The Hour of Peril

[L Verge]

The other day, I mentioned a new book about the 1861 Baltimore Plot to assassinate Lincoln. Entitled The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War, my copy arrived today. The author is Daniel Stashower, and it looks quite good with my cursory skimming.

It is based, it appears, on the Pinkerton version of the plot and the maneuvering to save the President. As some of you know, Ward Hill Lamon refuted Pinkerton's claims; and this has led to disagreement among some historians as to whether or not the Baltimore Plot even existed, or if it did, how well-organized it was.

I like one of the ending sentences in the book: In Lamon's manuscript, he writes, "There was never an hour from the time he entered Washington on the 23rd of February, 1861, to the 15th of April, 1865, that he [Lincoln] was not in danger of his life from violence...."

Lamon's daughter, Dorothy, later made a small, but telling, alteration: "It is now an acknowledged fact that there never was a moment from the day he [Lincoln] crossed the Maryland line, up to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by violence..."

I now have to find the time to read the book in its entirety. If someone beats me to it, please give a book report.

[RJNorton]

Thank you to Danny West for sending this link.

[Joe Di Cola]

The other day, I mentioned a new book about the 1861 Baltimore Plot to assassinate Lincoln. Entitled The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War, my copy arrived today. The author is Daniel Stashower, and it looks quite good with my cursory skimming.

It is based, it appears, on the Pinkerton version of the plot and the maneuvering to save the President. As some of you know, Ward Hill Lamon refuted Pinkerton's claims; and this has led to disagreement among some historians as to whether or not the Baltimore Plot even existed, or if it did, how well-organized it was.

I like one of the ending sentences in the book: In Lamon's manuscript, he writes, "There was never an hour from the time he entered Washington on the 23rd of February, 1861, to the 15th of April, 1865, that he [Lincoln] was not in danger of his life from violence...."

Lamon's daughter, Dorothy, later made a small, but telling, alteration: "It is now an acknowledged fact that there never was a moment from the day he [Lincoln] crossed the Maryland line, up to the time of his assassination, that he was not in danger of death by violence..."

I now have to find the time to read the book in its entirety. If someone beats me to it, please give a book report.

Laurie,

I saw the book advertised in the NY Times Book Review last Sunday. Before I purchase it, I would most welcome your remarks on the book since I value and trust your judgment.

Joe

[Laurie Verge]

I appreciate your faith in me, Joe. Right now, however, I don't know when I will be able to read this book. Maybe I'll bring it to the conference and read it while the speakers are talking....just kidding, Betty, Tom, Dave, Blaine, Wes, and Erik!!!

[L Verge]

Joe,

I began reading The Hour of Peril today and got in about 60 pages. I am enjoying it so far. This is the fourth book I have read about the plot to assassinate Lincoln in Baltimore in February of 1861. The first was Arrival:12:38 about forty years ago. I can'at remember the second one; but after those two, I was tending to follow the nay-sayers who didn't want to believe that the plot actually existed. I have now come to suspect that those nay-sayers did not want anyone to think that Lincoln would ever have to sneak into DC under the cover of night and in disguise.

I continued to follow the story, and completely changed my mind after reading Michael Kline's book on the subject 3-4 years ago. I invited him to speak at a Surratt conference, and he gave an excellent presentation and handled questions quite well. His book is a textbook of information and citations.

This book by Daniel Stashower just came out in 2013. His writing style is more casual - like a good mystery; but it is chocked full of quotes and sources also (at least in the beginning chapters). I'm sure that it will support the Pinkerton version of the event, but that doesn't bother me as long as there are good citations. Mr. Stashower is no stranger to writing either. You can google his other works, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

We are now speedily trying to get copies of the book to have at the conference in a month, and I am going to contact Mr. Stashower to see if he can participate in the Authors' Hour. Luckily, he lives within 45 minutes of Surratt House; however, he may have booked lots of speaking engagements this close to the premiere of his book.

[RJNorton]

Thank you to Bob Cook for sending this link.

[Joe Di Cola]

Joe,

I began reading The Hour of Peril today and got in about 60 pages. I am enjoying it so far. This is the fourth book I have read about the plot to assassinate Lincoln in Baltimore in February of 1861. The first was Arrival:12:38 about forty years ago. I can'at remember the second one; but after those two, I was tending to follow the nay-sayers who didn't want to believe that the plot actually existed. I have now come to suspect that those nay-sayers did not want anyone to think that Lincoln would ever have to sneak into DC under the cover of night and in disguise.

I continued to follow the story, and completely changed my mind after reading Michael Kline's book on the subject 3-4 years ago. I invited him to speak at a Surratt conference, and he gave an excellent presentation and handled questions quite well. His book is a textbook of information and citations.

This book by Daniel Stashower just came out in 2013. His writing style is more casual - like a good mystery; but it is chocked full of quotes and sources also (at least in the beginning chapters). I'm sure that it will support the Pinkerton version of the event, but that doesn't bother me as long as there are good citations. Mr. Stashower is no stranger to writing either. You can google his other works, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.

We are now speedily trying to get copies of the book to have at the conference in a month, and I am going to contact Mr. Stashower to see if he can participate in the Authors' Hour. Luckily, he lives within 45 minutes of Surratt House; however, he may have booked lots of speaking engagements this close to the premiere of his book.

Thanks, Laurie,

This gives me the impetus to purchase the book.

Joe

[Thomas Thorne]

I just "The Hour of Peril." It is very well done and very easy reading.

The author makes the point that not only did Pinkerton and his operatives come to believe that there WAS a Baltimore plot to kill Lincoln but Gen. Scott also determined independently of Pinkerton that there was a much wider conspiracy than Pinkerton alleged. Initially Dorothea Dix informed a railroad president of plans to seize Washington and destroy rail lines to prevent Union troop movements. Pinkerton was asked to investigate these matters and only later discovered the assassination conspiracy.

I did not know that some of the very same people accused by Pinkerton of complicity in the murder conspiracy had earlier been compelled to testify before a congressional committee about plans to seize Washington. I also did not know that almost 24 hours prior to Lincoln's scheduled public arrival in Baltimore,a train with sleeper berths arrived in Baltimore. A group of toughs searched the whole train evidently searching for someone-Lincoln?- and checked every car and sleeping berth. They did not realize that two of the occupants of one the sleeping berths they accosted were a bewildered Vice President elect Hamlin and his wife.
Tom

[Tom Bogar]

Mr. Stashower is speaking this coming Saturday in D.C. (he is local, Bethesda):
http://hillcenterdc.org/home/programs/1277
I plan to attend (despite the first game of the Final Four).
I also found Michael Kline's 2008 The Baltimore Plot helpful on this subject.

Tom (the other one) (the third one?)

[L Verge]

I had tried to get Mr. Stashower to participate in the Authors' Hour at the recent Surratt Conference, but he had a previous engagement. Mr. Kline spoke in 2009 (I think) and was excellent. Frankly, I'm happy that historians are finally putting some belief in the Baltimore Plot. I remember reading Arrival: 12:38 way back in the 1980s and being told that there was no evidence that any such plot existed.

[RJNorton]

It looks like the book may become a television miniseries.