The Yankees' Secret Weapon

[AussieMick]

Couple of comments if I may. ... well, I will anyway. ...
The darkness of the 5 in fact closely , in the image anyway, matches Lincoln's signature. The figures 186 are much fainter than the rest of the writing. .... My point is therefore "Is the darkness of the 5 really that significant or indicative of forgery?" And why does the forensic report make no mention of the faintness of the 186 as compared to the rest of the writing such as ''April 14' and ' A Lincoln ' ?

The supposed evidence of removal of the 4 seems much less demonstrative than the forensic report asserts. Anybody that has tried to remove an ink character from paper knows that its darn near impossible without leaving clear evidence of the action. To do it with any success would require significant time.

Certainly the forensic report presents forceful evidence regarding chemical composition of the 5 as compared to that of 'Lincoln ' (though that of '186' less so). But quite how they managed to get enough of the scratched away vestiges of the '4' for comparison seems. ... heroic.

Has anybody confirmed that there is a statute of limitations with respect to altering Govt documents? I'd be very surprised, because Govt documents are usually treated with almost reverence. I'd really like someone with legal experience to comment.

Was Mr Lowry the only person that had access to the document? When? Anybody else interviewed? His wife?

What happened to Private Murphy? Did he disappear in 1864 ? Or was he still in the army until 1865 ? I think these questions might remain unanswered.