Escape speculations

[BettyO]

Good question, Roger! I truly think that Benjamin, Davis, et al. would have more or less fended for themselves; which they definitely seemed to do. By the time of Richmond's fall and Davis' escape to Danville, I think that the Confederate government had all but given up on any plan to kidnap or otherwise re: Lincoln and his cabinet. At that point I think Booth could have simply acted on his own resources or misinterpreted signals; i.e. "crossed wires." Could he have still been influenced by the Canadian or NY Copperhead groups? We don't know - and therein lies the charm of the entire mystery. It does appear, at least to me, that JWB and Herold were going one way and Powell another. Powell, I believe was of course, bent on skedaddling back to Baltimore and the Branson household. More or less, he could have had ideas of heading up to Canada. Again, we really don't know.....