A relevant question has been brought up by Dan Pearson -

This one has been brought up before, but what and why didn't the "boys" make for better provisions on the night of April 14th?

Did Booth and Herold REALLY think that they could make it down to Ashland, VA on to Richmond without fresh clothing and/or other provisions? Of course they would have Confederate safe houses on the way to tide them over, ala' Mudd, Cox, Jones, etc. Did they think that besides comestibles, they would need fresh clothing, including ammo for guns, etc.

What of Powell? More than likely going towards Baltimore, after he rode a ways, he would need not only food (of which he had none - and no safe houses along the way to provide it), but in losing his hat he would be mighty suspicious. He obviously did NOT carry saddlebags....

My question is -- since neither Booth nor Herold drew attention, they both had hats; with JWB's apparently with his horse outside. What else did Booth pack, if anything?

Powell stuffed his pockets with miscellaneous personal effects - but nothing to draw attention away from him as a lack of a hat would definitely make him suspicious. He was ill prepared for this contingency.

What do ya'll think? How well prepared or ill prepared were these guys?

In my opinion - I don't think they had planned this very well at all!

Great question Betty. I have the impression that Powell, Atzerodt and Herold depended on Booth for all the planning. Booth seemed to be under the impression that everyone in southern Maryland and Virginia would gladly offer him aid. That seems to be the extent of his planning.

Powell is perplexing. You mentioned in an earlier thread, (Mary Surratt's Denial of Lewis Powell, post #14) that he had $25 on him. That seems to be more than enough to help him get to Baltimore (if that was his goal) to get to a safe house. Would they have accepted him, if the original plan had only been to kidnap, and would they even have been expecting him. (if you kidnap, you head for Richmond)

There seems to be very little planning by Booth and the conspirators about what to do after the assassination - except which direction to head for. Did they have expectations that some one higher up had made the arangements regarding their escape? Or is the old saying true..."People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan"? (We insurance people like that phrase)

Is the apparent lack of preparation partly due to the fact that Booth hastened the plan after hearing of Lincoln's plan to attend the theater?

Do we believe Atzerodt who said that Booth sent supplies ahead to Dr. Mudd? I do.

And, I also agree with Gene that Booth and Herold were planning on the hospitality of Southern sympathizers and compatriots along their route -- and they got it until they crossed the Potomac. It wasn't until crossing the Rappahannock that they got real aid from the three Confederate soldiers and the Garretts.

Remember, that JWB pulled all this together between 11:00am and 8:00pm. He must have felt like he was struck by a thunderbolt when Harry Ford told hime the President and General Grant were coming to the show that night. I about eight hours of planning, we darn near decapitated the Federal government.

I agree with the "Sage of Surrattsvile", JWB was relying on the hospitality of the Southern people. Who knows how far he would have gotten if......

I think that Lewis Powell, being a professional soldier, knew how to travel light.

Laurie mentioned Atzerodt. Atzerodt said, "I am certain Dr. Mudd knew all about it, as Booth sent (as he told me) liquors & provisions for the trip with the President to Richmond, about two weeks before the murder to Dr. Mudd's."

Seems to me this lends credence to the argument Booth planned on stopping at Mudd's no matter what the plan was - kidnapping or murder.

I agree with provisions regarding kidnapping - these were more or less of vital importance if the boys had the President in tow....and a plan was more or less in essence to stop at Mudd's and every other stop on the way south.....

However, Lew Powell was NOT going south - and professional soldier that he was, I have to agree with Jim, he did travel light - although I would have made sure to pack TWO hats in case one was lost. He made sure to pack two tooth brushes and two handkerchiefs. Why not another hat? That would have been more crucial. I also don't think that he thought he'd have to resort to his knife - most certainly not. Had his gun not missed fire, he would not have been as blood spattered, if at all, and could more or less have made a "clean" getaway in more ways than one. His probable plan was to perhaps ride back around the city and catch a train to Baltimore if possible. I doubt he thought he could ride the 40 + miles to the Monument City, although he may have thought so.

The whole thing seemed a bit of a chaotic mess to me. To execute something so drastic, it makes no sense not to plan ahead down to the last meticulous detail....unless of course, it was a last minute decision, which it seems to have been. Was JWB so magnetic and dominant a character that he totally held the others in his thrall? Or were there promises, albeit empty ones, and false assurances that he had no possible hope of honouring, that escape for all of them would be assured? The more i read about this, the more I'm inclined to believe that a higher authority was really running the show...fuelled by JWB's ego and a certain amount of naivete of the whole group in general.

Sam Arnold indicated in his memoirs that JWB could be most persuasive, especially after everyone had a few drinks. He was a somebody, they weren't. He traveled, had connections and claimed to consult with top confederat officials. He was also a chic magnet and bought them food & drinks, made them feel important.

Maybe killing Lincoln was not a last minute decision, but killing him at Ford's on Good Friday probably was.

What if there was no higher authority. And just plain old ego involved on the part of JWB.

(08-23-2012, 05:10 AM)MaddieM Wrote: What if there was no higher authority. And just plain old ego involved on the part of JWB.

I've always thought that there WAS a "higher authority" - Powell in prison said that there was; i.e. someone high up in the Confederate hierarchy - and I think that "someone" was Judah P. Benjamin. Surratt worked for him; more than likely Powell as well, once he left Mosby's unit. Booth may have been persuasive and had illustrious connections - but so did Powell. He was second cousin to General John Brown Gordon.

I am in total agreement with Betty on this. We may be in the minority, but there are just too many "hints" to indicate that Booth was answering to a higher authority. Surratt members will soon be receiving their September newsletter, so make sure you read the feature article.

Did Booth have a charming personality? Yes. Did he have powers of persuasion? Yes, but they only appeared to work on certain members of the gang. Arnold and O'Laughlen dropped out when the talk turned to assassination; John Surratt wasn't around because he was following orders from his superiors; Powell was following his assignment from Mosby or someone higher to support Booth; Herold was naive and star-struck, but also had connections in Southern Maryland.

Was alcohol a contributing factor? I don't consider Booth an alcoholic. I think he was like most men of his day (that were not held hostage by the temperance movement) and could throw down drinks with the best of them. The drink might fuel his fires, but I don't think it clouded his mission.

Was it an ego issue? I don't think so. I think it was a set plan to throw chaos into the Union government via capture and then murder when things went awry. I also attribute Booth's actions to his political principles which were shared by thousands of people in the defeated South as well as the Midwest and certain areas of New York.

To me, this is what makes Booth and the Lincoln assassinaton so different and so interesting as compared to at least the Garfield and McKinley ones. The 1865 event leaves so many avenues to explore - not just one based on the craziness and whims of the assassin.

Roger had mentioned in a previous post that the National Geographic show "Lost Treasures" would feature a supposed JWB spur. In Michigan the show aired last night. The segment on the spur was only a few minutes long as the expert brought in to comment on the spur quickly dismissed it. The spur was very fancy, by the way, and didn't match any of the existing "Booth" spurs-including the one at Ford's. Worth of the spur? Not much-since there was only one-and it didn't belong to Booth. Maybe fifty dollars?

(08-23-2012, 06:02 AM)BettyO Wrote:

(08-23-2012, 05:10 AM)MaddieM Wrote: What if there was no higher authority. And just plain old ego involved on the part of JWB.

I've always thought that there WAS a "higher authority" - Powell in prison said that there was; i.e. someone high up in the Confederate hierarchy - and I think that "someone" was Judah P. Benjamin. Surratt worked for him; more than likely Powell as well, once he left Mosby's unit. Booth may have been persuasive and had illustrious connections - but so did Powell. He was second cousin to General John Brown Gordon.

I've just found this. Why would Johnson be implicated in the assassination?

Approximately 7 hours before shooting the President, Booth dropped by the Washington hotel which was Vice-President Andrew Johnson’s residence. Upon learning from the desk clerk that neither Johnson nor his private secretary, William A. Browning, was in the hotel, Booth wrote the following note: “Don’t wish to disturb you Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth.”

Mary Todd Lincoln: “As sure, as you and I live, Johnson, had some hand, in all this…”

http://thinkorthwim.com/2007/04/18/johns...ssination/

Mary Lincoln was very picky about some of the men in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet - there was no love lost between her and most of the gentleman. Johnson was no exception. She apparently seemed to feel that he was egotistical, a drunkard and was power hungry for Mr. Lincoln's position as President. False of course, except for Mr. Johnson's apparent drinking problems from time to time....

No one in Lincoln's cabinet had anything to do with his murder - outside of the beliefs of Otto Eisenschiml and Ray Neff.