Also in response to the excellent WU of
Thuper Ranger:
John Wilkes Booth was cornered by the Union Soldiers in a Virginia at tobacco barn. Historian do not know if he was killed by the soldiers of if he committed suicide. John Wilkes Booth died on April 26, 1865.
There is actually quite a bit of information of the story of Booth's escape and the
Tobacco barn. Shortly after killing
Lincoln, Booth managed to escape into southern
Maryland with the help of the Confederate agent David Herold. This was actually rather brilliant, as none of the Union soldiers thought to turn north. After waiting for a day in Maryland, both Booth and Herold managed to time the tides and the gunboats correctly in order to cross the
Potomac back into
Virginia.
They quickly made their way south, finding their way to a
ferry crossing at the
Rappahannock River. As Booth and Herold were crossing the Rappahannock River, they were greeted by three former
Confederate soldiers. Mortimer Ruggles, his cousin Absalom Bainbridge along with William Jett. Later Herold boasted to the soldiers that they had killed President Lincoln. Jett aided Booth and Herold by eventually finding
shelter for the pair at the farm of nearby
southern sympathisers, the Garretts.
Upon arriving at the Garrett house, Herold and Booth were directed to the Tobacco barn where they would spend their time at the farm. Garrett, being quite a shrewd man, actually
padlocked the barn, locking the two men inside; he was afraid they would attempt to steal his cattle. This effectively cut off any chance of escape that Booth had.
Meanwhile, twenty-five members of the 16th New York
Cavalry unit, under the command of Lt. Edward Doherty, were following Booth's trail. They arrived at the ferry crossing the Rappahannock. The ferryman reported no sightings of Booth, but he did recall seeing a man with a broken leg crossing the ferry earlier. A local fisherman revealed that Jett, who was most likely involved, could be found at the nearby Star Hotel with his
girlfriend.
The cavalry made haste to reach the hotel, quickly finding Jett. Everton Conger, one of Doherty's men, discovered that Booth was at the farm by holding his
revolver to Jett's head. Upon reaching the farm, the Garretts quickly revealed where Booth was sleeping(after having guns pointed at their heads as well). The cavalry
encircled the barn, calling for Booth to come out and surrender; they were under orders to take him alive. Herold quickly emerged, owning up to his role in hopes of a less severe fate. Booth, however, did not come out. Booth refused to surrender, and about 4 a.m., the tobacco shed was set
afire. The blaze allowed the soldiers to see Booth moving in the wooden building with a pistol and a rifle. It was at this point that Boston Corbett, another cavalryman, fired his own pistol, claiming later that it was to prevent Booth from killing more people. Several soldiers dragged Booth, still alive, from the burning structure. Booth had been shot in the neck. As he was laid on a wooden porch, he was found to be paralyzed from the neck down and whispered his final words, "tell my mother I did it for my country...useless, useless {while looking at his hands being held up to his face}."