Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Difference between revisions

|crimes = [[Assassination]] of a President<br>first degree murder<br>[[Attempted murder|Attempted Assassination]] of a Vice President and the Secretary of State<br>Trespassing<br>Assault

At 10:14 P.M., Booth shot Lincoln, who was watching the production of ''Our American Cousin'' with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln and two substitute guests at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.. He died early the next morning on April 15. Beyond his death, the rest of the conspirators' plot failed; Powell only managed to wound the bedridden Seward in his mansion, while Atzerodt lost his nerve and fled, rather than attempting to assassinate Johnson at the Kirkwood Hotel. The funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln was a period of national mourning. Only months after Booth has been murdered in a tobacco barn by [https://real-life-heroes.fandom.com/wiki/Boston_Corbett Boston Corbett] on April 26, four of the eight remaining conspirators were sentenced to be hanged; Powell, Atzerodt, Herold and their landlady [[Mary Surratt]] were hanged on July 7, 1865

=== Booth Shoots Lincoln ===

Meanwhile, back in Washington D.C., chaos broke out in the theater. Several people enter the box, including an army surgeon who happened to be at the theater, [https://real-life-heroes.fandom.com/wiki/Charles_Leale Charles Leale]. Inside the box, he tends to him of his condition and head wound with two other doctors. After allowing Actress Laura Keene to cradle Lincoln’s head, Leale declared the wound mortal. Fearing that Lincoln wouldn’t survive a carriage ride to the White House, the decision was made to move the president to the nearest location on Tenth Street. So when the three doctors and four soldiers slowly carry him out of the theater, they were considered to bring him to the same bar next door where Booth had just spend. After being denied by the bartender, they were summoned by a young border with a lantern at the Petersen House across the street. His name was Henry Safford. Under his orders, the doctors and soldiers carefully brought Lincoln into the house. Since the rooms were locked, the only available bedroom was at the end of the dark hallway. There, at about 10:45 pm, they lay him diagonally on a small bed because of his large height. Once Dr Leale ordered everyone out (except the doctors), he and the doctors undress Lincoln, so they could re-examine him for other additional wounds and apply a mustard plaster and blankets to make him comfortable. Within fifteen minutes after Lincoln was brought to the house, more doctors and cabinet members arrived, except Secretary Seward (who was nearly attacked in his house by Lewis Powell while Booth prepared to shoot Lincoln at Ford’s Theater). Surrounded by his cabinet members and friends, they knew that there was no hope that Lincoln could survive and all they could do is wait for Lincoln to take his last breath. He remained in a coma for eight hours before dying early the next morning at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865. Andrew Johnson later became America's seventeenth president upon Lincoln's death. Henry Rathbone recovered from his wounds but his mental state deteriorated in the years following Lincoln's death as he anguished over his perceived inability to thwart the assassination attempt. His mental decline culminated in his murdering his wife, Clara Harris (who was also in the box with Lincoln) on December 23, 1883, fatally shooting her then stabbing her several times. After he killed Clara, Rathbone attempted to kill himself. When the police arrived, the bleeding Rathbone claimed there were people hiding behind the pictures on the wall. The couple's children, who were also almost killed by their father, were taken to live with their uncle, William Harris, in the United States. Rathbone spent the rest of his life in the asylum until his death in 1911. It was as if John Wilkes Booth continued to kill way beyond that fateful evening.