Edward P . Doherty Edward Paul Doherty ( 1840 – April 3 , 1897 ) was an American Civil War officer who formed and led the detachment of soldiers that captured and killed John Wilkes Booth , the assassin of United States President Abraham Lincoln , in a Virginia barn on April 26 , 1865 , twelve days after Lincoln was fatally shot . Early life and service in the American Civil War . Born in 1840 in Canada , Doherty came to New York in 1860 where he was living when the American Civil War broke out . He enlisted in a 90 - day militia unit and was assigned as a Private to Company A of the 71st New York Volunteers on April 20 , 1861 . Assigned to Colonel Ambrose Burnside ' s 2nd Brigade of Brigadier General David Hunter ' s 2nd Division , he was captured by the Confederates during the First Battle of Bull Run , the first major land battle of the American Civil War , fought on July 21 , 1861 , near Manassas , Virginia . While a prisoner , he made a daring escape . Ultimately , the 71st Regiment , along with Doherty , mustered out on August 9 , 1861 . Doherty went on to become a Captain in the Corcoran Legion , formed by fellow prisoner at the First Battle of Bull Run , Irish - American General Michael Corcoran , who was a close confident of Abraham Lincoln . Doherty served for two years , before being appointed First Lieutenant in the 16th New York Cavalry on September 12 , 1863 . The regiment was assigned to the defense of Washington , D . C . for the duration of the war , where Doherty distinguished himself as an officer . Pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth . On April 24 , 1865 , 10 days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , Doherty was sitting with a fellow officer of his regiment on a park bench opposite the White House , when he received orders from a messenger to assemble a detachment of twenty - five men and report to Colonel Lafayette C . Baker , Agent of the Department of War . He and his men were to hunt down John Wilkes Booth and any co - conspirators . Two days later , the men of the 16th Regiment , accompanied by two detectives of the intelligence service , Luther Baker , cousin of Lafayette C . Baker , and Everton J . Conger , caught up with Booth and his accomplice David E . Herold in a tobacco barn near Port Royal , Virginia owned by Richard H . Garrett . With the barn surrounded , Doherty called upon Booth to surrender , but he refused and threatened to shoot anyone who entered . His accomplice relented and as he surrendered to Doherty , Sergeant Boston Corbett fatally shot Booth in the neck through a crack in the side of the barn , as the assassin had been aiming to fire at either Doherty or Herold . Doherty and the men of his regiment returned to Washington , D . C . on April 27 , 1865 with Booth ' s body . Military career after Abraham Lincoln ' s assassination . For his service in the capture of Lincoln ' s assassin , Doherty was promoted to Captain and given a US $ 5 , 250 reward , while remaining in the cavalry . The 16th New York Cavalry was merged with the 13th New York Cavalry forming the 3rd Regiment New York Provisional Cavalry on June 23 , 1865 , which was then mustered out on September 21 , 1865 . Seven months later , Doherty joined the regular cavalry and was assigned to the 5th Regular Cavalry as a Second Lieutenant on April 19 , 1866 . He was promoted to First Lieutenant on March 1 , 1867 in the 1st Cavalry and remained in the regular army until mustering out on December 27 , 1870 . During his last years in the military , he served some time under General George Meade as Inspector General of the Department of Georgia , which had been created by the military in 1865 as part of the Third Military District during the post - war Reconstruction period . Post - military life and death . In 1871 , after resigning from the United States Army , Doherty went into business in New Orleans . Having returned to New York City in 1886 , he was appointed Inspector of Street Pavings , a position which he held from 1888 until his death on the morning of April 3 , 1897 . He was Past Commander of Veteran Post Number 436 , G . A . R . ; as well as a member of the 71st Regiment Veterans and also of the Press Veterans . He served twice as Grand Marshal in Memorial Day celebrations . Doherty succumbed to heart disease , dying in his home at 533 West 144th Street , the funeral was held on April 5 , 1897 at the Church of St . Charles Boromeo church , then located at 132nd Street and Seventh Avenue . He is buried in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery in Washington , D . C . . His tombstone reads : " Commanded detachment of 16th N . Y . Cavalry which captured President Lincoln ' s assassin April 26 , 1865 . "