Food for Thought

[mike86002000]

Laurie,
Thanks so much for all this. You have access to a lot of information at the Surratt house, and have been very helpful, and generous with your time.
"The letter" I referred to is the one to Annie Ward that arrived on April 10th. Mr. Prindle says Surratt expected it to fall into government hands, and hoped it would help establish his alibi. It matches your description of the letter of the 10th. It's supposed to contain an expression of Surratt's belief that the Southern Cause was dead. Booth was interested in the post script. Mr. Prindle says Surratt wrote it in Montreal, on the 7th or a little later, while awaiting his new Garibaldi jacket. This letter, or at least information about it is supposed to reside in Mr. Barbee's files, and Mr. Hall's files, according to Mr. Prindle's footnote. That's it!
Earlier, I mistaken said that the Garibaldi jacket was supposed to have been made in Elmira. I'll try to correct that. It was supposed to have been made in Montreal.
Mike

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Previously, Laurie, and Mr. Norton wrote:
I am not sure how this proves that John Surratt knew that April 14th was the "scheduled day" for assassination. Personally I do not think Surratt knew Booth was going to shoot the President on the 14th. Surratt left Washington on April 4th and did not return. Booth arrived in Washington on the 8th, but in my opinion, did not decide to shoot Lincoln until he heard Lincoln's speech on the 11th. Booth's plans on the 14th did not include Surratt (unless he told Atzerodt the truth about Surratt being in Washington; in one of his confessions Atzerodt maintained that Booth told him Surratt was in town and going to help at Ford's Theatre).

In sum, I am of the opinion that Surratt did not have foreknowledge of the timing of the assassination. So I feel I must disagree with Mr. Prindle on this.
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Actually, Mr. Prindle says the same thing. He doesn't claim that Surratt had foreknowledge of the exact time of the assassination, only that it had been ordered by Benjamin in Richmond, and Surratt thought he had best establish an alibi. He actually says specifically that Surratt couldn't have known the exact timing, it hadn't been established, only that the murder, a change in plans from the kidnap plot, had been ordered, by Benjamin, in a message he carried to Booth.
As I understand it, the reasoning goes: Surratt carefully established his alibi. He was in Elmira, St Albans, or Montreal, when all hell broke loose. He did this because he knew the murders had been ordered by Benjamin, because he was Benjamin's courier to Booth. The hypothetical existence of a message conveyed by Surratt from Benjamin, (how else could Surratt have known he was going to need an alibi?), is supposed to show that the change in plans was ordered by Benjamin.
Mike
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I disagree with Sandy if he theorizes that Judah Benjamin gave the order to assassinate Lincoln anytime after April 1st. It may have been Plan B in some folks' minds in Richmond (because I do think the hierarchy sanctioned the capture - that could lead to someone getting killed), but in those first two weeks of April 1865, the city of Richmond had to be in chaos, and Judah Benjamin had to have been covering his personal tail feathers by destroying papers, arranging for money transfers to satisfy his own future needs, planning his own escape, etc.

John Surratt was following Confederate orders during those weeks, but those orders were sending him to Canada, Gen. E.G. Lee, scouting out Hellmira, and maybe dilly-dallying with Sarah Slater at the beginning.
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It's only necessary for Surratt to have gained knowledge of the change in plans, supposedly from new orders from Benjamin to Booth, delivered before he left Washington, (April 4th?). That's supposed to be the reason he tried to establish his alibi in Elmira, St Albans, or Montreal.
Mike