GDG- "Loose Bolts Sink....."

[Tom Ryan]

<<IMO, that's a lot tarring with little to no substantial evidence to back
it up.  Deciding that Custis Lee's promotion was also a part of some huge
design is also a bit of a stretch when you consider Custis had been moving
heaven and earth to get the promotion, even enlisting Stuart's aid in that
cause.>>

	You can pick and choose the things you like and dislike about the book, but
overall it is difficult to dismiss the basic premise that the Confederate
government had its operatives in the field with instructions to find a way
to capture Lincoln and bring him South for purposes of ransom.  The book is
like the old adage about the glass being half full or half empty.  I have
read the book several times, and continue to see it as, at the least, half
full.

	The authors' writing style, which employs a variety of qualifiers, is
typical intelligence report writing.  You try to give the decision makers
your best estimate of the situation, but you have to frame it in a way that
insures as accuarate a picture of the "truth" as possible.  Of course, in
this situation, we are the decision makers, and have to place our own value
on the information provided.  I have always found "Come Retribution" useful,
as long as the information is read with caution.

Tom Ryan