what was abe lincoln shot with?
Firearm
contradiction
 Lincoln wants to shoot Mahone in revenge for killing his father , but Whistler escapes from Lincoln 's custody and Lincoln is forced to chase him . Mahone takes advantage of the situation and flees , eventually making his way to a bar . 

entailment
 Of the conspirators , only Booth was completely successful in carrying out his part of the plot : Booth shot Lincoln once in the back of the head , and the President died the next morning . Seward was severely wounded but recovered . Vice @-@ President Johnson was never attacked at all . 

entailment
 Lincoln 's bodyguard , John Parker , left Ford 's Theater during intermission to drink at the saloon next door . The now unguarded President sat in his state box in the balcony . Seizing the opportunity , Booth crept up from behind and at about 10 : 13 pm , aimed at the back of Lincoln 's head and fired at point @-@ blank range , mortally wounding the President . Major Henry Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth , but Booth stabbed him and escaped . 

entailment
 John Wilkes Booth had originally planned to kidnap Lincoln , and recruited conspirators , including Lewis Powell . Having found no opportunity to abduct the president , on April 14 , 1865 , Booth assigned Powell to assassinate Seward , with George Atzerodt to kill Vice President Johnson and himself to kill Lincoln , which would slay the three senior members of the Executive Branch . Accordingly , another member of the conspiracy , David Herold , led Powell to the Seward home on horseback and was responsible for holding Powell 's horse while he committed the attack . Seward had been hurt in an accident some days before , and Powell gained entry to the home on the excuse he was delivering medicine to the injured man , but was stopped at the top of the stairs by Frederick Seward , who insisted Powell give him the medicine . Powell instead attempted to fire on Frederick , and beat him over the head with the barrel of his gun when it misfired . Powell burst through the door , threw Fanny Seward ( the secretary 's daughter ) to one side , and jumped on the bed , and stabbed William Seward in the face and neck five times . A soldier assigned to guard and nurse the secretary , Private George F. Robinson , jumped on Powell , forcing him from the bed . Powell fled , stabbing a messenger , Emerick Hansell , as he went , to find that Herold , panicked by the screams from the house , had left with both horses . Seward was at first thought dead , but revived enough to instruct Robinson to send for the police and lock the house until they arrived . 

entailment
 Doctor Charles Leale , an Army surgeon , found the President unresponsive , barely breathing and with no detectable pulse . Having determined that the President had been shot in the head , and not stabbed in the shoulder as originally thought , he made an attempt to clear the blood clot , after which the President began to breathe more naturally . The dying President was taken across the street to Petersen House . After remaining in a coma for nine hours , Lincoln died at 7 : 22 am on April 15 . Secretary of War Stanton saluted and said , " Now he belongs to the ages . " 
