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Mylye2222 · 09-01-2020, 08:26 AM

What was the torpedo plot? Blowing away a public building in Washington full of officials?
I also heard Marshall Lamon and Washington police debunked a plot about dissemination of explosive

John Fazio · 09-01-2020, 11:40 AM

(09-01-2020 08:26 AM)Mylye2222 Wrote: What was the torpedo plot? Blowing away a public building in Washington full of officials?
I also heard Marshall Lamon and Washington police debunked a plot about dissemination of explosive

Mylye:

The torpedo plot doubtless refers to the Thomas Harney Mission. It was Harney's purpose to infiltrate Washington, with appropriate help, and then blow up a wing of the White House where Lincoln and other federal officeholders had gathered incident to an entertainment program, thereby decapitating the government or a substantial part of it. It failed because Harney and a few of his men were captured on April 8 or 9. My view is that failure of the Harney Mission activated Booth's plan to decapitate the government, which was a contingency plan. Thus the letter (telegram?) from Booth to Surratt, who was in Montreal, on April 10, telling Surratt that their plans had changed and that he was to return to Washington forthwith. There is quite a lot written about it and reference to it even appears in Atzerodt's confession of May1, 1865.

John

Mylye2222 · 09-01-2020, 01:08 PM

(09-01-2020 11:40 AM)John Fazio Wrote:
(09-01-2020 08:26 AM)Mylye2222 Wrote: What was the torpedo plot? Blowing away a public building in Washington full of officials?
I also heard Marshall Lamon and Washington police debunked a plot about dissemination of explosive

Mylye:

The torpedo plot doubtless refers to the Thomas Harney Mission. It was Harney's purpose to infiltrate Washington, with appropriate help, and then blow up a wing of the White House where Lincoln and other federal officeholders had gathered incident to an entertainment program, thereby decapitating the government or a substantial part of it. It failed because Harney and a few of his men were captured on April 8 or 9. My view is that failure of the Harney Mission activated Booth's plan to decapitate the government, which was a contingency plan. Thus the letter (telegram?) from Booth to Surratt, who was in Montreal, on April 10, telling Surratt that their plans had changed and that he was to return to Washington forthwith. There is quite a lot written about it and reference to it even appears in Atzerodt's confession of May1, 1865.

John

Frightening. Like a 1865 version of 11 September 2001..... Thanks for the explanation John!

John Fazio · 09-01-2020, 01:47 PM

(09-01-2020 01:08 PM)Mylye2222 Wrote:
(09-01-2020 11:40 AM)John Fazio Wrote:
(09-01-2020 08:26 AM)Mylye2222 Wrote: What was the torpedo plot? Blowing away a public building in Washington full of officials?
I also heard Marshall Lamon and Washington police debunked a plot about dissemination of explosive

Mylye:

The torpedo plot doubtless refers to the Thomas Harney Mission. It was Harney's purpose to infiltrate Washington, with appropriate help, and then blow up a wing of the White House where Lincoln and other federal officeholders had gathered incident to an entertainment program, thereby decapitating the government or a substantial part of it. It failed because Harney and a few of his men were captured on April 8 or 9. My view is that failure of the Harney Mission activated Booth's plan to decapitate the government, which was a contingency plan. Thus the letter (telegram?) from Booth to Surratt, who was in Montreal, on April 10, telling Surratt that their plans had changed and that he was to return to Washington forthwith. There is quite a lot written about it and reference to it even appears in Atzerodt's confession of May1, 1865.

John

Frightening. Like a 1865 version of 11 September 2001..... Thanks for the explanation John!

Mylye:

You are quite welcome.

If you would like to pursue the plot to decapitate the Union, may I respectfully suggest my book, titled Decapitating the Union, which you can easily obtain from Amazon.

John

Mylye2222 · 09-01-2020, 01:53 PM

(09-01-2020 01:47 PM)John Fazio Wrote: Mylye:

You are quite welcome.

If you would like to pursue the plot to decapitate the Union, may I respectfully suggest my book, titled Decapitating the Union, which you can easily obtain from Amazon.

John

John:

Roger sent me about your book via email. Unfortunately I can't afford your work for the moment but yes, it really seems a good read.

John Fazio · 09-01-2020, 04:15 PM

Mylye:

I know all about financial difficulty; I've been there, done that. Please send me a snail mail address and I will be happy to send you a complimentary copy of the book, with no shipping charge.

John

Mylye2222 · 09-01-2020, 04:28 PM

Are you sure? That's soo kind of you! Hugs
Please check your inbox.

John Fazio · 09-01-2020, 07:10 PM

Mylye:

I am sure. I need a name and an address.

John

McCastle · (This post was last modified: 08-22-2025 08:33 AM by McCastle.)

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RJNorton · 11-19-2020, 06:41 AM

Joe, welcome to the forum and thank you for your post. For those of us who aren't knowledgeable on the topics you cite...would it be possible to post a short summary of the main points you are trying to make? Thanks, Joe.

McCastle · (This post was last modified: 08-22-2025 08:35 AM by McCastle.)

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Steve · 11-20-2020, 04:40 AM

Joe, I also want to welcome you to the Forum as well.

I had never heard of the theory that "Augustus Howell" was an alias before. I never looked into background beyond the trial record before. Unfortunately, right now I've had to stop paying for my research related website subscriptions due to a money crunch caused by the pandemic, so my research wings have been clipped for right now. Joe, if you can stay watching the Forum into next year, I could look into what I can find about Howell sometime early next year.

Joe, a really quick way to test to see if Emack and Howell are the same person is to see if "Augustus Howell" turns up in any pre-Civil War records. If Howell is an alias, he shouldn't. Also if anybody on the Forum can get ahold of Dave Taylor, because of his research into the lives of people connect ed to the trial, he might have more information on Howell.

Steve · (This post was last modified: 11-20-2020 05:47 AM by Steve.)

There's one event in which Augustus Howell appears in records before the trial and his stay with the Surratts that I'm aware of which should be added to your timeline of events. On October 24, 1862 Augustus Howell and five other men were apprehended by the Union schooner Mathew Vassar trying to row to Virginia. The men claimed to be trying to join the Confederate Army but they also tried to destroy numerous papers on them before they were captured. Here's a link to the relevant record:

https://books.google.com/books?id=y1lKAQ...22&f=false

I don't know how long Howell was held by Union authorities before he was released. So, I don't know if this conflicts with Emack's time period at Libby Prison or not.

Good luck with your research, Joe!

McCastle · (This post was last modified: 08-22-2025 08:37 AM by McCastle.)

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Susan Higginbotham · 11-21-2020, 12:24 PM

When I researched "Hanging Mary," I found that Augustus Howell was buried in 1869 in Congressional Cemetery under the name of Gustavus Howell. There is a hotel keeper by that name in the 1860 census in Aquasco, Prince Georges County, Maryland, and a boy by that name in the 1850 census living with a Joseph and Evelina Jenkins in Bryantown, Charles County, Maryland. It would be interesting to know if there was a connection between those Jenkinses and Mary Surratt's family.