What Was The Role of David Herold

[John Fazio]

(04-06-2013 10:14 AM)wsanto Wrote:  

(04-05-2013 11:14 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  [quote='wsanto' pid='15727' dateline='1365191684']
[quote='John Fazio' pid='15718' dateline='1365183801']
[quote='Laurie Verge' pid='15717' dateline='1365183764']
I have to disagree with you on the closeness of the various places - having walked to every one of them in my better days. We need only consider Seward's home on Lafayette Park (behind the White House so close to 16th Street), the Treasury building at 15th and F, Kirkwood House at 12th and Pennsylvania, and Ford's Theatre in mid-block of Tenth Street.

Where does the Willard even figure in except for Herold riding past it while heading to the Navy Yard Bridge? And, I don't understand your reference to Herold riding from Ford's to the Willard.

John

John,

The Willard Hotel is right across 15th Street from the east side of the Treasury Building. The north side of the Treasury Building is basically right across the street from Madison Place (the site of Seward's house).

If one were to walk from Madison place toward the site of the Kirkwood one would walk around the northeast corner of the Treasury down 15th Street and turn left onto Pennsylvania directly in front of the Willard. It would take less the two minutes to be directly in front of the Willard Hotel from Madison Place.

Fletcher saw Herold riding past the Willard from the direction of the Treasury Building between 10:15 and 10:30. That means Herold was riding southeast from 15th Street down Pennsylavania Ave toward the direction of the Kirkwood at 12th and Pennsylvania and in the general direction of the Navy Yard Bridge when he was seen by Fletcher.

What do you think Herold was doing so far north of the Kirkwood and Ford's Theater and the Navy Yard Bridge between 10:15 and 10:30 if he wasn't riding away from Lafayette Park?

Bill

Bill, et al.:

You ask some very good questions here.

I did not say Herold went to the Willard; I said he went to the Kirkwood. As to how I came to that conclusion, my recollection is that there are 22 or so items of evidence in my article indicating that he wasn't with Powell and another 20 or so indicating that he was most likely at Ford's to help Booth in some way, if he needed it, and then went directly to the Kirkwood for an attempt on Johnson. The attempt may or may not have been in concert with Atzerodt, but in any case was thwarted for reasons unknown to us. I believe strongly that despite his statements and confessions to the contrary, Atzerodt did put his head in the lion's mouth (i.e. was at the Kirkwood at killing time) when he did not have to, and would not have, if he truly did not want to make an attempt on Johnson. I have never accepted the notion that he went into the bar at the Kirkwood for the purpose of screwing up his courage with booze. He had just had a drink with Fletcher, at the Union, and would very soon have another at the Pennsylvania. If all he wanted was to drink he could have stayed at the Union or gone directly to the Pennsylvania. It follows, therefore, that he went to the Kirkwood at killing time for a reason other than drinking, and that reason, most likely, reasonably and logically, was to have a go at Johnson, if conditions were favorable, thereby ingratiating himself with his co-conspirators who, he knew, thought of him as a drunken, no-account coward. Whatever obstruction he encountered must have been the same one encountered by Herold. Herold had to have been there. Atzerodt said many times that it was Herold's assignment to take out Johnson. Furthermore, Booth knew Johnson had been untouched (per his statement to Lloyd). He could only have found out from Herold. Herold would not have known with certainty if he had not been at the Kirkwood. The two horsemen riding toward the bridge (after Booth had crossed), per Fletcher, had to have been Herold and Atzerodt. At some point the latter decided there was greater safety in not following the other two and therefore made his way to the farm. Recall that Herold mentioned a follower to Cobb. It could only have been Powell or Atzerodt. The preponderance of the evidence is that Powell was headed to Baltimore, though there is some doubt. The Boston newspaper recently sent to us by Roger suggests otherwise.

I will modify my previous position, based on that article, to this extent only: I will allow the possibility that Herold accompanied Powell part way to Seward's home, but before they actually reached the home, he left and went back to Ford's to help Booth. That would account for the fact that the Tayloe servant saw only one horsemen arrive at the home. It is also consistent with all the other evidence referred to in my article. Recall that Atzerodt does not record an assignment for Herold, as he does for everyone else, other than to kill Johnson.

John