Charles Augustus Leale (March 26, 1842 – June 13, 1932) was a surgeon in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the first doctor to arrive at the presidential box at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865 after John Wilkes Booth fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln in the head. His prompt treatment allowed Lincoln to live until the next morning. Leale continued to serve in the army until 1866, after which he returned to his home town of New York City where he established a successful private practice and became involved in charitable medical care. One of the last surviving witnesses to Lincoln's death, Leale died in 1932 at the age of 90. Early life Dr. Leale was born in New York City March 26, 1842, the son of Captain William P. and Anna Maria Burr Leale. He was a grandson of Captain Richard Burr, who, in 1746 sent a cargo of corn to famine-stricken Ireland. Leale began his medical studies at 18, the private pupil of Dr. Austin Flint, Sr., in diseases of the heart and lungs, and of Dr. Frank H. Hamilton in gunshot wounds and surgery. He also studied at various clinics and served a full term as medical cadet in the United States Army. Assassination of Lincoln In April 1865, about six weeks after graduating from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York City, Leale had charge of the Wounded Commissioned Officers' Ward at the United States Army General Hospital in Armory Square, Washington, DC. A few days before Lincoln's assassination, Leale saw Lincoln give his last public address and was intrigued by Lincoln's facial features. Soon after, learning that Lincoln was going to Ford's Theatre to see the play Our American Cousin, he attended as wellnot to see the play, but to study Lincoln's face and facial expressions. He arrived late and was unable to get a seat with an unhindered view of Lincoln; instead he sat near the front about forty feet away. After John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln, Leale rushed to Lincoln's box where he briefly examined Henry Rathbone, whom Booth had stabbed in the arm. He then saw Lincoln slumped in his armchair supported by Mary Todd Lincoln; Lincoln was unresponsive, barely breathing with no detectable pulse. Initially thinking Lincoln had been stabbed, he laid him on the floor and, with bystander William Kent, cut off Lincoln's collar and opened