Booth the Lincoln Killer. Versions of the assassination of President Lincoln

April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln went to an evening performance at Ford's Theatre. A few days ago, the army of the southerners capitulated and the civil war ended, and therefore the feelings that owned the president in those days are quite understandable. The tension of the struggle, of course, did not completely disappear, but still one could afford to relax and rest while watching the comic acting.

Ulysses Grant, the commander-in-chief of the northerners, was also invited to the performance, but due to family circumstances he could not come to the theater. This made it easier for John Wilkes Booth, an out-of-work actor plotting an assassination attempt on the president. If there were a general in the theater, then his military retinue, of course, would be a serious obstacle to the attacker. And so the presidential box was guarded by only one person - policeman Joe Parker, and he was absent at the fatal moment when the killer entered the box: he went to the buffet to drink a couple of glasses in the company of the lackey and the president's coachman.

At eleven o'clock in the evening, when the audience at the Ford Theater was laughing at the playful monologue of comedian Harry Hawke, a pistol shot rang out in the hall. Booth, who had penetrated Lincoln's box, fired at point-blank range. Then he jumped over the barrier of the presidential box and with his spur (he was wearing boots) touched the Stars and Stripes banner that framed its portal. There was a dry crack of tearing fabric. Booth fell awkwardly on the stage, but immediately jumped to his feet and, brandishing his dagger, shouted: "Death to tyrants!" In the auditorium, not everyone understood what this meant. Some thought it was part of the play. Several officers rushed to the stage, and then a cry went through the theater: "They shot at the president!"

In the fall, Booth broke his leg. But that didn't stop him from working his way backstage. He knew Ford's theater like the back of his hand and quickly made his way to the emergency exit, where a horse was waiting for him. The spur that had broken through the banner dug into the side of the horse. The military guards guarding the exits from the capital did not yet know about what had happened, and Bout left the capital without hindrance.

Of course, Bout was helped by other people - it is almost impossible to carry out such an attempt alone and escape.

Ten days later, Booth was overtaken in northern Virginia. He was hiding on the farm of his accomplice Garrett. When the soldiers surrounded the barn where the actor was hiding, he refused to surrender. Then the barn was set on fire, and in the ensuing turmoil, Booth was mortally wounded by an unexpected shot. The soldiers, having broken the door, carried out Bout, who was still conscious for some time. Then he died, and his body was taken to Washington on a warship. This is the official version of Bout's death.

However, eyewitness accounts of his death and funeral are quite contradictory, and this gave rise to versions that another person was killed instead of the actor.

Later, 5 people were executed for their participation in the preparation of Lincoln's assassination.

On April 14, 1865, at a performance of Our American Cousin at the Ford Theater, actor John Wilkes Booth mortally wounded US President Abraham Lincoln. The killer managed to escape, but after 12 days the police caught up with him in a barn in Virginia, and when Booth came out of a torched hideout, Sergeant Boston Corbett shot him in the neck.

Official version

In addition to Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, Major Henry Rathbone and his beloved Clara Harris were in the presidential box. Booth found himself in the aisle connecting the box and the corridor at ten o'clock in the evening, and remained to wait for a certain comedy scene, which always aroused the laughter of the audience.
According to the plan, the rising noise was supposed to drown out the shot. At the beginning of the episode, the actor went behind the president, who was sitting in a rocking chair, and at the right moment shot him in the back of the head. Rathbone tried to detain the killer, but he stabbed him in the arm. The major recovered quickly and again tried to grab Booth as he was preparing to jump over the box railing. He, in turn, tried to hit Rathbone in the chest, and then jumped over the fence.
Falling onto the stage from a height of three meters, he caught his spur on the flag that adorned the box, and in the fall broke his left leg, which, however, did not prevent him from running onto the stage. At that moment, he raised a bloody knife over his head and shouted into the audience the Virginia state motto Sic semper Tyrannis! (lat. “It happens with all tyrants!”). Then he got out, hit the man holding the horse with the handle of the knife, and fled from his pursuers.

The wounded Lincoln was transferred to a boarding house opposite the theater. The next morning, the president died without regaining consciousness. At the same time, a certain Lewis Powell (Payne) made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward - an associate of Lincoln who later became famous for buying Alaska - in his house. Shortly before the assassination attempt, Seward was in a road accident: his jaw and right arm were broken, the ligament in his foot was torn, and his whole body was covered with bruises. Payne snuck into his house on the pretext that he needed to give Seward something from the doctor, and entered his bedroom. The conspirator inflicted several blows with a knife, including in the throat. The Secretary of State survived. During the assassination attempt, Seward's son August was injured.

An assassination attempt was also being prepared on Vice President Andrew Johnson, but the conspirator George Atzerodt “drank too much for courage” and did not go anywhere.

The conspiracy against the leaders of the United States, the investigation linked with the end of the civil war: only five days had passed after the surrender of the commander-in-chief of the Confederate army, the North won. The investigation identified ten participants in the conspiracy: Booth was killed during the arrest, four - David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and Mary Surratt - were hanged on July 7.

Execution of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt (left to right). Photo: Library of Congress

Three more - Dr. Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold and Michael O "Laughlin - were sentenced to life imprisonment, Edward Spangler received six years in prison. John Surratt, one of the main characters in this story, was hiding abroad for some time (where no one was looking for him), and then was acquitted.

conspiracy theory

In 1959, the American historian Theodore Roscoe published The Web of Conspiracy. In it, the author drew attention to the episodes of the official version of the investigation, which seem incredible and raise questions.

The assassination attempt was immediately reported to Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. Stanton immediately arrived at the scene of the assassination, and then, settling in the same boarding house, for many hours served as chief of police and supreme judge, giving orders to catch the killer and sending out telegrams. After a short conversation with the vice president, the secretary of war allegedly let him go home, although according to another version of Johnson, no one tried to look for him at all.

This is where the weirdness starts. One of Stanton's first orders was to block all roads leading out of the city. The police occupied train stations, the Potomac River was guarded by ships, and the six roads leaving Washington were blocked by the military. However, the conspirators were left with two paths that led to the state of Maryland, one of them - along the Navy Yard Bridge, which was guarded around the clock. On the day of the assassination, the bridge was guarded by a sergeant named Cobb. At 22:45 local time, Booth introduced himself to him by his real name and said that he was going home. The assassin of the president was released from the city.

Following Booth, David Harold drove up to the bridge, helping Powell at the home of Secretary of State Seward. His Sergeant Cobb, like Booth, allegedly mistook him for a reveler who had fun in Washington and missed the time when he had to return home.

A few minutes later a stable boy galloped up after Harold, from whom the conspirators borrowed horses and did not return them at the agreed nine in the evening. Seeing the rushing Harold, who clearly did not intend to give up the horse, its owner rushed after him. But Sergeant Cobb didn't let him across the bridge. Then the groom returned to the city and filed a complaint about the stolen horse with the police. The suggestion arose from its employees that this theft might be connected with the flight of the conspirators, and they turned to the army headquarters with a demand for the horses. The military rejected the request, saying that they had not received such orders, and they would deal with the criminals on their own. Until the next day, however, no one lifted a finger.

Another little-explained circumstance that Roscoe points out is how Bout was able to get into the presidential box without interference. On the eve of the performance, Lincoln asked Stanton to appoint Major Eckart as his bodyguard, but the Secretary of War announced that his aide-de-camp was busy and put John Parker, who had a reputation as a drunkard and frequenter of brothels, as well as many penalties for inappropriate use of weapons and sleeping on duty, to the president. Parker did not change his image and soon after the start of the performance he went to a bar. The path for the killer was clear.

The motive for the murder is also not entirely plausible. It is commonly believed that Booth, an ardent supporter of the southerners, decided to take revenge on Lincoln for defeating the Confederacy. But the fact is that, contrary to popular legend, the president fought not for the liberation of blacks, but for the unity of the state. By and large, he didn’t give a damn about the slaves: in his campaign speech, Lincoln said that there could be no question of any equality, but the superiority of the white race does not mean that blacks should be deprived of everything.

Lincoln himself took a soft stance towards the vanquished. At the same time, Secretary of War Stanton disagreed with this position and believed that the South needed to be occupied and avenged. It turns out that the "fanatical southerner" Bout for some reason killed a man who offered the most favorable conditions to the defeated southerners.

On the night of April 15, when Harold and Boots met after crossing the Navy Yard bridge, they called on Dr. Samuel Mudd in Bryantown because the actor's broken leg was in severe pain. Before entering the house, Booth wrapped his face in a shawl so that the doctor could not see him. Mudd put a bandage on the damaged bone and built two crutches, after which the conspirators continued on their way. At the trial, Mudd said that Booth turned away from him all the time and did not let himself be seen, but the judges decided that it was the doctor who advised the fugitives to contact Colonel Cox, who was supposed to ferry them across the Potomac. This enterprise, however, failed, and Colonel Cox hid the conspirators a few kilometers from his house, where Booth began to keep a diary.

In Washington, meanwhile, they arrested Mary Surratt, the hostess of the boarding house, where the actor often went, and three other suspicious persons. Payne and Atzerodt were also captured.

Quite large rewards were assigned for the heads of Booth and Harold. Eventually, their trail was found near Port Royal, where they hid with a family of farmers, posing as Confederate soldiers. The soldiers had an order to take the conspirators alive, but in spite of him, Bout was mortally wounded and died the next morning. The soldiers found his diary and handed it over to the ministry, but they seemed to have forgotten about it. A few years later, Brigadier General Lafayette Baker remembered that he had given the actor's diary to his boss Stanton (Baker was then chief of police), and when he got it back, some pages were missing.

In 1961, a book that once belonged to Baker was accidentally found. 93 years earlier, a brigadier general wrote on its cover: “I am constantly being followed. These are professionals. I can't get away from them." This is followed by an allegorical story about the conspiracy of Judas, Brutus and the Spy, while references to Stanton are found in the words of Judas, and the owner of the book calls himself the Spy. Baker was poisoned a month later.

According to historian Roscoe, Baker or Stanton are also responsible for the loss of the only photographic plate on which photographer Alexander Gardner, who worked on this case, captured the corpse of John Wilkes Booth.

Roscoe believes that Stanton also let go John Surratt, the son of Mary Surratt, whose execution was later ruled a judicial murder because she could not be convicted of anything. Sarrat fled first to Canada, then to England, then he was seen in Italy. However, when information about his whereabouts reached the Secretary of War, Stanton did not pay any attention to it. In the winter, the conspirator was caught in Egypt at the initiative of Secretary of State Seward, but he never received a guilty verdict. The second court case was dismissed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Everyone's gone crazy

Earlier this year, investigative author Dave McGowan began publishing a series on the Lincoln assassination.
McGowan notes that on April 14, in addition to the President and, as mentioned above, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward, the conspirators also planned to kill General Ulysses Grant and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. He gives detailed descriptions of the lives of people involved in one way or another in the events, and almost all of them have one thing in common - they were not mentally healthy.

So, Sergeant Thomas "Boston" Corbett castrated himself about seven years before he shot Booth. In addition, he was mentally unstable and heard voices. For refusing to follow orders, he was dismissed from service, but was allowed back in 1863. Corbett quickly rose to the rank of sergeant, and did not bear any responsibility for the murders of Booth. In 1887, the sergeant was hired by the Kansas state legislature, where one day he either fired or brandished a gun, for which he was finally placed in a psychiatric hospital.

In the presidential box, along with the Lincolns, were Major Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris. She was the Major's half-sister and was the daughter of US Senator Ira Harris. They later got married and moved to Germany. In 1883, after an unsuccessful attempt to kill his children, Rathbone stabbed his wife to death and then tried to commit suicide. He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.

The president's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, became completely insane after her husband's death and began to suffer from hallucinations, as a result, her son placed her in a mental hospital.

Robert Lincoln was not crazy, but surprisingly managed to become involved in the assassinations of three US presidents at once: in 1881, he was present at the assassination of James Garfield, and in 1901, William McKinley. In late 1864 and early 1865, Robert was involved in a strange incident: on a railway platform, a stranger saved the younger Lincoln from injury and possibly even death. It was Edwin Booth, the elder brother of John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln maintained a friendship with him for many years and may have had an affair with the daughter of the US Senator Lucy Hale, who had previously been the bride of John Booth.

The Butes' sister Rosalie died in 1880 in a "mysterious attack". The third brother, Junius Brutus, is believed to have gone insane. The killer actor's nephew, Edwin Booth Clark, became a naval officer and disappeared at sea: according to the official story, he committed suicide by jumping overboard.

Following the announcement of a bounty on the heads of the fugitives, the War Department received the bodies of Frank Boyle and William Watson, who looked like Booth. Stanson's agency covered up the murders and disposed of the corpses (one of them was thrown into the Potomac).

It seems that everything is known about this crime, it is reconstructed by the minute. And the number of absurdities, mistakes and overlays is striking in it. Literally everything, from organizing the protection of the president and ending with the detention of criminals, did not go at all as it seemed to be.

John Booth: actor, southerner, conspirator

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated the 16th President of the United States, was a hereditary actor. His father played on the stage, one of the older brothers was also a talented actor and teacher (John was the ninth child). In 1913, the Booth Theater was even opened on Broadway.

John studied at a regular school, at the age of 12 he went to a military academy, but dropped out two years later and decided to continue the dynasty. In 1855 he made his debut in Baltimore, and in 1857 he moved to Philadelphia. There, his career took off, and Bout was sometimes even called "the most handsome man in America."

John Booth. (Pinterest)

When the Civil War began, Booth was in New York, but he immediately declared his complete loyalty to the southerners. Some sources claim that Bout spied for the south during the war and organized an "underground" supply chain for weapons and medical supplies. True or not, Booth actively plotted against Lincoln. And implemented them.

Initially, he planned not to kill the president, but to kidnap him. To do this, he gathered his like-minded people - the group included former soldiers, a stage worker, a boatman from the Potomac River - a total of 8 people. According to the plan, they were supposed to take the president somewhere in the southern states, and then carry out an exchange of prisoners between north and south. But in the end, plans had to be changed.

Assassination of the president… +2

When the kidnapping failed, Bout planned the assassinations of three of the country's top leaders at once, and at the same time. Along with were to die Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.

Booth associates Lewis Powell and David Herold went to the Secretary of State. Seward was ill at the time: he had been injured in a traffic accident and was at home. Powell managed to get into his room and even inflicted several blows with a dagger, but the wounds were not fatal. George Atzerodt was responsible for the assassination attempt on Vice President Andrew Johnson, and this assassination attempt simply did not take place. The unfortunate intruder got drunk, came drunk to a hotel in Washington, where Johnson lived, and began to ask how to find the vice president. All this aroused serious suspicions among the hotel staff, and Atzerodt was arrested.

George Atzerodt. (Pinterest)

Most of all, Bout was "lucky" in attempting to assassinate the president: the so-called "security system" at the Ford Theater in Washington was organized very badly. On April 14, 1865, the Lincolns attended a performance of Our American Cousin by British playwright Tom Taylor. The Lincolns were not alone in the box - they were accompanied by Northern Army Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancee Clara, an acquaintance of Mrs. Lincoln. The president was guarded by only one policeman, John Parker, and at the time of the assassination attempt, he was in ... a theater buffet in the company of Lincoln's coachman. Actually, he returned to the box only when the wounded president was already being carried out.

Presidential Box at Ford's Theatre. (Pinterest)

At the entrance to the theatre, where security was stationed, Bout showed some kind of pass, and in the dark, without really understanding what kind of piece of paper it was, they let him through. John entered the box during a particularly hilarious scene and closed the door behind him from the inside so that Lincoln's help would arrive as late as possible. Booth was not involved in the play, and in general he was not a member of the theater troupe at that time, but he knew the play well. After waiting for a cue, after which the audience always laughed and applauded, he shot at Lincoln. After that, he also wounded Rathbone with a dagger and jumped out of the box onto the stage. He landed, however, unsuccessfully and broke his leg in the fall. But even so, they could not detain him: the assassin of the president got out of the theater and, together with his accomplice Spengler, who kept the horses at the ready, fled.

Lincoln died from his wound the next day.

Lincoln Assassination: Looking for Criminals

At the scene of the assassination, US Secretary of War Edwin Stanton immediately arrived, who turned out to be in fact the only capable high-ranking official in that situation. He led the police operation to intercept the killer. And here, too, strangely absurd mistakes were made.

Booth's escape from the lodge. (Pinterest)

For example, Stanton ordered the blocking of roads leading out of Washington. There were eight in total, but only six were blocked. Booth and Spengler were driving along the road, which was guarded, plus it went along the dam - a strategic object. It was about 11 p.m., although the wartime laws in force set a curfew at 9 p.m. But the guard at the dam did not stop them, as he had no special instructions. Moreover, after them, he missed the attempt on the life of Secretary of State David Herold. As a result, the law enforcement officer detained only the groom, who was chasing the criminals, because they did not return the horses to him on time. And Booth, Spengler and Herold met at the appointed place a few kilometers from the city.

In total, Booth and Herold were in hiding for about two weeks. John even received medical attention: the fracture was treated by the doctor Samuel Mudd, who would later be prosecuted as an accomplice. But the situation was serious: Booth's act was condemned because he shot the president from behind - an act unworthy of a gentleman. He did not really get help, although he had his own "agents" who were supposed to help Bout escape.

Two weeks later, the criminals reached Virginia. They were eventually tracked down to Richard Garrett's farm. The police arrived there, surrounded the barn in which Booth was hiding, and the building was set on fire. It was obvious that within a few minutes Booth would surrender himself or simply burn out. But one of the policemen named Boston Corbett shot him dead, subsequently justifying his act with the order of the "voice from above." Historians draw parallels here with the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald, who attempted to assassinate Kennedy: he was also shot before the trial.

Boston Corbett. (Pinterest)

After being wounded, Bout lived for another three hours, and the doctor who was on site warned: if there is a need to interrogate the killer, this must be done. However, he was not asked a single question about the assassination attempt. By the way, Bout kept a diary in which, among other things, he described the preparation of assassination attempts. But the document first fell into the hands of Secretary of War Stanton, and from him to the investigators. The 18 pages on which Booth described the preparation of the assassination attempts were missing.

According to the laws of wartime: in the dock - 8 people

The process in this case took place in May. The case was heard by a military tribunal, although all the defendants were civilians. This decision was made, since wartime laws were in force in the territory of the District of Columbia, and in addition, the murdered President Lincoln was the supreme commander.

9 judges sat in the military tribunal - all from the army elite. There were no civilian juries. To make an accusatory decision, a simple majority was needed - 5 votes against 4. The decision on the death penalty was taken by two-thirds of the votes: 6 against 3. The court was held openly, the public could attend the meetings.

8 defendants appeared before the judges: Samuel Arnold, Lewis Powell, Edmund Spengler, Michael O'Lafin, David Herold, Samuel Mudd, George Atzerodt and Mary Suratt. We have already mentioned some of them, let's say more about Mary Suratt - practically the oldest, and besides, the only woman. The conspirators lived in her boarding house and they gathered at her "safe house", so Mary was accused of complicity in the conspiracy. Her son John was also among the conspirators, but he managed to escape to. When he was finally found, he was tried by a jury and acquitted.

Execution of conspirators. (Pinterest)

The trial lasted 7 weeks, during which time 366 witnesses passed before the court (at that time it was possible to conduct investigative proceedings directly in court, so the process was delayed). As a result, four - Powell, Herold, Atzerodt and Surratt were sentenced to death. By one vote of the judges, Dr. Mudd escaped the death penalty. He, Arnold, and O'Loughn received life sentences. Edmund Spengler got 6 years. O'Loughin died in prison, and the other three were pardoned by President Johnson in 1869.

Funeral procession with the body of Lincoln. (Pinterest)

P.S. The story turned out so that Abraham Lincoln was not the only victim of John Booth. Mrs. Lincoln could not survive the death of her husband and became mentally damaged, so she spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital. Major Rathbone, who was next to the President that evening and wounded by Booth, also experienced mental problems. As a result, during a seizure, he killed his wife and tried to commit suicide. Boston Corbett, who shot Booth, also ended up in an insane asylum at the end of his life.

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The tragedy took place at Ford's Theater in Washington in 1865. The criminal, a popular actor at that time and the most handsome man in the city (according to the overwhelming majority of women), John Wilkes Booth, freely entered the presidential box and shot the distinguished guest in the back of the head. Lincoln died the next morning. Booth himself, who managed to escape from the theater, was killed a few days later during a chase organized for him.

One gets the impression that the most dangerous position in the world is that of the President of the United States of America. After all, no security service can guarantee that the next head of the White House will not add to the mournful list of his predecessors who went to the forefathers ahead of schedule through the efforts of some descendant of Herostratus. The first in the list of attempts on the life of American presidents is the assassination of Honest Abe - Abraham Lincoln.

The morning of April 14, 1865 began as usual for the owner of the White House. Nothing indicated that this day would be Lincoln's last. Just three years ago, Honest Abe survived another assassination attempt: a hitman's bullet pierced his hat, but did not cause any harm to his health. In general, in America, many did not like this man: by abolishing slavery, Lincoln thereby made many enemies for himself among the white planters, who, by his grace, lost free labor. In addition, after several assassination attempts, the president himself seems to have come to terms with the idea that one of his “well-wishers” will still achieve his goal and send him to the next world. To arguments about ways to strengthen security, the first man of America gloomily laughed it off: they say that the only reliable way to save the president is to put him in an iron box; in this case, the security of the head of state, of course, will be ensured, but he will not be able to fulfill his immediate duties. However, it was Lincoln who first had permanent bodyguards. In addition, for some time the president was guarded by detectives from the Chicago detective bureau of Alan Pinkerton, who managed to prevent several assassination attempts on the head of government. Pinkerton, who lived until 1884 (his agency lasted until 1999), was fond of repeating: if his people constantly guarded the life of the 16th President of the United States, he would have died only of extreme old age. But since Lincoln was, in fact, a "military" president, the army was mainly concerned about his safety.

After reviewing the mail, as usual, Lincoln went to the cabinet meeting at 11 o'clock in the morning. Civil War hero General W. S. Grant was also present. After the meeting, the president asked him to stay and asked if the general and his wife could accompany him and Mrs. Lincoln to the Ford Theater. Tom Taylor's comedy "Our American Cousin" was just on there, and all of Washington was delighted with the performance of the famous actress Laura Keene. Grant lamented that he would love to keep a high-ranking couple company, but his sons would be waiting for him in New Jersey that evening. The gallant general had no idea that this refusal to visit the temple of art would save his life. Meanwhile, Lincoln Kennedy's personal secretary warned his boss of the dangers of this trip and insisted on canceling a planned theater visit that the entire city knew about. Unfortunately, Honest Abe shrugged off the obsessive adviser.

The actors of the Ford Theater knew that on April 14 the president himself was going to visit the performance. This news was especially aroused by one of the leading artists, John Booth. Handsome, who belonged to the number of ardent southern extremists, fiercely hated Lincoln. He believed that the president's policy, in fact, led the country to the Civil War. So the actor gladly joined the group of conspirators who set as their goal the elimination of the objectionable head of state. Many options were offered. Even the possibility of kidnapping Lincoln and using him as a hostage in exchange for arrested Confederate Southerners was considered. However, the final verdict of the organizers of the assassination was as follows: Lincoln was to be publicly assassinated (this version of the massacre seemed the most spectacular and dramatic), and after that, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward would be successively eliminated.

So, on April 14, 1865, according to the killers, there were ideal conditions for the implementation of the first part of the plan for "adjusting" state policy. At Mary Sarrott's Washington boarding house, Booth hastily met with the other conspirators—George Atzeroth, Sam Arnold, David Harold, and Lewis Payne. The group discussed the details of the plan over a bottle of whisky. It is strange, but alcoholic vapors, it turns out, are capable of not only pushing on various kinds of "feats", but also awakening common sense that has fallen into a coma. In any case, after drinking heavily and plucking up courage, one of the conspirators - Sam Arnold - announced that he was leaving the case and was not going to take part in the assassination attempt.

Four friends, having expressed everything they thought about this to the "apostate", undertook to distribute roles among themselves. As a result, Payne and Harold had to deal with the Secretary of State, Azeroth had to take on the assassination of the Vice President (instead of taking decisive action at the indicated time, the conspirator got drunk half to death in the nearest tavern), and Bout got the "honor" of destroying the president.

Lincoln nevertheless found a company for himself and his wife to visit the theater. About nine o'clock he appeared in his box, accompanied by Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Miss Clara Harry. The comedy was already in full swing, but about 2,000 spectators present in the hall hurried to rise, welcoming the head of state, and the orchestra began to play a march. The actors waited until everyone was seated again, and resumed the performance.

At 21.30, Booth, dressed in all black and carefully made up, drove up to the theater building, armed with two Colts, a pistol and two knives. He showed the sentry at the door some kind of pass, which he could not even read in the semi-darkness. The artist said that he had to convey an important message to the president, and was let upstairs. For some time he hid at the entrance to the box, waiting for the right moment. And he soon introduced himself. One of Honest Abe's guards, John Parker, decided that nothing bad would happen in the time it would take him to look into the nearest bar. As soon as he was out of sight, Booth burst into the box and pulled the trigger of his pistol, shouting the slogan of the southern states in the Civil War: "Death to tyrants!" The bullet pierced the president's head and got stuck in the right eye area. Major Rathbone tried to stop the killer, but the artist, having wounded the officer with a knife, managed to jump from the box onto the stage. And then Bout was unlucky: he got entangled in the curtain, fell on the stage, breaking his leg just above the knee. Nevertheless, the criminal managed to take advantage of the general turmoil, get out of the theater and ride away on horseback in an unknown direction. At the same time, Payne stabbed (fortunately not fatally) the Secretary of State.

Meanwhile, Abraham Lincoln, with the utmost care, was seated in a rocking chair and transferred to one of the nearby houses, where a doctor was urgently brought. But the Aesculapius only shrugged helplessly. Only a miracle could help the president, but it never happened. On the morning of April 15, the sad list of US presidents who died in office was opened.

At the agreed place, Booth met with Harold, after which the accomplices went to the state of Maryland, where they expected to receive asylum from like-minded southerners. Since the broken leg worried the actor more and more, he had to turn to a doctor he knew. He put a splint on the injured limb, and the fugitives set off again. But 11 days after the tragedy in the theater, the killer and his accomplice were tracked down and surrounded on a tobacco farm in Virginia. Negotiations with the criminals dragged on, because Booth did not burn with desire to voluntarily surrender into the hands of the military, who besieged the building. Finally, the patience of the "beaters" snapped - the farm was set on fire, after which Harold decided that it was better to be cowardly, but alive, than a hero, but freshly roasted. But, who perfectly imagined what awaited him in the event of an arrest, he preferred to shoot himself. True, there is an assumption that one of the pursuers shot the killer, thereby violating the order of Secretary of War Stanton: “Take the killer of the president alive!” For example, Lieutenant Colonel Conger, one of the secret police officers who led the operation to capture Bout, had such an opportunity. The fact that the artist was not a crazy lone fanatic, as is commonly believed, is evidenced not only by the check found in the pocket of the murdered man for a very large amount, signed by the head of the Confederation. The fact that very influential people were hiding behind Bout's back makes us think about a few more facts. So, the killer of the president, who received a bullet, lived for another three and a half hours, and all this time he was fully conscious. The doctor who examined the mortally wounded warned the military that his patient's hours were numbered, so in order to obtain information about the assassination attempt, it is worth hurrying to interrogate. However, despite this, the actor was never interrogated. As for Booth's diary, his Minister of War for some reason considered it necessary to hide it from the court. When authorities formally requested this document from Stanton, 18 pages were missing. What did the military man want to hide from the investigation? And what did the strange phrase, drawn by Booth’s hand, mean: “I am almost inclined to return to Washington and. justify what I think I can do.” It seems that the killer could justify himself only in one case - by revealing the names of his high-ranking accomplices, who remained in the shadows. And there were, apparently, a lot of them. The notes mention 11 members of Congress, 12 army officers, three navy officers and 24 civilians: the governor, journalists, big bankers, wealthy industrialists. In addition, rumors have long circulated in America that Bout was not killed, that the government played this performance for the sole purpose of closing the case of the assassination of the president. The executor of the “order” himself allegedly lived for another 38 years, however, at the end of his life he drank himself and killed himself. Nevertheless, the answer to the question of whether Bout was actually killed, oddly enough, is not to this day.

The participants in the conspiracy were quickly found and put behind bars. The decision of their future fate was to be dealt with by a military tribunal. Why not to a civil court, an inquisitive reader will ask. Because, as James Speed, who was Attorney General at the time, said, “in times of war, the laws and customs of war become part of the general laws of the land.” So, at a high-profile trial, the conspirators were found guilty of plotting the assassination of the US President and the attempted assassination of the Secretary of State. Three of the most active individuals were sentenced to death. Sam Arnold, who did not take part in the assassination attempt, but did not warn Lincoln's guards about their preparation, was waiting for life hard labor. The same fate befell the surgeon Samuel Mudd, who "collected" the killer's leg. As for the stagehand Edward Spangler, through whose fault Booth managed to get out of the theater building, he received six years in prison.

But the ending of the story of the murder of Honest Abe has not been completed to this day. I wonder if this case will be reviewed in the future? Will new facts and names come up that once eluded the investigation or were diligently not noticed by officials?

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Abraham Lincoln Was Assassinated 150 Years Ago

Exactly 150 years ago, in April 1865, the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. For decades, it was believed that there was nothing obscure in this tragedy: the killer was named, found and destroyed. All other participants in the conspiracy were put on trial and roughly punished. Only now there was talk very soon that everything was not as simple as it seemed, that there were too many "oddities" and "inconsistencies" in this matter. And the more time passed, the more questions arose ...

In March 2015, the Levada Center conducted a survey related to the murder of Boris Nemtsov, and it showed that 44% of those surveyed did not believe that those who ordered the murder would be found. And 48% of Russians are generally skeptical about the likelihood of establishing the truth about the motives and customers of the murder. Of these, 27% argue that not a single political murder has been solved, and 21% believe that, as always, they will find some “switchmen”, while the real perpetrators will evade responsibility.

You might think that this is typical only for the XXI century and only for our country. But, for example, the French still do not know exactly why their main pride, Napoleon Bonaparte, died on St. Helena. And the Americans can hardly say with complete certainty what happened 150 years ago with their national hero Abraham Lincoln.

DRAMA AT THE FORD THEATER

And what happened (according to the official version) is the following. On Friday, April 14, 1865, President Lincoln, after completing his usual day at the White House, invited General Grant and his wife to accompany him and Mrs. Lincoln to the theater. The Lincolns were eager to see the comedy My American Cousin, which was playing that evening at the Ford Theatre, the oldest theater in downtown Washington. Grant refused, citing some important business, while he did not even suspect that this refusal would save his life.

Lincoln always said that "a ballot is stronger than a bullet." But he was wrong, for that evening he was assassinated and mortally wounded in a theater box by Southerner actor John Wilkes Booth.

The official explanation for the assassination is that Booth hated Lincoln for his policies, which, in the opinion of this ardent southern extremist, led to the Civil War, which ended with the victory of the northerners. Deciding to kill the president, Booth put together a special group that included David Herold, John Surratt, Lewis Powell, Sam Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, Edmund Spangler, George Etzerodt and several others.

After conferring, the conspirators came to the conclusion that the most spectacular would be the public assassination of the president, combined with the elimination of Vice President Andrew Johnson, as well as Secretary of State William Seward. Lincoln's forthcoming visit to the theater gave Booth an ideal opportunity to fulfill his plan. Lewis Powell and David Herold at this time were supposed to kill Seward, who had recently suffered a carriage accident and was lying in bed in his villa with a broken lower jaw and a broken arm. And George Etzerodt was supposed to "take on" the vice president.

The presidential couple, accompanied by friends - Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancee Clara Harris - arrived at the theater after 20.00. The performance had already begun, but the actors were forced to stop the game, as the audience in the hall stood up and the orchestra played a welcoming anthem. And at 21.30 Booth, dressed in all black, rode up to the theater on horseback. He had a knife with him, two Colts in his pockets, and a cocked revolver in his hand. And before that, he visited the Ford Theater and carefully examined the government box. He dug a hole in the door (the lock did not work in it) and bent a wooden plank in order to slide it into the handle of the second door leading to the corridor.

Surprisingly, the presidential guard John Parker "suddenly" left his post at the entrance to the box and went to a nearby bar. We immediately put the word "suddenly" in quotation marks, as it looks absolutely incredible, as if it were not about the protection of the president of the country. Taking advantage of this, Booth entered the box and shot Lincoln in the head. It is believed that he knew the play well, and therefore waited for the funniest scene of the comedy, when loud laughter was usually heard in the auditorium, and he drowned out the sound of the shot.

Henry Rathbone jumped up, trying to apprehend the killer. But he pulled out a knife and, wounding the major, jumped from the box onto the stage. At the same time, he got tangled in the curtain and broke his leg above the knee. But even this did not prevent Booth from getting out of the theater without hindrance.

The seriously wounded president (a bullet entered his head behind his left ear, pierced his brain and got stuck in the region of his right eye) was carefully transferred to one of the nearby houses. But the doctor who arrived could not do anything. The next morning, at 7:22, Abraham Lincoln died.

Meanwhile, Lewis Powell snuck into the home of Secretary of State Seward and stabbed him, but the wound was not fatal. But George Etzerodt, who was supposed to kill the vice president, drank too much "for courage", and then decided not to go anywhere at all.

THE MURDER OF THE PRESIDENT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

The assassination of the president caused panic in the American capital. Vice President Andrew Johnson (the second person in the state after the president) has removed himself from the leadership of the authorities. Next in rank, Secretary of State William Seward lay wounded. And in fact, the head of the executive branch in these hours and days turned out to be Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

Nevertheless, many of the conspirators had already been arrested by April 18, including Mary Surratt (John Surratt's mother), Michael O'Laughlin, Sam Arnold, Lewis Powell, and George Etzerodt.

What about Booth? A few miles from the theater, he met with Herold, and accomplices went to Maryland, hoping to find refuge there with their southern confederates. A familiar doctor bandaged Bout's broken leg, and the criminals continued on their way.

On April 26, 1865, Colonel Lafayette Baker and his men caught up with the fugitives at a tobacco farm in Virginia. The soldiers of Lieutenant Edward Dougherty surrounded the barn where the conspirators were seated, and after lengthy and fruitless negotiations for voluntary surrender, set fire to it. Herold was forced to capitulate, and Booth tried to get out of the fire and smoke and at that moment was mortally wounded in the neck by Sergeant Boston Corbett.

And here are Booth's last words: "Tell my mother that I died fighting for my country."

THE FIRST "Oddities"

As is usually the case, shortly after the assassination of Lincoln, all kinds of versions began to appear regarding the motives and secret reasons for this crime. In fact, too many accidents and inconsistencies were noticed in the official version. Of course, the easiest way was to admit that the crime was committed by a group of fanatics who acted at their own peril and risk and on their own initiative. But…

First of all, a strange impression is made by the fact that Bout managed to calmly enter the government box and fire the fatal shot. And then it turned out that the guard John Parker, who left his post, had a bad reputation and he was repeatedly punished for disobedience and drunkenness in the line of duty. And then “suddenly” it turned out that on April 14, going to the theater in the evening, the president asked Secretary of War Stanton to appoint one of his adjutants, Major Eckart, a very reliable and decisive person, as his bodyguard. But Stanton turned down this request: supposedly Eckart was urgently needed elsewhere that evening. Stanton lied: that evening, Eckart was completely free from service, but instead of him, the drunkard Parker was placed in front of the box door.

The second strange moment: how did Booth manage to leave the city with a broken leg?

According to the first orders given by the same Stanton, all roads leading out of the city were to be blocked. Stations were under police control, the Potomac River was patrolled by warships, six roads coming from Washington were blocked by the military. But, surprisingly, Stanton left two loopholes to the fugitives. Both led to Maryland. Moreover, one road there went along a long wooden bridge. This bridge was always guarded, and at nine in the evening it was blocked. At 10.45 pm, the killer of the president drove onto the bridge. Sergeant Cobb stopped him and inquired about his name and the purpose of his trip. Booth gave his real name and said he wanted to get home. And the sergeant suddenly ordered to let him through. By the way, David Herold was missed in the same way.

The third strange moment: the body of Bout, who was shot during the arrest, was taken to Washington and presented to several people who knew him. Among them was a doctor who had once removed a tumor on Booth's neck. The trace of the operation served as additional evidence. The doctor seemed to recognize Booth, but expressed extreme surprise at the strong cadaveric changes that had occurred in such a short time. Plus, for some reason, the corpse was not presented to Booth's older brother, Edwin. Even then, rumors spread that the one killed during the arrest was not Bout at all and that the substitution was made in order to receive the promised reward and get the government out of an uncomfortable situation, which could not catch the real killer of the president.

And there is also a fourth "strangeness", and the fifth, and the sixth... The volume of the newspaper article does not allow talking about this in detail.

MAIN MOTIVATIONS FOR MURDER

And the motive for the assassination of Lincoln also does not look quite logical. It is generally accepted that Booth decided to take revenge on Lincoln for defeating the southerners. Yes, the war has come to an end, and the North has won. However, the two parts of the country still hated each other, and many northerners dreamed of how they would now deal with the recalcitrant southerners. But it was President Lincoln, who believed that hatred needed to be extinguished, who begged his subordinates not to treat the southern states as conquerors.

bathroom country. He said: “At the end of the war, no persecution, no bloody deeds are needed!”

And it was on April 14, 1865, at a cabinet meeting, that he spoke about reconciliation, and it turns out that on the same day he was shot by a "fanatical southerner." That is, he killed a man who, better than anyone else, could defend and defend the rights of the South!

At the same time, not all people around Lincoln shared his position. For example, the same Minister of War, Edwin Stanton, believed that it was necessary to occupy the South and pursue a tough policy of retaliation there.

By the way, there is a political construction here and it is more complicated.

Some argue that Bout was allegedly a Northern counterintelligence agent in general. On what basis? The logic of reasoning is as follows. In the archives of the United States, a letter was found from the commander of the army, General Grant, to President Lincoln, in which there were these words: “I can no longer continue this insane destruction of people and materiel<…>Many times I have seen in the eyes of the brave souls from the south the determination to stand to the end. Are all these countless sacrifices worth it in order to force the southerners to return to the Union against their will?

Apparently, Grant's reports made an impression on Lincoln, and in February 1865 he held a secret meeting, at which it was decided to appeal to the President of the Confederate States of the Southern States, Jefferson Finis Davis, with the official recognition of their independence. But in April, the troops of the southerners under the command of General Robert Edward Lee capitulated, but this allegedly did not change Lincoln's mind. And before the federal government loomed the real prospect of a new war with the southerners, which could drag on for many years.

The decision of the secret meeting was no secret to Vice President Andrew Johnson. He also knew that very soon the document recognizing the sovereignty of the thirteen southern states would go to the president for signature. Johnson understood that this would entail the collapse of the United States into two states hostile to each other. And then all the victims of the many years of bloody Civil War, which they seem to have just won, will be in vain. It was impossible to allow this, and “Agent Booth” got the right to shoot ...

"CONVERTER" EDWIN STANTON

Thus, a real conspiracy against Lincoln began to operate in Washington, and Edwin Stanton became its driving force, who, after the assassination attempt on the president, became the de facto ruler of the country. He immediately arrived at the scene of the crime, and then served as the chief of police and supreme judge, giving orders to search for the conspirators.

It was Stanton who announced that anyone who helped the escaped Booth and Herold would face the death penalty. It was he who appointed a reward of $100,000 for the head of the first, and $25,000 for the second.

And here's something else that's interesting. The fugitives were found 125 kilometers south of Washington. When Booth and Herold were surrounded in the barn, the order was given to make sure they were taken alive. Nevertheless, the main participant in the conspiracy was killed at the very moment when he was clearly about to surrender. And then it turned out that a diary was found with him, and it was handed over to the War Ministry. Surprisingly, during the trial of the conspirators, Booth's diary did not appear at all, although he undoubtedly was the most important piece of evidence. They didn't even mention it!

A few years later, Brigadier General Lafayette Baker claimed that he had given Booth's diary to his boss, Stanton, and when he got it back, some pages were missing. Stanton then indignantly replied that these pages were not already there when Baker handed him the diary. But, surprisingly, 18 pages were torn out in total - and all from the part of the diary that described the events of the days preceding the assassination attempt on Lincoln.

REMOVAL AND SELF-REMOVAL OF WITNESSES

The surviving participants in the conspiracy were put on trial, which recognized them as accomplices in the murder and sentenced to death. Four people were executed: David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Etzerodt and Mary Surratt (they were hanged on July 7). Note that Mary Surratt became the first woman to be executed by a federal court.

Sam Arnold, though not involved in the assassination attempt, was sentenced to life hard labor, as was Michael O'Laughlin and the doctor who treated Booth's broken leg. Edmund Spangler received six years for assisting the killer in the implementation of his plan. By the way, O'Laughlin died in prison.

Only John Surratt managed to escape to Canada, and some historians believe that "it cannot be doubted in the least that Stanton deliberately let him get away." Surprisingly, no one was looking for him abroad, and then he was acquitted. Eight jurors voted for his innocence and four for guilt. Plus, the statute of limitations passed and he was released on $25,000 bail.

And then something incredible began to happen. For example, Sergeant Boston Corbett, who for some reason shot Booth, did not bear any responsibility. By the way, when asked why he violated the order and fired, Corbett replied: "Providence directed me." And then he began to say that he acted in self-defense: "Both would have killed me if I had not fired the first shot, so I think I did the right thing." Be that as it may, in 1887 he was hired by the Kansas State Legislature, where he set off a shooting one day, and he was placed in a mental hospital.

Major Henry Rathbone, unable to stop the killer in the theater, then married Clara Harris, who was also present in the box. After that they moved to Germany. And in 1883, Rathbon, after an unsuccessful attempt to kill his children, beat his wife to death, and then tried to commit suicide. He also spent the rest of his life in a lunatic asylum.

General Lafayette Baker, who told about the existence of Booth's diary, was shot several times and tried to kidnap. On July 3, 1868, he died suddenly at the age of only 41, and was buried quickly and in a closed coffin. And after the exhumation, it turned out that he was poisoned with arsenic.

Policeman John Parker was fired in 1868 and disappeared somewhere.

As for Edwin Stanton, he died on December 24, 1869 of an unknown cause. He was only 55 years old, and some historians believe that the former minister committed suicide. Isn't it true that there are too many tragedies that happened to people who knew more about Lincoln's assassination than they should?

Of course, no one can now prove that Lincoln's assassination was conceived by Edwin Stanton, the president's closest associate during the Civil War. Any of the above "oddities" may well be interpreted as a coincidence, but all together they produce a very mysterious impression. And this once again confirms the fact that the real background and circumstances of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln remain uninvestigated.

By the way, one British historian ironically called the whole story a "country-style tragedy", alluding to the low professionalism and provincialism of the American intelligence services of that time. However, perhaps it is precisely behind this "provinciality" that the desire to hide the truth about the Lincoln assassination lies. So it is not at all excluded that John Wilkes Booth and the dignitaries behind him actually fought for a just cause and saved their homeland from the disintegration prepared for it.