What if....

[Matthew R]

I thought perhaps just for fun to play a little "what if".

Not sure if this has been brought up before and if so my apologies.

In an era where a gun misfire was far from rare, as we saw with Powell at Seward's house, how do people think things would/could/might have played out if Booth's gun had misfired.

[J. Beckert]

It's not popular here, but I think Booth would have dropped the Deringer and quickly retrieved the revolver he had with him and made an even cleaner exit.

[Gene C]

It's not popular here, but I think Booth would have dropped the Deringer and quickly retrieved the revolver he had with him and made an even cleaner exit.

Since we're pretending, I'll pretend the revolver misfired too (like Payne's) , so he had to use his second deringer. That gives Rathbone a little more time to react, but he sustains a more serious knife injury. Without Rathbone clutching at him, Booth goes over the rail a bit smoother, but still injures his back when he lands on the stage. Same end result. (According to my time travel experience, you can't change history)

[asobbingfilm]

I understand that Derringers like Booths were sold in pairs yes. Still, Im looking for credible evidence that Booth owned or carried the second one. I dont doubt the possibility but if you can clue me in on sources for this assumption I'd love to hear them. As for the misfire and result, consider what the result might have been if Lincoln had not been killed. Think of the "butterfly effect' or maybe just how bad Marty Mc Fly messed up the future in Back to the Future. I imagine a scenario where Lincoln not being assassinated changes the course of history in a BAD way. Lincoln lovers always assume that him living and finishing his second term would have been a great thing but would it ? Interesting to consider the possibilities.

[LincolnMan]

I don't think the misfire would have stopped Booth's "mission." He was determined to carry his deed through. If he had another gun, I think he would have used it. His camp bowie knife was also still available to him.

[Hess1865]

I contend that if Booth's gun didn't go off, Lincoln would jumped up and knocked Booth on his you-know-what!
Abe wasn't exactly some frail old man!

[LincolnMan]

That would have been so cool! Certainly he had the physical strength to do so. Maybe Mary would have done a number on him too.

[RJNorton]

I contend that if Booth's gun didn't go off, Lincoln would jumped up and knocked Booth on his you-know-what!
Abe wasn't exactly some frail old man!

If this story be true, Mr. Hess, so right you are!

"Historians figure Abraham Lincoln was showing off on April 8, 1865, when, at the end of a long day, he spotted an ax at a Union Army field hospital in Virginia. He'd spent hours shaking hands with thousands of wounded soldiers. A doctor told him his arm was surely tired.

Holding his arm straight out, Lincoln picked up the ax by the butt, with the handle parallel to the ground, and held the 7-pound tool motionless. He was 56 years old and one week away from assassination.

Strong men who looked on, men accustomed to manual labor, could not hold the same ax in that position for a moment," wrote Francis Fisher Browne, a Union soldier who authored a biography called "The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln."

[Craig Hipkins]

I think that Lincoln would have pummeled Booth in his younger days, due to his great strength, but at the time of the assassination he was 56 years old, tired, and possibly terminally ill. He would have been matching his strength against a much younger, acrobatic, and physically fit John Wilkes Booth. It would not have been easy for him. However, he had Rathbone in the box with him. Surely, the two of them could have subdued Booth. Then again...if Booth had pistol whipped Lincoln...I think that I will stop here because there are too many What If's.

CRaig

[LincolnMan]

Obviously, the element of surprise was crucial for Booth. Even if Lincoln and the others in the box became aware that something bad was occurring- would any of them have had the presence of mind in that moment to effectively intervene? By the time the situation would be surmised, Booth would have made another attempt by whatever means he had available.

[MaddieM]

I don't think the misfire would have stopped Booth's "mission." He was determined to carry his deed through. If he had another gun, I think he would have used it. His camp bowie knife was also still available to him.

I agree. If someone really wants to kill another, they'll do it. I think he'd have stabbed Lincoln in the neck or back, if the gun misfired and would most likely have then been wrestled to the ground, therefore depriving him of his Sic Semper Tyrannis moment of glory. I've always thought that Lewis Powell had serious doubts when he was attacking Seward and this somehow, at some deep psychological level, stopped him from killing his target.

[Jim Garrett]

A whole lotta what ifs. If the deringer had misifired, Booth would have proceeded over the railing and while falling to the stage below, he would have pulled out the coal bomb (just as possible as the revolver), ignited it, tossed it over his shoulder and into the box, and blown the place to high holy heaven

[LincolnMan]

Jim: it wouldn't have been the first time JWB bombed on stage.

[Jim Garrett]

It would be a trifecta, Philadelphia, Richmond and Washington.

[Hess1865]

Then again, if Booth missed, MTL could have nagged him to death....

---

I contend that if Booth's gun didn't go off, Lincoln would jumped up and knocked Booth on his you-know-what!
Abe wasn't exactly some frail old man!

If this story be true, Mr. Hess, so right you are!

"Historians figure Abraham Lincoln was showing off on April 8, 1865, when, at the end of a long day, he spotted an ax at a Union Army field hospital in Virginia. He'd spent hours shaking hands with thousands of wounded soldiers. A doctor told him his arm was surely tired.

Holding his arm straight out, Lincoln picked up the ax by the butt, with the handle parallel to the ground, and held the 7-pound tool motionless. He was 56 years old and one week away from assassination.

Strong men who looked on, men accustomed to manual labor, could not hold the same ax in that position for a moment," wrote Francis Fisher Browne, a Union soldier who authored a biography called "The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln."

Yes Mr. Norton, that is the story that makes me think Lincoln would have put a major hurt on Booth.