I Recognized Him as John Wilkes Booth: An Actor Recalls the Lincoln Assassination

It is rarething that an actor becomes a witness to an event that changed the course of anation’s life, but on the evening of April 14, 1865, Philadelphia-born actorHarry Hawk had the stage to himself at Ford’s Theater, until President Lincoln’sassassin fell upon the stage and brandished a knife.

"I was playing Asa Trenchard in Our American Cousin;the “old lady” of the theater had just gone off the stage and I was answeringher exit speech when I heard the fatal shot fired,” Hawk wrote to his fathershortly afterwards. “I turned, looked up to the President’s box, and heard aman exclaim, “Sic semper tyrannis!” I saw him jump from the box, seize the flagon the staff and drop to the stage. He slipped when he gained the stage but gotupon his feet in a moment and brandished a large knife saying, “The South shallbe free!” He turned his face in the direction I stood and I recognized him asJohn Wilkes Booth. He ran towards me and I, seeing the knife, thought I was theone he was after so I ran off the stage up a flight of stairs. He made hisescape out of the door in the rear of the theater, mounted a horse, and rodeoff.”

Hawk, who had seen Booth earlier in the day on the steps ofFord’s Theater, gave his testimony to the police but within a few days was onthe road again with Laura Keene’s theater company, next stop Cincinnati, Ohio.His letter, sent to his father William J. Hawk in Chicago, first ran in the ChicagoJournal but was picked up and reprinted in numerous newspapers.

 

Harry Hawk was standing upon this stage addressing the audience when he heard the shot from Booth's Derringer pistol and saw Booth land upon the stage brandishing a dagger. "He turned his face in the direction I stood and I recognized him as John Wilkes Booth," Hawk said. 

Washington,D.C.

April 16,1865

Dear father,

          This is the first opportunity I havehad to write you since the assassination of our dear President on Friday nightas I have been in custody nearly ever since.

I was one of the principal witnesses of that sad affair, beingthe only one on stage at the time of the fatal shot. On that night, the playwas going off so well. In fact, it was one laugh from the time the curtain wentup until it fell, and to think of the sorrowful ending. Mr. and Mrs. Lincolnenjoyed it so much. She was laughing at my speech when the fatal shot wasfired. I was playing Asa Trenchard in Our American Cousin; the “old lady”of the theater had just gone off the stage and I was answering her exit speechwhen I heard the fatal shot fired.

I turned, looked up to the President’s box, and heard a manexclaim, “Sic semper tyrannis!” I saw him jump from the box, seize the flag onthe staff and drop to the stage. He slipped when he gained the stage but gotupon his feet in a moment and brandished a large knife saying, “The South shallbe free!” He turned his face in the direction I stood and I recognized him asJohn Wilkes Booth. He ran towards me and I, seeing the knife, thought I was theone he was after so I ran off the stage up a flight of stairs. He made hisescape out of the door in the rear of the theater, mounted a horse, and rodeoff.

 

“Whenthe pistol shot was heard in the second box on the right-hand stage of Ford’sTheater, persons in the theater imagined that it was part of the play, hencethe confusion of the audience. Meantime, the assassin appeared on the edge ofbox crying “Sic semper tyrannis” and flourishing a dagger, leaped to the stage.He crossed the stage rapidly exclaiming “revenge” and “I have done it!” Allstarted to their feet and there being cries that the President was shot, thefirst intimation of danger was a call for a surgeon.” ~Daily NationalIntelligencer and Washington Express, April 15, 1865

The above all occurred in the space of a quarter of a minuteand at the time I did not know that the President was shot, although if I hadtried to stop Booth he would have stabbed me. I am now under $1,000 bail toappear as a witness when Booth is tried if caught. You may imagine theexcitement in the theater (which was crowded) with cries of “hang him!” and “whowas he?” from everyone present.

William Henry "Harry" Hawk

About 15 minutes after the occurrence, the President wascarried out across the street. I was requested to walk down to the police headquartersand give my evidence. They then put me under $1,000 bond to appear at 10 o’clockthe next morning. I then walked about for some time as the city was wild withexcitement and then I went to bed. At 3:30 a.m., I was called upon by an aideof the President and asked to go the home where he was lying to give anotherstatement to Judge Carter, Secretary [of War] Stanton, and other high officialsassembled there. I did so and went to bed again.

It was the saddest thing I ever knew. The city only the nightbefore was illuminated and everybody was so happy. Now it is all sadness;everybody looks gloomy and sad. It is an episode in my life that I shall neverforget. Enclosed is a piece of fringe of the flag the President was holdingwhen he was shot.

Sources:

Letter from WilliamHenry “Harry” Hawk, Waukegan Weekly Gazette (Illinois), April 29, 1865,pg. 2

“Thepresident was received with great furor,” Daily National Intelligencer andWashington Express (District of Columbia), April 15, 1865, pg. 2