field and plotting to abduct Abraham Lincoln. Although the oil endeavor produced no profits, it was widely believed that he was very successful at it, providing him with a ready explanation of why he wasn't playing many theater dates. In his free time, Booth traveled extensively, wining and dining Confederate agents in Canada and familiarizing himself with the roads through Southern Maryland. Virtually ignored by Union troops for the lack of strategic importance, these roads were the corridor by which Confederate spies shuttled back and forth between Richmond and Washington City. Booth was to follow this route very closely after shooting Lincoln. This concept of abducting Lincoln was a popular one for many Southerners. By this time, the South was critically short of men. By abducting Chris Mynk71567Lincoln and taking him to Richmond, the South could then demand the return of Southern prisoners of war for Lincoln. Gathering a motley crew of conspirators, Booth formulated plans for Lincoln's capture, none of which came to past. Booth devised a plan which he apparently hoped would throw the North into complete chaos and pave the way for a last stand by the South: kill the President, the Vice-President and the Secretary of State all in one night. Not surprisingly, Booth chose the President as his own target and assigned two of his conspirators to the Vice-President and the Secretary of State, neither one of which accomplished their goal. Lewis Paine succeeded in only wounding Secretary of State Seward with a knife while George Atzerodt backed out of his mission at the last minute and never approached Vice-President Johnson. Booth, however, had planned his mission carefully. He knew he could move freely about Ford's Theatre without arousing suspicion. When he showed up at the theater on the night of the shooting, no one paid any attention as he made his way to the President's Box on the second floor. Many never even heard the shot and ...
