Twelve days. That’s all it took.
In less than two weeks, the most famous actor in America went from being a household name to a hollowed-out fugitive dying on a porch in Virginia. Honestly, the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth wasn't just a police search; it was the first true national obsession of the modern era. Imagine a country already raw from four years of civil war, suddenly losing its leader to a bullet at Ford's Theatre. People weren't just angry. They were bloodthirsty.
Booth probably thought he’d be greeted as a hero. He really did. In his diary, he wrote about how "posterity would justify" him. But when he finally got his hands on some newspapers while hiding in a pine thicket, he was crushed. The South didn't want him. They saw him as a coward who had ruined their chances at a peaceful reconstruction.
The Escape Out of Washington
The chase started at about 10:15 p.m. on April 14, 1865. Booth jumped from the presidential box, broke his leg (or maybe it happened later when his horse tripped—historians still argue about that one), and vanished into the night. He talked his way across the Navy Yard Bridge by just... giving his real name. The sentry hadn't heard the news yet.
Think about that. The man who just shot the President literally told the guard who he was and walked right out.
He met up with David Herold, a pharmacy clerk who was basically Booth’s "fanboy." Together, they rode into Maryland. Their first stop was Surratt’s Tavern to pick up carbines and whiskey. Then, they hit the home of Dr. Samuel Mudd. Mudd set Booth's leg in the middle of the night, a move that eventually landed the doctor in a prison cell at Fort Jefferson.
🔗 Read more: Nate Silver Trump Approval Rating: Why the 2026 Numbers Look So Different
Hiding in the Pine Thicket
For five days, Booth and Herold were stuck. They were hiding in a dense pine thicket near Bel Alton, Maryland, while Federal troops swarmed the area. It was cold. It was damp. Booth’s leg was starting to rot.
A Confederate agent named Thomas Jones was their only lifeline. He brought them food and, more importantly to Booth, newspapers. This is where the ego took a hit. Booth read that he was being hunted like an animal and that his "glorious" deed was being called a "dark and bloody" crime even in Alabama.
- The Reward: $50,000 for Booth alone.
- The Total Pot: $100,000 (about $1.8 million today).
- The Stakes: Execution for anyone caught helping them.
Crossing the Potomac: A Comedy of Errors
If this weren't so grim, the attempt to get into Virginia would be funny. They tried to row across the Potomac River on the night of April 20. But they got lost in the dark. Instead of hitting Virginia, they rowed in a circle and ended up back in Maryland the next morning.
They finally made it across on April 23. Booth thought he was home free. "I'm safe in glorious old Virginia," he reportedly said. He was wrong.
The Final Showdown at Garrett’s Farm
By April 26, the 16th New York Cavalry had caught up. They tracked the pair to Richard Garrett’s farm near Port Royal. The Garretts didn't even know who they were at first—they just thought they were Confederate soldiers heading home. But the family got suspicious when they saw how nervous the men were and actually locked them in their tobacco barn to make sure they didn't steal the family horses.
💡 You might also like: Weather Forecast Lockport NY: Why Today’s Snow Isn’t Just Hype
When the soldiers surrounded the barn at 2:00 a.m., Herold gave up pretty fast. Booth? Not a chance.
"I will not be taken alive!" he shouted.
The soldiers set the barn on fire to flush him out. Through the cracks in the wood, Sergeant Boston Corbett—a man who had previously castrated himself for religious reasons, to give you an idea of the "vibe" of the pursuers—saw Booth raising a rifle. Corbett fired.
The bullet hit Booth in the neck, almost exactly where he had shot Lincoln.
Useless, Useless
Booth didn't die instantly. He was paralyzed. They dragged him onto the Garretts' porch. As the sun started to rise, he asked someone to hold up his hands so he could see them.
📖 Related: Economics Related News Articles: What the 2026 Headlines Actually Mean for Your Wallet
"Useless, useless," he whispered.
He died around 7:00 a.m.
Why the Manhunt for John Wilkes Booth Still Matters
We are still obsessed with this story because it feels like a movie, but the consequences were very real. The manhunt led to the first execution of a woman by the U.S. federal government (Mary Surratt) and fundamentally changed how we protect presidents.
If you're looking to understand the era better, here's what you should actually do:
- Visit the Surratt House Museum: It’s in Clinton, Maryland. You can see exactly where they picked up the "shooting irons."
- Read the Trial Transcripts: Don't just take a YouTuber's word for it. The National Archives has the records of the military commission. It's wild how much the co-conspirators turned on each other.
- Check out Ford's Theatre: They still have the Deringer pistol and the clothes Booth was wearing.
- Look into the "Booth Survived" Myths: If you like rabbit holes, look up the Finis L. Bates theory. It's almost certainly fake, but it shows how much people didn't want the story to end on that porch.
The manhunt ended the life of a killer, but it sparked a century of conspiracy theories that still haven't fully cooled off.