John Wilkes Booth's last words, uttered shortly before his death, were "Useless, useless." These words were spoken as he lay paralyzed and requested to see his hands.
The Context of His Final Moments
After being shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett in a barn near Port Royal, Virginia, John Wilkes Booth was dragged from the burning structure and laid on the porch of the Garrett farm. Paralyzed from the neck down, he was dying. In his final conscious moments, he reportedly asked to see his hands. Upon looking at them, he made his final, poignant pronouncement.
Here's a breakdown of the sequence of events leading to his final words:
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Circumstance | Shot in the neck, Booth was paralyzed and dying, lying on a porch. |
| Final Request | He requested to see his hands. |
| Last Utterance | Upon seeing his hands, he famously stated, "Useless, useless." |
| Subsequent Awareness | According to sworn testimony from a lieutenant colonel and a provost marshal detective, Booth later heard Willie Jett's name mentioned and spotted him standing nearby. However, no further spoken words are recorded after "Useless, useless," solidifying its status as his widely recognized and reported final utterance. |
Booth's last words reflect the grim reality of his situation—his hands, once tools of his craft and his deed, were now unresponsive and without purpose, mirroring the ultimate failure of his desperate act.
