Lincoln Kidnap Tries

[Wild Bill]

John:

Your "even if" and 26 reasons do not address the problem that Barbee presents in his massive manuscript "Lincoln and Booth." You ever read it? It is not in your biblio for your book. How about the letter to Dominic Burch in Rhodehammel and Taper's Papers of JW? Both knew him and a meeting took place.

You seem to have trouble with what the Rebs would do with Lincoln if the North refused to deal with them to "ransom" Lincoln. Very simple. They would have put him up for trial for starting the War and engaging in war crimes against Confederate civilians and hanged him like any common criminal, which they thought him to be.

I also think Thomas Thorne hit the reason that the kidnapping was conceived as a cold weather plan, mud and roads.