(07-29-2012 06:24 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I need some help with further investigating something that Gen Tidwell mentioned in Come Retribution and April '65. On April 15, 1865, the day after the assassination, there was a minor skirmish in St. Mary's County, Maryland, between a troop of Mosby's men and a small Union force. The skirmish occurred near a plantation known as The Plains, which had been turned into a "government farm" during the war after being confiscated from the family of John H. Sothoron.

Col. Sothoron made Northern newspapers in October of 1863, when Union recruiters sailed up the Patuxent River to his plantation and began herding his slaves out of the fields towards the ship. Col. Sothoron and his son, Webster, confronted the recruiters (two of them were black soldiers), and a Lt. Eben White fired at Webster. Fortunately, the gunpowder did not ignite. However, Lt. White then charged at Webster with his bayonet. Col. Sothoron fired and killed the lieutenant.

As a result, both the Colonel and his son had to flee to Virginia and later Canada. Mrs. Sothoron and her children were placed under house arrest and allowed to starve. They were finally sent to live with relatives, and the house and farm were confiscated to serve as a government farm - meaning that contraband from Virginia were brought there to be housed and to work the farm for food and tobacco to serve the Union. During that period, much of the house was ransacked and farm implements broken.

Sothoron returned in 1866 to face trial for the murder of Lt. White, and was immediately declared "not guilty." He then set about trying to recover his losses - a fight that would last into the 1870s and 1880s without success.

This has always fascinated me because the Sothoron family is part of my maternal grandfather's clan -- yes, friends, more of my family stories.

Back to the original reason for posting, however. I would like to know more about how and why some of Mosby's men were in St. Mary's County, Maryland, at the time of the assassination - several hundred miles from their normal base of operations. It certainly seems to be one more factor to suggest that the Confederate command knew of the assassination before it happened. BUT, it also makes me believe that Mosby's forces were sent to another route of escape for Booth -- one that might lead him out into the Patuxent or the Wicomico Rivers and then into the Potomac. About 15-20 miles from The Plains was the small village of Chaptico that had been a blockade runners' port during the war. The Wicomico also flows into the Potomac at Allen's Fresh - an area that Rick Smith believes Booth and Herold frequented during their stay in the pine thicket.

Was it possible that both Charles and St. Mary's Counties in Maryland were prepared to assist the assassin? When Thomas Jones got the opportunity to get the fugitives across the Potomac, it was because word was out that two men (Harbin and Baden likely) had been seen on the river in St. Mary's County. This sent the troops out of town long enough to get the real fugitives on the river.

What I'm getting at is: Was Booth's base of support in the lower counties of Southern Maryland more widespread than we thought? Was Davey Herold in that area for a few days before the assassination getting the word spread to be on the ready? Were Mosby's men stationed near a point of exit via St. Mary's County to assist while civilian personnel in the Secret Line from Prince George's to Charles Counties were assigned to assist at that exit route?

Sorry for turning this into a lengthy "chapter" in the never-ending quest for more knowledge, but I would really like to know what brought Mosby's men to my section of Maryland at a very critical moment.

(08-09-2012 07:06 PM)L Verge Wrote:  The initial problem was communication for the Union forces. A main line into Southern Maryland was to Chapel Point on the Port Tobacco River, which flowed into the Potomac. However, I believe that line had been taken out of commission by the Union shortly before this. There were other Union troops in various spots in the area, but not in as heavy force as there had been prior to the dawn of 1865 when it was obvious that the Confederate threat was dwindling.

The attacks on Lincoln and Seward also had the element of surprise, so it took a few hours before any kind of assessment could be made and orders sent out. As part of the kidnap plot, a long length of rope had been left with the carbines and other supplies at Surratt's Tavern. The rope was to be used to stretch across the road from tree to tree to cause the first line of cavalry to stumble and create a pile-up. The rope was left behind the night of the assassination because Booth and Herold could not risk the time to put anything in place and because of the leg problem. They also knew that they had time on their side for the first 3-4 hours.

Once the fugitives reached Dr. Mudd's, they were in the hands of men who had tricked the Union for four years by using clever deception. The Southern Maryland civilians were very good at what they did, and if Mosby's men were there also, even better.

As far as Mosby's men ever spilling the beans in later years, my personal opinion is that they just weren't built that way -- once a black ops man, always a black ops man. I think I'm correct in saying that Harbin and Jones were the only ones who allowed their stories to be put in print?

BTW, refresh my memory - did Mosby ever surrender his troops? If not, maybe they considered themselves on "active duty" to their dying day - lips zipped????

Personally, I think Stanton was 100% correct in assuming that the Confederate command was behind the Great Conspiracy. Were you ever told that, when taking a multiple choice test, your first answer is usually the correct one? I bet Stanton was a whiz at multiple choice answers -- and I also bet that Judah Benjamin and George Sanders were whizzes at putting together covert actions.