| Assassination of Abraham Lincoln | |
|---|---|
 Assassination of Abraham Lincoln From left to right: Major Henry Rathbone, Clara Harris, Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln, and John Wilkes Booth. The print, by Currier & Ives, erroneously suggests that Rathbone saw Booth before Booth shot Lincoln. | |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Date | April 14, 1865 |
| Target | Abraham Lincoln |
| Weapon(s) | Philadelphia Deringer pistol |
| Death(s) | 1 (Lincoln) |
| Injured | Henry Rathbone |
| Perpetrator(s) | John Wilkes Booth |
The assassination of President of the United States Abraham Lincoln took place on April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close, just five days after the surrender of the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated,[1] though an unsuccessful attempt had been made on Andrew Jackson in 1835.[2]
The assassination was planned and carried out by John Wilkes Booth as part of a larger conspiracy intended to rally the remaining Confederate troops to continue fighting. Booth plotted with Lewis Powell and George Atzerodt to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward and Vice President Andrew Johnson as well.
Lincoln was shot while watching the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. He died the next morning. The rest of the plot failed. Powell only managed to wound Seward, while Atzerodt, Johnson's would-be assassin, lost his nerve and fled...[Full Article]
Redford's 'Conspirator' lets Mary Surratt testify
USA Today
One would think, after 150 years and untold books, movies, exhibits and documentaries, that Americans would know everything there is to know about the assassination of President Lincoln.
But odds are most don't know the story that director Robert Redford tells in his new film, The Conspirator, opening Friday.
The conspirator of the title is not the assassin, actor and Confederate loyalist John Wilkes Booth: The conspirator is Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the lone woman tried by the military tribunal for the murder and the first woman executed by the United States...[Full Article]
