12 Days on the Run: the Complete Chronological Manhunt That Ended John Wilkes Booth's Life

A fresh look at 12 Days on the Run: the Complete Chronological Manhunt That Ended John Wilkes Booth's Life, offering readers critical context.

Booth’s escape began immediately after he fired a .44-caliber derringer into the back of Lincoln’s head on the night of April 14, 1865. Vaulting from the presidential box to the stage of Ford's Theatre, Booth snagged his riding spur on an American flag, fracturing the fibula in his left leg upon landing. Despite the searing injury, he crossed the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland before military authorities could seal the perimeter.

Rendezvousing with co-conspirator David Herold outside Washington, Booth rode hard toward Charles County, Maryland. In the early morning hours of April 15, the pair arrived at the residence of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Mudd set Booth’s broken leg, splinted it with cardboard, and allowed the fugitives to rest before they pushed deeper into the dense pine barrens along the Zekiah Swamp.

For five miserable days, Booth and Herold hid in a thicket orchestrated by Thomas Jones, a Confederate agent who brought them food, whiskey, and newspapers. Booth was shocked by the public reaction. He had convinced himself that history would hail him as a modern Brutus who liberated the Republic from tyranny. Instead, Southern newspapers condemned the murder, and Union authorities branded him a coward. Rain-soaked and crippled, Booth realized the Confederate underground could not provide the triumphant reception he anticipated.