Yet Another View of the Branson Boarding House

[John Fazio]

(08-28-2015 05:31 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Possibly this has been answered before; if so, please excuse. How did David Homer Bates obtain his information on the Eckert/Powell interviews while Powell was imprisoned? There are specific quotes from Powell (said to Eckert) in Bates' book titled Lincoln in the Telegraph Office.

Roger:

I have read Bates's book and therefore recall the quotes to which you refer. My surmise is that inasmuch as the Telegraph Office was part of the War Department (was it not?), and inasmuch as Eckert was the Assistant Secretary of War under Stanton, Eckert and Bates must have communicated on a regular basis, probably daily. In those circumstances, I should think that just about everything Eckert obtained from Powell would sooner or later be made known to Bates.

John