Was there an abortive attempt made by Booth to kidnap Lincoln in Jan. 1865?

[John Fazio]

Gentlemen:

It often happens that subjects are introduced in this thread about which I know little or nothing. In this cse, however, Kees, you have hit upon a subject about which I am quite familiar. In fact, there is an entire chapter in "Decapitating the Union" on the subject of kidnapping (Chapter 12). I urge you to read it if you have not already done so.

Suffice it to say here that you, I, thousands, of historians, writers, researchers, teachers, students and enthusaists, and hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, who have read their works, in the last 150 years, have all been had. We have all been bamboozled by John Wilkes Booth and the men who handled him, directed him and financed him, because the truth is that Booth never intended to kidnap anyone, that assassination was always his purpose and goal, and that kidnapping was nothing more than a ruse, concocted most likely by the Secret Service, to cover Booth's true purpose and to facilitate the recruitment of an action team, men who would sign on for kidnapping, but not for murder. The evidence for these conclusions is, in my judgment, clear and convincing, in some cases absolutely conclusive. The Jack Cade affair and the Campbell hospital episode do not consitute bona fide kidnapping attempts. Whatever they were, and there is much doubt and confusion as to the particulars, we may be sure that Booth had his own purposes and that they weren't about kidnapping anyone.

The material given by Roger, from Arnold's Memoirs, is very telling. Take it to its logical conclusion, and, while you are at it, consider that the highest levels of the Confederate leadership unquestionably knew all about Booth, his action team and what they were doing and not doing; that they also knew that a kidnapped Lincoln could do them no good at all; and that they did nothing to stop Booth. What is the only conclusion you can draw from those facts?

John