Assassination Trivia

[Anita]

Maybe Withers had a workers comp clause in his contract.

[RJNorton]

In his later years Withers claimed as follows:

"Before I could move he was upon me with his dagger, which he tried to plunge into my heart. I caught his arm, and the blade went into my left shoulder. That wound left me with a six-inch scar, which I carry to this day. I call it the 'Booth barometer,' because every time the weather begins to fix itself for a northeast storm that old wound starts to ache."

Withers stated:

"The dagger fell to the floor. I remember looking at it in a dazed way and wondering why Booth should have attacked me. After he stabbed me he recoiled and we grappled. If I had known then, when I had my hands upon him, that he was the murderer of Abraham Lincoln, he never would have escaped - Never! But I was so puzzled by his ferocious attack upon me that I fought only to free myself. I thought he had gone mad.

Booth threw me to the floor, and I lay there while he hobbled down the narrow passage to the stage-door, where a horse was awaiting him. With him went the greatest opportunity of my life."

[Gene C]

If only Withers had thought of this.
"In my struggle with Booth I pushed him off me and he fell. He gave a deep groan for that was when he broke his leg"

[Eva Elisabeth]

Who is (was) this gentleman, how is he linked to Lincoln, and how to the assassination saga?
   

[RJNorton]

Silas T. Cobb (the sentry who allowed Booth and Herold to cross the Navy Yard Bridge)?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Brilliant idea, Roger, but not correct. I think this a challenge, so here's one hint right away:

Hint #1: He was not involved in the assassination (just in the saga due to the link to Lincoln).

[Eva Elisabeth]

Hint #2: He was a Confederate general.

[RJNorton]

Hint #2: He was a Confederate general.

It does not look like Benjamin Hardin Helm, but he's the only one I can think of right now. He was killed before the assassination, so I realize this must be wrong.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good try - I'm afraid you are right in being wrong though. (I was thinking the Confederancy experts might recognize him.)

Hint #3: City Point.

[L Verge]

Are we talking about the major sabotage at City Point in the summer of 1864 or the two weeks that Lincoln was there in late-March, early-April of 1865?

My first thought was Gen. Gabriel Rains of the Confederate Torpedo Bureau, but he was killed earlier in the war. It's a stretch to tie him to Lincoln, maybe Harney??

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks for another good idea, Laurie - I think I will give up on this one. The depicted gentleman is General Rufus Barringer, and here his story goes:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/general-r...6039709619

The original source (more lengthy yet worth reading) is here, please see pp.65ff:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/collis/collis.html

Wiki additionally reveals the (not-)link to the assassination:

"Unfortunately, Lincoln's favor backfired. After his assassination, Barringer fell under suspicion due to his brief meeting with Lincoln less than two weeks prior. He was repeatedly questioned regarding any role he may have played in the conspiracy. He wasn't released from custody until late July, months after most other Confederate prisoners had been freed."

[L Verge]

Thanks for another good idea, Laurie - I think I will give up on this one. The depicted gentleman is General Rufus Barringer, and here his story goes:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/general-r...6039709619

The original source (more lengthy yet worth reading) is here, please see pp.65ff:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/collis/collis.html

Wiki additionally reveals the (not-)link to the assassination:

"Unfortunately, Lincoln's favor backfired. After his assassination, Barringer fell under suspicion due to his brief meeting with Lincoln less than two weeks prior. He was repeatedly questioned regarding any role he may have played in the conspiracy. He wasn't released from custody until late July, months after most other Confederate prisoners had been freed."

Great anecdote. Thanks for sharing, Eva. I might snitch this for the Surratt Courier some month.

[Eva Elisabeth]

...thanks to Bill Binzel who sent me the story sometime ago! (And it's just too neat not to share, isn't it?!)

[L Verge]

This is a piece of trivia, but not posed as a question: I learned some things about William J. Ferguson (the young call boy/actor at Ford's on the night of the assassination) today that some of you may already know (I'm a slow learner...). The "J" in his name stands for "Jason;" and I knew that he went on to star in silent films, but I did not know that he portrayed Abraham Lincoln in one of them - The Battle Cry of Peace. See below from Norman Gassbarro's excellent Civil War Blog.

In the post yesterday, the story of the silent film, "The Battle Cry of Peace” (1915) was given and how that film related to the issue of preparedness for the United States' possible participation in the world war that was already taking place in Europe. In that post, it was noted that William J. Ferguson, an actor in the film, played the role of Abraham Lincoln. Because the film has not survived, it is nearly impossible to determine how he portrayed Lincoln. What it is possible to do, however, is to read the story of Ferguson’s eyewitness to the assassination. The first time he told the story which follows here, was in 1915, in the context of the release and showing of the portrayal of Lincoln in two different silent films. The last time he told the story was in 1930, the year of his death.

[RJNorton]

In 1869 Dr. John V. Lewis, rector of St. John's Church in Washington, asked that this person be given a Christian burial.

What is the name of the person?