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BettyO · 07-12-2012, 09:34 AM

(07-12-2012 09:30 AM)Laurie Verge Wrote: I believe that Booth was seriously considering going to Mexico and perhaps on to South America, where so many Confederates had headed. In my estimation, Booth may have still had the old ideas of the Knights of the Golden Circle -- establish the slave system south of the border.

Remember where John Surratt, Jr. headed for a little R&R following his trial? South America! Checking out the possibility of joining some old comrades down there? We don't know, but he managed to miss his mother's reinterment while visiting down there.

It seems to me that "JJ" missed a LOT regarding his mother - on the lam when she was hanged; and then missing her reinterment....does it appear that he was trying to avoid any connection with what happened to his mother and thereby "elude" his own thoughts that he may have had in relation to his guilt? What do you all think?

Laurie, how much do we know about the relationship between "JJ" and his mom? Was he trying to "break away" perhaps from a too-smothering mother/son relationship in any way?

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 07-12-2012 10:18 AM by Gene C.)

According to the latest copy of the National Gullible Supermarket Tabloid Reader, John Wilkes Booth escapes to Argentina, where he meets up several years later with Etta Place. She introduces him to Butch and Sundance, where they team up to rob banks and mine payrolls. He manages to escape in the shootout with the Bolivian Army who was hunting Butch and Sundance, but they were killed. He returns to Argentina, goes into real estate and becomes rich helping to relocate ex Nazi officials. Somewhere in the timeline of the story he is abducted by aliens and through some kind of time transformation, he is able to retain his youth, and finally passed away quietly in 1953 or 54, when he was cryongenically frozen. His body is now in the same govenment warehouse where Louis Paine's hat is stored.

Laurie Verge · 07-12-2012, 10:26 AM

Gene, I hope no student reads that and uses it in a school paper!

Betty, I have never seen anything to indicate any tension between John and his mother; but then no one kept a journal that we know of, and those are usually the best sources to snoop out family gossip. We know that her letters to a priest had her complaining about her husband's behavior, that's all.

From 1862 on, I don't see how she had time to be a smothering mother with John because he was away so much in service to the Confederacy. If anything, she probably wished he was home more to help with things around the farm.

I suspect that John meandered down South America way to see if he could build a new life there among Confederate-minded cohorts. With his mother gone, their property being auctioned, Anna about to be married, his past deeds working against him, and the economy of Maryland in bad shape, I think he had every reason to investigate a new life elsewhere.

JMadonna · 07-12-2012, 12:15 PM

(07-12-2012 09:30 AM)Laurie Verge Wrote: I believe that Booth was seriously considering going to Mexico and perhaps on to South America, where so many Confederates had headed. In my estimation, Booth may have still had the old ideas of the Knights of the Golden Circle -- establish the slave system south of the border.

Remember where John Surratt, Jr. headed for a little R&R following his trial? South America! Checking out the possibility of joining some old comrades down there? We don't know, but he managed to miss his mother's reinterment while visiting down there.

Laurie,

Mexico was his only option AFTER he turned south. Not even Jeff Davis could make it, it was a long long long horse ride away.

Confederates migrated to South America AFTER Johnson changed Lincoln's amnesty terms. There was no migration before then.

Gene C · 07-12-2012, 01:25 PM

Did the Union blockade during the Civil War include the Chesapeake Bay? Seems to me, if Booth had the time to plan his escape a little better, a medium sized boat in the Chesapeak Bay somewhere south of Baltimore (like Annapolis or Solomons Island) might have been a quick escape path. Certainly easier if he wanted to get out of the country quickly.

BettyO · 07-12-2012, 01:33 PM

(07-12-2012 01:25 PM)Gene C Wrote: Did the Union blockade during the Civil War include the Chesapeake Bay? Seems to me, if Booth had the time to plan his escape a little better, a medium sized boat in the Chesapeak Bay somewhere south of Baltimore (like Annapolis or Solomons Island) might have been a quick escape path. Certainly easier if he wanted to get out of the country quickly.

I'm almost certain the Chesapeake was covered in the blockade. Remember the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac? That was fought in the Chesapeake off the coast of Hampton Roads.... I admit that I don't know as much about the blockade and the maritime experiences during the war -- something I need to bone up on!

JMadonna · (This post was last modified: 07-12-2012 03:28 PM by JMadonna.)

(07-12-2012 01:25 PM)Gene C Wrote: Did the Union blockade during the Civil War include the Chesapeake Bay? Seems to me, if Booth had the time to plan his escape a little better, a medium sized boat in the Chesapeak Bay somewhere south of Baltimore (like Annapolis or Solomons Island) might have been a quick escape path. Certainly easier if he wanted to get out of the country quickly.

Attaboy Gene!

That's what you call thinking outside the box!
Feels good doesn't it.

(07-12-2012 01:33 PM)BettyO Wrote:
(07-12-2012 01:25 PM)Gene C Wrote: Did the Union blockade during the Civil War include the Chesapeake Bay? Seems to me, if Booth had the time to plan his escape a little better, a medium sized boat in the Chesapeak Bay somewhere south of Baltimore (like Annapolis or Solomons Island) might have been a quick escape path. Certainly easier if he wanted to get out of the country quickly.

I'm almost certain the Chesapeake was covered in the blockade. Remember the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac? That was fought in the Chesapeake off the coast of Hampton Roads.... I admit that I don't know as much about the blockade and the maritime experiences during the war -- something I need to bone up on!

Betty,
You only use a maritime blockade if you don't control the port. Baltimore was in Union hands throughout the war, so blockading a port you already have under control would be redundant.
The river at Hampton Roads led to Gosport which was taken by Virginia early in 1861.

Laurie Verge · 07-12-2012, 04:00 PM

I thought the main Union blockade was farther out to sea with only patrol boats close to ports and patrolling rivers. The length of it was what I thought earned it the title "Anaconda Plan."

JMadonna · 07-15-2012, 07:02 AM

(07-12-2012 04:00 PM)Laurie Verge Wrote: I thought the main Union blockade was farther out to sea with only patrol boats close to ports and patrolling rivers. The length of it was what I thought earned it the title "Anaconda Plan."

It was called the Anaconda because it's function was to squeeze the life out of the South by cutting off it's supplies. Because it had a lot of area to cover the ships had to remain fairly close to the ports they were supposed to shut down. The further back from the port, the easier it was to be out-flanked.