"Alias Paine"

[Laurie Verge]

Again, I'll take a beating for throwing in my family history; but if Herold spent the night of April 13 in T.B. with my great-grandparents, the planning would have had to have taken place before that day or after Herold returned to D.C. I believe that one of his sisters stated that Herold came home in time for breakfast on the 14th. He was gone from the Huntt home by 6 am on the 14th, and a ride of two hours would have gotten him back to Eighth Street.

Now, my temper is showing: Why is it so difficult to believe that Confederate forces would not have attempted to re-group if they sensed chaos in the U.S. government? Why is it hard to understand that Jefferson Davis favored continuing the war through guerilla tactics? Why not give credit to the Confederate powers for knowing the Constitutional process of having the Secretary of State call for the special election in the event of the death of both president and vice president? Why not take the last Confederate secret cypher, COME RETRIBUTION, as the purpose behind Booth's actions?

I might also add that soldiers don't ask questions of their superiors - good soldiers do what they are told. Atzerodt had never been a soldier (I would call him a blockade-running mercenary) during the war. Arnold and O'Laughlen left the battlefield behind in the early stages of the war, so they never became seasoned soldiers. They made the right decision to desert Booth's cause, but it was as civilians, not as soldiers. Powell took the soldier's path.

Herold, on the other hand, stayed true to his mission when he had ample opportunity to desert Booth over a twelve-day span. He goes down in history as an immature numbskull, but at least he remained committed to what he had set out to do. We don't know if it was his sense of adventure or idol-worship, or what. However, like a soldier, he stayed the course and paid the penalty.

How many of us - if we had the means, the power, and the knowledge - would take out a known member of a terrorist group based here in the U.S. if we had the opportunity? How many of the colonists would have shot George III if they had a chance? How many loyal Union soldiers went on to massacre Native Americans on and off the battlefields? Let's get real here!