The New York Times/1865/4/15/Awful Event
AWFUL EVENT.
President Lincoln Shot by an Assassin.
The Deed Done at Ford's Theatre Last Night.
THE ACT OF A DESPERATE REBEL
The President Still Alive at Last Accounts.
No Hopes Entertained of His Recovery.
Attempted Assassination of Secretary Seward.
DETAILS OF THE DREADFUL TRAGEDY.
[OFFICIAL.]
War Department, Washington, April 15—1:30 A.M.
Maj.-Gen. Dis:
This evening at about 9:30 P.M., at Ford's Theatre, the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harris, and Major Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and approached behind the President.
The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the rear of the theatre.
The pistol ball entered the back of the President's head and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying.
About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. Seward's apartment, and under the pretence of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary's sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed, and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds may not be mortal. My apprehension is that they will prove fatal.
The nurse alarmed Mr. Frederick Seward, who was in an adjoining room, and hastened to the door of his father's room, when he met the assassin, who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Frederick Seward is doubtful.
It is not probable that the President will live throughout the night.
Gen. Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this evening, but he started to Burlington at 6 o'clock this evening.
At a Cabinet meeting at which Gen. Grant was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace was discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very kindly of Gen. Lee and others of the Confederacy, and of the establishment of government in Virginia.
All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. Seward, are now in attendance upon the President.
I have seen Mr. Seward, but he and Frederick were both unconscious.
EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.
DETAIL OF THE OCCURRENCE.
Washington, Friday, April 14—12:30 A.M.
The President was shot in a theatre tonight, and is, perhaps, mortally wounded.
Secretary Seward was also assassinated.
SECOND DISPATCH.
Washington, Friday, April 4.
President Lincoln and wife, with other friends, this evening visited Ford's Theatre for the purpose of witnessing the performance of the "American Cousin."
It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but he took the late train of cars for New-Jersey.
The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third set, and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggesting nothing serious, until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, and exclaiming "Sic semper tyrannis," and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the stage beneath, and ran across to the opposite side, making his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and, mounting a horse, fled.
The screams of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact to the audience that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet, rushing toward the stage, many exclaiming "Hang him! hang him!"
The excitement was of the wildest possible description, and of course there was an abrupt termination of the theatrical performance.
There was a rush toward the President's box, when cries were heard: "Stand back and give him air." "Has any one stimulants." On a hasty examination, it was found that the President had been shot through the head, above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of the brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite to the theatre, and the Surgeon-General of the army, and other surgeons sent for to attend to his condition.
On an examination of the private box blood was discovered on the back of the cushioned rocking chair on which the President had been sitting, also on the partition and on the floor. A common single-barreled pocket pistol was found on the carpet.
A military guard was placed in front of the private residence to which the President had been conveyed. An immense crowd was in front of it, all deeply anxious to learn the condition of the President. It had been previously announced that the wound was mortal, but all hoped otherwise. The shock to the community was terrible.
The President was in a state of syncope, totally insensible, and breathing slowly. The blood oozed from the wound at the back of his head. The surgeons exhausted every effort of medical skill, but all hope was gone. The parting of his family with the dying President is too sad for description.
At midnight, the Cabinet, with Messrs. Sumner, Colfax, and Farnsworth, Judge Curtis, Gov. Colesby, Gen. Meigs, Col. Hay, and a few personal friends, with Surgeon-General Barnes and his immediate assistants, were around his bedside.
The President and Mrs. Lincoln did not start for the theatre until fifteen minutes after eight o'clock. Speaker Colfax was at the White House at the time, and the President stated to him that he was going, although Mrs. Lincoln had not been well, because the papers had announced that Gen. Grant and they were to be present, and, as Gen. Grant had gone North, he did not wish the audience to be disappointed.
He went with apparent reluctance and urged Mr. Colfax to go with him; but that gentleman had made other engagements, and with Mr. Ashman, of Massachusetts, bid him good bye.
When the excitement at the theatre was at its wildest height, reports were circulated that Secretary Seward had also been assassinated.
On reaching this gentleman's residence a crowd and a military guard were found at the door, and on entering it was ascertained that the reports were based on truth.
Everybody there was so excited that scarcely an intelligible word could be gathered, but the facts are substantially as follows:
About 10 o'clock a man rang the bell, and the call having been answered by a colored servant, he said he had come from Dr. Verdi, Secretary Seward's family physician, with a prescription, at the same time holding in his hand a small piece of folded paper, and saying in answer to a refusal that he must see the Secretary, as he was entrusted with particular directions concerning the medicine.
He still insisted on going up, although repeatedly informed that no one could enter the chamber. The man pushed the servant aside, and walked heavily toward the Secretary's room, and was then met by Mr. Frederick Seward, of whom he demanded to see the Secretary, making the same representation which he did to the servant. What further passed in the way of colloquy is not known, but the man struck him on the head with a "billy," severely injuring the skull and felling him almost senseless. The assassin then rushed into the chamber and attacked Major Seward, Paymaster of the United States army and Mr. Haskell, a messenger of the State Department and two male nurses, disabling them all, he then rushed upon the Secretary, who was lying in bed in the same room, and inflicted three stabs in the neck, but severing, it is thought and hoped, no arteries, though he bled profusely.
The assassin then rushed down stairs, mounted his horse at the door, and rode off before an alarm could be sounded, and in the same manner as the assassin of the President.
It is believed that the injuries of the Secretary are not fatal, nor those of either of the others, although both the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary are very seriously injured.
Secretaries Stanton and Welles, and other prominent officers of the government, called at Secretary Seward's house to inquire into his condition, and there heard of the assassination of the President.
They then proceeded to the house where he was lying, exhibiting of course intense anxiety and solicitude. An immense crowd was gathered in front of the President's house, and a strong guard was also stationed there, many persons evidently supposing he would be brought to his home.
The entire city to-night presents a scene of wild excitement, accompanied by violent expressions of indignation, and the profoundest sorrow—many shed tears. The military authorities have dispatched mounted patrols in every direction, in order, if possible, to arrest the assassins. The whole metropolitan police are likewise vigilant for the same purpose.
The attacks, both at the theatre and at Secretary Seward's house, took place at about the same hour—10 o'clock—thus showing a preconcerted plan to assassinate those gentlemen. Some evidence of the guilt of the party who attacked the President are in the possession of the police.
Vice-President Johnson is in the city, and his headquarters are guarded by troops.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.
Washington, Friday, April 14, 11:15 P.M.
A stroke from Heaven laying the whole of the city in instant ruins could not have startled us as did the word that broke from Ford's Theatre a half hour ago that the President had been shot. It flew everywhere in five minutes, and set five thousand people in swift and excited motion on the instant.
It is impossible to get at the full facts of the case, but it appears that a young man entered the President's box from the theatre, during the last act of the play of "Our American Cousin," with a pistol in hand. He shot the President in the head and instantly jumped from the box upon the stage, and immediately disappeared through the side scenes and rear of the theatre, brandishing a dirk knife and dropping a kid glove on the stage.
The audience heard the shot, but supposing it fired in the regular course of the play, did not heed it till Mrs. Lincoln's screams drew their attention. The whole affair occupied scarcely half a minute, and then the assassin was gone. As yet he had not been found.
The President's wound is reported mortal. He was at once taken into the house opposite the theatre.
As if this horror was not enough, almost the same moment the story ran through the city that Mr. Seward had been murdered in his bed.
Inquiry showed this to be so far true also. It appears a man wearing a light coat, dark pants, slouch hat, called and asked to see Mr. Seward, and was shown to his room. He delivered to Major Seward, who sat near his father, what purported to be a physician's prescription, turned, and with one stroke cut Mr. Seward's throat as he lay on his bed, inflicting a horrible wound, but not severing the jugular vein, and not producing a mortal wound.
In the struggle that followed, Major Seward was also badly, but not seriously, wounded in several places. The assassin rushed down stairs, mounted the fleet horse on which he came, drove his spurs into him, and dashed away before any one could stop him.
Reports have prevailed that an attempt was also made on the life of Mr. Stanton.
Midnight.
The President is reported dead. Cavalry and infantry are scouring the city in every direction for the murderous assassins, and the city is overwhelmed with excitement. Who the assassins were no one knows, though every body supposes them to have been rebels.
Saturday Morning—1 O'clock.
The person who shot the President is represented as about 30 years of age, five feet nine inches in height, sparely built, of light complexion, dressed in dark clothing, and having a genteel appearance. He entered the box, which is known as the State box, being the upper box on the right hand side from the dress-circle in the regular manner, and shot the President from behind, the ball entering the skull about in the middle, behind, and going in the direction of the left eye; it did not pass through, but apparently broke the frontal bone and forced out the brain to some extent. The President is not yet dead, but is wholly insensible, and the Surgeon-General says he cannot live till day-break. The assassin was followed across the stage by a gentleman, who sprang out from an orchestra chair. He rushed through the side door into an alley, thence to the avenue and mounted a dark bay horse, which he apparently received from the hand of an accomplice, dashed up, toward the back part of the city. The escape was so sudden that he effectually eluded pursuit. The assassin cried "sic sempre" in a sharp, clear voice, as he jumped to the stage, and dropped his hat and a glove.
Two or three officers were in the box with the President and Mrs. Lincoln, who made efforts to stop the assassin, but were unsuccessful, and received some bruises. The whole affair, from his entrance into the box to his escape from the theatre, occupied scarcely a minute, and the strongest of the action found everybody wholy unprepared. The assault upon Mr. Seward appears to have been made almost at the same moment as that upon the President. Mr. Seward's wound is not dangerous in itself, but may prove so in connection with his recent injuries. The two assassins have both endeavored to leave the city to the northwest, apparently not expecting to strike the river. Even so low down as Chain Bridge, cavalry have been sent in every direction to intercept them.
Saturday, 1:30 o'clock A.M.
The President still lies insensible. Messrs. Stanton, Wells, McCulloch, Speed, and Usher are with him, as also the Vice-President, the Surgeon-General, and other Surgeons.
There is a great throng about the house, even at this hour.
2 o'clock A.M.
The President still lives, but lies insensible, as he has since the first moment, and no hopes are entertained that he can survive.
The most extravagant stories prevail, among which one is to effect, that Gen. Grant was shot while on his was to Philaphia, of course this is not true.
Another is, that every member of Mr. Seward's family was wounded in the struggle with the assassin there. This also is untrue. Mr. Fred. Seward, the Assistant Secretary, and Major Clarence Seward, of the army, were wounded, neither of them dangerously.
THE CONDITION OF THE PRESIDENT.
Washington, April 15—2:12 A.M.
The President is still alive; but he is growing weaker. The ball is lodged in his brain, three inches from where it entered the skull. He remains insensible, and his condition is utterly hopeless.
The Vice-President has been to see him; but all company, except the members of the Cabinet and of the family, is rigidly excluded.
Large crowds still continue in the street, as near to the house as the line of guards allows.