Was Stanton a murder target?

[loetar44]

(11-01-2016 06:46 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(11-01-2016 02:15 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thank you, John. As I've stated before, of all those on trial, I have a tougher time getting a grasp on O'Laughlen than any of the others.

Roger:

I think we can summarize the matter by saying that O'Laughlen was still in the conspiracy on the 13th and 14th. That explains why Booth went to Baltimore to fetch him and why he dutifully came to Washington that evening. He didn't come to collect the $500 Booth owed him; he had already done that on March 31 with Arnold. Note that Booth did not run off to Old Point Comfort, Virginia, to fetch Arnold. Arnold was, by this time, truly out of it. Further evidence re O'Laughlen is that he not only came to Washington, but also met with Booth that evening at the National and most probably met with him again at the same place the following morning. Inasmuch as three credible witnesses and Atzerodt have him at Stanton's home on Thursday night, it seems probable that the purpose of the meetings with Booth related to that assignment. It is possible that he followed through with that assignment with an actual attempt on Stanton's life on the 14th, but there is no evidence for that. I think it more likely that he was with his friends, as they said he was, and that the would-be assassin or assassins who were at or about Stanton's home on the 14th were among the "others" with whom Booth was in contact for such a purpose, another of whom he used to trail Grant on the train to Burlington. Recall Arnold's statement in his Memoirs that "There were occasions before I had become acquainted with the fact that others than Surratt and ourselves, already spoken of, were connected in the enterprise."

The foregoing is the most likely scenario, in my opinion, of what happened on the 13th and 14th that involved O'Laughlen.

There was enough evidence tying O'Laughlen to Booth's conspiracy to send him to the gallows. Only the alibis provided by his friends and observers saved him from that fate. But it was a short-lived salvation, because what had begun over wine and cigars in Booth's room in Barnum's in early August, 1864, ended, almost exactly three years later, in a stinking, slimy dungeon, with black vomit, delirium and vermin.

John

John, Roger and others.

Why making O’Laughlen’s role in the assassination more important than it really was? The witness statements at the trial don’t show that he had an important role. Booth had told O’Laughlen on March 31 that he had "abandoned his project". His “group of confidants” was falling apart. Why he travelled to Baltimore on April 13 is not exactly known. Maybe he tried to get O’Laughlen back in the group. It’s speculation. O’Laughlen wasn’t a murderer and maybe he said that “the great struggle” was over. The New York Times had written “The history of blood is brought to a close. The last shot has been fired.” Maybe a depressed Booth told O’Laughlen that the night of April 13, 1865 would be one of the most radiant any one in Washington would remember, with the city celebrating peace by draping itself in lights. Booth felt crushed and humiliated and left O’Laughlen, feeling his world and everything he held dear was forever gone. O’Laughlen wanted to see that most beautiful, joyful night in Washington D.C. with his own eyes and went with three friends to DC with the afternoon train of 3:30 pm, arriving 5:30 pm. He went in the evening of April 13 to the National Hotel to meet Booth, most likely he wanted to see how he was doing now. O’Laughlin did not see Booth, he was no more than 5 minutes at the desk in the lobby of the hotel, to hear that Booth was out. That night, John Wilkes Booth walked among the revelers in a haze of resentment and alcohol. He heard the taunts against General Lee and the Confederate army. He saw the Union soldiers in their uniforms marching up and down the streets, celebrating. He, still crushed and humiliated, had to witness it all. He maybe went to Ellen Starr for an overnight visit and wrote his mother a note, the note Roger mentioned. He was at that moment a man with little hope, a man without prospects. When O’Laughlen tried to visit Booth again in the morning of April 14, he still had not returned. O'Laughlen was also not at Stanton’s home, it was a lookalike. At the moment suspected figures were seen at Stanton’s home on April 14th, O'Laughlen was (as Dave said) recovering from a hangover. On Saturday April 15, O’Laughlen returned to Baltimore with the 3:00 pm train. He had never seen Booth during his short stay at the city and was also no part of a conspiracy against Stanton.