The Last Night of Abraham Lincoln | Part 2: Immortality | Free Documentary History

it was my dream to put an end to slavery and to reunite America after this bloody war [Music] but the country is so full of hatred and my enemies are everywhere the country Waits with baited breath as the hunt for my assassin draws to a close I will not come out this evening [Music] poor consolation from my family who have followed me on this difficult path the punishment for this crime must be severe an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth after grief and anger hope must Prevail and Lead our country into a better future freedom for all men I pray that my country will make this dream a reality a little bit [Music] here April 14 1865. Ford Theater in Washington is in shock during the performance a man fired at President Lincoln the Assassin is on the Run John Wilkes Booth is a fanatic Southerner and renowned actor who staged his crime like a Shakespeare play -doh right down there excuse me gentlemen excuse me in a house across the street from the theater doctors struggle to save the president's life their only hope to find and remove the bullet lodged in Lincoln's brain not looking good at all yeah keep that light right there with each passing moment their battle grows more and more desperate they're right behind it right behind the log I feel something darker but it's so deep I don't know if it's safe to try to take then the plot thickens Lincoln secretary of state has also been targeted there's also been an attempt on Mr Seward please [Music] evil plan seems to have succeeded who is this man whose hatred of the president has driven him to such violence and why now when the Civil War is already over for months John Wilkes Booth has been stalking the president waiting for the perfect opportunity he and his conspirators have been meeting secretly to come up with a plan they are a wretched group having lost everything during the Civil War among them are Lewis Powell George attz rods and a woman Mary Sarat who has given them a hiding place our country owed all our troubles to him and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment Lincoln is a false moralist he doesn't care about the at all he may speak of freedom but he really wants to liberate all the slaves to destroy the South [Music] booth has been stalking Lincoln for years when the South loses the wall he finally cracks he sees himself as Shakespeare's Brutus destined to overthrow the tyrannical Caesar it's a role he's often performed on stage as the night wears on the president's doctors begin to lose hope how's that pulse doctor continues to grow weaker doctor very shallow breathing I'm worried about him [Applause] Lincoln's wife Mary had been sitting beside him when Booth opened fire it's a traumatic experience from which she will never recover y though Lincoln's doctors know that he is dying they say nothing to Mary for fear that she will break down [Music] along with his generals gather at his bedside foreign [Music] why now in the president's hour of Triumph after he has led the north to Victory after he has salvaged the Union [Applause] the Vive numerous assassination attempts the man with the top hats is loved by his people fate was once on his side people say that he is a man of nine lives but this is to be his last I shall live until my work is done and no earthly power can prevent it on the outskirts of the capital John Wilkes Booth joins up with an accomplice Booth was able to pass unnoticed to the military blockades now he hopes to go into hiding in the south booth has planned his Escape down to the Last Detail just a few days earlier he had stowed rifles in a secret hiding place the one thing he didn't plan for was that he would break his leg while jumping from Lincoln's box to the stage below now riding across the Maryland Countryside he is in agonizing pain it's a 10 mile Journey to the home of a southern sympathizer by the name of Dr Samuel Mudd Lincoln's war minister has dispatched a Detachment of troops to pursue the Assassin Witnesses recognize the actor immediately and it is assumed he will hide out in Virginia [Music] was introduced to Dr mud during the war [Music] the doctor senses that the two companions are up to something but decides not to inquire further [Music] I know it's not going to be easy [Music] foreign give me something here oh you spite down on that can you ride with that I wouldn't suggest it I'd suggest a wagon but if you don't have one my phone horses we must ride oh watch it there's a hole [Music] early morning April 15 1865. [Music] president who changed history who reunited the nation never regains consciousness [Music] at 7 22 am the president draws his last breath in keeping with custom coins are placed on his eyes so that he can pay the ferryman who after 56 years of life would bring him into the next world news of Lincoln's death spreads like wildfire thousands come to the Capitol in Washington where Flags fly at half mast [Music] newspapers publish special editions Victory celebrations in Washington are called off shock and disbelief are everywhere the captain brought the ship into the port safely someone cries into the crowd and now he himself is lying dead on Deck even Wall Street closes to mourn the president's death six months before he had been re-elected as president with the war over he had hoped to reunite the country but his moment of Triumph was all too brief the White House has become a dark house [Music] Mary Lincoln has faced much first the loss of two sons and now her beloved husband and then twelve-year-old Tad Lincoln is largely left to deal with his grief alone [Music] Lincoln had always been a loving father with his wife he had endured the depths of Despair when their sons Eddie and Willie died of typhoid fever Mary had never quite recovered from their tragic deaths [Music] she remembers how only 24 hours earlier they had looked forward to watching a comedy at Ford's Theater starring the famous actress Laura King interesting I never knew what they meant before Mary and Abe together for a moment they were finally happy but it was not to last what a great performance finally I could take revenge for the disgrace of the South and my audience was stunned surely a villain of coil stability would have destroyed the note it would have been the very essence [Music] the public craves the latest news about the assassination the papers are all too happy to oblige reporters interview eyewitnesses and describe the tragedy in all its detail Shakespeare himself could hardly have written a better drama a Detachment of soldiers from the 13th New York Cavalry arrive in the small town of bryantown in search of the Assassin believing that Booth is still in Maryland they begin to question the locals while out buying groceries Dr mud learns that the president is dead and that soldiers are looking for his assassin [Music] [Music] only one man in town knows about the fugitives when he returns home he discovers that they have gone Booth had told him nothing about their Escape Route only that they were Bound for Virginia foreign step through a thousand of his friends I shouted six semper tyrannus the same to all tyrants after I fired can never repent it though we hated to kill for booth free he is certain that Southerners will understand his acts and admire him for it after his death Lincoln's body is brought back to the White House the bullet was lodged deep inside his head behind his left eye socket [Music] as President Lincoln had wanted to build a modern America where his Country Mart could have the same opportunities he had this was his vision for the country and this is why the brutal War took place until every drop of blood drawn by the last shall be repaid by another an America that could finally cast off the shackles of slavery the price of this struggle more than 600 000 dead he had been forced to go to war to prevent the secession of the South his victory offered no sense of Triumph his final photo taken soon after the SAS surrender just days before his assassination on April 19th a funeral service is held at the White House afterwards a hundred thousand people escort the coffin to the Capitol [Music] most blame Southern conspirators for the assassination some even fear that the South will now attack the north again their Abe has become a martyr giving his life for his great dream Mary Lincoln does not attend the funeral service she shuts herself away for days in the private quarters of the White House [Music] Ford Theater is adorned with black ribbons as a sign of mourning it has remained closed since the assassination an actor finds the president's walking stick relics such as this are sold at a high price [Music] outside Washington the Assassin's pursuers are hot on his Trail though they don't yet realize it for three days booth and his accomplice have been hiding by the Potomac River I think you're coming tender the horses our chance will be in Virginia the soldiers plan to intercept the fugitives on their way to Virginia [Music] what idiots they write that Lincoln's assassination was the toughest blow the South ever had to bear can they write that Lincoln was our enemy I only did it for the sake of our country no you sure there's enough for two no Booth had not expected the South to mourn for Lincoln or to condemn him for his ACT he himself had witnessed the growing hatred for Lincoln the president in the sun where he like most believed that runaway slaves should be punished severely [Music] under the war Booth though a famous actor had hardly performed in any place he could no longer cope with the world and drank too much [Music] Booth had lost everything when an old company he invested in went bankrupt for that like so much else he blamed Lincoln since the company was based in the North [Music] [Applause] when Richmond the capital the Confederacy fell on April 3 1865 Booth nearly wept in anger liberated slaves cheered for the president the South had surrendered [Music] sons of once proud plantation owners returned home from war as did Booth together they were the defeated failures facing a new and uncertain era all over the country wanted posters are being put up the reward for the capture of John Wilkes Booth fifty thousand dollars the largest sum ever to be offered for the apprehension of a murderer I do not care what becomes of me I have no desire to outlive my country I have started writing a diary to gather my thoughts or I'll go insane why do they chase me like a runaway slave I am not a common Criminal foreign all I want is Justice for this country several times the pursuers closed in on their prey but booth and his accomplice David Herald proved elusive back in Washington however their co-conspirators have not managed to evade the long arm of the law they have already been arrested and imprisoned Mary Sarat and the others have hoods pulled over their heads to shut them off from their fellow inmates it is hoped that their suffering will make them more willing to testify the newspapers denounce the attractive 43 year old Widow as a witch who managed to seduce young men and incite them to assassinate the president the jail on the grounds of the Navy yard is under Direct Control of the military [Music] photographer Alexander Gardner who had only recently taken the last photo of the president will now capture the conspirators on his photo plates Lewis Powell who had brutally attacked Secretary of State Seward leaving him severely wounded [Music] Edmund Spangler during the assassination he attended to Booth's horse in front of the theater George attz Rod he was supposed to kill the vice president but backed out at the last minute [Music] and Dr Martz who is later able to convince the authorities that he had merely acted according to his Hippocratic Oath [Music] thank you six days after the assassination a train is decorated in Washington [Music] as many people as possible will be given the opportunity to pay their last respects to Abraham Lincoln [Music] America has never seen anything like it the Train christened the Lincoln special used Washington on a 1700 mile Journey the coffin is laid out in the newly completed presidential carriage in which Lincoln had not been able to travel during his lifetime [Music] from Washington to New York to Chicago to Springfield on the 12-day journey the funeral train will stop in cities along the way before reaching Lincoln's hometown tens of thousands accompany the coffin as it is drawn by white horses to the train station in Washington foreign [Music] guard watches over the president on his final Journey the coffin is made out of Walnut Woods with heavy silver plating the cost fifteen hundred dollars an ordinary coffin costs a mere ten dollars [Music] Lincoln's body has been embalmed with zinc chloride to preserve it on the long journey [Music] the funeral trains first stop will be in Baltimore only 36 miles from Washington at every stop the coffin is laid out in States along the way hundreds of thousands will tearfully bid farewell to their aim [Music] after another narrow Escape booth and his accomplice are hiding deep in the Woods by the Potomac River Herald has turned to the bottle frogging Pig booth has given up alcohol to keep his mind clear during the days ahead but his leg is causing him terrible pain they're in the bag his diary is his only comfort John Wilkes Booth star of the stage believes he has rid the country of a tyrant tonight I will try to escape these Bloodhounds once more two greatest soul to die like a criminal how she loved me my Lucy when I played romantic characters on the stage see my dear Lucy you alone understand what I have done [Music] at the White House Tad Lincoln Daily misses his father [Music] he has no one to share his pain with Mommy [Music] Mary has retreated into her own spiritual world and lays tarot cards all day [Music] along the banks of the Potomac the Assassin's pursuers search for signs of a boat the river is wide too wide for the fugitives to Cross by swimming [Applause] [Music] it appears that the Assassin is still in the Maryland side of the river [Music] wherever the funeral train passes onlookers pause to pay their respects many are moved to tears [Music] 23 different engines will pull the funeral train to Springfield hundreds line the routes to watch the train pass in the cities tens of thousands gather [Music] foreign [Music] thank you the train is preceded by a so-called pilot locomotive it announces the funeral Train's arrival an hour in advance so that people in the cities can be on time to meet it [Music] on April 22nd booths accomplished David Harold manages to exchange their horses for a boat are you sure you can row they will use it to cross the three mile wide river Herald has never rode a boat before in his life swept Along by the current they encounter an unpleasant surprise in the early morning mist nearly hitting the bow of a U.S Navy cannon boat they roll on unnoticed but lose their bearings and end up on the same Riverbank where they started [Music] only after a second attempt do they make it across to Virginia they are now safe or so they think foreign [Music] heads off to round up a horse and cart [Music] we're here I'll go get a wagon all right [Music] as they make their way deeper into Virginia they discover that their accomplices have been arrested in Washington the Lincoln special approaches New York City in the largest city in America the financial Metropolis of the new world the funeral train has stirred up controversy the city's mayor has forbidden the participation of blacks in the procession through the city it's a slap in the face for the 5 000 black soldiers who fought for Lincoln during the war and Stark proof that racism is Rife even in the North though the four hundred thousand blacks living in the northern states may not be slaves they still do not have the same civil rights as whites a telegram from the wall secretary in Washington reprimands the New Yorkers blacks are allowed to join the procession after all but only 300 are brave enough to do so they fear being attacked by whites [Music] Gather in the wide Avenues of New York a window seat costs up to a hundred dollars foreign people climb trees to get a better view of the coffin bars and theaters are closed Lincoln's body is laid out in state for two days a steady stream of people moves past the president's coffin in New York photography is strictly forbidden the only picture of the Dead president in the open coffin is taken in secret [Music] photos of Lincoln lookalike circulate they are sold by the hundreds [Music] reports for each Washington that booth and Harold have been cited they have now been on the run for nine days they decide to take shelter in the shack of a freed slave Booth is outraged old gym says we can stay here for a while this Shack is the best you could do put the weapons on the table over there still the boss Herald the failure go and get some food go Booth cannot understand why his fellow Southerners have so suddenly changed their tune more than anything else Lincoln's death appears to have brought the nation together foreign Booth feels increasingly isolated he has nowhere to turn for help after being hunted like a dog through swamps and woods I have ended up here in the depths of despair and for what to do that for which Brutus was once admired [Music] back in Washington Mary Sarat who gave shelter to the conspirators as they hatched their flower has been sentenced to death her daughter Annie begs the new president to show Mercy insisting that her mother is innocent I will come home [Music] she claims that her mother was the victim of her own good heart [Music] the Military Tribunal regards Lincoln's assassination as an act of War a hostile attack by a group of rebels on the commander-in-chief of the United States hundreds of Witnesses are interrogated during the trial the Press have a field day battling for readers with the latest stories and portraying the convicts as monsters yet the leader of the conspirators and Lincoln's assassin remains at Large they have reached a remote tobacco farm Garrett's Farm [Music] [Music] the owners do not realize the identity of who they have taken in Booth's leg is now so badly inflamed that it should be amputated here it said we could sleep here foreign [Music] [Music] tends to go out and find him a doctor the train's coming day and night the funeral train goes to America Buffalo Cleveland Detroit and now Chicago [Music] the city of Chicago wants to outdo New York hundreds of thousands gather never before in American history has a man been showered with so much Glory even if only after his death Panic breaks out when thousands of people strain to touch the coffin as it is pulled through the streets [Music] in Chicago the coffin is opened one last time the funeral director has applied thick layers of chalk and Rouge to Lincoln's face [Music] instead of finding Booth a doctor Harold has ended up in a brothel in Bowling Green he boasts of having assassinated the Yankee president the women are impressed and will later give them away the next morning Harold still hasn't returned my soul my life everything I own belongs to the South for so long I have invested all my energy in fulfilling my goal now I have been so bitterly disappointed Booth decides to change his appearance to make it harder to recognize him I know that I don't have much time left but I'm not going to make it easy for them I can only walk on one leg but I have the brain of 20 men I John Wilkes Booth have earned my ticket to immortality soldiers are on their way to Bowling Green one of the fugitives has allegedly been cited in a brothel at the Washington Navy Yard prison preparations are underway for multiple execution Carpenters are constructing the Gallows from which the conspirators will be hung it will be an historic event carried out in front of the American Press meanwhile the soldiers have secretly followed Harold after being tipped off by the prostitutes the dramatic Chase has reached its Grand Finale [Music] we know you're in there bud come on it's over who do you take me for it doesn't matter anymore it's over there you stay it's over fine leave the rifle keep the damn right you're a cat [Music] I'm coming out I'm unarmed tonight I will direct my own performance Caesar is gone once and for all right Brutus your hour has come new tyrants will make your greatness shine in a new splendor torches fire that will not come out this evening [Music] [Music] [Music] harassment [Music] this way [Music] foreign [Music] Wilkes Booth dies at the very same time of day as his victim did 11 days earlier 7 22. foreign boat carries Booth's body to Washington he is brought to an armored Naval vessel where an autopsy is performed the sailors grow furious at the sight of him and throw his body overboard it is later retrieved and buried in a storage room at the old penitentiary in Washington his captured accomplice David Harold is jailed with the other conspirators at the military prison he too is put on trial his sentence is soon declared death by hanging after 1700 miles and 12 days the Lincoln special is approaching its destination Springfield Illinois an honor guard marches to Lincoln's private home [Music] Lincoln's horse Old Barn is brought along to Bid Farewell to his master foreign Lincoln's wife Mary does not attend her suffering has driven her mad a doctor has declared how unfit to return home for the funeral Lincoln's old companions pose in front of the house for a parting photograph it was four years earlier that the lawyer turned Senator had left Springfield to become president [Music] on May the 3rd 1865 the Lincoln special arrives in Springfield staggering 7 million people have come to view the Martyr president on his final Journey it is the largest turnout ever for a funeral procession at the state capitol in Springfield where Lincoln gave his first great speeches he is laid out one last time he has come home [Music] under a portrait of George Washington the coffin now rests closed forever one by one his friends and colleagues say their last goodbyes the 12-day journey has taken its toll on Lincoln's remains they are no longer presentable on May the 5th 1865 Lincoln is buried next to his son Willie in the family Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery [Music] the only relatives present at the ceremony are his son Roberts and his cousin John Hanks after the heavy doors of the Tomb are closed guards are stationed to keep out the curious and to prevent vandalism by Angry Southerners in Washington Mary sarat's appeal to the new President Johnson has been denied she knows that she will die today and prepares herself she will become the first woman in the history of the United States to be executed at the old prison everything is ready next to the Gallows Graves have already been dug for the conspirators bodies the Military Tribunal reads out the sentences one last time photographer Alexander Gardner readies his camera his photographs will be the first ever of an execution Soldier do your duty yes sir the four conspirators meet their agonizing deaths Mary sarats Lewis Powell George and David Herald an image captured as a warning to all [Music] at the cemetery in Springfield an obelisk is erected in the memory of the assassinated President [Music] foreign Corbett you need to look the hero okay just a little bit more like that there you go okay in Washington Alexander Gardner is again at work in his Studio here we go he's photographing a new hero Boston Corbett the soldier who shot John Wilkes Booth in the burning Barn even months later newspapers print picture stories of booth at the tobacco farm and of the conspirators execution [Music] in the end the actor would achieve the immortality he sought final performance would never be forgotten the first assassination of a president in American history Booth's diary disappears for a long time when it is later found at the war Ministry 18 pages are missing leaving questions where some high-ranking figures involved in the murder was Booth the spearhead of a much larger conspiracy Mary Lincoln would never overcome the death of her husband when her son Tad dies of pneumonia she is sent to a mental hospital and shut away Abraham Lincoln the 16th president of the United States to those who admired him he was known as The Liberator even today his legacy is bright in 1869 four years after his death blacks are allowed to vote for the first time in response a secretive group of white supremacists the Ku Klux Klan emerges to spread Terror among blacks throughout the South it will be more than a hundred years before Lincoln's dream of equal rights for all becomes a reality in 1922 a memorial is erected in his honor in Washington there he sits carved from Marble on a grand throne a sacred place for all those who value freedom [Music] the price we saw is one the [Music] people all exciting [Music] eyes

Channel: Free Documentary - History

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full Documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), History, History Documentaries, Free Documentary History, History Documentary, Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln Documentary, Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, American Civil War, North vs South, Slavery in the United States, Old South, Confederate States of America, CSA, Abe Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln Biography

Id: GgATxed5C-4

Length: 52min 28sec (3148 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 01 2022