,) more than a happy home. I have never been upon a battle-field; but O, my countrymen, could you all but see the reality or effects of this horrid war, as I have seen them, (in every State save Virginia.) I know you would think like me, and would pray the Almighty to create in the Northern mind a sense of right and justice, (even should it possess no seasoning of mercy,) and that he would dry up this sea of blood between us, which is daily growing wider. Alas! poor country, is she to meet her threatened doom? Four years ago I would have given a thousand lives to see her remain (as I had always known her) powerful and unbroken. And even now, I would hold my life as naught to see her what she was. O, my friends, if the fearful scenes of the past four years had never been enacted, or if what has been had been but a frightful dream, from which we could now awake, with what overflowing hearts could we bless our God and pray for his continued favor. How I have loved the old flag, can never now be known. A few years since and the entire world could boast of none so pure and spotless. But I have of late been seeing and hearing of the bloody deeds of which she has been made the emblem, and would shudder to think how changed she had grown. O, how I have longed to see her break from the mist of blood and death that circles round her folds, spoiling her beauty and tarnishing her honor. But no, day by day has she been dragged deeper and deeper into cruelty and oppression, till now (in my eyes) her once bright red stripes look like bloody gashes on the face of Heaven. I look now upon my early admiration of her glories as a dream. My love (as things stand to-day) is for the South alone. Nor do I deem it a dishonor in attempting to make for her a prisoner of this man, to whom she owes so much of misery. If success attends me, I go penniless to her side. They say she has found that "last ditch" which the North have so long derided, and been endeavoring to force her in, forgetting they are our brothers, and that it's impolitic to goad an enemy to madness. Should I reach her in safety and find it true, I will proudly beg permission to triumph or die in that same "ditch" by her side.

A Confederate doing duty upon his own responsibility. J. WILKES BOOTH.

REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1864.

The annual report of the Commissioners of Charities and Corrections for the past year has just been submitted to the Legislature and the Board of Supervisors.

After referring to the arduous duties devolving on the commission, and the difficulties encountered in the administration of its business during the past five years, the commissioners call attention to the necessity for an Inebriate Asylum, and state that they have obtained plans for the building of an edifice on Ward's Island, which, while it is sufficiently large to test, in all points, the value of such a provision, can be easily extended to embrace the full requirements of the city for a long time to come.

A Dead House will also be provided at Bellevue Hospital for legal examinations, post-mortem investigations, coroners' juries, and accommodations for medical and surgical relief to cut door poor, and all the varied requirements of an institution of that sort, besides furnishing the necessary room and accommodation for the use of the Bellevue Hospital College.

The Workhouse, the report states, under a contract for female labor, has been made to produce $17,502, a result unexampled in the history of the institution.

Of the Penitentiary the commissioners say:

"The report of this institution will exhibit a great and continued reduction in the number of inmates compared with years previous to the war, undoubtedly growing out of the inducements for enlistment, and an exchange of the confinement of the prison for the profession of arms, in accordance with arrangements made with the courts and their tributaries.

We cannot but regard the system of penitentiary confinement, and what is termed punishment, as falling far short of the wisest and best mode of treating this unfortunate condition of man. As at present constituted, these penitentiaries cannot be looked upon otherwise than as schools of vice, as aiders and abettors in the perpetuation of crime, and an encouragement to the very vices, and their attendant consequences, which they are expected to prevent."

The Small-Pox Hospital has been filled to overflowing during the past year, in consequence of the Commissioners of Emigration having forced on the Commission the entire number of small-pox patients who should have been cared for elsewhere. A large number of cases from the army and navy also received attention in this institution.

The Children's Home progresses favorably, and calls for no particular mention.

From time to time, during the last few years, the commissioners have had under consideration the proposition in connection with the Bellevue Hospital Medical Board, of the establishment at that point in the contemplated new building, of specialties in connection with an Outdoor Medical and Surgical Department for the relief of the poor; and they have concluded that they will make a trial sufficient for testing the usefulness and propriety of such a bureau.

The following tabular statement, which is given in the report, shows that there is a class of persons in this city, popularly known as "revolvers," whose existence appears to be spent between the City Prison and the Workhouse;

Statement of Vagrants and disorderly persons transferred from the City Prison to the Workhouse on Blackwell's Island, during the year 1864, and the number of times they have been previously committed.

1st time...............5,366 16th time............ 24

2d time.............. 402 20th time............ 85

3d time.............. 237 25th time............ 42

4th time.............. 173 30th time............ 27

5th time.............. 268 40th time............. 41

6th time.............. 124 46th time............ 1

7th time.............. 7 50th time............ 22

8th time............. 36 60th time............ 22

10th time............ 125 70th time............ 1

12th time............ 20 75th time............ 2

13th time............ 1 80th time............ 3

14th time............ 13 100th time............ 135

15th time............ 19

Total..................................7,136

-- of which number 1 601 were males, and 5,535 females. Aggregate number of times committed, 33,674, or four times for each.

1863 -- Number committed, 10,753, Males, 2,328, females, 8,425. Aggregate number of times committed, 139 057, or 12 times each.

Of out-door poor, 48,844 adults and 10,150 children have been relieved by donations in money, and 15,222 adults and 28,026 children with fuel. The total amount of cash disbursed, in giving this relief, from the 1st of January to the 31st of December, 1864, being $100,123 47.

The total number of persons received and cared for in the various institutions last year was 127,067, as follows:

Alms House.................................... 4,551

Bellevue Hospital.............................. 7,491

City Prison.....................................21,150

Second District Prison......................... 3,662

Third District Prison........................... 5,455

Fourth District Prison......................... 1,126

Lunatic Asylum................................ 1,137

Blackwell's Island Hospital.................... 7 429

Penitentiary................................... 1 199

Workhouse................................... 10,409

Randall's Island............................. 2 626

Nursery Hospital, Randall's Island............. 1,393

City Cemetery and Farm....................... 301

Colored Home.................................. 615

Orphan Asylum............................... 261

Out-door relief................................58 282

The expenditures of the commission during the year have amounted to $729,343 91.

In conclusion the commissioners say: "We feel that it is proper for us, before closing this report, to place in honorable mention the names of the following persons, who, having faithfully served the best interest of the department, have fallen victims to the contagion, which their labors required them to encounter, bearing testimony to their fidelity, their fearlessness, and to a general, conduct which is not only creditable to humanity, but deserves a monumental records.

Dr. Moses H. Ranney, Resident Physician Lunatic Asylum; Dr. Alden E. Nelson, Senior Assistant Physician, Lunatic Asylum; Dr. A. Tolls Marvin, Assistant Physician, Lunatic Asylum; Dr. Eugene O. Rowe, House Surgeon, Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Henry J. Devlin, House Physician, Bellevue Hospital; Dr. George C. Dewey, Assistant Physician, Island Hospital; John King, Engineer Bellevue Hospital: John DeMott, Keeper at Work House; James Smith, Keeper at Work House: John Brown, Keeper City Prison; Rev. Father Joseph Paverelli, of Blackwell's Island Hospital: Rev. Father Geo. Laufhuber, of Blackwell's Island Hospital: Sister Domifella, Sister Felix, Sister Christine, Regular Religious Visitors to the Institutions.

INCENDIARY FIRE IN BROADWAY.

A fire of an incendiary origin was discovered, at about 1 o'clock yesterday morning, in JAMES THOMPSON's liquor-store, at No. 1,313 Broadway, corner of Thirty-sixth-street. The fire was kindled near the partition wall, between THOMPSON's store and J. NOBLE's shop, on Thirty-sixth-street. It was extinguished with damage not exceeding $150. Mr. NOBLE is insured for $400, in the Globe Office, and Mr. THOMPSON for $1,000, in the St. Nicholas. An examination of the premises leading Officers NOYES and DAVIS to suspect THOMPSON, they apprehended him. and he was taken before Justice DODGE and committed to await examination by Fire-Marshal BAKER.

IN WEST TWENTY-NINTH-STREET.

Early yesterday morning the Cary Wireworks, at Nos. 152, 154 and 156 West Twenty-ninth-street, were damaged to the extent of about $5,000. The fire was first discovered in the annealing and drying department, and this was destroyed. The proprietor, Messrs. WEST, BRADLEY & CARY, are fully insured, but by what companies is not reported.

OFFICE CHIEF-ENGINEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, No. 21 ELIZABETH-STREET, NEW-YORK, April 11, 1865.

To the Editor of the New-York Times:

An article appeared in your issue of yesterday entitled, "Disastrous Conflagration in the Seventh Ward." This article asserts that I directed all the hose to be taken away from the ruins on Monday, and implies that the removal of the hose was the cause of the conflagration of Tuesday, the 18th inst.

I desire to unequivocally contradict this statement in all its particulars. The facts are as follows: On Monday I directed (as is usual in all such cases) the men connected with the corporation yard at this place to collect all the loose and bursted hose, and take the same to the corporation yard, to be cleaned, repaired and returned to the various companies. While in the discharge of their duty, a misunderstanding occurred with a Sergeant of the Seventh Ward Police, as to what hose should be taken and what left. As soon as I heard of it, I went to the fire myself, and directed the men not to take any hose in use, or that might be required by the insurance patrol, then in charge of the ruins. I also directed the foreman of the corporation yard to supply the patrol with whatever hose or engines they might require to keep the ruins well saturated with water, to prevent the fire from igniting the adjoining warehouse. Before leaving I advised the officers in charge of the insurance patrol to carefully watch the next building.

On Tuesday, previous to and at the time the building No. 547 took fire, the insurance companies bad under their sole control four steam engines, one steam pump and three hydrant streams, and, sufficient hose to conduct water to any part of the block, which proves conclusively that no blame can be arrested to the Fire Department, and that the parties who had full charge since Monday last are responsible for all that has occurred since that time.

You will oblige me by inserting this statement, in order that the Fire Department may not be held responsible for what properly belongs to others.

Respectfully, JOHN DECKER.

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THE MURDERER OF MR. LINCOLN.; Extraordinary Letter of John Wilkes Booth Proof that He Meditated His Crime Months Ago His Excuses for the Contemplated Act His Participation in the Execution of John Brown. Commissioners of Public Charities and Correction. Fires. The Seventh Ward Fire Note from Chief Engineer Decker. (Published 1865)

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From the Philadelphia Inquirer. The following verbatim copy of a letter, in writing which is the hand-writing of JOHN WILKES BOOTH, the murderer of President LINCOLN, has been furnished us by the Hon. WM. MILLWARD, United States Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It was handed over to that officer by JOHN S.

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Booth started recruiting people for his scheme like, Micheal O'Laughlin, Sam Arnold, John Surratt, David Herold, and George A. Atzerodt, who was later assigned to kill the Vice President.

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Little evidence remains of this first attempt to kidnap President Lincoln, "The mechanics of the kidnapping appear to have been that Surratt would be detailed to shut off the master gas valve, under the stage of Ford's Theatre, at a signal. This would extinguish every light in the theater. He was then to come up onstage in the dark and wait, as Booth, in boxes 7 and 8, forced the President at gun point to submit to gag and ropes. The actor would lower the President over the facade of the box eleven feet to the stage, then lower himself to the stage. The two men would hustle the President offstage, out the rear door, where a covered wagon would be waiting in the alley. There would be some confusion in the dark theater, among the actors as well as patrons, and Booth counted this to assist, not to hinder him. The President would be placed in the back of the wagon, trussed, and Surratt would drive the wagon out of the alley with the Booth riding singlemount behind the wagon. On the far side of the Navy Yard Bridge, they would pick up the first of Heorld's tea relays, and head for Port Tobacco, twenty nine miles away. By the time Atzerodt had ferried that party across the Potomac to Mathias Point, the whole country would know of their glorious deed and the people of Virginia would assist them through the battle lines to Richmond." (76).

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On the Night of Tuesday, March 7, four days and three weeks prior to the important day, a small incident occurred at Ford's Theatre, "Mr. Thomas Raybold, ticket seller, sold four orchestra seats in advance to Thomas Merrick, the day clerk at the National Hotel. The policy of the theater, when seat holders did not show up by the end of the first act, was to permit the ushers to move less favored patrons up to the empty chairs. Merrick arrived, as the start of Act Two, to find that his seats had been taken. With him were Mrs. Bunker and a Mr. Norton. Merrick was irritated. Raybold too was distressed, and offered to show the party to any good seats in the house, box seats. This mollified the party and they followed the ticket seller up the dress circle staris of Ofrd's Theatre and down the left-handed aisle to Box number 6. It was locked....the best thing to do would be to take the party to the other side of the theater and put them in the presidential box. He led the party to the back of the dress circle, across, and down the right hand aisle. They went through a little white door to Box 7. The door hand aisle. Raybold tried to open Box 8. Locked. The ticket seller, at this point, was angry at himself. He placed his shoulder against the door of the box and pushed. The door bent inward, and bounced back. He pushed again. In the rear of the dark corridor, Mrs. Bunker giggled. Raybold lifted his foot, aimed at the lock and smashed. The lock snapped. The door flew open. the hasp which has held the lock swung loosely. When the party had been seated, and had forgiven him, Raybold tried the lock and found that it was broken. In the future, the door to the presidential box could be opened by anyone. Mr. Raybold did not report it"(79)

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Booth got both of his groups together for the first time, to meet each other, at Gautier's Restaurant in a private dining room, This is where Booth explained the plan to everyone, "He [Booth] admitted the difficulty of removing the Chief Magistrate, against his will, from Ford's Theatre. Paine, he said, would assist him in the State Box. The two of them would truss the President, screened from the audience by the folding drapes on the box and, at a signal, Sam Arnold would walk onstage, with drawn gun, and wait below the box for them to lower the burden. At this time, Mike, below stage, would shut the petcock and the gas lights would go out. Surratt and Atzerodt would be waiting on the far side of the Navy Yard Bridge and would lead the whole party to the flatboat. Davey Herold would sit on the driver's seat of the covered carriage behind Ford's Theatre and would drive out of the alley as Arnold humped in back with Lincoln. O'Laughlin, Paine and Booth, on single-mounts, would remain in the alley a moment with drawn guns, to hold off pursuit, and then rejoin the wagon"(84).

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A notice appeared in the Washington Star on Monday March 27, saying that the President and his family had reserved boxes at Ford's Theatre for the Wednesday night performance of the Italian opera Ernani. Booth saw the notice and wired O'Laughlinn to come to Washington on Wednesday with or without Sam Arnold.

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Booth explains the idea he had to kill Grant, "For a while, he toyed with the idea of taking Paine with him to Ford's Theatre. Paine could be assigned to kill General Grant while Booth was dispatching President Lincoln. But the actor dropped the plan quickly. It would be infinitely more difficult to get two persons into that box tonight than one; and it would be more than twice as hard to get two people out of that theater, than one. Besides, if Paine assassinated Grant, and Booth failed to kill Lincoln, the actor would be a fool in history. His theatrical sense warned him not to share billing with anyone. He would do it himself- Lincoln with the gun; Grant with the knife" (138, 139)

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An actor came and told Henry Ford that rehearsal was over and he could start decorating the State Box for President Lincoln, "The partition was removed and again Boxes 7 and 8 were one....The President's rocker was placed at the very rear of the second box-number 7, in a corner where the President would be hidden from the audience by a heavy contoured drape....Mr. Ford went back into the box and checked over every item of furniture, to be sure they were clean and placed exactly right. Then he opened the door to 7, and closed it. He opened the door to 8, and closed it. Everything was in order. It didn't occur to him that neither door locked." (149,150)

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While at the bar, Booth came up with the idea that if Lincoln was killed, Andrew Johnson, would become President. Johnson was supposed to be shot by Atzerodt, but Booth had little faith that this would happen. If Johnson lived, then the affairs of the union would be carried out. So, to hurt Vice President Johnson Booth left a note saying, "...Booth asked for a blank card. On it he wrote, 'Don't wish to disturb you. Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth.' The actor had never met Andrew Johnson but, after the assassination of Lincoln, the Vice President would have a difficult time explaining the visiting card from the arch-conspirator. With passions high, it might look as though Johnson was the prime mover in a plot to make himself President of the United States" (155)

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The conspirators had a final meeting and final agreements were made. Booth would go to Ford's Theatre alone. he would arrive at nine or later and would asses he situation until 10;15, when he would strike. Afterward, he would head for the Navy Yard Bridge, and if the other actions were properly synchronized with his, all of the parties should meet at the bridge.

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The President and General Grant arrived at Ford's Theatre to a full capacity house. They went to the State Box where they would enjoy the show.

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Booth, who was in the Ford's Theatre, walked to the door to box 7, "The conspirator crouched and pressed his eye against the gimlet hole. What he saw was clear. The high back of the horsehair rocker was in plan view and the silhouette of a head above it...Booth kept his eye to the gimlet hole. The head in front of him barley moved. The universe seemed to pause for breath. Then Trenchard said: 'Don't know the manners of good society, eh?' Booth did not wait to hear the rest of the line. The derringer was now in his hand. He turned the know. The door swung inward. Lincoln, facing diagonally away toward the left, was four feet from him. Booth moved along the wall closest to the dress circle. The President had dropped Mrs. Lincoln's hand and there was a little space between their chairs. The major and his Clara were listening to the humorous soliloquy of the actor on stage: 'Wal, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sock-dologizing old mantrap!' The derringer was behind the President's head between the left ear and spine. Booth squeezed the trigger and there was a sound as though someone had blown up and broken a heavy paper bag. It came in the midst of laughter so that some people heard it, and some did not. The President did not move. His head inclined toward his chest and he stopped rocking...The conspirator forced his way between the President and his wife. Mrs. Lincoln's laughter dissolved in confusion. She saw the young man towering above her, but she did not know who he was or what he wanted. The major saw the cloud of smoke and, without understanding, jumped up and tried to grapple with the intruder. Booth dropped the derringer and pulled his knife. The major laid a hand on his arm and the assassin's arm went high in the air and slashed down. Rathbone lifted his arm to counter the blow, and the knife sliced through his suit and flesh down to the bone. The assassin moved to the ledge of the box and the major reached for him with his right arm. Booth shoved him and said loudly: 'Revenge for the South!' Mrs. Lincln began to rub her cheek nervously. She glanced at her husband, but he seemed to be dozing." (209,210)

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Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination - Timeline, Facts & Aftermath

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On the evening of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

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Backstage an actor recognized the assassin, "Backstage, Jacob Ritterspaugh ran out of the wings and grabbed Ned Spangler by the shoulders. 'That was Booth!' he shouted. 'I sweat it was Booth!' (212)

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Dr. Charles Leale, Assistant Surgeon of United States Volunteers, twenty three years of age, goes into the state box to look at the president, "At first, Leale thought thought that the President was dead. He pushed the shoulders back in the rocker so that the trunk no longer had a tendency to fall forward. Then he stood infront of the President and studied him from head to foot. With the attitude of one who knows that he will be obeyed, he said to gawking men' Get a lamp. Lock that door back there and admit no one except doctors. Someone hold matches until the lamps get here...Dr. Leale crouched behind Lincoln's head and lifted it. His hands came away wet. He placed the head back on the floor....He seperated his fingers and ran them through the patient's hair. At the back, he found matted blood and his fingers loosened a clot and the patients responded with shallow breathing and a weak pulse....The President had been shot behind the left ear and, if the probe of a pinky meant anything, the lead ball moved diagonally forward and slightly upward through that brain toward the right eye. Dr. Leale felt around the eye to see if the ball had emerged. It had not. It was in the brain. Gently, he lowered the great head to the floor. He knew that Lincoln had to die." (214,215)

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They moved the President from the State Box to moved him to the private homes, and boardinghouses and asked the Captain to get them across.

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At ten minutes past 10, Lewis Paine approached Madison Place, across the street from the White House, "Paine rapped again and waited. A shadow grew on the glass and the door opened. A young negro in a white coat stood inside. This was William Bell. 'I have medicine from Doctor Verdi' [Paine].
William reached for it. Paine pulled his hand away. 'It has to be delivered personally'[Paine]. 'Sir,' said the boy, 'I can't let you go upstairs. I have strict orders-' The rare temper began to crumble. 'Your talking to a white man,' Paine said. 'This medicine is for your master and, by God, I'm going to give it to him.'... On the top floor, Frederick Seward, Assistant Secretary of State heard the commotion and the tramp of heavy boots. He had been in bed with his wife, and now he had out on a dressing robe and hurried out...'You cannot see Mr. Seward. I will take the responsibility of refusing to let you see him. Go back and tell the doctor that I refused to let you see him if you think you cannot trust me with the medicine. I am Mr. Seward and I am in charge here.'... Paine hesitated. Then he said: 'Very well, sir. I will go.' He turned and faced down the stairs. He pulled his pistol, whirled, and fired at the middle of Frederick Seward. The hammer clicked. There was no explosion. Paine jumed to the top step and, before Seward could lift his hand, the rare temper brought the butt of the gun smashing down on Seward's head...Bell halfway up the stairs, turned and ran down, screaming 'Murder! Murder!'... Paine found that he had broken his pistol,. He threw it at the unconscious man and drew a knife. He hurried to the front bedroom. When he pushed against the door, he found that someone was leaning against it. Paine moved back a step and crashed his weight against the panel. The door flew open and Paine fell, inside. The room was in darkness except for a slice of light from the hall. The assassin got up, saw a moving figure, and slashed at it. He heard a man scream in pain. His duty was to kill the Secretary of State and he nad no time for others, so he jumped on the bed and, when he felt the helpless figure beneath him, he struck with his knife again and again. He heard small moans and he lifted the knife once more, as high as he could. Someone jerked his arm from behind and he turned and found that, in the darkness, he was battling two men. They were trying to pull him off the bed....Lewis Paine got up and ran out into the hall..."(220,221,222)

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Surgeon General Barnes studied his watch. Dr. Phineas Gurley, the President's pastor, came in from the front parlor and looked at the thin red rug. Dr. Leale saw the chest heave upward, hold the position, and then relax. The time was twenty-two minutes and ten seconds past 7 a.m. The President was dead.

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President Lincoln's Last Moments

April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m.

After John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln, soldiers carried Lincoln from Ford's Theatre and across Tenth Street, so that he could pass his last moments peacefully, surrounded by those who knew him best. He died in the Petersen family's boarding house at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865.

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April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m. After John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln, soldiers carried Lincoln from Ford's Theatre and across Tenth Street, so that he could pass his last moments peacefully, surrounded by those who knew him best. He died in the Petersen family's boarding house at 7:22 a.m.

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Booth was cornered in a Virginia barn and shot. For years afterward there were stories that it wasn't Booth who was shot, but the stories were wrong. It was Booth and, years later, when the government removed his body from under a stone floor in a prison, and sent it home, the Booth family identified the remains as those of John Wilkes Booth and buried him in the family plot.

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John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on th…