Gallows

[wsanto]

They all had rubber legs... except for Powell. That was one gutsy kid.

I agree with that. Of all the conspirators, I think he had the most fortitude of any of them.
What a tragedy!
Makes you realize how fortunate we are to live now, how important true friends are, and how easy it is to take the wrong path to ruin.

Most of these conspirators don't seem to be bad people, they just got influenced by the wrong people, with tragic results.

I agree. It's easy to look at it and say "I never would have done that". For a lot of people that's true, but there are also a lot of us who might very well have gotten ourselves wrapped up in the same mess, had we been in those shoes. The times they lived in and the scars of war cannot be ignored.

I doubt very many, if any, of us would have been influenced enough by anyone or anything and walked into Seward's house and inflicted that kind of mayhem on that family.