Throwing more Mudd in the game

[L Verge]

(09-24-2013 04:16 PM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  WSanto wrote:

Mudd was a liar. We know this for a fact. He had previously spent enough time with the handsome and dashing Booth to recognize him the night of the assassination. One look in his eyes would be enough despite any false whiskers he later claimed Booth was wearing. Does anyone even doubt that?

I believe he was told exactly what happened in the early hours that morning and knew the facts when he treated Booth. He then did all he could to abet Booth's escape far beyond treating his broken leg. Most importantly, he did not report the "strangers" at his house for over 24-hr despite his knowledge that soldiers were in Bryantown searching for the assassins of Lincoln early Saturday afternoon.

Laurie's theory is no less plausible because Booth left Mudd's house with a crutch. It is possible Booth planned to stop at Mudd's as part of his escape and, since he now had an injured leg, was treated by Mudd.

I support Laurie's theory in part because of Atzerodt's statement and the fact that Booth had to stop SOMEWHERE on the night of the 14th once he escaped far enough into Maryland. He knew that he could not travel safely during the day, so he needed a place to stop. Why WOULDN'T he stop at Mudd's (who he knew well) when his home was on the projected kidnapping escape route? I would like to know what some believe Booth's route was further west to T.B., etc. What is this based on?

As to what Booth told Mudd the night of the 14th, I agree completely with Bill. Why on Earth would Booth (or Herold depending on which Lloyd statement you believe) brag to a stranger like Lloyd about killing the President, yet clam up to a fellow (kidnapping at least) conspirator like Mudd? It makes no sense and I believe that Mudd simply lied about that fact as he did many other facts.

Heath

If I understand your question, Heath, others think that, instead of going straight north and south to Surrattsville, through T.B. and on to Horsehead Tavern and Dr. Mudd's (via the New Cut Road that had just been put through in 1850 as the first north-south route out of D.C. into the lower counties of Maryland - which, along with Baltimore and Annapolis, constituted the economic base of the state and was the stagecoach route that Booth had used in the fall of 1864 to get to Bryantown and a main route for the Confederate underground) the conspirators were going to hang a left onto what is now Piscataway Road upon leaving Surratt Tavern. OMG, that may be the longest, run-on sentence in history!

Piscataway would take them west about five miles to the village of Piscataway, which had been carefully monitored by the Feds during the war. From that village, they had two options: Turn left and head on to the tiny hamlet of Dansville (about three miles) and then on to T.B. (about another three miles). The other option would have them heading through Piscataway in the direction of modern day Indian Head Highway for about three miles, then south for about five miles, then west on Bumpy Oak Road to Port Tobacco (about six or more miles). I think I got all the turns right.

There is also a third option which people overlook. If they stayed straight at the foot of the Navy Yard Bridge in Uniontown/Anacostia and headed past the Government Hospital for the Insane (St. Elizabeth's), which also had a federal camp surrounding it, they would eventually come to the area around Indian Head Highway and on to Bumpy Oak.

It is still longer and not a straight shot. It was also a more primitive and less traveled route. I admit to being biased because I have spent my life traveling and driving these roads and know what they were like in the 1950s (some not much better today). I also listened to a grandmother, mother, and uncle who lived in the area their entire lives from 1870s on.