Musical chairs in the State Box?

[wsanto]

(09-23-2014 09:18 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Kees, this does not answer your question, but IMO most drawings show Booth approaching Lincoln either from directly behind or from Lincoln's left side. But I believe most historians feel Booth actually entered the box from Door #8 which means he'd really be approaching Lincoln somewhat more at an angle and more from Lincoln's right side than commonly seen in the existing artwork. If Lincoln were looking down and perhaps somewhat to his left then the bullet could still have entered on the left side of the head despite the angle of Booth's approach.

Roger,

After having my first opportunity to peer through the doorway of box #7 , I've begun to doubt that Booth entered from the doorway to Box #8. There seems to be plenty of room for an entry from the doorway of box #7 approaching Lincoln's rocker from the left. I couldn't get a sense of exactly where the doorway to Box #8 is in relation to the rocker but it seems awfully close to the settee and Rathbone's position.

The part that really makes it difficult for me to imagine Booth coming from the right is that the rocker has such a high back. If Lincoln was leaning forward in the rocker the back would have come to a near vertical and reached its highest point making it unlikely Booth could have shot over the top of it. That means Booth was forced to aim from the right side or the left side of the chair.

If Booth approached from the doorway to box 8, he would have had to slip by Rathbone's position on the settee that was essentially facing Lincoln's rocker. Rathbone would have been turned to give his attention to the stage but this would have been a very risky aproach. Booth would then have to approach Lincoln from the right and then have to reach around the right side of the high-back rocker. This approach would have been intimately close to Mary at this point with the report of the pistol being very close indeed to her face. There is nothing I know of indicating Booth and the pistol were this close to Mary at the time of the shot.

It seems more likely to me, from my brief view into the box, that Booth entered from the doorway of box #7 opposite of Rathbone's position, approached Lincoln from the left and fired from the left of Lincoln's high-back rocker opposite from Mary's position. Then, in all likelihood, made his escape around the back of the rocker meeting Rathbone in the center of the box head-on and leapt from the right of Mary's chair after he got past Rathbone.

Bill C