8. Booth did not receive the acclaim he expected from Southern sympathizers
Booth had fully expected his actions would make him a hero throughout the South and among those who supported the Confederate cause. Instead, he found few willing to help him and fewer still to harbor him. Always a man who had kept himself meticulously groomed and dressed, he resented having to take shelter in a swamp, living like an animal. He logged his complaints in his diary, becoming increasingly morose and resentful as the days dragged by. The newspapers brought to him by Cox’s servants did little to console him. His diary entries took on the tone of a misunderstood and unappreciated martyr for the south, comparing himself to Brutus for having slain a tyrant.
Colonel Cox meanwhile sent for known (to him) Confederate agents to help get Booth and Herold across the Potomac. His actions were motivated as much by his desire to rid himself of the pair as they were to help him escape to Virginia. Herold had begun to entertain the idea of moving along without Booth, despite knowing that the injured Booth was incapable of traveling alone. Such was the actor’s mood that Herold too wanted to be rid of him. Union officers had increased their questioning of Dr. Mudd, a fact communicated to Cox, though the troops had not yet closely examined the latter’s property, nor the area where the fugitives remained hidden. Cox knew it was only a matter of time until they did.