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L Verge · 02-17-2014, 07:00 PM

I believe he would have been trained in all aspects, but I'm just guessing. Betty, did he start out in the infantry? I remember reading somewhere that having to kill someone with a knife instead of a rifle, bayonet, or sword made it "up close and personal" -- something that a good man dreaded. One's first and natural instinct, of course, is self-preservation.

Question for Linda: Is there any indication as to how much light was in Seward's bedroom? I know Fanny had been reading to her father, but had the gas been turned down so that he could go to sleep? Light, or the lack thereof, could make a significant difference also; and the head and neck areas would be easier to distinguish in low light, I would think.

BettyO · 02-17-2014, 07:11 PM

Powell of course began his military career at age 17 with the Second Florida Infantry before being captured at Gettysburg, escaping and joining Mosby's Rangers. I would assume that hand to hand with a bayonet, sword or knife would be ghastly and more or less avoided at all costs. Of course, self preservation is always of utmost importance.

Linda Anderson · 02-17-2014, 08:59 PM

(02-17-2014 07:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: Question for Linda: Is there any indication as to how much light was in Seward's bedroom? I know Fanny had been reading to her father, but had the gas been turned down so that he could go to sleep? Light, or the lack thereof, could make a significant difference also; and the head and neck areas would be easier to distinguish in low light, I would think.

Fanny wrote in her diary that she had been reading to her father when "I saw that Father seemed inclined to sleep-so turned down the gas..."

Seward was lying on the edge of the bed in a semi-reclining position. Maybe his head was tilted back with his throat exposed but in the dim light Powell couldn't see the wire and mesh brace.

Here is an account of the assassination attempt from Politics and pen pictures at home and abroad by Henry W. Hilliard.

"I found Miss Seward when I entered, and she continued to sit with us for some time after tea was served. The surroundings were familiar; Mr. Seward occupied the house where I had my apartments when in Congress,- a handsome building near the White House...There was not a word uttered during the evening which expressed an unfriendly feeling towards the South. He gave me an account of the assault made upon him by Payne [Powell] on the night of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. He had some days before been injured by a fall from his carriage and was in bed; his son and one or two friends were seated in the room. Visitors were strictly excluded, and when Payne entered the resistance to him by his son disturbed him, but he did not change his position; the bed was a very wide one and he was on the side farthest from the door. As Payne, raising his arm over him, laid the blade of his weapon over the side of his face, he saw that the sleeve of his coat was of Confederate gray; the blade seemed cold, and then it rained, the blood from the wound producing that sensation. He was saved from assassination by the width of the bed and the exertions of those who held Payne, and who finally forced him out of the door. I was deeply interested in this vivid account of the escape of the great statesman from the murderous assault of an armed athlete."

MaddieM · 02-18-2014, 09:16 PM

(02-17-2014 08:59 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:
(02-17-2014 07:00 PM)L Verge Wrote: Question for Linda: Is there any indication as to how much light was in Seward's bedroom? I know Fanny had been reading to her father, but had the gas been turned down so that he could go to sleep? Light, or the lack thereof, could make a significant difference also; and the head and neck areas would be easier to distinguish in low light, I would think.

Fanny wrote in her diary that she had been reading to her father when "I saw that Father seemed inclined to sleep-so turned down the gas..."

Seward was lying on the edge of the bed in a semi-reclining position. Maybe his head was tilted back with his throat exposed but in the dim light Powell couldn't see the wire and mesh brace.

Here is an account of the assassination attempt from Politics and pen pictures at home and abroad by Henry W. Hilliard.

"I found Miss Seward when I entered, and she continued to sit with us for some time after tea was served. The surroundings were familiar; Mr. Seward occupied the house where I had my apartments when in Congress,- a handsome building near the White House...There was not a word uttered during the evening which expressed an unfriendly feeling towards the South. He gave me an account of the assault made upon him by Payne [Powell] on the night of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. He had some days before been injured by a fall from his carriage and was in bed; his son and one or two friends were seated in the room. Visitors were strictly excluded, and when Payne entered the resistance to him by his son disturbed him, but he did not change his position; the bed was a very wide one and he was on the side farthest from the door. As Payne, raising his arm over him, laid the blade of his weapon over the side of his face, he saw that the sleeve of his coat was of Confederate gray; the blade seemed cold, and then it rained, the blood from the wound producing that sensation. He was saved from assassination by the width of the bed and the exertions of those who held Payne, and who finally forced him out of the door. I was deeply interested in this vivid account of the escape of the great statesman from the murderous assault of an armed athlete."

I'm intrigued to know the layout of the bedroom. Was the bed sideways on to the door? It would have to be if Seward is described as being farthest away from it. So Powell had to have attacked him sideways on rather than say, face on, facing up to the bedhead? It's probably safe to assume Powell was right handed, but which side of the room was the bed on, as this might determine how he wielded the knife. Dependant on this, might explain a little the clumsiness of his attempts to slaughter Seward.

Linda Anderson · (This post was last modified: 02-18-2014 10:35 PM by Linda Anderson.)

Seward was directly in front of Powell as Powell entered Seward's bedroom.

Here is the diagram of the Blaine/Seward bedroom done by Paul J. Pelz for the Evening Star. Seward's bed was parallel with the front window that overlooked Lafayette Park. Seward's bedroom was incorrectly labeled in the back of the house in the diagram. Just click on the image for a larger view.

MaddieM · 02-20-2014, 06:41 PM

(02-18-2014 10:33 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote: Seward was directly in front of Powell as Powell entered Seward's bedroom.

Here is the diagram of the Blaine/Seward bedroom done by Paul J. Pelz for the Evening Star. Seward's bed was parallel with the front window that overlooked Lafayette Park. Seward's bedroom was incorrectly labeled in the back of the house in the diagram. Just click on the image for a larger view.

So the bed was sideways on to Powell as he entered. I guess things happened really quickly, and clumsily slashing would be the first thing you'd think of if you hadn't planned it out.

John E. · 02-20-2014, 07:25 PM

If I'm not mistaken, Seward's bed was not where "X" marks the spot in that image. Seward fell off his bed to the right and was between the wall (with south window) and the bed. That would put the head of the bed against the window (facing Lafayette Park (West window?) in that diagram.

Linda, do you have something else ?

Linda Anderson · 02-20-2014, 07:42 PM

Nice avatar, John.

Seward and Blaine's room was in the southwest corner of the Old Clubhouse.

Pelz drew the diagram with the North side of the house on the left side of the diagram. The bottom of the diagram is the west side of the house which faced Lafayette Park. The hallway ran through the center of the house with the stairs located in the back of the hall.

Why do you think the bed is in a different location than Pelz indicates?

L Verge · 02-20-2014, 08:25 PM

I know nothing about the positioning of that room's bed, but I would find it strange if the head of the bed were against a window. It was explained to me from childhood on (growing up in a Victorian house with five large bedrooms) that the head of the bed was always placed on an inside wall (away from windows) to avoid drafts. If the room(s) had a fireplace, the bed would face the fireplace wall (from a distance) to draw the heat.

John E. · 02-20-2014, 10:07 PM

(02-20-2014 07:42 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote: Nice avatar, John.

Seward and Blaine's room was in the southwest corner of the Old Clubhouse.

Pelz drew the diagram with the North side of the house on the left side of the diagram. The bottom of the diagram is the west side of the house which faced Lafayette Park. The hallway ran through the center of the house with the stairs located in the back of the hall.

Why do you think the bed is in a different location than Pelz indicates?

Perhaps I'm a bit turned around. That diagram has me confused. Was there not 3 windows on the side of the house that fronted Lafayette Square?

Was it normal to have a closet with window? I imagine that's where the stairs would have been.

Linda Anderson · 02-20-2014, 11:28 PM

There were three windows on the front of the house. Pelz left the middle one out in his diagram. Since we don't have the original floor plan, perhaps there was no closet with a window when Commodore Rodgers built it in 1831 or Seward or Blaine may have added the closet later.

An article in the 6/29/1889 Idaho Statesman entitled "Mr. Blaine's New Home" states that there is a "broad, central hall, with an old-fashioned stairway located well in its rear."