Military Response Time To Assassination

[L Verge]

John, like you, I'm confused. You and I must be thinking one thing while others are thinking something else about your statements. I was agreeing to your points about the speed in which conspirators were identified and rounded up - including Booth and Herold who only made it less than 100 miles from D.C. - in a time without communication techniques that we are so used to.

I would agree that heading south was a dicey decision, but if the fugitives hung close to the coastline, I think they could have gotten a lot farther. The bulk of the Yankees were in the mountain regions of Virginia or heading into North Carolina or westward to take care of the Joe Johnstons and Kirby Smiths of the war.

I also believe that establishing that military court and judicial process and getting it running in less than a month after the assassination (and at a time when most of April was concentrated on Lincoln's final journey home to Springfield) was pretty darn good. My house was broken into twice in one week this past January by the same people - two of which were caught within twelve hours. They were never brought to trial until this past June. The mastermind behind the thefts has been identified since January, but has yet to be arraigned. I would like to have had Stanton's military assistance this past year!

Finally, Mrs. Surratt was in financial difficulties, but her lawyers still expected to be paid - and we have the correspondence to prove it. Somewhere in our 30+ years of Surratt Couriers, there is an article about this.

I'm going back to sleep now - don't tell my bosses.