Abraham Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth will forever be remembered in World history, yet many people don’t know that it wasn’t the first time someone had tried to assassinate him! In August of 1864, Lincoln was riding his horse called Old Abe to visit a soldier’s home. He reached the bottom of the hill that led to the house and wrote that he was, “in deep thought, contemplating what was next to happen in the unsettled state of affairs.”
Just as he was about to dismount, his horse bucked and took off at a gallop resulting in his famous hat falling off of his head. At nearly the exact same time, Lincoln heard a shot fire, but dismissed it as a noise in the distance. Lincoln gained control of his horse and rode back to retrieve his hat because he was so fond of it. When he got back to the place it had landed, he found a bullet hole straight through it.
Apparently a sniper in the distance had attempted to shoot President Lincoln and only missed because his horse had taken off just before he fired! Lincoln swiftly rode back to the White House and described himself as, “well out of my wits.”