150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's assassination

On April 15 the United States commemorates the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination

Former U.S. Rep. Abraham Lincoln defeated four candidates in 1861 to claim the presidency. In 1862, in the midst of the Civil War, the embattled

president issued a preliminary decree stating that unless the rebellious states returned to the Union by Jan. 1, freedom would be granted to slaves

in those states.

No Confederate states took the offer. On Jan. 1, 1863, Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation, which did not free all slaves but rather

declared free those slaves living in states that had seceded from the Union.

Lincoln was re-elected president Nov. 8, 1864, but less than six months later he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, in a head-and-shoulders portrait taken by photographer Alexander Gardner on February 5, 1865. Traditionally called "last photograph of Lincoln from life", this final photo in Lincoln's last photo session was long thought to have been made on April 10, 1865, but more recent research has indicated the earlier date in February. The crack comes from the original negative, which was broken and discarded back in 1865. The entirety of the American Civil War took place while Lincoln was in office, starting a month after he was elected, and ending just days before his assassination in April of 1865.

US President Abraham Lincoln in a portrait taken by Anthony Berger in Washington on Feb. 9, 1864. The image from this sitting was the basis for the engraved portrait on the US five-dollar bill, according to the Library of Congress. (Anthony Berger/Library of Congress via Reuters)

Another view shows Lincoln with McClellan and his officers at the Antietam battlefield in Maryland. The 1862 battle has been called "the bloodiest single day in American history;" 23,000 men were killed or injured. After the battle, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which was quickly dubbed the "Miscegenation Proclamation" by his pro-slavery foes.

Library of CongressLincoln and Gen. George B. McClellan confer at Antietam in Maryland on Oct. 4, 1862.

Civil War camp visit. Library of CongressPresident Abraham Lincoln visits an Army camp during the Civil War.

Antietam. Lincoln National Life FoundationPresident Abraham Lincoln, wearing a top hat, visits with Gen. George McClellan and his staff at Antietam, Md., in 1862. This unique photograph, from the files of the Lincoln National Life Foundation in Fort Wayne, Ind., was taken by Alexander Gardner, a famous Civil War photographer.

President Lincoln stands with Gen. George McClellan (facing Lincoln) at the Antietam battlefield in Maryland in 1862, during the Civil War. The anonymous authors of the "Miscegenation" pamphlet hoped to add to Lincoln's dimming popularity as the bloody war seemed to drag on forever

President Abraham Lincoln (center, hatless), surrounded by a crowd during his famous Gettysburg Address, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1863.

Inaugural gown. Chicago Tribune archiveMary Todd Lincoln, the president's wife, is shown in her ball gown for the inauguration. Clothes worn by presidents' wives have always drawn great interest from the American public.

Lincoln family. Associated PressAn artist's rendering of President Abraham Lincoln, his wife, Mary Todd, and his two sons, Robert and Tad, was found in a family album belonging to Mrs. James Gaines of Philadelphia. Because it shows the entire Lincoln family, it is considered quite rare. Its owner is a descendant of William Wallace, who was married to one of Mary Todd's sisters.

Lincoln White House. Keya Morgan/Lincoln ImagesThis March 6, 1865, photo, provided by the Keya Morgan collection/Lincoln Images and carrying the seal of photographer Henry F. Warren, shows the White House with several figures standing in front of it. Photography collector Morgan says the photo is the only known photograph of Lincoln standing in front of the White House, and the first photo ever to have been taken of a president in front of the White House.

Father and son. Associated PressPresident Abraham Lincoln poses with his youngest son Thomas, nicknamed Tad, in this undated photo, which was found in a family album belonging to Mrs. James Gaines of Philadelphia. The boy was known for being a sensitive youngster. On Christmas 1864, Tad, then 10, took the spirit of the season to heart and invited some street urchins into the White House for a meal. The cooks refused to feed the children until Tad took up the issue with the president, who ordered that the children be fed.

Son of Lincoln. Library of CongressRobert Lincoln, one of Abraham Lincoln's sons.

Mr. Lincoln goes to Washington. Illinois State LibraryIn this drawing from an Illinois State Library collection, President Abraham Lincoln stands on the rear of a Great Western Railway train in Springfield on Feb. 10, 1861, en route to Washington.

Second inauguration. APA painting shows the second inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln as he takes the oath of office March 4, 1865, in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The oath was administered by Chief Justice Salmon Chase, a former rival of Lincoln and a former secretary of the Treasury.

Republican nomination. Chicago Historical SocietyThe Wigwam, at Lake Street and Wacker Drive, is where Republican delegates met in 1860 and nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. According to reports at the time, when Lincoln secured the nomination, the crowd went wild and a cannon on the roof was fired.

Campaign ribbon. Abraham Lincoln Presidential LibraryA three-color silk campaign ribbon-badge from 1860 in Irish colors.

Death of a president. Abraham Lincoln had dreamt of his own assassination just days before John Wilkes Booth attacked him at Ford´s Theatre in Washington, DC is from the collection of David Rumsey. Image National Park.

Stage actor and Confederate sympathize John Wilkes Booth, in a portrait taken some time before he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Booth and a group of co-conspirators planned to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward, hoping to assist the Confederacy, despite the earlier surrender of Robert E. Lee. After he shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater, in Washington, District of Columbia, on April 14, 1865, he fled to a farm in rural northern Virginia, but was tracked down 12 days later, and killed by a Union soldier

1865: Booth in WashingtonBooth boarded in the National Hotel at the corner of 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The site is now occupied by the Newseum. Booth, a prominent actor, was admired by Lincoln. Library of Congress

March 4, 1865: Lincoln's second inauguralJohn Wilkes Booth is believed to have attended the event, claiming afterward that he could have used the opportunity "to kill the president where he stood." Library of Congress

March 17: Kidnapping plan foiledBooth and his conspirators had planned to kidnap Lincoln on his return from a scheduled visit to the Campbell Hospital. They were foiled when the president canceled the trip. Library of Congress

April 14, morning: The Kirkwood HouseThe hotel formerly stood at 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington. George Atzerodt, one of Booth's co-conspirators, had booked a room at the hotel, planning to kill vice president Andrew Johnson, who was staying there. Atzerodt got cold feet and never carried out the assassination. National Park Service

April 14, morning: Ford's TheatreJohn Wilkes Booth was picking up his mail when he happened to overhear that Lincoln would be attending a performance of "Our American Cousin" that evening. Booth met afterward with the three conspirators he had recruited. The plan: kill the president, vice president, secretary of state, and General Ulysses S. Grant. National Park Service

April 14, late afternoon: Stalking Ulysses S. GrantMichael O'Laughlen, whom Booth had recruited as a conspirator, was assigned to Ulysses S. Grant. O'Laughlen followed Grant to Union Station and boarded a train with him. He was unable to attack Grant because the Union general rode in a locked and guarded car. Library of Congress

April 14, evening: Booth waits for LincolnBooth had a drink at Star Tavern, next door to Ford's Theatre and on the right in this photograph, before he returned to the theater to assassinate the president. Library of Congress

April 14, 10:15 p.m.: Seward attacked and woundedLewis Powell, another of Booth's conspirators, attacked secretary of state William Seward at his home on Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House. Seward, recovering from a carriage accident, suffered stab wounds. Library of Congress; inset mrlincolnswhitehouse.org

April 15, 4:00 a.m.: Booth arrives at the Mudd homeBooth and Herold continued southward, arriving in the early morning hours of April 15 at the southern Maryland home of Dr. Samuel Mudd, a physician. Mudd treated Booth's broken leg.

April 15, late night: Booth and David Herold arrive at Surratt HouseBooth and David Herold fled on horseback into Maryland, stopping at a house owned by Mary Surratt to pick up weapons and supplies. Surratt was later hanged with Booth for her role in the conspiracy. Library of Congress

Hulton ArchiveA drawing illustrates the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, by actor John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was shot in the head while attending the comedy, "Our American Cousin," at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Four people were hanged after being convicted of conspiring with Booth.

April 14, 10:13 p.m.: The president is shotBooth shot Lincoln in the back of the head, then leapt onto the stage, breaking his leg. Booth fled while witnesses rushed to attend to the gravely wounded president. National Park Service

April 15, 7:22 a.m.: The President diesLincoln had been carried across the street to the Peterson boarding house. He died in a first-floor bedroom, attended by Surgeon General Joseph K Barnes and two other physicians. National Park Service

AP Photo / Library of CongressThis undated photo shows Dr. Charles A. Leale, who was the first doctor to treat President Abraham Lincoln after he was shot on April 14, 1865.

AP Photo / Library of CongressThis April 1865 photo shows President Abraham Lincoln's box at Ford's Theatre, the site of his assassination

. Ford's Theater with Guards Posted at Entrance and Crepe Draped from Windows - Washington Navy Yard, D.C., April 1865

The headline of The National News reports on the shooting of President Abraham Lincoln in Washington on April 14, 1865, in this archive image from the Library of Congress. (Library of Congress via Reuters)

Reuters scoop. Hulton ArchiveReuters reports the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America, on April, 15, 1865.

Suspicion rose quickly that Booth had acted as part of a conspiracy of Southern sympathizers. The manhunt lasted nearly two weeks while the nation mourned its fallen president. Booth believed he would be lauded as a hero in the South for the act, but a reading of newspapers smuggled to him while he hid in southern Maryland destroyed that assumption. He wrote in his journal, "After being hunted like a dog through swamps, woods, and last night being chased by gunboats till I was forced to return wet, cold, and starving ... I am here in despair."

April 19: Lincoln's funeralMourners gathered around the assassinated president's coffin at the White House. Library of Congress

President Lincoln's Funeral Procession on Pennsylvania Avenue (View 1) - Washington, D.C., April 19, 1865

President Lincoln's Funeral Procession on Pennsylvania Avenue (View 2) - Washington, D.C., April 19, 1865

After his assassination, Abraham Lincoln's funeral procession moves down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on April 19, 1865. His body was taken by funeral train to be buried in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois.

Mourners lined Broadway, stood on rooftops and crowded at apartment windows to view Lincoln's funeral procession through Albany on April 26, 1865. (Courtesy NYS Division of Military & Naval Affairs ()

Harold M. Lambert / Getty ImagesEngraved view of the funeral of President Lincoln, with soldiers marching the streets of Springfield, Ill. on May 3, 1865

Photograph shows many women dressed in white accompanying President Lincoln's hearse as it passes beneath ornamental arch at 12th Street in Chicago, Illinois. (Library of Congress)

Funeral train. Library of CongressThe locomotive "Nashville" of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, leads President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train. The engine was bedecked with bunting, special black-fringed presidential flags and a portrait of the fallen president for part of the trip from Washington to Springfield. The train made stops in 11 cities and helped cement Lincoln's place in Americans' hearts.

Library of CongressRailroad car carrying Abraham Lincoln's body, April 1865.

Library of Congress / APA crowd surrounds the funeral procession for President Abraham Lincoln in Philadelphia in April 1865.

Library of CongressThe original hearse in which Abraham Lincoln's body was carried through the streets of Springfield, Ill., in May 1865.

April 14, late evening: Booth flees WashingtonSoon after leaving Ford's Theatre, Booth crossed the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland. Co-conspirator David Herold crossed the bridge a few minutes later and joined Booth. They traveled south into Maryland. Library of Congress

April 17: Conspirators arrestedLewis Powell, Seward's attacker, was arrested at Mary Surratt's boarding house on H Street. Surratt was also detained. The house still stands in the heart of Washington's Chinatown. Four other conspirators were arrested on the same day. Library of Congress

April 26: Booth killed at Garrett FarmTroops caught up with John Wilkes Booth in a barn on the tobacco farm of Richard H. Garrett; after refusing to surrender he was shot in the neck. National Park Service

On April 27, 1865—12 days after he shot Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.—Booth was shot in a Virginia barn. He died from his wound that day. (Getty Images)

April 20: George Atzerodt arrestedAtzerodt, who had failed to assassinate the vice president, was found hiding out at a farm in Germantown, Maryland, northwest of Washington. Library of Congress

Conspirator Lewis Powell (Payne), in a sweater, seated and manacled in the Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. in April of 1865. Powell attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate United States Secretary of State William H. Seward in his home on April 14, 1865. he was soon caught, and became one of four people hanged for the Lincoln assassination conspiracy.

Samuel Arnold, a Conspirator - Washington Navy Yard, D.C., April 1865

David E. Herold, a Conspirator - Washington Navy Yard, D.C., April 1865

Edward Spangler, a Conspirator - Washington Navy Yard, D.C., April 1865

Michael O'Laughlin, a Conspirator - Washington Navy Yard, D.C., April 1865

May 12: The conspirators stand trialPresiding at the military tribunal were John A. Bingham, Joseph Holt, and Henry Lawrence Burnett. The tribunal was held in a corner room of the Old Arsenal Prison; its site in southwest Washington is now part of Fort McNair. Library of Congress

The Four Condemned Conspirators (Mrs. Surratt, Payne, Herold, Atzerodt), with Officers and Others on the Scaffold - Washington, D.C., July 7, 1865

July 7: execution by hangingMary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were hanged at the Old Arsenal Prison. Library of Congress

The hanging hooded bodies of the four conspirators, Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell (Payne), David Herold, and George Atzerodt, executed on July 7, 1865 at Fort McNair in Washington, District of Columbia, All four had been convicted of taking part in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.

Coffins and Open Graves ready for the Conspirators Bodies at Right of Scaffold - Washington, D.C., July 7, 1865

The presidential box is arranged identically to the way it was the night President Abraham Lincoln was shot through this doorway at Ford's Theatre in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

When we think of Abraham Lincoln, we most likely picture him wearing one of his trademark stovepipe top hats. This one he wore to Ford's Theatre that night had a mourning band for son Willie, who died in February 1862 at age 11, probably of typhoid fever.

Booth used this single-shot .44-caliber derringer, which could be slipped inside a pocket, from close range. The weapon is in the Ford's Theatre exhibit "Silent Witnesses: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination." Tracey Avant, curator of the exhibit (through May 25), said the items are from many people who were at the play, and the focus is not on Booth and his conspirators. Still, "we felt we couldn't do this without the derringer." Booth famously uttered "Sic semper tyrannis" ("Thus always to tyrants") after he leaped to the stage, breaking his leg.

The bullet that killed Lincoln. (Cade Martin)

President Abraham Lincoln's statue at the Lincoln Memorial is seen in Washington on March 27. The 170 ton, 19 foot high statue, formed from 28 blocks of Georgia marble, was sculpted by Daniel Chester French and dedicated in 1922. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)

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cast 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's assassination

images and text credit www. www.smithsonianmag.com cnn.com www.timesunion.com www.chicagotribune.com www.latimes.com

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