John Surratt

[JMadonna]

(07-30-2013 02:40 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Jerry and Laurie: I do not believe Harney, a seasoned veteran of the Torpedo Bureau who had a long record of wreaking havoc on the Union war effort, was to be managed in Washington by a 26-year old actor who knew nothing of politics or military science. Laurie's opinion re other handlers is on the money. Stringfellow, Ficklin and Conrad are good possibilities, but truly, we just do not know. The city was crawling with Confederates. Recall the Confederate agent Johnston, who said he knew within a half hour of his arrival in the city that there was to be an attack that night. Consider, further, all the whistles that were heard in and around Ford's right after the assassination. It is known that whistles were the favored mode of communication by Mosby's officers. Further, I hope to have an opportunity of convincing you that "Booth's kidnapping plan" was an elaborate myth, carefully contrived to conceal the real and more sinister goal of the conspiracy. Booth's conspiracy was the contingency plan in the event of the failure of the Harney mission, not the other way around. Why else would he notify Surratt, after 4-9, the date of Harney's capture, that "our plans have changed" and to return to Washington forthwith. Who or what changed them?

John,
Good thoughts as always.
It seems to me that Harney's control agent would probably have been Stringfellow since he was sent specifically by Davis on a "special mission". However, Stringfellow's cover was blown the week before and he was fleeing northward. Did Davis know this when he sent Harney or not? No one knows. If he didn't maybe that was the message Booth was trying to send to Surratt. Maybe the capture of Harney on the same day of the message was coincidental. Maybe Booth was trying to relay the fact there was no controlling agent and he decided to step in after getting no response from Surratt.

A lot of maybes but there was a lot of confusion at the time.
I'm not aware of Ficklin - can you fill us in?

Bill - did you go over the odometer on the number of posts you've sent or are you trying to keep a low profile?