What Was The Role of David Herold

[L Verge]

I'm like Betty, I love Roscoe's book - but I don't trust everything in it. In many cases (and I think the Herold/Powell issue is one), it is very likely that Roscoe did like many others and just copied/paraphrased what other authors had said, especially about Powell being a numbskull. Col. Mosby did not accept numbskulls in his unit!

Every one of us who express our opinions on this subject interject our own speculations into the story and usually do not have sound evidence to back up those opinions. Just say something enough times, and hopefully the majority of people will believe you. There's at least one book that I could name right now that bases about 75% of its text on just that premise. I do it all the time in trying to prove my point that Herold and Booth intended to go to Mudd's house all along, whether or not a broken leg necessitated it.

As for why a point man was needed: First, two sets of eyes converging on a target is better than one - especially in dim lights. Herold could be a calming influence on Powell just because he did know the layout of the land so well. And, this whole assassination plot depended on careful synchronization or timing of each murder. They all needed to be committed basically together. It is sort of like terrorism acts today -- set off car bombs in three different locations around town in order to split the police force sent to check out the situation. Herold was the man in charge of making sure that each assignment was carried out and which assassins needed to depart the city.

As for Booth needing Herold to get him through Southern Maryland - most definitely. We know of only three trips we can verify that he made into that territory, and some of those were via stagecoach. Those backroads are confusing now. You can just imagine what they were like in 1865. I can travel the Booth escape route with my eyes closed now, but I've been over the route at least 150 times over the past fifty years. Booth didn't have my advantage.