John Surratt

[L Verge]

I am still sticking by Mr. Hall's research that Surratt was in New York and stayed there until after hearing of the assassination. I think we are all pretty much in agreement that, even though Booth had thought about murder all along, it likely did not become his action plan until the evening of April 11. After that, there were a lot of things to take care of, such as sending Herold into Southern Maryland to alert the secret line. Atzerodt would logically be the last to know of a change in the plans since he was definitely the most unstable of the group.

I don't feel that Surratt's and Gen. Edwin Lee's assignment was to bust the prisoners out of Elmira in order to form a new army. I think they needed an assessment of how many were prisoners that would possibly need to be absorbed into Canada for care and treatment.

That said, Surratt was hundreds of miles away in New York on Confederate business; things were happening fast; Booth was counting on the Confederacy to come through for him; Booth had been friends with Andrew Johnson before the war, so he had some trust in him to support mild reconstruction (if assassination failed); Seward was an easier target and a more hated man in the South than Johnson.

What does that boil down to in my mind? Surratt was in New York, and not really needed; so why depend on him getting back to D.C.?