A Man On The South Side Of The Capitol

[Linda Anderson]

(07-23-2014 09:06 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  

(07-23-2014 08:47 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  Thanks, Dave. Do you or anyone else have Mr. Hall's John Wilkes Booth Escape Route to see what he has to say about the mysterious horseman?

I'm assuming that text is the booklet they give out on the Booth tours. I have one dated 1984 and one from 2000. The text looks the same in both.

"After turning on F street, Booth probably cut across Judiciary Square to Pennsylvania Avenue. He was seen riding fast just South of the Capitol grounds. The citizen who made this report was not named, unfortunately. And there was a second man a few minutes behind him, also riding fast. This second man was David Edgar Herold, an accomplice in the plot."

Again, this evidence is not cited.

Unless there is another, period source out there, I truly think previous authors have altered John Fletcher's statement to fit the order we know Booth and Herold arrived at the Navy Yard bridge. Herold definitely went by the south side of the Capitol, but I'm not too sure about Booth.

Thanks again, Dave. So "the citizen who made this report [who] was not named" was probably John Fletcher and, as you say, "the assumption that one of these unnumbered "men" [that Fletcher mentions] is Booth appears to be incorrect."