The generally accepted understanding is that a crew of Confederate conspirators came up with a plan to salvage the war for their side. The plan? Assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. This crew was helmed by the now-infamous John Wilkes Booth, and once the deed was done, he led authorities on an astonishing 13-day manhunt. In the pages that follow, you’ll discover all of Booth’s mistakes and lucky breaks and get a look at newly-discovered evidence relating to his capture.

In the midst of his strategizing, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. Richmond fell, and Booth (who was an actor by trade) decided they would have to upgrade the plan to include murder.

The lads figured that would adequately avenge the South, throw the Union off-course, and potentially turn the Civil War around. However, they soon learned that previous assassination attempts on Seward and Johnson had failed dismally. Adding them to the hit list didn’t seem quite so appealing after that.

The assassin wasted no time, firing his .41 caliber Derringer pistol and shooting President Lincoln in the back of the head. Chaos erupted, and Booth capitalized on the confusion, leaping from the box and down onto the stage. 

He mounted the steed and took off over the Navy Yard Bridge. From Washington, he fled to Maryland, where he met one of his co-conspirators, David Herold. Together, they took off for Surrattsville, where supplies were waiting for them in a secret cache. But something wasn’t right. 

Booth couldn’t ride as far or as fast as they really needed to be going. The men soon concluded that there was nothing else for it – they would have to find a doctor. They turned to Dr. Samuel Mudd, a physician famous for his Confederate sympathies.

They wandered hopelessly around Zekiah Swamp until, finally, a farmer set them on the path to Rich Hill. There, they could find Samuel Cox. Booth and Herold arrived at around 1 AM. 

Cox did not want Booth or Herold in his house. So, he sent the confused men out into a pine thicket that bordered his property. Cox had good reason to be concerned. At that very moment, more than 1,000 Union soldiers were hunting Booth, and bounties were being offered not just for the assassin but also for his accomplices. 

Booth imagined that he would be the hero of the moment, but instead, the newspapers painted him as a villain. Even the newspapers from the South portrayed him as an evil and cowardly man.

“Yet I,” Booth continued, “for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew, am looked upon as a common cutthroat.” Apparently, that dramatic moment on the stage hadn’t impressed anyone but himself. 

Unfortunately, the men had handicapped themselves once again. They slaughtered their horses, fearing they’d give away their hiding spot. So, they had no choice but to cover the 3.5 miles to the Potomac on foot, with Booth’s broken leg.

In their defense, the fog was so thick they couldn’t see more than a few feet in any direction. So, instead of arriving at their intended destination (Machodoc Creek, Virginia), they ended up at Nanjemoy Creek. In other words, they were still in Maryland.

With Booth’s leg giving him trouble and rumors suggesting Union soldiers were in the vicinity, the men decided to wait for a better time to try the river crossing again. Amazingly, they were beset by fog again on their second attempt. However, this time, it saved their lives. 

However, as mentioned, the foggy conditions saved him. They heard the Union vessel, but the fog gave them just enough cover to evade their captors. Booth felt that luck was on his side. Little did he know that it was about to run out. 

The Union lads knew Booth would be heading south. So, as Booth and Herold dreamed of free passage through Virginia, more and more Union soldiers were gathering there. Booth’s luck was indeed running out quickly. He just didn’t know it yet. 

Some were kind and welcoming. Others were not at all impressed with the assassin, his friend, and the danger they brought with them. Finally, they settled into the home of Richard Garrett after lying to him and telling him they were soldiers and that Booth simply needed to rest his broken leg.

When she spoke to her husband, she discovered that he was feeling the exact same way. Wary of their strange guests, they asked the men to move to the barn for the night – a decision that proved fatal. 

He quickly woke Herold, and they gathered their things and headed for the barn doors. Try as they might, those doors would not budge. As it turns out, the suspicious homeowners had locked them in and sealed their fate.

The men had orders to capture Booth alive, so they tried to talk him into surrendering. Herold gave in almost immediately. However, Booth was too dramatic to go down without a fight. His journal reveals his plan to propose a duel with the commanding officer. 

Booth came out alright, but he didn’t have his hands in the air. Instead, he charged at the waiting troops. A startled young soldier (Boston Corbett) shot Booth in the neck. John Wilkes Booth’s death was recorded at 7:15 AM.

Though his final moments were decidedly anticlimactic, Booth went down in history as one of the world’s most famous assassins. Unlike William Tell, however, he was never hailed a hero by the public. Indeed, the actor’s legacy certainly hasn’t lived up to his lofty expectations.