A Man On The South Side Of The Capitol

[RobertLC]

In his book, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Osborn H. Oldroyd notes that as Booth headed to the Navy Yard Bridge he was seen by a man on the south side of the Capitol Building. I have included a copy of the page from his book with a highlight of that sentence.

What do we know about this man? Did he submit a letter of evidence before the trial? Did he provide an affidavit? Did he testify at the trial of the conspirators? I have read a similar account someplace, but can’t remember where. As I have searched for additional information about this man, I have not had much success. Maybe I’ve missed it.

Any help for this old inquiring mind will be greatly appreciated.
Robert

[L Verge]

(07-15-2014 07:50 PM)RobertLC Wrote:  In his book, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Osborn H. Oldroyd notes that as Booth headed to the Navy Yard Bridge he was seen by a man on the south side of the Capitol Building. I have included a copy of the page from his book with a highlight of that sentence.

What do we know about this man? Did he submit a letter of evidence before the trial? Did he provide an affidavit? Did he testify at the trial of the conspirators? I have read a similar account someplace, but can’t remember where. As I have searched for additional information about this man, I have not had much success. Maybe I’ve missed it.

Any help for this old inquiring mind will be greatly appreciated.
Robert

So far as I know, this story has been repeated by other authors after Oldroyd. I have never seen a man's name given as the source of its beginnings.

It is very likely that someone did report seeing a man riding fast near the Capitol, but his name was not entered into the records OR he is one of the hundreds listed in the evidence files, but hard to find if you don't know the name. Surely someone in the 20th century would have included it in a book if they knew the source.

[Rsmyth]

Oldroyds book included information not available during the trial. He failed to include names of others he met or referenced like the neighbor of the Mudds who sold him "Booth's" spur. First thing we would want to know is how soon after the assassination did the witness state he saw Booth ride by.

[BettyO]

I agree -- if this person did indeed exist (and I'm not doubting that he did) it would be interesting to know just how long after the assassination that his recollections were made known. Was this something from memory; an attempt at his place in the spotlight as so many were. It'd be interesting to find out.

[L Verge]

I've often wondered if Booth even went past the south side of the Capitol. He could have gone straight down closer to the SW waterfront and then turned towards the bridge OR he could have gone past the south side and then turned into 11th Street SE to reach the bridge.

[RobertLC]

If he did exist, he has become very elusive. But, I suppose that as I've looked through evidence over time, it would have been possible to miss him.

I, too, have seen other references to him, but never an associated name.

I also agree that he might have seen Booth or, later crawled out of the woodwork for glory.

But, I’d love to know for sure, if and when he appeared, and what he had to say.

[Dave Taylor]

While I can't provide a reason for Oldroyd's contention that the unidentified witness who observed Booth's horse was on his way to work, I believe I have found the origin of the sighting. However, I must preface this with the warning that if the source I found is the origin of the story, we probably have it wrong.

From what I have found, it appears the story originates with John Fletcher. On the night of the assassination, stableman John Fletcher saw David Herold riding his overdue horse and shouted at him. Herold, spurred the horse and fled from Fletcher. Fletcher returned to Naylor's stable and mounted his own horse to give chase. In the trial of the conspirators, Fletcher testifies to the following:

"I got a horse, and went along the avenue until came to Thirteenth Street; went up Thirteenth Street to E, along E until I came to Ninth, and turned down Ninth Street to Pennsylvania Avenue again. I went along the avenue to the south side of the Capitol. I there met a gentleman coming down; and I asked him if he saw any men going up there, riding on horseback. He said yes, and that they were riding very fast. I did not ask him any more questions."

This appears to be Oldroyd's evidence for Booth having been spotted on horseback near the south side of the Capitol. However, if we investigate further, the assumption that one of these unnumbered "men" is Booth appears to be incorrect.

Fletcher gave his testimony at the conspiracy trial on May 17. On April 23rd he gave a statement to the authorities. In it he discusses chasing after Herold:

"I went back to the stable, put a saddle and bridle on a horse and rode up towards the Capitol, met some gentlemen and asked them if they had met a horse up there of such color, & they said yes, they had met a man going very fast on such a horse and another one after him."

Note that in this version Fletcher ran into some gentlemen rather than just one man. In addition, this account specifies that Fletcher asked about and was told that these unnamed men had seen Herold's horse, the roan gelding rented from Naylor's. There is no description of the other horse they saw.

Col. John Foster, who assisted in the collection of evidence and statements, composed a note on April 23, consolidating the government's information about the conspirators' horses. In recounting Fletcher's interaction near the Capitol he stated:

"At the south side of the capitol he made inquiries of a man who told him that a horse answering the description of the roan horse had gone down towards Navy Yard at a furious rate followed by another one going equally fast."

Again, this version supports that the men/man near the south side of the Capitol definitely saw Herold's horse and helped Fletcher continue to track it down. However, it does not definitively state that the other horse and rider were Booth.

In fact, logically speaking, the other rider mentioned by the unnamed men/man should not be Booth based on the fact that Booth arrived at the Navy Yard bridge before Davy. If the rider who followed after Herold's horse was Booth, how did he manage to beat Davy to the Navy Yard bridge?

Either we're missing another account in which a different man/men near the south side of the Capitol saw Booth specifically on horseback, or authors like Oldroyd read Fletcher's testimony at the trial and decided to make one of the men he mentioned Booth. However, based on the order Fletcher's informant(s) saw the horses (Herold's first) and the order the men arrived at the Navy Yard bridge (Booth first), it seems unlikely that Fletcher's informant(s) saw Booth.

[Linda Anderson]

I googled "south side of the Capital" and besides Oldroyd I came up with Protecting President Lincoln by Frederick Hatch. Here are his sources.

Chapter 13 - p. 118
"He [Booth] was seen riding hard on the south side of the Capital, heading for the Navy Yard Bridge..."1

1. Roscoe, p. 131; James O. Hall, John Wilkes Booth Escape Route (Clinton, MD: Surratt Society, 2000), pp, 1-4.

[BettyO]

Well....if Mr. Hall clarified it, then, I'd say it was so - that Herold (and possibly JWB earlier) was riding on the South Side of the Capitol.

But you are right, Dave. JWB went across the bridge first - followed by Herold as verified by Cobb.

[RobertLC]

Thanks to everyone for your help so far. I sincerely appreciate all the info.
Additional morsels of knowledge will be equally appreciated.
Thanks again.
Robert

[Dave Taylor]

(07-16-2014 10:56 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  I googled "south side of the Capital" and besides Oldroyd I came up with Protecting President Lincoln by Frederick Hatch. Here are his sources.

Chapter 13 - p. 118
"He [Booth] was seen riding hard on the south side of the Capital, heading for the Navy Yard Bridge..."1

1. Roscoe, p. 131; James O. Hall, John Wilkes Booth Escape Route (Clinton, MD: Surratt Society, 2000), pp, 1-4.

On page 131 of The Web of Conspiracy by Theodore Roscoe (referenced above) it states:

"On the south side of the Capitol, a horseman cantering toward midtown was passed by another horseman going hell-bent toward the outlying Navy Yard. Perhaps the hard-riding horseman was John Wilkes Booth, perhaps not."

This descriptive, yet less than definitive, part of the text has no source for it.

[Linda Anderson]

(07-23-2014 09:21 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  

(07-16-2014 10:56 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  I googled "south side of the Capital" and besides Oldroyd I came up with Protecting President Lincoln by Frederick Hatch. Here are his sources.

Chapter 13 - p. 118
"He [Booth] was seen riding hard on the south side of the Capital, heading for the Navy Yard Bridge..."1

1. Roscoe, p. 131; James O. Hall, John Wilkes Booth Escape Route (Clinton, MD: Surratt Society, 2000), pp, 1-4.

On page 131 of The Web of Conspiracy by Theodore Roscoe (referenced above) it states:

"On the south side of the Capitol, a horseman cantering toward midtown was passed by another horseman going hell-bent toward the outlying Navy Yard. Perhaps the hard-riding horseman was John Wilkes Booth, perhaps not."

This descriptive, yet less than definitive, part of the text has no source for it.

Thanks, Dave. Do you or anyone else have Mr. Hall's John Wilkes Booth Escape Route to see what he has to say about the mysterious horseman?

[Dave Taylor]

(07-23-2014 09:47 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Thanks, Dave. Do you or anyone else have Mr. Hall's John Wilkes Booth Escape Route to see what he has to say about the mysterious horseman?

I'm assuming that text is the booklet they give out on the Booth tours. I have one dated 1984 and one from 2000. The text looks the same in both.

"After turning on F street, Booth probably cut across Judiciary Square to Pennsylvania Avenue. He was seen riding fast just South of the Capitol grounds. The citizen who made this report was not named, unfortunately. And there was a second man a few minutes behind him, also riding fast. This second man was David Edgar Herold, an accomplice in the plot."

Again, this evidence is not cited.

Unless there is another, period source out there, I think there are only two possibilities.

1. Booth was never seen on the south side of the Capitol, and John Fletcher's account was flipped by authors in order to "fix it".

2. Booth was the second horseman that rode by the Capitol and somewhere between there and the Navy Yard bridge Herold took a detour long enough for Booth to beat him to the bridge.

[Linda Anderson]

(07-23-2014 10:06 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 09:47 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Thanks, Dave. Do you or anyone else have Mr. Hall's John Wilkes Booth Escape Route to see what he has to say about the mysterious horseman?

I'm assuming that text is the booklet they give out on the Booth tours. I have one dated 1984 and one from 2000. The text looks the same in both.

"After turning on F street, Booth probably cut across Judiciary Square to Pennsylvania Avenue. He was seen riding fast just South of the Capitol grounds. The citizen who made this report was not named, unfortunately. And there was a second man a few minutes behind him, also riding fast. This second man was David Edgar Herold, an accomplice in the plot."

Again, this evidence is not cited.

Unless there is another, period source out there, I truly think previous authors have altered John Fletcher's statement to fit the order we know Booth and Herold arrived at the Navy Yard bridge. Herold definitely went by the south side of the Capitol, but I'm not too sure about Booth.

Thanks again, Dave. So "the citizen who made this report [who] was not named" was probably John Fletcher and, as you say, "the assumption that one of these unnumbered "men" [that Fletcher mentions] is Booth appears to be incorrect."

[SSlater]

Allow me one negative reply. Since there was a reward offered for providing information toward the capture of the assassin, I imagine there were many reports of "I saw him" , only for the sake of the reward. I say this only because it should be considered, along with all the rest. Many "look-alikes" were hauled in. For example, When Thomas Nelson Conrad was captured, April 17 +/-, he had changed his appearance so the he resembled Booth. (A decoy?) I don't question anything posting here, I question the person who said it.