Did William Coggeshall Save Lincoln's Life?

[John Fazio]

(09-29-2016 09:35 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Mr. Fazio - one of your main arguments is "Why should he have fabricated the story?". My reply is in post #75. Please allow me the v.v. question - what makes him to your opinion beyond doubts not to do so? Embellishing and adding some flavor to oneself when being (only a minor) part of a historical event (i. e. journey) is a quite human trait, isn't it?

Eva:

1. I did not say that it was "beyond doubts" that he would not have fabricated the story; I said that I find the conclusion that he did so unlikely. It's an open question, which is why we are having this discussion.
2. As for what you regard as "quite a human trait", the most that can be said is that it is sometimes a human trait to embellish and sometimes not, but it is rarely a human trait to fabricate something out of whole cloth, i.e. to pass off as truth something that is completely false. Most historians and chroniclers try to deliver something close to the truth most of the time. Don't you? If you answered that question in the affirmative, why would you suppose that others do not have the same standard?
3. In my opinion, your suggestion that Coggeshall told the story he did for the purpose of impressing his wife is unlikely. Most men try to keep things straight with their wives, knowing that they will lose all credibility with them if they lie and are found out. Furthermore, the time for impressing is during courtship (if even then), not after marriage.
4. As for Coggeshall's reason for asking that Lincoln keep the incident secret (always assuming the essential truth of the story), it was his reason, not Lincoln's. If Lincoln perceived that Coggeshall was a devout and pious fellow, surely he would respect that.

John

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(09-29-2016 12:39 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(09-29-2016 12:26 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(09-28-2016 07:46 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Let us know what you find in Columbus. My concerns are that nothing seems to come from a primary source and that the hand grenade reference just does not match the technology of the time and that it appears to have happened in a vacuum with no other corroborating testimonies from anyone else on or near that train car or platform. Lincoln may have sworn Coggeshall to secrecy, but someone else would surely have reported such an event given the turmoil following Lincoln's election and in preparation for his trip to DC.

Laurie:

I obtained and quickly read a copy of Inside Lincoln's Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase. There is no reference to Coggeshall in the book, but it is not a good source, because there are many days when Chase made no entries and, more importantly, there are vast gaps in his coverage. For example, there is nothing between Lincoln's election and December, 1861, which would include the journey to Washington. Similarly, there is nothing between October, 1862, through August, 1863, and nothing from October, 1863, through June, 1864, and nothing from November, 1864, through April, 1865. For purposes of this discussion, therefore, it cannot be relied upon.

Stay tuned.

John
[/i]
I am still trying to mesh it with the Pinkerton reports of Lincoln as an invalid accompanied by Kate Warne, I believe last to enter the train, etc.

IMO, this new kid on the block was a journalist with a bend towards literary fiction, whose verbal report to his wife was also embellished by her.

Laurie:

I will. The grenade does not trouble me as much as it troubles you, but the absence of corroborating testimonies certainly does. After all, it was recorded that a condition of the track between Illinois and Indiana was deemed to be threatening, which is why the train was thereafter preceded by a pilot engine. It was also recorded that a bomb was found in a carpetbag in Lincoln's car near Cincinnati. And, of course, the Baltimore plot is recorded and heavily documented. I will be looking at Coggeshall's diaries and the other files, but I will also be looking at other accounts of the journey and other diaries and memoirs. Stay tuned.

Two final thoughts: How plausible is it that with all the people traveling with Lincoln, everyone else would already have exited the Harrisburg train and were thus already aboard the Baltimore train or in transit between the two trains, leaving only Lincoln himself and Coggeshall in the Harrisburg train? Possible, of course, but unlikely. It is also possible, but unlikely, that those closest to Lincoln resented the attention he was paying to the new kid on the block and may therefore have ignored him. The problem with possibilities is that they are infinite, which is why we must settle for probabilities.

John