What Was The Role of David Herold

[John Fazio]

(01-31-2013 03:08 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 06:06 PM)L Verge Wrote:  An assassination topic that seems to have no clear answer is: What was the role of David Herold on the night of April 14, 1865? Was he to chaperone Lewis Powell? Keep an eye on Atzerodt? Guide Booth?

Members of the Surratt Society will be treated to an extensive article on this subject in the upcoming February issue of the Courier. The author is John Fazio, who I believe is a member of this forum. Mr. Fazio is a lawyer and lays out the scenario and his thoughts in gunshot blasts.

Anyone want to chime in here on his/her opinions and then compare them in about a month when the Courier goes out to members? Did Herold accompany Powell? Did he desert Powell? Was he a point man to see that others carried through and report to Booth? Thoughts???

Kudos to John Fazio for his excellent article. This is an extremely difficult topic due to a scarcity of real evidence. I do not ever recall reading an article like this that tries to nail down what Herold did and did not do in Washington on April 14th in this sort of detail. I think John did an amazing job.

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(02-01-2013 09:05 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(01-31-2013 03:08 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(12-29-2012 06:06 PM)L Verge Wrote:  An assassination topic that seems to have no clear answer is: What was the role of David Herold on the night of April 14, 1865? Was he to chaperone Lewis Powell? Keep an eye on Atzerodt? Guide Booth?

Members of the Surratt Society will be treated to an extensive article on this subject in the upcoming February issue of the Courier. The author is John Fazio, who I believe is a member of this forum. Mr. Fazio is a lawyer and lays out the scenario and his thoughts in gunshot blasts.

Anyone want to chime in here on his/her opinions and then compare them in about a month when the Courier goes out to members? Did Herold accompany Powell? Did he desert Powell? Was he a point man to see that others carried through and report to Booth? Thoughts???

Kudos to John Fazio for his excellent article. This is an extremely difficult topic due to a scarcity of real evidence. I do not ever recall reading an article like this that tries to nail down what Herold did and did not do in Washington on April 14th in this sort of detail. I think John did an amazing job.

Laurie:

Many thanks to you and to everyone for their comments re the article in February's Courier. Everyone likes recognition and it is especially meaningful when it comes from ones colleagues and peers. Churchill once said that the three hardest things in the world are trying to climb a wall that is leaning toward you; trying to kiss a girl who is leaning away from you; and trying to speak (or write) to a group that knows more about your subject than you do. I had that feeling when I was writing the article.

Incidentally, as to where Roscoe got the 35 figure attributed to Herold (number of conspirators), unless I am overlooking something here, I do believe the figure came from Herold himself in his statement of April 27, 1865. Please see page 674, near the top, in The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence.

Thanks again and thank you for this terrific resource.

John

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(02-01-2013 07:22 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I will be curious how Jerry Madonna feels about the second half of John's article. I believe Jerry is firm in his belief that Herold was out to kill Johnson but failed because the weapons were locked in Atzerodt's room.

Roger:

I agree with Jerry as to Herold making an attempt on Johnson, but I do believe that inability to access Atzerodt's room was only one reason. Others were fear of confronting Johnson, especially if he had to do the job with a Bowie; inability to use a firearm without making escape almost impossibile; difficulty in waking Johnson (remember Farwell's experience); and possibly security or other people in the vicinity of the door to Johnson's room. Remember, too, that Fletcher saw Atzerodt go into the Kirkwood, after having a drink with him, and come out again after 5 or 6 minutes. No one knows what Atzerodt did during that time. The conventional wisdom is that he went into the bar and drank. I doubt it. He had just had a drink with Fletcher and as soon as he left the Kirkwood would have another, by his own admission. If he wanted another drink, he would just have stayed with Fletcher. I believe, rather, that he too may have entertained a notion of taking out Johnson, despite his previous refusals, if only to get back into Booth's and Herold's good graces, but encountered the same kinds of problems Herold did and for that reason took off. It is even possibile that the two of them met in the hotel and made a collective decision to hightail it because the conditions were not favorable. That would explain why Booth knew that Johnson had not been killed. Remember, lastly, that Johnson was definitely targeted, because if Johnson was not to die, there was no longer any reason for Seward to die. (The 1792 statute.)

John