The DC Traveler

Today in 1865, just 5 days after the end of the Civil War, around 8:00 in the evening, President Abraham Lincoln his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln along with Major and Mrs. Henry Rathbone, visited Ford’s Theatre for a lively performance of the comedy, Our American Cousin.

Just after 10:00, during the third act, the well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth, entered the theatre and walked to the rear of the Presidential box. With only one body guard, who had wandered off, he easily peered through a small hole in door of the box that he had drilled the day before. He saw his target, president Lincoln.

He quietly opened the door and snuck up behind the president holding a .44 caliber Derringer in his hand. Booth waited until the play’s funniest line was delivered and at that moment, a shot rang out over the crowd’s laughter. The single shot struck the President in the back of the head at point blank range.

After a brief struggle with Major Rathbone, Booth immediately leapt from the box onto the stage, breaking his leg, and called out “Sic semper tyrannis” (“Thus always to tyrants”). He quickly escaped from the theater on a hours he had waiting behind the theater, to Bryantown, Maryland, about 25 miles from Washington.

Booth hoped his two other conspirators had also been successful in killing their targets that evening. The plot involved not just the murder of president Lincoln, but also the murders of Secretary of State Seward and Vice-President Johnson. Booth’s plan was to create chaos within the Union government that would allow the Confederate government to reorganize and restart the war.

President Lincoln was quickly examined by a doctor at the theater and carried across the street to Petersen’s Boarding House. He live through the night, but never regained conscienceness. He died early the next morning.

The largest manhunt in U.S. history followed, leading to the discovery of Booth and a fellow conspirator, David Herold, 12 days later near Bowling Green, Virginia. Federal troops set fire to the barn they were hiding in. Herold surrendered but Booth refused to leave the burning bar and was fatally shot by a trooper. Before his death, Booth was shocked to learn that the South had turned against him for his actions.

Four other conspirators were convicted and later hung at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, including DC boarding-house owner Mary Surratt, the first woman to be executed by the federal government.

More on Lincoln’s life and some interesting facts about Honest Abe.

Unfortunately Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was shot along with the Lincoln museum and visitors center are currently closed for an $8 million upgrade until the winter of 2009.

You can still visit the Petersen House across the street and see the room where he died. The Chicago Historical Society owns the actual other items from the night of his death.

A new Lincoln Visitors Center, adjacent to the Petersen House, will open in late 2009 and feature Lincoln memorabilia and interactive displays exploring Lincoln’s life, presidency and examine the legacy he had as one of America’s most important presidents.

Ford’s Theatre (currently closed)
511 10th Street, NW – between E and F Streets
Washington, DC 20004

Petersen House (open)
516 10th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004 (map it)
202-426-6924

Dates and Times - Petersen House - daily 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission - Free

Nearest Metro subway station – Metro Center – Red, Blue and Orange lines, Gallery Place - Red, Green and Yellow lines or the Archives/Navy Memorial - Yellow and Green line. All are a short walk, or use the DC Circulator.

Parking - Available on the street and in area garages.

Images - Flickr - Petersen House sign - by Diva Eva, Room interior culhanen, Presidential Box - Ford’s Theatre - by jlurie, Theatre interior - by Il Primo Uomo

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