Does anyone know...?

[John Fazio]

(09-12-2017 02:09 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  John:

Conversely, a bona fide kidnapping scheme is contrary to the evidence, totally irrational, completely unworkable and without any genuine purpose, the business about Confederate POW's having already been undercut by Grant, as pointed out by Arnold to Booth at the Gautier's meeting.

I will admit that the end of no POW exchange has always bothered me as to the efficacy of kidnapping. I think that it also challenges the notion that Surratt was up at Elmira and not in DC on the 14th.

Bill

Wild Bill:

Re Surratt's whereabouts on April 14, a tidbit came my way in the latest issue of the [i]Journal of the Lincoln Assassination, Fred Hatch's wonderful little publication. In it, there is an article by Jesse W. Weik, taken from the February, 1913, issue of The Century Magazine, in which the author quotes a Miss Porterfield, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Booth's and also that she had witnessed the assassination. She claimed, too, that on April 13 she had a conversation with Booth, in which he expressed his anguish as to the turn of events and also asked her, incidentally, how to spell "tyrannis". Asked why he was in such a state of mind, he told her that he was irritated because he "had been rudely awakened from sleep that morning by a man--I think he called him Surratt--who wanted to borrow his horse to ride to Georgetown..." (See p. 6 of the Journal). That ties in pretty well with the 13 or 14 witnesses at Surratt's trial who claimed that they had seen him in Washington during the relevant period. It also ties in with one of Atzerodt's statements in which he said that Booth told him that Surratt was in town and that he had just seen him. The case for Surratt being in Washington, while still not conclusive, is strengthened by this article.

John[/i]