A Man On The South Side Of The Capitol

[Dave Taylor]

While I can't provide a reason for Oldroyd's contention that the unidentified witness who observed Booth's horse was on his way to work, I believe I have found the origin of the sighting. However, I must preface this with the warning that if the source I found is the origin of the story, we probably have it wrong.

From what I have found, it appears the story originates with John Fletcher. On the night of the assassination, stableman John Fletcher saw David Herold riding his overdue horse and shouted at him. Herold, spurred the horse and fled from Fletcher. Fletcher returned to Naylor's stable and mounted his own horse to give chase. In the trial of the conspirators, Fletcher testifies to the following:

"I got a horse, and went along the avenue until came to Thirteenth Street; went up Thirteenth Street to E, along E until I came to Ninth, and turned down Ninth Street to Pennsylvania Avenue again. I went along the avenue to the south side of the Capitol. I there met a gentleman coming down; and I asked him if he saw any men going up there, riding on horseback. He said yes, and that they were riding very fast. I did not ask him any more questions."

This appears to be Oldroyd's evidence for Booth having been spotted on horseback near the south side of the Capitol. However, if we investigate further, the assumption that one of these unnumbered "men" is Booth appears to be incorrect.

Fletcher gave his testimony at the conspiracy trial on May 17. On April 23rd he gave a statement to the authorities. In it he discusses chasing after Herold:

"I went back to the stable, put a saddle and bridle on a horse and rode up towards the Capitol, met some gentlemen and asked them if they had met a horse up there of such color, & they said yes, they had met a man going very fast on such a horse and another one after him."

Note that in this version Fletcher ran into some gentlemen rather than just one man. In addition, this account specifies that Fletcher asked about and was told that these unnamed men had seen Herold's horse, the roan gelding rented from Naylor's. There is no description of the other horse they saw.

Col. John Foster, who assisted in the collection of evidence and statements, composed a note on April 23, consolidating the government's information about the conspirators' horses. In recounting Fletcher's interaction near the Capitol he stated:

"At the south side of the capitol he made inquiries of a man who told him that a horse answering the description of the roan horse had gone down towards Navy Yard at a furious rate followed by another one going equally fast."

Again, this version supports that the men/man near the south side of the Capitol definitely saw Herold's horse and helped Fletcher continue to track it down. However, it does not definitively state that the other horse and rider were Booth.

In fact, logically speaking, the other rider mentioned by the unnamed men/man should not be Booth based on the fact that Booth arrived at the Navy Yard bridge before Davy. If the rider who followed after Herold's horse was Booth, how did he manage to beat Davy to the Navy Yard bridge?

Either we're missing another account in which a different man/men near the south side of the Capitol saw Booth specifically on horseback, or authors like Oldroyd read Fletcher's testimony at the trial and decided to make one of the men he mentioned Booth. However, based on the order Fletcher's informant(s) saw the horses (Herold's first) and the order the men arrived at the Navy Yard bridge (Booth first), it seems unlikely that Fletcher's informant(s) saw Booth.