Just wanted you to know I tripped across a bit of Dahlgren original material here at the UVA library:

http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/published/uva-sc/viu03799.xml.frame

If you have not already checked it out, I can the next time I am there (and I expect to make it in about a week).

Bill

Secondly, I never made any such connection between Mosby and Booth – but OTHERS have. The book Come Retribution certainly makes that connection. A very long and detailed article in a Civil War magazine plainly shows Mosby ‘in the loop’ according to the authors. I had an interest in the matter and attempted to discern from as many ‘experts’ as possible just how ‘real’ that link might have been. On the whole, most – including Michael Kauffman as noted – did not believe that Mosby was involved. Others thought that he WAS involved certainly in the Harney matter which was an attempt (if one believes it) to blow up the White House with Lincoln and his entire Cabinet. Among those who certainly hold that view is Ed Steers (Blood on the Moon) and Jane Singer who authored a well documented book (which was also the subject of a program on the History Channel) about certain Confederate covert (terrorist) operations.

Sorry, Mr. M. I’m afraid that you cannot simply dismiss my points because I made them this time.

Lincoln had refused guards although certainly when it was thought in Washington that Mosby might attempt to kidnap the President from the Old Soldier’s Home, guards not only ‘appeared’, but slept in the President’s doorway according to some sources.

As for my comment about Booth being an actor: I meant that he certainly was not as dangerous as would have been the case had he been a hardened combatant. All cornered men are dangerous, but a man who was dangerous BEFORE being cornered becomes all the MORE dangerous once he is. I cannot imagine that Booth would have declined the opportunity to play the greatest role of his life at a trial rather than dying in a dirty farm yard. If they were talking to him, the ‘danger’ of his shooting them seems to have been greatly reduced. So, while everyone is talking and no one is shooting, Corbett settles the matter through a crack in the barn wall. Wasn’t anyone watching this nutcase? Or, perhaps, they didn’t even know he was there? That’s not the way to ‘bring ’em back alive’, folks – as can clearly be shown by the result obtained.

I believe (but I cannot swear) that Boston Corbett was a known figure in the Capitol which meant that his mental condition was ALSO known. As noted, if everyone was permitted to ‘go along’ on the manhunt for Booth, one can hardly consider this a ‘well run’ tactical operation. If they wanted Booth alive, it seems reasonable that they would have chosen the very best trained men to pursue and capture him. Weren’t there any soldiers in Washington that could have been called upon for this purpose?

I do not speak of conspiracies, only stupidity. The kidnap/assassination plots were known by Lincoln and Stanton among others. Booth’s allegiances were also known and his presence in the area if not known absolutely by Baker and others certainly should have been a concern. Booth was a well known figure. He had visited Ford’s Theater before the assassination so he made no secret of his presence in Washington.

On the other hand, the authorities seemed to know of Booth’s connection with Surratt because they went to Mary Surratt’s home before Lewis Paine got back there from his attempt to assassinate Seward. Why was no one keeping watch for Booth at Surratt’s house given his open threats – and I DO mean ‘open’; that is, voiced in the presence of witnesses not a party to the cabal.

If no one wishes to consider a conspiracy by the Union or the Confederacy (or some from both sides), fine. But then I posit that the only other conclusion has to be a stupidity so vast and so wide-spread as to be inexplicable.

Those in charge of the manhunt had every intention of bringing Booth back alive if at all possible, so there was no need to say “Booth must be brought back alive at all costs.” I’m not really sure where you’re going with the issue of Booth being an actor and not a solider. At this point he was the suspected presidential assassin and was just as dangerous and desperate as any professional solider. And for the Garrett Farm Patrol, it wasn’t a question of fear of Booth. When Conger, Byron Baker and Edward P. Doherty were talking to Booth in the early morning hours of April 26, they were doing so in full view of Booth and Herold, who easily could have taken any number of shots at them at any time. With the lights they carried, Booth and Herold could see them clearly, but they had no sight of the two men. Indeed, Booth told Byron Baker that he was a brave man because Booth had several opportunities to shoot him. So the reason for shooting Booth had nothing to do with fear.

Why was Corbett there? Why was any of them there? When the call came for volunteers, any one could show up if they wanted to. Again, it’s not a question of competence. It is a question of we’ve got a good lead on this and can’t waste time with psychological interviews of each potential hunter to make sure he doesn’t take a shot at Booth before we’re ready. I think just about every man who served in the Union army during the Civil War would have ached to go on that manhunt, in order to bring Lincoln’s killer back in. I’m not sure where you’re getting your information on the way that Booth was hunted down. To be sure there were serious holes in the way people were looking, but from the very first day the government had a concentrated effort on to find Booth, but they were dealing with a lot of unknowns. First, they had no idea where he had gone, if he was traveling alone or if he had help from the Confederate underground. Also, they had no idea that Booth had broken his leg until they interviewed Dr. Samuel Mudd. And I will certainly admit that there were people on the same side fighting against each other, hampering the investigation, but Booth’s manhunt was not treated like he was simply a runaway slave.

I don’t know if you’ve ever studied the relationship between Lincoln and Stanton, but on several different occasions, Stanton did tell Lincoln to “take a hike” as you put it. Sometimes Lincoln let it stand, other times he insisted his directions be followed. No guards were assigned to Lincoln because Lincoln himself did not want them. No amount of persuasion would have stopped Lincoln from going to Ford’s Theater that evening. Oh, and he did ask Eckert himself, and Eckert, who knew that Stanton wanted Lincoln to stay away from the theater, said he couldn’t go. Plus, the war was, for all practical purposes, over. Given that no American president had ever been shot up to this point, who would have guessed that with the war over, the danger hadn’t passed? Maybe short sighted, but certainly not stupid.

If I may, I would suggest that you read either Mike Kauffman’s “American Brutus” or Ed Steer’s “Blood on the Moon” which I think might help in answering some of the points you’ve raised.

Best
Rob