Continued from May 26th.
It was well known that the Lincolns would be attending the play/comedy "Our American Cousin." John Wilkes Booth was himself an actor and had recently appeared at Ford's Theater and knew its layout. It is believed that he drilled a small peephole in the door to the box where the presidential party would be seated.
A die-hard Confederate supporter, Booth had previously concocted schemes to murder or kidnap Lincoln.
This one worked because of a chance confluence of events: Lincoln's regular bodyguard had the day off and his police replacement left his post outside the box for a seat in the audience.
Booth peered through the peephole and seeing the coast was clear, rushed into the box holding a gun and a knife. According to the Chicago Tribune's account given by a Union officer Captain Theodore McGowan, who was an eyewitness: The house was perfectly still, the large audience listening to the dialogue between 'Florence Trencher' and 'Mary Meredith' when the sharp report of a pistol rang through the house.
"A moment after, a man leaped from the front of the box,, directly down nine feet onto the stage and ran rapidly across it. ...As he leaped he cried distinctly the motto of Virginia 'Sic Semper Tyrannis.' ...Consternation seemed for a moment to rivet everyone to his seat, the next moment confusion reigned supreme."
--Old Secesh
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