by John McElroy
CHAPTER VII.
TRAITOR KNIGHTS--ORGANIZATION OF REBEL SYMPATHIZERS IN INDIANA AND ILLINOIS--SIGNS AND SECRETS--GEN. ANDERSON'S TOUR OF INVESTIGATION --THE GOLDEN CIRCLE.
"O, Conspiracy, shame'st Thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, When folks are most free? O then, by day, Where will thou find a cavern dark enough To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, conspiracy." --Shakespeare
"Several days elapsed before Gen. Anderson felt that he could undertakethe journey contemplated. Finally he concluded that he would make theeffort. He thought it best for him to pass into Illinois first, as hewould not be known in that State. After arranging his matters andleaving word for Jackson to remain at my house, (on his return fromWashington, should he succeed in obtaining the desired appointment,)until he returned from his tour of investigation, he started.
"The first stopping place of the General was at Colestown, in CharlesCounty. There he remained several days, and found the most bitterfeeling existing between the political parties. He passed very easilyamong the anti-war people for a Southerner and rebel. He made theacquaintance of one Maj. Cornell, who was home on leave of absence. TheGeneral, finding him a very intelligent and apparently an honorable,high-minded gentleman, explained to him that he was not a rebel, but ona mission for the Government. This made him all right with the loyalelement, that could be privately communicated with and trusted.
"He had noticed a gentleman, rather fine-looking, with the movements andgeneral appearance of a Southerner. He managed to get a good look in hisface, and recognized him as Mr. Jas. Walters, of Arkansas. He spoke tohim. The recognition was mutual; the General invited him to his room,and there the knowledge of the Golden Circle was at once manifested.Neither disclosed at first anything about himself, but finally theGeneral told Walters that he was up here North for his health, andto spy out the situation and report the same. They soon became veryconfidential, and Walters unbosomed himself to the General. He told himthat he was traveling under the guise of a real-estate agent, selectingland for some large and wealthy firm, but in reality he was organizingthe Knights of the Golden Circle; that he had organized, some ten milessoutheast of the town, a lodge of sixty members. He gave all the names.In Colestown he had another lodge, seventy strong, with Col. O. B.Dickens as Chief of the Order for that Congressional district.
"During that evening he showed the General his lists and gave him thenames of men to go to in Vernon County, Jeffersonville, Fayetteville,Franklin, Perryville, Fultonville and many other places in the state.
"Chicago being the main headquarters, he directed him (if he should gothere) to Morrison Buckner, John Walls, N. Judy Cornington, C. H. Eagle,and many other prominent men who belonged to the organization and werein direct communication with Windsor, Canada, where a portion of themain directors and managers were stationed, and from whence they weresending out organizers for the West. Walters told him that Indianapolis,Ind., was one of the 'Head Centers,' and that Dodgers, Bowlens,Millington, Dorsing and Byron were the Chiefs, with several so-calledAgitators, and that Mr. Strider was Supreme Counsel; that theorganization was spreading rapidly; that in Ohio, at Dayburg, was theHead Center; that along the great river there were very many lodges andquite a number of members, but that it had not been so long at work inOhio as in Illinois and Indiana. Also, that the Supreme Commander livedin Dayburg, O.; his name was given as Valamburg; that in Kentucky andMissouri nearly all the people were joining the order and sending menas fast as they could to the rebel army, and at the proper time,when things were ripe for the people to rise, one of the most popularofficers in the rebel army, who lived in Missouri, would be sent therewith enough troops to protect himself until the Knights could join him.
"He went on to say that Col. Burnett, of St. Louis, was SupremeCommander for Missouri, and Marmalade was Chief Agitator; John Morgansonwas Supreme Commander in Kentucky; that he was gathering men from thereall the time; that he was not only Supreme Commander of Kentucky, butappointed to make excursions and raids into Ohio and Indiana, wheneverthe organization should be considered strong enough to protect him.This, he said, was considered one of the measures to be resorted to inorder to frighten the property-holders of the North, and thereby drivethem into a peace-policy; that if the North could be once thoroughlyalarmed about the safety of their property, the anti-war party wouldthen carry an election, and that would secure the recognition of theSouthern Confederacy; that a perfect understanding of this kind existedwith the leaders of the Confederacy and the leaders of the anti-warparty North. He told the General that this organization was firststarted in New York city by a man by the name of McMasterson and somegentlemen from Richmond, who had passed through the lines and gone therefor this purpose; that there were at that time 100,000 Knights in theState of New York; 80,000 in Ohio; 75,000 in Indiana, and 50,000 inIllinois.
"He said it was thought that it would require about one year yet to getthe organization perfected and in good working order; that they had towork very cautiously, and would have considerable trouble getting theright kind of arms into their hands. There was no trouble, he said, inhaving them all armed with pistols; 'for,' said Walters, 'these Yankeesare so fond of money that you can buy arms anywhere, if on hand. You canget them made at some of the private arsenals, if you could assure themagainst discovery. The intention, however, is to get all things ready bythe time of the next Presidential election, and if we do not whip thembefore that time we will resort to such methods as will insure theelection of one of our friends, or one who believes that we can never besubjugated.'
Drinking to the success of Treason 118]
"The General responded to what he had said, and remarked that itdid seem that if those plans could be carried out that success mustcertainly follow.
"'Yes,' said Walters; 'we must not and cannot fail. I tell you,when these money-loving Yanks see their towns and cities threatened,prisoners turned loose, maddened by confinement, and commence applyingthe torch, you will hear peace! peace! for God's sake, give us peace!This will be the cry, sir! Mind what I say!'
"Col. Walters by this time had disclosed the fact that he was a colonelin the rebel army; he had pulled at his flask frequently, and wasgrowing quite eloquent. Gen. Anderson could not drink, and his looksgave him a good excuse for not doing so. Finally Walters said:
"'Anderson, how did you get here, anyhow? The last time I saw you was atVicksburg, four years ago, attending court.'
"'Well,' said the General, 'I might have asked you the same question.'
"'Now, don't play Yankee on me in answering my question by asking meanother.'
"'Well, said the General, 'I was in Kentucky, and when I crossed theriver no one asked me any questions. I looked so ill and emaciated thatthey thought I told them the truth when I said I wanted a change ofclimate--and then, I am also playing the Union role, you know.'
"'Is it not very curious,' said Walters; 'I have traveled all over thiscountry, and no one has asked me a question as to where I came from orwhat I am doing. In our country we would both have been in prison orhung before this as spies. Don't you think so?'
"'We would have been in great danger,' said the General
"'Danger! Thunder!' said Walters; 'we would have pulled hemp beforethis.'
"It was then getting quite late, and the General began to excuse himselfon account of his health, and they finally spoke of meeting againsometime, and bade each other good night. The General retired afterarranging to leave on the train in the morning for Chicago. LeavingColes-town at an early hour, he arrived in Chicago that evening andput up at the Richmond House. In the course of the next day, by propermanagement, he got acquainted with Walls, Morrison Buckner and Mr.Eagle. This hotel seemed to be the common meeting-place for this classof men. The subject of the war was discussed very freely by all ofthem. They seemed to be very much exasperated about the course of theAdministration, denouncing its acts as revolutionary, arbitrary andunconstitutional. Eagle seemed to be rather a g
ood-natured fellow--dealtmeasurably in jokes, as I took it. He said that he did not oweallegiance to any country, as he understood it; that his father wasFrench, his mother was German, and he was born on English waters underthe Italian flag; and that he should claim protection from all until hisnativity could be settled.
"The General said he rather took a liking to him. He finally explainedto the General, however, that he was from the South, but left therebecause his health was not good enough to go into the Confederatearmy, and he knew if he staid he would have been compelled to do so. InChicago there was no danger of having to go into either army; that aman could stay and help the rebels more than if he we were South, and ifthey wanted him in the army he could hire some fool to go and get shotin his place for a hundred dollars. He said that there was anotheradvantage--that the people went so fast that they forgot which side youwere on in a month, and that you did not have to live there always tobecome a citizen. You could go to Congress after you had been there aweek, if you only knew how to handle the 'boys.'
"'The General said that he was really amused at the fellow, but verysoon the Grand Head Center of the State came in and he was introduced toMr. N. Judy Cornington.
"'The General gave him the sign, which was at once recognized, and thewink went round that the General was a brother. They conversed freelyabout the condition of the country; the ultimate result of the war;what must be done to bring about peace; how the Administration must bechanged and peaceful commercial relations established with the South,and the Southern Confederacy recognized. To all this the Generalresponded:
"'Yes; but suppose these things that you mention do not bring about theresult. What then?'
"'What then?' you ask, 'We will then resort to any and every means, nomatter what, for success. We are now in the same condition as the rebelsSouth. Should they fail we will have to go South, or forever be underthe ban of treason. You do not suppose that these people who support theUnion will ever trust any of us or any of our party again, should ourfriends South fail, do you?'
"'Well, what of it?' asked Mr. Buckner. 'I do not now, nor do I expecthereafter to ask these people for anything. I am actuated by principlepurely, without reference to the future. Let the future take care ofitself.'
"'Yes, that is well enough, Mr. Buckner,' said Corning-ton, 'as asentiment just now; but some day we will feel differently, and ourpeople, who are now taking desperate chances, will want to havesomething to say. You do not suppose that all these brave men who arenow in the rebel army, and their friends North, are going to allow theseAbolitionists to run this Government, even if we should not succeed.'
"'Do you think that these people North will care (after this thing isover) anything about who shall be in power,' said Mr. Eagle. 'I tellyou, Mr. Cornington, that they will soon forget all about it. You showthem where the least taxes are and the most money to be made, and theywill throw patriotism to the dogs. Why, if the rebellion fails, I expectto see Jeff. Davis' Cabinet, or part of them, running this Government,with him behind them directing things. Yes, sir; no matter what occurs,we only have to let these people go on making money, and we will lookafter the politics. They will not take time to do it.'
"'Why, gentlemen, I expect to run the politics of this State yet. Iintend to make money now, and when the thing blows over I will then haveleisure. I do not care for the amount of money these Northern men want.When we Southern men get enough to have a small income to live on, weturn our attention to politics; and there is no trouble to run things ifyou only attend to it. These rich fellows think all you have to do is tohave plenty of money, and if you want anything done in politics, buyit. There is where they make their great mistake. You must work theboys--give them a show along with you. The people all have theirambitions--some great, some not so great, but all want a show. There aresome men here in this city who think they can buy the whole State. Butthey are mistaken; when they try it they will discover their error. Theywill find the fellows that play politics play the game well,' and sorattled on this man Eagle. The General said that when he got started hewas like a wound-up clock--you either had to let it run down or smashit.
"'Well,' said Cornington, 'Eagle, you seem to take rather a rosy view ofthings. I do not look at matters quite in the same light that you do. Iwant to see success assured; then matters may assume the shape you say.But I fear if we fail the result will be otherwise.'
"Said Eagle: 'I tell you, sir, that no matter what happens, the brainsand courage and aggressiveness of the Southern people will control thiscountry, Union or no Union, and you will see it yet, if we live. Butthat belief must not prevent us from doing our duty manfully. We musthang together and terrify the Northern people.'
"'Yes,' said Cornington, 'as was said by one of our fathers in theRevolution, "we must hang together, or we will hang separately."' Thiscaused Eagle to laugh.
"'Oh I' said he, 'those old fellows were frightened into success, andyou must know that to alarm the North about their money and propertybeing in danger is the only road to success. You can't scare them abouttheir lives. Our people are mistaken on that point. They care much lessfor their lives than for their "oil."'
"The General, after getting all the information he could as tothe extent of the organization, their designs and intended futureoperations, which corresponded with what he had learned from Walters,promised to see them again, and left that night for Dayburg, Ohio.On arriving there he tried every way to obtain an interview with theSupreme Commander of the Golden Circle of the United States, butin vain. His attempts were all thwarted in one way or another.The Commander (Valamburg) must have had some fears in reference tostrangers.
"For three days the General tried to get a chance to see him, butcould not. He met, however, three men,--Pat Burke, Tim Collins and JohnStetson,--with whom he formed a slight acquaintance, and, on giving themthe signs and passwords of the Circle, was taken into their confidence.They took him riding into the country and showed him several large barnswhere they were in the habit of holding their meetings, and gavehim full information as to their prospects in reference to futureoperations. The three men were Agitators or, in other words, Organizers.
"John Stetson had been in Dayburg about three months; was a Colonelin the rebel army; had been a prisoner at Camp Chase, but in somemysterious way was permitted to escape by putting on different clothesfrom his own, which in some manner were smuggled in to him. He hadshaven off his whiskers and made a close crop of his hair, and was sochanged in his appearance that no one would have suspected that he wasthe same man. He was known in prison, and so entered on the records,as Col. Jacob Reed, 13th Ky. (Confederate) infantry. This man Stetson,alias 'Reed,' was very communicative; told the General that if they didnot succeed in working up sufficient feeling in the Northern States tochange the course of the Administration that they would have toresort to other and more severe methods--such as raiding in the North,destroying property, burning cities, etc.; that the Confederacy mustbe successful; that they were now in for it, and there must be nofaltering; that there must be no sickly sentiment about the means tobe adopted hereafter; that fire and flood and desolation were perfectlylegitimate if necessity should ever demand the use of different meansfrom the present. He said that they could raid from Kentucky andMissouri; that New York, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Chicago had beenagreed upon as the cities for destruction, if the time should evercome for such action; that their friends in those cities could makethemselves whole from the wreck--at least, all that they particularlycared for; so far as the property-holders who pretended to be theirfriends were concerned, they did not care for them,--that they would nothelp them any, and only wanted to fill their pockets out of the generalmisfortunes of the Southern people.
"After the General had traveled around considerably with these men astheir friend and guest, he wished them success and health, bade thema hearty good-bye, and left for Indianapolis to see the Governor, notwishing to try experiments there, where he had been in camp so long.When he arrived and had time to visit
the Executive, he foundhim greatly perplexed at what he had ascertained about the secrettreasonable organization in the State of Indiana. He asked the Generala great many questions about his recovery, his promotion, etc., andfinally said:
"'I want you to help keep up the reputation of our State in the army.'
"Gen. Anderson replied:
"'I hope, Governor, you will never have any cause for complaint in thatdirection.'
"'No,' said the Governor; 'I hope I shall not! But,' said he, 'it beginsto look as though we might have trouble at home. These Golden Circlesare bound to give us trouble, and I fear very soon,'
"'Yes,' said the General, 'they are getting pretty numerous, and verybold and exasperating at the same time. How many do you suppose thereare in this State, Governor?
"'I suppose there must be twenty or thirty thousand-enough for a prettygood army. If they had any bold man to lead them, they could release ourprisoners here and destroy our city.'
"Seeing that the Governor exhibited some alarm, the General was afraidto tell him then how many there actually were in the State. But verysoon his Adjutant-General came in, and in conversation raised thefigures to some forty or fifty thousand. The Governor looked surprised,and the General thought that he might then disclose the facts asto numbers, and told the Governor that he had found out means ofascertaining, and that their claim for Indiana was 75,000. This seemedto startle him. He at once asked his Adjutant-General how many regimentsthere were now in camp near the city, and was informed that there werefour, with a great many recruits in the camp of instruction. He mademany inquiries of the General as to how he obtained his information.Gen. Anderson told him that he had obtained it in various ways; thatsome of his friends had joined the organization and, not believing init, had posted him, under the seal of confidence.
"'Do you believe them?' inquired the Governor.
"'I most certainly do,' responded the General.
"The General then gave him the names of Strider, Bowen, Bowlens,Millington, Dorsing and Byron as the leaders--Organizers, Agitators,Commanders, etc.--for the State of Indiana. The Governor was surprisedat hearing some of the names, and said he had no doubt of Strider beingat the bottom of it, but that he would not be caught; that when thetrying time should come, if ever, he would turn up as counsel, andin that way would get out of it, and thereby seal the mouths of thecriminals.
"He advised the Governor to keep a watch on some of these men, and hewould soon discover them; that they had not been long enough at thisthing to understand the necessary precaution. None had yet been caughtand punished, and they were not looking to the serious consequences tothemselves should they be exposed.
"He also asked the Governor to apprise the President of the UnitedStates of the condition of these matters in the State, but at the sametime not to mention his name as the source of information. He badethe Governor good-by and left for Camp Chase, Ohio, having, while inIndianapolis, determined to return to Ohio and investigate the prisonersat Camp Chase. When he arrived there, having no authority, he could notconverse with the prisoners alone; but, becoming acquainted with theColonel commanding the Camp, and explaining in confidence who he wasand his mission, he was allowed free access to the camp and to theprisoners. He soon picked out a young man from Virginia--his appearancewould indicate his age to be about eighteen years. He told the Generalthat he lived in the extreme south-western part of what is now oldVirginia. His name was Ridenbergen. He said to the General that he hadno cause to fight against the United States, but that he was in now andproposed to fight it out. The General having played the Southern dodgeand sympathy with the rebellion in such a way as to satisfy him, andalso having given the sign of the Circle, which this young Virginianseemed to well understand, there was no longer any necessity forwithholding anything in reference to their condition, expectations ofsuccor, release, etc. He told the General that John Stetson, alias Col.Jacob Reed, of Dayburg, had been there frequently; that only a few ofthem recognized him; of course no one 'peached,' as they knew he wasworking for their benefit.
"He said our commander of the prison was not very observing; that quitea number had escaped, and nothing was known or said about it; thatothers answered for them, reported them sick, or gave some other excusewhich was always taken; that Stetson had brought in the rituals ofthe Golden Circle, and that all of them who were intelligent enough tounderstand it, were posted, and that some of the guards belonged andwere constantly making the signs to the Confederate officers inside.He had no doubt that sooner or later they would be released. He had thesame idea about how they would ultimately succeed. This idea pervadedthe minds of all with whom he had spoken on the subject. Many leadingmen in Ohio were in accord with all that they contemplated withreference to their release and the future success of the Confederacy.
"He also said that the party in Ohio who were in sympathy with therebellion were quite outspoken, and were under the lead of a very ableand bold man. The General inquired of whom he had reference, and he saidValamburg, of Dayburg.
"'Yes,' the General responded, 'I have heard of him frequently; but ishe a military man?'
"'No,' replied Ridenbergen; 'but we have them in the State in manyplaces, from the Confederate army, just waiting the sound of thebugle. But the fears I have are as to the time. It takes so long to geteverything ready--our people have to move so cautiously.'
"'Have you heard that we are organizing for raids from Canada at somefuture time?'
"'Oh, yes; that is understood. Many of our best and brightest men areover there, at different points, preparing for it; but that is to bedone only when we must strike in Northern cities for the purpose ofterrifying the Northern property-holders; we must strike then where thegreatest amount of wealth is concentrated.'
"The General then said to him:
"'Mr. Ridenbergen, you are a young man. I hope to hear good things ofyou in the future,' and bade him good-bye.
"The General arrived at Allentown the next day. After the familygreetings, kisses from his wife and little daughter, and a 'How ar' you,Marsa Tom?' from Ham and a 'Bress de good Laud, heah you is agin!' fromAunt Martha were over, the General related his trip to me in minutedetail, and told me that matters were much worse than he had anysuspicion of prior to his investigations. In speaking of those he hadseen, and his many talks with members of the Knights of the GoldenCircle, his utter contempt for them, and especially for many leadingmen who claimed to be loyal to the Union, but did not like theunconstitutional manner of prosecuting the war, he remarked:
"'There was but one of all of them that I have seen for whom I have anysympathy or respect, and he is the young Virginian, Mr. Ridenbergen.I rather liked the frankness of this young man. I am satisfied thatat heart he is not a rebel, but is young, and, after engaging in therebellion, will go as far as any one to make it a successful cause.'
"Just then Jackson came from the train and entered the house.
"'My! how well you are looking, Gen. Anderson, compared with yourappearance when I left. You must have been to some water-cure or haveused some kind of elixir of life,' was his first greeting.
"'No, sir,' replied the General; 'I have been marching, and it hasbrought me out wonderfully.'
"'Yes, it has. Well, Jennie, I saw David, Dr. James and Henry. They areall well and "spilin'" for a fight. David thinks that his brigade canthrash the whole rebel army.'
"Little Jennie rushed to her Uncle Jackson, saying:
"'Did you see my good papa?'
"'Yes, dear, I saw him, and he sent you a thousand kisses and asked allabout you.'
"Turning away, he said, 'Poor David, his heart is broken over the lossof his little Sarah.'
"Gen. Anderson said, 'Sit down, and tell us all about your visit. Wereyou successful?'
"'Oh, yes; I am a full-fledged Captain in the 18th U. S. Inf.,and assigned, by order of the Secretary of War, as Aide-de-camp toBrig.-Gen. Thomas Anderson, the hero.'
"'Stop, stop,' said the General; 'you must not commence that too s
oon.The taffy part must be left off if you are to be on my staff.'
"'My dear,' said his wife, 'he can say that about you to me; for it'sthe truth. Capt. Jackson, I will not get mad at you for speaking in acomplimentary manner about my husband.'
"'Hereafter I will repeat all the good things which I may have to sayabout him to you; but you will tell him, and then he will get mad atme.'
"'No, he will not be mad; don't you know what peculiar animals men are?'
"'Well, yes; they are rather peculiar,' said Jackson. 'They likecompliments when not deserving; but when deserving they then dislikethem. Is that not about the way with most men? I notice women aresomewhat differently constituted? Are they not?'
"'Yes, indeed; they always like compliments. Do they not, my dear?'addressing her husband.
"'I have usually found it so,' replied the General. His wife ran intothe house, and laughingly said:
"'Well, I guess Tom has been trying his compliments on some one else.Has he not, aunty?' addressing Aunt Martha.
"'God lub you' sole, chile, dese men, you can't tell nuffin 'bout dem,sho'; but Massa Tom be all rite, I 'spect; I knows him; no fear 'bouthim; de good Laud spar' him for good work, sho'.'
"I asked the General to write out a full statement of all he hadreported to me. He did so that night, and the following day I mailed itto the President with a private note accompanying.
"During the day Jackson entertained us with his visit to Washington, tothe army, and the pleasant time he passed in camp with his brothers. Hesaid that there was something wrong in that army; that the machinery didnot seem to work very smoothly, but that never having been a soldier,perhaps he could not form a correct opinion. The sequel told the tale,however."
"Well, Uncle Daniel, this Golden Circle discovery was mostextraordinary," said Dr. Adams.
"Yes. It grew into greater proportions later on, however."
"I feel an interest in knowing what became of that young Virginian whomGen. Anderson met at Camp Chase; his name I forget, but have it writtendown."
"Yes; you mean Mr. Ridenbergen?"
"Yes."
"I have learned that he went through the war on the rebel side unharmed,after the war married in Pennsylvania, and is now one of the mostprominent men in Virginia. He espoused the advanced policy of the menwho saved the Union, and is now one of the leading opponents of theunreconstructed in that State."
Uncle Daniel becoming very weak and exhausted, by an agreement with us,the continuance of his story was postponed until another time.