I was surprised to learn of the actual bullet path that killed Lincoln. I always thought the entry wound was just behind the left ear and lodged behind the right eye but it appears from the autopsy that the entry was more in the back of the head, slightly to the left, and lodged itself into the left frontal lobe of the brain above the left eye --

"The ball entered through the occipital bone about one inch to the left of the median line and just above the left lateral sinus, which it opened. It then penetrated the dura matter, passed through the left posterior lobe of the cerebrum, entered the left lateral ventricle and lodged in the white matter of the cerebrum just above the anterior portion of the left corpus striatum, where it was found."

The diagram below is very helpful.

Hi Bill. This has always been a confusing topic. The books I have read are not in agreement. In The Lincoln Assassination Encyclopedia Dr. Steers writes:


Dr. Frank Scalli's "personal speculation on the path of the bullet" is here.

In Dr. Lattimer's book the author writes that Drs. Woodward and Curtis said left eye, and Drs. Barnes and Taft said right eye. (In another description Taft contradicted himself and said left eye.)

Dr. Lattimer includes this diagram:


Dr. John Sotos, author of The Physical Lincoln, writes, "The bullet from the assassin's gun entered behind the left ear and lodged behind the right eye."

Help!

I'm very surprised that such an important event as the President's autopsy wasn't documented with more detail. Roger - remember we discussed the Booth autopsy reports a while back? If I'm not getting lost in the medical jargon, Dr. Barnes had the ball exitting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exitting on the left.

I would think that Dr Woodward's auopsy report, apparently transcribed shortly after he personally preformed the autopsy, would be the most accurate. The later recollections of other surgeon's present but not preforming the autopsy would have to be weighed appropriately against that report.

I disagree with Dr Steer's that the bullet would have certainly crossed the midline given Lincoln's presumed position at the time the shot was fired.

If Booth is directly behind Lincoln and firing the pistol from his right hand while Lincoln looks leftward and downward, the bullet path could very easily and, IMO, most likely be as described by Dr. Woodward.

I'm going to move my questions about the Booth autopsy to another thread. I don't want to make a mess here and confuse the two reports (Booth & Lincoln). Bill - I would appreciate your input and Blaine's. Thanks and sorry for the confusion.

James P. Ferguson said, "At the moment the President was shot, he was leaning his hand on the railing, looking down at a person in the orchestra..." Were there other eyewitnesses who backed up Ferguson's description of Lincoln's position?

(08-19-2013 04:38 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  James P. Ferguson said, "At the moment the President was shot, he was leaning his hand on the railing, looking down at a person in the orchestra..." Were there other eyewitnesses who backed up Ferguson's description of Lincoln's position?

It makes the most sense to me that he was looking down and to the left.

If Booth enters from the doorway to Box 8, steps directly behind the president and fires with the gun in his right hand; Lincoln's head has to be slightly looking left for the entry wound to be an inch to the left of the midline. Also the course of the bullet's path is traveling from the lower back of Lincoln's head (below his ear) cephalad (toward the top of his head) into the frontal lobe of Lincoln's brain. He had to be looking downward for this trajectory because it is unlikely Booth was aiming the gun barrel with an upward tilt while also aiming so low relative to Lincoln's ear. Remember, Booth is standing and Lincoln is sitting so, if Lincoln is upright, the bullet would have entered higher (above the ear) and traveled slightly downward (assuming Booth is firing the gun in a more natural position).

If Booth entered from Box 7 it makes more sense that the bullet crossed the midline and lodged behind Lincoln's right eye. But, in my opinion, he entered from Box 8 and shot from the right side of Lincoln with Lincoln in the position Ferguson described for the bullet path as described by Dr. Woodward.

Another interesting tidbit from Dr. Woodward's autopsy--

" Both the orbital plates of the frontal bone were fractured and the fragments pushed upwards toward the brain. The dura matter over these fractures was uninjured. The orbits were gorged with blood."

That implies that Lincoln's face hit the ledge of the box which fractured his frontal bones around both eyes with the bone fragments pushing inward toward Lincoln's brain. Again this makes sense if he was leaning forward toward the ledge of the box when the force of the bullet pushed it further into the ledge. This is consistent with his right eye taking more force than the left and the observations that his right eye suffered some trauma from the gunshot.

Couldn't the force of the shot and the sudden rise in pressure in his head also shatter the orbital plates? There's a good photo of this type of injury in Twenty Days.

I don't remember anyone ever mentioning the very plausible idea that Lincoln's head pitched forward at the moment of impact and hit the box's railing. Good point to consider.

(08-19-2013 07:34 AM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Couldn't the force of the shot and the sudden rise in pressure in his head also shatter the orbital plates? There's a good photo of this type of injury in Twenty Days.

I'm not familiar enough woth that type of imjury. i would like to see the entry in 21 Days. Perhaps it was from the shockwave of the bullet or some type of repercussion. The fact the Dr. Woodward points out that the orbital plates were fractured and pushed upward toward the brain implies an upward force from the front as though Lincoln's brow hit the railing as his head was forced forward by the momentum of the bullet. But I am just speculating without direct knowledge of the typical pathology of gunshots to the head.

I scanned this image from Twenty Days. The caption reads, "This shattered skull of a soldier who died at Bull Run shows what the autopsy found had happened to Lincoln's skull. The bullet struck this soldier in the side of his head, yet big cracks appear across the forehead. The President was struck in the back of his head, yet the orbital plates of both eye sockets has been cracked by 'contre-coup,' or transmitted force, the phenomenon which causes breakage at points opposite the point of impact. The description of the Bull Run soldier's skull appears just above Lincoln's case history in the official record 'The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion,' in a discussion of 'cases of alleged fracture by contre-coup after gunshot injury of the skull'."

I'm at work, but I'll check when I get home. I believe it stated it was a common occurrance in battlefield fatalities when the shot entered the rear of the head. I believe they stated it was due to a sudden surge of pressure in the brain.

I've never heard Lincoln's head hit the rail.

---

That's the one I was thinking of Roger. Thanks.

(08-19-2013 08:21 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I don't remember anyone ever mentioning the very plausible idea that Lincoln's head pitched forward at the moment of impact and hit the box's railing. Good point to consider.

I recall from the Kennedy shooting that the head naturally goes backward after being hit by a bullet from the rear not forward.

I never heard of Lincoln's head hitting the rail either. Don't think one can draw that conclusion simply because his hand was on the rail. He had a very long arm.

Maybe Lincoln heard Booth opening the door and started to turn his head to see what was up???

I, too never heard that Lincoln's head hit the railing or any other obstruction. I have read that his head was slightly turned as if he were suddenly aware that someone had entered the box.

Roger - as far as I've read I think you are correct in assuming via Twenty Days that his eye sockets and sinuses were shattered by the force of the gunshot.