171 “the American government are determined”: Manchester Guardian, November 28, 1861.
171 “the arrest of the rebel Commissioners”: Harper’s Weekly, November 30, 1861.
171 “Wilkes has done the very thing in principle”: The comments of the New York Commercial Advertiser were reproduced in the Daily Telegraph, December 3, 1861.
172 “the fifty-one gun screw frigates”: Blackburn Times, December 7, 1861.
172 “We are, indeed, too strong a nation”: Daily Telegraph, November 30, 1861.
173 “Oh, that’ll be got along with”: “The Trent Affair of 1861,” Canadian Historical Review 3, no. 1 (1922).
173 “the preparation for war”: Ephraim Douglass Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War (Russell and Russell, 1924), 238.
173 “the Trent affair has done us incalculable injury”: Ibid., 246.
173 “he held him and his Government responsible for this outrage”: Daily Telegraph, November 29, 1861.
174 “the most worthless booty it would be possible”: Quoted in Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War, 146.
174 “three British subjects were at this moment”: Hansard Parliamentary Debates, vol. 165 (Cornelius Buck, 1862).
175 “the safety of the whole people has become”: Harper’s Weekly, November 2, 1861.
Chapter Twenty-one: “I Have Made a Full Statement and Confessed Everything”
176 “a hole cut in the door about five inches square”: PLM, 122.
176 “there is no people in the world”: Ibid.
176 “you know nothing beyond the grave”: Ibid., 117.
177 “an excellent supper, including”: Ibid., 123.
177 “that the physical pain would not be greater”; “believed in a just God”: Ibid., 115.
177 “in the public papers”: Letter from Cridland to Lyons.
178 “style of his evidence”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
178 “you can always catch flies with molasses”: This description of Philip Cashmeyer comes from George Washington Frosst, a prisoner in Richmond. Frosst’s memoirs of his war experiences were published many years later by the Old Berwick Historical Society in a 2001 article titled “Quamphegan Landing.”
179 “he was greatly suffering from rheumatic pains in his limbs”: Ibid.
180 “Scully had told about my visit”: PLM, 125.
180 “my mental suspense was such that”; “to make a statement to the authorities”: Ibid., 126.
180 “were a couple of large, leather-bound”: The account of Lewis’s interview with Crump appears in ibid., 127–28.
182 “an emissary between the Union people”: Ibid., 131.
182 “The condemned spies have implicated Webster”: J. B. Jones, A Rebel War Clerks Diary (Old Hickory Bookshop, 1866), 119.
Chapter Twenty-two: “I Suffer a Double Death”
183 “lurking about the armies and fortifications”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
184 “might be termed elegant”: PLM, 128.
184 “sitting down on a step”: Ibid., 135.
185 “two thirds of the Court concurring”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
185 richmond papers mention that two men: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 2, vol. 3 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880–1901).
186 it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow: Quoted in James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Penguin, 1990), 426.
186 “his sympathy and sorrow were as acute as though”: Allan Pinkerton, The Spy of the Rebellion (M. A. Winter and Hatch, 1883), 545.
187 “plenty of gold and C.S. Treasury notes”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
189 “white beard, long and flowing”: J. Marshall Hanna, “Castle Thunder in Bellum Days,” Southern Opinion, November 23, 1867.
189 “‘I suffer a double death”: Richmond Examiner, April 30, 1862.
189 “You are going to choke me this time”: Ibid.
189 “making use of horrid oaths and treating the subject”: Ibid.
190 “read the psalm of David, invoking vengeance on his enemies”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
190 “endeavors to bring about a pious state of mind”: Richmond Enquirer, May 3, 1862.
190 “Gentlemen: Will you please allow me to correct”: Ibid., May 6, 1862.
Chapter Twenty-three: “It Was Not War, It Was Murder”
191 “What if the federal government should commence”: New York Post, May 2, 1862.
191 “the report that he had his wife with him”: Burlington Hawk Eye, May 10, 1862.
192 “they let the cat out of the bag on him”: Richmond Dispatch, April 30, 1862.
192 A copy of Thomas Lewis’s letter to Charles Adams is held in the Pryce Lewis Collection, St. Lawrence University.
192 “inquire into the matter and make a report to me upon it”: Lyons wrote to Cridland on April 16, 1862, a copy of the letter being housed at the Kew Archives, London, file F.O. 115/328.
192 “the arduous duties at this office and the innumerable”: Ibid.
193 “to make a full confession”: PLM, 126.
193 “for it was his downright lack of judgment”: Ibid., 116.
194 “The enemy’s gun-boats are ascending the [James] River”: Varina Davis’s recollection, reproduced in Ladies of Richmond, edited by Katharine Jones (Bobbs-Merrill, 1962), 111.
194 “The panic began some days later”: Ibid., 112.
195 encouragement for the opportunity: Tom Crouch, The Eagle Aloft (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1983).
196 On May 28 George Randolph: On May 31 a Richmond woman, Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, one of those gilded ladies who had swapped the splendor of her drawing room for the squalor of an army hospital, finished her shift and wrote in her diary: “The booming of cannon, at no very distant point, thrills us with apprehension. We know that a battle is going on. God help us!” (Ladies of Richmond).
197 “we again took the double quick step”: The Letters of Lt. Henry Ropes, 20th MA (Boston, 1888), Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library.
197 “it was not war, it was murder”: Quoted in James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Penguin, 1990), 470.
198 “Though [the slaves] were incapable of giving realistic information”: James D. Horan, The Pinkertons: The Detective Dynasty That Made History (Crown, 1967), 117.
198 “the odors of the battlefield were distinctly perceptible”: Jones, ed., Ladies of Richmond.
198 “by a string of girls, children and Negroes”: Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, quoted in Jones, ed., Ladies of Richmond, 109.
199 “was taken to the best hotel in the place”: Rose Greenhow, My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington (Bentley, 1863).
199 “the President did me the honor of calling upon me”: Ibid.
199 Instead she began to write a book: Greenhow’s book, My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington, was published in Britain to widespread praise, and in September 1863 she visited the country as an emissary of Jefferson Davis. On October 1, 1864, upon her return to the United States, Greenhow’s steamer ran aground three hundred yards off the North Carolina coast, and she was drowned.
Chapter Twenty-four: “They Held Existence by a Frail Tenure”
202 “are about 70 patients in a garret room”: Inspection report written by William A. Carrington, October 3, 1862. Available to view at http://www.mdgorman.com.
202 “as though delivering them through a speaking-trumpet”: J. Marshall Hanna, “Castle Thunder in Bellum Days,” Southern Opinion, November 23, 1867.
202 “There is no use, men”: Frances H. Casstevens, George W. Alexander and Castle Thunder: A Confederate Prison and Its Commandant (Mcfarland, 2004), 92.
203 “consisted originally of two large rooms”: PLM, 141.
203 “squeeze out into the large rooms and enjoy the s
ociety”: Ibid.
203 “by praising his poetry it was easy to keep”: Ibid., 149.
204 “a piece of wheat bread”; “tin can of soup and a piece of bread”: Ibid., 142.
204 “two hundred and forty five Abolition prisoners of war”: Richmond Dispatch, November 29, 1862.
205 “I come to you, a poor weak woman”: This letter from Hattie Lawton (aka Mrs. Webster) to President Davis is reproduced in The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, series 2, vol. 4 (Government Printing Office, 1880–1901).
205 “I am requested by Mr. Allen to write you”: A copy of Pinkerton’s letter to Lewis can be found in the Pryce Lewis Collection, St. Lawrence University.
206 “best illustrates the amount of hellish recklessness”: Richmond Examiner, January 29, 1863.
206 “marched down into the prison yard”: PLM, 147.
206 “most barbarously and inhumanely”: “Official Report on the Treatment of Prisoners in Castle Thunder,” May 1, 1863, The War of the Rebellion, series 2, vol. 3.
207 “embraced among its inmates”: Ibid.
207 “subpoenaed as a witness”: PLM, 147.
207 “three most powerful pills”; “swallowed only one of them”: Ibid.
207 “‘life was slowly ebbing away”: Ibid.
207 Pinkerton’s letter to Lewis, written on March 23, 1863, can be found in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
208 “to your mind the cases of Lewis and Scully”: The War of the Rebellion, series 2, vol. 5.
210 “Resolved: that this meeting being convinced that slavery”: Ephraim Douglass Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War (Russell and Russell, 1924), 293.
210 “these manifestations are the genuine expression”: Ibid.
211 “but regard your decisive utterances”: Ibid.
211 “delaying on little pretexts of wanting this and that”: James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Penguin, 1990), 570.
211 Pinkerton’s letter to Lincoln of June 5, 1863, can be found in the Abraham Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress.
212 “he made a present of his new boots to a nephew”: PLM, 154.
212 “but it cost so much”: Ibid., 148.
212 “what a difference money makes”: Ibid.
212 “a different class of prisoner”: Unpublished memoirs of William Williams of Waterford, Virginia (1888), available at http://www.waterfordhistory.org.
212 J. T. Kerby: Kerby was never brought to trial and in May 1863 he was sent north on a flag-of-truce boat.
213 “they held existence by a frail tenure”: Albert Deane Richardson, The Field, the Dungeon & the Escape (Gale Cengage Learning, 1897), 398.
213 “At the head of the Richmond Post they have placed”: A copy of “The Castle Song” can be found in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
214 “too heavy to mount a horse”; “suggested to Scully”: PLM, 155.
214 “he had seen Commissioner Ould”: Ibid.
214 Lewis and Scully’s interview with Marshall is described in ibid., 155–56.
215 “said goodbye to our fellow prisoners”: Ibid., 157.
215 “got up on a box freight car for fresh air”: Ibid., 158.
216 “If before this I had any English feelings left”: Ibid.
216 “full-dressed, pompous, heavy official”: Ibid., 160.
216 “The bearer Lewis Price”: The pass can be found in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
217 “he uttered an exclamation”: PLM, 162.
Chapter Twenty-five: “Lewis Remained Staunch, and Did Not Confess”
218 “Will you pardon me for asking”: James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (Penguin, 1990), 569.
221 “I can flatter almost anything”: Arch Frederic Blakey, General John Winder (University of Florida Press, 1990), 266.
221 “energetic and active and wise”; “camp follower”: Ibid.
223 “a hot interview”: PLM, 163.
223 “because they had betrayed their companion”: Allan Pinkerton, The Spy of the Rebellion (M. A. Winter and Hatch, 1883), 547.
223 “I hope your situation [at Old Capitol] will be of long continuance”: William Pinkerton’s January 15, 1864, letter to Pryce Lewis is in the Pryce Lewis Collection, St. Lawrence University.
224 “authorized to arrest deserters”: The pass, signed by L. C. Baker, is contained in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
224 He had no contact with John Scully: By the 1880s, John Scully was employed as a guard at Chicago’s City Hall, and in December 1894, it was reported that he attended the funeral of Sam Bridgeman in the city. The date of his death is not known.
226 how i regret that i had not been near him: James Mackay, Allan Pinkerton: The Eye Who Never Slept (Mainstream, 1996), 176.
227 “from a government by aristocracy to one by democracy”: Ephraim Douglas Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War (Russell and Russell, 1924), 400.
227 “My dear wife, don’t be discouraged”: Undated letter in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
229 “tempted to the recitals which follow”: Pinkerton, The Spy of the Rebellion, xxiv.
230 “In an article first published in the Chicago Times”: The article was reproduced in the following weeks in, among others, Iowa’s Sioux County Herald, the Freeborn County Standard of Minnesota and Eau Claire News of Wisconsin.
230 “Yours of the 3rd was received and contents noted”: Ibid.
231 “I had informed Mr. Lincoln”: Pinkerton, The Spy of the Rebellion, 103.
231 “The mouth, almost concealed by”: Ibid., 111.
231 “Self was his last and least”: Ibid., 577.
232 “with rare grace”: Ibid., 228.
232 “without the slightest hesitation”: Ibid., 494.
232 “I had made extensive enquiries”: Ibid., 496.
233 “I heard the story of your escape from Henrico County Jail!” PLM, appendix 1.
233 “to include a lot of lies about his experiences”: Pryce Lewis Collection, folder entitled, “Correspondence of Pryce Lewis and his contemporaries.”
233 “was very sorry to learn of ma’s relapse”: Ibid.
234 “died because he overworked in the printing business”: Mary Lewis quoted by Harriet Shoen, among notes in ibid.
234 “I lost my wife 4 years ago and my son nearly 3 years ago”: Pryce Lewis Collection, December 11, 1904.
235 “Making allowance for what you have”: Letter from Cronin to Lewis, dated February 27, 1905, and contained in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
235 “I have never needed”: Letter from Lewis to Cronin, dated May 22, 1905, and contained in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
235 “After considerable discussion the opinion prevailed”: Letter from Funk & Wagnalls to Anson Barnes, dated January 5, 1908, and contained in the Pryce Lewis Collection.
235 “I’ve served this [American] government well”: Harper’s Weekly, January 30, 1912.
236 “Scully made a confession, implicating Webster”: The pamphlet Timothy Webster: Spy of the Rebellion is among the Pinkerton Papers, Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.
236 “my memoirs will soon be published”: Pryce Lewis Collection.
236 “My Dear Mary, Yours of yesterday is recv’d”: Ibid.
237 “‘There goes a big slide of snow”: New York Times, December 7, 1911.
Epilogue: “A Faithful Servant to His Country”
239 “had realized he had outlived his usefulness”: New York Herald, December 9, 1911.
239 “established a private burial ground near Chicago”: World, December 10, 1911.
241 “Dear Mr. Editor, As I am always interested in reading”: Montgomeryshire Express, January 9, 1912.
Appendix 1: The Baltimore Plot
243 “It is perfectly manifest”: Ward H. Lamon, The Life of Abraham Lincoln (James R. Osgood, 1872), 513.
243 “intensely ambitious to shine in the professional way”: Ibid., 512.
243 “a bra
inless, egotistical fool”: Quoted in Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, 1861: From Pinkerton Records and Related Papers, edited by Norma Cuthbert (Huntington Library, 1949), xx.
Appendix 2: The Trial
249 The letter from Louis Sigaud to Harriet Shoen, dated August 1, 1945, can be found in the Pryce Lewis Collection, St. Lawrence University.
Appendix 3: Pinkerton’s Military Espionage
251 “not conducted by a recognizable organizational entity”: Edwin Fishel, The Secret War for the Union (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), 54.
251 “have received reports from the cavalry”: Ibid., 55.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Double Death is Gavin Mortimer’s seventh book. His two most recent are Chasing Icarus and The Great Swim. He has also written numerous books for children and contributed articles to a wide range of publications. He lives in France.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Chasing Icarus
The Great Swim
Copyright © 2010 by Gavin Mortimer
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Walker & Company, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010.
Published by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., New York
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR.
ISBN: 978-0-8027-1769-6 (hardcover)
First published by Walker Books in 2010
This e-book edition published in 2010
E-book ISBN: 978-0-8027-7855-0
Visit Walker & Company’s Website at www.walkerbooks.com
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