What Was The Role of David Herold

[John Fazio]

(02-02-2013 10:56 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Booth and Herold did not cross the Long Bridge out of Washington. That would have taken them immediately into Union-held Virginia. They crossed on the opposite side of town - the Navy Yard Bridge. The location of that bridge has changed at least twice in my lifetime, but the route of the first one can clearly be seen on the Anacostia side of the river and leading straight to the dock areas of the Navy Yard. I am not good at judging distances, but I would guess that the original bridge was less than a quarter-mile.

The photo of it taken about the time of the Civil War is frequently shown in assassination books. Cobb was not the only soldier on duty that night, but he appears to be the watch commander at that point. Jerry already knows I have doubts about his theories, but I would like to add that the security had surely become less "secure" with all the celebrations going on. Also, the Navy Yard Bridge was the main entrance into the city for the truck farmers from Southern Maryland who came everyday to sell their wares at the city's markets. Therefore, the guards were use to frequent traffic both ways on that bridge at various times of the day and night.

Laurie:

Thank you for your input.

According to my reading, one source has it that there were two men in the guardhouse (Cobb and one other) and another source has it that there were three altogether, with none but Cobb named. Cobb was definitely the ranking officer because, among other reasons for so holding, he indicates in his statements and testimony that one of his comrades stopped Booth and that he then went out to recognize Booth.

The preponderance of the evidence, as you suggest, is that the enforcement of General Order No. 5 had been relaxed. Cobb and his comrade(s) were most likely in a celebratory and devil-may-care mood, as were most Washingtonians, with the end of the war in sight, a successful end for the Union. (They may even have been a bit tipsy; one way to relieve the boredom of the sunset to 1:00 a.m. shift.) Many historians favor the view that enforcement of the General Order was relaxed after Lee's surrender. Kauffman suggests otherwise in a note in Arnold's memoirs, citing XXII Corps records, which suggest strict enforcement. But there is strict enforcement and there is strict enforcement, and the facts appear to speak for themselves, i.e. Booth and Herold were passed and Cobb received only a verbal dressing down for his permitting the same --no arrest, no investigation, no court martial, no discharge from the service. That suggests that his superiors, including Stanton and the new President, thought of his acts as mere lapses of judgment and indiscretions. Accordingly, I believe Kauffman, for whom I otherwise have the greatest respect, is mistaken about this.

As for Jerry's fundamental thesis re Johnson and Stanton and the cover-up re passes, I have problems with it too. I have asked him for "excerpts from the archives", which he believes suppport his view.

If Jerry is mistaken, we still need a plausible reason for Cobb's passing the fugitives other than their dumb luck. I cannot accept that they approached the bridge, with a roiling city behind them that was ready to devour them, with anything less than complete certainty that they would cross the river.

John