John Wilkes Booth suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, an injury that led to his immediate paralysis and subsequent death.
The Fatal Neck Wound
During his capture by Union soldiers, John Wilkes Booth was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett. The bullet struck Booth in the neck, causing a severe injury that immediately paralyzed him. This critical wound was the direct cause of the assassin's demise.
Consequences of the Injury
The injury to Booth's neck had several immediate and fatal consequences:
- Paralysis: Upon impact, the bullet rendered Booth completely paralyzed, leaving him unable to move.
- Imminent Death: Due to the severity of the neck wound, Booth succumbed to his injury within a few hours. He died in the early morning of April 26, 1865, just before sunrise.
This single gunshot wound was the only significant injury Booth sustained that directly led to his death.
