Was there an assassin on Grant's train?

[John Fazio]

(07-19-2015 10:01 AM)Rosieo Wrote:  

(07-19-2015 09:15 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  My main curiosity here is the identity of the messenger. Just who was it? John Fazio is convinced it was David Herold (sent by Booth). Some Lincoln authors seem to think it was a legitimate but poorly dressed courier sent by Mary Lincoln. Is it possible that it could be another person sent by Booth (or another Confederate operative)? Not Herold, though. Could it have been the "mystery man" who followed Grant onto the train with intent to assassinate? And later sent the letter to Grant?

Maybe there is information on who Mrs. Lincoln traditionally used as messengers? This info could give us a clue if, for instance, it turns out she used a specific person or perhaps a soldier or even a black man. What office in the White House would employ people Mrs. Lincoln would use as messengers? Who took the message to Ford's Theatre that the President would attend "Our American Cousin"? Do we know?

Roger:

This is a response to the above post as well as the one that appeared two or three days ago in which you questioned the identify of the messenger.

To begin with, no apology is necessary. Secondly, in my opinion too much is being made of the identity of the messenger. It almost had to be Herold, because everything fits. Listen to Julia: "...a man dressed in light-colored corduroy coat and trousers and with rather a shabby hat of the same color...I remarked his dress...not liking... the looks of the messenger...thinking (it) savored of discourtesy..."-- a perfect description of Herold's customary dress as reflected even in famous photos of him. Further, Booth would want to nail down Grant's attendance at the theater that night if possible. After all, he is contemplating a major event in world history--the decapitation of the United States government; he will therefore leave no stone unturned and as little to chance as possible. Further, Mrs. Lincoln would almost certainly NOT send a shabbily dressed man to deliver a message to Mrs. Grant.

You say no other book speaks of the lunch at Willard's. Probably because Julia's Memoirs (to my knowledge the only source) were not published until 1975, but also because many have simply overlooked it or, if not overlooked, not given it its due weight. Both Julia and Ulysses state that the man who rode past them when they were in the carriage was the same man who was at the luncheon, Julia in her Memoirs (without qualification) and Ulysses in his conversation with Ward Hill Lamon (Recollections...p. 279). Further, Julia also said that "I thought I recognized in one of (the four attendees at the luncheon) the messenger of the morning". Who else would Booth be having lunch with? We know that there were only 4 of the action team left for killing by the 14th and we know there were 4 men at the luncheon, one of whom was Booth and the other of whom was the "messenger". It is therefore beyond a reasonable doubt that the messenger was Herold and the 4 were Booth, Herold, Powell and Atzerodt. Amen. As for further witnesses, it was an event of significance only to Julia, the 4r attendees and historians. Waiters, etc., couldn't have cared less and doubtless took no notice of any of it. Even if one or more later commented on it, it is not the kind of comment that would find its way into the history books; far more important things that this were disregarded or fell through the cracks, such as the statements of Susannah Hamm.

You ask if it is possible that Mary told Grant on their carriage ride on the 13th that a courier would call on them the following day re pick-up time, etc. Yes, it is possible, but almost certainly didn't happen, because it doesn't square with Grant's accounts, which are themselves inconsistent. In his Memoirs he states that he declined Lincoln's invitation because he was through with the day's work and wanted to visit the children in Burlington, saying nothing about input from Julia (p. 750). But to Lamon, in 1880, he said that while he was with the President he received a note from Julia telling him that she wanted to visit her daughter in Burlington that night (p. 278). He added that "Some incident of a trivial character had influenced this determination...", by which he certainly had reference to the spectacle at City Point in which Julia had witnessed the humiliation of Mrs. Ord, besides which she had her own issues with Mary. Like many others, she flat-out didn't like her. Grant added that "I therefore made my excuses to the President..." It all fits with what Julia told Herold in her hotel suite.

Lastly, the messenger who delivered news of the Lincolns' attendance at Ford's on the 14th, at about 10:30 that morning, was most likely Forbes.

Conclusion: The messenger was Herold; the attendees were the 4 conspirators still active; Mary almost certainly said nothing to Grant on the 13th about sending a courier to Willard's; and Forbes, the official White House messenger and footman, most likely delivered the message to Ford's Thetare on the 14th.

Thank you.

John