Lincoln Assassination

The man who shot President Abraham Lincoln was born May 10, 1838 and he was an actor who performed all over the United States. He was a racist and a strong southern sympathizer during the Civil War. He absolutely hated President Abraham Lincoln. Booth blamed Lincoln for all of the Souths problems and he intended to have revenge on Lincoln for this.

It was in the late summer of 1864 that Booth came up with the ideal of kidnapping President Lincoln and taking him to Richmond Virginia where he would be held and traded eventually for all the Confederates being held as Prisoners of War in the north by the Union forces. By January of 1865 Boothe had gathered together a group of co conspirators who were ready and willing to do what ever Booth ordered. Those co conspirators were.

1. Samuel Arnold

2. Michael O' Laughlen

3. John Surratt

4. Lewis Powell

5. George Atzerodt

6. David Herold

And many people include Dr. Samuel Mudd though there is debate both ways on that issue. The group of Booths Co Conspirators met at Mary Surratts boarding house several times to make plans and plan what they were going to do about Lincoln.

The group made plans to kidnap President Lincoln when he attended a play on March 17th 1865 at a hospital on the outskirts of Washington D.C. However for some reason at the very last moment President Lincoln changed his plans and remained at the White House. And Booth's plan to kidnap Lincoln failed.

The President Abraham Lincoln  Assassination Conspiracy

It was on the morning of Friday April 14th 1865 that Booth learned that President Lincoln would attend the play " Our American Cousin " that night at Ford's Theater. As soon as he learned this he held one more meeting of his co conspirators at the Mary Surratt Rooming House and he said he would kill Lincoln at the Theater. Atzerodt was to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson at Kirkwood House where he resided. Powell was to kill Secretery of State Seward and Herold would go along with Powell. All the attacks were to take place exactly at 10.15 pm and the co conspirators checked their watches to make sure they were all together on the same time.  

The Presidential Party arrived that evening at Fords Theater at about 8.30 pm and Booth armed with a one shot derringer and a hunting knife arrived at Ford's Theater at 9.30 pm. A boy named Joseph Burroughs who worked at Ford's Theater held Booths horse in a back alley. John Parker who was a member of the Washington Police and Booths bodyguard had left his post. At 10.15 Booth opened the door to the State Box and shot President Lincoln in the back of the head. Rathbone a man attending the play that night with the Lincolns tried to grab Booth and their was a brief struggle and Booth stabbed Rathbone in the arm with his hunting knife. Booth jumped 11 feet to the stage below and broke his left leg just above the ankle in the jump to the stage. Many people claimed he screamed "Sic Semper Tyrannis" which is latin for " As Always To Tyrants ". Mrs Lincoln screamed and Booth holding his knife up made his way across the stage and out of the theater to his waiting horse. He fled the city leaving over the Navy Yard Bridge.

Atzerodt made no attempt on Johnsons life and Powell stabbed Seward but failed to kill him. Herold escaped from the city using the same bridge Booth had. At about 4 am Booth and Herold arrived at Dr Mudds house where Dr Mudd set Booths leg

Meanwhile back in Washington DC President Lincoln never did regain consciousness. He passed away at 7.22 am on April 15th 1865 at the Peterson House across from Fords Theater where he had been carried after he was shot the night before.

Booth and Herold fled from Dr Mudds house on the evening of April 15th 1865 and fled south. It was at Garetts Farm near Port Royal Virginia where Federal Authorities finally caught up with them and trapped the men in the barn there on the Garrett Farm. The Federal Troops demanded that the men come out of the barn and Herold gave himself up but Booth refused. The barn was set on fire and finally Boston Corbett snook up to a crack in the barn wall and shot John Wilkes Booth to death. Booths body was dragged out of the burning barn and searched. A diary was found on his body and his body was returned to Washington D.C. where it was identified and an autopsy was performed.

Lincoln conspirators Mrs Surratt , Powell, Atzerodt, and Herold were hung on July 7th 1865. Dr Mudd, Arnold, and O'Laughlen were all given life sentences. The stagehand who held John Wilkes Booths horse for him the night he shot Lincoln was given 6 years in prison. O'Laughlen died in prison shortly after his trial. President Johnson pardoned Dr Mudd, Arnold and Spangler the stagehand who held the horse in early 1869.

And that was the end of the drama but conpiracy theories abound. Was Lincolns assanation a southern plot or was it even possible that President Andrew Johnson was involved in the conspiracy. There are many people with many different theories about what or who was really behind the conspiracy. There are even some people who claim John Wilkes Booth escaped and another man was killed in his place. Who really knows.   Please Post A Comment Down Below. Let Us Know What You Think.

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