Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

As our work progressed, we accumulated from Confederate mail, refugees and deserters, a mass of information as to the disloyalty of persons, which was carefully tabulated in a pigeonhole cabinet; we were constantly referring to it.

Headquarters, Middle Department,
8th Army Corps.
Baltimore, Aug. 17, 1864.

Col. Woolley:

I have information that a Thomas Bennett, U. S. mail carrier
between Princess Ann and Newtown is in the Confederate service
and is engaged to carry letters, &c., for them.

Let Smith put a sharp detective after him. Mr. E. J. Smith
will talk with you about it.

LEW WALLACE,
Major General Commanding.

War Department,
Washington, Sept. 16, 1864.

Memo.

Mr. J. P. Gulick, policeman at the Capitol grounds, gives
information to the Department that Samuel Miles, a wholesale
forwarding merchant in Baltimore, has been engaged in sending
goods to the South.

Mr. Gulick lived at Wicomico Creek for some time during the
war and while there observed the transaction, the goods coming
to that point direct from Miles, and being from there run over
into Little River by Samuel Langford, Miles's nephew.

The following is a Confederate letter addressed to Samuel G. Miles, referred to by Mr. Gulick. Miles was a merchant in high standing commercially. The letter is reproduced literally:

Monticello, Va.,
Feby. 29, 1864.

Mr. Miles.

Sir.--I take this privaledge to write to you asking the favour
of you to send me by the gentleman that may hand you this
letter to send me a few articles, you are well aware of our
condition as to getting grocerys or a great many other things.
Mr. Miles you will confer a great favour upon me to let me
have a barril of sugar, one bag of coffee, 5 lbs. of tea, 15
gal. of Rye Whiskey.

I would have sent money but you know that our money would not
be of any survace to you. But if you send the above articles
whether I get them or no you shall certainly be paid.

I was very sorry that I could not see you when you pass
through to Richmond, as it would have afforded me great
pleasure to have you at my house.

Give my respects to Mr. Langford and all enquiring friends. If
it is not in your power to send the above name articles you
will do me the favour to present this letter to Mr. Thomas
Lumking and perhaps he may send them. By so doing you will
oblige,

Your Friend,
HENRY D. BARRICK.

To
Mr. Samuel G. Miles.

The quantity of rye whiskey, compared to the other articles seemed pretty large. It reminds me of the story of the sloop captain who sent his man for supplies for a trip. The man brought two loaves of bread and a gallon of whiskey, at which the captain growled out "what made you buy so much bread?"

And here is another Confederate letter:

Richmond, Va.,
Oct. 24, 1864.

Mr. Steele.

Dear Sir.--I have been waiting very anxiously to hear if you
had succeeded in making the arrangements with Allison to take
us to Baltimore.

If it is possible to get Allison or any other person with a
schooner to make the trip to Baltimore and bring back goods,
make the arrangement for the trip and let me know when I am to
come down and I will come prepared to make the trip.

Any goods you may wish to bring I will take through in my
name. Let me hear from you as soon as you can hear from
Allison.

Your obdt. servant,
Dr. E. POWELL.

Cor. Main & 10th Sts.,
Richmond, Va.

FILE XXI.

Terrence R. Quinn.

Terrence R. Quinn, previously spoken of, backed by his military friends, complained of abuse which he alleged was put upon him by our officers, and I was called upon to make the following statement in reply:

Office Provost Marshal,
Baltimore, Md.,
Oct. 20, 1864.

Lt. Col. Woolley,
Provost Marshal.

Colonel.--I have the honor to make the following statement
regarding the arrest of Terrence R. Quinn, and the causes for
such arrest.

On or about March 18, 1864, I arrested Quinn by order of Major
H. Z. Hayner, then Provost Marshal of this Department.

This arrest was caused by statements made by one John W.
Lewis, to the effect that during a period of six or eight
months then last past, at different times Quinn had stated to
him that he was engaged in running the blockade and held out
great inducements for Lewis to join him. He (Quinn) stating
that he was the owner of several schooners, and told how he
got clear on a former charge of the same kind, at the same
time admitting his guilt.

On searching Quinn's house, No. 23 Constitution street, I
found a great many letters addressed to parties in Richmond,
Confederate officers and others, which were letters of
introduction, stating that it was Mr. Terrence R. Quinn's
intention to visit Richmond and recommending him as "always a
friend of the South."

These letters were written by Rebel officers in confinement at
Fort McHenry. There were also other letters showing that Quinn
had aided in defrauding the government out of some bonds, and
letters corroborating Quinn's statements in regard to
contraband trade. All of these letters were given to Major
Hayner.

On arresting Quinn I took him in a carriage to Vineyard Hotel,
as it was deemed proper to keep him closely confined until I
could have time to go to the Eastern shore of Va., and seize
his schooners.

He was given a fine room at this hotel and his expenses, about
seventeen dollars per week were all paid by me. He was placed
under a Military guard, and was afterwards transferred to the
prison attached to this office, for examination by an officer
sent here by the Secretary of War.

On seizing Quinn's schooners I found Capt. J. J. Lewis in
command of one. This Lewis was formerly arrested and confined
in Fort McHenry on a charge of blockade running. He admitted
his guilt to me but stated that he was released without a
trial. He is a specimen of the characters in Quinn's employ.

In 1862 Quinn was arrested on charge of blockade running but
was released without trial. He stated to Lewis that he was
guilty but the government was not smart enough to prove it.

I again caused the arrest of Quinn on Sept. 8, 1864, on an
order from General Stevenson, commanding at Harper's Ferry, on
the charge of running negroes away from Va., on forged passes.
General Stevenson also ordered search for passes. I also
caused the arrest of a negro named Andrew Jackson, who stated
that Quinn tried to get him in the army as a substitute, and
also that he did not go to the Provost Marshal for a pass but
that Quinn sent another negro.

As to his being treated brutally: When arrested he was
intoxicated, and two or three times called the officers names,
whereupon the officers struck him, once only. My first
acquaintance with Quinn was when I was Assistant Provost
Marshal at Fort McHenry.

He claims that he is a British subject and not amenable to our
laws.

I am, Colonel,
Very respy. your obdt. servt,
H. B. SMITH,
Lt. & Chief.

FILE XXII.

The great fraud attempted in the Presidential election of 1864, wherein the misplacing of a single letter led to its detection, and may be said to have saved our nation from disruption--Involving Governor Seymour and Adjutant General Andrews--Arrest of Ferry, Donohue and Newcomb, one of the most successful kidnappings on record.

The Presidential election of 1864 was then upon us, and indeed it was most momentous. The issue was to determine the life of this Union. Mr. Lincoln was renominated, and General George B. McClellan was nominated to run against him. And quite fittingly, Horatio Seymour, who was to have been leader of secession in the North (according to my information), who had lent his whole influence towards obstruction, was made chairman of the convention that nominated McClellan.

A resolution of the convention read:

"Resolved, that this Convention does explicitly declare, as
the sense of the American people, that after four years of
failure to restore the Union by experiment of War * * * the
public welfare demands that immediate efforts be made for a
cessation of hostilities."

In the convention Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, said:

"The delegates from the West were of the opinion that
circumstances may occur between noon of to-day and the 4th of
March next (inauguration day) which will make it proper for
the Democracy of the Country to meet in Convention again."

What could he have referred to? Solve the riddle if you can. Ponder on a "Northwestern Confederacy"; the Sons of Liberty, and the seizure of their arms; and also on Lincoln's assassination, only a few days after March 4th, 1865.

All of this leads me to what I am about to tell about that election, wherein the same influences that failed with bullets to disrupt the Union were now trying to accomplish the same purpose with ballots.

I will not charge McClellan with disloyalty, yet I can not help asking why did he lend his name to the disloyal movement? There were disloyal Northerners, but not one of them voted for Lincoln.

I do not claim that all who voted for McClellan were disloyal, but that all the disloyal, including all blockade-runners and bounty jumpers, voted for him.

On the 21st of April, 1864, a law was enacted in New York State called "an act to enable the qualified electors of this State, absent therefrom in the military service of the United States, in the Army or navy thereof, to vote."

This law provided for a power of attorney appointing a proxy who would present his (the soldier's) sealed envelope, addressed to the election inspectors in his home or residence district. The ballot was to be in a sealed envelope, and to be opened only by the inspectors; this envelope was to be enclosed in another, outer envelope addressed to his proxy. The outer envelope was to contain also the power of attorney for the proxy to so present the sealed ballot.

And now I will tell you how merely the misplacing of the letter "L" betrayed one of the greatest crimes of the period, entirely defeated its perpetration, and helped to save our Union.

On Thursday afternoon, October 20th, 1864, General Wallace came to my office with Mr. Orville K. Wood, of Clinton county, New York.

Mr. Wood had a blank or partly blank document which he had found in possession of a soldier from his county. It was a blank power of attorney, such as were provided for voting under the law of April 21st, 1864. The jurat was signed in blank: