ARENA OF THE REBELLION EXTENDED--SECRET ORGANIZATION--PLAN OF
FORMATION--KNIGHTS OF GOLDEN CIRCLE--TRANSPORTS ON THE RIVERS
BURNED--EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES--SUPREME COUNCIL IN NEW YORK--DEGREES OF
THE ORDERS.
As above intimated, early in 1862 the Richmond Government foresaw the
necessity of bringing to its aid the hitherto comparatively dormant
resources of treason in the Northern States, and the enlargement of the
arena of the Rebellion. Raids having ominously failed in their design to
arouse the lethargic spirits of Northern sympathizers and advocates,
to rush to the standard of the misguided South, it was immediately
determined to prolong the war, at least, to the date of the next
Presidential election, and then through the agencies of secret
organization and equipment, seize upon the excitement of the people in
a hotly contested election, to force a rebellion against the
administration elect in the North, as had been done in the South in
1860.
The executive part of this object was at once given into the hands of
such trustworthy men, both North and South, as were deemed suitable
to the enterprise, and the work of secret political organization was
vigorously begun in Northern Missouri and Kentucky, from thence it
gradually spread, until it was firmly rooted in the political tenets of
the minority party in the States of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, New
York, and portions of other adjoining States.
Much dissimilarity existed in the operative structure and formation of
the various organizations, from time to time thus instituted. To give
the public a full and complete description of these organizations, would
be foreign to the writer's time, space and purpose, but in order that
some record of their character may be made, a general description of
each in its order in point of time, with a reference to the features in
which radical dissimilarities appear, would seem indispensible to the
poor perfection sought to be obtained by the author of these sketches.
Upon the discovery by Southern leaders that their cause must fail unless
"fire in the rear" was at once instigated in the North, the Order of the
Knights of the Golden Circle, an old Southern institution, was infused
with life, and began its pilgrimage Northward, one additional creed
having been ingrafted upon it.
It will be remembered that this Order was originally composed of the
wealthiest planters, merchants and professional men of the South, and
had for its sole object the inculcation of treason against the United
States. It was simply an institution to educate the Southern mind to the
required standard of rebellion. But when the Order was introduced into
the North, it was found feasible to give it a double capacity, first
that of an educational capacity, and second that of an incendiary
capacity, which comprised the destruction of government property, and
the houses and property of leading loyal citizens of the North, known
to be strong advocates of the suppression of the rebellion. But this
organization in name and cardinal purpose was short-lived, its career
having subserved but a meagre benefit to the South, in a practical point
of view. The damage it did was principally confined to the burning of
United States transports on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the
moulding of the crude opinions of its members, which served as a solid
foundation for the establishment of the Order of American Knights, which
immediately succeeded its dissolution.
Like all institutions of iniquity, the sun of the Order of Knights of
the Golden Circle went down in blood, but was the signal for the advent
of an Order better calculated to meet the ends of its design.
It had been seen upon experiment that the Golden Circle had been
successful beyond the most sanguine expectations of its instigators, and
as the necessity of Northern revolution to insure the certain success of
the Confederacy daily became more apparent to the rebels, both North
and South, the Order of the American Knights was inaugurated--the
executioner of that fell purpose. Its sun arose to its meridian with the
suddenness of a meteor, doomed to flash across the canopy and burst in
scattering atoms.
The Order of American Knights was erected upon the dissolved fragments
of the Order of the Knights of the Golden Circle, which Order, in name,
was abandoned for the additional reason that the suspicions of the
Government had begun to be aroused as to the character of its movements.
At the time of the extinction of the Golden Circle, its members were
at once inducted into the Order of American Knights, so that this Order
obtained much primary advantage, in point of numerical strength, over
its predecessor, for the Golden Circle had already insidiously crept
into the very hearts of several Northern cities and states. The American
Knights being composed in the outset wholly of men who from experience
had discovered whatever defectiveness may have been chargeable upon the
Golden Circle, it was sought in the new Order to remedy the evils of the
old Order.
With this in view, looking over the former and later phases of the
Golden Circle as it had existed in the North and South, respectively,
it was agreed to give the new Order still another capacity, and what
was called the military branch or department was added, the incendiary
capacity of the old Order being merged into this new military
department.
We have seen that there had been in the North an Order mainly of
educational capacity, contemplating revolution so soon as the public
mind could be put in readiness for such an event, but now for the first
time we find an Order prepared in its organic structure, to speedily
collect together the elements of revolution and set them in motion. Such
a concern was the Order of American Knights. True, the rise of the Order
created a momentary excitement in political circles, as yet unaccustomed
to dealing with the stern problems of Northern revolution by resort to
arms. But, by the admirable adjustment of the administrative powers
of the Order, into degrees, sub-degrees and departments of degrees and
sub-degrees, the leaders were enabled to give to each adventurer in
quest of the hidden mysteries of the so-called impartial maxims of
genuine Democracy--that Democracy which _boasts of having permeated
through every fibre and artery of our political, commercial and social
systems_, a comfortable and genial sphere in which he was left to
operate upon his good behavior.
Upon this ingenious plan the vast body and mass of the Order simply
held the relation of probationary membership, until they were rendered
competent through the educational capacity of the society, to advance
into full fellowship with its diabolical design. A glance at this
organization will suffice to show the shrewdness of the transient and
local agents of the Confederacy, in their formation of an Order, having
for its mission the attainment of so many incidental objects, without in
the meantime subjecting themselves to the dangers of collision in their
machinery. Accordingly, the Order was composed of three general degrees,
viz.: First, the Temple Degree, second, the Grand Council Degree, and
third, the Supreme Council Degree.
The first or Temple Degree, resembled the county organization of a
State, and held the same relation to the second or Grand Council
Degree (which was the state organization of the Order,) that our county
government holds to our State government, and it was always sought to
establish this first or Temple Degree at each county seat in a State, as
expeditiously as possible, that the second or Grand Council Degree could
the sooner be fully represented, and begin its State management of
the Order. In other chapters the writer has made a passing, though
sufficient allusion to the internal workings of these Temples, and
doubtless the initiated reader, in different sections, will
recognize the facts we have already and are further about to state,
notwithstanding the "_obligation_" the author is supposed to have
subscribed to, not to reveal the existence of the Order and its secrets,
under _penalty of "suffering a shameful death."_
The process usually followed in instituting the Temple Degree, was to
send missionaries with authority, into the districts proposed to be
organized, who called together such of the "unterrified" leaders as were
known to be "_sound_ on Jeff. Davis' goose," before whom the design
and object of the Order was confidentially laid for their approval or
rejection, by a majority vote. It is important to recollect that the
record does not afford an instance where a majority of those assembled
for this purpose, rejected the Order as inconsistent with their
political views. On the contrary, it was everywhere received by the
politicians, both great and small, as "_just the thing they had been
looking for_." These politicians were then left to "manage their own
local affairs" concerning the Order, "subject only to the constitution"
of _Jeff. Davis_. Generally, several meetings and some discussion
enabled these empyrics to determine plans of strategy to screen
themselves, by "_covering the tracks in the sand_," a remark frequently
heard from members.
[Illustration: THE MILITARY COMMISSION IN SESSION IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE
COURT HOUSE IN CINCINNATI.
"All whom we arrested wore the same general wolfish aspect."--From the
testimony of Brig. Gen. B.J. Sweet.]
The plan in most cases adopted, was to familiarize a sufficient number
of the _elect_, with a grossly immoral and treasonable pamphlet, called
the "Ritual of the Order," to enable them to officer the Temple, and
"induct" any number of "candidates" _supposed_ to be "in waiting in the
ante-room, into the sublime," but in fact dark and dubious "mysteries of
the Order."
After one or more squads of these "candidates in" anxious and breathless
"waiting" had been inducted, (meanwhile staring like stuck pigs at every
object and officer which met their eyes,) in addition to the regular
officers of the Temple already installed, it was considered that
enough official and canvassing material had been acquired, and the more
prominent politicians, not officers of the Temple, deemed it prudent
to absent themselves from most of the weekly meetings. Again, it was an
illusion of these leaders, to put forward the most irresponsible persons
at their command, as the mouth-pieces and official representatives of
the Order, to the end that if detected, the theory of _crazy, powerless
fools_, could be wielded upon public sentiment by an undisturbed
partisan press, to save the scheme from thorough investigation and
development by the authorities.
In evidence of the fact of these illusions, L.A. Doolittle lectures the
Temple in Chicago on the "purposes and plans of the Order," (but who
by the way, was not so "insane on the subject" as the men who put him
forward have sought to show him to be,) and prominent politicians,
not before known to be members of the fraternity, appear prior to
semi-annual elections as candidates for representatives in the Grand
Council.
It was duly announced, also, that an extra session of the Supreme
Council had been convened in the city of New York, charged with the
special business of revising the ritual, changing the signs, passwords,
grips, and giving to the Order a new name. Pursuant to announcement,
Charles W. Patten made his appearance in the Temple with the rituals and
paraphernalia of the new Order of the Sons of Liberty--the result of the
proceedings of the late Supreme Council.
This obscure individual, with fame limited to the dusty walls of the
Invincible Club Rooms and the traitor's dungeon at Camp Douglas, upon
his appearance in the Temple, assigned two chief reasons for the recent
action of the Supreme Council. First and most important was, the obvious
inadequacy of the Order of American Knights to subserve the purpose
for which it was instituted, in consequence of the subordination of the
military to the civil department. And, second, the disclosure in
St. Louis had rendered the Order liable to intrusion by spies, an
embarrassment to be avoided only by alteration of signs, grips,
passwords, and name. We were then informed that we were Sons of Liberty
(a sensible man would have said sons of the devil, if he had dared to
have spoken the truth), and earnestly exhorted to exercise the utmost
caution in adhering to the new rules and instructions of the Supreme
Council. It is not a little amusing to witness the homeopathic doses
of modern democracy, carefully administered to the rank and file of the
northern people through the medium of these Orders.
In the first place, the Golden Circle edifies the "stranger advancing in
dark, devious ways" with lessons upon the doctrine of state sovereignty,
and admonishes him to "follow the straight and narrow path which is
paved with gems and pearls, and bordered with perennial flowers whose
perfumes all his senses will entrance," all of which is received by the
sincere candidate with every mark of approval. We next find the American
Knights embracing its members in the bedazzling folds of military lace
to be used when in arms against the Government. A splendid spectacle of
the doctrines of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Douglas! And to cap
the miserable climax, men boasting of the Democracy of their fathers in
a line of lineal descent for generations back, are required to subscribe
to the doctrine of the subordination of the civil to the military
authority by the tenets of the Sons of Liberty.
This astonishing feature of the Sons of Liberty, as contradistinguished
from the Orders which preceded it, at first met with murmurs of
disfavor, but the dissatisfaction was principally among men who
ultimately acted the _nobler part_, and as the tide of treason rolled
up to sustain this measure "for the good of the Order," all such were
submerged and lost sight of, except by the evil eye set upon them as
spies.
Without offering his advice, the writer would respectfully ask the
_true_ Democrat, who may yet, from the temptations of firmly-rooted
prejudices, incline to the belief that this organization was purely
democratic in the Andrew Jackson acceptation of that term, how the above
statement of principles comports with his notions of the doctrines of
the party with which he has hitherto seen fit to fellowship?
Is it not clearly to be seen that this Order meditated the establishment
of a government more despotic in its character than history furnishes
any example of? A government with three degrees or departments, each
oath-bound and a profound secret to the other, moving in their appointed
spheres, and the civil departments of which were secondary, in point of
power, to the military departments!
Let no man, of whatever political persuasion he may be, flatter himself
for a moment that such a government could be Republican in its nature.
Having now traced, with perhaps a tedious hand, the rise and fall of two
political Orders, ranking among the most powerful instruments of crime
and public wrong of their day, the writer bids their unmourned remains
farewell, to pass to the consideration in the succeeding chapter, of
the desperate career and final explosion of the Order of the Sons of
Liberty--a solemn warning to the American people forever.
To save the Goudys, Caulfields, Adams, Edwards, Duncans, Wickershams,
Cuttings, and Kimberlys, the Morrises, Walshes, Jacksons, Pattens,
Gearys, and Doolittles were put forward because they were eager for the
fray, and possessed the temerity to brave the danger of Union bullets.
We have now seen how the Temple or First Degree was instituted in
counties; how the various elements of treason were collected together
and detailed for their special service of educating the ignorant,
manufacturing materials and munitions of war, and devising plots to
burn, plunder, and pillage unsuspecting cities; how each member was
singled out according to his fitness for certain duties, which he
performed without their character coming even to his fellow members
of the same degree; and how the brained leaders of these institutions
retired to the back ground to elude the vigilance of the ministers of
the law, and "adjust the wires" that were to check to-day, and to-morrow
precipitate the conspiracy.
The Grand Council, or Second Degree, was established in every State
where the Temple Degree had obtained any strength and character as
to numbers. This Degree resembled the State in its governmental
organization, and bore the same relation to the Supreme Council or
Third Degree that the State governments of the Federal Union bear to the
government at Washington. The Order having a military department, these
Grand Councils, in council assembled, adopted the militia and other
statute laws of the particular State, with such revisions, exceptions
and additional laws as were deemed essential to the successful operation
of the Order.
Regular semi-annual meetings of the Grand Councils were held, convening
respectively on the 22d of August and the 22d of February--the latter,
in sacrilege be it said, being religiously observed as the birthday of
Washington.
But extra sessions were almost monthly called during the year of 1864,
prior to the election, to take precautionary and other expedient
action upon the continually recurring changes of that eventful year. No
considerable battle was fought in the front, that was not the signal for
the assembling of this council, and no political event of any importance
transpired that did not receive the solemn deliberations of this already
_de facto_ legislative body. Of course no person ever became a member of
this Council who had not first been inducted into the Temple, and then
by his Temple elected as a representative in the Grand Council, the
election for which purpose was held semi-annually as above, and new
representatives took their seats at each regular session.
The Grand Council embraced in its sphere of labors such duties as
experience seemed to dictate, as being necessary to the fulfilment of
the mission of the Order. It provided remedies for unmistakable evils,
and watched with a zealous care and fostering hand, every interest of
treason within the boundaries of its jurisdiction.
The Supreme Council or Third and highest Degree of the Order in
organization, was built after the pattern of the Federal government at
Washington, and wielded a similar general control over the affairs of
the Order, that our National government exerts over the consequences
growing out of the union of the States under one central government.
Here we see how admirably the design to effect Northern rebellion
was conceived. The whole machinery of a government _de facto_, and in
disguise though, it was, with all its branches, both civil and military
in active operation for months and years within the very sound of the
echoing steps of senators in the halls of the Capitol, was indeed a
source of the most serious concern to the authorities, for the safety of
the Republic. But valorous daring, tempered with prudence, was
destined to bring to the light of day this infernal work of years, and
accordingly the city of St. Louis was the scene of the first public
development of the Order of American Knights, early in the spring of
1864, the principal facts of which disclosure the public learned
from the press at the time, hence the writer will only allude in this
connection to the effect created in various Circles of the Order, by the
attempt upon the part of the Government to thwart the perpetration
of the red-handed crimes contemplated by the leaders. When it was
officially announced by Reuben Cassile, presiding Grand Seignior of the
Chicago Temple, then recently removed from the Invincible Club Hall to
McCormick's Building, that disclosures of the Order in St. Louis
had occurred, every countenance was stamped with dismay. The timely
appearance at the Temple, however, of Judge Morris and other leaders,
served to interpose restraint upon any serious apprehensions of
difficulty resulting to the Order.