The New York Times archives from 1865 provide a step-by-step reconstruction of the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
According to reports from latercera.com, a single shot rang out on the night of April 14, 1865, during a performance of 'Our American Cousin.' John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and shot the President from behind.
"The assassin then leaped onto the stage wielding a large dagger or knife and escaped through the rear of the theater," the New York Times reported at the time. The outlet noted that the bullet entered the back of the President's head, leaving a mortal wound.
The assassination occurred just days after the end of the American Civil War, following General Robert E. Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant. Booth was a known sympathizer of the Confederate cause.
The hunt for the conspirators
By April 15, the New York Times was already reporting on the identification of the attackers. The paper stated that investigators determined two assassins participated in the crime: Wilkes Booth and an unidentified accomplice.
Investigators found a letter in Booth's trunk suggesting the plot had been in development since at least March 4. The report claimed the conspirators had been waiting for an opportunity for several days before striking at the theater.
President Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865. Following his death, Vice President Andrew Johnson was officially notified and took the oath of office before Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase.
The news triggered international mourning, with the London Times stating on April 29 that no man deserved to be a victim of such a revolution more than Lincoln.
On April 19, the New York Times described the funeral ceremonies in Washington as a spectacle of "sad sublimity and moral grandeur." The report noted that the event was the greatest tribute ever offered to a deceased individual on the continent.
