CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIES PR014 CANAEA r

A STUDY IN CANADIAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS

by

MARTHA LUAN CARTER BRUNSON, B.S.

A THESIS

IN

HISTORY

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Technological College in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree of

MA.STER OF ARTS

Approved

Ac ;^ep t^

Augus t , 1958

20^

Co p 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

*I. CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIES ALONG THE CANADIAN FRONTIER* ?

II. THE NORTHWEST CONSPIRACY AND THE MOVEMENT FOR A

NEGOTIATED PEACE 21

III.CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIES ON LAKE ERIE k3

IV. THE CONFEDERATE RAID INTO VERJ IONT 56

V. CONFEDERATE REFUGEES AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

OF 1861 7k

VI. LAST EFFORTS OP THE CONFEDERATES IN CANADA 89

AFTERWORD 110

INTRODUCTION

One of the more remote facets of the Civil War had to

do with a series of activities conducted by Confederates

operating from Canada. Since many Confederates and Con­

federate sympathizers found it expedient to escape the

bounds of the Union and were not able, for one reason or

another, to make their way southward, there was a rather

large colony of Southern refugees in Canada. Some were

escaped prisoners of war who had crossed into Canada from

Northern war camps, many of which were located near the

Canadian border* Others were Southerners who deemed Canada

a refuge of safety for themselves and their families*

Several were businessmen -^o found it advantageous to con­

duct business from a neutral country* Whatever their reason

for being in Canada, the more loyal members of the con­

tingent were willing to participate directly or indirectly

in any activity that might help the Southern cause* Even

though there were early plots originating in Canada to help:

the Confederacy, these attempts for the most part were

instigated by unauthorized individuals* Rumors ran raiT5)ent

that Confederate troops were being mustered in Canada and

attacks were being planned upon the Union lake cities* The

efficient Union detective system kept a constant check on

the validity of such rumors and most often proved them to

be false• Nonetheless, the unrest caused by these rumors.

as well as the fact that there were so many Confederates and

Confederate sympathizers in Canada, was enough to warrant

grave concern*

Because the bulk of the Confederate activities con­

ducted from Canada took place during the time official

commissioners sent by tbs Confederate government operated

there, it was considered valid to limit the scope of the

thesis primarily to that period* For the purpose of setting

the scene, however, a brief summary was made of unauthorized

attempts to frustrate the Union from the north before their

arrival* In order to present a more nearly complete picture

of the operation and its participants, reference was made to

the subsequent lives of the men who were most active in

Canada* The main part of the thesis, however, was built

around the major activities planned and carried out by the

commissioners and their coherts in Canada.

A search for materials dealing with the Confederate

activities from Canada, revealed that no one person who had

done research had presented a summation of the complete

operation from Canada* Most of the research done on the

subject had to do with tne complete details of only one

segmsnt of the operation* In several instances there were

sideline references to other parts of the operation insofar

as they dealt with the primary issue* This type of material

was considered Invaluable in attempting to develop a

complete picture of the total operation. Two such sources

were the memoirs of two of the participants in the Canadian

enterprise, John B. Castleman and John W* Headley. Micro­

film from the Canadian archives which presented records from

the office of the secretary to the Governor General from

l86Ij. to 1870 revealed valuable Information on the subject*

Much of this information had already been incorporated into

an unpublished manuscript prepared by Dr* Oscar A. Kinchen

which pertained to the St. Albans' raid, one of the major

episodes in the Canadian enterprise. This microfilm and

other inaccessible materials used by Dr. Kinchen in pre­

paring his manuscript made his research an invaluable

source for the thesis* James D* Horan's biography of Thomas

Henry Hines, one of tne most active Confederates in Canada,

presented materials concerning Hines* part in the Canadian

operation and, incidentally, presented a brief picture of

some of the other enterprises originating from Canada* His

book contained evidence of documentation from valuable and

inaccessible sources as far as this study was concerned*

He had use of the Baker-Turner Papers and other papers

housed in the National Archives which heretofore had been

unavailable to researchers and of Hines' own papers, some

of which had been discovered in the Margaret I. King

Library at the University of Kentucky and others which were

In the possession of Hines' granddaughter, Mrs. John J* V/inn

of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky* In his book dealing with

Canadian-American foreign policy, James Morton Callahan

discussed pertinent material which proved helpful in the

preparation of the thesis* Also, reference was made to his

history pertaining to Southern diplomacy during the War* A

few articles which appeared in historical quarterlies and

summaries of papers delivered at historical meetings were

referred to, although they were usually of a highly special­

ized nature or biased to such an extent that the information

in them had to be carefully weighed* Although the previous

research efforts mentioned here were of imnEnse value in

preparing the study, the primary source was the Official

Records of the Union ana Confederate Armies> a compilation

of available documents that had passed through the hands of

either of the two governments during the War as far as they

had been gathered by the National Archives in 1901* Un­

fortunately some of the documents had not been acquired by

that time or were considered too defamatory to persons still

living then to be incorporated into records that would be

available to the public* Thus, it was necessary to make use

of the other sources to fill the gaps* Even so, some

questions pertaining to the Confederate operations from

Canada could not be answered since papers that might have

answered them had been misplaced or destroyed*

The purpose of this thesis is to examine carefully

all accessible materials pertaining to the Confederate

activities in Canada and from them to present a narrative of

the events which took place there* As a result of this

presentation* it is hoped tliat it can be adequately discern­

ed how much the operation affected the outcome of the War

and how greatly it influenced the relationship between the

various governments concerned*

CHAPTER I

CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIiiJS ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER

Although the primary battlefield of the Civil War

was not located along the border between Canada and the

United States, activities which took place there during the

War caused concern among the officials and other citizens

of tne Union, the Confederacy, and the Canadian provincial

government as well as Britain itself. At the opening of the

War a large number of Canadians joined the Union army, which

seemed to indicate that the Csinadians were in sympathy with

the Union cause* This sympathy seemed to wane somewhat as

the War continued, and prior to the spring of l86I|., when

the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, sent

official Confederate commissioners to Canada to conduct

certain operations frctn that area, the growth of tensions

betv/een the governments of the United States and Canada was

quite evident*

In the early months of tne War, rumors, which were

vehemently denied, that the United States was interested in

annexing Canada by means of war if necessary, coupled with

succeeding actions on the part of both the Canadians and

James Morten Callahan, Araerican Foreign Policy in Canadian Relations (New York, 1937)> PP« 270-2?^* Hereafter cited as Callahan, American Foreign Policy* Unless other­wise documented the first part of this account is based primarily on the above work*

8

and the Americans, caused considerable tension oeoween the

two governments. In May of l86l, the Union Secretary of

State, William H. Seward, strenuously objected to the

Canadian officials because the Confederates had purchased

a vessel, the Peerless, at Toronto and were talcing it from

Lake Ontario to the ocean to use as a privateer. When Lord

Lyons, the British minister in V/ashington, did not take

action because of uncertainties in the case, Seward made it

clear that the American government would not tolerate the

fitting out of vessels for delivery to the American in­

surgents and threatened seizure and detention of the vessel*

When this threat did not bring action frcm the Canadians,

Seward promptly gave conditional instructions for seizure

and detention* Later in the same month. May 13* American

relations with Canada were affected by the British de­

claration of neutrality which recognized the Confederates

as belligerents and seemed to deny American sovereignty over

the Confederate states. Then before the close of the year,

both the American and British governments were apprehensive

about the possible enlargement of armaments on the border*

To a British inquiry of whether the Americans had a naval

force in excess of the stipulations of an agreement of I8I7,

Seward replied that the Michip;anj the only American naval

vessel on the Lakes, which was used for recruiting and

artillery practice, was not in his opinion excessive* In

October, apparently influenced by information that the

British were sending troops for defense of Canada, Seward

sent to the governors of the border states a circular in

which he stated that there was a need for defenses on the

Lakes, a statement which caused Canadian newspapers to re­

port that such border fortifications would be a menace to

Canada*

Prom 1862 until the spring of lQGl\. the primary tension

between Canada and the Union was caused by the British

policy concerning Confederate use of British ports and Con­

federate purchase of British ships. The Confederates were

allovjed to negotiate for British vessels even though tbs

British, no doubt, knew that they would be used against the

Union. As the V/ar had taken a turn favoring the Union in

July of 1863, Seward again spoke strongly against British-

Canadian policies. V/ith another hint of possible war

between England and the Union, the English government de­

cided to detain all Confederate ironclads, but it refused

to assume any responsibility for the damages committed by

the cruisers which it had previously allowed to depart*

Another strain was placed upon Canadian-American

relations in November of I863 when plans of offensive trans-

border operations by Confederates assembled in Canada vrere

revealed* According to a November 11 commumication sent by

Edwin M. Stanton, Union Secretary of War, to governors of

border states, mayors of border tovms, and Union military

officials who were present in the danger areas. Lord Lyons

10

had officially notified the American government that from

telegraphic information received from Canadian Governor-

General Monck there was "reason to believe that a plot" was

"on foot by persons hostile to the United States, who" had

"found asylum in Canada, to invade the United States and de­

stroy the city of Buffalo:." Furthermore, they proposed "to

take possession of some of the steamboats on Lake Erie, to

surprise Johnson's Island and set free the prisoners of war

confined there, and to proceed with them to attack Buffalo."

Lyons assured the Union government that the Canadian govern­

ment would employ all the means possible to suppress the

plot* Reports made by Union detectives sent into Canada

immediately after Lord Monck's warning was received in­

dicated that such plans had definitely been under foot but

that the plans had been frustrated by the effective warn­

ing of the Canadian government and that further plans had

been temporarily postponed.^ Even though the people of the

border states were assured that the planned invasion had been

allayed, they, no doubt, continued to feel insecure.

Again in December the American government

%red C. Ainsworth and J.W* Kirkley (eds*). War of the Rebellior, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series III, Vol. Ill (Washington, 1901), pp. 1013-1015• Hereafter cited as Official Records with series and vol­ume numbe r *

^Ibid., pp. 1099-1100*

11

found grounds for complaint when fourteen men, operating

from a Canadian port and claLining that they acted under

orders from the Confederate government at Richmond, seized

the American steamer Chesapeake* After the American naval

commander of the U.S.S. Ella and Annie recaptured the

vessel in the harbor of Sambro, Nova Scotia, and delivered

it to the British authorities at Halifax, the Washington

authorities demanded the delivery of the fourteen men for

trial in the United States. The Confederate government at

first assumed responsibility for the actions 6f the men and

sent to defend them James P. Holcombe, liio was reputed as

being the best lawyer on international affairs in the

Confederacy* He discovered, however, upon his arrival in

March of l86i}. that the case was already decided, the vessel

had been returned to its rightful oi ners, and the men had

been released by writ of habeas corpus by the court at

New Brunswick, although a warrant was secured for their

re-arrest. Holcombe in his report to the Confederate

Secretary of State, Judah P. Benjamin, stated his belief

that most of the men who took part in the enterprise

assumed that it was invested with the sanction of law and

that they were mainly impelled by a "generous sympathy"

with the Confederate cause. He went ahead to point out,

however, that only one of the men involved had even a

remote claim to citizenship in the Confederacy and that

12

the rest were British subjects.^ Benjamin, in reporting

back to Holcombe, made it clear that originally the facts

had been misrepresented to Confederate officials and that,

because of Holcombe's investigation of the matter* the

truth had been uncovered* The truth, according to his

communication, was the following:

First. That the expedition wa.s devised, planned, and organized in a British colony by Vernon G* Locke, a British subject, who, under the feigned name of Parker, had been placed in command of the privateer Retribution by the officer who was named as her coimander at tiie tine of the issue of the letter of marque. Second* That Locke assumed to issue commissions in the Confederate service to British subjects on British soil, without the slightest pretext of authority for so doing, and without being himself in the public service of this Government* Third. There is great reason to doubt whether either Braine, who was in command of the ex­pedition, or Parr, his subordinate, is a Con­federate citizen, and tne weight of the evidence is rather in favor of the presumption that neither is a citizen and that the former had never been in our military service. Fourth. That Braine, the commander of the expedition, after getting possession of the vessel and proceeding to the British colonies, instead of confining himself to his professed object of obtaining fuel for navigating her to a Confederate port, sold portions of the cargo at different points on the coast, thus

Dudley W. Know (ed*). Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series I, Vol* 2 (United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1927), PP. 551-552* Hereafter referred to as-Official Records of the Navies with series and volume number*

13

divest ing himself of the character of an officer engaged in legi t imate warfare»

Benjamin added tha t the Confederate government would at any­

time uphold the r ight of any Confederate c i t i zen and every

foreigner en l i s t ed in the Confederate service to "wage

warfare openly, or by stratagem, upon the vessels of our

enemies on the high seas . . . ."' Since Holcombe's i n -

ves t iga t ion revealed t ha t th i s was not the case, tha t i n ­

stead neu t ra l subjects within neu t ra l j u r i sd ic t ion had

organized the h o s t i l i t i e s , the Confederate government d i s -5

claimed t he i r demands* Pro-Union authors, Nicolay and

Hay, indicated the i r bel ief that the only reason Holcombe

was sent to Canada was that the Confederates saw an

opportunity for prof i t in the Confederate cause. They also

observed that when Holcombe discovered that the men had

been **guilty of s tea l ing and peddling the cargo" and tha t

*the so-cal led Confederate off icers involved were most

disreputable,"" he "'concluded to make no demand upon Br i t i sh

au tho r i t i e s for the r e s t i t u t i o n of the s tolen ship,"' which

as far as they were concerned had been captured by a "gang

of murderers and thieves," ' not "high-minded and honorable

gentlemen" as the Confederate government o r ig ina l ly hoped*

^Official Records of the Navies, Series I , Vol* 2 , pp. 55U-^55T

John Go Nicolay and John Hay, Abraham Lincoln, A History, Vol* VIII (New York, 1886), pp. 15-16.

Ik

Confederate interference originating from Canadian

shores upon Union shipping, as the United States chose to

view the Chesapeake affair, led Seward to make strong

complaints to the Canadian government. He also pointed to

other causes for complaint:*

The recent shipment of one thousand rifles from New York to Halifax in violation of military regulations, the recently discovered plans of Confederate 'pirates' at Halifax to capture other American steamers between New York and Halifax, the plans of 'neutral passengers' to carry forbidden and treasonable mails to the insurgents and the plsins of 'neutral merchants' to carry war supplies.

Seward further observed that these proceedings could in­

volve Canada and the United States in a war along the

border which would have dire results and that American

vigilance was necessary to prevent information and war 7

material from reaching the insurgents through Canada*'

In March of 1861 ., the Canadian government considered

Increasing her defensive force on the Lakes in order to pre­

vent "certain vessels" from attacking American trading vessels*

There was to be sa temporary transfer of five vessels to the

area, but upon further consideration, the plan was

abandoned because it might be misconstrued by the United

States as a menace* Meanwhile, Seward himself was some­

what embarrassed, when statements he had made in his in-

'Callahan, American Foreip;n Policy, pp. 276-277.

15

structions in I863 to Charles Francis Adams, Union

Ambassador to England, concerning the British failure to

observe strict neutrality were published and then in­

corporated into one of President Lincoln's messages. The

British immediately took offense, but Seward assured them

that no menace had been intended*

In April, l86Ij., the American government began the

construction of several sidescrew revenue cutters for ser­

vice on Lake Erie* Seward quickly assured Lord Lyons that

the cutters formed no part of the American naval force and

were intended exclusively for prevention of smuggling. In

conjunction with the building of the cutters, however,

there was a move in Congress to terminate certain treaties?

with Canada* Although some proposals of termination were

voted on in Congress, none passed* When Lord Lyons in­

quired about the situation, he was assured that the

American government had no intention to abrogate any of

these treaties*

It was into this strained atmosphere that Jefferson

Davis sent to Canada on April 27, l861j.. Confederate

Commissioners, Jacob Thompson and Clement C* Clay, Jr*

Their activities for the next several months added to the

tense situation as will be revealed in the succeeding

chapters*

Jacob Thompson of Oxford, Mississippi, who had served

as Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President

16

Buchanan prior to the outbreak of the War, had become, like

so many of his fellow Southerners, actively involved in the

Confederate cause* During the early years of the War he

had served on the staff of General Forrest* Then on April

7, 1861|., Jefferson Davis summoned him to Richmond* "If

your engagements" he wrote* "will; permit you to accept ser­

vice abroad for the next six months, please come here o

immediately*" Shortly thereafter, plans for the Canadian

operation were consumated and similar letters were prepared

from President Davis for Thompson and Clement C* Clay, Jr.,

who was to accompany Thompson to Canada* The communication

read as follows?

Richmond, Va., April 27, l861|.

Sirr

Confiding special trust in your zeal, discretion and patriotism, I hereby direct you to proceed at once to Canada, there to carry out such instructions as you have received from me verbally in such a manner as shall seem most likely to conduce to the furtherance of the interests of the Confederate Q States of America which have been intrusted to you*

The man chosen to accompany Thompson, Clement C..

Clay, Jr*, of Alabama, had distinguished himself as a merriber

of both houses of the United States Congress. He also

o

Off ic i a l Records, Se r i e s IV, Vol* I I I , p* 2>2Z^

^Ib id* , p* 322»

10

17

represented his state in the Confederate Congress at

Richmond. A third man, W.W. Cleary, accompanied the two

commissioners to Canada as secretary to the commission*

James P. Holcombe, who had been sent to Canada earlier to

serve as attorney for the fourteen men involved in the

Chesapeake affair and had then been directed to remain in

Canada in order to locate Confederate soldiers who had

escaped from Northern prisoner of war camps and provide

means for them to return to the South to resume active

service for the Confederacy, became the third commissioner*

On May 6, l861j., Thompson, Clay, and Cleary left

Wilmington, North Carolina, on the Thistle, a fast blockade

runner. Even though a Union gunboat was in hot pursuit,

tte Thistle reached the Bermudas and from there the

connissioners sailed for Halifax on the British mail steam­

er Alpha, which brought them to their destination on May

19. Because of illness. Clay remained in Halifax and later

made his headquarters at St. Catherines on the Canadian

side of the Niagara River. Thompson, accompanied by Cleary,

proceeded to Montreal, where he deposited approximately

three quarters of a million dollars in the Bank of Ontario,

but later he found that headquarters at the Queen's Hotel

in Toronto would be more convenient for his operation*

10 Official Records, Series IV, Vol. Ill, pp* 583-58i4-»

Oscar A. Kinchen, "The St. Albans Raiders," (un­published manuscript, 1958*), pp* 2-3. Hereafter cited as Kinchen, "St. Albans Raiders."

18

John B* Castleman, a Confederate who spent some time

in Canada and worked closely with the commissioners, made

some rather candid observations about their personalities*

Of Thompson he observed, "Jacob Thompson was a successful

man of business, a politician of unusual ability. . .was

always a gentleman, but was not a diplomat." Thompson, he

added, was "somewhat disqualified for the duties of

commissioner by being unable to realize that many men were

not as honorable as he*" Of Clay he wroter

Mr* Clay was a man of culture and of some political experience* It would have been difficult for Presi­dent Davis to have found one prominent in political life who was more unfitted to perform the duties exacted* He was not a practical man, he lacked judgment and he was in ill health, was peevish, irritable and suspicious — he distrusted his col­league, Mr. Thompson, and he relied on those who were often unworthy* From the very outset he was out of harmony with Commissioner Thompscnp with his residence at St. Catherines, removed from Mr* Thompson's semi-official residence at Toronto, and demanded and was paid then the sum of $93,000^00 from which he should make such expenditures as might accord with his undisputed judgment*

Castleman indicated that in his opinion the mission would

have been infinitely more efficient if Thompson alone, even

with his own weaknesses, had represented the Confederate

4- 12 government*

The duties of the commission were never completely

spelled out in writing, but apparently the main object was

12john B* Castleinan, Active Service (Louisville, 1917), pp. 133-13l|-»

19

making contacts with men in the North who were interested in

bringing about peace at any cost* Such an object was in­

dicated by Jefferson Davis when he later wrotes

The aspect of the peace party was quite encouraging, and it seemed that the real issue to be decided in the Presidential election of that year was the continuance or cessation of the war* A commission of three persons, eminent in position and intelli­gence, was accordingly appointed to visit Canada with a view to negotiation with such persons in the North as could be realied upon to aid the attainment of peace*13

A close scrutiny of activities of the commissioners

and those with whom they worked revealed that the verbal

instructions given by President Davis were quite elastic*

They involved schemes whereby the Copperheads, or Peace

Democrats, would be backed in every effort to win the

Democratic presidential nomination and ultimately the

election, thus leaving the way open to peace* Even though

this seemed to be the initial purpose of the commission,

several other schemes were put into operation through the

commission* It would be well, however, to turn attention

first to the initial contacts of the commission with that

group of Peace Democrats organized under the name of ' Sons

^3jefferson I avis, The Rise and Fall of the Con­federate Government (Richmond, Idbl), pp* 516-517.

^The term Copperhead is variously interpreted, but for this study refers to radical Peace Democrats who were anxious to attain peace at any cost*.

20

of Liberty" and their joint activities prior to, during, and

immediately after the Democratic Convention held in Chicago

in August of l86i|. and to other efforts to bring about peace*

CHAPTER II

THE NORTHWEST CONSPIRACY AND THE

MOVEMENT FOR A NEGOTIATED

PEACE

After Jacob Thompson had established his headquarters

in Toronto, he began immediately to ascertain how strong

the peace movements were in the North* The first contacted

were leading New York Copperheads who assured him that their

number in the Northeast was not at that time ready to par­

ticipate actively in a peace movement. It seemed that too

many Eastern manufacturers were becoming wealthy as a result

of the War.

Thompson concluded that little could be expected

from the Northeast. Nonetheless* he developed one more

scheins to be carried out there before turning to the Norths

west* Actually a plan had been suggested before he left the

Confederacy, whereby it would be possible to thwart the

Union gold market* People of the North were urged to convert

their paper money into gold and thus withdraw it from the

market* To further this movement, John Porterfield, a

Nashville banker, was "furnished with $100,000 and in­

structed to proceed to New York to carry out a financial

policy, of his own conception, which consisted in the pur-

^Official Records, Series I, Vol. XLIII, Part II, p. 930. This fact was disclosed in a report of activities in Canada from Thompson to Benjamin on December 3> I86J4.*

2X

chase of gold and export ing the same, s e l l i n g i t for s t e r l i n g

b i l l s of exchange, and then again convert ing h i s exchange

i n t o g o l d . " P o r t e r f i e l d succeeded in ge t t i ng $2,000,000 i n

gold shipped from the country by spending only $10,000

before he r e tu rned to Canada. He re tu rned sooner than he

might have because h i s former p a r t n e r , a Mr* Lyons, who had

no a c t u a l connect ion with h i s ope ra t ion , had been a r re s t ed

on the ground t h a t he was expor t ing gold* P o r t e r f i e l d r e ­

turned $75,000 of the money en t rus t ed to him, keeping

$15*000 to continue h i s scheme, should he have the

oppor tuni ty* Of the opera t ion Thompson sa id , " I must confess

t h a t the f i r s t shipment had a marked ef fec t on t he market .

I am i n c l i n e d to t he opinion t h a t h i s / P o r t e r f i e l d ' ^

theory w i l l work g r e a t damage and d i s t r u s t to Federal

f i n a n c e s , i f v igorous ly followed up* . . . " No r epo r t of

fu r the r ac t i on along t h i s l i ne was repor ted , however*

By June of l861| contac t had been made and a meeting

arranged a t Winsor in Canada West, between Thompson and

Clement L* Vallandigham, Orand Commander of the Sons of 3

L i b e r t y , an a l l e g e d l y powerful organizat icn in the North-

2 Official Records, Series I, Vol* XLIII, Part II, pp*

932-933* Taken from Thompson's report to Benjamin* 3 The Sons of Liberty, a radical secret associaticn

consisting primarily of those with Copperhead sentiments was called by various names at different times during its history. Originally it was known in certain localities as the Mutual Protection Society, the Circle of Honor, or the Circle or Knights of the Mighty Host and in a wider sense

23

west which was sympathetic to plans for peace at any cost —

even the secession of the Northwestern States. It was at

this and subsequent meetings that plans for what has often

been called the "Northwest Conspiracy" were developed*

The conspiracy consisted of a flexible plan which

was variously interpreted by its participants* Generally

speaking there was to be an uprising in the Northwestern

States, primarily Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, which as a

minimum goal would lead to peace, an overthrow of the

Lincoln administration, and restoration of the Union to its

former state* As a maximum goal it would lead to secession

from the Unign even to the point, in its more radical stages,

oaf revolution in conjunction with the Southern States*

Since tt© Peace Democrats were strong in the above mentioned

states as well as in such fringe states as Kentucky,

Missouri, and Iowa, the War was unpopular* From the

as the Knights of the Golden Circle* Because of partial exposure of secrets in I863, Sterling Price had instituted the Corps de Belgique in Missouri as a successor of the Knights* Also there had been instituted in the N^rth, by such prominent persons as Vallandigham, a secret order known as the Order of American Knights (O.A.K.). Upon the in­stitution of the principal organization. Price modified the Corps de Belgique which became the Southern section of the O.A.K* Since the secrets of the O.A.K. became generally known to the Union officials, further modifications were made in its secrets and its name was finally changed to the Order of the Sons of Liberty* Even so, the term Order of American Knights was still used in some areas* This above information was taken fran a report compiled on October 8, l86Ij., for the Secretary of War Stanton by Judge-Advocate-General Holt as it is recorded in the Official Records, Series II, Vol. VII, pp* 931-932*

2k

beginning of the War, the offer of Je f fe rson Davis and h i s

Congress for f ree nav iga t ion of the Miss i s s ipp i River to

i t s mouth for t he Northwestern t r a d e r and farmer was an

appeal ing lu re toward the Southern cause*^ As a r e s u l t of

what might be c l a s s i f i e d as a r i f t between the Northwestern

a g r i c u l t u r a l element and the Nor theas tern manufacturing

element, to many people the l o g i c a l a l l i a n c e was one between

the West and the South. Too, L inco ln ' s consc r ip t ion

p o l i c i e s were qu i t e unpopular among many in the Westj thus

the c a l l i n g of new d r a f t s was often received co ld ly ,

e s p e c i a l l y by members of the Sons of L i b e r t y .

J u s t as the s o - c a l l e d conspiracy could be va r ious ly

i n t e r p r e t e d by ind iv idua l s concerned, so could meiribership

in the Sons of L i b e r t y , if test imony of l eaders and other

members of the movement a r r e s t e d l a t e r in tbs War could be

be l i eved a t a l l * A summation of the p r i n c i p l e s , purposes ,

and opera t ions of the Sons of L iber ty as se t fo r th in a

r e p o r t compiled by Judge-Advocate-General Holt and h i s

s t a f f f o r Edwin M; Stanton, Union Secre ta ry of War, and

submitted in October of 1861 . shed some l i g h t upon the

movement* This r e p o r t was compiled from var ied sources ,

prominent among which were testimony of meiribers who had been

a r r e s t e d and chose to t e s t i f y to save t h e i r own necks and

^James Morton Cal lahan, Diplomatic His tory of the Southern Confederacy (BaltimoreT 1901), p* 66* Hereaf ter c i t e d as Cal lahan, Diplomatic History*

25

Union detect ives who had purposely joined the organization

in order to gather information pertaining to i t s secrets and

inner-workings* If one could believe the testimony

completely, i t would seem that many people joined the Order

and took the various degrees without rea l iz ing to what

extent the more r ad i ca l members would go to achieve i t s

goals* I t seemed tha t only a few were fully aware of those

goals* The following, according to the report , were tiie

wr i t ten pr inc ip les of the Orderr

A declarat ion f i r s t , of the absolute r ight of s lavery; second, of State sovereignty and the r igh t of secession; t h i rd , of the r ight of armed res is tance to const i tu ted authori ty on the par t of the disaffected and the disloyal , when­ever the i r ambition may prompt them to revolution* . . .

The report also included a statement regarding the make-up

and general purpose of the Order which, according to the

testimony of one of i t s turncoat leaders , was as follows:

" I t i s exclusively made up of dis loyal persons, of a l l

Democrats "who are desirous of securing the independence of

the Confederate Sta tes with a view of res tor ing the Union as

i t was." The report continued with a l i s t of specif ic

a c t i v i t i e s already performed or contemplated by the Orderr

1* Aiding soldiers to desert and harboring and pro­tec t ing d e s e r t e r s .

2* Discouraging enlistments and re s i s t ing the draft* 3* Circulat ion of d i s loya l and treasonable pub l i ­

cat ions* k* Communicating with and giving in te l l igence to the

26

enemy. 5 . Aiding the enemy, by r e c r u i t i n g for them, or

a s s i s t i n g them to r e c r u i t , wi th in our l i n e . . . . 6* Furn i sh ing the r e b e l s with arms, ammunition, e t c . 7 . Co-operat ing with the enemy in r a i d s and i n ­

vasions * 8* Des t ruc t i on of Government p r o p e r t y . 9* Des t ruc t ion of p r i v a t e proper ty and persecut ion

of l o y a l men* 10 . Assas s ina t i on and murder* 11* Establ ishment of a Northwestern Confederacy*

According to the testimony " the new confederacy" was a l ready

organized and had a "p rov i s iona l government, o f f i c e r s ,

depar tments , bureaus , e t c* i n s e c r e t operat ion*" As the

Confederate l eade r s in Canada worked with the Sons of

L ibe r ty , however, i t became more and more evident to some

of them, e s p e c i a l l y Hines and h i s l i e u t e n a n t s who were i n

charge of the m i l i t a r y schemes, tha t the Order looked b e t t e r

on paper and i n the minds of the more avid l eade r s t h a n i t

did i n a c t u a l opera t ion*

At the i n i t i a l meeting between Thompson and

Vallandigham in June , the l a t t e r ta lked conf ident ly of the

s t r e n g t h of the Sons of L i b e r t y . He gave the fol lowing

f i gu re s as t h e i r es t imated ac t ive p o t e n t i a l in the more

powerful s t a t e s involved in the movementr 85,000 in

I l l i n o i s , 50,000 in Indiana , and 1^0,000 in Ohio* He a l so

r epo r t ed an e f f i c i e n t o rganiza t ion in Kentucky and

Missouri as we l l as a c t i v e sympathizers in New York and some

^ O f f i c i a l RecordSo Ser ies I I , Vole VI I , pp . 9l|3-95l»

2?

6 of the other Eastern states* He indicated that Thompson's

offer of financial aid would be welcome, although he declined

to accept it himself* Instead he introduced and fully en­

dorsed James A. Barrett of St. Louis as the "Grand Lecturer"

of the Order and suggested that financial transactions be

carried on through him* Barrett also agreed to contact

officials of the Order and arrange a meeting with Thompson

in the near future* Among those present at the meeting at

at* Catherines were several prominent Copperhead leadersr

Charles Walsh, political boss of Cook County, Illinoisj?

Amos Green, commanding Copperhead in Illinois? H.H. Dodd of

Indiana? T.C. Massie of Ohio? and Justice J* Bullitt of

Kentucky. This meeting and later ones proved to be

enthusiatic, and both sides seemed ready to pursue plans that

would lead to a Northwestern Confederacy vriiich would in turn

form a close alliance with the South* Durii^ the meetings

Walsh informed Thompson that he had two organized regiments

partially armed in Chicago for which he was offered

monetary aid and arms by the commissioner* Aid was also

given to the others attending the meetings. Cleary, the

secretary of the commission, was sent to New York to

negotiate for arms through the assistance of Fernando Wood

and other Northeastern leaders who for ample monetary con­

sideration were willing to render aid* The war supplies were

Castleman, Active Service, p* ll|.5.

28

shipped directly to Canada in boxes labeled "Prayer Books" 7

or "School Books."

As the plans for the conspiracy materialized, it

became apparent that if the Sons of Liberty were to seize the

state governments in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, a military

force was necessary* While a supposed flurry of troops and

arm gathering was taking place among the members of the

Order, Thomas H. Hines, a commissioned captain in the Con­

federate army, was busy at work. Hines, under orders from

Confederate officials at Richmond had arrived in Canada on o

Apr i l 20 , and was handl ing m i l i t a r y operat ions there* As

was t r u e of so many of the Confederates ac t ive i n the

Canadian o p e r a t i o n s , Hines had been a prominent meirber of

General Morgan's r a i d e r s who had played havoc with the

Federa l s along the Union and Confederate l i n e s , bu t who were

captured in Ju ly of I863 and confined in pr i son camps in the

North* Several of Morgan's r a i d e r s , among them Hines,

escaped from the Northern p r i sons and found a sanctuary i n

Canada* Hines , who had p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t ingu i shed himself

by saving Morgan from capture during one of the r a i d s in to

Ohio, was recognized as a capable m i l i t a r y leader* Thus,

'James D* Horan, Confederate Agent (New York, 19^k)f pp* 91-91+.

Q

John W. Headley, Confederate Operations in Canada and New York (New York, I906), pp* 217-220. Hereafter cited as Headley, Confederate Operations* The following pertaining to Hines is based on Headley's account unless otherwise stated*

29

under orders from Richmond, he had met with Northern Copper­

head leaders by passing into the North through Southern

lines, even before plans had been formulated to operate from

Canada* In this manner he familiarized himself with early

operations of the radical movement as it evolved into the

Sons of Liberty* Because of his contacts he was a logical

choice to be sent to Canada on a secret mission -- a mission

which involved co-operating with Holcombe in contacting Con­

federate prisoners of war, who had escaped from Northern

camps, to ascertain whether they might be persuaded to re­

turn to active service in the Confederacy* Upon the arrival

of Thompson and in order to consolidate the operation, he

received word from Confederate Secretary of War Seddon that

he should help the commissioners mature their plans of

operation* He immediately set to work recruiting a trusted

group of Confederate refugees who would form the nucleus of

a military force who would co-operate with the military

forces of the Sons of Liberty* On July 9, Thonpson wrote

Benjamin from Windsor: "We have sixty escaped prisoners

who are ready for any enterprise*"

While Hines was busy gathering troops, a series of

peace meetings were being held in the Northwest. The first

meeting, which, according to Thompson, was highly successful,

was held in Peoria, Illinois* Others were later held at

Q

Callahan, Diplomatic History, p.226*

30

Springfield and Chicago* These meetings were financed by the

commissioners and were designed as popular rallies that were

to prepare the people for a peace movement*

The insurrection was first planned for the fourth of

July only to be postponed at the request of the Copperhead

leaders until the eighteenth, and then the twentieth of

July* Each time there was a postponement the leaders

pleaded their unreadiness for action* Finally Hines,

Thompson, and Clay met with Vallandigham and insisted that

the date of the uprising should be August 29, the day the

Democratic Convention was to meet in Chicago* There would

be a large crowd in the city then, and Confederate agents

and Sons of Liberty could carry out their plans without being

detected*

The initial plan for the day of the convention was

simple, but far-fetched© Hines and his men in co-operation

with members of the Sons of Liberty would release the Con­

federate prisoners from Camp Douglas and Rock Island,

Illinois, from Camp Morton in Indiana, and from Camp Chase in

Ohio* The liberated prisoners would in turn form a massive

military force which would be joined to those of the Sons of

Liberty* ImirBdiately after the release of prisoners at Camp

Douglas, Chicago was to be captured and the convention

controlled by sympathizers who would nominate a peace

10 Official Records, Series I, Vol* XLIII, Part II, p*935.

31

candidate for the presidency* The b a t t l e f i e l d of the War

would be sh i f t ed t o the Northwest? t l ^ Southern s t a t e s

would be l e f t independent? and the War would be brought to

an end since no Northern army could withstand the force of

the contemplated one hundred thousand men of arms* Such a

p lan would depend upon p in -po in t p r ec i s ion and the utmost i n . . 11

co-opera t ion*

As soon as the seventy Confederates ^ o had been

read ied in Canada for the i n su r r ec t i on of August 29 should

a r r i v e i n Chicago, t h e i r l e ade r , Hines, and John B.

Castleman, who had jo ined him as co-commander of the move­

ment, were to meet with the l eaders of the Sons of Liberty*

Colonel S t . Leger Grenfel , former Chief of Staff of Morgan's

r a i d e r s , was a l so sunong the group. I t soon became apparent

t ha t the t roops tha t were to have been organized by the Order

had not m a t e r i a l i z e d and, t h u s , could not be depended upon*

Too, the i n i t i a l zeal fo r the up r i s i ng seemed t o have subs id ­

ed, a development which had been a n t i c i p a t e d by some of the

Confederates because of the seve ra l postponment s* The fac t

t ha t the Union o f f i c i a l s had sent reinforcements to Chicago

and Camp Douglas as a r e s u l t of rumors they had received

regarding a poss ib le i n s u r r e c t i o n was a su f f i c i en t cause for

t i m i d i t y on the p a r t of the consp i r a to r s* Also, many of the

l lCas t leman, Active Se rv i ce , p* 160. From an account p resen ted in the A t l a n t i c Monthly for Ju ly , 1865.

32

members of the Order began to realize what dire consequences

might result should they attempt to consummate their plans and

fail. They seemed more and more inclined to take their

chances upon the nomination of a favorable presidential

candidate and the outcome of the coming election to bring

their hopes of peace to fruition. Even though McClellan, a

Union Democrat, who had put forth a "mild war policy," was

subsequently nominated, they still seemed willing to wait fa?

the developments between then and the election*

Hines and Castleman realized that with no troops

from the Sons of Liberty their plans to release the prisoners

in Camp Douglas could not be carried out. They suggested

that five hundred well-armed men be furnished to reinforce the

Confederate band of seventy, instead of the originally

requested five thousand. With this number they proposed to

take Rock Island prison according to the following plan:

Castleman with "five hundred Western men and twenty on-

federate soldiers, would run through on regular train * * .to

Rock Island." Hines with the fifty remaining Confederates,

"would control all the wires and railroads out of Chicago,

preventing any truthful telegraphic news, or any transportation,

and convey to the outside world the breaking up of the National

Democratic Convention by assault of the United States troops,"

while the other contingent would release the prisoners

at Rock Island and take possession of the arsenal at

Springfield. But the leaders of the Order insisted that

33

they could not be "ready for schedule time of the Rock

I s l a n d t r a i n . " I t was a l so no t i ceab le that severa l of the

commanders of the Order who were present a t the f i r s t meet­

ing i n Chicago were absent from a second meeting* The only

sugges t ion put f o r t h by those leaders present was t ha t new

p lans might be developed to be c a r r i e d out a t the time of

the November e l e c t i o n . Thus, the upr is ing again met with 12

s e r i o u s compl ica t ions , and had to be postponed*

One cannot , however, leave the scene of the Chicago

convention without wondering what happened to Hines,

Castleman, and t h e i r band of Confederates . On the n i g h t of

August 30, the two l eade r s gathered t h e i r fol lowers and

r epo r t ed tha t "because of lack of co-opera t ion" they had

f a i l e d . They advised t h e i r men not to follow them f u r t h e r

because of the ""imminent danger" and offered them t r a n s -

pora t ion t o the South. According to Castleman twenty-two

remained, twenty-f ive went South, and twenty- three re turned

to Canada* No doubt, both Hines and Castleman f e l t t ha t they

should at tempt to thwart the Union war e f f o r t s even if i t

were on a smal l s c a l e . They ev iden t ly did not want o f f i c i a l

permiss ion fo r whatever miss ions they might attempt for fear

t h a t i t would jeopardize the p o s i t i o n of the commissioners i n

Canadar a t l e a s t Castleman ind i ca t ed t h i s when he s t a t e d

C a s t l e m a n , Active Service^ pp . I51|-l59«

3k

that "Asking 'authority' to act was what Captain Hines and

I agreed not to do. We, and those with us, took life in

hand and did ^ a t we thought to be a duty* We intended mere­

ly to have the commissioners understand that a moderate ex­

penditure would be made along the lines intimated*"''"

They were soon back in Chicago with directions from

Thompson to ascertain whether James C* Robinson, an Illinois

candidate for Governor, could be depended upon to co-operate

with the Confederate aspirations in the Northwest* Both

Castleman and Hines, after investigation, endorsed Robinson

and seemed to feel that monetary aid to the Illinois

Democratic Committee would be more beneficial than the same

aid to the Sons of Liberty* Thompson, however, could not be

completely swayed from his belief that the Sons of Liberty

would eventually aid the Southern cause* He continued to

support their efforts to revive interest for an uprising that

was now scheduled to take place at the time of the pres­

idential election on November 8*

Continuing with their plans to thwart Union war efforts

in the Northwest, Castleman and Hines were in Illinois in

early October* Castleman, with ten of the Confederate

soldiers who elected to remain with the two leaders, went to

Marshall, I linois* From there they intended to go to St*

Louis where they intended to s et fire to the steamboats that

13 Castleman, Active Service^ p* 173 .

35

carried military supplies to the Union army at Vicksburg*

After receiving word from one of their number sent ahead as

a scout, they went to St. Louis where they mapped out their

strategy* Each chose a certain number of vessels to be

burned* They used Greek fire, which Castleman described as

"a combination of chemicals which, viien exposed to the air,

ignited and had, or was designed to have, the advantage of

ignitidn after a minute had elapsed in which time the user

of the liquid could move from the scene*"' He then observed

that if they had used a few boxes of matches, **there would

have been none of the seventy-three steamboats left at the

St. Louis wharf," for the Greek fire proved unrealiable and

in most instances the self-ignition did not occur. Castleman

furthef^ iterated, "We dared not go back to complete the work

and, as previously arranged, we quietly left — taking „lli

passage separately — on the train that afternoon."

Meanwhile, Hines went to Mattoon, Illinois, to look

over the army warehouses that were reportedly "bulging with

sxipplies*" Just how much damage was done was not recorded,

but one of Hines' number, Maugham, pleased with the part he

played in burning the Federal warehouses, bragged too much

in a saloon, was captured, and confessed* As a result,

Hines and his group left Mattoon with the Union troops hot

•^^Castleman, Active Service, pp. 173-17^1.

36

l5

on their trail* He had already sent word to Castleman to

join him at Sullivan, Indiana, where they were to meet with

Indiana Copperhead leaders. Here, fate dealt Castleman a.

blow, for he was arrested when he entered the railroad

station* He was afterwards taken to Terre Haute where he

saw some of his men, as well as Hines, awaiting an

opportunity to rescue him* Knowing that there was a great

number of Federal troops nearby in addition to his guard, he

took a chance by asking an elderly gentleman to deliver a

message to his comrades telling them not to attempt to

rescue him* He chose his messenger well, for the man did

his bidding and his fellow Confederates dispersed* Later

when he found that he was to be confined at Camp Morton,

he lamented the fact that he did not allow the men to

follow him and attempt his rescue which he felt would have

been completed successfully* With Castleman in prison,

Hines returned to Canada without abandoning all hope of

rescuing his canrades and with an aim of continuing his

efforts toward bringing about a successful insurrection in

Chicago at election time *

Although the operations involved in the Northwestern

Conspiracy had the full endorsement and enthusiastic support

-^^Horan, Confederate Agent, pp. 137-138*

Castleman, Active Service, pp* 17l;-175.

37

of Thompson; Clay, greatly influenced by George N. Sanders,

ft self-appointed advisor to the commissioners, viewed more

favorably contacts with influential people in the North who

might possibly help negotiate an acceptable peace directly

between Washington and the commissioners* At least two

attempts toward a negotiated peace were made*

The first attempt took place in early July, l86ij., and

was spearheaded primarily by George N. Sanders* The latter,

a rather adventurous S'outhern sympathizer who had a gift for

smooth talk, had early won the confidence of Clay and

Holcombe and, it seemed, went about arranging whatever

schemes he so desired in his assumed capacity of counsel to

the two commissioners. Confederates who left records re­

lating to Canadian operations -- Hines, Castleman, and

Headley especially — expressed a strong distrust and dis­

taste for Sanders and often lamented the fact that he had

such a strong influence on the two commissioners* Sanders,

according to Castleman's account, assumed the authority to

invite the famed editor of the New York Daily Tribune,

Horace Greeley, to secure from President Lincoln safe conduct

to Washington for himself and Commissioners Clay and

Holcombe in order that they might discuss acceptable peace

terms* Clay, Holcombe, Greeley, and Sanders were to meet at

17 Niagara to confer upon the proposition* According to

'Castleman, Active Service, p* 136*

38

Clay in his report to Confederate Secretary of State

Benjamin concerning the affair, Sanders made his contacts

with Greeley through a Mr* Jewett, regarded by Clay as "an

active and useful agent for communicating with citizens of

the United States."' Jewett reported to the commissioners

that Greeley would accompany the Confederate delegation to

Washington to talk of peace, but Clay expressed doubts about

the development of anything profitable and was even skeptical 18

of t h e a u t h e n t i c i t y of J e w e t t ' s d e a l i n g s w i t h Greeley*

G r e e l e y , i t appea red , viewed J e w e t t ' s c o n t a c t with him,

which b r o u g h t p r o s p e c t s of peace t a l k s , as a p o s s i b l e sa lve

f o r L i n c o l n ' s l a c k of p o p u l a r i t y , a s i t u a t i o n "viiich had

r e s u l t e d because of a s l a c k i n Union v i c t o r i e s and L i n c o l n ' s

c a l l i n g f o r more t r o o p s . When Greeley approached Lincoln

w i t h the p r o p o s i t i o n , L inco ln s e n t him to Niagara w i t h a

document p romis ing s a f e - c o n d u c t t o Washington f o r Clay ,

Thompson, Holcombe, and Sanders " i n company wi th Hon. Horace t«19 Greeley* . . . " I t seemed t h a t L inco ln was a t a l l t imes

c a r e f u l t o make i t appea r t h a t Gree l ey , no t h imse l f , was i n

cha rge of the o p e r a t i o n , a p r e c a u t i o n he no doubt took

should t h e p l a n s m i s c a r r y or should he d i s c o v e r , a s he

18 L f f i c i a l R e c o r d s , S e r i e s IV, V o l . I l l , p . 581 .*

C l a y ' s o b s e r v a t i o n s on the m a t t e r were r e c o r d e d i n a com­m u n i c a t i o n to Benjamin, August 1 1 , 1861;*

mu 29 Ibidem S e r i e s I I I , Vol* IV, p* 501*

39

suspected, tha t the Confederate agents in Canada had no

au thor i ty to negotiate peace* John Hay, Lincoln's pr ivate

sec re ta ry , arr ived a t Niagara on July 20, with addi t ional

ins t ruc t ions that Greeley del iver to the commissionersr

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 18, l86if*

To Whom It May Concernr Any proposition which embraces the restoration of

peace, the integrity of the Union, and the abandon­ment of slavery, and which comes by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the United States will be received and be considered by the Executive Government of the United States, and will be met with liberal terms on other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe conduct both ways* Po

Abraham Lincoln

Upon presenting Lincoln's message, Greeley was quick to

discover what Lincoln had suspected all along* According

to Clay in his report to Benjamin, the conmission denied

that it had authority to negotiate for peace and referred

Greeley to the authorities in Richmond* Clay further

emphasized that at no time did the commission intend to

assume authority that it did not have* Both Holcombe and

Clay in their reports concerning the affair observed that in

the long run the whole situation proved an advantage to the

Confederacy and to the Peace Democrats in the coming election,

since it appeared that the administration at Washington was

20 Callahan, Diplomatic History, pp.* 228-229*

k(^

21

unwil l ing t o n e g o t i a t e a f a i r peace* Cer ta in ly the whole

episode proved to be a good propaganda move aga ins t the

Republicans a t a time when the War was not going as t h e y

wi shed*

The second contact involving a possible peace pa r l ey

with the commission took place when Judge Je r ry S. Black

same t o Toronto to v i s i t Commissioner Thompson, who had r e ­

fused to have anything to do with the Greeley a f f a i r .

According t o Castleman, Black was a close personal and

p o l i t i c a l f r i e n d of the Commissioner and talked qu i te

f r e e l y of the p o s s i b i l i t y of favorable peace terms* He had

come " a t the ins tance of Honorable E.M* Stanton. . . . t o

a s c e r t a i n i f he could nego t i a t e terms of peace wi thout the

condi t ion of independence of the Confederate s t a t e s

government and f i n a l separa t ion*" He to ld Thompson " tha t

Stanton considered the r e - e l e c t i o n of Lincoln doubtful un­

l e s s something were done to c r y s t a l l i z e in L inco ln ' s favor

pub l ic opinion which then was divided as the ibisdom of con­

t i n u i n g the War, end t h a t i f Mr. Lincoln should be defeated,

the cab ine t o f f i c e r s would be t r e a t e d wi th i n d i g n i t y and

subjected to personal danger ." Thompson s ingly informed

Judge Black t ha t he had no au thor i ty to negot ia te peace and

sen t h i s f r i end back to Washington wi th no encouragement*

Castleman expressed h i s and Hines ' disappointment concerning

^•^Official Records, S e r i e s IV, Vol . I l l , p . 583, 587.

kl

the outcome of the meeting between the two men as followsr

. . . *in failing to take advantage of the opportunity to negotiate an honorable peace along reasonable lines of suggestions intimated by Judge Black as emanating from Mr. Lincoln's secretary of war, and allowing Judge Black to return without definite encouragement to Washington, the Confederate com­missioners failed to foresee that within five months President Davis would himself be instituting through Honorable F. P. Blair of Washington, inquiries as to the terms on which an honorable peace might be secured. But when Mr. Davis on the twelfth of the following January wrote to Mr* Blair, the presidential election had been held, Mr* Lincoln's war policy had been endorsed by the people and Mr. Stanton was no longer apprehensive*

As a result of Black's visit, Thompson decided that the

Union's position was at a low ebb and the time was ripe for

contact with foreign governments, namely England and France*

His aim would be to acquire more than recognition of the Con«

federacy as abelligerent power; instead he wanted

recognition as an independent power* For the purpose of

opening negotiations abroad, Holcombe was sent to England to

confer with Mason and Slidell* Before such a plan could be

carried out satisfactorily, however, the War had taken a

turn in favor of the Union, and the Confederate opportunity

22

for b e t t e r ba rga in ing power abroad was los t*

Thus, the two a t t empts involving the commissioners i n

peace a r b i t r a t i o n came to naught , and Thompson concent ra ted

upon Confederate opera t ions in the Northwest, a plan of

22 Castleman, Active Se rv i ce , pp* 1)4.9-150*

l 2

ac t i on t h a t he looked upon wi th more favor*

I i l l l i iMMHMMI.»' l i l lMiai i I limMifli I

CHAPTER III

CONFEDERATE ACTIVITIES ON LAKE ERIE

Although Thompson was still depending on the develop­

ment of an uprising in conjunction with the Sons of Liberty

around election time, he and his nucleus of followers in

Toronto were not idle in the meantime. In addition to the

minor activities of Hines and Castleman in Illinois and

•Missouri during the interim months, another scheme was pro­

posed to Thompson and willingly adopted. From the beginning

of Thompson's sojourn in Canada, he had expressed a desire

to capture the United States gunboat Michigan, the only

Union man-of-war on the Lakes. Such a prize would lead to

infinite possibilities for raiding and raaurauding in the

United States port cities. A scheme outlined and developed

by Captain John Y. Beall and Captain Charles H. Cole, Con-

federate officers, was the one that was finally adopted.

Beall, who had been commissioned Acting Master of the Con­

federate navy early in the War, had proposed in Richmond a

scheme for the capture of the Mi chip; an as early as 1862, but

at that time the plan did not seem feasible because of

possible antagonism to Canadian authorities. He, along with

other Confederates, especially Bennett G, Burley who was to

later become his chief lieutenant in the scheme to capture the

Michigan, first worked in the Chesapeake Bay area. It was

Icastleman, Active Service, p. I6l.

^3

tt

kk

t h e i r duty to d e t e r Union sh ipp ing ; however, they were

even tua l ly captured by the Union. La te r they were re turned

t o t h e Confederacy by process of p r i sone r exchange* Upon his

a r r i v a l i n Richmond, he aga in approached Confederate o f f i c i a l s

wi th h i s plan to capture the Michigan; again he was put off*

Hearing of the opera t ions i n s t i g a t e d by the commissioners,

e s p e c i a l l y Hines ' e x p l o i t s i n Chicago, he made h i s way

through the Union l i n e s to Canada where he l a i d h i s p lan

before Thompson and hoped to rece ive h i s approval* A few

days before h i s a r r i v a l . Captain Charles H. Cole, who

claimed to hold a commission in the Confederate army and

navy, had offered his s e rv i ces to the Confederate cause in

Canada, Upon accept ing B e a l l ' s p l an , which a lso received

Hines ' endorsement, Thompson assigned Cole to work wi th

Beall*

The two men made t h e i r way to Sandusky, Ohio, to lay

out t h e i r p lan of opera t ion* There they were joined by

Lieutenant Bennett H* Young, a young Confederate who was to

be more remembered for a l a t e r dar ing r a i d he led upon St*

Albans, Vermont. Young brought wi th him approximately

$25,000 from the Confederate commission for f inancing the

e n t e r p r i s e * Cole , B e a l l , and Young made a thorough i n ­

v e s t i g a t i o n of the Michigan, her schedule , and the a rea

p r o t e c t e d by her* In Co le ' s r e p o r t t o Thoirpson, he remarked

t h a t such po r t c i t i e s as Buffalo , D e t r o i t , and Cleveland,

which housed bulging Union a r s e n a l s , were poorly p ro tec ted*

ki

He added t ha t he had c l o s e l y i n v e s t i g a t e d shipping schedules

and va r ious tugs t h a t might be ava i l ab l e in the area in case

of need* He a l so repor ted tha t there would be l i t t l e

d i f f i c u l t y i n b r ing ing ve s se l s t o bea r against Camp Douglas

on Johnson ' s I s l a n d and tha t he had s o l i c i t e d and received

assurances of a id from the "Order of the Star" a t Sandusky.

He sa id t ha t he had made the acquaintance of Captain Ca r t e r ,

the commander of the Michigan, of whom he observed, "He i s

an unpol ished man, whose pr ide seems tobe touched for the

reason t h a t , having been an old United States naval o f f i c e r ,

he i s no t allowed now a more extensive f i e ld of operat ion* „2

I do no t th ink t h a t he can be bought . Prom t h i s r epo r t

and ensuing ac t ions Cole and B e a l l ' s plan of ac t ion might

be formulated a s fo l lows : the capture of the Michigan, to

remove i t as a poss ib le menace, a r e l e a s e of the p r i soners

of war on Johnson 's Is land in Sandusky Bay and poss ib ly in

o ther carps as w e l l , the conso l ida t ion of a force made up

p r ima r i l y of the r e l e a s e d p r i sone r s who were to march upon

the a r s e n a l s of Cleveland, thence to Wheeling and ac ross 3

the Southern line where reinforcements were sorely needed* No doubt desiring foimal authority before undertaking

neadley. Confederate Operations, pp* 232-233* •5

•^Kinchen, "St* Albans Raiders," p. 5# The last step is based upon information recorded in the general intro­ductory statement.

ke

his plan. Cole dispatched the following communication to

Thompson from Sanduskyr

Hon* Jacob Thompsons

Sirr I have the honor to ask to be placed in secret detached service, in undertaking the capture of the gunboat Michigan at Johnson's Island. Combination can be made without infringing the neutrality laws of Canada. I send this by special messenger* An immediate answer requested*

CHARLES H. COLE, Captain, C. S* A*

To this, Thompson repliedr

Captain Charles H. Cole, Captain C* S. A* and Lieutenant C. S. Navy.

Sirr By the authority in me vested, specially trusting in your knowledge and skill, you are assigned to the secret detached service for the purpose mentioned in your letter* To aid you in this undertaking, John Y. Beall, master in the Confederate States Navy, has been directed to report to you for duty. In all you may do in the premises, you will carefully abstain from violating any laws or regulations of Canada or British authorities in relation to neutrality. The combination necessary to effect your pur­poses must be made by Confederate soldiers, with such assistance as you may draw from the enemy's country*

Your obedient servant, Jacob Thoupson^

With formal permission in his possession. Cole pro­

ceeded wilh his part of the plan* Claiming to be a

^Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 233. Both of the communicated records quoted above were taken from Headley.

kl

Philadelphia banker he located himself at West House in San­

dusky. He cultivated his acquaintance with Captain Carter

and solicited the friendship of the other officers of the crew

by entertaining them at "lavish but discreet" dinners gar­

nished with the choicest of wines. Cole was often a welcome

guest on the Michigan and soon became friendly with the

engineer of the vessel with whom he made safe arrangements,

which certainly included monetary terms, to stall the ship

at a given time. After establishing solid relationships

aboard the ship. Cole found it quite easy to visit freely on

Johnson's Island where he could converse with the Confederate

officers who were prisoners of war there. These men were told

of the proposed capture of the Mchigan and agreed to incite

a revolt in the prison upon a set signal of gunfire from the

Michigan which would signify that the vessel was in Confed­

erate hands. On the evening of September 19, the final stage

of Cole's scheme was set. He invited the officers of the

Michigan to be his guests for a special champagne dinner on

their own gunboat. Little did the Union officers suspect at

this point that their wine was to be drugged with a sleeping

potion. With this accomplished. Cole planned to wait for

Beall to arrive on a captured.vessel. Beall, by then, not

only would have received a dispatched message from Cole but

also would have seen an all clear signal that was to be sent

up from the gunboat as he approached.-^

^Headley, Confederate Operations, pp. 23i|.-235«

k8

Before Cole could keep h i s engagement aboard the

Michigan, he was a r r e s t e d in his ho te l room and confined to

await t r i a l . After Cole ' s a r r e s t a message was sent to

Clay and Thompson who immediately communicated on h i s behalf

wi th Colonel H i l l , commandait of the Union p r i son post on

Johnson ' s Is land* They p r o t e s t e d h is being charged as a

publ ic spy and i n s i s t e d tha t he should be regarded as a 6

r ecap tu red p r i sone r of war and t r e a t e d as such* Their

con ten t ion was ev iden t l y e f f e c t i v e , for Cole was eventua l ly

recognized as a recap tured pr isoner of war* He was conf in­

ed t o no r the rn pr i sons u n t i l a f t e r the War, as a record of 7

his discharge was recorded on February 10, l866*

As was so often true of schemes planned by the

Confederate commission, the plot miscarried because of

information passed on to Union officials by someone who was

in the confidence of Thompson and the other commissioners

in Canada* This traitor to the Southern cause was later dis­

covered to be Godfrey J* Hyams, of Arkansas, who because of

his position of trust was acquainted with many of the inner-

workings of the commission and was present at many of the 8

planning sessions*

^ O f f i c i a l Records, Se r i es I I , Vol . VII , p* 86I1. - -l e t t e r from Clay and Thompson to Colonel H i l l , September 22, l86[j..

'Headley, Confederate Operat ions , p* 2I4.O* o Horan, Confederate Agent, p . l57«

k9

Meanwhile B e a l l , not aware of the f a c t t ha t Cole ' s

p lans had m i s c a r r i e d , proceeded according to schedule . In

company with Bennett G. Burley, the Scotchman who had been

h i s a ide during the e a r l i e r opera t ions on Chesapeake Bay,

and e igh teen o the r Confederates , Beal l entered i n t o h is p a r t

of the opera t ion* Burley took passage aboard the Philo

Parsons , a steamer which p l i e d i t s course r e g u l a r l y between

D e t r o i t and Sandusky, and made arrangements with Ashley, the

owner of the v e s s e l , to s t o p the next morning a t Sandwich, a

small i s l a n d on the Canadian s ide of the l ake , so tha t four

of h i s f r i ends might take passage to Sandusky. After t h i s

was accomplished, the other men qui te inconspicuously board­

ed the v e s s e l a t Amherstburg with only a trunk as luggage.

About k P»Di. the steamer reached Ke l l ey ' s I s l a n d . After the

v e s s e l embarked from the i s l a n d . Captain Beal l exclaimed

t h a t he was taking "possess ion of the boat in the name of the

Confederate S t a t e s and t h a t any man who r e s i s t e d would do so

a t h i s own p e r i l * " The crew and passengers , with navy s i x e s ,

taken from the old t runk the Confederates had brought on

board , f l a sh ing in t h e i r f a c e s , surrendered immediately*

Heavy f r e i g h t was thrown overboard so that the deck would be

c l ea red for a c t i o n a t Johnson 's Is land* Beal l was headed

fo r Middle Bass I s l a n d , where he planned to r e f u e l a f t e r

being assured by tbs engineer and the mate tha t there was not

enough fue l to run for any l eng th of t i L e . The i s l and was

ten mi les from the Ohio shore and the same d is tance from

"^BOCrX^^^"^'^*^ — ^ ' ^ " - - «

50

Johnson's Island. While they were taking on the wood, the

Island Queen, on its regular daily run between the Bass

Islands and Sandusky, approached and was seized in the name

of the Confederacy. In a slight skirmish which ensued,

several shots were fired before the crew and passengers

surrendered* The engineer was wounded in the neck -- the

Union account of the incident indicated without the slightest

provocation. This account also pointed out that "several

other persons were knocked down and a large number were 9

struck with the butt end of pistols and with hatchets*"

The passengers and crew of both vessels were put ashore at

Middle Bass Island along with their luggage. One of the

passengers had eighty thousand dollars on his person, but

was not deprived of it* The Confederates assured the

passengers that "they wanted nothing from them, but that the

boats and their money we2?e a prize of war on the Lake and ,,10

would be appropriated accordingly* The Philo Parsons,

after taking on the fuel, towed the Island Queen out into

the Lake where she was scuttled and sent adrift* The

official Union report indicated that fortunately the vessel

drifted on a shoal before filling and was afterward rescued

and restored to working order*

Beall had expected to receive a message at Middle

Bass Island from Captain Cole and now found himself pro-

^Official Records, Series I, Vol. XLIII, Part II, p* 227.

l^Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 250.

51

ceeding without any advice whatsoever* No doubt, he was

looking eagerly for the set signal from the Michigan as he

reached the mouth of Sandusky Bay. Even though no signal

came, he sailed slowly and cautiously toward the Michigan,

whose bulk could be seen in the moonlight* The Confederate

crew, with the exception of Burley and one other, suddenly

approached Beall with mutinous intent* They declared that

they did not wish to go into battle without any of the

promises of Captain Cole fulfilled. The ship halted for a

parley and ultimately the seventeen mutineers signed the

following documentr

ON BOARD THE PHILO PARSONS, September 20, l86I|.*

We, the undersigned, crew of the aforesaid, take pleasure in expressing our admiration of gentle­manly bearing, skill, and courage of Captain John Y* Beall as a commanding officer and a gentleman, but believing and being well convinced that the enemy is already apprised of our approach, and is so well prepared that we cannot by possibility make it a success, and having already captured two boats, we respectfully decline to prosecute any further* -"-

Faced with downright mutiny, Beall had no choice but to

turn his captive vessel around and make his way back up

Lake Erie* Having removed everything of value from the

steamer, Beall scuttled the Philo Parsons at Sandwich,

^^Headley, Confederate Operations, pp * 250-251.

52

on the Canadian s ide , and the Confederate crew dispersed*

All of the men evaded a r r e s t except Burley, who was de­

tained by Canadian o f f i c i a l s for an ext radi t ion t r i a l at the

demand of the United S t a t e s . He was held for some time a t

Toronto, with Federal o f f i c i a l s watching closely the pro­

ceedings of the Canadian cour t . I t was not u n t i l February

of 1865 that the Canadian courts decided his case* They

ruled in favor of ex t r ad i t i on . Before he was sent to the

United S t a t e s , however, the decision was reversed as a

r e s u l t of Mason's plea to the Br i t i sh government. Burley, 12

much to the chagrin of the Union, was se t free in Canada*

Certainly Canadian-American re l a t ions were s t rained -^ \

because of the explo i t s of Beall and Cole on Lake Erie* I t

was d i f f i c u l t for the Canadians to take action one way or

the other* They showed every v i s ib le sign of co-operating

with the United S t a t e s , but they moved slowly and cautiously

because i t became qui te evident that there was much s e n t i ­

ment for the Confederate cause* Too, i t was d i f f i cu l t to

determine jus t how much, if any, the Confederates had evad­

ed the n e u t r a l i t y laws, since they staunchly took a stand

tha t the plans for the capture of the Michigan had been

developed and carr ied out on American so i l and that no

Canadian was in any way involved* They explained away the

fac t tha t Confederates boarded the Philo Parsons from the

^^Headley, Confederate Operations, pp* 321-323.

53

Canadian por t s of Sandwich and Amherstburg, by showing that

they were not regular stops and that the vessel merely slow­

ed down in order tha t the passengers might come aboard* Too,

they asked, why could not an American vessel be attacked by

Confederates whom England recognized as be l l ige ren t s? After

a l l , the Michig;an was carrying fourteen guns, th i r teen more

than s t ipu la t ed by t rea ty between the United States and

Great Br i t a in and she was being allowed by England to guard

Confederate prisoners* Were these not overt acts more t o be

condemned than the Confederate in tent ions? On the other

hand the Union of f i c ia l s quite strongly demanded the a r r e s t

of the gu i l ty pa r t i e s since there had been in the i r estima­

t ion a breach of the Ashburton Treaty* They pointed out that

the plans for the expedition had been formulated in Canada,

tha t one of the vessels had even been scut t led frcxn a

B r i t i s h dock, that two of the pa r t i e s involved had been

a r res ted and taken before two Br i t i sh magistrates a t

Sandwich and were discharged without a formal examination*

Even though the Canadian a u t h o r i t i e s , who were believed to

be act ing in good fa i th upon d i rec t ion from Quebec, had

promptly res tored the steamer and the plundered property and

had expressed an earnest desire t o secure the gu i l ty pa r t i e s

and punish them, the whole episode l e f t a heated atmosphere

by a l l p a r t i e s concerned© The border c i t i e s of the United

Sta tes were again a ler ted to expect danger from the lake

region and f e l t a great amount of insecur i ty , as well they

^k

might, for Thompson already had instructed that a vessel, to

"fee manned by a crew under the command of Beall, be bought and

secretly equipped on the Lakes for the purpose of operating

another military expedition on Lake Erie*

For the contemplated expedition, the steamer Georgiana,

was purchased and elaborate plans were formulated* According

to an account given by Headley, who had been directed by

Thompson to join Beall's expedition, the plans were as

followsr Beall, after picking up his crew at different

points, would begin operations at the east end of Lake Erie*

He would, if possible, shell and capture Buffalo, or make

the authorities ransom the city* He would then capture

several other good steamers at Buffalo, destroying all of

them that he did not take at the wharf* Then the formed

fleet would capture the towns along the shore to Cleveland*

At each place a few additional Confederates would come aboard

in order to help man the boats* In the meantime the fleet

would have been split, shortly after leaving Buffalo, and

Beall would head west to Toledo, unless he had received

word by this time that the Michigan had left Johnson's

Island in order to restore order near Buffalo. If such were

the case he would head directly to Johnson's Island, release

the prisonsrs of war, and return to the eastern end of the

Lake where he would join in an attempt to capture the

Michigan. If the operation were successful, the Confederates

would control the Lake. It was believed that within a week

55

sifter striking Buffalo, there would be a force of 300 to 1.00

Confederates on the Lake*

The plans were never carried out* In the first place,

the Union officials were fully aware of the purchase of the

Georgiana, which was reported to them on October 30, by R.

J. Kimball, United States Consular Agent in Canada*-^^ After

they detained the vessel and searched her thoroughly, they

watched her so closely that she could never be equipped

according to plan* Besides that, the United States alerted

for possible attack all points on the Lake as well as all

tugs in the area* With such close surveillence imposed, the

last elaborate enterprise which would have involved an

attempt to capture the Michigan and gain control of the

Lakes and their Federal ports was abandoned, and the

Georgiana was sold without delay* Another series of enter­

prises planned by the commission had ended in fiasco. Two

of the key figures. Cole and Burley, were lost to the cause*

Still the commission pressed on with other schemes*

^^Official Records. Series I, Vol. XXXIX, Part III, p* 551.

CHAPTER IV

THE COTFEDERATE RAID INTO VERMONT

While t h e Union o f f i c i a l s were s t i l l ana lyz ing the

e f f e c t s and t h e p o s s i b l e consequences of the a t t empted

s e i z u r e of t h e Michigan on September 19 and the proposed

c a p t u r e of J o h n s o n ' s I s l a n d t o r e l e a s e the p r i s o n e r s of war,

a n o t h e r p l o t was under way "v^ich was t o r e c e i v e more

n o t o r i e t y t h a n any o t h e r o v e r t a c t of t h e Confedera te

r e f u g e e s i n Canada. At l e a s t one man c l o s e l y connected wi th

t h e commiss ioners , George N. S a n d e r s , had c o n s t a n t l y p-ressed

f o r p r o j e c t e d r a i d s i n t o the Nor thern s t a t e s i n o rde r t o

p l u n d e r as r e t a l i a t i o n f o r s i m i l a r a c t s t a k i n g p l ace i n the

Sou th . Thompson, as w e l l as H ines , Headley, and Cast leman,

c o n s i s t e n t l y o b j e c t e d t o such schemes. Thompson observed

t h a t such a c t s , a l t hough perhaps v a l u a b l e , would prove

" e m b a r r a s s i n g " t o t h e Confedera tes i n Canada, e s p e c i a l l y i f

t h e y shou ld be deemed as a b r each of Canadian n e u t r a l i t y and

cou ld be t r a c e d to the commiss ioners , who would t hen s t a n d a

chance of b e i n g a r r e s t e d , t r i e d , and e x t r a d i t e d t o t h e

Uni ted S t a t e s * N o n e t h e l e s s , when Benne t t H* Young, a n o t h e r

member of General Morgan 's b r i g a d e , who had made good h i s

escape from a Nor the rn p r i s o n e r of war camp, sought out Clay

and proposed a p l a n f o r r e t a l i a t o r y r a i d s a c r o s s t h e b o r d e r ,

he r e c e i v e d encouragement . Sanders l a t e r den ied under oa th

t h a t he knew a n y t h i n g abou t Young's r a i d o r any o the r r a i d

u n t i l a f t e r i t o c c u r r e d ? y e t the v e r y f a c t t h a t Clay had

56

57

heard Sanders' views on the subject and was peevish enough

to disregard admonitions from Thompson would have been some

incentive for him to give endorsement to Young's plan.

Whether or not Sanders was directly involved may

never be known; however, that Clay was involved was certain,

although it was difficult to discern to what extent* Headley

reported in his account of the raid that he had been present

in Thompson's rooms at the Queen's Hotel in Toronto a few

days after* the raid when Clay visited him and took full

credit for sanctioning the raid* Also in an unsigned

letter to Secretary of State Benjamin, which had been

identified as having been written by Clay ten days after the

raid. Clay reviewed his first meeting with Young in Halifax

in May of l86i|., shortly after the Commissioner's arrival to

assume his duties in Canada, and at least indicated his

awareness of and approval of Young's plan* In the com­

munication he statedr

After having satisfied me that his heart was with us in our struggle and that he had suffered imprisonment for many months as a soldier of the Confederate army fran which he had escaped, he developed his plan for retaliating some of the injuries and outrages inflicted upon the South.

I thought these feasible and fully warranted by the law of the nations and therefore re­commended him and his plans to the Secretary of War* He was sent back /from Richmond/ by the Secretary of War with a commission as Second Lieutenant to execute his plans and purposes, but to report to Hon. /no doubt a reference to

^Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 25^*

58

Jacob Thompsor^ and myself* . . .Finally, dis­appointed in his original purpose and in all the subsequent enterprises projected, he proposed to return to the Confederate States via Halifax, but passing through the New England States and burn­ing some towns and robbing them of whatever he could convert to the use of the Confederate Govern­ment. This I approved as justifiable retaliation. . . *

My instructions to him, oft repeated, were "to destroy whatever was valuable; not to stop to rob, but if, after firing a town, he could seize and caj?ry off money or treasury or bank notes, he might do so, upon condition that they were delivered to the proper authorities of the Confederate states 9

In the Canadian trial which followed the raid. Clay's

connection with the raid was constantly alluded to in terms

which would indicate that he knew of it and approved of it

at least verbally* Sanders even produced a document

supposedly written by Clay which readr "Your suggestion for

a raid on accessible towns in Vermont commencing with St*

Albans is approved* You are authorized and required to act

in conformity with that suggestion." Under close question­

ing, however, Sanders admitted that to his knowledge at the

time of the raid no fonnal orders had been written and

signed. One would assume that the above quoted document

was either written later to confirm an oral approval as a

precautionary measure or that the document was forged, a

contention held by one source*-^ Whether or not Clay had

91ij--9l5* 3

^ O f f i c i a l Records . Series I , Vol* XLIII , Par t I I , pp*

Horan, Confederate A^ent. p* 2.k9

59

written a document which approved the raid before it took

place, it seemed quite clear that he had exercised his

authority at least orally and that Young entered into his

scheme feeling assured that he had the approval for his act

and would be regarded as a commissioned Confederate officer

carrying out his orders* Whatever the case may have been,

plans for the raid materialized and were carried out in such

a fashion that both the United States and Canada were

electrified by the results.

As stated in Clay's letter of Novenbo? 1, Young had

participated in other enterprises from Canada only to be

disappointed in their outcome. There were, however, some

values attached to these enterprises which consisted of

participating in Hines' expedition to Chicago during the

Democratic convention, serving as liaison officer between

Cole and Thompson in the Michigan affair, and attempting,

without success, to gather adequate forces to attack Cajnp

Chase in Ohio in order to free prisoners of war* According

to Young's own testimony it was at Chicago that he first

aired his plans and developed them to such an extent that he

interested some of the Confederates enough that they wanted

to join him. In the other two instances he also sought out

trusted men who were willing to participate in the raid*

Thus, the other enterprises, at least provided Young with the

men he needed for the undertaking of raids into the North*^

^Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 258*

60

Young had a definite reason for wishing to do to

Northern villages, at least in some measure, what had been done

to Southern villages* Shortly after the raid he related to

some of his friends what had happened in his home county,

Jassimine, Kentucky, when Union soldiers raided and plundered

at the outbreak of the War* It seemed that the young lady

Young planned to marry was the victim of outrageous insult

by Federal troops and died later as a result of the shock*

With this atrocity fresh on his mind, he immediately enlist­

ed in the Confederate army ready to "seek vengeance" upon

the perpetrators of the deed*

After his first conference with Clay, Young traveled

into northern New York and Vermont in order to select the

town that would be raided first* He chose St. Albans,

Vermont, a village of about four thousand people, located

eighteen miles below the Canadian border. He considered the

village the proper size to be sacked by his small band of

approximately twenty Confederates. By early October the

preliminary actions of the raid were well under way*

After his return to Clay's headquarters for a general

kinchen, "St. Albans Raid," p* 9.

The account of the raid itself is primarily based upon Kinchen's account. Chapter II, "The Raid Upon St. Albans," pp. II4.-29. However, specific references are made to official records and other accounts according to footnotes. Too, many of Dr. Kinchen's points are corroborated by such accounts.

61

conference. Young and several of his men reg is te red a t

ho te l s in St* J o ^ s near the border and began studying the

area , no doubt, in order to work out the plans for the

r a id down t o the l a s t d e t a i l . On October 15, Young and two

of his men took rooms at the Tremont Hotel in S t . Albans,

and that same afternoon two other agents checked in a t the

American House. The next day three more arrived at the

American House. Assuming the ro le of members of a Canadian

sportsmen's club, the well-dressed and charming-mannered

young men went about l e i su re ly observing the habi t s of the

c i t i z e n s , locating the banks and possible places where

horses might be acquired for the i r get away, and chatt ing

casual ly with the v i l l age r s — especia l ly the shop-keepers*

Since t h e i r suave appearance and manners afforded them no

suspicion, they ascer tained how well armed the local c i t i zens

were by making attempts to borrow guns for a projected hunt

in the a rea . Young even cal led a t the residence of Governor

Gregory Smith and was granted permission to inspect the

grounds and s t a b l e s . I t was l a t e r learned t ha t a par t of

the plan was to burn the Governor's home in r e t a l i a t i o n for

a similar a t r o c i t y committed by the Federals in Virginia*

This par t of the plan, however, miscarr ied. On October l8

and 19, the r e s t of Young's men a r r ived , a few at a t ime,

and were given l a s t minute ins t ruc t ions*

At three o'clock on the afternoon of the nineteenth

the r a ide r s showed themselves on the s t r e e t s of S t . Albans,

62

according t o Headley, i n Confederate uniforms**^ They

promptly put t h e i r p lans i n t o ope ra t i on . Young and s i x or

seven o the r Confederates p a t r o l l e d the s t r e e t s i n the

v i c i n i t y of the three v i l l a g e banks, a l l of which were

loca ted on the west s ide of Main S t r ee t and n e a r l y opposite

to the v i l l a g e green* The r e s t of the men divided in to

groups of four or f ive each , proceeded to the banks as

Young dec la red to v i l l a g e r s in f ront of the American House

tha t he was a Confederate s o l d i e r who had been sent to take

the town*

Ins ide the Bank of St* Albans, Thomas C o l l i n s , Marcus

Spurr , Squire Teavis , and two o thers pointed t h e i r revolvers

a t the t e l l e r , Cyrus Bishop, who was counting and s o r t i n g

paper money. The nervy t e l l e r dar ted i n t o the d i r e c t o r ' s

room only to be overtaken and forced with the other employees

to c o - o p e r a t e . As the r a i d e r s placed money and s e c u r i t i e s

i n t h e i r haversacks and coat pocke t s , Coll ins answered

Bishop ' s inqu i ry of who they were and what t h e i r purpose was

by sayingr "We are Confederate s o l d i e r s d e t a i l e d from

General B a r l e y ' s army to come nor th and rob and p lunder , the

same as your s o l d i e r s are doing in the Shanandoah Valley and

in o the r p a r t s of the South* We ' l l take your money and if

you r e s i s t , w e ' l l blow your b r a i n s o u t . " When a d e p o s i t o r ,

Samual Breck, came in wi th $390 to pay on a n o t e , h i s money

'Headley, Confederate Opera t ions , p* 259a

63

was seized even though he protested that the men should not

take private property* The reply to this was that Grant,

Sherman, and Sheridan did not respect private property*

Collins, v4io was guarding the prisoners and loudly informing

them of the atrocities that had been committed against

Southerners, administered, as his finale, an oath of

allegiance to the Confederate States in which his victims

were forced to raise their right hands and swear to uphold

the Confederacy, its president, and its cause, and not to

tell anyone of the raid for two hours after their departure.

With reports of gunfire from the street the raiders left

the bank, taking with them a sum of #73>522*.

At the same time the Franklin Bank was entered by

William H* Huntley and three others* After a preliminary

exchange of greenbacks for gold with a customer, an act

performed to engage the cashier, Marcus Beardsley, in

conversation, one of the other raiders in complete silence

stepped forward and pointed his pistol at the cashier*

Another employee named Clark lunged for the door but was

forced back into the vault by one of the alert Confederates. Q

After taking approximately $70,000 in hard cash,^ bank notes .

o Edward A* Bowles, "History of St. Albans Raid," p.

12 of Annual Address to Vermont Historical Society delivered on October 17, I876* The amount taken was quoted there*

^Ibid*, p* Ik.

61

and greenbacks, the raiders forced Beardsley to join Clark

in the vault and made their exit to the street.

One more bank, the First National Bank, was slated

for a Confederate visitation* Caleb Wallace, a nephew of

Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky and George McGrorty,

a thirty-seven year old cowhand from Texas, were among the

four men who entered the bank. They approached the cashier,

Albert Sowles, demanding bank notes, greenbacks, government

bonds, and other securities. The only other occupant of the

bank when the men entered was an elderly deaf man of ninety

who made the observation that the young men seemed to him to

be rude in manners. As the raiders made a rush for the door,

with the confiscated $58,000, they ran headlong into Bill

Blaisdell, who, after being tersely told what was going on,

grabbed Wallace and threw him dovn the steps to the ground

and then pounced on him* With several pistols pointed at

his head, Blaisdell elected to give up his fight and join

the other prisoners that had by this tims been gathered by

Young and his men on the village green across the street.

Young, who had busied himself directing the whole

operation, and the others were patrolling the streets during

the looting. They were aware of the fact that just a few

blocks away in the railroad shops several able-bodied men

could be contacted who could easily rout them. Thus the

10 Edward A. Bowles, "History of St* Albans Raid," p* 11*

65

loo te rs ha l ted a l l people who walked along the main s t r ee t

and detained them in the v i l lage green un t i l they were ready

to leave* As the ra iders emerged from the three banks, they

located the horses they had spotted e a r l i e r and made the i r

way down the main s t r ee t*

As the men were r id ing out of the v i l l age , they

attei!?)ted to set f i r e to the town by hurling the f i f ty- four

previously-prepared bo t t l e s of Greek f i r e against the walls

of t h e b u i l d i n g s along Main Street* Minutes l a t e r flames

burs t for th only to f l i cke r out for the most par t shortly

a f te r the ra iders l e f t town* I t was learned l a t e r that

only a woodshed was actual ly burned to the ground*

I t was not long before the v i l l agers who were gather­

ing from a l l d i rec t ions with whatever arms they had available

were r a l l i e d under the leadership of Captain George F. Conger,

a young cavalry off icer of nineteen -who had jus t returned

from the front* Gunshots were pouring from several of the

windows even before the band could make i t out of town* The

maurauders, although cautioned to "Keep cool" by Yo\mg,

f i red in to the crowds* Miraculously only one man, El las

Morrison, an out-of-town contrac tor , who i ron ica l ly was a

Southern sympathizer, was f a t a l l y wounded by the r a i d e r ' s

f i r e* More than one r a i d e r , i t was l a t e r found, was wound­

ed, one ser ious ly enough tha t he was kept in a Southern

sympathizer 's home near S t . Albans u n t i l he was able to

t r ave l t o Montreal where he l a t e r died* As a par t ing token

66

Young l e f t behind upon the s t r ee t a proclamation, which he

probably planned to read to the gathered c i t i zenry on the

v i l l age green. The document was called by one who examined

i t "a h ighfa lu t in address to the people of Vermont, in the

s ty le of Southern chiva l ry ." Shortly a f te r the ra iders

departed. Conger r a l l i e d forty townspeople into a posse and

a chase ensued.

Conger's posse gained on the Confederates a f te r they

hal ted a t Sheldon where they intended to rob the bank and

f i r e some buildings with Greek f i r e* They found the bank

closed, and b ef ore they could do any damage, they rea l ized

tha t Conger and his men were close behind* Another delay

in t h e i r f l i g h t loomed ahead at a covered bridge where a

farmer was crossing with a load of hay* As soon as they

were able to reach the other side, they stopped the farmer,

placed his wagon crosswise on the br idge, and set f i r e t o i t *

Conger's men experienced a considerable delay as a r e s u l t

of t h i s act , and some of the posse began to f a l t e r* Conger,

however, made a snap decision to follow the ra iders into

Canada and found twenty-two wi l l ing followers* Four miles

across the border , the posse learned that the fugi t ives had

already broken up in to small groups and had scat tered Into

d i f fe ren t d i rect ions* Conger, af ter making an appeal to

Canadian o f f i c i a l s for help , went back to the American side

where he held a n ight parley* At dawn, jus t af ter a de­

c i s ion was made by his group to go back into Canada

67

and they were approaching Freligsburg, a messenger approached

with a dispatch from Major General John Dix, commander of the

Department of the East, in which he directed that "in case

the marauders are found on our side of the line, to pursue

them, if necessary, into Canada, and destroy them*"

Although approximately seven of the maurauders, who

were able to make good their escape, evidently had most of

the money. Young learned that several of his men were being

held by Canadian officials and intended to give himself up

and make their cause his, since he carried the official

commission for the raid. Before he was able to make his way

to Canadian headquarters, while he was resting at a farm­

house, irate St. Albans citizens caught him unarmed and

seized him, and proceeded toward the United States border*

Luckily for Young, Canadian officials approached as his

attempt to make good an escape was failing. They assured the

Americans that those men already captured were to be sent to

St. Albans the next day and that it would be just as ex­

pedient for Young to be housed with them at Freligsburg*

To his relief. Young found upon his arrival at Freligsburg

that no such arrangements had been made©

From this point on, a court hassle, directly or in­

directly connected with the raid, was to be carried on among

^•^Official Records. Series I, Vol. XLIII, Part II, pp. l|20-li-23* Letter from Dix to Secretary of War Stanton, Gov­ernor Smith, and various Union officials in the area of St* Albans *

68

Canadian, American, and Confederate officials* These court

12

proceedings were to last even until after the War was over*

The issue was essentially one of whether the raiders should

be extraditdd to the United States as robbers and murderers

under the tenth article of the Ashburton Treaty that had

been negotiated between the United States and Canada in

l8i . The key question revolved around the fact that

Britain recognized the Confederates as belligerents and

could, if its courts so decided, rule that the Confederates

were acting as soldiers and commissioned officers of their

government* Of course, the Federal government considered

the Southerners as insurrectionists who had no rights under

international law* The issue was further complicated by the

fact that positive proof must be presented to the Canadian

courts that the Confederates were officially commissioned

to make the raid* With these complicated questions to be

resolved, a series of trials ensued*

The court cases evolved from the local level to the

highest Canadian courts* Judge Coursol, who was authorized

by the Governor-General to examine the prisoners in

compliance with the treaty, removed the case from the local

Justices of peace and proceeded with the case in St* Johns*

When the trial convened on October 22, the defense, through

^^The brief summary which follows the events sur­rounding the trials is capsuled frcr. Chapters III-XII, pp* 3O-I52 of Kinchen manuscript.

69

the efforts of Sanders, engaged as its chief counsel the

able .John J. C* Abbott, formerly solicitor general for

Canada East and later prime minister of the Dominion of

Canada. Other interests represented with able staffs of

attorneys were the United States, the Canadian government,

the Supreme Court of Vermont, the State of Vermont, and the

looted banks of St. Albans. Taking advantage of the

antagonism already felt in Canada, because of the previous

order for American troops to pursue the raiders into Canada,

rumors were started that General Dix was sending an armed

force into Canada to remove the prisoners from the juris­

diction of the province* The desired result of these rumors,

which was ultimately accomplished on October 27, was to get

the hearing moved farther into Canada, to Montreal, away

from the border and in an area sympathetic to the Southern

cause. After a delay of thirty days granted to the Con­

federates so that they might acquire from Richmond papers

proving that the raid had been officially authorized by the

Confederate government, the trial resumed and Coursol dis­

missed the case on ths grounds that as a local magistrate

he had no jurisdiction in such matters.

The raiders were briefly to taste freedom, and

several of them were to vanish from the scene through various

avenues of escape with much of the money irtiich was released

to the Confederates upon their dismissal* After some delay,

however, the United States Counsel, suspecting collusion.

70

between the Confederates and some of the Canadian o f f i c i a l s ,

was successful in acquiring warrants for the r e a r r e s t of the

fugi t ives* When news of the p r i soner ' s re lease reached the

United S t a t e s , Dix a^ain took steps by issuing an order

on December Ik s imi lar to the one issued in October au thor i ­

zing the pursu i t into Canada of any other ra iders coming from

Canada in to the United S t a t e s * ^ If the order had been

obeyed, i t possibly would have added great tension to the

ex i s t ing feel ing between Canada and the United S t a t e s , to

such an extent tha t war might have followed* Shortly af ter

a duplicate of Dix's orders reached Washington, by order of

the Pres ident , that par t viiich was considered offensive to ^k Canada was toned down* Considerable tension between the

two governments had already grown as a r e su l t of the order

even TPefore i t could be rescinded. The Canadians, too, r e ­

cognized the need for saving the feel ings of the United

Sta tes because of the untimely dismissal of the r a i d e r s j

thus , they o f f i c i a l l y reprimanded Coursol and Chief of Police

Lamonthe, both of whom had been closely connected with the

abrupt r e l e a s e , for t h e i r ind i sc ree t actions and co-operated

in the r e - a r r e s t of as many of the fugi t ives as could be

^3off ic ia l Records, Series I , Vol. XLIII, Part I I , p* 789, General Orders No. 97 released December Ikf 18614-*

• ^ I b i d . , pp. 793-300. Part of the order revoked by General Orders No. 100, December 17, 18614..

71

tracked down* The case was placed in the hands of Judge

James Smith, one of the justices of the superior court at

Montreal*

Young and the only four other fugitives to be

apprehended were brought to Judge Smith's Superior Court on

December 27, this time to be charged with a specific case of

robbery of Samuel Breck, the depositor whose personal money

had been taken at the Bank of St* Albans on the day of the

raid* The specific charge of robbery had been brought since

it was assumed that only under such circumstances would

extradition result* Again the Confederate counsel requested

a delay in order to attempt to attain needed documents from

Richmond. It was made clear that all previous attempts to

get through the Federal lines had been thwarted. A thirty

day postponement was granted and several brave attempts to

attain the needed evidence followed. It was not until four

days after the court reconvened on February 10, that mes­

sengers successfully completed the trip with the needed

documents. On March 29, Judge Smith presented his final

decision in the case which concurred primarily with the

Southern viewpoint that as a belligerent, the Confederacy

had a right to pursue proper courses of warfare* Although

the chargr was dismissed, the prisoners were again led to

prison to await subsequent charges. On April 5, Judge

Smith discharged the prisoners and ordered that their

personal belongings be restored. He assured his listeners

72

"that no court in Canada could again entertain a demand for

extradition of these Confederate raiders, because the case

l5 had been 'disposed of on the broadest general ground*' "

The raiders' liberation was short lived, for they

were immediately re-arrested by a peace officer from Toronto,

and taken there to stand trial under the indictment of the

Grand Jury of that city* They, as well as the Confederate

commissioners, Thompson and Clay, and their secretary, W*W.

Cleary, were to stand trial for violation of the neutrality

laws of Canada. Thompson and Clay were not to be found*

Young and Cleary were the only ones who were ultimately held

in custody* Later they were released on bond but had to wait

five months before any action was takoi. During this time

the War ended and the interest in the case subsided; even

key witnesses disappeared* All of the other raiders had

already disappeared from the scene. Finally on October 27,

1865, Young and Cleary were released from their bonds and

were free to leave the city. Thus came to an end one of

the most famous court episodes having its genesis in the

Civil War*

The whole episode, the raid and the trials which

followed, led to several trying moments for all of the

governments concerned. The immediate desired effect of the

raid, panic along the frontier, was accomplished by the

• •''Kinchen, "St. Albans Raid," p. ii|.9

73

Confederates* The raiders were not successful, however, in

diverting a large number of troops frcm the main battlefields

of the War* Nor could it be said that they very effectively

retaliated for the many raids which had taken place in the

South* Certainly they were successful in causing tense

relations between the United States and England if that

were one of their goals. All in all, it would be hard to

assess much value to the raid itself;: however, the trials

certainly proved that there was much sympathy among the

Canadians for the gentlemanly Southerners. Too, the raid

added monetarily to the coffers of the Confederacy. The

raid itself served as a stop-gap measure before the elaborate

operations planned by the Commissioners to attempt once more

a successful separation of the Northwest from the Union

during the Presidential election and to do as much other

damage at that time as possible*

CHAPTER V

CONFEDERATE REFUGEES AND THE

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTICN

OF 18614.

As the p r e s i d e n t i a l e l e c t i o n of I86I4. drew n e a r , the

commiss ioners and t h o s e c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d wi th t h e i r p l a n s

of o p e r a t i o n i n Canada a g a i n c o n c e n t r a t e d upon a c o - o r d i n a t e d

movement w i t h t h e Sons of L i b e r t y * This time n o t on ly the

Northwest b u t t h e N o r t h e a s t was t o be invo lved i n a cha in of

e v e n t s des igned t o cause a complete c o l l a p s e of t he Union*

This scheme was by f a r the most e l a b o r a t e of a l l t h a t had

been p lanned so f a r by t h e commission* Chicago was t o be

c a p t u r e d and a n o t h e r a t tempt was t o be made t o r e l e a s e the

p r i s o n e r s of war a t Camp Douglas and at Rock I s l a n d . The

c i t i e s of New York, Boston, and C i n c i n n a t i were to be burned*

Cap t a in Thomas B. Hines who p lanned the whole o p e r a t i o n and

p r e s e n t e d I t t o Thompson f o r a p p r o v a l , was aga in t o command

the o p e r a t i o n i n Chicago u s i n g the same men as he had w i t h

him i n Augus t . Colone l G* S t . Leger G r e n f e l , an E n g l i s h

a d v e n t u r e r who had been Genera l Morgan's A d j u t a n t - G e n e r a l ;

Co lone l Vincen t Marmaduke, t h e b r o t h e r of the Confedera te

g e n e r a l ; R icha rd T. Semnes, b r o t h e r of the Confedera te

a d m i r a l ; L i e u t e n a n t J . J* B e t t e r s w o r t h ; and L i e u t e n a n t

George F a s t e n were among those who accompanied Hines t o

C h i c a g o . B r i g a d i e r Genera l C h a r l e s Walsh of the Sons of

L i b e r t y was a g a i n i n charge of t h e c o - o p e r a t i n g t roops of the

7k

mg^g^mm,^,

75

Order in Illinois* In New York, Colonel Robert M* Martin,

with Lieutenant John W* Headley second in command, was to

direct the activities of the Confederates with the assistance

of Fernando Wood; James A. McMasters, editor of the Freeman's

Journal; and a Mr. Horton, all of whom were leaders of the

Copperhead movement in New York. Detachments under Captain

Churchill in Cincinnati and Dr. Luke Blackburn in Boston

were to lead a movement to set fire to those cities*

To prepare the way for the capture of Chicago, rumors

had been circulated by the Sons of Liberty that many days

previous to the election an armed force was to be used by

the Federal government on election day to prevent a

Democratic victory* This served as a good excuse for the

men to carry arms and gather in small groups to organize

the planned insurrection* As had been true of each planned

enterprise, the Federal government was aware of the conplete

Confederate plot* Not only was there an informer, Godfrey

J* Hyams, in the confidence of the commissioners in Canada

who could tell the Union officials of the complete operation,

but also there was a prisoner of war, J. T. Shanks, who

supposedly escaped from Camp Douglas but who actually was

released to join the activities in Chicago for the purpose

of keeping the Federal government informed* Shank's primary

object was to find out where Hines was hiding in the city

Headley, Confederate Operatians^ p* 2614.*

76

and to find out as much as possible about the inner operation*

After Shank's escape was arranged by the commander of Camp

Douglas, Colonel B. J. Sweet, he made his way to the hotel

room of Colonel Marmaduke* After finding that he could not

discover from him Hines' whereabouts, a well-guarded secret,

he said that he would return the next evening to "learn their

plans." Meanwhile the Confederates had been alerted that

Shanks could not be trusted. Hines called a meeting of his

band on the eve of the election at the home of a prominent

Copperhead, Judge Buckner S. Morris* The message informing

him of the meeting was not received by one of the Confederates,

Lieutenant Bettersworth, \tio was out of his room at Richmond

House when a messenger arrived. Shanks, although no one

knows how he found out about it, arrived at the meeting but

not before Hines concealed himself in the next room* After

a cool reception from those present, he excused himself only

to seek out Bettersworth, win his confidence by saying he was

sent to take him to Hines, and succeed in loosening his

tongue with peach brandy* By midnight. Shanks knew the

whole plan, the name and whereabouts of each raider,

especially the carefully guarded infoimation that Hines would

2 be spending the n igh t a t the home of Dr* Edward W* Edwards. After Sweet rece ived Shanks' r e p o r t , he decided to a r r e s t

^Horan, Confederate Agent, pp* 189-190*

77

the Confederates as well as the Copperhead leaders immediately*

Sweet, in explaining his hasty actions, made ttB following

observations in his official report to Brigadier-General

James B* Fry, Provost-Marshal-General, in Washington?

* * . i t was manifest that they had the means of gathering a force considerably larger than the l i t t l e garrison then guarding between 8,000 and 9,000 prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, and that taking advantage of the excitement and the large number of persons who would ordinarily f i l l the streets on election night, they intended to make a night attack on and surprise this camp, release and arm the prisoners of war, cut the telegraph wires, bum the railroad depots, seize the banks and stores containing arms and ammunition, take possession of the city, and commence a campaign for the release of other prisoners of war in the States of Illinois and Indiana, thus organizing an army to effect and give success to the gen­eral uprising so long contemplated by the Sons of Liberty*

By deferring action t i l l the night of Mon­day, the 7th instant, probably all the officers and leaders and many more of the men and arms of the expedition might have been captured, and more home rebels exposed, but such delay would have protracted the necessary movements and attending excitement into the very day of the Presidential election. The great interests involved scarcely justify taking the inevitable risks of postponement*-^

Although most of the would-be insurrectionists were taken

into custody and their ammunition stores confiscated, a few

managed to escape* Even Shanks was taken into custody, an

action, no doubt, perpetrated for his own protection* Among

those who escaped, however, was the biggest prize of a l l .

1078-1079. ^Official Records. Series I, Vol. XLV, Part I, pp.

^•:^.'^-iL:^^i,csf<>-mt^mtttammimmi^ammimiimn ntvn •mMmntitaimim ^^^tj^,,j^^t,Mimmmmttmmmitit^

78

Hine s »

The s t o r y of Hines ' escape was v i v i d l y s e t down by k Castleman. The n igh t of the a r r e s t s Dr. Edwards, who had

been aroused by s teps and voices of troops surrounding h i s

house, q u i e t l y awakened Hines without even d i s tu rb ing

MsETmaduke, who s l e p t in the same room. Hines, th ink ing

qu ick ly , a s c e r t a i n e d i f there was a box spr ing mat t ress in

the house» Learning t h a t Mrs. Edwards, who was i l l , was

s leep ing on one, he and the doctor hollowed out a place for

him to s l i p i n to* Thus, he concealed himself u n t i l a f t e r

the house had been searched and Marmaduke had been taken in to

custody* The next day Hines suggested tha t Edwards c i r c u l a t e

the rumor t ha t h i s wife was worse and not expected to l i v e

in hopes tha t such an ac t would b r i n g seve ra l c a l l e r s to the

house which was heav i ly guarded by Federa l t r o o p s . Ju s t as

Hines had suspected , s eve ra l c a l l e r s came t o inqui re ahoulfc

Mrs. Edwards, and he was able t o s l i p out under the umbrella

of one of the concerned v i s i t o r s * He evaded troops and made

h i s way out of the c i t y by t r a i n to Cinc innat i* Not yet was

the s l i p p e r y Hines out of danger* He went i n to hiding in

C inc inna t i a t the home of Mr. and Mrs* Sam P* Thomas,

" in tense Southerners" and " t r u s t e d f r i ends of Captain Hines*"

A p lan was pe r fec ted whereby he would conceal himself in a

c l o s e t t h a t was b u i l t behind another c l o s e t should troops

^Castleman, Active Se rv i ce , pp . 192-195•

79

approach the house in search of him* One of the dress re­

hearsal sessions of concealing himself with split-second

timing became reality when troops approached* They had

been told of Hines' whereabouts, it seems, by the alert

Union spy system, but again the well-concealed Hines was not

discovered* Soon Hines made his way from Ohio through the

enemy lines to Richmond to make a full report on the recent

fiasco in Chicago that he had so hoped would change the

whole complexion of the War*

Colonel Martin, who was in command of the New York

operation. Lieutenant John Headley, his second in command,

and six other carefully selected Confederates among whom

were Captain Robert C* Kennedy of Louisiana, Lieutenants

John T* Ashbrook and James T. Harrington of Kentucky, John

Price of Maryland, and James Chenault of Kentucky, arrived

in New York ten days prior to the election and took rooms at

different hotels under assumed names* Before the band left

Canada, Colonel Thompson had informed Martin that a Confed­

erate agent. Captain Longmire of Missouri, had already made

initial preparations for the execution of the plans and that

he had set up contact with James A* McMasters, the proprietor

and editor of the Freeman' s Journal with whom Martin was to

make contact upon arrival in New York. Colonel Martin was

^Headley, Confederate Operations, pp. 261j.-283* The following account is based primarily upon Headley's eye­witness description of the New York procedure*

80

to ld tha t about 20,000 men wer® enl i s ted in New York under

a complete organization and that they were armed and ex­

pected to follow Confederate leadership when the time came

to take possession of the city* The Copperhead leaders

suggested as the f i r s t s tep in capturing the c i t y se t t ing

f i r e to several cen t ra l ly located buildings in order to

cause milling crowds in the s t r e e t s and to d ive r t the

Federal troops from the United States Sub-treasury building

and a l l other government propert ies which were to be taken*

Greek f i r e was being prepared for the se t t ing of the f i r e s*

The pr isoners at Fort Lafayette were to be released and

united with the combined Confederate-Copperhead forces*

The plan was to be put in to effect on the afternoon of the

elect ion* McMasters informed Martin and Headley at one of

the planning meetings that an agreement had been cornpleted

with Governor Seymour whereby he would not send s ta te

m i l i t i a to suppress the New York City insurrect ion, but

instead would remain neu t ra l and leave the suppression of

the revolut ion to the au tho r i t i e s a t Washington* He also

reported "that upon the success of the revolution" in the

c i t y , "a convention of delegates from New York, New Jersey,

and the New England States would be held in New York City to

form a Confederacy which would co-operate with the Confed-..6 era te States and Northwestern Confederacy*"

Headley, Confederate Operations, p* 267.

81

Two factors served to dampen the s p i r i t s of the

Copperhead leaders who eventually refused to take part in the

operation completely. F i r s t , Major-General Benjamin F*

Butler with a force of 10,000 soldiers was assigned to the

New York City area a few days before the e lect ion because of

mass p o l i t i c a l demonstrations which might lead to disorders

and also because of information that "disloyal movements"

were to take place on e lec t ion day* Second, when news came

in from Chicago report ing the a r res t s of the Copperhead

and Confederate leaders who were to lead the e lec t ion day

insurrec t ion the re , incentive was deflated even more* In

addi t ion i t became c lea r that tbs plans to burn Boston and

Cincinnati were also f rus t ra ted by informers* The Copper­

head leaders refused to act in conjunction with the Con­

federates since such a r i s k was now involved.

Martin knew that without Copperhead help i t would be

impossible to capture the c i t y ; nonetheless, he had promised

Thoii?)son tha t even if plans miscarried in the other c i t i e s ,

he would "hear from New York." He waited several days hoping

that a new date would be set for an uprising if Butler

should decide to depart* F ina l ly i t became apparent that

But ler would remain, and the more the Confederates ins i s t ed

upon act ion the weaker McMasters became. I t was at l a s t

decided by the Copperheads to give ^p the idea of revolution*

S t i l l Martin and h i s men did not want to leave without at

82

l e a s t g iv ing the c i t y a scare* They decided to go through

wi th p a r t of the plan which involved s e t t i n g f i r e to b u i l d ­

ings In Nev York C i t y . In t h a t way, they would a t l e a s t l e t

"the government a t Washington understand tha t burning homes

i n t h e South might f i n d a counterpar t i n the North ." Even

Longmire decided to leave the c i t y should t h i s be at tempted;

however, he gave Martin the address of the man who was making

the Greek f i r e before he l e f t and Headley accomplished the

dangerous miss ion of p icking up the v a l i s e conta ining the

compound. I t had been agreed tha t the f i r e s would be s t a r t e d

in the h o t e l s so t h a t the g r e a t e s t damage would be done in

the downtown area* The hour of 8::00 p . m. on November 25

was chosen, so t h a t "the guests of the ho te l s might a l l

escape , a s " the Confederates "did not want to des t roy 7

l i v e s * " Al toge ther n ine teen ho te l s were f i r e d , s ince some

of the men had checked in to more than one room in the c i t y*

The g r e a t e s t b l a z e , however, was a completely unplanned cne

s t a r t e d by Kennedy in the Barnum's Museum* He t o l d Headley

t h a t a f t e r he had se t f i r e to h i s assigned h o t e l s , "he con­

cluded t o go down to Barnum's Museum and s t a y u n t i l something

turned up, but had only been there a few minutes when alarms

began t o r i n g a l l over the c i t y . He decided t o go out , and

coming down the s ta i rway i t happened to be c l e a r a t a turn

and the idea occurred to him tha t there would be fun to

7 'Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 273.

83

start a scare* He broke a bottle of Greek fire . . .on the

edge of a step like he would crack an egg* It blazed up and o

he got out to witness the result*" Although the scare that

the Confederates wanted to create did result and rumors ran

wild that the whole city was to be destroyed, the fires were

easily extinguished and little material damage resulted* Of

this Headley remarked:

So far as we could learn the programme had been car­ried out, but it appeared that all had made a fail­ure. It seemed to us that there was something wrong with our Greek fire.

All had observed that the fires had been put out in all the places as easily as any ordinary fire. We came to the conclusion that Longmire and his manu­facturing chemist had put up a job on us after it was foundgthat we could not be dissuaded frcm our pur­pose .^

Martin and his men wer® well aware of the dangers sur­

rounding them should they remain in the city* The next day

the papers were full of their sensational attempt* Clerks

at the various hotels reported excellent descriptions of the

men, and Federal officials assured the public that the where­

abouts of each Confederate was known and that each would sonn

be in custody* Martin and Headley decided to pick up trunks

that they had left at the piano store of Henry W. McDonald,

the brother of one of Thompson's counselors, W. Larry

o

Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 276.

^Ibid*, p. 277.

8i

McDonald, who had offered every possible assistance to the

r e b e l s . Jus t as Martin and Headley approached the s to re ,

they noticed McDonald's daughter in the window signaling

f r an t i ca l ly* They wisely a l te red t h e i r s teps , for i t was

l a t e r learned from an evening newspaper tha t the s tore was

f i l l e d with Federals eagerly awaiting the a r r i v a l of any of

the Rebels. The newspaper also reported that a month before

the Nevj York plans were put into e f fec t , the plot had been

divulged to the au thor i t i es by "a man from Canada, but on

condition that he was t o receive one hundred thousand

dol la rs for h is information." His information was checked

and Martin, Headley, and the others were followed from the

very moment they arrived in the c i t y . Since they spent

t h e i r time in such a l e i su r e ly way, the detectives f ina l ly

abandoned them as a " lo t of well-behaved young men who

seemed to be simply enjoying"themselves* They were never

traced to any of the places where they made contact with the

New York Sons of Liberty except one v i s i t to McMasters and

two v i s i t s to McDonald. Naturally those places were now

under close su rve i l l ance . Headley observed that "while our

bet rayer knew the fac t s he was unable to convince the

au tho r i t i e s* I t appeared that the au thor i t i e s had only given

us up and refused to trade with our betrayer a few days before

we s t a r t e d the f i r e s*" This so-cal led be t rayer , i t was

l a t e r learned, was Godfrey Hyams, who had given the Union

government a complete account of the plans in a l l of the

8?

cities *•*•

An immediate problem was at hand; how were the men to

get out of the city? To the great relief of all of the men,

who met at an earlier designated rendezvous, no one had been

apprehended. It was decided that they would acquire tickets

on a New York Central train and leave at 11 o'clock. Two of

the least known of the party were selected to buy the tickets,

a feat which they successfully accomplished. At nine o'clock

all of the men slipped into the sleeping-car and retired to

their berths. They did not undress and kept a close look

out until the time of departure. As each passenger boarded

that train at tl: normal hour just before departure, the

Confederates observed that each passenger was closely

scrutinized. Luckily for them, the detectives did not enter

the car, although they were ready to escape at the rear of the

car and give the detectives a chase should they be discovered.

The train pulled out on time, and the men successfully crossed

the border into Canada after making another risky change at

Albany* Just a few days after the great fire scare in New

York City, all of the Confederates involved were safely

across the border, and Martin and Headley reported to

Thompson to give him a full account of the operation*

The whole campaign had been a failure* The Northwest

and the Northeast were still intact as a part of the Union*

^^Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 28l*

86

The election had taken place on schedule, and Lincoln had

been re-elected* Many of the Confederates who had been so

active in the operation were either under arrest and awaiting

trial in various parts of the Union or in hiding in Canada

for fear of being hunted down and brought back into the

Union by extradition proceedings and tried for their acts*

Various fates awaited those arrested in Chicago on that

fateful night before the election* Some of the court actions

were not completed until after the operation was abandoned

in Canada; some were not even con5)leted until after the War*

Nonetheless, it might be well to report briefly the results

of the more important trials* Charles Walsh and Buckner S*

Morris, prime movers of the Sons of Liberty in Chicago and

Vincent Marmaduke and R. T* Semnes, Confederates, were tried

in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the headquarters of the Northern

Department. Their sentence, which was recorded in General

Orders, Number 30 of the Official Records on April 21, l865,

were as followsr

Buckner S. Morris, not guilty, acquitted. Charles Walsh, guilty on all charges, to be imprisoned for the term of five years. E.T* Semnes, guilty on all charges, to be imprisoned at hard labor. . .for the term of three years. Vincent Marmaduke, not guilty, acquitted.

On May 26, 1865, R. T. Semnes' sentence was remitted by

order of the President and he was released. Colonel George

St* Leger Grenfel was tried the same time as the others by the

87

same commission* His was the harshest penalty of all, hang­

ing* Later, however, July 22, 1865, after his case was re­

viewed by President Johnson, he was sent to Dry Tortugas,

Florida, for life imprisonment. Although his case was ap­

pealed and even the fact that he might be technically con­

sidered an English citizen instead of an American entered

into the proceedings, the sentence was not changed*"''

Headley tells us, however, that "it appears from the records

that Grenfel escaped from Fort Jefferson, Florida, March 7,

1868. What happened to him after that remained a mystery.

As a result of the operations in New York, only two

arrests, neither of which were Confederates, were recorded*

Thompson felt obliged when called upon to furnish monetary

aid in the trials of the two men. Mr. Horton, editor of tfce

Day Book, and Henry W. McDonald, proprietor of the piano

store, both of whom had been active members of the plot as

long as the New York Sons of Liberty were involved were

arrested. Relatives of the two men received not only

financial aid frcm Thompson but sworn testimony that neither

was connected in any way, by knowledge or act, with the

attempt to burn New York. Eventually they were released* -

^^Ofxicial Records. Series II, Vol. Vill, pp. 502-503. General Orders No. 30*

^%eadley. Confederate Operations, pp. 296-300*

^^Ibid*, pp. 281-282*

88

Hines, the prime mover of the whole conspiracy, as has

already been recounted, escaped arrest, and after reporting

to authorities in Richmond, he was sent back to Canada to

assist Thompson in further operations. Thompson, although

obviously discouraged by the failure of the elaborate schemes

thus far attempted, still carried on as his orders required

until such a time as he might be recalled. That time was

drawing near, but there were still opportunities to strike

blows at the Union even in the last discouraging days of his

mission*

CHAPTER VI

LAST EFFORTS OF THE CONFEDER/ITES IN CANADA

On December 3 , 1865, Thompson sen t a d i s p a t c h to Con­

f e d e r a t e S e c r e t a r y of S t a t e Benjamin i n which he gave a f u l l

r e p o r t of t he major a c t i v i t i e s t h a t had been c a r r i e d on from

Canada from t h e time of h i s and C l a y ' s a r r i v a l * He reviewed

b r i e f l y such e v e n t s as hi s c o n t a c t s w i t h the Sons of L i b e r t y ,

which had l e d to t h e s e r i e s of p lanned u p r i s i n g i n t h e Nor th ­

wes t , a l l of which had ended i n at l e a s t outward f a i l u r e * He

gave an accoun t of the a t t empt to c a p t u r e the Michigan on

Lake E r i e lAiich was supposed t o l ead t o the r e l e a s e of

p r i s o n e r s of war on J o h n s o n ' s I s l a n d and va r ious o t h e r e n t e r ­

p r i s e s * He ment ioned r e c e i v i n g a f u l l r e p o r t from Mart in

and Headley conce rn ing the a t t e m p t t o burn New York C i ty and

blamed i t s f a i l u r e on t h e i n f e r i o r i t y of Greek f i r e , a p roduc t

which he s u g g e s t e d n o t be used a g a i n . Although the many

a c t i v i t i e s i n i t i a t e d a t the p l a n n i n g conferences i n Canada

had n o t produced t h e a n t i c i p a t e d r e s u l t s , he a s su red the Con­

f e d e r a t e government t h a t t h e y had not been complete f a i l u r e s .

Some t r o o p s had been p u l l e d away from t h e Southern borders^

which had perhaps r e l i e v e d the s i t u a t i o n i n the South i n a

sma l l way* Much u n r e s t had been caused i n the North, and many

Union c i t i z e n s were s t i l l p r e s s i n g f o r p e a c e . He was quick

t o p o i n t ou t t h a t i f any one of t h e a c t i v i t i e s shou ld have

succeeded , the War might have come t o an immediate end* He

89

90

lamented the f a c t t ha t so many of the key members of the Sons

of L i b e r t y had been a r r e s t e d as there were s t i l l many in the

North w i l l i n g to work for the Confederate cause should they

be o rgan ized . He sa id t h a t the l eaders of the Order had been

so demoralized by the r e - e l e c t i o n of Lincoln t h a t a complete

r e - o r g a n i z a t i o n was necessary* Such a process was being

a t tempted, the new group c a l l i n g i t s e l f the "Order of the

Star*" Although t h i s group might be of sane as s i s t ance

l a t e r , he s t a t e d tha t they could not be depended upon a t

p resen t add t ha t he suggested urging t hose who wanted to

help in the Confederate cause to cross the l i n e s and e n l i s t

d i r e c t l y i n t o the Confederate r a n k s . He expressed concern

fo r the Confederates who had been a r r e s t ed as a r e s u l t of

the miscar r iage of plans in the vsirious operat ions and were

awai t ing t r i a l a t var ious places i n the United States and

Canada. He said t h a t he was doing what he could for these

men and t hat he be l i eved tha t they would u l t ima te ly be r e -1

leased* Thompson assured Benjamin t h a t he would remain in

Canada u n t i l he was r e c a l l e d bu t made i t c l ea r t h a t i t was

almost impossible to ca r ry out any mission successfu l ly

because the Unicn had such an e f f ec t ive de t ec t ive system

i n Canada and there were too many would-be Confederates

As was pointed out in each of the episodes in some d e t a i l , he was c o r r e c t in the cases of Castleman, who was taken a f t e r the Democratic convention i n Chicago in August; Cole and Burley, who were a r r e s t e d during the attempt to se i ze the Michigafa — Cole, i n the United S t a t e s and Burley

•IIIWII III UMifcliilillMiHiH H I •IMiia .Mi* II^IM iMlrii mli i ^^alMMMniiril m nuMinrhf t-.«..J> w

91

who were willing to turn informer. He said that "the bane

and curse of carrying out anything in this country is the

surveillance under which we act. Detectives, or those ready

to give information, stand at every corner* Two or three 2

cannot interchange ideas without a reporter*"

Thompson was not idle while he was awaiting a reply

from his dispatch to Benjamin. He continued to take

advantage of any opportunity to help the Confederate cause.

It was not long until such an opportunity arose. He re­

ceived information from Sandusky, Ohio, that seven Confederate

generals who had been in prison at Johnson's Island were to

be taken by train to Fort Lafayette, New York, on December

l5. Thhmpson immediately contacted Martin and Headley, who

had recently returned from New York City. They were quick

to volunteer for the mission. Three others who had been with

them in New York -- Harrington, Kennedy, and Ashbrook — were

to go with them. To bring the total participants to ten,

Thompson suggested that Captain Beall, who had participated

in the Michigan enterprises in SepteniDer, join the group.

along with three other trusted men. The plan was to stop

in Canada ~ ; and the St. Albans raiders, who were to be in­volved in several trials in Canada.

^Official Records. Series I, Vol. XLIII, Part II, pp* 930-936*

-^Headley, Confederate Operations, pp. 301-307 • The following is based primarily upon Headley's account as he was a participant*

92

and capture the train while it was en route to the fort, arm

the generals so that they could defend themselves, secure

all the money that was in the express safe, and then escape

into Canada with the generals. Martin and Headley met Beall

for the first time on December llj. in Hamilton, Canada, a

small city on Lake Ontario, and spent the day in BeallVs

hotel room perfecting plans. The train was to be stopped

between Sandusky and Buffalo. The guards were to be taken

by surprise and disarmed. The passenger coaches would be

left on the tracks between stations, and the telegraph wires

would be cut. The generals were to exchange clothing with

passengers of their size* From that point the band from

Canada would take the generals into Buffalo or scatter in

different directions on trains. When the three men met with

the rest of the group in Buffalo on Sunday evening, they

were informed of the plans, and it was decided to depart the

next morning for Dunkirk, New York, in time to meet the

eastbound train from Cleveland on which the generals were

expected to be. Before departure from Buffalo the next

morning, the group read in the newspapers of General Dix's

proclamation, that rash statement which had been the result

of the St. Albans raiders' being released in Canada after

their initial trial. The part that placed them in direct

peril and that was later toned down by Presidential order

stated that Confederate marauders from Canada should be

shot down if possible while committing their crime, but if

l'^^^ •-••- -.-•••--^ —m f tMi i i i i imt II I -1 in imir ir — "-—' ^-.-.^.iMtt^iaiii>i.iM<

93

i t were necessary, they should be chased down even if i t

meant crossing i n to the neutral t e r r i t o r y of Canada. Although

the proclamation afforded the men addit ional danger, i t did

not stop them. All of the men remained in Dunkirk to await

the generals except Martin, who went on to Er i e , Pennsylvania,

where he planned to board the t r a i n that carr ied the Con­

federate off icers and ride in with them. Martin returned on

the second t r a i n coming eas t with the news that the generals

had not come through yet* Because of Dix's order, i t was

deemed per i lous for the men to remain in one place long*

Thus, i f the generals did not come through the next morning,

the men planned to hire s leighs and t rave l out from Buffalo

to a l eve l spot by the r a i l road tracks and there ha l t the

next eastbound t r a i n . They would mingle with the passengers

pretending to be concerned about why the t r a in was hal ted,

but a l l the while they would be trying to ascertain i f the

generals were aboard. As they had planned, the sleighs were

h i red , but Beall a l te red the plans s l i gh t ly while awaiting

the t r a i n . He placed an i ron fence r a i l on the track which

he believed would stop the t r a i n should i t not heed the i r

l an te rn s i g n a l . Because of poor timing the men were not

ready to s ignal when the t r a in sped by, and the iron r a i l

did not succeed in stopping the t ra in* The t r a i n did stop,

however, some two hundred yards from the men, no doubt, so

tha t the engineers could see what had been h i t . Because the

episode did not mater ia l ize as had been planned, the

9k

Confederates decided i t would be wise to leave immediately,

take a t r a i n to Suspension Bridge, and walk across t o t t e

Canadian s ide to await a t r a i n tha t would take them back to

h e a d q u a r t e r s . Al l of the men succeeded in c ross ing i n t o

Canada except Bea l l and Anderson. I t was l a t e r l earned t h a t

they had been a r r e s t e d while as leep in the eatimg-room where

Martin and Headley had l e f t them when they crossed the

br idge* The whole e n t e r p r i s e ended in f i a s c o , and the two

key Confederates had been taken pr i soner as a r e s u l t of i t *

The i l l - f a t e d exped i t ion a t Buffalo and Dunkirk

ended the ac t ive opera t ion aga ins t the enemy from Canada,

bu t i t did not end Thompson's planning for more action*.

Although many of the Confederates , anxious to see home again ,

had depar ted or were planning to make an attempt t o pass

through the enemy l i n e s soon, Thompson, Hines, who had been

ordered back to Canada by o f f i c i a l s in Richmond, Headley,

Mart in, and a few o thers were s t i l l a t l i b e r t y in Canada, at

Christmas t ime, l86I|.* Clay had re tu rned to the South i n

mid-December; he had l e f t Sanders to f i g h t h i s court

b a t t l e s p e r t a i n i n g to the St* Albans r a i d . The l a s t scheme

Thompson proposed from planning confereiices in Canada was an

e l a b o r a t e one which would include a l l of the Confederate

f o r c e s . \ccording to Headley he had asked Clay to presen t

h i s plan t o P res iden t Davis when he a r r i v e d in Richmond,

bu t a f t e r not hear ing from him, he sent Martin and Headley

95

south with the f a n t a s t i c scheme*^ E s s e n t i a l l y his p lan was

as fo l lowsr Confederate forces no r th of Sherman and a new

force being organized by Beauregard i n North Carol ina would

be Joined with Lee ' s army to give a combined force of

s^proximately 100,000. These armies would abandon the South

des t roy ing b r i d g e s and r a i l r o a d s as they l e f t , make a

t h r ea t en ing march on Washington and Phi lade lphia u n t i l Grant

was c lo se upon them, gather up a l l the horses i n the country­

s ide as they t r a v e l e d , f a l l back, now mounted, and capture

P i t t s b u r g , and f i n a l l y loca te t h e sea t of the government a t

Wheeling* The army would face e a s t and p ro t ec t a l i n e

approximately one hundred miles long from Lake Er ie to the

Ohio R ive r . Thompson concluded t h a t the new Confederate

p o s i t i o n would confound Grant and Sherman because of the

n a t u r a l b a r r i e r s of r i v e r s , l a k e s , and mountains in the area*

Davis could move h i s s e a t of government to t h i s new l o c a t i o n

qu i t e e a s i l y and ca r ry on government proceedings unhindered*

As an adjunct to the primary maneuver, he planned a caval ry

march of ten thousand aga ins t New York* He s t i l l included

in h i s p lan an u p r i s i n g of t h e Sons of L iber ty , who would

a t t a c k Camp Douglas and Camp Chase, an ac t ion which was

a c t u a l l y in5)ossible s ince so many of the leaders had been

a r r e s t e d and the Order was in a s t a t e of complete d i s ­

organ iza t ion* Next Thompson p red ic t ed what Grant would do

^Headley, Confederate Opera t ions , pp. 382-389.

96

as a r e s u l t of the South ' s sudden s h i f t i n t a c t i c s . He

envis ioned h i s joining h i s forces with Sherman's and coming

up t h e A t l a n t i c Coast* Such a s h i f t of Federa l t roops

would leave the West open t o the Confederate armies, who

under the l eade r sh ip of Taylor , F o r r e s t , and E* Kirby Smith

would march west of the Miss i s s ipp i River, gather f resh

horses and t r o o p s , and then move eastward u n t i l they joined

fo rces with Lee, Johnston, and Beauregard i n the Ohio River

Valley* Such an ac t i on would serve to completely sever the

West from the East* Martin and Headley were t o p resen t

Thon5)Son's scheme t o the newly appointed Confederate

Sec re t a ry of War, Breckinr idge , fo r whom Martin had scouted

a t Sh i loh . I t was f e l t t ha t the sec re ta ry would approve

the plan and take them to see Pres iden t Davis. The wonder

of the whole episode was t h a t the Confederates in Canada

viewed the p lan with such g rea t favor and optimism. The

cause of the South was at a d e f i n i t e low p o i n t ; a l l of the

a c t i v i t i e s from Canada had f a i l e d ; nego t i a t ions with foreign

c o u n t r i e s fo r more than r e cogn i t i on as b e l l i g e r e n t s was at

a s tand s t i l l ; Lincoln had c a r r i e d the day at the p o l l s ;

the re was l i t t l e hope fo r f r e sh t roops nor adequate suppl ies

i n the South; the blockade was t i g h t e r than ever . Yet

Headley i nd i ca t ed t h a t a l l of those who advised Thompson

were in complete accord wi th h i s scheme, which they na ive ly

thought would work, when he observed, "lone of us could

see the p r o p r i e t y of making a l a s t d i t c h s tand in the im-

97

poverished South when the gates to the North and then to the

West stood wide open^"^ Thus, in early February the two men

started across the frozen Detroit River and made their way

to Richmond* How President Davis received the plan or

whether he ever heard of it was not disclosed in any of the

available records* It was recorded, however, that Headley

and Martin did get through the lines and spent some time

along with Davis and his Cabinet dodging the Federal troops

and that both were finally taken into custody only to be re­

leased after the War, sometime in 1866*

It was now a daily occurrence to bid farewell to

loyal Confederates who had been active in the Canadian enter­

prises but who were anxious to see home* Many left even

though they stood the chance of being followed into the North

by detectives and taken into custody by the Union officials

to be held for trial. Lieutenant Samuel Boyer Davis, when

he journeyed southward in January in a brave attempt to

acquire from Richmond documents that could be used as

evidence in the extradition trial of Burley, was a victim of

just such a happening. Nonetheless, some made it through the

lines as was true of a Reverend Cameron and an unidentified

Kentucky widow who both returned to Canada with documents

-'Headley, Confederate Operations, p. 386.

'^Horan, Confederate Agent, p. 262 and p. 271.

98

needed in the trials taking place there. Among the last to

make an attempt to go through the Union lines were Lieutenant

Ashbrook and Captain Kennedy, who had been active in many of

the Canadian operations, especially the attempt to burn New

York City. Theirs was a dangerous journey since the Union

officials were quite anxious to arrest any of the members of

the band who had tried to destroy a key city* Too, their

descriptions had been vividly recorded in prominent news­

papers in the North, and they stood a great risk of being

recognized. Shortly after crossing the line into Michigan,

they caught a train which would take them through the state.

They were just settling in their seats, taken apart because

of crowded conditions, when two Union detectives who had

followed them from Toronto approached Kennedy and took him

into custody. Ashbrook, no doubt realizing that he could

not rescue his friend and that his minutes of freedom were

numbered, jumped from a window of the fast-moving train and

luckily landed in a snow bank uninjured. From there, he made

his way to Cincinnati and thence into Kentucky where he con­

tinued to evade arrest* Kennedy was held for trial in the

United States.

The outcome of many of the trials which resulted from

the Canadian activities and which were being conducted

throughout the United States and Canada was discussed in

earlier chapters in conjunction with the episode in which

the Confederates or members of the Sons of Liberty were

^ Mtii*iini futmm m nmimmmmmtmi^tm^mikmtmmmimimaa

99

apprehended* As was observed in most cases, the outcome of

these trials was eventual liberty although many of the court

rangles were prolonged until after the War when an interest

in the cases waned*

Some of the Confederates apprehended, however, did not

fare so well. The fate of those tried in the United States

was certainly worse than that of those who were tried in

Canada. As was mentioned in Chapter VI, Colonel George St*

Leger Grenfel, who was arrested in Chicago in connection with

the crackdown on the participants of the Northwest Conspiracy

on election eve, 1861 ., Kas the first to receive harsh treat­

ment. He was first sentenced to be hanged, but later his

sentence was commuted to life imprisonment at Dry Tortugas,

Florida* Lieutenant Davis and Captain Kennedy, who were

arrested in their attempts to pass through the Union lines

into the South, and Captain John Beall, who was taken prison­

er after his participation in the attempt to rescue the Con­

federate generals, were also sentenced to be hanged as a re-

7

suit of their trials. Anderson, who had been arrested with

Beall, agreed to testify for the Union against Beall and was

later released* Although the three cases were appealed and

7 For a record of the trials of Davis, Beall, and

Kennedy, the Official Records can be consulted* The Davis trial is found in Series II, Vol. VIII, pp. 132-133, 191-192* The Beall trial is found in Series II, Vol. VIII, pp. 279-282. The Kennedy trial is found in Series II, Vol. VIII, pp* l^li^.-I|-l6*

100

and much was done i n t h e i r behalf , only Davis eventua l ly won

h i s freedom. Both Bea l l and Kennedy were hanged, Beal l on

February 2i| , and Kennedy on March 25* Actua l ly , then , of

the immediate group connected wi th the Canadian a c t i v i t i e s ,

only two — Bea l l and Kennedy — were hanged. Many went

i n t o e x i l e , in Canada or abroad. Some made t h e i r way to the

South, where a few were apprehended in the l a s t days of the

War. Such was t r u e in the case of Clay, who spent some

time in pr i son a f t e r the War* Others remained in Union

p r i sons fo r a per iod of time, but were u l t ima t e ly re leased*

The wonder of a l l was tha t Jacob Thompson successfu l ly

l e f t Canada before he was apprehended* Benjamin did not

o f f i c i a l l y r e c a l l iThompsen u n t i l March 2 , 1865. He did n o t ,

however, cons ider i t advantageous to leave immediately

s ince he was doing a l l he could to help in the t r i a l s t h a t

were taking p l a c e , but in e a r l y A p r i l , a warrant was i ssued

for h i s a r r e s t , along with Clay ' s and Clea ry ' s and the

r e c e n t l y r e l e a s e d S t . Albans r a i d e r s , for v i o l a t i o n of the o

n e u t r a l i t y laws of Canada*° Cleary and the r a i d e r s were

taken i n t o cus tody. Clay had been in Richmond f o r some

t i r i e . Thompson, however, was never taken in to custody.

Evident ly he went in to h id ing somewhere in Canada* His f i r s t

a t tempt to leave Canada took place s h o r t l y a f t e r the warrant

was i s s u e d . He bought a schooner, the Canadian Eagle , which

^Kinchen, " S t . Albans R a i d e r s , " p . ll|.9

.„_.^^,_a^i J J, .III , J 'i.-fcMiMMll.i mil III I I »i MiiitaMMMWlMMMiiattr-t"-~''^'-''"^'' "• ""

101

he planned to equip and s a i l t o the Rio Grande with o ther

Confederates who might decide t o accompany him and there 9

j o i n MsLXimillian's dwindling empire* The Canadian o f f i c i a l s were warned of h i s p lan and placed the vesse l under such

10 c lose s u r v e i l l a n c e t h a t he did not dare leave*

One o the r accusa t ion was l eve led at Thompson and

o the r s of h i s commission before he could make h i s departure*

These men were accused of p l o t t i n g to a s sa s s ina t e Lincoln

along wi th John Wilkes Booth* On May 2, 1865, Pres ident

Johnson i ssued a proclamation in i ^ i c h he offered rewards

for the Commissioners Thompson and Clay, George N. Sanders ,

Beverly Tucker, William C* Cleary as wel l as Je f fe rson

Davis for t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the "at rocious murder of

the l a t e P r e s i d e n t . . .and the attempted a s sass ina t ion of

* . . Seward, Secre ta ry of S t a t e . " The blame for i n c i t i n g ,

conce r t i ng , and procur ing the deeds was based upon evidence

which was gathered by the Bureau of Mi l i t a ry J u s t i c e * By

November t h e rewards offered fo r the Commissioners, Tucker,

% o r a n . Confederate A^ent, p . 261 . and Kinchen,"St . Albans R a i d e r s , " p . Ii4.9.

^^The warning was rece ived by the United S t a t e s War Department, Apr i l 28 , l 8 6 5 . See Of f i c i a l Records, Ser ies I , Vol* XLVI, Pa r t I I I , p . 100i|*

^^Ibid** Se r i e s I , Vol* XLIX, Par t I I , p* 566*

102

Sanders, and Cleary were revoked*^^ It was found that all of

the evidence gathered was completely fallacious, that those

who were willing to testify had been bribed, and that

actually no valid proof could be found that connected the

Canadian group of Confederates with the assassination plot*- ^

When Thompson finally left Canada in the late summer

or early fall of l865, he was a man without a country. He

dared not return to the South, for even though the War was

over, there was a reward for his arrest. He sailed to

Europe, as so many of the Confederate officials who were able

to get away did after the War. There he was joined by

Castleman, who had recently been released from Federal

prison, but was not allowed to remain in the United States*

Castleman recorded that the two men enjoyed studying French

in Paris and touring England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland

together. When and how Thompson left Canada was nowhere

recorded. A letter dated September 2, l865, which he re­

ceived in Paris from Confederate Secretary of State Benjamin,

now in exile, in London, in which he stated a desire to set

financial matters of the Canadian operation in order, would

make it certain that he arrived in Europe sometime before that

date*

^^Official Records. Series I, Vol. XLIX, Part II, p* 1116, General Orders No. 161 . War Department, Wdjutant General's Office, Washington, November 2I4., 1865.

^Horan, Confederate Agent, p. 267*

^^Castleman, Active Service, pp* 197-200, 201-202o

103

In r e f l e c t i n g upon the Confederate a c t i v i t i e s , which

took place as a r e s u l t of the commissioner's planning in

Canada, a person 's f i r s t inc l ina t ion would be to ca l l them a.

f a i l u r e * Certainly i f one measured the r e su l t s in terms of

successful missions into the United S ta tes , he would be

fool i sh to say the r e su l t s were posit ive* No Northwestern

Confederacy was formed to join forces with the Southern

Confederacy. The Lakss were never dominated by Confederate

f o r ce s . No mass amount of incendiarism l e f t the c i t i e s and

vesse ls of the North in u t t e r ruin* No successful attempts

were made to negotiate a peace with the Union* By no

s t r e t c h of the imagination, then, would one say that the

a c t i v i t i e s , even the S t . Albans r a i d , could equally

r e t a l i a t e for the Northern expeditions into the South nor

did they bring the War to an end*

But were the a c t i v i t i e s a t o t a l fa i lure? Certainly

the constant rumors which resu l ted from the plans of th i s

small band of Confederates served as a thorn in the side of

the Union o f f i c i a l s . As a r e s u l t of the rumors, people

along the Canadian border were in continual upheaval. Thus

they reported upon the s l i g h t e s t provocation, every possible

hint of an invasion from Canada no matter how far-fetched,

and they demanded ac t ion . Although many of the rumors proved

unfounded and most of the actual th rea ts were nipped in the

bud because of the excel lent Union detective system or be­

cause of informers in the Confederates' own camp who prized

lOi^

money above cause , severa l man hours had to be spent check­

ing out such rumors and t h r e a t s . Several times i t was con­

s ide r ed necessary f o r Federal troops to be moved in to the

nerve cen te r of the proposed p lo t s* Each time manpower had

to be taken from the ac tua l b a t t l e f i e l d . Such was the case

when Camp Douglas and Chicago were re inforced during the

Democratic convention and the National e lec t ion* Also a

.arge t roop movement took place i n New York City when

But l e r and a force of 10,000 were s t a t ioned in the New York

area dur ing e l e c t i o n time* F u l l c r e d i t did n o t belong to

the Confederates i n Canada for keeping a peace movement

a l ive i n the North, s ince they co-operated with the Sons of

L ibe r ty and other Peace Democrats who were equal ly anxious

tha t peace be gained at a l l c o s t s , but they were ever a l e r t

to keep a l i v e the peace movement even when the i r Northern

coher t s were waning* Without a doubt the Union o f f i c i a l s

and c i t i z e n s were well aware of t h e a c t i v i t i e s tha t were

being i n s t i g a t e d by Confederates in Canada and they were

anxious tha t the Canadians con t ro l the ac t ions of the

" i n s u r g e n t s . "

Whether or no t , then , the Confederate a c t i v i t i e s in

Canada can be measured in terms of success o r f a i l u r e , they

can be measured i n terms of the e f f ec t they had on Canadian-

American r e l a t i o n s . Even before t h e Confederate commission

a r r i v e d in Canada, the re was cons iderable t ens ion between

the Canad ian-Br i t i sh government and the United S t a t e s

105

government. As was menti6ned in the f i r s t chapter, i t was

p a r t i a l l y because of th i s tension that Jefferson Davis con­

sidered i t advantageous t o send Thompson and Clay to Canada

in the spring of l86i^.. As ear ly as May, I86I , the Br i t i sh

had recognized the Confederates as b e l l i g e r e n t s . With such

recogni t ion the Confederacy was in a posi t ion to e s t ab l i sh

at l e a s t semi-off ic ial contacts with neut ra l countries as

long as they did not violate in te rna t iona l neu t r a l i t y laws.

Such a s i t ua t i on was of course d is tas te fu l to the Union

which chose to consider the Southerners as insurgents . As

operations conducted from Canada became organized and

in t ens i f i ed under the leadership of the coranission, na tura l ly

the Union became more and more outspoken about them and about

the fac t that the Canadian government should control them.

With the exposure of each succeeding Confederate scheme

ins t iga ted from Canada Ihe Union protes ts became louder*

There was constant ta lk in the United States Congress of

revoking ex i s t ing Canadian-American t r e a t i e s and of passing

more s t r ingent laws t o safeguard the f r o n t i e r . Even with

such strong Union pressures , i t was often hard for the

Canadian o f f i c i a l s to take action against the Confederates,

since there was such a f ine l ine between the Confederate's

acting within the bounds of n e u t r a l i t y laws and the i r over­

stepping the bounds. When the commission f i r s t arr ived in

Canada and even up u n t i l Lincoln was re-e lec ted and the War

shif ted i n favor of the Union cause, the Canadian of f ic ia l s

106

seemed to turn a b l ind eye and deaf ear to Union th rea t s

which seemed at t i ne s strong enough to bring on a war* The

Canadian government even talked back when the Union ins is ted

that i t needed to increase border troops and war-vessels on

the Lakes a f t e r such f ron t i e r scares as the attempts to

capture the Michigan^ and the constant rumors that lake ports

were to be Invaded by troops being gathered in Canada. Al­

though the Canadian o f f i c i a l s pract iced extreme caution

when dealing with the S t . Albans' ra iders upon the i r escape

in to Canada from Vermont, they protested vigorously the

Federal t roops ' coming into neut ra l t e r r i t o ry to apprehend

the ra iders* The Canadian o f f i c i a l s co-operated with the

Union o f f i c i a l s by holding the ra iders apprehended for

ex t r ad i t i on hear ings, but they were not wi l l ing for them

to be taken back to the Union without a hearing* Although

Canadian o f f i c i a l s , for the most pa r t , co-operated with the

Union, i t was qui te evident that the majority of Canadian

people, some of the o f f i c i a l s , and most of the Canadian

newspapers were more sympathetic toward the Confederate

cause than toward the Union cause* When the t ide was

turning in favor of the Union and the Peace Democrats were

defeated at the p o l l s , there was an evident sh i f t in Bri t ish-

Canadian pol icy, which became more s tr ingent in i t s dealings

with the Confederates* The B r i t i s h were not wi l l ing to

^^Kinchen, "St . Albans Raiders ," p* kl•

107

involve themselves to such an extent that they would find

themselves at war with the Union as soon as it had finished

with its affairs in the South. On February 13, 1865, Lord

Russell in very strong terms informed the Confederates

representing their government in England that the activities

being conducted from Canada were a violation of British

neutrality and were certain "to involve England in a war

in which she had no intentions to take part*" By accepting

the responsibility for such acts as the seizure of the

Philo Parsons and the attempted capture of the Michigan,

and'the raid into Vermont, and claiming them to be

belligerent operations, he stated that the "so-called Con­

federate States showed a gross disregard of her Majesty's

character as a neutral power, and the desire to involve her

Majesty in hostilities with a coterminous power with i^ich

Great Briatin is at peace*" He ended his communication with

the following statement r "I trust you will feel yourselves

authorized to promise that such practices shall cease, and

shall be entirely abandoned for the future*" Although

Benjamin refused to recognize official receipt of the

communication, it was shortly thereafter that Thompson was

recalled from Canada and the operations from that area were

terminated. Although trials continued in Canada after the

War, interest in them subsided and eventually all of the

Callahan, Diplomatic History, p. 238*

108

"be l l i ge ren t s " in custody were re leased . Some of the Con­

federates remained i n Canada as permanent r e s iden t s ; some

remained temporarily in the capacity of students as was true

of Hines; some went abroad^ some, i f there was no price on

t h e i r heads, returned to t h e i r homes in the South.*

Even though the Confederate a c t i v i t i e s in Canada

had terminated, i l l - w i l l exis ted in Canada and in the United

States for years to come. In 1866, the Reciprocity Treaty

which had been such a boon to Canada was terminated. From

1866 through the l870's an organization Imown as the Fenian

Brotherhood and composed primarily of I r i s h immigrants,who

had l e f t I re land as a r esu l t of the famine of the l8i |0 's

and had s e t t l e d in the Northern United States along the

f r o n t i e r , used the wartime sympathy of Br i ta in for the

Confederacy and the r a id s from Canada during the War as

one of t h e i r excuses to r a i d the Canadian v i l lages and

countryside along the border . The Fenians bu i l t up a

natura l hatred toward the Br i t i sh and saw in these ra ids

and a proposed plan to subdue a l l of Canada and deliver i t

to the United Sta tes for annexation, a perfect opportunity

for revenge. Although the United States government

eventually subdued the Fenian r a i d e r s , the excuse for thei r

a c t i v i t i e s can be traced to Br i t i sh sympathy for the Con-

federates* Thus another area of f r i c t i on was bu i l t up

17 'Wrong, The Canadians, The Story of a People, pp *

31 .8, 365> 369-370. For an account of the Fenian raids and

109

Considering several angles , then, i t would be hard to

place a def ini te value on Confederate operations in Canada*

With a view of the overa l l war effor t of the Confederacy,

i t was but a small facet of the complete operation* Since

the complete operat ion was not successful, i t might be

log ica l to conclude that the Canadian operation was not

successful . Nonetheless, one must admit that as a resu l t

of the Confederate a c t i v i t i e s from Canada, def ini te effects

were f e l t by the United States and Canada for years to

come.

subsequent American and Canadian act ion see the account in the above book*

AFTERWORD

A b r i e f i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the subsequent l i v e s of Con­

f e d e r a t e s who se rved i n Canada d u r i n g the War r e v e a l e d t h a t

most of them e v e n t u a l l y made t h e i r way back t o the Uni ted

S t a t e s , p r i m a r i l y t o t h e South , where t h e y became a c t i v e and

r e p u t a b l e c i t i z e n s . S h o r t l y a f t e r t h e War some of them r e ­

mained i n Canada o r went abroad u n t i l b a r r i e r s were removed

which p r e v e n t e d them from r e t u r n i n g home* By 1866 most of

t he men, even Cas t leman and Hines , had found i t p o s s i b l e to

r e t u r n home; however . P r e s i d e n t J o h n s o n ' s Amnesty Act of

1865 b a r r e d from e n t r y such Confedera tes as t he S t . Albans

R a i d e r s and Thonpson. By the t ime of t h e Amnesty Act of

IB72 most of t he Confede ra t e s who wished t o r e t u r n and who

could be t r a c e d , were back i n the Uni ted States*. The

F o u r t e e n t h Amendment had b a r r e d any of those who had prev ious­

l y h e l d n a t i o n a l o r s t a t e o f f i c e s frcm again assuming such

o f f i c e s . Such a s t i p u l a t i o n a f f e c t e d only a few of the men -•

c e r t a i n l y Thompson and Clay - - b u t these men were now ready

t o r e t i r e from a c t i v e p o l i t i c a l l i f e * Most of the Con­

f e d e r a t e s who had been in Canada were no t a f f e c t e d by the

•^-Unfortunately on ly b r i e f and incomple te a l l u s i o n s were made t o some of the men, a f a c t o r which made i t im­p o s s i b l e t o p r e s e n t a complete account of each man ' s sub ­sequen t c a r e e r . The f o l l o w i n g s o u r c e s were of g r e a t v a l u e i n p r e p a r i n g t h i s Afterwordr Headley, Confedera te O p e r a t i o n s , p p . I|.60-Ii-62; Horan ,Confedera te Ao;ent, p p . 260-272 , 2b5-292; Kinchen , " S t . Albans R a i d e r s , " p p 7 1 3 1 - 1 6 0 ; Cas t leman, Act ive S e r v i c e , p p . 196-200* " 110

« *^Jtmt'' V- - T ^ ^ — ^ i i i i ' " ——... >

111

s t i p u l a t i o n in t he amendment, for they had been too young

t o hold of f ices of any s o r t before the War* Many of them

were j u s t reaching manhood* They had many years ahead of

them in which they could develop prominance* Some became

lawyers , a c a r ee r which proved to be a gateway in a few

ins t ances t o p o l i t i c a l off ices* Others became prosperous

b u s i n e s s men* P r a c t i c a l l y a l l of the men who could be t raced

seemed t o prosper i n t h e i r chosen occupat ions.

Commissioner Thompson, when he was able to r e t u r n from

e x i l e , s e t t l e d i n Memphis, Tennessee, and l a t e r went back to

h i s home town, Oxford, Miss i ss ipp i* He r e t i r e d from publ ic

l i f e and spent h i s l a s t years in comfort* Although he had

l o s t much of h i s proper ty as a r e s u l t of the War, he s t i l l

was wealthy enough to l i v e a l i f e of l e i s u r e * His fe l low-

c i t i z e n s of h i s home s t a t e , Mi s s i s s i pp i , and of hi s adopted

s t a t e , Tennessee, had the h ighes t esteem for him* He r e ­

mained one of J e f f e r son Dav is ' s c l o s e s t personal f r iends and

v i s i t e d him o f t e n .

Commissioner Clay, who had re turned t o the South in

mid-December, l861|., had been a r r e s t e d shor t ly a f t e r t h e War,

even though he had bragged to the Canadian group t h a t the

Union o f f i c e r s would not harm a " s i ck old man." I t was

t r u e t h a t during h i s imprisonment he was often i n the

h o s p i t a l . After h i s r e l ea se from F o r t r e s s Monroe, he r e ­

turned to h i s na t ive H u n t s v i l l e , Alabama, t o die*

The t h i r d commissioner, Holcombe, had l e f t Canada on

112

a mission to England during the late summer of I86I4,.

According to Horan, he never reached England;: instead he 2

made h i s way to Richmond* What happened to him a f t e r he

a r r i v e d there was not recorded in the ava i l ab le sources*

W. W. Cleary, s e c r e t a r y to the Confederate commission

i n Canada, had been one of the few detained i n Toronto on

charges of breaking n e u t r a l i t y laws . After the War when

i n t e r e s t in the Confederate a c t i v i t i e s in Canada subsided,

he was r e l e a s e d from his bond* After the P r e s i d e n t ' s p r o ­

clamation of genera l amnesty, he s e t t l e d in Covington,

Kentucky, where he became an eminent corpora t ion lawyer*

He died i n l 8 9 7 .

Un t i l l a t e May of I866, Captain Thomas H* Hines

remained in Toronto, where he was joined by his wife,

Nancy. He en tered Toronto Univers i ty to study French and

l i t e r a t u r e and began read ing law a t n igh t with J u s t i c e

B u l l i t t , the prominent Indiana Copperhead who was i n e x i l e

i n Canada. Although he was e l i g i b l e to r e - e n t e r the Union

under the provis ions of Pres iden t Johnson's Amnesty Act of

May 29, 1865, he was warned by "a f r i end" tha t he would be

a r r e s t e d should he at tempt t o r e t u r n to Kentucky a t t h a t

time* As a r e s u l t he did not r e t u r n u n t i l I866* By tha t

time he had completed h i s s tudy of law, and s h o r t l y a f t e r

h i s r e t u r n to Kentucky he passed the s t a t e b a r . In the

2H, oran . Confederate Ap;ent, pp . 110-112*

113

ensuing years Hines became a prominent lawyer* He became

Chief J u s t i c e of Kentucky and in I890-I891 represented the

c a p i t a l in t he C o n s t i t u t i o n a l Convention. He died in I897,

having achieved p r a i s e as one of the foremost lawyers of

h i s s t a t e .

Hines ' second in command, John B. Castleman, v*io had

been the f i r s t to be a r r e s t e d as a r e s u l t of ths attempt to

form a Northwest Confederacy i n August of I86I4., was paroled

from Federa l p r i son in 1865 wi th the s t i p u l a t i o n t ha t he go

i n t o ex i l e* Since h is h e a l t h was poor for a t ime, he

remained wi th Hines i n Toronto where he s tudied medicine at

the U n i v e r s i t y . As soon as he was well enough to t r a v e l , he

jo ined Thompson in P a r i s , where he continued h i s fetudy of

medicine and wi th Thompson enjoyed a tour of Great Br i t a in*

Upon r e c e i v i n g word in June of I866 tha t i t was poss ib le for

him to come home, he r e tu rned to Kentucky* He gave up h i s

idea of pursuing a medical ca ree r and in t e r rup ted the

w r i t i n g of h i s memoirs t o command the Louisv i l le Legion

during the Spanish-American War. After a tour of duty in

Puerto Rico, where he was commended fo r his bravery , he was

commissioned a b r i g a d i e r - g e n e r a l by President McKinley* He

r e t u r n e d to Kentucky t o serve as an ad ju tan t -genera l of the

s t a t e m i l i t i a , i n which capac i ty he d i s t ingu ished himself in

1900 by prevent ing a storming of a r s e n a l s and s t a t e

b u i l d i n g s a f t e r the a s s a s s i n a t i o n of Governor Goebel. He

l a t e r became chairman of the L o u i s v i l l e Beard of Parks and

lUl

received praise for his work in developing the municipal

Cherokee Park. Castleman was alwo a member of the firm of

Barbee and Castleman, which represented the Royal Insurance

Company of Liverpool. Too, he left invaluable records of

the operations fran Canada in his memoirs, which were pub­

lished in 1917 under the title Active Service. He also

wrote articles pertaining to the Canadian enterprises* The

best known was one published in the Southern Bivouac in I886.

Colonel Robert M. Martin, who had been in charge of the

abortive attempt to burn New York City settled in Evansville,

Indiana,where he became a tobacco wholesaler. In I87I; he

became manager of tobacco inspections for David Dowes

Company of New York City. In I887 he was in Louisville,

where he continued to deal in tobacco. In the winter of

1900 an old lung injury reopened which nearly caused his

immediate death* He went to New York for treatment only to

return to Louisville in M§p?ch, where he saw his faithful

lieutenant, John W. Headley, for the last time. Evidently

he had returned to New York for further treatment shortly

after this meeting, because he died in Brooklyn in April,

1900, and was buried there.

John W. Headley, Martin's most trusted aide, also

engaged in the tobacco business for a time after the War.

He lived in Evansville, Indiana, for sixteen years and then

moved back to his home state of Kentucky \^ere he settled at

Louisville. In I89I he was elected Secretary of State, an

115

of f i ce which he held u n t i l I896* He l a t e r l e f t Kentucky^^j

His l i f e a f t e r t h a t and the date of h i s death were not

known. He l e f t va luab le records of the a c t i v i t i e s of the

Confederates i n Canada i n a book e n t i t l e d Confederate

Operations in Canada and New York, which was published in

1906*

Lieu tenant Bennett H. Young, the leader of the S t .

Albans Raid, along wi th Cleary, remained under bond in

Toronto charged with v i o l a t i o n s of the n e u t r a l i t y laws,

u n t i l a f t e r the War* By the f a l l of 1865 he was r e l eased

from h i s bond but was not e l i g i b l e under Johnson 's amnesty

to r e t u r n to the United S ta t e s* He and h i s new wife, whom

he kad marr ied a t Niagara a f t e r she had journeyed fran

Kentucky, departed fo r the B r i t i s h I s l e s . There he at tended

Queen's Un ive r s i ty a t B e l f a s t , where he s tudied English and

i n t e r n a t i o n a l law. For h i s accomplishments at Queen's he

rece ived f i r s t honors in the f i e l d of English common law*

In the mid-summer of I866 he received word tha t he was free

to r e t u r n home. He se t up a law p r a c t i c e a t Lou i sv i l l e and

wi th in a few years was recognized as a leading a t t o r n e y ,

T^ose s p e c i a l t y was r a i l r o a d s and r ece ive r sh ips* In I883

he became p res iden t of the Monon Route, a r a i l r o a d tha t ran

between l o u i s v i l l e and Chicago* Later he became pres ident

of the Lou i sv i l l e and Southern Rai l road and of the Kentucky

and Indiana Bridge Company. In I89O and 1691 he was

a de lega te a t the C o n s t i t u t i o n a l , Convention where

he renewed h i s acquaintance with Hines . In the l a t e

116

nineties he reopened his law offices in Louisville and con­

tinued private practice* As an orator he had developed quite

a reputation which led to his being the principal speaker

representing the South at the historic gathering of Union

and Confederate soldiers at Gettysburg in 1913• At about

this time, too, he became the commander of the United

Confederate Veterans. As side interests Young traveled to

different parts of the state in search of prehistoric

relics and wrote several books of historic value. As strange

as it may seem, however, he never wrote an account of his

daring raid into Vermont. Young lived a long and fruitful

life, dying in February, 1919, in his seventy-seventh year.

George N. Sanders, who had taken it upon himself to

advise Clay and Holcombe, was last known to participate in

public affairs in the election of l872 when his name was

once again linked with Horace Greeley, who had bolted his

party and was running for the presidency. As a result of his

participation in the peace conferences of l86I|., Greeley

was being accused of dealing with traitors. It was

especially intimated that Sanders enjoyed his confidence.

Of this Sanders was reported to have said, "The charge

that I have any influence with 14r. Greeley is without

foundation. The meeting with Mr. Clay, Mr. Thompson, my­

self and Mr. Greeley was a proper attempt to bring about

a peaceful end to a horrible war." Greeley in reference to

the peace meeting merely commented, "I did nothing then that

117

I am ashamed of now."- At the time of the election there

were veiled hints that Sanders had "powerful connections"

in Washington. Nonetheless, the man kept silent and after

that was not to receive additional public notoriety.

What was known of the subsequent careers of sorre of

the other Confederates who operated from Canada might be

briefly mentioned. Bennett G. Burley, who was nearly extra­

dited to the United States as a result of his activities

on the Lakes, made his way back to his native Glasgow,

Scotland, where he became a member of the British

Parliament. He was serving in this capacity during the

late l880's when Young saw him while visiting England.

Lieutenant George B. Eastin, who had served under

Hines in Chicago, settled in Louisville, where during a

part of his life he served as judge of the Court of

Appeals of Kentucky.

Lieutenant James T. Harrington, who had served with

Martin and Headley in New York, was an attorney for the

Southern Pacific Railroad, with his home in Los Angeles.

Lieutenant John T. Ashbrook, viho had luckily escaped

being apprehended by Union detectives when Kennedy was

taken into custody, settled in his native state of Kentucky

where he followed a business career, principally insurance,

and for many years he was adjuster of the Underwriters'

3 -'Horan, Confederate A^ent, p* 289*

118

Association for Kentucky and Tennessee.

Nothing was recorded of the subsequent lives of any

of the St. Albans Raiders except for Swager, who was

supposedly killed in Paris at the time of the German se ige

of that city in I871* In the words of Young, the raiders

had "scattered to the four winds of the earth."

None of the available sources pertaining to the

Canadian enterprise recorded any knowledge of viiat happened

to Captain Charles H. Cole, who had been arrested just

before his plans materialized to seize the Michigan, except

that he was released February 10, I866.

The succeeding lives of auch traitors as Godfrey J.

Hyams, who was close enough to the commission that he could

report fully upon their plans and actions, and J. T. Shanks,

who had been purposely allowed to escape frcxn Camp Douglas

so that he might report the plans of Hines and his men at

Chicago during the November elections, could not be traced

through any available source; however, one might rest assur­

ed that they did not dare show themselves too conspicuously

in the South for fear of their lives. Some of the young

men who gave away plans because of a loose tongue, loosened

primarily by alcohol or by money, no doubt, spent some

effort trying to reconcile themselves with their former

superiors. Such was the case with Lieutenant Bettersvo rth,

who had blurted out plans to Shanks that fateful November

night before the election when Federal troops closed in on

119

and arrested many of the Copperhead and Confederate leaders,

for he wrote Hines a letter imploring forgiveness for his

unwitting disclosure of plans because of drinking. Such

men as Marmaduke and Anderson, who turned state's witnesses

and testified against others to save their own necks,

seemed to have disappeared into a life of oblivion as far

as available records were concerned*

ljl*M>*MIM'|l<MJUlMlfcMiiM««MiMl>«*Mi Ml • I 11 taiumtmut*iitMmmmmi^ttmat*mmim imin i imiiiiinn • ! IHT t IHIIMM

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bovey, Wilfrid* "Confederate Agents in Canada during the American Civil War," The Canadian Historical Review, II, March, 1921* Pp. k^-W.

S Bowles, Edward A. A History of the St. Albans Raid. St*

Albans, I87O.

Callahan, James Morton. American Foreign Policy in Canadian Relations* New York, 1937.

• The Diplomatic History of the Southern Confederacy* Baltimore, 1901*

Castleman, John B. Active Service. Louisville, 1917*

Davis, Jefferson. The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government J Vol. II. Richjnond, lb 51.

Headley, John William. Confederate Operations in Canada and New York. New York and Washington, 1906.

Horan, James. Confederate Agents A Discovery in History. New York, 1951 1

Kinchen, Oscar A. The St. Albans Raiders^ Daring Adventurers of the Confederate Army. Manuscript prepared for pub­lic atIon7T^9FBT"

Nicolay, John G* and Hay, John* Abraham Lincoln, A History^ Vol. Vlir. New York, I892.

United States Government. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the V/ar of the Rebellion, 30 vols* Washington, D.C., 1592-1922.

. War of the Rebellion — Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 vols. Washington, D.C», 1880-1901*

Wrong, George M* The Canadians, The Story of A People* New York, 191+2': ^^—

120