Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The morning sun crept over the horizon on April 26, 1865, as Sergeant Boston Corbett leveled his rifle, fired, and forever altered American history. Corbett and his fellow soldiers had spent days tracking John Wilkes Booth, the man who killed President Lincoln, through the woods and towns of northern Virginia.
Finally, they cornered Booth and his accomplice, David Harold, in a barn. With strict orders not to fire, they waited in tense silence as Harold surrendered without resistance.
But Booth never surrendered. As soon as he turned, Corbett’s bullet struck him in the neck, paralyzing him. Booth died hours later, unable to stand trial with his co-conspirators. But Booth wasn’t the only missing piece at that trial—his diary, a key piece of evidence, had vanished.
Booth’s diary wasn’t truly lost. It was recovered during the hunt and handed over to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who locked it in his personal safe, claiming it was for protection. Yet Stanton kept the diary a secret, withholding it even during the conspirators’ trial.
When he finally presented it two years later, during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the diary was incomplete. Several pages had been ripped out. As the years passed, historians grew suspicious. Who removed those pages, and what did they contain...?
The morning sun crept over the horizon on April 26, 1865, as Sergeant Boston Corbett leveled his rifle, fired, and forever altered American history. Corbett and his fellow soldiers had spent days tracking John Wilkes Booth, the man who killed President Lincoln, through the woods and towns of northern Virginia.
Finally, they cornered Booth and his accomplice, David Harold, in a barn. With strict orders not to fire, they waited in tense silence as Harold surrendered without resistance.
But Booth never surrendered. As soon as he turned, Corbett’s bullet struck him in the neck, paralyzing him. Booth died hours later, unable to stand trial with his co-conspirators. But Booth wasn’t the only missing piece at that trial—his diary, a key piece of evidence, had vanished.
Booth’s diary wasn’t truly lost. It was recovered during the hunt and handed over to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who locked it in his personal safe, claiming it was for protection. Yet Stanton kept the diary a secret, withholding it even during the conspirators’ trial.
When he finally presented it two years later, during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the diary was incomplete. Several pages had been ripped out. As the years passed, historians grew suspicious. Who removed those pages, and what did they contain...?
