Backstage At The Lincoln Assassination

[Tom Bogar]

My source for that was an interview with John T. Ford in 1890, in which he said, "At my home is the picture of George Washington that hung outside the private box which Lincoln occupied and it was the frame of the picture which caught Booth's spurs, causing him to fall and break his leg. The frame still bears the impress of the spur." Numerous other accounts, of course, have the regimental bunting catching the spur(s), and two have Booth stomping to free his foot from pieces of that. I tended to give credence to Ford, yet concluded (to play it safe) that it was best to mention both obstructions.