Lincoln’s First Responder

Monday [was] the 160^th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The story of it is a familiar one, portrayed in movies and many books. But always overlooked is the role played by the first physician to attend to the wounded president: Charles Augustus Leale, who was all of 23 years old.

Dr. Leale was born in New York City on March 26, 1842, the son of Captain William P. and Anna Maria Burr Leale. He was a grandson of Captain Richard Burr, who, in 1746 sent a cargo of corn to famine-stricken Ireland. Leale began his medical studies at 18 in diseases of the heart and lungs and then in gunshot wounds and surgery. He also studied at various clinics and served a full term as a medical cadet in the United States Army.

In April 1865, about six weeks after graduating from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York, Dr. Leale had charge of the Wounded Commissioned Officers’ Ward at the Army General Hospital in Armory Square, Washington D.C. A few days before President Lincoln’s assassination, Leale saw Lincoln give his last public address and was intrigued by Lincoln’s facial features. Soon after, learning that Lincoln was going to Ford’s Theatre to see the play Our American Cousin, Leale attended as well – not to see the play, but to study Lincoln’s face and expressions. He arrived late and was unable to get a seat with an unhindered view of the president, so instead he sat near the front about 40 feet away.

After John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, Leale rushed to the stricken president’s box where he briefly examined Henry Rathbone, whom Booth had stabbed in the arm. He then saw Lincoln slumped in his armchair supported by Mary Todd Lincoln. The president was unresponsive, barely breathing, with no detectable pulse. Initially thinking Lincoln too had been stabbed, Leale laid him on the floor and with the assistance of a bystander, William Kent, cut off Lincoln’s collar and opened his coat and shirt in search of stab wounds.

After realizing that Lincoln’s eyes were dilated, Leale found the bullet wound at the back of the head. Leale was unable to locate the bullet, which was deep in Lincoln’s head, but after he dislodged a blood clot Lincoln’s breathing improved. He also gave artificial respiration. However, Leale knew from the beginning what would happen, and pronounced his assessment that Lincoln’s wound was mortal. By this time other surgeons from the audience had arrived as well as actress Laura Keene, who cradled Lincoln’s bloody head.

Fearing that the president would not survive a carriage ride back to the White House, Leale ordered that Lincoln be moved to someplace nearby. He, along with two doctors and four soldiers, picked Lincoln up and slowly took him across to the Petersen House, where Leale and the others laid Lincoln diagonally on the small bed in a room rented by William Clark.

After clearing everyone out, they searched for other wounds by removing all of Lincoln’s clothes. When they realized that Lincoln’s body was cold, they applied hot water bottles, mustard plasters, and blankets. At this point other physicians took charge of Lincoln’s care, but Leale kept hold of Lincoln’s hand throughout the night “to let him know that he was in touch with humanity and had a friend.” Lincoln remained comatose until he died at 7:22 the next morning, April 15, 1865. For his efforts, Leale was allowed to participate in various capacities during Lincoln’s funeral.

Although Leale submitted a report in 1867 to Representative Benjamin F. Butler’s House commission investigating the assassination, his account of Lincoln’s death was not publicly revealed until the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth in 1909. In that year Leale spoke on “Lincoln’s Last Hour” to the New York chapter of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Leale’s report that had been written within hours of Lincoln’s death and submitted to the Surgeon General of the U.S. was thought lost until 2008, when a 22-page photocopy was found in the Georgetown University library and published. A second copy was found in the National Archives in June 2012.

After the president’s funeral, Leale went to Europe, where he studied the Asiatic Cholera. On September 3, 1867, he married Rebecca Medwin Copcutt, a daughter of Yonkers industrialist John Copcutt. Until his retirement in 1928, Leale maintained interests in philanthropic, medical, and scientific projects. Upon his death at age 90 in 1932, Leale was one of the last surviving attendees of Lincoln’s assassination.

The cuff of the shirt that Leale wore the night of the assassination, stained with Lincoln’s blood, was later donated by a granddaughter to the National Museum of American History.

Originally published on Tom Clavin’s The Overlook.