ABRAHAM LINCOLN and The Fifth Column By GEORGE FORT MILTON FIGHTING FORCES SERIES HE INFANTRY JOURNAL LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/abrahamlincolnfiOOmilt ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE FIFTH COLUMN Abraham Lincoln and The Fifth Column BY GEORGE FORT MILTON WASHINGTON THE INFANTRY JOURNAL 1943 Copyright, 1942, by The Vanguard Press, Inc. withou No portion of this book may be reprinted in any form wishes written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who for a newspaper o to quote brief passages in connection with a review magazine. Reprinted by Permission of The Vanguard Press, Inc. Printed in the United States of America p^f,6f *J? To Alice Fort Milton Daughter, Companion, and Friend I Dedicate this Book CONTENTS Chapter Page 1 Lincoln Faces the Crisis 1 2 Birth of the Fifth Column 11 3 Wartime Washington 25 4 The Knights of the Golden Circle 38 6 The Struggle Over Emancipation 60 6 Seymour: Leader of the Loyal Opposition 75 7 The Consequences of the Draft 87 8 Vallandigham and General Order 38, Ill Candidate in Exile 126 Morton: Dictator of Indiana 137 1864: The Critical Year 149 The Anatomy of Treason 174 Stidger, The Spy Complete 188 The Northwest Conspiracy 204 The Indiana Treason Trials and Ex Parte Milligan 225 Thus Be It Ever 239 Cvii] ACKNOWLEDGMENT In the preparation of this volume on Abraham Lincoln and the Fifth Column, the author has been fortunate in having had the thoughtful and generous aid of many- people. Both in the investigation of source material, the quest for an understanding of the mass of data, and the critical analysis of the work from first rough draft to final book, this assistance has been invaluable. The official documents of conspiracies, espionage and counter-espionage upon which, to a large extent, the book is based could not have been identified and examined ex- cept for the intelligent co-operation and assistance of the staff of the National Archives, at Washington. In addition, the burden of the actual writing of the manuscript was greatly lessened by the courtesy of that institution in mak- ing available a workroom in which the book could be writ- ten. The sagacious advice and friendly offices of Dr. Solon J. Buck, the Archivist of the United States, have put me greatly in his debt. Dr. Philip M. Hamer, Director of Ref- erence, aided in many essential ways. Among others at the National Archives who cooperated, let me testify my appreciation to Miss Elizabeth Drewry, of the Division of Reference, who was of especial aid in indicating the location of pertinent bodies of material. Dr. Ralph Lounsbury's suggestions were pertinent, and Mrs. Nadene Boyer aided in many ways. Mr. Karl L. Trevor, the Librarian, was most co-operative, as was his assistant, Miss Irma Swank. The quest of pertinent documents in the chaotic mass of War Department records could not have been nearly so fruitful had it not been for the aid of Mr. Dallas D. Irvine, Head of the War Department Division of the Ar- chives, or that of Mr. Jerome Thomases, who suggested many interesting fields of inquiry; Mr. Robert Ballantine and Miss Marie Stark. The counsel of Mrs. Natalia Sum- mers, of the State Department Division of the Archives was most helpful; Miss Julia M. Bland, of that unit, was prompt and competent in supplying documents desired. In the general formulation of the plan of the volume, the author is particularly indebted to Dr. James G. Randall, of the University of Illinois, one of the most sagacious of [i±3 the historians of the Civil War period. Mr. Giles G. Hoffer, of Etna Green, Indiana, a graduate student under Dr. Randall, supplied some important original material and useful points of view. Mr. Alexander J. Wall, Secretary of the New York Historical Society, a long-recognized author- ity on the career of Horatio Seymour, was of aid; Mr. Lauriston F. Bullard, of Boston; Mr. Lloyd Lewis, of Chi- cago; Dr. William B. Hesseltine, of the University of Wis- consin, and Mr. Otto Eisenschiml, of Chicago, helped shape the pattern for the book. Captain Cecil Holland, U.S.A., whose volume on General John H. Morgan, is in the press; and Mr. Howard Swiggett, author of The Rebel Raider, helped clear up several gaps in the relation of Morgan and his aides with the fifth columnists. William H. Townsend, of Lexington, Kentucky, suggested several useful fields of inquiry, as did Dr. Thomas Clark, of the University of Kentucky, and Mr. Gilbert E. Govan, of the University of Chattanooga. The author wishes to express his appreciation of the interest shown by Dr. Christopher B. Coleman, the Director of the Indiana State Historical Commission, at Indianapolis; and to Leland R. Smith, Indiana State Archivist, and Mrs. Hazel Hopper, of the Indiana State Historical Society. Mrs. Frank Hutchinson of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, kindly accorded permission to make use of the H. V. Johnson letter, the original of which is in her possession, and aided the in research concerning it. Mr. Walter Locke, Editor of Dayton News, undertook helpful inquiries as to the manu- script and other records of Clement L. Vallandigham in Dayton. Mr. Wellington Wright, of New York City, fur- nished interesting data on Fernando Wood. Several thoughtful friends read the manuscript either in rough draft or final form, and were extremely helpful in forming the book's final shape and pattern. Mr. Edward Eyre Hunt's reflective philosophy was a useful guide to the evaluation of the factors in the fifth column struggle. The thoughtful, detailed criticism of style and arrangement needed by Miss Helen I. Slentz, of Washington, afforded a corrective to imprecise or repetitious writing. Miss Elmore Blaisdell, of New York City, gave many effective style ideas. The judgment of Dr. Pendleton Herring, of Harvard University, on proper perspectives proved most useful. Major Waldo Shumway, U.S.A.; Mr. Barnet Nover, the M military expert of the Washington Post; Mrs. G. E. For- bush, talented detective writer of Washington, aided in- dividual subject treatments. Judge Joseph C. Hutchinson, Jr., of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, of Hous- ton, Texas, and Dean M. T. Van Hecke, of the College of Law of the University of North Carolina, read the Vallan- digham case chapters critically. Dr. J. A. Hall, of Washing- ton, formerly of Paoli, Indiana, performed the same service for matters relating to Dr. Bowles and fifth column activi- ties in Indiana. But for the admirable and unflagging work of my secre- tary, Mrs. Pauline Rothfeld; and for the competent, atten- tive stenographic efforts of Miss Eleanor Wagner and Mrs. Janet Spiker, all of Washington, the production of the manuscript would have been greatly delayed. All three of them worked under extreme pressure to carry the narrative through from rough notes to finished manuscript. Mr. Joseph Greenbaum, of New York, prepared the index, with his accustomed meticulous care and skill. Undoubtedly this volume contains many errors of com- mission, omission, and evaluation. For these, the full re- sponsibility is mine. To the many who have generously aided the building of this book, let me express my heartfelt gratitude. Should some be interested in this picture of the way Abraham Lincoln defeated the Copperhead fifth col- umn, this will be my most enduring reward. George Fort Milton Washington, D. C. July 4, 19$ Cxi] Chaptek 1 LINCOLN FACES THE CRISIS Before dawn on Friday, April 13, 1861, a white-haired Prophet of Secession fired the first gun of the Civil War. The very morning that Beauregard's batteries bombarded Sumter, Abraham Lincoln, in Washington, received a com- mittee from the Virginia Constitutional Convention to dis- cuss with it the peaceful restoration of the Union. Before they reached the White House that fateful day, the President had unofficial reports from South Carolina that Fort Sumter had been fired on. He informed the dele- gates of these dispatches, and declared that he would "repel force by force." Lincoln was well aware that the crisis had come, and that catastrophe might be close at hand. For the next four years, this prairie politician commanded the ship of state during the nation's greatest crisis between Valley Forge and Pearl Harbor. The eighty years since Sumter have been marked by great changes in the tools of war. Today death swoops from the sky, slinks on the surface of the seas, and charges in strange steel chariots over the land. These improvements in the tools of destruction and their tactical employment have put a new fagade on the arts of war. But there has been little change in the constants of hu- man nature. In the Civil War, as in our war today, we find the same common denominators. Nobility and heroism are hardy perennials—and so are baseness and cowardice. There are patriots and traitors, and disturbed, upset, un- certain men between. In each crisis, we find appeasers, agi- tators of revolution, and counter-revolutionaries too. Again and again the best families have their quota of the spiritu- ally diseased. Lincoln knew intuitively the many-sidedness of the task. The things he did, the means he used, the foes he overcame, afford fruitful analogies. This is true in his duties as Com- mander in Chief, in his handling of foreign affairs, and in his leadership in the fight against the fifth column in the Loyal States. The literature of the conflict in arms is full of drama, death, and enduring fame.