Lincoln's Last Hours (Unabridged Edition)

by Dr. Charles Leale

Overview

Address delivered before the Commandery of the state of New York military order of the loyal legion of the United States at the regular meeting, February, 1909, city of New York in observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of president Abraham Lincoln.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940013690790
Publisher:	Gate Classics
Publication date:	01/17/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	700,481
File size:	47 KB

About the Author

Charles LealeDr. Charles Augustus Leale M.D. (March 26, 1842 – June 13, 1932) was a surgeon in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was the first doctor to be admitted into the presidential box at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 after John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head with a Philadelphia Deringer pistol.

At the time, he was a 23 year old surgeon in charge of the Wounded Commissioned Officers' Ward at the United States Army General Hospital in Armory Square, Washington, DC.[1] Just two months earlier, he'd graduated in medicine from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York. He married a daughter of Yonkers, New York industrialist John Copcutt (1805-1895) at the historic John Copcutt Mansion.[2]

A few days before Lincoln's assassination, he took a brief break from his exhausting job and took a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue for some fresh air. He noticed a crowd of people heading towards the White House. He discovered Lincoln giving his last public address to the public and was intrigued by the President's facial features. Soon after, Leale learned out that Lincoln was going to Ford's Theatre to see the play Our American Cousin. "After completing his duties... Leale changed to civilian clothes and rushed to the Theater, not to see the play, but to study President Lincoln's face and facial expressions."[3] He asked for a seat in the orchestra so he would have an unhindered view, but had arrived late and was given a seat in the dress circle (near the front, same side and 40 ft away from the President's box).

There was an interruption in the play when Lincoln arrived: the orchestra played "Hail to the Chief," and the audience gave a standing ovation. Leale could see the full face of the President as he stood only a few aisles behind him.

The play was interrupted once more when John Wilkes Booth jumped down from the presidential box to the stage. Leale, seeing this, immediately rushed to the President's box. When he arrived, he found Lincoln slumped in his armchair supported by Mrs. Lincoln, who was weeping frantically. Leale received permission to take charge. Leale discovered Lincoln with his eyes open, paralyzed, and with a weak pulse. He laid the president down and initially thinking that he had been stabbed, searched for wounds in his body. Finding none, he further d