Read Ebook: Assassination of Lincoln: a History of the Great Conspiracy Trial of the Conspirators by a Military Commission and a Review of the Trial of John H. Surratt by Harris T M Thomas Mealey

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e should be known to them as a man holding the same opinions and actuated by the same purposes as themselves. To gain fully their confidence was necessary to the success and usefulness of his mission. This he could only do by making them believe that his sentiments and purposes were in unison with their own. Of course this involved duplicity and falsehood, yet it is held to be allowable in war, because it may be made to contribute to success. A great deal of the strategy in war consists in deceiving the enemy; and if it is ever allowable by falsehood to deceive, it was certainly allowable by falsehood to deceive those who were playing false to their government to accomplish its overthrow. They were secretly concocting their schemes for the accomplishment of this purpose; and to be forearmed against them, it was necessary to be forewarned of them. This could only be done by this kind of deception, which is the same in its nature as that practiced by every spy. But spies are used by both parties to the conflict in every war. War is in its very nature atrociously wicked; and so, its ethics cannot be made to conform to the accepted morality that ought to govern peaceful life. But whilst war is wicked and ought never to be provoked, it is yet justifiable when it becomes necessary to the preservation of the life of a nation. Upon the aggressor in this case the responsibility belongs. On him the guilt falls. A defensive war is always justifiable; and so, according to the code of military ethics, everything that is necessary to its successful prosecution is also justifiable. This secret service department has always been considered one of these indispensable necessities; and it has never been regarded as a just ground of impeachment of a man's character for truthfulness and honesty that he has been found engaged in this kind of service. Indeed the very nature of the duties of this service call for a man of sterling integrity, in order that the information obtained through him may have the quality of reliability.

That Richard Montgomery succeeded fully in gaining the confidence of these Canada rebels is shown by the fact that they made him a medium of communication between themselves and the Richmond government. His character is further shown by the fact that when they paid him one hundred and fifty dollars for carrying despatches to Richmond he credited the government with it on his expense account. And that he acted faithfully in the discharge of his duties to his government is shown by the fact that he always submitted the despatches sent by him to the authorities at Washington, where copies of them were kept when they were allowed to pass. This is sufficient evidence that he was in a position to learn the facts to which he testified, and also presumptive evidence of the credibility of his statements. The force of his evidence could only have been broken by undoubted proof that he was a man that could not be believed under oath.

Dr. James B. Merritt was a native of Canada by accident, having been born there whilst his parents were there on a visit, but had been all his life a citizen of the State of New York. He went to Canada in the spring of 1864, and practiced his profession at Windsor and Dumfries. He passed amongst the rebels in Canada as a sympathizer of the Southern cause, and was accepted by them as a good rebel, and was fully taken into their confidences. They talked freely to him, and revealed their plans to him without hesitation or reserve. His testimony, as we have seen, is very specific, and relates to facts of the greatest importance. He testified that his sympathies had always been with his government, and that his object in dissembling in his intercourse with the Canada rebels was to be able to impart information to the United States government when he deemed it of sufficient importance to justify or require its communication.

That he did thus voluntarily, and without compensation, furnish valuable information to the government was shown. He had thus communicated to the Provost Marshal at Detroit the plot to burn New York City. It was also shown that he had made an effort to communicate the knowledge he had obtained, after the meeting of the 6th of April, at which John H. Surratt delivered to Thompson the despatches he had brought from Richmond, as to the parties starting from Canada to Washington to assist in the work of assassination. There was sufficient evidence of his loyalty and usefulness to the government, and his credibility was not assailed. He was a self-constituted secret service man, working without compensation, and so entitled to all the more honor.

Of course they were like demons in their rage when they saw that he had revealed all of their doings. He was at once virtually made a prisoner by twelve or fifteen men armed to the teeth, who confronted him with his testimony before the Commission. Conover found himself suddenly and unexpectedly placed in a situation of great difficulty and danger, escape being impossible, and so he denied that he had been before the Commission as a witness.

They then required him to make a denial under oath, and set a lawyer at work to put this disavowal in the most imposing shape, whilst they sent for an officer to administer the oath, informing Conover that he must appear to the officer not only to be willing, but anxious to swear to this disclaimer, in which they make him say he had been personated before the Commission by some infamous scoundrel, who had sworn to a tissue of falsehoods, and telling him that if he manifested the least hesitation or unwillingness his life would pay the forfeit. He at first, in order to get away from them, proposed that he would go to the hotel and prepare the paper that they required. O'Donnell told him that would not do, and that he would shoot him down like a dog if he did not do as they required. Conover still declining, Sanders said to him, "Wallace, you see what kind of hands you are in; I hope you will not be so foolish as to refuse." Seeing there was no other way of escape from them, Conover finally did what they required. They then had a lawyer, by the name of Kerr, to write out and sign and be qualified to a very formal affidavit covering the whole case, to the effect that he was present and saw Conover swear to the disavowal referred to, and that he did it willingly, and appeared anxious to do so, in justice to his own character. These affidavits they at once published to the world through the Canada papers, and with them also published the following advertisement, as if from Conover:--

Five hundred dollars reward will be given for the arrest, so that I can bring to punishment, in Canada, of the infamous and perjured scoundrel who recently personated me under the name of Sanford Conover, and deposed to a tissue of falsehoods before the Military Commission at Washington.

JAMES W. WALLACE.

They also wrote and published over his name, as if from him, the following letter:--

MONTREAL, June 8th, 1865. JAMES W. WALLACE.

Conover not returning to Washington at the time he was expected, it was realized that he had been put in jeopardy by the premature publication of his testimony, and so it became the duty of the United States to follow him with its protecting arm, and he was rescued through the intervention of General Dix.

Being thus rescued, he came again before the Commission and testified circumstantially to all of the above facts, and thus exposed the effort of the conspirators to break the force of his testimony by an affidavit extorted by violence whilst he was virtually a prisoner, and supported by that of Kerr, who may not have known that he testified to a falsehood, as the coercion was used before he was sent for, and still held over the head of Conover by the threat that if he manifested the least hesitation or unwillingness before Kerr his life would pay the forfeit. The testimony of Conover as to the circumstances under which this affidavit was extorted from him, was substantiated, as also his character, by Nathan Auser, who testified as follows:--

"I reside in New York, and am acquainted with Sanford Conover, who has just testified. I have known him eight or ten years; his character for integrity and usefulness is good as far as I know. I recently accompanied him to Montreal, in Canada, and was present at an interview which he had with Beverly Tucker, George N. Sanders, and that clique of rebel conspirators.

"After we went into O'Donnell's room, at Montreal, Mr. Cameron gave each of us a paper containing the evidence Mr. Conover gave here in Washington before the Commission, when he denied it. They told him he must sign a written paper to that effect, and if he did not he would not leave the room alive. O'Donnell said that he would shoot him like a dog if he did not. Mr. Conover was first going to his hotel to write the paper; at first they agreed to this, but when they got as far as St. Lawrence Hall they made up their minds they would not let him do this himself, and when they went upstairs at St. Lawrence Hall they would not let me go up. There were, I think, twelve or fifteen of the conspirators together; among them Sanders, Tucker, O'Donnell, General Carroll, Pallen, and Cameron. They all accompanied him for the purpose of preventing his escape and obliging him to do what they required."

Thus was their attempt to break the force of Conover's testimony by fraud and violence exposed, and they were left in a more pitiable condition than if they had not made the effort. Conover stands in a better light as a witness than he did before it was made.

The question will naturally suggest itself to the intelligent reader, why, if these men knew of the purpose and preparations referred to as the result of the reception of the despatches from Richmond at the hands of Surratt, did they not inform the authorities at Washington? Accepting the fact that they had all the knowledge on this subject which is implied in their testimony, and that they were loyal to the government, as they declared themselves to be under oath, this would seem plainly to have been their duty.

The counsel for the defense were not slow to perceive this fact, and sought to weaken their standing before the Commission by asking them this very question. The answers elicited, however, only served to strengthen their testimony. In answer, Dr. Merritt stated as follows: "On Saturday the 8th of April I was at Galt, five miles from which place Harper's mother lives, and I ascertained there that Harper and Caldwell had stopped there and had started for the States. When I found they had left for Washington, probably for the purpose of assassinating the President, I went to Squire Davidson, a justice of the peace, to give information and have them stopped.

"He said that the thing was too ridiculously or supremely absurd to take any notice of; it would only appear foolish to give such information and cause arrests to be made on such grounds; it was so inconsistent that no person would believe it; and he declined to issue any process. I then called upon the judge of the court of assizes, made my statement to him, and he said I should have to go to the grand jury."

In his answer it is made to appear that Dr. Merritt made an earnest effort to have this information imparted to the government, and did all that we can reasonably think that he ought to have done.

His testimony is corroborated by that of Squire Davidson, who made a statement to the government after the assassination, of this interview that Merritt had sought with him and of the purpose of it; and it was upon this information that Dr. Merritt was brought before the Commission as a witness.

Here again we find that the witness Conover fulfilled his duty, which, under the circumstances in which his testimony places him in regard to the matter, any reasonable man could have required of him. And his position was also strengthened before the Commission by the answer elicited.

Lewis F. Bates, who testified as to Jefferson Davis's remarks to his auditors on reading to them the telegram from General Breckinridge, informing him of the assassination of the President, etc., and of his remarks to General Breckinridge on the following day at the dinner table, was a resident of Charlotte, N.C., where he had been for a little over four years. He was superintendent of the Southern Express Company for the State of North Carolina. He was a native of Massachusetts. The responsible position in which we find him vouches for his standing as a reliable man amongst those who knew him. His character was further established before the Commission by the testimony of a witness who was acquainted with him, James E. Russell, as follows: "I reside in Springfield, Mass. I have known Lewis F. Bates for about twenty-five years. For the last five years I have not known anything of his whereabouts, until I learned from him that he had been living in Charlotte, N.C. He was in business as a baggage-master on the Western Railroad, Massachusetts, while I was conductor, and I never heard anything against his reputation for truth."

We have simply extracted from this article that part which from the nature of the subject claims our attention, as it relates to the testimony of Lewis F. Bates before the Commission. Let us first notice Mr. Harrison's assumption that Secretary Stanton and General Holt had concocted a scheme to fasten on Jefferson Davis a guilty complicity in the murder of Mr. Lincoln. This charge Mr. Harrison makes with brazen effrontery, but does not bring a scintilla of evidence to sustain it. Here are two high officers of the government,--the Secretary of War, and the head of the Department of Military Justice,--men of unsullied personal and official reputation, charged with concocting a scheme to take the life of Jefferson Davis on a trumped-up charge, and sustained by false testimony. The Secretary of War, as was his duty, employed every agency in his power to ferret out the conspirators, and in the progress of his investigations turned over to the Judge Advocate General all the facts that came to his knowledge, together with the names of the persons by whom they could be proven. These persons were brought before the Judge Advocate and carefully examined as to what they knew, and so became witnesses before the Commission, when they were found to have knowledge of facts bearing on the great crime that had been committed.

That any witness was in any manner coerced, or required to render testimony that had been prepared for him by these officers as charged, will only be believed by those who are ignorant of the personal and official character of these noble, patriotic, men, or those who, like Mr. Harrison, are willing to thus calumniate on their own responsibility. That Mr. Bates was testifying under any manner of duress will not be believed by any member of the Commission who is yet living, and who can recall the appearance and manner of the witness in giving his testimony. He was evidently telling just what he had seen and heard, and did it willingly. The charge of Mr. Harrison, that Bates was carried to Washington and made to testify, rests simply on the authority of Mr. Burton N. Harrison, whilom private secretary to Jefferson Davis, unsustained by any evidence.

The evidence given by Bates was taken down, as delivered, by a stenographer, and read to him before he was discharged, and its correctness admitted by him, as witnessed by his signature. This testimony was published in the newspapers, and also in the official record of the trial. What excuse, then, can Mr. Harrison give for quoting it as he recollected it, and so failing to give anything like a correct version of his testimony?

The testimony of Bates was that Mr. Davis, whilst addressing the people from the steps of Bates's house, received a telegram from General Breckinridge informing him of the assassination of President Lincoln, and that an attempt had been made on the life of William H. Seward, and that he was repeatedly stabbed and probably mortally wounded, and that in concluding his speech he read the telegram aloud, and made this remark, "If it were to be done it were better it were well done." The witness added, "I am quite sure that these are the words he used." And again, "A day or two afterward Jefferson Davis and John C. Breckinridge were present at my house, when the assassination of the President was the subject of conversation. In speaking of it, John C. Breckinridge remarked to Davis that he regretted it very much, that it was very unfortunate for the people of the South at that time. Davis replied, 'Well, General, I don't know; if it were to be done at all, it were better that it were well done, and if the same had been done to Andy Johnson, the beast, and to Secretary Stanton, the job would then be complete.' No remark was made at all as to the criminality of the act, and from the expression used by John C. Breckinridge I drew the conclusion that he simply regarded it as unfortunate for the people of the South at that time." Here is Bates's testimony as it stands recorded, and was also published at the time. Why did not Mr. Harrison address himself to this testimony instead of giving his version of it from memory, and confounding it with newspaper reports as to what Bates claimed to have been his testimony, and thus finding an opportunity to substitute Col. William P. Johnston for General Breckinridge, thus contradicting it through Johnston? General Breckinridge was the only man who could have contradicted Bates's testimony. If he ever did do this it has not come to the knowledge of the writer. Bates's testimony cannot be set aside in the manner attempted by Mr. Harrison.

The charge made by the government on that trial against Jefferson Davis of inciting and encouraging the assassins, implicating him thus far in the murder of Mr. Lincoln, was only made upon the evidence before it, and which we have already presented at length.

It was not a trumped-up charge for the purpose of gratifying malice, or with a view to the taking of the life of Mr. Davis unjustly in revenge, but a charge made in good faith, and sustained by evidence that has never been overthrown.

The rebellion was declared to be at an end shortly after the trial of the assassins. The proclamation of martial law ceased with the proclamation of peace. Civil law took the place of martial law with the issuance of the proclamation that the rebellion was at an end. The work of reconstruction belonged to the political department of the government, and the benign policy of condoning the past, and only securing guarantees for the future was wisely adopted; this security is found in the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, and illustrates the tempering of justice with mercy as had never been before done in the history of the race. It can never be claimed that the government abandoned its charge made against any of these parties because it did not bring them to trial when it had it in its power to do so. The charges as made have never been withdrawn. They stand in the records of that trial, and the evidence on which the charges were based has been presented to the world and the question of the guilt or innocence of the parties has been referred to the decision of an enlightened and impartial public sentiment and to the judgment of the world.

But we will now consider the credibility of this testimony from another standpoint. Here we have three witnesses,--Conover, Montgomery, and Merritt,--strangers to each other, testifying as to the facts known to each one separately, and they completely corroborate each other. There could have been no possible collusion, and yet their testimony is the same. It is, as it were, the continued story of one man, who is consistent with himself at every point. The purposes of the conspirators and their plans through a period of several months are the same, whether they come to us through Conover, Montgomery, or Merritt. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." The assassination plot was that which engrossed their thoughts. They were continually scheming for its accomplishment; it was the thing dear to their hearts and was the constant theme of their tongues.

The witnesses corroborate each other in showing that this was the case. In regard to the fact testified to by both Montgomery and Merritt, that the conspirators stated they were destroying their papers, we have the additional testimony of George B. Hutchinson, who testified as follows: "On the 2d of June, and on the morning of the 3d, 1865, I saw Dr. Merritt in conversation with Beverly Tucker, at St. Lawrence Hall, in Montreal. I heard Beverly Tucker say in reply to a remark of Dr. Merritt, that he had burned all the letters for fear that some 'Yankee son of a b--h' might steal them out of his room and use them in testimony against him. They were at the time speaking about this trial, and the charges against them. They were talking to Dr. Merritt as to one to whom they gave their confidence."

Who, in the light of all the facts given in this testimony, which fulfills all the conditions, on down to the crucial test of credibility--that of the concurrence of three witnesses, who were entire strangers to each other, in the statement of all the essential facts--can doubt that all these men implicated in the charge and specifications preferred by the government were equally guilty with John H. Surratt and John Wilkes Booth of the assassination accomplished, and that attempted; as, also, of the others planned. It matters not that for good and sufficient reasons they were never called to account by the government, when it had it in its power to do so; they yet stand, and must forever stand, condemned by an intelligent and candid world. If their guilt is not proven I do not see how it would be possible to prove anything.

A CRITICISM OF NICOLAY AND HAY.

Nicolay and Hay in their "Life of Lincoln" , say: "The surviving conspirators, with the exception of John H. Surratt, were tried by a military commission sitting in Washington in the months of May and June.

"The charges against them specified that they were 'incited and encouraged' to treason and murder by Jefferson Davis and the Confederate emissaries in Canada. This was not proven on the trial; the evidence bearing on the case showed frequent communication between Canada and Richmond and the Booth coterie in Washington, and some transactions in drafts at the Montreal Bank where Jacob Thompson and Booth kept their accounts. It was shown by the sworn testimony of a reputable witness that Jefferson Davis at Greensboro', on hearing of the assassination, expressed his gratification at the news; but this, so far from proving any direct complicity in the crime, would rather prove the opposite, as a conscious murderer usually conceals his malice. Against all the rest, the facts we have briefly stated were abundantly proved," etc. In a foot-note they add: "When captured by General Wilson he affected to think he cleared himself of suspicion in this regard by saying that Johnson was more objectionable to him than Lincoln--not noticing that the conspiracy contemplated the murder of both." From this there would seem to have been some doubt in the mind of the writer on the question of Davis's innocence. Again, they say: "Davis, in speaking to General Wilson about this charge, said that he regarded the charge of treason as likely to give him more trouble than this." Of course he relied on the sagacity of his co-conspirators in Canada for the destruction of all documentary evidence against him, and so he felt that his guilt could not be proven. The writer has the highest regard for these authors, and a very high appreciation of the manner in which they have handled their great subject. The history of several of the last years of the life of Abraham Lincoln is inseparably linked with the history of his country, and that the most momentous period of its history. To do justice to the subject of their memoir required a vast amount of the most painstaking research, and a general overhauling of the political history of the country over a period of a dozen or more years.

Jefferson Davis received the news of the assassination at Charlotte, not at Greensboro'. Breckinridge telegraphed the news to him from Greensboro'. It is the testimony of Lewis F. Bates to which they refer. But my readers, who have so lately read Mr. Bates' testimony, I am sure will not recognize it in the account which these authors give of it; and as they have failed in giving us a true account of the testimony, we cannot wonder if they draw an erroneous conclusion from it inferentially. It will be remembered that all the expressions that escaped from the rebel chief on that occasion were those of deep-felt dissatisfaction and bitter disappointment. A free rendering of his language on that occasion would amount to just this: "It might just as well not have been done at all, since the job was not thoroughly done. If Andy Johnson, the beast, and Stanton had only been included, the job would then have been complete. It would have been of some account to us." His whole speech and demeanor on that occasion show him to have been a co-conspirator, fully aware of the scope of their plot, and displeased at the incompleteness of the "job."

In this rather long extract, in which the situation is pictured with a facile pen, there are two assumptions that are wholly irreconcilable with the evidence.

The first is, that the plot was at first to capture the President and carry him to Richmond, whether with or without the approbation of the Canada conspirators, our author's assume cannot be known.

The evidence does not show that such a plot was really entertained either by Booth or his co-conspirators in Canada. Conover testified that he heard this scheme discussed at a meeting of the latter in February; but it does not appear that it was ever considered practicable, or was really entertained by them. The proposition was too quixotic to receive the serious consideration of rational, intelligent men. All the testimony in regard to the Canada conspirators shows that they were all the time from October, 1864, devoting all their thoughts to securing the assassination, not only of the President, but also of the others named in the charge and specifications, and that by nothing but the assassination of all of these men could the political end which they sought be secured. This assumption of our authors is shown by the testimony to be wholly untenable. The next assumption to which I take exceptions is equally untenable in the light which the testimony throws on the subject. It is, that the assassination was the result of a hasty impulse of rage and disappointment, akin to madness; that a new crime was thus conceived, which grew out of the ruins of the abduction plot, which I have already sufficiently shown was never entertained by any of the parties. So far from being the result of a hasty impulse, the testimony clearly proves that it had been long entertained, and that they had all been planning, preparing, and arranging for its execution for months.

It is greatly to be regretted that such popular, and usually reliable, authors, should have allowed themselves on this occasion to write thus loosely, and express opinions and conclusions so much at variance with the testimony. It tends to obscure the truth of history, and to the formation of an erroneous public opinion.

The conclusion at which I have arrived, and expressed without hesitation, as to the guilt of Davis and his Canada Cabinet in this matter, stands untouched by that expressed by these authors, because it is manifest that they not only had never studied, but were quite unfamiliar with, the evidence on which alone a right judgment can be based.

All I ask of my readers is, that they will scan carefully what I have given as having been fairly deduced from the testimony before the Commission, or to study the testimony itself as given in Pittman's official report of the trial, and then judge between us.

JACOB THOMPSON'S BANK ACCOUNT. WHAT BECAME OF THE MONEY?

The testimony before the Commission developed the fact that the Canada Cabinet was kept well supplied with money, and that Jacob Thompson was the Judas that carried the bag.

"Mr. Jacob Thompson has left Montreal since the 14th of April last. I heard him say he was going away. He used to come to the bank two or three times a week, and the last time he was in he gave a check to the hotel keeper, which I cashed, and he then left the hotel. His friends stated to me that he was going to Halifax, overland. Navigation was not open then, and I was told he was going overland to Halifax, and thence to Europe. I thought it strange at the time that he was going overland, when by waiting two weeks longer he could have taken a steamer; and it was talked of in the bank among the clerks. The account was opened with Jacob Thompson individually. The newspaper report was that he was financial agent of the Confederate States. We only knew that he brought Southern sterling exchange bills, drawn on Southern agents in the old country, and brought them to our bank for collection. How they came to him we did not know. He was not, as far as I know, engaged in any business in Canada requiring these large sums of money.

"He had other large money transactions in Canada. I knew of one transaction of ,000, that came through the Niagara District Bank, at St. Catherines, a check drawn to the order of Mr. Clement C. Clay, and deposited by him in that bank; they sent it to us, August 16th, 1864, to put to their credit.

"Thompson has several times bought from us United States notes or greenbacks. On August 25th he bought ,000 in greenbacks, and on July 14th, ,125. This was the amount he paid in gold, and at that time the exchange was about 55. I could not say what the amount of greenbacks was, but that is what he paid for it in gold. On March 14th last he bought ,000 worth of greenbacks at 44-3/4, for which he paid 2.20 in gold. On the 20th of March he bought ?6,500 sterling at 9-1/2. He also bought drafts on New York in several instances. J. Wilkes Booth, the actor, had a small account at our bank. I had one or two transactions with him, but do not remember more at present. He may have been in the bank a dozen times; and I distinctly remember seeing him once. He has still left to his credit 5, arising from a deposit made by him, consisting of 0, in Montreal bills, and Davis's check on Merchant's Bank of 5. Davis is a broker, who kept his office opposite the St. Lawrence Hall, and is, I think, either from Richmond or Baltimore.

"When Booth came into the bank for this exchange he bought a bill of exchange for ?61 and some odd shillings, remarking, 'I am going to run the blockade, and in case I should be captured can my capturers make use of the exchange?' I told him they could not unless he endorsed the bill, which was made payable to his order. He then said he would take 0, and pulled out that amount, I think, in American gold. I figured up what 0 would come to at the rate of exchange. I think it was 9-1/2, and gave him a bill of exchange for ?61 and some odd shillings."

The bills of exchange found on Booth's body at the time of his capture were here exhibited to the witness, who said, "These are the Ontario Bank bills of exchange that were sold to Booth, bearing date October 27th, 1864."

THE BEN WOOD DRAFT.

The following is the testimony of Daniel S. Eastwood, in regard to Jacob Thompson's bank account, and serves to account for ,000 of his expenditures: "I am assistant manager of the Montreal branch of the Ontario Bank, Canada. I was officially acquainted with Jacob Thompson, formerly of Mississippi, who has for some time been sojourning in Canada, and have knowledge of his account with our bank, a copy of which was presented to this Commission by Mr. Campbell, our assistant teller.

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