Throwing more Mudd in the game

[Linda Anderson]

(09-23-2013 08:27 PM)NJREB1863 Wrote:  My question about whether Dr. Mudd expected visitors that night or very shortly thereafter revolves around when Booth discovered he had an opportunity to assassinate Lincoln which was not until around midday on the 14th. Herold in his travels on the 12th/13th, would not have known of a specific date to assassinate and at that time it doesn't seem that any known opportunities to kidnap were available to the conspirators either. So im not convinced Mudd was on the watch for Booth and Herold that night.

Booth was looking for any opportunity to kill Lincoln that he could get that week. According to American Brutus, when General Grant and his wife arrived in Washington on Thursday, April 13, Booth "was planning something, and very likely, Grant's arrival would make this a perfect night to strike.

"Even the date seemed right. An assassination on April 13 would reemphasize how fate had driven Booth, and how history had guided him. Not only was it the birthday of Jefferson, but in the ancient Roman calendar it was a day of reckoning-the Ides."

A man looking like Lewis Powell knocked on Seward's dining room window Thursday morning asking about Seward's health. However, Booth did not find his opportunity on Thursday. Lincoln had a headache that evening and so did not accompany Mary and General Grant on their carriage ride to view the illumination.

Instead of the Ides, Booth shot Lincoln on Good Friday which prompted many preachers to compare the martyred president with the crucified Christ.