John Wilkes Booth, a name forever intertwined with tragedy, is infamous for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. A celebrated actor, Booth traded the stage for a deadly act on April 14, 1865, forever altering the course of American history. But what became of Lincoln’s assassin? How Did John Wilkes Booth Die after committing such a heinous crime? This article delves into the details surrounding Booth’s final days, exploring the manhunt, his capture, and the ultimate circumstances of his death.
Born on May 10, 1838, in Maryland, John Wilkes Booth hailed from a theatrical family. His father, Junius Brutus Booth, was a renowned Shakespearean actor. While Booth followed in his father’s footsteps and achieved considerable success on the stage, his passions extended beyond the theater. He harbored strong political views, aligning himself with pro-slavery sentiments and vehemently opposing abolitionists. This political fervor intensified during the Civil War, culminating in his deep hatred for President Lincoln. Booth’s animosity fueled a conspiracy, initially aimed at kidnapping the President, which tragically escalated into assassination.
A portrait of John Wilkes Booth, the infamous assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, capturing his theatrical persona and the intensity that marked his brief but impactful life.
On the fateful night of April 14, 1865, Booth carried out his deadly plan at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. He slipped into the presidential box and shot President Lincoln in the back of the head. In the ensuing chaos, Booth leaped from the box to the stage, reportedly breaking his leg in the process. Despite his injury, he managed to escape Ford’s Theatre and flee the city, becoming the target of a massive manhunt.
Booth’s escape took him southward, aided by Confederate sympathizers along the way. He crossed the Potomac River into Virginia on April 23rd, desperately trying to evade capture. However, the relentless pursuit by Union forces was closing in. Just days after the assassination, on April 26th, Union soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry cornered Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, at Garrett’s farm near Port Royal, Virginia.
Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C., the site where John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, a place now preserved as a historical landmark of a pivotal moment in American history.
Herold surrendered to the Union soldiers, but Booth refused to yield and barricaded himself inside a barn on the Garrett farm. Determined to capture Booth, the soldiers set the barn ablaze. As the flames engulfed the structure, Sergeant Boston Corbett, a member of the pursuing cavalry, took matters into his own hands. Corbett claimed to have seen Booth raising his pistol, ready to fire. Without orders, Corbett fired his revolver, striking Booth in the neck.
The bullet fired by Boston Corbett tragically severed John Wilkes Booth’s spinal cord. The injury resulted in immediate paralysis. Pulled from the burning barn, Booth lingered for approximately three hours. His final words, uttered as he gazed at his paralyzed hands, were a poignant reflection of his shattered ambitions: “Useless, useless, useless.” John Wilkes Booth died at Garrett’s farm on the morning of April 26, 1865, bringing an end to the manhunt and to the life of the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. He was later buried in an unmarked grave in the family plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, his final resting place as secretive as his last days.
The entrance to Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, where John Wilkes Booth is buried in an unmarked grave within the family plot, a final, anonymous chapter in his controversial story.
