Killing Lincoln - Nat Geo (Reactions)

[John E.]

LOL...Barry, Erik has thick skin and is sincerely open to discussing any differences you might have. I think many of us in here appreciate and like him on a personal level and were weary of our comments being taken negatively. He's open to hearing specifics and debating.

I asked why he positioned the Monitors at the pier for the autopsy and mug shot photos and his opinion was that they would have moved the ship instead of rowing everybody (including Gardner) 100 yards out to the stream.

Here's what we know for certain:

1. From first-hand accounts, Marines were rowed out to the ships and placed on board for security.

2. Official deck logs have Booth's body being transported from the Montauk by row boat to the Arsenal Penitentiary.

3. A steamer came along side the monitors to pick up the conspirators and transfer them to the penitentiary a couple of days later.

Just a couple of more observations:

** Although the autopsy photo looked fantastic and appeared authentic enough to fool even the best of researchers, I don't believe Booth's body would have been stripped naked and re-dressed for identification purposes. -- Again, if it happened (and it could have), it wasn't mentioned by anyone present to my knowledge. It is, however, a nice tribute to Gardner's autopsy photo of Henry Wirz.

** Tom Hanks mentions that Lincoln's portrait taken on Feb. 5, 1865 was the last official one. According to Civil War photography experts, Lewis Walker took portraits of Lincoln (spiky hair) for his life mask. Can anyone back me up on this ?





Sincerely,

- Jeff Elliott