Booth escape route north

[JMadonna]

(08-29-2013 03:40 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I am quite sure that I will get my head snapped off for saying this, but - as much as I like Starkey's book - it stands more like historical novel than anything else to me. That said, as a native of the Maryland/DC area and knowing what the situation was here in 1865, I cannot fathom why Booth would even have considered going north! To make it even more implausible, why would we consider that he started out going south and then planned to make a U-turn?

Laurie - By taking the trains he could have been out of the country in 24 hours. He knew the route & the schedule and had taken them far more times than the one time he visited the secret line. Besides we don't know if he actually planned to visit the tavern. Just because Mary Surratt left binoculars there doesn't mean he meant to retrieve them. He could have just headed north but for the broken leg.

(08-29-2013 03:40 PM)L Verge Wrote:  First, he would have been heading into Union territory with a population that had held Union sympathies throughout the war. He must have known that the Feds would be searching his home territory of Baltimore, its environs, and Harford County. From that point on, it would definitely be enemy territory. Why head to Canada where the exiles there were in turmoil also? Surratt was close to Canada and also had the church to hide him, so it was a tad easier for him to hop across the line.

Laurie, once you're on a train does it really matter if you are in 'enemy territory'? As long as you're traveling in the right direction you are in the process of escaping. Canada proved to be a very safe haven for guys like Thompson, Sanders, Surratt and countless others.

(08-29-2013 03:40 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Then, Booth had spent months building up support in Southern Maryland; why abandon it? Why was Davey in Southern Maryland the day before if not to verify the route was open? It was open - the people still assisted the fugitives, though not warmly (except perhaps for Dr. Mudd). By the time Davey could reconnoiter, however, it was difficult to spread the word or gather the forces. Confederate Secret Line personnel had other issues - and no guarantee that Booth would succeed. Even to have remained hidden down here for as long as the pair did while being the objects of the largest manhunt in U.S. history to that time was pretty amazing.

Now Laurie, you know as well as I that Booth spent less than a week down there, not months. Why abandon it? because it led to nowhere - Richmond had fallen, Surratt barely got out before it fell. I doubt that Booth planned to stay hidden in the woods for the rest of his life (although he did). There was no where to go!

(08-29-2013 03:40 PM)L Verge Wrote:  If Booth did ride into Southern Maryland for even a few miles, where was his planned U-turn supposed to be to get him headed north? I know the lay of the land and where old roads existed, and it still doesn't make sense to me. I think we're grasping at straws to find new theories.

Well it makes sense to me. Booth was a cunning planner who dropped a lot of misdirection clues. His only escape was to get out of the country fast. He knew his way to Canada & all the best places in Montreal. There is no way, in my mind, that he meant to wander in the woods & be protected by the secret line. He got as far as he did because he had Davy Herold which he definitely could not count on being able to join him when planning his escape.