The Great North Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details
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I. Windslow Ayer >> The Great North Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details
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Thus, the liveliest form of ancient or modern civilization, in a republic
just rising to the glories of empire, was to be sacrificed to the mad
notion of petty "State Sovereignty," by a sworn band of desperadoes. How
sad when other generations would ask, where is the Federal Government, to
be answered only by poets, who would sing her elegy, as in the past they
have sang that of the lamented Hellas:
"Ask the Paynim slave,
Who treads all tearless on her hallowed grave;
Invoke the spirits of the past, and shed
The voice of your strong bidding on the dead!
Lo! from a thousand crumbling tombs they rise--
The great of old, the powerful and the wise!
And a sad tale which none but they can tell,
Falls on the mournful silence like a knell.
Then mark yon lonely pilgrim bend and weep
Above the mound where genius lies in sleep.
And is this all? Alas! we turn in vain,
And, turning, meet the self-same waste again--
The same drear wilderness of stern decay;
Its former pride, the phantom of a day;
A song of summer-birds within a bower;
A dream of beauty traced upon a flower;
A lute whose master-chord has ceased to sound;
A morning-star struck darkling to the ground."
The thought of the miserable commentary stirs the ire of the patriot and
nerves his arm to daring deeds, in the holy cause of liberty, the
constitution, and his country.
Skulk back into your dark dens of iniquity, you Clement L. Vallandigham,
and you James A. McMaster, and you S. Corning Judd, and you Amos Green,
and you P.C. Wright, (in Fort Lafayette where you ought to be,) before the
wrath of honest people falls upon your wicked heads! Each of you, with the
exception of _you_, Wright, being too infamous for that, even, have been
before the Commission at Cincinnati, and stand before an outraged people
condemned out of your own lips! Dare insult the light of day with your
hideous faces, and be dashed in pieces on the rocks of public scorn!
But to return to our text, the Sons of Liberty, we find that undaunted
organization in full blast from the time of its official inception in New
York up to the Monday morning of the arrests on the 7th of November last.
It is now proposed to show, by an allusion to certain prominent facts
occurring during the summer of '64, that the so-called Democratic party
was the mainspring to the great conspiracy that has been attempted in the
North with so much audacity that many men of the best judgment can
scarcely believe it to be a reality. In this we do not wish to be
understood that all men who have heretofore voted the "unterrified"
ticket, have knowingly and willingly given aid and comfort to the
treasonable plans and purposes of their leaders, for our personal
acquaintance among that class of anti-administration men, is sufficient to
enable us to say, with confidence, that many of them are as loyal at heart
as any man who ever breathed the air of an American freeman.
But we mean this, and proclaim the fact in the face of every foe, that
upon the death of that lamented statesman and patriot, Stephen A. Douglas,
the Woods and McMasters of New York, the Seymours of Connecticut, the
Vallandighams and Pendletons of Ohio, the Voorhees and Dodds of Indiana,
the Judds and Greens of Illinois, and others of like ilk in other States,
obtained the chieftainship of the party and inveigled its too pliable
ranks into the prostituting embrace of this foul conspiracy, to overthrow
the government and crown with success the cause of the confederate arms.
It must be readily seen by every honest man of ordinary intelligence, that
such an affair could never have gained a foothold among our people under a
truly loyal condition of the opposing party. The truthfulness of this
assertion is so very forcible to the candid reader, that illustration or
argument in support of it would be superfluous. However, occasional
incidents will serve better to connect popular leaders with the subject of
these sketches, and call to the minds of participants practical facts.
Brig. Gen. Charles Walsh, some time during the winter of '64 and '65,
received his quantum of a fund, of which we shall hereafter speak, to
purchase arms to be distributed in the 1st Congressional district of
Illinois, comprising the county of Cook, and the scene of the late Chicago
conspiracy, the enactment of which was to be the signal for a general
conflagration of our cities, and thus fulfil the prophecy of Jeff. Davis,
that the grass would grow again, on the streets of the cities of the
North.
Do the leaders of the Invincible Club, among whom are W.C. Goudy, John
Garrick, Malcom McDonald, and Dr. Swayne Wickersham, remember that that
institution was to be the public mouth-piece of the Sons of Liberty, in an
address to the Democracy of Chicago, to have been issued during the
Presidential campaign?
Do they also remember the joint delegation of Invincibles and Sons of
Liberty that received Vallandigham and the Woods of New York, on their
arrival in Chicago to participate in, and mould the proceedings of the
National Democratic Convention?
Do they further remember the remarkable speech made in their Hall during
the Convention, by Capt. Rynders of New York, whom they hissed from the
platform for his bold and fearless expression of loyal sentiments?
Do they remember the motto, "Never worship the setting sun," which
appeared on transparencies, and frequently fell from their own lips, and
was meant as a hit upon those who were supposed to have allied themselves
with treason, because of their belief in its eventual success?
Do they remember how it was proposed that Charles Walsh, of the Sons of
Liberty, was to negotiate a purchase of the Chicago _Post_, and convert it
to the same villainous purpose of its contemporary, the _Times_?
Have they forgotten the fifty or sixty thousand dollars raised by
subscription to the books of the Club, nominally to be used for procession
and illuminating purposes, but which was used for the purchase of arms and
the importation of butternuts, to engage in the attack upon Camp Douglas?
Have they forgotten that large sums of this money was obtained under false
pretences--under pretences that it was to be used for ordinary campaign
purposes?
Have they forgotten that through their instrumentality the McClellan
Escorts, then organized in every ward, were officered by Sons of Liberty?
Have they forgotten the meeting of Invincible Club members and Sons of
Liberty in the sanctum sanctorum of the Chicago _Times_, where the
question of punishing Col. R.M. Hough and Mr. Eddy, in redress of personal
injuries alleged to have been inflicted upon Wilbur F. Story, was gravely
discussed by B.G. Caulfield, O.J. Rose, Alderman Barrett, S. Remington and
others, and where also, large numbers of muskets and smaller arms were
exhibited?
And lastly, have they forgotten that the Sons of Liberty, upon a certain
occasion well known to every Copperhead member of the last Common Council
of the city of Chicago, held themselves in readiness till after midnight,
expecting to be called to the assistance of that, at that time,
treasonable body?
None know the significance of these questions better than the persons
above mentioned, and _others who were on hand about those times_. The
merchants of South Water street in Chicago can now, perhaps, explain why
they were called upon to subscribe so heavily to the books of the
Invincible Club, and the writer would suggest the propriety of these
merchants compelling those who solicited these subscriptions, to deliver
up the arms so purchased, or refund the money to its rightful owners.
It is pretty well understood, we believe, that the Bridgeport Irish, vote
the "_straight ticket_." It is said, also, that James Geary, a Son of
Liberty and "old clothes man" on the corner of Wells and Madison streets,
could "influence hundreds of them by the wave of his hand." Now this "old
clothes man" was empowered to furnish food, raiment and shelter to all
escaped rebel prisoners, and charge the same to the Sons of Liberty,
_alias_ the Invincible Club, which, it is thought, _sometimes paid such
bills_ out of South Water Street money _subscribed for processions and
illuminations_. These facts are the keys to the revenue plan of the Sons
of Liberty.
The complicity of the "_straight ticket_" voters in this scheme is further
shown by the character of their State ticket, headed by Robinson for
Governor, Judd for Lieut. Governor, and Hise of La Salle for Auditor, each
Sons of Liberty, and Judd the Grand Commander of the State. If, as it
would be made to appear, there was no complicity between the Democracy and
the Confederate agents, why did Vallandigham, the Supreme Commander of an
Order having its inception in Richmond, address the people from every
stump in Illinois? If there was no complicity, why did Vallandigham, on
his return from exile, in his official capacity, with his staff around
him, defy the United States government that had justly banished him--with
80,000 Ohioans at his command?
If no complicity, why did all the rebels and confederate agents in Canada
come to the Chicago Convention, and why were they here again at the
November election? Copperheads of Chicago and elsewhere, answer these
questions!
CHAP.V.
INSIDE VIEW OF A LODGE OF THE SONS OF LIBERTY IN CHICAGO--OPEN EXPRESSIONS
OF TREASON--SIGNS OF THE TIMES--WAITING FOR REBEL VICTORIES--THE GREAT
PEORIA PEACE MEETING--WHISKEY, TREASON AND GUNPOWDER.
Prior to July 1864, the information of the public or the authorities, in
respect to the aims, intents and objects of the organized bands of home
traitors, was very meagre and indefinite, for it was no easy task for
detectives or loyal citizens to enter the portals of the Temples. True,
enough had transpired at the investigations, and before military
commissions in different sections of the country, to awaken a painful
interest and unceasing vigilance on the part of loyal men. So well were
these organizations guarded, that vigilance committees of their members
were appointed with imperative instructions to report the names of all
civic officers and detectives in the employment of the United States and
Provost Marshals, and all persons, by whomsoever employed, who should
attempt to obtain the secrets of the Order. So complete was the
organization, that lists of names were reported and read at the weekly
meetings, and the following day the names and descriptions of such
officers were thoroughly circulated and reported to the brethren in other
cities and towns, and as well might a belled cat hope to invade the
precincts of rats and attain success, as for such a "spotted" individual
to gain access to the Temples of American Knights and Sons of Liberty. Not
a change was made on the police, not an increase or decrease of Provost
guards, not a change of even the location of artillery in Camp Douglas, no
change, however minute of interest to the rebels, was made but that it was
reported and discussed within these nests and dens of treason.
It was attempted on several occasions by parties of loyal men, to ferret
out and secure the secrets of the Order, but as well might an attempt have
been made to possess the secrets of the Council of Ten, by the officers of
the governments of Europe; it was almost impossible, and yet the
developments upon the recent trials show conclusively, that had the task
not been effected, the most terrible results would have ensued. With the
desire to aid the Government to the extent of individual ability, it was
not strange that when opportunity occurred, whereby all might be known,
and that knowledge applied to the benefit of our bleeding country, that
any loyal man would have availed himself of it, at any hazard. The writer
found such opportunity, and waiving all personal considerations, undertook
the task, trusting in God for success, and conscious that all good men
would approve the motive, and that if for a time, reproach and calumny
should cloud his reputation, or if perchance the assassin's hand should
execute the sworn purpose of the Order, as the penalty for surrendering
them to the hands of our Government, the time would surely come when the
motives and the acts would find that approval in the hearts of all honest
men, as it did in his own. Confiding the information accidentally obtained
to W.H. Rand, Esq., of Chicago, a gentleman whose patriotism and whose
reputation needs no encomiums, he immediately advised the expediency of
conference with the State Executive, and to the honor of Governor Richard
Yates, it should be said, he fully realized the importance of acquiring
reliable information of the plots of the secret ally of Jeff. Davis. By
Governor Yates an introduction was given to Brig.-Gen. Paine, then in
command of the department, and again full and unqualified approval of the
course thus far taken, was expressed, with the urgent request to follow up
every avenue of information in this direction. Gen. Paine issued an
introduction to Col. B.J. Sweet, whom he declared to be a "model man and a
model officer in every respect," and in whom all confidence in so
commendable a cause might be reposed. How nobly, how wisely and how well
that gallant officer discharged his trust, all who have observed his
course will concede, and that man whose heroism at the memorable battle of
Perryville, and on other battle fields, will ever be held in grateful
remembrance by his countrymen, has added new lustre to his name, and the
hearty benedictions which will ever be invoked for the defender of
Chicago--the noble Col. Sweet--attest the satisfaction and joy of the
people, to know that his services in this most difficult and hazardous
undertaking are appreciated by the General Government, and the star upon
his shoulder will glitter brighter as time wears on, and Copperheads live
only in history, an evidence of how low men may sink in the scale of
morality, and a warning to all future time. For the writer to have
hesitated in a course of duty so plain, and yet so distasteful would have
been criminal, cowardly, and unworthy of an American citizen. The
advantage gained was followed up unremittingly, by day and by night, for
many weary months, regardless of all professional duties and personal
considerations. It was at the outset found highly necessary, if not
indispensable, to have the concurrence of one good, loyal man of marked
qualification--one who was discreet, who had experience upon police
duties, who was prompt, energetic, persevering, patient, fearless, and
withal a strictly honest man, a citizen whose reputation was above
reproach; that man was found; he was Robert Alexander. After brief
consideration, Mr. Alexander gave to the writer his hearty and earnest
concurrence. Nothing was left undone by him that could further the
hazardous undertaking, and personal gratitude for his ready acquiescence,
which we tender to him, will meet with a ready response in the hearts of
all good citizens. It is now Thursday evening in July 1864. We will now
ask the reader to go again with us up those long, tedious flights of
stairs to the outer rooms of the "temple" of the Sons of Liberty in
Chicago. We left the room before with the remembrance of only a hole six
inches in diameter for a full sized Copperhead to crawl through, but we
shall have better success this time. Advancing to the aforesaid door, and
giving three distinct raps, the slide, which we find covers the hole from
the inside, is moved up, and a live, full-grown Copperhead peers through
the orifice. "We whisper the word "Peace," or "Peoria," or whatever the
monthly pass-word is, and the door is open, and we find ourselves within
the vestibule of the temple, surrounded by a little group going through
the preliminary exercises of initiation. We see the candidate and
sponsors, with hands uplifted, and listen to the very poor reading of an
officer, from the ritual, and giving the new comer his first dose of
States' sovereignty and secession. This is so mystified and clouded with
high-sounding words that the poor devil nods at every time the reader
stops for breath, or to expectorate tobacco juice, and the ceremony is
concluded, and the candidate, respectable for the good clothes which he
wears this night as a rarity, follows his conductor to another door, where
he hopes for admission, the only impression on the candidate being, that
his right arm is weary from being elevated so long, and that he is coming
rapidly into good fellowship with men of high judicial standing, who
propose to give Abolitionists and Lincoln particular "hell under the shirt
tail." Again they knock and are challenged by an inside guardian, who
lectures the newly fledged Son, who having nodded sufficiently, is
conducted to the Ancient Brother in the West, so that the _Son_, reversing
the order of nature, begins rising in the West. The "Ancient Brother" is a
better reader, for here we find _brains_ for the first time, as it is the
leaders, as we have already said, who do all the thinking, unless,
perchance, the simple wretches find themselves in Camp Douglas, where they
begin thinking for themselves. While the Ancient Brother is reading to the
attentive comer, now happy in the thought that he has taken himself in out
of the _draft_, let us survey the sanctum sanctorum; but first let us
advance to the centre of the hall, where we find a piece of dirty oil
cloth the size of a door mat, and stepping upon this, with body erect and
turning our back upon the Ancient Brother, we find ourselves facing the
Grand Seignior, who, on our first introduction, is Judge Morris; we
salute, which we do by applying the palm of our right hand to the lips,
then turning the hand to his seigniorship and bringing our left hand
across the breast, which salutation being returned by the Grand Seignior,
who sits upon a raised platform and wields a gavel, we take seats wherever
our sense of cleanliness will permit, and where we hope there may be no
traveling minute messengers conveying ideas from one man's head to
another. On the north side of the room is another platform and desk, where
a guardian sits and addresses the candidate, who is supposed to lose his
way and to be set right by this guardian, and even if the candidate is
thoroughly sober he may be excused for losing his way, for it is a matter
of much doubt whether he was ever in such a labarynth of words as he has
just heard from the Ancient Brother, who, having given the man some pretty
strong obligations, to endorse and support the policy of Jeff. Davis,
together with an intimation that if he ever exposes any of the secrets, he
may expect to suffer all sorts of penalties, and told him to fancy he had
just received an acorn, the emblem of the order--he now sits down quietly
in the pleasant consciousness that "we have got one more good voter on our
side." The guardian of the North having put the new _Son_ on his way, he
appears in the East, reflecting his effulgence all around. The Grand
Seignior now rises from his seat, drops his gavel and explains the
mysteries of the initiation, giving him another dose of secession, about
as much as the poor fellow can carry; tells him how to challenge a
brother, concluding by giving the grand sign of distress, which is by
raising the right hand and calling out "_Ocoon_" three times, which he
says is made up of the name of _Calhoun_, whose name is mentioned with
great reverence. Thus closes the ceremony of initiation. "Considerations
for the good of the Order" being the next order of business, speeches are
made by some of the older heads to make the new one feel at home. This
"feast of reason and flow of soul" over, other business is transacted, and
the temple is closed, the Grand Seignor occasionally expressing a few
words of caution, saying that but few members must be present at the
meetings at _this_ hall, as the presence of too great numbers will excite
suspicion and lead to arrest. The next weekly meeting similar events
occur, but _new faces_ appear at every meeting, that is to say, the
greater number of members who were present last week are absent this week,
and others take their places. The Chicago _Times_, however, is well
represented at most of the important meetings. There were about two
thousand members of the Sons of Liberty in "good and regular standing" in
Chicago alone, at the time they were let down. By careful arrangements we
were able to have reports from the different temples throughout the most
important points in the Northwest, and carefully noted the chief business
and obtained the list of members, all of which has been as carefully
placed in the hands of the authorities of the War Department, and months
ago much of the information was imparted to Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, in
command of the Northern Department, who was pleased to express his highest
appreciation of the services rendered, and a desire to have the
investigation thoroughly made, that indisputable facts might be obtained,
that truth and justice might be promoted and the interest of the country
thereby protected. So thorough and searching has been the investigation
that _every_ man of any note in this order, in almost every locality where
this moral cancer has existed, is known and may consider himself in future
upon his good behavior. It was the policy of the Sons of Liberty, which
they observed as far as it was possible for them to do, to obtain
positions of trust in the army, upon the police, in the courts, in railway
offices and telegraph stations, in the office of Provost Marshals,
post-offices, departments of government, both local and general, indeed,
so completely did they carry out this plan, that they made their boasts
that they were represented upon all the railroads running out of Chicago,
and it was not an unusual thing for them to report matters of the various
departments just mentioned. One member of the Chicago Order, as appeared
in evidence before the military commission, traveled over the North
wherever he desired, on the pass of a Provost Marshal in Indiana, his
business being to aid in the organization of Temples in the different
sections of the West. So rapidly did they increase in numbers, that Judge
Morris estimated the number in Illinois alone at 80,000 members.
It was a rule of the organization, that its members should all be well
armed and skilled in the use of weapons. The rapidity of increase in
numbers, rendered them conscious of their strength, and they became openly
defiant and talked treason upon the corners of our streets, and wherever
little groups of people assembled. The mob spirit was excited, and all
were ready for mischief whenever opportunity offered; and while all were
bound to wait submissively till their leaders should give the signal for
revolution, still many were restless and impatient for the hour to come,
and hoped that they would not long have to wait. The suppression of the
Chicago _Times_ was an auspicious moment for them, and they made capital
of it. They were never tired of talking of Vallandigham, and while that
worthy staid in Canada he was very serviceable to the Order, as John
Rogers was of more service to the church dead than while living.
Vallandigham made an excellent martyr and an accomplished exile, but as an
active member at home, old Doolittle, or Charles W. Patten, or James A.
Wilkinson, or J.L. Rock, or Obadiah Jackson, Jr., Esq., or even Mrs.
Morris herself, was worth two just like him. Why he could not have staid
in Canada for the good of the cause, we cannot understand. What a Mecca
was Windsor, and how great was Mahomet, but alas, when the great, the Hon.
Clement Vallandigham relapsed into the three-cent fourth-class lawyer, in
the little one horse city of Dayton, "what a fall was there my
countrymen." No more pilgrimages, no more dinners with the great exile, no
more texts of "arbitrary arrests" to preach from, that could draw as Val
used to draw.
The reception of the news of a victory by the rebels, was always an
occasion of rejoicing among the Sons and Knights, and in the exuberance of
their joy they shouted their treason in all sorts of places, and at all
seasons. They assumed to be peace men, and yet were always ready for a
quarrel. It became evident to all who kept posted in politics, that there
would be a wide division between the different wings of the Democracy at
the coming National Convention, and a most determined effort was to be
made by the Peace faction, to control the action of the Convention, and
long before the assembling of that body, newspaper strife had commenced
between them, and it was hoped, and so it proved, that like the Kilkenny
cats, they devoured each other. With Peace in their mouths and contention
in their hearts, the "unterrified" resolved upon a great meeting, to be
held in Peoria. It was a "big thing." The Chicago delegation took for the
calumet of peace several boxes of fire-arms, so that if opportunity
offered they might conquer a peace. Whiskey and gunpowder were other
elements of that meeting, and as the escape of gas in petroleum wells, so
noisy for a time, finally subsides, so after the ebullition at Peoria,
Brig.-Gen. Walsh, and all the Chicago delegates, returned home, bringing
with them their fire arms, without breaking bulk, and these weapons were
carefully deposited, where they could instantly be obtained at the time of
the uprising.
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