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L Verge · (This post was last modified: 08-05-2015 12:09 PM by L Verge.)

(08-05-2015 05:57 AM)Jim Woodall Wrote:
(08-04-2015 08:51 AM)RJNorton Wrote:
(08-04-2015 07:42 AM)Jim Woodall Wrote: So, when did Booth get rid of the wagon?

Was this the buggy Spangler referred to in the statement found in his tool chest at Mudd's? Or did Booth have another? Spangler wrote:

Yes, that was what I meant. Thank you.

The same buggy that was not available later to take Mrs. Surratt to the tavern.

(08-04-2015 08:03 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote: Back to the timing.....Correct that armies waited until spring for many reasons. Winter is a terrible time to mount an offensive. Napoleon and Gen. Ambrose Burnside both found that out. Thousand of troops and the wagons and other wheeled vehicles to support them would turn the roadways with even the slightest moisture into mires. However a single wagon/buggy with a few outriders is a much different story. They could probably outpace any large pursuit with no problem.

Even a single wagon/buggy would have problems on Good Hope Hill. My 3rd great grandfather, Thomas Anderson, spent many a night rescuing those stranded in the mud of Good Hope Hill.

From the Rambler column of the Evening Star on 12 Apr 1925 pg 65 in a letter reply to the Rambler from my 2nd great grandmother, Clementine Hutton White nee Anderson:

"... He was there in that spot first, and a monument should be erected in his memory for his wonderful kind acts of being pulled out of bed any hour of the night to help get a neighbor up that terrible, winding Good Hope hill. Mud sometimes up to the hub of the wheels, horses down, and to hear their cry in the dead hour of the night was more than dear old Tom Anderson could stand. He would get his boys up, hook up his own horses down in the dark, he would get them all up to the top of that awful hill, not one word spoken about how much are you going to charge? His motto was: 'Do it, and do it quick!' and quick it was done."

Tom Anderson 1810-1887
Clementine Anderson 1853-1938
Clementine married Hutton and moved out of the family house in 1871. She would marry White later.

So, it wasn't a given that when the roads were wet and muddy, that a wagon would pass with ease nor possibly a rider.

Planning an escape on that route, up Good Hope hill, during the rainy season would be adding further risk to the operation.

And Good Hope Hill was just one of the hills to get over en route to Charles County. I believe there were once five hills in Prince George's County between the DC line and the Charles County line. Soper's Hill was one, then Middleton's Hill (I think), two I can't remember the names of, and finally Burch's Hill.

Burch's Hill is still there and used to be a challenge to get up in the old days of stick-shifts - even without snow on the ground. Plus you have to pass over a creek and marshland before you start up the hill. It's bridged and paved now, but not in Booth's time.

I have always wanted to incorporate terrain into our escape route bus tours in order to show people the obstacles that the fugitives and the troops encountered in 1865. The only place this is mentioned is Zekiah Swamp.

Thanks for the facts and figures, John. I don't recall ever reading specifics overall. Several years ago, I wrote a booklet to go with our special exhibit, Between the Lines, which focused on the Union "occupation" of Southern Maryland. One of the topics was on Point Lookout in Maryland.

That POW camp for Confederate prisoners was created shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg -- forty acres in the middle of the most pro-Confederate area in Maryland and then a regiment of USCT was sent in February of 1864, along with an ironclad offshore to assist the guards. By the end of 1863, the prisoner count was at 9000; in six months, it grew to 15,500. At the end of the war, there were still 22,000 being held there in a space designed for 10,000. Over 3500 died from diseases ranging from dysentery, typhoid, and yellow fever.

By June 30, 1865, all prisoners had been transferred out. I found the system of transfer interesting -- alphabetical order, but in reverse order of states that seceded from the Union at the beginning of the war. If you were Cpl. Zinger from South Carolina, you were out of luck!

Most of the prison camp is now under water, but there is a large monument remembering the men who died there (which recently came under protest during the "late unpleasantness" of the past few months) and a small museum that shares space with a nature center. There is also a support group of descendants of those imprisoned there. I had a great-uncle who survived Point Lookout. I have mentioned him on this forum before.

There is an excellent, but fairly rare, book entitled Point Lookout Prison for Confederates written by Edwin W. Beitzell. It contains some great drawings and cartoons done by some of the prisoners there. Mention was made previously of Gen. Bradley Johnson's plans to kidnap Lincoln in the summer of 1864 as part of Jubal Early's run on D.C. Freeing the prisoners at Point Lookout (a good 50 miles away) was also talked about as part of that invasion.