A Man On The South Side Of The Capitol

[Dave Taylor]

(07-23-2014 09:47 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 think there are only two possibilities.

1. Booth was never seen on the south side of the Capitol, and John Fletcher's account was flipped by authors in order to "fix it".

2. Booth was the second horseman that rode by the Capitol and somewhere between there and the Navy Yard bridge Herold took a detour long enough for Booth to beat him to the bridge.