John Wilkes Booth, the name forever linked with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, remains a figure of dark fascination in American history. While his act of violence at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, is well-documented, the final moments of his life and John Wilkes Booth Last Words offer a chilling glimpse into the mindset of Lincoln’s killer as his life drew to a close.
Born into a family of theatrical renown on May 10, 1838, in Bel Air, Maryland, Booth inherited his father Junius Brutus Booth’s passion for the stage. Despite a less than stellar academic record, young Booth excelled in physical pursuits and captivated audiences with his performances. He embraced the acting profession, touring extensively along the East Coast and earning recognition in roles such as Richard III. However, beneath the surface of a successful actor, Booth harbored fervent political beliefs that would ultimately lead him down a path of infamy.
Booth’s political leanings were deeply rooted in pro-slavery sentiments and animosity towards abolitionists. He actively participated in the Know Nothing movement, an anti-immigrant political faction, and his disdain for President Abraham Lincoln grew increasingly intense. Witnessing the execution of John Brown in 1859 further solidified his convictions. As the Civil War raged, Booth’s hatred for Lincoln escalated, culminating in a conspiracy to first kidnap, and then assassinate the President.
On that fateful night at Ford’s Theatre, Booth’s plan of assassination was set in motion. Exploiting his theatrical familiarity with the venue, he gained access to the presidential box where Lincoln and his wife were enjoying a play. Stealthily bypassing Lincoln’s security, Booth fired a single shot into the back of the President’s head. In the ensuing chaos, he stabbed Major Henry Rathbone before leaping onto the stage, famously shouting “Sic Semper Tyrannis”—”thus always to tyrants,” the same phrase uttered by Brutus during Julius Caesar’s assassination. The dramatic leap, however, came at a physical cost, fracturing Booth’s left leg as he made his escape from the theater and the capital.
Alt text: Portrait of John Wilkes Booth, a prominent American actor and the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln.
Booth’s escape was not to last. Fleeing southwards, he found temporary refuge with Confederate sympathizers, unknowingly aided by some, as he crossed the Potomac River into Virginia on April 23rd. The pursuit intensified, and on April 26th, just twelve days after the assassination, troops from the 16th New York Cavalry cornered Booth at Richard Garrett’s farm near Port Royal. His accomplice, David Herold, surrendered, but Booth refused, barricading himself inside Garrett’s barn. Federal soldiers set the barn ablaze, forcing a final confrontation.
Amidst the flames, a Union soldier named Boston Corbett approached the burning barn. Claiming to have seen Booth raise his pistol, Corbett fired his revolver. The bullet struck Booth in the neck, severing his spinal cord and causing paralysis. Mortally wounded, John Wilkes Booth was carried from the burning barn. As life ebbed away over the next three hours, john wilkes booth last words were uttered, not of grand pronouncements or political defiance, but of profound regret and a sense of futility. Gazing at his hands, Booth whispered, “Useless, useless, useless.” These simple, tragic words, spoken in his dying moments, offer a stark contrast to the dramatic pronouncements of his assassination and provide a somber epitaph to a life consumed by violence and ultimately ending in despair. John Wilkes Booth was buried in an unmarked grave in the family plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, his final resting place as understated as his last words were revealing.
Alt text: Contemporary view of Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C., the site of President Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth.
