The Great North Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details

I >> I. Windslow Ayer >> The Great North Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details

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The new programme having been adopted, all that was necessary was to fix
upon the day. The day must be one upon which more than the usual number of
visitors would be in the city, in order that their coming and staying
would not be noticed, and it seemed they selected the day of election, as
the one most suitable for their purposes; and if possible a day when the
military and civil authorities would be most likely to be caught off their
guard. For several days before the 8th of November last, their spies had
been coming into the city, in order to get suitable quarters for the men
when they arrived, and in parts of the city where they would be least
liable to suspicion. In the efforts to secure suitable boarding houses for
these incendiaries, various citizens of Chicago took an active part, and
even went to the depots to receive them, and escort them into the bosom of
the city they were so soon to attempt to destroy. It was not until the
Saturday just before the election, that Gen. Sweet had positive
information of the _rebels_ being in the city, and received full
information of the details of their plans, and began to take measures
quietly to capture them. This he did at once, and at the same time had
every preparation made to repel any attack upon the garrison of Camp
Douglas; and he succeeded admirably, following up his information with
such energy, that before daylight of the Monday morning following, he had
captured enough of the rebel leaders (and their friends in such connexion
as to leave no doubt of their guilt,) to make every disloyal man quake in
his boots. The captures of the military and police were not confined alone
to the conspirators, and in addition to them were captured immense
military stores of all kinds, boxes of guns already shotted, cart loads of
army pistols loaded and ready for the bloody work expected of them,
holsters, pistol belts, cartridges by the cart load, and enough munitions
of war to have started an arsenal of moderate size. These arms were not
taken from the rebels, but found in the houses of citizens of Chicago, who
can produce witnesses upon the stand (of pretended loyalty and standing,
some of them being office-holders under the Government,) to swear that
they themselves are, and have always been loyal and true to their
allegiance. In the house of Charles Walsh, most of these arms were taken,
and also there were captured two rebel soldiers, Captain George Cantrill
and Charles Travis Daniels, who were shortly after identified; and
Cantrill partly confessed his views, and his complicity with the
Copperheads. This man Cantrill had been one of those who had come to
Chicago during the Convention, for the same purpose, and averred that then
and at the election, the Copperheads had offered and held out to them
every inducement to get them here. That had it not been for them he would
never have come here. It may be well here to publish a little incident,
showing fully the kindred feelings existing between the conspirators and
the inmates of Camp Douglas. It was a well known fact, that there were
several thousand of John Morgan's desperadoes confined in this prison, and
the Copperhead conspirators, to show their refinement of feeling, their
accommodating dispositions, and their attention to the worst of these men,
had purchased for their use exclusively, the finest cavalry carbines then
made in the United States, and had them stored in the immediate
neighborhood of the prison, when upon being released they could at once
begin to revel in a carnival of blood. Happy, happy for the people of
Chicago, having passed through one of the most critical periods of their
existence, without knowing that they were threatened with any disaster,
ignorant that there was a mine beneath their feet, just ready to be sprung
at any moment, with their own fellow citizens pulling at the spring,
willing to involve them in general and complete ruin--willing to subject
them to the ravages of such bloodthirsty villains as the inmates of Camp
Douglas. The people of Chicago never can appreciate, to its fullest
extent, the danger through which they have passed, for several reasons.
First, because they were ignorant of it at the time, and the conspirators
had and have now at their command, a bitter partizan press in their
interests, and entirely subservient to their views, whose interests it is
to prevent these facts from becoming generally believed, and when they are
presented to the public with the naked truth, to hiss at and cry them down
as emanating from the brains of lunatics, or a conspiracy of detectives to
ruin the reputation of innocent and guiltless persons. Secondly, because
they never experienced the horrors which must necessarily have followed
had the conspirators been successful.

CHAP. XIII.

FIRST ATTEMPT OF THE REBELS TO CAPTURE UNITED STATES STEAMER MICHIGAN
CARRYING EIGHTEEN GUNS--MODUS OPERANDI--WHY THEY FAILED, &c., &c.--UNITED
STATES COMMERCE UPON THE LAKES TO BE DESTROYED--NORTHERN CITIES TO BE LAID
UNDER CONTRIBUTION, &c.

Canada, occupying the geographical position and belonging to another
nation as it does, has been ever since this war broke out, the rendezvous
of thousands upon thousands of the vagabond and criminal population of the
United States, together with the rebels and refugees, until its population
far exceeds what it had in 1860; almost every business occupation is
crowded to such an extent that it is almost impossible to obtain
employment of any kind, many persons being obliged to keep from starving
by begging, for their food, and the clothes they wear upon their backs.
Some of this refugee population have means, others are supplied by their
friends and families at home; but by far the greater number are without
any occupation or visible means of support, habitue of the gambling hells,
drinking saloons, &c., in favor of any crime or villainy to supply their
depleted purses, and furnish them with the means of living at ease and
idleness. Under such circumstances and among such a class of population,
is it anything strange, that the robbery of banks, the pillaging of the
inhabitants of the Northern border, that raids with all the necessary
plundering and so forth, found plenty of advocates and supporters, and
when the time arrived to carry them into execution, plenty of desperadoes,
fit tools for such infamous projects. The great difficulty in Canada was
not in getting enough of these men to participate in matters of this kind;
but to prevent too many of them from knowing of them, so that there would
be a smaller number among whom to divide the spoils and plunder thus
obtained, so that the chief difficulty lay in getting together just enough
of the most desperate characters to carry out an expedition. During the
Chicago Democratic Convention the efforts of the rebels were not confined
alone to Camp Douglas; but simultaneously with their efforts in Chicago,
they were to make an attempt to capture the United States Steamer
Michigan, carrying eighteen guns, stationed on Lake Erie, the steamer
permitted by the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, for
the better protection of rebel prisoners confined at Johnston's Island.

The prisoners of war at Chicago, Illinois, being released, and the great
conspiracy in the North once fairly inaugurated, the capture of the
steamer Michigan was to be one of the combined movements that were to
startle the country, and aid the conspiracy in overturning the authority
of the United States Government, With the "Michigan" in their hands, the
conspirators would have a powerful auxilliary in their pernicious designs
upon the country, and be able to render effective aid to the Southern
Rebellion; ruining the commercial status of the United States on the great
lakes, and effectually closing all the ports on their borders, and in
addition to this, their laying all the large towns and cities on the
northern portion under contributions, and exacting from them enormous sums
of money, through fear of bombardment. The plan of the conspirators to get
possession of the Michigan was by bribery and by surprise. Mr. Thompson,
in his efforts to seize the vessel, secured the services of a man named
Cole, of Sandusky City, who, whilom, had been a citizen of Virginia, but
who still retained his sympathies for the rebellion, and took an active
part in aiding it whenever he had an opportunity, and a woman, said to
have been his paramour, who carried dispatches backwards and forwards
between the parties. This man Cole seems to have been the most wiley
conspirator of them all, and played his infamous part of the plot with the
most adroit shrewdness; and the defeat of the whole scheme was not owing
to any blunder of his, but rather the blunder of those who employed and
furnished him with the means. Having been well supplied with money by Mr.
Thompson, and no limit put to his expenses, he began his work with a will.
He seems to have begun by getting generally well acquainted with the
officers of the vessel, by feasting them, and now and then lending them
money, or accommodating them in some other way, until he had won the
confidence of all those in command of the steamer, as well as those in
charge of Johnston's Island. After a time, he found out those who were
most vulnerable on the money question, and those whom he did not dare to
approach upon the subject. Of the latter class, there is one mentioned in
particular by the rebels, whose suspicions they did not care to arouse,
and which they made every attempt to lull. This was an officer named Eddy,
from Massachusetts. Of the former class, whom they bribed, the rebels
mentioned particularly the chief engineer, who, they said, had agreed, for
twenty thousand dollars in gold, to get the machinery out of order, and
otherwise aid in the vessel's capture, and one or two others.

[Illustration: BRIG. GEN. CHARLES WALSH,

A citizen of Chicago, he was at one time the Democratic candidate for
Sheriff of Cook County, in which is the city of Chicago, during the
earliest part of the war he was very active in helping to raise what was
called the Irish brigade. He afterwards became a bitter democratic
partizan and was connected with the Sons of Liberty. Just before and
during the Convention be received into his family several rebel soldiers
who were there during the day and night time, making cartridges for the
expected release of the rebel prisoners of war at Camp Douglas. He was
arrested in his own house on the morning of the 7th of November, as was
also his son, and two Rebel soldiers and taken to Camp Douglas. In his
house and on his premises were an immense numbers of guns of several kinds
and also immense military stores, consisting of powder, buckshot,
cartridges, with two or three cast braces of army revolvers, all these
guns and pistols were loaded and ready with the exception of being capped.
Charles Walsh is of Irish extraction and about forty years of age, and a
fine looking man. He is generous, impulsive, rather easily influenced,
agreeable in conversation, and except in the character he assumed as an
enemy to his country was possessed of qualities which would win for him
many friends. There are as bad men, in our opinion, as Mr. Charles Walsh,
to day at liberty and talking treason in our midst.]

Of the remainder of the officers of the Michigan, they thought their
well-known Democratic faith and sympathy with the rebellion, would prevent
them from seeing or knowing _too much_, until too late to avoid the
disaster. Of these last, the conspirators did not seem to entertain the
least fear, some of them being Southern men by birth, and at most, but
passive in their fidelity to the government. The men of the vessel who
were loyal, were also tampered with, and the rebels in Canada looked for
assistance from them, and claimed that some of their own men from Canada
had enlisted on board of her for the purpose of aiding to capture her. Of
these rebels, however, there were but few. As the writer has stated
before, the attempt on the steamer Michigan was to be simultaneous with
that at Chicago, Ill., and while the rebels and their friends were
assembling in Chicago, they were also gathering in Sandusky City, for the
capture of the Michigan. The exact number of conspirators in Sandusky, at
that time, is not known to the writer, nor the details of their plans; but
let it suffice to say, _that they were there, armed and ready_. When the
time of action arrived, however, the engineer and his accomplices were no
where to be found, and after waiting for nearly two days, the rebel
portion of the conspirators, with the exception of Capt. Beall, returned
to Canada. On their return, they said that the persons whom they had
bribed were afraid to toe the mark--that is, were afraid to carry out
their infamous and hazardous part of the contract. The rebels were in
great fear, lest something had happened that would put an end forever to
their hopes, in regard to the steamer, but in a few days after this, the
non-appearance of the engineer and friends, were duly explained, and the
alarm caused by it quieted, and another time set for the attempt; the
sequel will show how _much_ they intended, and how much they ventured to
effect their aims. It is a well known fact that the rebels while in
Sandusky city, were feasted and toasted in the houses of some of the
prominent citizens and business men, and encouraged in every way by them.
The day being set once more, preparations were again made to capture the
vessel, and this time occurred what was called the _Lake Erie Piracy_,
nearly everything connected with which was so disgraceful to the United
States service, that although the government hastened to remove all the
reprehensible officers, and retain those who deserved well of their
country, yet seems to have endeavored to keep some of the facts connected
with it, from being made public. About one week before the time set for
the second attempt arrived, Capt. Beall returned from Sandusky to Windsor,
Canada West, and announced that all was ready for the capture, and
immediately telegraphed to Jacob Thompson, who was then at the Queen's
Hotel, in Toronto, who at once answered that he would come to Windsor that
night, and desired not to be recognized. That evening he arrived at
Windsor, and without apparently being known got into a carriage waiting,
and was taken to the residence of a Col. Steele, about a mile below
Windsor, where he was expected. During this week all the men who were to
participate in the affair were notified, and this time the services of
some of the men who had been to Chicago during the Convention, were called
into requisition. The officers of the rebel army could be seen running
about, here and there, to the different boarding houses where the men were
stopping, carrying ominous looking carpet bags, distributing from them
pistols, ammunition and other things, deemed necessary for the
undertaking, which was to be made on the night of the following Monday.
Most active in these efforts to incite these men to deeds of desperation,
were Col. Steele and Jake Thompson--or when he used his assumed name, Col.
Carson. The plans of the pirates were as follows, and the writer gives
them just as he heard them from the lips of two of the rebel officers who
participated in the affair, commanding detachments on board of the "Philo
Parsons." Part of the men, amounting in all to about seventy-five, were to
go from Canada to Sandusky city by rail, another party were to cross the
river at Detroit early on Monday morning, and take passage on the steamer
"Philo Parsons" for Sandusky, another portion were to take passage on her
from Sandwich, Canada, about two miles below Detroit, and still another
party of them, consisting of about fifteen (with eight or ten citizens who
knew nothing of what was contemplated), on Sunday morning were to charter
a small steamer called the "Scotia," plying between Windsor and Detroit,
ostensibly for the purpose of taking a pleasure ride to Malden, Canada,
about twenty miles below Detroit, and near the entrance of the river into
the lake, when they were also on Monday to take passage for the same place
on the Parsons. At Kelley's Island, one of the points at which the boat
touched in her daily trips, they were to receive a messenger from Cole,
letting them know, that up to that time everything was going on smoothly
in Sandusky; upon receiving this information, all the different portions
of the gang were to unite and seize the steamer, before she reached the
next landing, at which she generally stopped. The engineers and pilots
were to be forced, by threats of instant death if they refused, to still
occupy their respective places; the passengers were to be put off at some
out of the way place, where it would be impossible for them to give any
information to the authorities, and after dark they were to run down into
Sandusky bay, where they would see certain signals, made by those
conspirators on the shore, when they would land, take on board all those
who had come by rail from Detroit, and some Copperheads from Cincinnati,
Ohio, and other places, and at once would immediately turn the prow of the
Parson for the steamer Michigan. Cole was to give a champagne supper on
board the Michigan that evening, to the officers, and was to be there
himself with a party of rebels, who had also become well acquainted with
the officers, and was invited at the request of Cole, to join in the
festivities of the occasion. It was intended for the Philo Parsons to
reach hailing distance of the Michigan about eleven or twelve o'clock that
night, in order that by this time as many of the crew as possible, through
the champagne, would be incapable of rendering any resistance, when the
Parsons was hailed by the watch on board the steamer, and Cole and his
associates were at once to take possession of a gun, which would sweep the
whole decks, to prevent that portion of the crew who were not rendered
incapable of it by drink, from attempting any effectual resistance to the
conspirators boarding her from the Parsons. Once in possession of this
vessel of war, the prisoners on the island were to be immediately
released, landed at Sandusky, when the Sons of Liberty, Illini and other
secret societies were to seize the opportunity of rising up, and asserting
their peculiar doctrines, under the protection of this powerful man of
war. The same course was to be pursued at Cleveland and other places,
along the lake coast, where their secret societies were in full blast, the
conspirators exacting an enormous tribute of the loyal portion of these
communities to save their property from the dangers of bombardment. This
expected tribute of ten millions of dollars, (to be divided equally among
them,) from the border cities, was the greatest inducement held out by the
rebel leaders before leaving Canada, to their desperadoes, in order to
excite their cupidity and zeal, and inflame their minds to such a pitch,
that they would render a strict obedience to their officers, and hesitate
at no act of violence. These were the plans of the conspirators, and
although they may seem almost ideal and improbable, yet are very possible
even to the most minute details, when one will take time to stop and
consider the great chances of success the pirates had in having a portion
of the crew bribed, and their prospects of having the remainder too
excited by liquor, to make any effectual opposition--the surprise, the
chaos and confusion of the crew at finding those whom they supposed their
friends, as well as their own comrades and fellow-soldiers, fighting them
hand to hand. Under such circumstances as these, it is very easy to
conceive of the capture of a vessel by a band of desperadoes, who would
hesitate at no act of bloodshed or villainy to accomplish their objects.
In addition to this, they were rendered more desperate, if such a thing
could be, by the certainty that if they failed and were captured, a speedy
and disgraceful death awaited them. The Michigan being captured, it is
also easy to conceive that all the other portions of their plans could
have been carried out, perhaps to a greater extent than already mentioned,
that contributions could have been levied and exacted from the people, and
especially that the Sons of Liberty and other secret societies would
joyously seize such an opportunity as the protection of this man-of-war
afforded them, to throw off the mantle of secrecy and darkness from their
hell-born principles, and parade them to the view of the public in all
their hideousness. We will now follow up the plans of the conspirators,
and mention the facts as they occurred. On Sunday the --th of September,
just preceding the attempt, although it was a rainy and very disagreeable
day, in accordance with orders, the Scotia was chartered and conveyed her
part of the pirates, together with some arms to Maiden, C.W. It is due to
the citizens who were with the pirates, to say here, that they had no idea
that the piracy was contemplated, and thought that it was only a fishing
excursion, which at that time was a very common occurrence with the
Southeners at Windsor. That evening when the Scotia returned, they alleged
that it was so unpleasant that they would wait until the next day before
going back to Windsor, in this way lulling everything like suspicion in
the minds of those who had only been invited to go with them, the more
effectually to conceal the real objects of the pirates. On Monday, on the
arrival of the Steamer _Philo Parsons_ at Malden, those who had taken
passage from Detroit and Sandwich, were seen in very conspicuous places on
the decks, by those on the wharf, who immediately boarded her in the
capacity of passengers. It was not the intention of the pirates to seize
the vessel until nearly to Sandusky, and in the event they received no
messenger from _Cole_, at Kelley's Island, they were not to take
possession of her at all, but continue in their characters as passengers
to Sandusky, and there learn the cause of his failure to communicate with
them. But as subsequent events will show, they were compelled to change
their whole plan of operations. Shortly after the vessel left Malden, the
frequency with which all of these men patronized the bar of the boat,
attracted the suspicions of some of the passengers, as well as the
officers, one of whom, from some remarks let fall by one of the men,
thought they were a suspicious set, and said that as soon as the boat
arrived at Sandusky, he would have them arrested and taken care of. Some
of the pirates happened to hear this remark, and as soon as it was
generally known, created the greatest consternation among them, and upon
arriving at Kelley's Island and not receiving the messenger promised by
_Cole_, they were in a very unenviable position. To go to Sandusky they
would be arrested; the only course they could take to save their own lives
and liberty, was that which they eventually adopted. Capt. Beall, after
hearing this report, quickly determined to seize the vessel, which was
accordingly done, to the great terror of the passengers and crew. One or
two of the crew who refused to obey the orders given by the pirates, were
severely wounded. Finding that there was only wood enough on board to last
for a short time, she was run to Put-in-bay to get a supply, and it was at
this landing that they seized the Island Queen, which happened to be there
also, for the same purpose. This vessel, after removing her valuables, was
immediately scuttled and left floating with the current in a sinking
condition. After dark that night, the pirates ran down into Sandusky Bay,
but failing to see the signals agreed upon, and after waiting a short
time, again returned to the open lake, convinced by this time that
something had happened to their friends in Sandusky. Capt. Beall then
seeing that something had happened which would prevent them from capturing
the Michigan, announced his determination to cruise on the lake as long as
possible, burning and destroying all he could, and endeavored to induce
his men to go with him; but they were already scared, and begun to fear
the consequences of their act, and insisted upon going back to Canada.
This is what Capt. Beall himself told Mr. Thompson on his return to
Canada, that "if it had not been for these mutinous scoundrels, I could
have run that boat on these lakes for two weeks, burning and destroying
all the vessels we met with, before the Yankees could have made us take to
land." The owners of shipping upon the great lakes, can now if they never
could before, appreciate fully the danger to their vessels at that time.
The day before the rebels left Windsor, C.W., the United States
authorities had been notified of the expedition, and fully placed upon
their guard, and if the plans of Lieut. Col. Hill, the efficient commander
of the post at Detroit could have been followed, he would have captured
the whole gang. However, he telegraphed to Sandusky, and had Cole arrested
while he was sitting at the table, taking dinner with the officers on
board the Michigan. This effectually prevented Cole from communicating
with the conspirators.

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