On this day in history, April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth is killed by Union troops for murdering Lincoln

Union troops hunted down John Wilkes Booth, the Confederate sympathizer who shot President Abe Lincoln, before finding him in a Virginia barn and killing him on this day in history, April 26, 1865.

Booth entered the state box of Ford’s Theatre, according to the National Park Service (NPS) archives — getting past a bodyguard to do so.  Booth was a Maryland native and a supporter of the Confederacy.  Booth managed to escape from the theater through a side exit.  More than 1,000 Union soldiers were searching for Booth and Herold.  On May 4, 1865, Lincoln was laid to rest in Springfield, Illinois.  Erica Lamberg is a contributing writer for Fox News Digital.

"It was then that John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head with a .44 derringer pistol during a performance of the play ‘Our American Cousin,’" the site says.