We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts

by Timothy S. Good

On the evening of April 14,1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theatre, an entire audience was witness to the tragedy. From diaries, letters, depositions, affidavits, and periodicals, here is a collection of accounts from a variety of theatergoers―who by chance saw one of the truly pivotal events in US history. Providing minute firsthand details recorded over a span of ninety years, We Saw Lincoln Shot explores a subject that will forever be debated. With a sharp focus upon the circumstances reported by one hundred actual witnesses, We Saw Lincoln Shot provides vivid documentation of a momentous evening and exposes errors that have been perpetuated as the assassination has been rendered into written histories.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Civil War, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing to me that the soldiers that took him across the street where he eventually died didn't come forward to tell their story until many years later!

[David Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of eyewitness accounts to the Lincoln assassination. The book is organized into four main sections: 1) The First Accounts, April-May 1865; 2) The Conspiracy Trial Accounts, May 1865; 3) The Transition, 1877-1908; and 4) The Last Accounts, 1909-1954.

Not surprisingly, the first accounts are by far the most historically accurate, although even they contain inconsistencies as the perceptions of each individual observer in the theater would be different depending on their location and immediate actions. One big discrepancy - when did Booth yell "sic semper tyrannis" and did you say anything else? Witness accounts don't all agree on this.

Accounts during the assassination conspiracy trial are also interesting because most would be under oath and therefore should be reliable. Here too, however, there are inconsistencies. But the real issues begin appearing in what the author calls "the transition" period many years after the event. Here we see insertion of "memories" of Booth breaking his leg as he jumped to the stage, something no immediate witness reported. We also see some indications that witnesses embellish their role in the proceedings. This embellishment, either through conscious or unconscious attempts to boost their own stories or failing memories predominate the "Last Accounts," which were recorded in newspapers many decades after the event and usually after most collaborating (or non-collaborating) witnesses had passed away. [Many accounts are "the last living witness" despite there being many apparent witnesses still living; the actual last on dying in 1954.]

Reviewing the accounts is a good reminder that while immediate perceptions can be somewhat inconsistent, legends tend to grow with time as memories are replaced with fantasies. As such the book loses steam as it progresses into the final, and especially last, section where accounts are contradictory and unreliable. Still, it provides significant value as a primary (or at least secondary) resource to see how people reacted in person to an event that has been mythologized over the ensuing 150+ years.

[Lisa Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author’s chronological arrangement of first accounts by those who claim to have witnessed the Lincoln assassination is a good idea. Firsthand accounts must always be taken with a grain of salt but recollections fresh after an incident are more reliable in accuracy than ones recalled after time has passed, newspaper articles read, and conversations have taken place. These contemporaneous accounts comprise the opening section of the book.
While there is consensus among the majority of the eyewitnesses about many of the events that took place that Good Friday of 1865 in Ford’s Theatre, there is also discrepancy: Did Booth break his leg when he leapt from the state box to the stage? Did he cry out Sic Semper Tyrannis as he crossed the stage or when standing in the box or did he cry out any words at all?
It’s fascinating reading. Bear in mind, also, that there are more than 100 eyewitness accounts. The author chose 100 for this anthology so he has added his own point of view, particularly stating that he doesn’t believe Booth broke his leg in the theater (something Booth wrote in his diary while on the run from the law). He believes Booth broke his leg because a horse fell on him. The author states that he came to this conclusion because Booth was a tragedian who preferred the dramatic idea of breaking his leg after killing the President. Besides, the author states, Booth was a known liar and that was not the only lie he had recorded in his diary.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved primary sources and this book is a treasure trove. Good's choice to order the eyewitness accounts from the most recent to the assassination to the latest illustrates how memories and recollections can change. It made me think about what this type of treatment would look like for other history-making moments.

[Rachel]

Interesting to see the gradual differences in testimony through the years, especially after the publication of Booth's "diary."

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading eyewitness accounts. It's interesting what little details you can learn and it connects you to the time. The accounts were gathered from those with Lincoln, audience members, the actors, his doctors, the Fords, and Booth himself. There were some things I was surprised to learn, like most people mention that Booth probably didn't break his leg jumping from the stage, but it was something that gained credence in the 1920s. I was also amazed many of the accounts stating that the doctors stripped the president in the booth and many stating they saw Lincoln without clothes. The most amazing thing to me though was everyone saying they thought it was part of the play. That no one moved even after Booth left the stage. It wasn't until Mary Lincoln, Major Rathbone, and Clara Harris were screaming that people reacted and how the crowd helped the the doctors climb into the box. Having visited Ford's Theatre many times, I'm also surprised at the estimated crowd that was able to sit in the room. But out of all of the accounts, you can pick up on the shock, horror, and heartbreak of the time.

[Lyle Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows some of the legends surrounding the assassination. Specifically who carried Lincoln body across the street.

The book is sorted starting with the accounts from the people in the box at the time of the assassination and goes out from there to the ever increasing distant stories of people who were in the audience.

[Truitti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information from all kinds of eye witnesses. Lots of supposition. And I love the fact that if as many people really carried Lincoln to the Peterson house as they claim, I believe the entire audience of the Ford theature would have done it too. LOL

[Brooke Barnum Berntson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met the author of this book who works for the NPS which is a big reason why I bought it. I liked the “The Last Accounts” part of this book the best. I think it’s because so many of the retelling were clearly inaccurate and proven false, that I found them to be entertaining.

[Kathy Myres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing - it was so interesting to read the perceptions of those who witnessed this tragic event

[Shane Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read!