The bullet that killed Lincoln

[loetar44]

Yesterday I had a discussion with a friend of mine re. the bullet that Lincoln killed. No, it was not a morbid conversation. It was his opinion that the bullet was never recovered and was buried with Lincoln. It was my opinion that the M.D.s could not probe the bullet and that the bullet actually fell out of the brain while the autopsy doctors removed the president's brain during the autopsy. "Okay", my friend said and his followup question was: “Where is it now?”. I knew it was since a couple of years on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland (like almost every item connected to Lincoln’s life, assassination, death and funeral later found his way into some special collection, like museums, historical societies, government, private collections, and are available for public viewing).

Since my discussion with my friend I’ve two questions:

(1) is it true that the bullet fell out of the brain or was it removed. I found 2 conflicting statements.

---- Assistant Surgeon E. Curtis wrote to his mother: “Not finding it [the bullet] readily, we proceeded to remove the entire brain, when, as I was lifting the latter from the cavity of the skull, suddenly the bullet dropped out through my fingers and fell, breaking the solemn silence of the room with its clatter, into an empty basin that was standing beneath…”.

---- Dr. Robert K. Stone was given permission to conduct the postmortem examination. He wrote: “ … an examination (postmortem) was made in the presence of Surgeon General Barnes, Dr. Curtis and Dr. Woodward of the Army. We traced the wound through the brain, and the ball was found in the anterior part of the same side of the brain, the left side…” Also Dr. Woodward’s official autopsy report states that the bullet was found.

(2) The bullet finally wound up in the hands of the NMH & M in Maryland. But, how came it there? I found the following, but don’t know if this is accurate:

--- Dr. Stone wrote: “I marked the ball ‘A.L.’, the initials of the late President and in presence of the Secretary of War [Stanton], in his office, enclosed it in an envelope, sealed it with my private seal, and indorsed it with my name. The Secretary enclosed it in another envelope, which he endorsed in like manner, and sealed with his private seal. It was left in his custody, and he ordered it to be placed among the archives of his department.”

---- The bullet had been in the Judge Advocate’s Office at the War Department until February 5, 1940, when it was transferred (together with small bone fragments and the probe used to remove the bullet) to the Lincoln Museum (National Park Service).

---- On June 20, 1956 the objects were transferred to the Medical Museum (Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.). Here it was for the first time put on display (so, it is quite possible that many -like my friend- believe that it was buried with Lincoln).

---- Since May 22, 2012 the bullet is on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland.

[Dave Taylor]

Kees,

Without doing research, I can't help you regarding exactly how the bullet was found. I have always heard the story that it fell out of the brain when the brain was removed but I've never done any following up on the validity of that account.

Regarding the movement of the bullet, however, I believe you have it mostly right. I know that the it was in the War Department from 1865 until 1940 when it was transferred to Ford's Theatre (Lincoln Museum). I don't have the exact date of when it was transferred from Ford's to the Army Medical Center, but your date seems a bit late. I don't think it was at Ford's Theatre for that long, but rather was deemed inappropriate to have on display there was was transferred shortly after it was first received in 1940.

Here's a part of an 1891 newspaper article about the assassination relics which discusses the bullet.

   

[loetar44]

Thanks Dave,

From Helen R. Purtle’s article in Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Volume XXXII, No. 1, Jan-Feb 1958 re. “Lincoln memorabilia in the Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology”:

   

Correction: the bullet was moved in September 2011 from the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, and since May 22, 2012 on display.

[Jim Garrett]

Dave is pretty much on the right track. I believe the bullet has bounced (not really) around a bit. It was on Display at Ford's when it was home to the Medical Museum. It was deemed more appropriate to have the bullet with the medical related items from Lincoln's death. Some accounts described it as being made of Britannia metal. It's a simple lead ball, somewhat misshaped now.

[LincolnMan]

Is there any way to reconcile both accounts of finding the bullet in the brain (or falling out of the brain)?

[RJNorton]

Is there any way to reconcile both accounts of finding the bullet in the brain (or falling out of the brain)?

According to p. 270 of Dr. Steers' Blood on the Moon the actual work of the autopsy was performed by Drs. Curtis and Woodward. Possibly this makes Dr. Curtis' description about the bullet clattering into an empty basin more reliable?

[LincolnMan]

Yes, I would like to think so. Maybe what we are seeing are egos in play. The doctors presented their reports/accounts in ways that placed them in the most important way?

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Jim Garrett for sending these images along with the following text:

"Picture of the bullet that killed Lincoln. They also have on display the shirt cuffs from Dr. Curtis' shirt. The Medical Museum also has his other cuff in storage. Of interest, Dr. Curtis' shirt was specifically a military surgeon's shirt. The cuffs are the only known example of any part of the shirt."

[LincolnMan]

Jim: the pictures are amazing. Just seeing that ball sends me into deep contemplation. To think that little piece of metal not only ended Lincoln's life but changed the course of history even to this day. But it wasn't the ball, itself- it was the one responsible for firing the ball...

[Jim Garrett]

Guns are tools. Put in the right hands, they are saviors, put in the wrong hands they can bring utter doom. The early accounts of the ball being made of britannia metal are incorrect. It is a .42 calibre handmade lead ball. The deringer is a .44 calibre, the difference is size is for the piece of cloth or greased paper used to seat the ball

[RJNorton]

It is a .42 calibre handmade lead ball.

Jim, I can't find the current page, but Ford's Theatre used to have a page in which it was claimed the bullet was .44 calibre. Is this incorrect?

Please see the first sentence here. Thanks.

[Jim Garrett]

It is a .42 calibre handmade lead ball.

Jim, I can't find the current page, but Ford's Theatre used to have a page in which it was claimed the bullet was .44 calibre. Is this incorrect?

Please see the first sentence here. Thanks.

I believe that is incorrect. Not that I, have had an opportunity to measure it, but the .42 would make sense with the wadding.

[L Verge]

Wes Harris has done extensive studies on the weapons, etc. He's the expert to clarify this.

[LincolnMan]

Jim: why did Dr. Lattimer conclude the ball being made out of the Brittania metal? Any idea?

[Jim Garrett]

I think that first appeared in some of the early books. If anyone has a copy of "Twenty Days" handy, you might find it in there also.