Was there an assassin on Grant's train?

[John Fazio]

(07-16-2015 12:37 PM)Rosieo Wrote:  

(07-16-2015 12:31 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  In her memoirs Julia Grant wrote:

"At about midday, a rap at my door was followed, in answer to my "come in," by the entrance of a man dressed in light-colored corduroy coat and trousers and with rather a shabby hat of the same color. I remarked his dress; as he came in, I started up and said: "I thought it was the bellboy with cards. What do you want?" He reddened and, bowing, said: "This is Mrs. Grant?" I bowed assent. "Mrs. Lincoln sends me, Madam, with her compliments, to say she will call for you at exactly eight o'clock to go to the theater." To this, I replied with some feeling (not liking either the looks of the messenger or the message, thinking the former savored of discourtesy and the latter seemed like a command), "You may return with my compliments to Mrs. Lincoln and say I regret that as General Grant and I intend leaving the city this afternoon, we will not, therefore, be here to accompany the President and Mrs. Lincoln to the theater." He hesitated a moment, then urged: "Madam, the papers announce that General Grant will be with the President tonight at the theater." I said to this: "You deliver my message to Mrs. Lincoln as I have given it to you. You may go now." He smiled as he turned to leave. I have thought since that this man was one of the band of conspirators in that night's sad tragedy, and that he was not sent by Mrs. Lincoln at all. I am perfectly sure that he, with three others, one of them [John Wilkes] Booth himself, sat opposite me and my party at luncheon that
day."

In his book John Fazio speculates that Mary Lincoln's "messenger" might have been David Herold. If this be true then Booth could have known the Grants were leaving town a lot earlier than most books indicate (although, at that time of day, he would not know where they were going). Still this knowledge would have given Booth more time to arrange a potential Grant assassination. Most books indicate Booth didn't find out the Grants were leaving until late in the afternoon when he saw their carriage go by while talking to John Mathews.

If the man were not David Herold who could it have been? Did Mary Lincoln send a messenger to the Willard Hotel at midday?

Seems to me Mrs. Grant would have been wise to ask Mrs. Lincoln.

Roger and Rosieo:

I believe "speculates" doesn't quite describe my opinion as to the identity of the messenger who called on Julia Grant on the 14th. I am, rather, convinced that it was Herold, largely because Julia was convinced, as evidenced by her two statements that "I am perfectly sure that he, with three others...sat opposite me and my party at luncheon that day" and "I thought I recognized in one of (the four attendees at the luncheon) the messenger of the morning..." Doubtless, Herold told Booth what Julia had said to him. Booth now knew that Grant wasn't going to be at the theater that night, a monkey wrench in his machinery. If Grant was to be killed, therefore, which was without question Booth's intention, he had to know where Grant was going to be that night. Thus the attendance of Booth, Herold and two others (probably Powell and Atzerodt) at Julia's luncheon (after she was watched) and thus Booth's strange behavior there, as described by Julia, namely "(he) played with his soup spoon, sometimes filling it and holding it half-lifted to his mouth, but never tasting it. This occurred many times. He also seemed very intent on what we and the children were saying. I thought he was crazy..." Obviously, Booth was eavesdropping in an attempt to find out where his intended victim was going to be that night. Just as obviously, he was not successful. Thus, when, by pure chance, he saw them in a carriage on the way to the depot (after Mathews drew his attention to them), he galloped past them in an apparent attempt to ascertain that it was in fact they who had been spotted by Mathews and also, perhaps, to ascertain their destination. He may or may not have determined that they were on the way to the depot, but even if he did, that might not be enough to know of Grant's whereabouts that night; he needed to know where they were going and therefore what train they would take. Then he got lucky (again): he rode back to Willard's and inquired of someone there (probably the desk clerk) as to the destination of the Grants and was finally apprised of the same. (See p. 258 of Decapitating the Union and the two citations given.) Now he knew where they were going and therefore what train they would be on. At this point, it was a relatively simple matter to arrange for a co-conspirator to purchase a ticket for the same train, which, I am convinced, he did. Couple all this with the fact that Grant was often mentioned by Confederate operatives in Canada, as well as in letters that came into the possession of the Bureau of Military Justice, as an intended victim, and with the fact of the letter received by Grant shortly after the assassination, written by someone who claimed to have been the would-be assassin, and we have a very strong case for someone being on the train. For me, the contents of the letter excludes John Surratt. It wasn't his style to thank God for failure. There were plenty of others whom Booth was in contact and who could have been assigned for the purpose besides his action team.

John