by John Boyko
Thompson wasn’t finished, but he realized that his mission needed to wind down. With Beall’s botched December train-highjacking attempt outside of Buffalo, Thompson had been forced to listen to yet another report rife with excuses and failure. He told those who wished to leave to pack up and return to the South, and paid the travel expenses of any who asked. The next week, Brigadier General Edwin Gray Lee, Robert E. Lee’s cousin, arrived at Toronto’s Queen’s Hotel with a message. Thompson was to be relieved. Benjamin’s letter praised the work Thompson had done, but said, “From reports which reach us from trustworthy sources, we are satisfied that so close espionage is kept upon you that your services have been deprived of value which is attached to your further residence in Canada. The President thinks, therefore, that as soon as the gentleman arrives who bears this letter … that you transfer to him as quietly as possible all of the information that you have obtained and the release of funds in your hands and then return to the Confederacy.”63
The news surprised and angered Thompson, who argued that he had a great deal of work left to do. He shared the information he had with Lee but made no preparations to leave.64 With Lee establishing himself first in Montreal, Thompson remained active in Toronto. Many of his compatriots were in jail in Toronto, New York and Chicago, and he was determined to do all he could to help them. He forwarded money to help defray the legal costs of Bennett Young and his co-perpetrators of the St. Albans raid. Thompson also wrote letters to Jefferson Davis asking for copies of the men’s commissions so that they could be tried as prisoners of war rather than spies or common criminals. He did the same for Beall, who was on trial in New York. Confederate secretary of the navy Stephen Mallory sent copies of Beall’s commission with a note stating that Jefferson Davis had authorized everything that Thompson and his men had done.65
On January 4, Confederate courier Lieutenant S.B. Davis arrived in Toronto. The presence of Macdonald’s newly hired and empowered detectives, along with Seward’s ever-present spies, meant that that the Queen’s Hotel was no longer safe, so Davis was spirited to George Denison’s home. Thompson gave the messages he needed Davis to deliver to Richmond to Denison’s wife, who had been helping Confederate couriers sneak information across Union lines for some time. Secret pockets were sewn into the linings of clothing and boots, and photographs miniaturized and hidden in the back of buttons. Messages were sometimes written in pencil on silk ribbons and then sewn into clothing. In Davis’s case, Mrs. Dension sewed Thompson’s letters into the civilian clothing they had procured for him. Davis dyed his light hair black and then Lt. Colonel Denison hid him in a carriage and drove him to the Mimico train station.66 Despite the precautions, on January 15, Lieutenant Davis was arrested in Newark, Ohio, found guilty of treason, and sent to Andersonville prison to await his hanging.
Thompson wrote directly to his old acquaintance Abraham Lincoln. He noted that Lieutenant Davis was a Confederate officer who had been acting on his behalf to gather documentation for an upcoming extradition trial. His letter concluded, “You have a right to retain him as a prisoner of war, but I declare on my honor he is not a spy.”67 Lincoln intervened and Davis was paroled.
Davis had been carrying messages regarding Acting Master Bennett Burley, the ammunitions dealer who had been doing business from the foundry in Guelph, Canada West. He was on trial in Toronto for his part in the Philo Parsons adventure. Burley had been found guilty of unlawful warfare and ordered extradited to the United States, but the verdict was under appeal. While waiting for Burley’s day in court, Thompson had written to James Mason, the Confederate minister in London. He sent copies of court transcripts with an appeal: “I think you will agree with me that in this case not only is a great outrage about to be perpetrated on a citizen, but a great wrong is to be done and an insult offered to the Confederate States.”68 He asked Mason to put pressure on the British government to demand that Governor General Monck intervene and stop the extradition of Burley to the United States. Thompson was obviously unaware of the fact that Mason’s power had shrunk to a size as pitiable as his ability to manoeuvre.
Thompson also wrote to Jefferson Davis, who sent a letter directly to the court on Burley’s behalf. It is important for what it revealed about Davis’s view on all that had been transpiring in Canada.
Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, do hereby declare and make known to all whom it may concern, that the expedition aforesaid undertaken in the month of September last, for the capture of the armed steamer Michigan, a vessel of the war of the United States, and for the release of the prisoners of war, citizens of the Confederate States of America, held captive by the United States of American at Johnson’s Island, was a belligerent expedition ordered and undertaken under the authority of the Confederate States of America and that the Government of the Confederate States of America assumes the responsibility for answering for the acts and conduct of any of its officers engaged in said expedition, and especially of the said Bennett G. Burley, an Acting Master of the Confederate States Navy.69
Davis went on to write that all those involved had been ordered to “abstain from violating any of the laws and regulations of the Canadian and British authorities in relation to neutrality.”70 Burley was released.
Confederate Captain John Beall was not so lucky. Beall was on trial in New York City for his involvement in a number of Thompson’s activities. The court found that he was an officer of the Confederate government acting on orders, but that no soldier is immune from prosecution for illegal actions based on that excuse. Judge Advocate-General John Bolles submitted: “If, then, such unlawful command be given and obeyed, its only effect is to prove that both he who gave and he who obeyed the command are criminals, and deserve to be gibbeted together.”71 Beall was found guilty and on February 24 was hanged.
DEBATING IN A HURRICANE
Having made efforts to avert war and ease cross-border strains and mistrust, the Canadian legislature re-initiated its delayed deliberations on Confederation. The debates began on February 6, 1865, with a long and detailed oration by John A. Macdonald. He was followed the next day by Cartier and the next by Brown. All the old arguments were restated in long but articulate and persuasive speeches. The need for increased defence capability took a more central place than had been the case even the previous September and October. Nearly every member spoke, and sixty made direct mention of Confederation as being necessary to create a state that was larger, more stable and better able to protect itself against American aggression. McGee was perhaps most inflammatory in his speech:
They coveted Florida, and seized it; they coveted Louisiana, and purchased it; they coveted Texas, and stole it; and then they picked a quarrel with Mexico which ended by their getting California. They sometimes pretend to despise these colonies as prizes beneath their ambition; but had we not had the strong arm of England over us we should not now have a separate existence. The acquisition of Canada was the first ambition of the American Confederacy, and never ceased to be so, when her troops were a handful and her navy scarce a squadron. Is it likely to be stopped now, when she counts her guns afloat by the thousands and her troops by hundreds of thousands?… only vigorous and timely preparation would protect British North America from the horrors of a war such as the world has never seen.72
While less flamboyant, George Brown made the point most effectively:
A revolution has occurred in Great Britain on the subject of colonial relations to the parent state—the government of the United States has become a great warlike power—our commercial relations with the republic are seriously threatened—and every man in British North America has now placed before him for solution the practical question: What shall be done in view of the changed relations on which we are about to enter? Shall we continue to struggle along as isolated communities—or shall we unite cordially together to extend our commerce, develop the resources of our country, and to defend our soil?73
Opponents of
Confederation also presented their arguments, but it appeared that the well-organized government, confident in its argument and parliamentary majority, would win the day. Then disturbing news came from New Brunswick. Premier Leonard Tilley had been a strong advocate of Confederation throughout the two conferences and had returned to Fredericton determined to see the resolutions ratified. A quiet, cautious, churchgoing, teetotalling widower and father of seven, Tilley faced an unexpected storm of opposition to Confederation with the stoicism for which he was known. Then he made a mistake. The electoral timetable was against him, as he was scheduled to go to the people in March. Nova Scotia’s premier, Charles Tupper, and Macdonald both wrote a number of letters to Tilley urging him to present the resolutions to his House before dissolution.74 With his majority and opposition leaders behind him, ratification could have been easy. More than that, Macdonald argued, the debate would educate the people and thereby ease his re-election by developing support for the cause.75
New Brunswick was a fragmented colony. Its most evident division was between the north, which saw itself more closely linked to Montreal and the rest of Canada, and the south, which had firmer cultural and business ties with the United States. Confident that he could carry the north and persuade the south, Tilley called the election. All other issues were either forgotten or folded into what became a Confederation referendum. He lost. He even lost his own seat. There were celebrations in some quarters and charges of corruption in others. A Morning News editorial claimed that American money had been spent freely and influenced the outcome of the election: “The alternative of Confederation or Annexation is more than ever confirmed when we see how completely American influence can control elections of the Province.”76
News of the defeat arrived in Quebec City on March 6, just as the Canadian Confederation debates were wrapping up. Newfoundland was delaying in dealing with the question. Prince Edward Island, as expected, had declared that the scheme held nothing for its people. Its premier resigned, the government fell into disarray, and finally the legislature voted no. In Nova Scotia, Joseph Howe had roused himself from the semi-retirement of a boring patronage post to lead the charge against Confederation. He tapped into the pride that Nova Scotians based on their prosperity, linked to lumber, coal and shipbuilding, and their world-liness, afforded them by their busy Halifax port. Howe exploited that pride by inviting Nova Scotians to ask themselves if Confederation would serve only Canada and therefore be unnecessary for Nova Scotia’s future.77 The Conservative Tupper disagreed with Howe and continued to fight. He was supported by Liberal leaders Adams George Archibald and Jonathan McCully, but victory was by no means secure.
It appeared that Confederation would fail, but Brown and Macdonald took the Maritime body blows and continued the fight for ratification. Finally, at two thirty in the morning on March 10, 1865, with a spring blizzard raging outside, the Canadian House voted 91 to 33 in favour of the resolutions. Despite the disappointing news from the Maritimes, plans were made to leave to seek British parliamentary approval in London. Macdonald was worn out, his personal finances were in disarray and he did not want to go. Brown, too, was tired and felt guilty for having spent so much time away from Anne and their growing children. But the two former enemies nonetheless prepared to leave.
THE END
As Macdonald and Brown were arranging their departure, word arrived that the Canadian and British efforts to assure the Americans of their goodwill following the St. Albans raid were having their desired effect. On the same day that the legislature ratified Confederation, Seward wrote to Monck that the passport law as it applied to Canadians was being rescinded, though Maritimers would still need to show passports to cross the border. Shortly afterward, Seward announced that the Rush-Bagot Agreement would not be abrogated after all.
News from the battlefield was soon even more significant. Thousands of men and boys had spent the last months shivering outside Petersburg, Virginia. Through the winter of 1864–1865, Lee’s options had continued to shrink, along with his army. He had established a line of fortified trenches from Petersburg, Virginia, all the way north to Richmond, thirty-five miles away. The spring brought no relief. Grant’s mammoth army continued its long siege of the embattled Petersburg. Meanwhile, Union general Sherman was continuing his march across South Carolina to the sea, leaving a fifty-mile swath of destruction in his wake. Cities were burned, telegraph poles were torn down and railway track was ripped up. Southern leaders knew what he was going to do and where he was going, but they could not stop him.
On March 4, 1865, Lincoln had delivered his second inaugural address. Just as he stood to speak, two days of steady rain suddenly stopped, the dark clouds parted and the sun shone down upon him. Thousands had gathered to listen. All knew the war was nearing its end and much of what he said pointed to the rebuilding that would soon need to be done. But he also promised that fighting would continue until the bitter end. Few noted that, just thirty-five feet away, the famous actor John Wilkes Booth watched the speech with teeth clenched in rage.
Shortly afterward, Lincoln accepted Grant’s invitation to join him at City Point, Virginia. He arrived on March 25. Five days later, Grant’s troops were finally able to breach Lee’s flank, leading to an end of the stalemate and a Union victory on April 1 at Five Forks. The next day, Grant ordered an attack along the entire Confederate line. Lee had no alternative but to withdraw what remained of his bedraggled and starving army. Lee sent a telegram to Richmond, and within hours Jefferson Davis was on the run with his government in a valise. His officials set fire to cotton and to documents that could not be carried, and the flames quickly got away from them. The fires consumed much of the city, along with Confederate dreams of statehood.
On April 4, with a guard of only twelve blue-coated sailors, President Lincoln arrived aboard a small boat at Richmond’s Rocketts Landing. The city was largely abandoned, with smoke still rising from smouldering buildings. Resplendent and instantly recognizable in his black suit and tall stovepipe hat, Lincoln walked hand-in-hand with his son, down charred streets. Faces peered through broken windows and African-Americans, who just days before had been enslaved, filled the streets and formed a buoyant parade behind him. Cheers greeted Lincoln when he arrived at Richmond’s Capitol Square. He nodded at a guard and then entered the Confederate White House. He sat for a moment at Davis’s desk. He said nothing. He took nothing.
Lee led what was left of his army west, but it was clear that they were done fighting. He sent a message to Grant, and on April 9, 1865, the two met at a house in the little crossroads village of Appomattox Court House. Lee arrived in a freshly brushed full dress uniform. Grant stepped into the small parlour to meet him in a mud-spattered private’s uniform. Lee offered his sword and Grant refused it. Grant accepted Lee’s offer of unconditional surrender and then allowed Lee’s men to keep their horses and return to their homes.
The modest home in which Lee surrendered was owned by Wilmer McLean, who had moved there after his farm near Manassas had been the site of the war’s first battle. MacLean could legitimately claim that the Civil War had begun in his front yard and ended in his parlour. As Lee and Grant emerged from the house and descended the steps, a Union honour guard snapped to attention. Among those standing ramrod straight was Canadian John McEachern, there with his Maine regiment.
Lincoln arrived back in Washington on April 9 and went immediately to the home of his friend and cabinet ally William Seward. Seward had been in a carriage accident and suffered a number of lacerations as well as a fractured arm and broken jaw. On April 10, the city erupted in celebration. When a band appeared outside the White House, Lincoln asked them to play “Dixie.”
Four days later, on April 14, Good Friday, Lincoln presided over a cabinet meeting in which Grant spoke of the surrender that he expected soon from Confederate general Johnston, who was leading the last Confederate army left in the field. Later that afternoon, Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana brought a message to Lin
coln that Confederate agent Jacob Thompson had left Canada and was attempting to flee to Europe. He had been spotted in Portland, Maine. Secretary of War Stanton wanted Lincoln’s permission to have Thompson arrested. Lincoln refused and offered an aphorism as explanation: “When you have an elephant by the hind leg, and he’s trying to run away, it’s best to let him run.”78 Thompson made it to his ship and believed himself through with the United States. But the United States was not through with him.
With the sun down and most of his staff gone for the day, Lincoln wrote a final note. It was to George Ashmun, who had been Seward’s agent in Canada and the man who had sat with the president and Galt years before. He would see Ashmun the next morning.
It had only been five days since Lee’s surrender had brought peace to America. The war was over, but Lincoln understood the immensity of the challenges still ahead. For the next couple of hours, though, he would take his mind off such serious matters and enjoy a good comedy. He took the arm of his wife, Mary, and set out for Ford’s Theatre.
6
JOHN A. MACDONALD: THE INDISPENSABLE MAN
ADEVILISHLY HANDSOME, roguishly charming and gifted actor, John Wilkes Booth had, by 1862, surpassed the fame even of his father and older brother, who were respected thespians in their own right. He led a nomadic lifestyle and hotels had become his only home. When in Washington, he spent a good deal of time at Ford’s Theatre, on 10th Street, just blocks from the White House. He had appeared thirteen times on the Ford stage, most recently in The Apostate, on March 18, 1865.
