Was Stanton a murder target?

[John Fazio]

Everyone:

In my opinion:

1. It is likely that the intruder at the Stanton home on April 13 was O'Laughlen. Laurie is right: His identity is not known and probably never will be, but the evidence we do have makes it probable that it was O'Laughlen, and probabilities are very often all we have. He saw Booth that morning shortly after his arrival in Washington, or in any case he went to the National, where Booth was staying. He saw him again on the morning of the 14th. This suggests, strongly, that he was still cooperating with Booth, that he received an assignment from him on the 13th and that he reported to Booth the results of his assignment on the 14th, which fits with his being at Stanton's home on the night of the 13th. Three witnesses at the trial identified the intruder as O'Laughlen, one "pretty certain" and two without qualification. In Atzerodt's last confession he said "...although an alibi was tried to be made out, there is no doubt in the minds of those who know all the circumstances of O'Laughlen but that he did visit Secretary Stanton's home as charged in the testimony before the Commission".

2. It really doesn't matter who the intruder was. The point is that someone was there to obtain information that would facilitate the planned assassination the following night, most likely the layout of the home and the likely whereabouts of Stanton and Grant the following night. We know that Booth was in contact with conspirators other than members of his action team, because Powell said so (to Gillette).

3. We may be nearly certain that an attempt was made on Stanton on the 14th. There are many reasons for so concluding and they are given on pp. 255-258 of Decapitating, but one really needs to know no more than this:

a. The April 10, 1865, letter to Booth, signed T.I.O.S, states that one assassin had been assigned for each member of Lincoln's cabinet.
b. The May 10, 1865, letter from the Union agent in Paris states that the Confederate agent "Johnston" had stated in his letter that if everything had gone according to plan, 15 Yankees would be dead.
c. Powell told Eckert that it was his impression that arrangements had been made for the same disposition of other Federal office-holders as he was to make of Seward.
d. Stanton was mentioned as an intended victim by Confederate Secret Service operatives in Canada and also by Thomas A. Jones in his 1893 book.

4. Roger, the fact that Stanton is not mentioned in the Booth-Coyle conversation is of little if any relevance inasmuch as the Secretary of War does not figure in presidential succession.

5. Paige, you are right: Whoever was at Stanton's home of the 13th was not there to assassinate anyone; that was being reserved for the following night. However, inasmuch as O'Laughlen met with Booth twice before the Herndon House meeting, his presence at that meeting would not have been necessary. We know that Booth compartmentalized his conspiracy to a degree. O'Laughlen's absence may have been part of that process. O'Laughlen and Arnold had always been kept apart from the others, except for the Gautier's meeting and the Campbell Hospital episode. That is not to say that the skulking figure seen on Stanton's porch or the man seen behind the tree box on Stanton's property was O'Laughlen, but it is to say that one of them could have been O'Laughlen and that his absence from the Herndon House meeting does not preclude it.

5. As Laurie said, this is one of the enduring mysteries. But I do not believe it is quite as much of a mystery as some others, such as, for example, John Surratt's location on the 14th.

John