{"id":9,"date":"2013-02-15T15:39:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T20:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=9"},"modified":"2024-09-08T11:34:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-08T15:34:39","slug":"how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/","title":{"rendered":"How a flag snagged an assassin"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ongoing sesquicentennial of the Civil War is leading, inexorably, to the 150th<\/sup> anniversary of the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, who died within days of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Virginia.<\/p>\n

Flags played a role at both the beginning of the war and in the death of Lincoln. In May 1861, one of his closest friends, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, was dispatched to tear down a Confederate flag<\/a> that was flying from the rooftop of a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Because the flag could be seen from the White House, it was considered especially defiant.<\/p>\n

\"Death<\/a>
Death of Ellsworth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ellsworth succeeded in bringing down the banner but was killed as he descended a staircase with the flag in his hands. The president ordered that his friend\u2019s body lie in state<\/a> in the White House.<\/p>\n

\"Booth<\/a>Four years later, on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in Ford\u2019s Theater. Booth\u2019s escape was hampered as he leapt from the box in which the president sat and caught his spur on a draped flag. Landing clumsily on the stage, Booth broke his fibula. The injury slowed his race southward, and he was later killed by federal troops.<\/p>\n

Dr. Charles Leale, the first physician to reach the dying Lincoln, wrote about being in the theater and hearing the gunshot. \u201cA man of low stature with black hair and eyes was seen leaping to the stage beneath, holding in his hand a drawn dagger,\u201d Leale said. \u201cWhile descending, his heel got entangled in the American flag<\/a>, which was hung in front of the box, causing him to stumble when he struck the stage\u2026.I then heard cries that the \u2018President had been murdered.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Booth's<\/a>
Booth’s leap to the stage after shooting Lincoln<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some historians have disputed that Booth\u2019s leg was injured in his leap. In his 2004 biography of Booth, \u201cAmerican Brutus,\u201d Michael W. Kaufmann speculates that the assassin\u2019s injury actually occurred during his escape, when \u201chis horse tripped and rolled over on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sometimes, however, history prefers symmetry, in this case, the symmetry of Ellsworth\u2019s death while tearing down the enemy\u2019s banner and Lincoln\u2019s assassin being tripped up by a flag that represented the reunited nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ongoing sesquicentennial of the Civil War is leading, inexorably, to the 150th anniversary of the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, who died within days of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, Virginia. Flags played a role at both the beginning of the war and in the death of Lincoln. In… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,7,8,4,3,6],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american","tag-assasination","tag-ellsworth","tag-flag","tag-history","tag-lincoln"],"yoast_head":"\nHow A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-15T20:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-08T15:34:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth-224x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Breig\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/\",\"name\":\"How A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth-224x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-15T20:39:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-08T15:34:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\"},\"description\":\"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth.jpg\",\"width\":\"448\",\"height\":\"600\",\"caption\":\"Death of Ellsworth\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How a flag snagged an assassin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a\",\"name\":\"James Breig\",\"description\":\"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \\\"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\\\" and co-author of \\\"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\\\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer","description":"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer","og_description":"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/","og_site_name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","article_published_time":"2013-02-15T20:39:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-08T15:34:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth-224x300.jpg"}],"author":"James Breig","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Breig","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/","name":"How A Flag Snagged an Assassin: A Flag's Role in Catching Lincoln's Killer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth-224x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-02-15T20:39:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-08T15:34:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a"},"description":"Find out how an American flag may have played a part in John Wilkes Booth capture following his assassination of President Lincoln.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Death-of-Ellsworth.jpg","width":"448","height":"600","caption":"Death of Ellsworth"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/how-a-flag-snagged-an-assassin\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How a flag snagged an assassin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/","name":"Gettysburg Flag Works Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/048662cff3dee1c17360c4683b5fe03a","name":"James Breig","description":"James Breig is a veteran author who specializes in history. His most recent book is \u201cStar-Spangled Baseball: True Tales of Flags and Fields\u201d about the links between the sport and flags. He is also the author of a nonfiction book about WWII, \"Searching for Sgt. Bailey: Saluting an Ordinary Soldier of World War II\" and co-author of \"The Mystery of the Multiple Mothers,\" a novel. All three are available at www.amazon.com. His articles have appeared in newspapers and national magazines, including the Colonial Williamsburg Journal (search for them at www.history.org\/journal) and History Magazine. He has won many national awards for his opinion writing, media columns and feature articles.","url":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5155,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions\/5155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}