What was Major Rathbone's actual rank?

• A. Captain
• B. Lieutenant
• C. Major
• D. Colonel

Answer: (C)

The thing being tested is recognizing his official military rank as it’s recorded in historical accounts. Henry Rathbone is consistently described in sources about the Lincoln assassination as a Major in the U.S. Army, and that title is how he’s referred to in relation to the event. So the correct pick isn’t a guess or a nickname—it's his actual rank at that time, which is Major.

That’s why the other ranks don’t fit. He wasn’t identified primarily as a Captain, Lieutenant, or Colonel in the accounts of Ford’s Theatre; those ranks would imply a different position or a different point in his career, whereas the historical record used here centers on him as Major Rathbone.