Absent a break injury, how far would JWB gotten?

[L Verge]

(07-01-2015 05:46 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Re.: "Booth stuck to his intended flight plan" - who was intended to meet with him at Sopher's Hill? I've always understood that Powell originally was to be (there) with Herold, but Herold abandoned him "spontaneously". What about Atzerodt?

For years, the books had me convinced that Herold would lead Powell out of D.C. via the same route that Booth would use, and the plan would have them meeting up at Soper's Hill. I think Soper's Hill remained the rendezvous place, but I now agree with Kauffman and others who insist that Herold remained at Seward's home only long enough to make sure that Powell gained entry and then headed back downtown. I don't think Herold was assigned to kill anyone, however. He just didn't have it in him.

I think Powell was trained to skedaddle by Mosby and did exactly that, hoping to reach Baltimore until a detour screwed it up. Booth didn't need Atzerodt after the fact because Herold knew the route (and had friendships with residents along that route) better than Atzerodt.

Atzerodt probably was left to his own devices as to how to amble back to Port Tobacco. He was smart enough to realize that, at some point, the authorities would link Southern Maryland with Booth, so he went north.

It was up to Herold to catch up with Booth before he got too deeply into the countryside and had to leave the main coach road that he was fairly familiar with - at least to T.B. I wonder if Herold's intention was to get Booth to Mudd's (even if the leg had not been injured) and turn him over to the underground to handle from that point on. That was the smart thing to do; and Herold was no dummy, just naive and immature in my estimation.