Henry Rathbone | |
|---|---|
 1865 Mathew Brady photograph of Rathbone | |
| Birth name | Henry Reed Rathbone |
| Born | July 1, 1837 Albany, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 14, 1911 (aged 74) Hildesheim, Prussia, Germany |
| Buried | Stadtfriedhof Engesohde (disinterred in 1952) |
| Allegiance |  United States (Union) |
| Service/ |  U.S. Army (Union Army) |
| Years of service | 1861–1870 |
| Rank |  Brevet colonel |
| Unit | 12th U.S. Infantry |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | Henry Riggs Rathbone Gerald Lawrence Rathbone Clara Pauline Rathbone |
| Relations | Ira Harris (stepfather and father-in-law) |
| Other work | Attorney |
Henry Reed Rathbone (July 1, 1837 – August 14, 1911) was a United States military officer and lawyer who was present at the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Rathbone was sitting by Lincoln when the president was fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre; when Rathbone attempted to prevent Booth from fleeing, Booth stabbed and seriously wounded him. Rathbone's mental state deteriorated after the assassination, and in 1883, he fatally shot his wife, Clara Harris, in a fit of madness, later being declared insane by doctors and living the rest of his life in a lunatic asylum.
Henry Rathbone was born in Albany, New York, one of four children of Jared L. Rathbone, a merchant and wealthy businessman who later became the first elected Mayor of Albany, and Pauline Rathbone (née Penney).[1] Upon his father's death in 1845, Rathbone inherited $200,000 (the equivalent of $6,300,000 in 2022).[citation needed] His widowed mother married Ira Harris in 1848. Harris would later be appointed U.S. Senator from New York after William H. Seward became Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State in 1861.
As a result of the marriage, Ira Harris became Rathbone's stepfather. Harris was a widower with four children of his own,[2][3] including a daughter named Clara, who became Rathbone's stepsister when the two were approximately ages 11 and 14.[4][5] Despite being step-siblings, they formed a close friendship and later fell in love, becoming engaged shortly before the American Civil War.[6] The couple married on July 11, 1867, and had three children: Henry Riggs (born February 12, 1870), who later became a U.S. Congressman; Gerald Lawrence (born August 26, 1871); and Clara Pauline (born September 15, 1872).[7]
Rathbone studied law at Union College, where he was known to miss many classes, and worked in a law partnership in Albany.[citation needed] In 1858, he entered the New York National Guard, where he worked as a judge advocate.[citation needed] Shortly after this, he was selected to be sent to Europe as an observer during the Second Italian War for Independence.[citation needed] He entered the Union Army at the start of the American Civil War[8] and served as a captain in the 12th Infantry Regiment at the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg.[9] In 1863, he was pulled from frontline duty and given a desk job. By the war's end, he had attained the rank of major. When he resigned from the military in 1870, Rathbone had risen to the rank of brevet colonel.[10]
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Main article: Abraham Lincoln assassination |
On April 14, 1865, Rathbone and Harris accepted an invitation from President Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, to see a play at Ford's Theatre. Rathbone and Harris had been friends with the president and his wife for some time and were invited after Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia, and several others had declined the invitation.[11]
During the play, at about 10:14 pm, noted stage actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and fatally shot Lincoln in the head with a pistol. As Rathbone attempted to apprehend Booth, Booth slashed Rathbone's left arm with a dagger from the elbow to his shoulder. Rathbone later recalled that he was horrified at the anger on Booth's face.[12][13][14] Rathbone again grabbed at Booth as Booth prepared to jump from the sill of the box. He grabbed onto Booth's coat, causing Booth to fall awkwardly to the stage, perhaps breaking his leg, though some conspiracy theorists said that the injury did not occur until later. Booth nonetheless escaped and remained at large for twelve days.[15][16]
Despite his serious wound, Rathbone escorted Mary Lincoln to the Petersen House across the street, where the president had been taken.[17]
Shortly thereafter, he passed out due to blood loss.[18] Harris arrived soon after and held Rathbone's head in her lap while he lay semiconscious. When surgeon Charles Leale, who had been attending Lincoln, finally examined Rathbone, it was realized that his wound was more serious than initially thought. Booth had cut him nearly to the bone and severed an artery. Rathbone was taken home while Harris remained with Mary Lincoln as the president lay dying over the next eight hours.[19]
Although Rathbone's physical wounds healed, his mental state deteriorated in the years following Lincoln's death as he anguished over his perceived inability to thwart the assassination.[20]
After his resignation from the military in 1870, Rathbone struggled to find and keep a job due to his mental instability. He became convinced that Harris was unfaithful and resented the attention she paid their children. He reportedly threatened her on several occasions after suspecting that she was going to divorce him and take the children.[14] During this time, he made multiple unsuccessful attempts to obtain a position as a United States consul.[21]
Rathbone and his family relocated to Germany, where his mental health continued to decline.[22] On December 23, 1883, he attacked his children in a fit of madness. He fatally shot and stabbed his wife, who was attempting to protect the children. He stabbed himself five times in the chest in an attempted suicide.[23] He was charged with murder, but was declared insane by doctors after he blamed the murder on an intruder. He was convicted and committed to an asylum for the criminally insane in Hildesheim, Germany. The couple's children were sent to live with their uncle, William Harris, in the United States.[14]
Rathbone spent the rest of his life in the asylum. He died on August 14, 1911, and was buried next to his wife at the Stadtfriedhof Engesohde cemetery in Hanover, Germany.[14][24]
On film and television Rathbone has been portrayed by:
His experience at the Lincoln Assassination and the murder of Clara Harris, are covered in the non-fiction book Worst Seat in the House: Henry Rathbone's Front Row View of the Lincoln Assassination by Caleb Stephens.[21] Rathbone and Harris are also the subjects of Henry and Clara (1994, published by Ticknor & Fields), a historical fiction novel by Thomas Mallon.[25]
