A Threat To The Republic

[Gene C]

An interesting book by Jerrod Madonna, who is a member on this forum.
Easy to read, good sized print with over 350 pages. It will hold your attention, it's an enjoyable book to read. He doesn't overwhelm you with details, the material is well organized, the print size and his writing style makes it easy to read.

In the preface it is noted about the circumstances regarding a frequently overlooked source of information regarding Lincoln's assassination - Atzerodt's confession.
Jerrod states, "In an attempt to save his own life, he told authorities all that he knew about John Wilkes Booth, the plots against Abrahan Lincoln, and the people he knew to be involved"..."However, the prosecution was selective in what parts of Atzerodt's deposition they used."

He also writes, "The conclusions of this book are based upon the credibility of the government's primary informer, George Atzerodt and the historical record of the time."

Just what are the conclusions? Well, I don't want to spoil it for you, maybe I'll comment on this later. Even if you don't totally agree with some of his conclusions, this book will make you think. He points out some interesting facts, and you can follow his reasoning to decide for yourself. I'll need to read through it again. Maybe someone out there in cyber space will share their impressions.

An additional item I enjoyed about the book, Jerrod does point out some of the far reaching social consequences of Lincoln's assassination.

Available through your favorite on-line book store, but I purchased my copy from the Surratt House. Several sample pages are on the Amazon site. Well worth reading if your thinking about purchasing.

https://www.amazon.com/Threat-Republic-J...od+Madonna

[RJNorton]

I second Gene. I think Jerry's book is fascinating. Did Andrew Johnson unintentionally aid Booth and Herold? If so, how did Booth thank Johnson? Did Mary Surratt give secret information to John A Bingham? Jerry attempts to answer these and many other questions surrounding the assassination. This book will definitely hold one's attention whether or not one agrees with Jerry's theories. It's very different from your standard Lincoln assassination book.

[L Verge]

Jerry can attest to the fact that we have had several "discussions" on his theories, but the book is definitely worth reading and pondering over. He put a lot more research into it than some of the others who have authored books -- and he has a unique take on the subject.

[JMadonna]

Thank you guys for all the positive feedback. Where were you when I needed all the positive reviewers I could find?

For those of you who care what's in my pipeline; I decided that 'Threat' was too long. Its tough to interest enough customers to read anything over 200 pages these days, so I turned it into a trilogy. Book 1 explores the "Black Flag War' from Gettysburg to the assassination, Book 2 restates the theories I presented in 'Threat" and Book 3,"Renegade President" takes you from the assassination to the end of Lincoln's second term including the impeachment and leadership of Thad Stevens "the manliest man of the House"... love that guy.

I've also written 'Politics and War' - the politics of the US and UK home-front that influenced the decisions of FDR during the war. These decisions still affect the world we live in today.

Another book that I've written is on Sanford Conover the greatest liar that Washington's ever seen. Was he a 'split personality' or truly a criminal mastermind? Hard to tell but there is no doubt he's influenced the way we view the assassination today.

My problem is that I'm far more interested in researching and writing than I am in publishing. I have no agent and no desire to find one. So maybe these books will become an 'unpublished collection'

[L Verge]

I know of a very nice research center that would be happy to inherit your "unpublished collection" of items related to the Lincoln years...

[JMadonna]

I'll talk with you about it at the conference

[Gene C]

I didn't think the book's length was to long.
I forgot to mention the book has several illustrations, they help to keep the reader engaged. 300+ pages of nothing but the printed pages can sometimes get a bit overwhelming.
Jerry also recounts some of the events of Andrew Johnson's administration in a interesting way. Most of what I knew about Johnson came from Benjamin Thomas's biography on Stanton.

[JMadonna]

I guess an author is his own worst critic. Glad you liked the illustrations, that was exactly the reason I included them. I think actual sketches and editorial cartoons give the feel of the times.

WARNING... I feel a small rant emanating from reading the morning paper .....

Most of my histories are written from the Washington point of view and I gotta say that there was never a 'golden age' for this city. It remains, in my opinion, no place for an honest man. It's always been a place where greed and corruption meet to manipulate the masses. The Civil War was the worst of times and Lincoln deserves all credit for keeping things together.

I think the founding fathers understood that corruption and freedom needed to co-exist and designed the constitution to give us divided government. I believe that we will remain a constitutional government because to scrap it, as some would advocate, would surrender our enumerated 'inalienable rights' to whatever new political wave promises to modernize them.

Simply put, the constitution will survive because the people will always want it to.

[L Verge]

I guess an author is his own worst critic. Glad you liked the illustrations, that was exactly the reason I included them. I think actual sketches and editorial cartoons give the feel of the times.

WARNING... I feel a small rant emanating from reading the morning paper .....

Most of my histories are written from the Washington point of view and I gotta say that there was never a 'golden age' for this city. It remains, in my opinion, no place for an honest man. It's always been a place where greed and corruption meet to manipulate the masses. The Civil War was the worst of times and Lincoln deserves all credit for keeping things together.

I think the founding fathers understood that corruption and freedom needed to co-exist and designed the constitution to give us divided government. I believe that we will remain a constitutional government because to scrap it, as some would advocate, would surrender our enumerated 'inalienable rights' to whatever new political wave promises to modernize them.

Simply put, the constitution will survive because the people will always want it to.

I agree with your points, Jerry, but I wish I could be as optimistic as you as to future generations holding on to our constitutional principles and a strong republic. To use the title of your book, I think our country faces one of the largest threats to the republic that it has ever had.

IMO, even the Confederate States of America supported constitutional rights. The forces that are threatening us (especially from within) now do not hold those same inalienable rights and principles. I am not even certain that some of the high-placed politicians on Capitol Hill do either.

My mother died ten years ago at age 94. She had no higher education than high school, but she was common sense smart and well-read. When her great-grandson was born in 2000, she held him in her arms and said, "I don't want to see the world that you will be inheriting, my little love." I'm sure that all exiting generations feel the same fear for what lies ahead for their descendants, but I now hold the same feelings that my mother had -- and living twelve miles from Washington, D.C. doesn't help in the least...

[JMadonna]

I guess an author is his own worst critic. Glad you liked the illustrations, that was exactly the reason I included them. I think actual sketches and editorial cartoons give the feel of the times.

WARNING... I feel a small rant emanating from reading the morning paper .....

Most of my histories are written from the Washington point of view and I gotta say that there was never a 'golden age' for this city. It remains, in my opinion, no place for an honest man. It's always been a place where greed and corruption meet to manipulate the masses. The Civil War was the worst of times and Lincoln deserves all credit for keeping things together.

I think the founding fathers understood that corruption and freedom needed to co-exist and designed the constitution to give us divided government. I believe that we will remain a constitutional government because to scrap it, as some would advocate, would surrender our enumerated 'inalienable rights' to whatever new political wave promises to modernize them.

Simply put, the constitution will survive because the people will always want it to.

I agree with your points, Jerry, but I wish I could be as optimistic as you as to future generations holding on to our constitutional principles and a strong republic. To use the title of your book, I think our country faces one of the largest threats to the republic that it has ever had.

IMO, even the Confederate States of America supported constitutional rights. The forces that are threatening us (especially from within) now do not hold those same inalienable rights and principles. I am not even certain that some of the high-placed politicians on Capitol Hill do either.

My mother died ten years ago at age 94. She had no higher education than high school, but she was common sense smart and well-read. When her great-grandson was born in 2000, she held him in her arms and said, "I don't want to see the world that you will be inheriting, my little love." I'm sure that all exiting generations feel the same fear for what lies ahead for their descendants, but I now hold the same feelings that my mother had -- and living twelve miles from Washington, D.C. doesn't help in the least...

Every generation has seen the end of the world coming ( remember Y2k?.... stupid Mayans). But our republic has survived far worse in the Civil War and other struggles. Lincoln's greatness was rooted in his confidence that our government of consent by the governed, based on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, would endure.

Since he was never a slaveholder - he's still regarded as politically correct.

[Gene C]

I was wondering about Booth's travel pass, if he needed one when he passed over the bridge to southern Maryland the night of the assassination?

I don't recall any mention of Weichmann & Mrs Surratt having one when they traveled to Surrattsville the day of the assassination.

For those that had one to cross military lines, was the pass kept by the traveler or did they hand it over and at what point?

[GustD45]

I know from reading Blood on the Moon by Dr. Steers that Booth and Herold on the night of the murder talked their way past the guard at the Navy Yard Bridge so they didn't display a pass. As far as Weichmann and Mrs Surratt no mention was ever made in the trial testimony of a pass. I will say my knowledge is limited so if others on this forum know please inform us.

[JMadonna]

I was wondering about Booth's travel pass, if he needed one when he passed over the bridge to southern Maryland the night of the assassination?

I don't recall any mention of Weichmann & Mrs Surratt having one when they traveled to Surrattsville the day of the assassination.

For those that had one to cross military lines, was the pass kept by the traveler or did they hand it over and at what point?

General Order No.5, issued on 24 January 1863, by Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman, was still in effect the night of the assassination and posted at the Navy Bridge. The basic order remained unchanged for over two years.

"None other [passes] will be recognized unless issued from these Head Quarters
or by superior authority. No person excepting General Officers will be passed
over any of the several crossings [of the Potomac] between the hours of 9 p.m.
and daylight without the countersign and a pass."

So yes Booth needed a pass to cross the bridge which led to the closest of the Rebel lines to Washington. The pass stayed with the traveler unless the sentry was told otherwise by the issuer.

Stanton did not send an order to close the bridge after the assassination because he "knew" the bridge was already closed.

[L Verge]

Gene - There are other historians who believe that General Order No. 5 had been rescinded or greatly reduced in enforcement shortly before the assassination since the war was nearly at an end. They also point out that, even during the war, the threat was always thought to come from forces outside the city entering Washington - not from those leaving the city. I don't remember that any mention is made anywhere that Booth or Herold presented passes or codes (i.e. T.B. Road). They just talked their way through.

Several sources make mention of the fugitives passing a line of wagons and drivers standing idle along the road leading into the city. One such author of a recent book even tries to convince readers that this was a convoy of rebels ready to assault the capital!

If you know your Southern Maryland history, you know that Prince George's and Charles Counties were great producers of "truck" farms - not just tobacco. Washington City had a good number of markets and merchants who depended on those vegetables, fruits, eggs, etc., so the farmers of that area would line up outside the sentry posts during all hours of the night in order to be the first to set up their stalls once inside the city.

Again, a case of those entering the city being more suspicious than those leaving. P.S.: John Surratt, Jr. tells a story somewhere about smuggling things in via hidden spots in wagons (and commenting on how stupid the Federals were).

[RJNorton]

John Surratt, Jr. tells a story somewhere about smuggling things in via hidden spots in wagons (and commenting on how stupid the Federals were).

In his Rockville lecture Surratt said:

"We had a regular established line from Washington to the Potomac, and I being the only unmarried man on the route, I had most of the hard riding to do. I devised various ways to carry the dispatches - sometimes in the heel of my boots, sometimes between the planks of the buggy. I confess that never in my life did I come across a more stupid set of detectives than those generally employed by the U.S. government. They seemed to have no idea whatever on how to search men."