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Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP!
04-18-2016, 09:58 PM
Post: #19
RE: Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP!
RJN. I can't remember exactly what I was thinking when I said the "11th" but It had something to do with Booth looking for new orders. Booth knew Harney was coming, that's what Atzerodt told us, but Harney failed to show. Booth needed to know what happened. I assumed he got with the New York Crowd to work it out. I don't know if he made contact, but Time was running out - Did he create his own plan? and shoot.
I'm working daily to try to reconstruct exactly what Harney was planning to do. To do this I had to put my brain back into 1865. First off, Harney did not have Dynamite, - that did not come along until 1867. His only choice as Black Powder. (That does come near anything we had in WWII, or in our present battles.)
Black Powder burns harmlessly in the open air, but will explode when wrapped up tightly. If you leave a small hole, the bomb becomes a rocket - and will fly away. If Harney expected to "blow up the White House" he was going to need a good pile of Powder, maybe a ton or more, all wrapped up tight. He could not sneak that big a package
into the building and hide it, until Lincoln was positioned for the
detonation.
There was a time when I did the same kind of work, except I was removing explosives and traps before our Navy invaded an Island. Much later I went to school to learn how to keep a building from falling down. I have a Degree in Architectural Engineering. So, what would it take to "Blow up the White House"? MORE THAN HE COULD MANAGE!
Let's look closer at what Harney was noted for. It was said he was "GOOD" at mining bays and river in the South. But Harney was "EXPERT" at Land-Mines. His special skill was to detonate mines by Mechanical means. He did not need Fire or Electricity.
Just before Harney was brought to Washington he was in the Deep South, working to impede "Sherman's March to the Sea" ( He couldn't stop him), but when Sherman turned North for the fight in the Carolinas, Harney went to work and "Mined" the roads in front of Sherman. His work was effective. Sherman, in turn, got inspired and marched Confederate Prisoners in front of his advancing troops. Harney work was halted.
Thus, I believe that Harney was going to "land-mine" the White House. I don't know his plan, but he could carry all he needed in Back-Packs. We know that no explosives were found on Harney. Did they look in his canteen? That's just a guess, but you get my point. If he planted 4 to 6 +/-, small land mines, in the White House garden .(He being dressed as a gardener doing his job.) The White House was not fenced. (People slept on the lawn.) The mines are now well hidden, strategically placed, easily detonated - on command. Now, start the party, with the serenade , watch Lincoln, and when he is positioned BAM, it's all over.
I believe that the term "Mine The White House" was given to us by Atzerodt in his confession. "Land Mine" was a newly created word. Unfortunately he was not noted for his "Brain Power". He didn't know what this "Mine" meant. It is possible no one knew the meaning.
I am not changing any information that was passed down to us, I am
trying to understand what was being said. The "Mine" was intended to blow up a person, not a building.

PS I am trying to identify "our" Harney. I still have work to do, but I think I have a lead. It seems that "our" Harney spent his whole life in the Army - so, he does not show in the Census. I'm going through Army Rosters. No luck yet.
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RE: Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP! - SSlater - 04-18-2016 09:58 PM

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