Herold and Surratt

[JMadonna]

(11-09-2013 06:31 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Jerry:

You have GOT to be kidding!!! Benjamin, the mastermind behind the Confederate year of terror (March, 1864, through April, 1865). Benjamin, without whose imprimatur, nothing was done by the Secret Service. Benjamin, in regular communication with the Canadian Cabinet, with Davis and with Surratt, the latter in regular communication with Booth. Benjamin, who ran for his life, even from Davis and his party, "anywhere, even if it takes me to the middle of China", because he knew he would not escape the hangman. Benjamin, who, after establishing a new career in England, never spoke about the war or of his role in it and never returned to the United States. That Benjamin! I repeat: You have got to be kidding.

John

John,
In the lengthy letter I sent you from Thompson to Benjamin dated 12/8/1864, Thompson begins by saying; “Sir: Several times I have attempted to send you communications, I have no assurance that any one of them have been received. I have relaxed no effort to carry out the objects the Government had in view of sending me here”….

Does this sound like Benjamin was the man ‘without whose imprimatur, nothing was done by the Secret Service’?
Thompson goes on to inform him of all the operations carried out by his group since April ’64 and their failures. It seems obvious that Thompson was given a list of objectives by Davis and he was responsible for the methods to carry them out.
Thompson does mention that a note from Benjamin through Lt. Headley did reach him re-enforcing the goal of freeing prisoners but Thompson apologizes telling him that they had to abandon that goal due to a lack of Copperhead support. Wouldn’t the ‘mastermind behind the Confederate year of terror’ be aware of this long before December?

The reason for Thompson’s long report was that he was getting fired. On December 30, General Edwin G. Lee arrived in Canada to hand Thompson the following directive from Benjamin:

'From reports which reach us from trustworthy sources, we are satisfied that so close an espionage is kept upon you that your services have been deprived of the value which is attached to your residence in Canada. The President thinks that it is better that you return to the Confederacy.'

But as you know, Thompson did not return to the Confederacy. He stayed in Montreal. However, Benjamin communicated only with Lee from then on.

When Surratt returned to Montreal he had an order for Lee to make certain that Thompson gave him control of the money. Lee had the authority to demand it so there was no need for a letter from Benjamin to Thompson. Yet, Surratt also delivered a letter to Thompson, which from all indications seemed to give the green light to assassinating Lincoln. It is pretty safe to assume that the authorization had to come from Davis alone.

Lee was completely blindsided by the assassination. He wrote in his diary; ‘News of Lincoln’s death came this morning, exciting universal shock of…” He then crossed out ‘shock of’ and substituted ‘horror and amazement’.

If the head of the Canadian Confederate operations was horrified you can imagine how the ‘mastermind’ must have felt.