Herold and Surratt

[wsanto]

(11-07-2013 10:34 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Excellent! The next question is: What time did Grant's train leave? (Let me add that though I am interested in this line of thought, I am doubtful that Surratt was Grant's pursuer. The letter received by Grant shortly thereafter, in which the writer identified himself as the would-be assassin and expressed his thanks to God that he had not been successful, does not sound like Surratt, whom other evidence indicates was a cold-blooded killer.)

John

John,

What evidence do you have that leads you to believe Surratt was a "cold-blooded killer"? Did he ever kill anyone?

Assassinating Grant in the company of his wife on a moving train or at a busy train station with no real planning would have been pretty much a suicide mission. I assume Grant was heavily guarded after news of the assassination in Washington reached them making it even more difficult at this point for a prospective assassin.

It is easy to see how it failed if there was a prospective assassin assigned to Grant. Even the most cold-blooded of killers would have likely aborted a mission so full of risk.