I found this old article several years ago and thought that it was extremely interesting regarding Powell's Mosby Days:


As an interesting side note, Powell's comrade, W. Ben Palmer was later instrumental in a cause, which had Lew Powell lived being an animal lover himself, he might have joined in: the Founding of the Richmond SPCA!

Did Lew have any of his toes amputated from the frostbite?

(08-05-2012 08:32 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Did Lew have any of his toes amputated from the frostbite?

Not that I know of, Bill. Apparently not....I'd LOVE to find more of this story!

I noticed the article mentioned kidnapping, not killing. George Atzerodt, an integral part of the kidnapping plot, said he never heard mention of killing anyone until the day of April 14. Did Powell ever have anything recorded about when he first heard the plot was now assassination rather than kidnapping? Did he (similar to Atzerodt) also maintain the first time he heard the change of plans was April 14? There is good evidence that Powell was "scouting" the Seward residence during the April 12-April 14 period, so I am thinking Powell knew earlier than Atzerodt. To me this tends to give credence to those authors who feel Lincoln's April 11th speech was the turning point...

(08-06-2012 04:03 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I noticed the article mentioned kidnapping, not killing. George Atzerodt, an integral part of the kidnapping plot, said he never heard mention of killing anyone until the day of April 14. Did Powell ever have anything recorded about when he first heard the plot was now assassination rather than kidnapping? Did he (similar to Atzerodt) also maintain the first time he heard the change of plans was April 14? There is good evidence that Powell was "scouting" the Seward residence during the April 12-April 14 period, so I am thinking Powell knew earlier than Atzerodt. To me this tends to give credence to those authors who feel Lincoln's April 11th speech was the turning point...

You are correct, Roger! As far as I know, Lew Powell told Dr. Gillette that nothing but kidnapping was mentioned until the evening of April 14, 1865. BUT - I wonder, like you if things weren't discussed earlier. Why would Lew be scouting out Seward's house? Flirting with Margaret Coleman, yes...but he was doing more than just eyeing a pretty girl. He was there to get information - definite information as to where Seward was located in the house and apparently how his health was. I believe that Lew knew more than he let on of course. He was closer to JWB than any of the others in that I think he had the full confidence of Booth, whereas the others (Messrs. Atzerodt, Herold) did not at this time period. I, too feel that more than likely April 11 was the turning point. It wasn't long after Lincoln's speech that Lew started going over to the Seward's house.

Betty: I just wondered. The frostbite sounded severe. I had a patient years ago who lost all of her toes.

Powell, at least as far as I know kept his toes! There is nothing on record to indicate any amputations. He may simply have just had "Frost Nip" - where the extremities turn white and get numb and then painful for a while? My sister used to ski quite a bit and got this. No amputations either....but she called it Frost Bite....same with the Victorians. I assume that everything related to cold related damage would be possibly called Frost Bite, just as almost ANY lung or pulmonary disease would be referred to as "Consumption", i.e. T.B, be it emphysema, or even asthma.

You know these Florida kids -- they also couldn't apparently handle snow and ice ! HA!

Ha! You're so funny! I'm in Michigan so I know exactly what you mean.

This may sound like a strange question but since we're talking about Powell-here goes: Was the medical device Seward was wearing on his head (which obstructed Powell's knife thrusts to a degree)-made of wood or metal? Many have assumed it was metal-are they in error?

Seward broke his jaw in a carriage accident on April 5. He was wearing a mesh device over his jaw when he was attacked by Powell on April 14. The metal device devised by Dr. Gunning was put on Seward two weeks after Powell's attack.

So Linda, it was made of metal then?

Seward was wearing a splint made of wire and bandages when he was attacked by Powell on April 14. There is a discussion of Seward's splints on the Countdown to July 7 thread. Here's what I wrote in Post #26.

Dr. Gunning wrote a book called Treatment of Fracture of the Jaw [Google Books] in which he describes Seward's mouth splints. The account starts on page 58. Dr. Gunning saw Seward on April 16 when Seward was still wearing the wire splint. He considered the wire splint that Seward was wearing at the time of Powell's attack "not only useless but dangerous..."

Betty: And speaking of Powell's frostbite condition-did you ever come across somewhere the claim that he was constipated for a whole month? Whoa-that had to be tough! I don't remember where I read that but it was supposed to have occurred after he was arrested.

Betty will have more to add to this, Bill, but what you heard is absolutely correct. I may be wrong, but I think they were even considering making that part of his defense related to insanity.

Laurie: Ha! What a hoot. On the other, that might drive someone crazy. Wonder what the remedy was for that back then-since there was no Ex-Lax!