Killing Lincoln and those 87 drowned soldiers

[Gerald D. Swick]

One of the websites I work for, HistoryNet, has a feature called "Ask Mr. History." Recently we got a query about the passage in the Killing Lincoln book about the 87 Union soldiers who, according to the book's authors, drowned in the Maryland swamps searching for John Wilkes Booth. Our "Mr. History," Jon Guttman, gave what I thought was a good reply, stating among other things, he couldn't find any reference to those drownings outside of reviews of Killing Lincoln and he offered a verified story of drownings that the authors may have confused with the people searching for Booth.

I would like to know if anyone here has ever come across a source that validates the "87 drowned" story? I know I've never seen anything, but the pursuit of Booth is not an area I've researched in depth. Thanks.

Here's a link to the question and Jon's reply, if you'd like to read them.
[undefined=undefined]http://www.historynet.com/did-87-union-soldiers-drown-searching-for-john-wilkes-booth.htm[/undefined]