Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[John Fazio]

William:

It appears that you have taken my comments too personally, not to say you should not have taken them personally at all. They were directed principally at O'Reilly and Dugard's work, not at you. However, I do believe that the notion that Booth stopped at the boarding-house after the assassination is fanciful. Others in the thread have called it "a stretch". We get the idea. The problem with it is that it is not supported by a scrap of evidence (direct or circumstantial), by reason or by human nature, the three keys that open all doors. Logic dictates that someone who had just murdered the nation's chief magistrate, and knowing that the city was crawling with Federal troops, cavalry units, guards, Metropolitan Police, National Detective Police and an irate citizenry that would would take his head off if they could get their hands on him, would get as far from the scene of the crime, and as fast, as he could. The last thing he would do is stop somewhere on the way out to pick up guns or for any other purpose, thereby consuming precious time and taking terribile risk. He would, rather, ride like hell for the bridge, cross it calmly (so as not to arouse suspicion, and with help in the wings if he had a problem with Silas Cobb--my theory, to be developed later), then ride like hell some more until he was safely away (per Polk Gardiner), and then slow down as he made his way through the dark and quiet countryside, to conserve his and his horse's energy (per Swanson). And this is exactly what the evidence, reason and our understanding of human nature (the self-preservation instinct) tell us.

I regret that you took my comments as a personal insult. They were not intended as such.

Sales of O'Reilly's and Dugard's book are not relevant to its value as a contribution to our quest for historical truth. Goods of less value generally outsell goods of greater value. If you have not done so already, may I suggest that you read Steers's review of the book (A Missed Opportunity).

Thank you.

John