Kidnapping plot issue that I've not considered

[Rhatkinson]

If the conspirators had been able to capture Lincoln on the way to the Soldier's Home as planned, how did they plan to get across the Navy Yard Bridge? Obviously, it was guarded 24/7, so I can't imagine how they thought that they would be able to get across with the most recognizable man in America sitting (tied up) in their carriage.

It's not as though carriages had some "secret" compartment to store a 6'4" man!

Heath

[Bill Richter]

I thought they were going to use Bennings Bridge, which, I believe, was not always guarded

[Rhatkinson]

I thought they were going to use Bennings Bridge, which, I believe, was not always guarded

That must be it. I have always been under the impression that they were going to take the same route that Booth took after the assassination, so I assumed that meant crossing at the Navy Yard bridge.

[L Verge]

The Soldiers' Home is so far north in D.C. that it is almost in Maryland (southern Montgomery County). I'm not very familiar with that area today with the growth and the Beltway interfering, but it might have been possible to exit the city without crossing a bridge. Actually, Ft. Stevens, where the Jubal Early raid on D.C. was thwarted, is just a few minutes from there. I don't think Jubal had to cross any river once he left the Monocacy behind outside of Frederick, MD.

[LincolnMan]

Sure was a bold plan. What would have been the reaction of the Confederate government had it succeeded, I wonder.

[Bill Richter]

According to Civil War maps that accompany the Official Records, one could cross the Eastern Branch of the Potomac (today's Anacostia) at Bladensburg on a couple of turnpike bridges or fords. The Eastern Branch was not deep or wide past the NE DC boundary. These were actually more accessible than Bennings Bridge which came out of the NE corner of DC. The Campbell military hospital and the Old Soldier's Home gave perfect access to the turnpike running to Bladensburg and then north-northeast to Beltsville. But Booth et al would have had to travel northward rather than eastward initially. After crossing the upper branch of the Eastern Branch, the roads to Surrattsville and Southern Maryland and the Potomac were open to any travel. The major difference here was that Bennings Bridge was a more direct route to Surrattsville. The ease by which these roads could be used is why Davy Herold had so many ropes to tie across the roads to trip up pursuing Union Cavalry. Many of these were stored above the kitchen at the Tavern.

Early's worse crossing after the Monocacy was wading Rock Creek, which ran all the way north to Gettysburg. I doubt that Early wanted to do more than scare and/or embarrass Lincoln's government in 1864 much as Stonewall Jackson had done in 1862.

---

Actually, Early's raid on DC was to provide flank protection to a massive cavalry raid on Point Lookout POW camp where large numbers of Confederate soldiers were held. This never materialized. Early did not have the imagination to carry it out. It was to be commanded by Maryland Brig Gen Bradley Johnson.

[JMadonna]

By the time Booth was in Washington to kidnap Lincoln, the summer was over and Lincoln no longer went to his summer home. I think The Soldier's Home plot ended when Bradley Johnson was sent to Port Lookout.

[L Verge]

Speaking of kidnapping plots: I may have had my head stuck in the sand for all these years (no comments, please), and Bill Richter may have covered this in Last Confederate Heroes, but I swear I just read this for the first time today while reading "A Vast and Fiendish Plot" by Clint Johnson regarding the 1864 New York fires:

--The operatives attempted one last operation in December of 1864. They planned to kidnap Vice President-elect Andrew Johnson on his way to Washington for the inaugural. Events prevented them from taking him in his hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky and their second attempt also met with failure. When they rushed into the vice presidential suite they found it empty. Johnson left earlier after deciding to continue the journey by boat instead of train.

This was part of the Northwest Conspiracy being hatched in Toronto. I did further googling on this because one of the operatives in that conspiracy was the Confederate agent, Thomas Hines of Kentucky. My grandmother's maiden name was Hines, and she hailed from the area where Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina are so close. She also married a Mays, and there is a town in Kentucky named Maysville. Genealogy confuses me terribly, so I have never really pursued the line.

Anyhow, does anyone have further details on the Johnson kidnap plot?

[BettyO]

Fascinating, Laurie! I've got to get that book....sounds wonderful!