Her Majesty's Gold

by Gregory Kopp

  Marguerite released him and then looked around the basement. “How did you get here! What is this place?” She asked Joseph in wonder.

  “Don’t worry, this is a safe house of the Underground Railroad,” Joseph said. “Better to stay here tonight and then we can leave in the morning.”

  Marguerite began shaking with fear as she told Joseph “Ada is home alone! She is in danger if they find her.”

  Joseph held her close to his chest. “She should be safe if she stays inside. How far away is she?” He asked.

  “Several blocks away.” Marguerite noted.

  “We can’t do anything until the mob leaves. It’s too dangerous.” Joseph replied as he went to a small window and pulled a curtain aside to look out.

  When nightfall came, he laid out a blanket on the floor and encouraged Marguerite and Michel to lay down. “Get some sleep. As soon as it is light, I will fetch her!” Joseph told them.

  Marguerite lay down next to her son and began to pray for the safe deliverance of her daughter. While Joseph continued looking out the window at the burning buildings and waiting for the rampaging anti-draft mob to disperse.

  Chapter Twenty

  New York City Hall

  New York City Mayor George Opdyke was unaware of the riots that were happening in his city on that day. He was in his office when a policeman entered and informed him that a large group of men and women were protesting against the draft and marching down Third Avenue. There were rumors that several policemen had already been injured, and the mob was hurling rocks and setting fires in buildings.

  Mayor Opdyke was dumbfounded when he heard the news. He had strongly supported the Lincoln Administration’s draft policies in New York City. In fact, the Mayor blocked bills approved by the City Council that would pay the $300 fee to be exempted from the draft. He believed the majority of New York City’s citizens also supported the draft but he was mistaken. They were bitterly angry about the draft, especially the young men.

  George Opdyke was afraid. He tried reaching New York Governor Seymour to ask militia troops to be brought into the city to aid his police in restoring order. Unluckily, New York Governor Seymour was on the New Jersey shore escaping from the summer heat and would be unavailable until he returned home.

  Police Superintendent Kennedy requested to meet Mayor Opdyke in his office. Kennedy confirmed several police officers were injured in a confrontation with the mob. Kennedy also informed the Mayor the telegraph wires were down. He volunteered to go and see the extent of the damage caused by the rioters and report back to the Mayor. The Mayor agreed, so Kennedy slipped out the side door of the City Hall with several other plainclothes policemen. He left his superintendent’s police uniform in the mayor's office.

  Kennedy went directly to the burned-out Provost Marshall’s draft office on Third Avenue. As he approached the office, a cry went up in the crowd surrounding the building:

  “It’s him, its Kennedy.”

  His worst fears came true. A ruffian recognized him from one of the raids he led in the Five Points neighborhood to stop illegal gambling. Kennedy pulled his hat over his face to hide, but the cry had been picked up by another rioter and then another. Several men came running down the street and began surrounding him before he could escape.

  Several women began shrieking “Get him.”

  Kennedy tried to push his way out and escape, but he was blocked from moving. A burly man began pummeling Kennedy in the face and knocked him to the ground. Another man began kicking Kennedy in his side, breaking several of his ribs.

  Kennedy tried to cover his face, but the men held him down in a puddle of water to try and drown him. Policemen swarmed out of a nearby police station and attacked the crowd with Billy clubs and revolvers. The mob repelled them, but not before they dragged Superintendent Kennedy into the police station.

  Kennedy was nearly dead when taken back to City Hall. Mayor Opdyke saw the bruised and battered Police Superintendent and became even more frantic. The Mayor and his staff decided to abandon City Hall and evacuate to the St. Nicholas Hotel due to its more imposing fortress-like structure.

  When they arrived at the hotel, Mayor Opdyke summoned General Wool, the Union military commander of New York.

  “Where are the troops you promised me?” He asked.

  General Wool shook his head and said he was attempting to reach the New York Governor to call out the militia. But the Governor was still unavailable.

  Nightfall arrived and the New York City skyline began to light up from burning buildings. A man ran into the St. Nicholas Hotel and informed Mayor Opdyke his house was ransacked and set afire. The Mayor frantically tried to telegraph Governor Seymour to ask for militia troops to quell the riots but the lines were down. He was finally able to contact him, but was informed that it was a futile gesture. Most of them had been sent to Gettysburg.

  Mayor Opdyke and his staff huddled in the St. Nicholas Hotel unable to do anything to stop the rioting. Instead, they endured a long sleepless night.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Meanwhile, Georg and the other Confederate spies were hidden in the trees surrounding the Treasury Building on Wall Street. They were observing the guards as they began erecting barricades against the anti-draft rioters.

  Richard Cordwell happened to be walking outside the Treasury Building not knowing the Confederate spies were observing him. Scotland Yard had dispatched him to America to advise the United States government about Emperor Napoleon III’s plan for the conquest of Mexico. But as part of his assignment, he successfully oversaw the delivery of Her Majesty’s latest gold shipment from Liverpool to New York City. The British Government’s gold bullion was to be stored in the Treasury Building. He was nonchalantly smoking and watching the soldiers put up the barricades in the streets.

  As he walked around the building, he observed the glow in the distance from the fires set by the rampaging anti-draft mob. He carefully inspected his revolver to make sure it was loaded. Next, he bummed some more tobacco from a sentry on duty posted in front of the building to roll another cigarette.

  The sentry had been ordered to stand guard by General Burnett of the New York City Volunteer Militia. General Burnett formed a small militia of volunteers from New York City when the riots began. He was concerned there would be an attack on the Treasury Building or the adjacent Assay office. General Burnett had found a large howitzer cannon in the New York Armory and instructed it to be placed in front of the Treasury building for defense against the mob.

  Richard Cordwell stubbed out his cigarette and went back inside. He went partly down the stairs to the basement vault and made himself comfortable. He suspected it would be an eventful few days as the rioting continued and he wanted to get some rest.

  Meantime, Georg ordered his men to keep watch on the building and stay out of sight while he and the lieutenant would forage for some food and water. Before Georg left, he noticed there was only one soldier patrolling the side door. General Burnett only feared an attack from the rioters to the front of the building and left the side door relatively undefended. Georg smiled at this oversight as he and his lieutenant walked back into the city.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The previous day, Robert Lincoln came to New York City with his friends from Harvard University. Robert secured a room at the Astor House Hotel and prepared to devote the next several days drinking and playing cards with his friends before going back to Washington City.

  Robert knew his father and mother would be bothered about his carousing in the city, so he did not tell them. Instead, he confided in John Hay, President Lincoln’s personal secretary.

  John Hay was close in age to Robert, and he often spoke with him. Robert hated Harvard and wanted to join the Union army, but his parents were dead set against it. John Hay had warned him about traveling alone in New York City especially with the start of the Union Draft. But Robert laughed it off telling him he sounded like his mother.

  Unknown to Robert, Georg
recognized him while walking on the streets of New York City. He ordered the Confederate sergeant to follow him back to his hotel and keep an eye on him. He would join him after they reconnoitered the Treasury Building on Wall Street. Georg realized they might have an opportunity to kidnap Robert Lincoln to use him to gain entry into the Treasury Building.

  As it grew later that day, Robert continued drinking in the Astor House hotel bar. His friends had already left and gone to their rooms. The Confederate sergeant was joined by Georg and his lieutenant at the rear of the bar. They waited for a chance to kidnap Robert Lincoln.

  After a while, Robert stood up a bit unsteady and went outside to use the privy in the rear of his hotel. The three Confederate spies jumped him as he was leaving the privy. They stuffed a handkerchief in his mouth to stop him from crying out and then tied his arms and legs together. They loaded Robert onto a small handcart and stole away in the gathering darkness.

  “What are we doing with him? The Confederate sergeant whispered to the lieutenant.

  “Never mind, push,” replied the lieutenant and began walking in lockstep behind the sergeant pushing the cart.

  Georg looked at his pocket watch in the dim streetlights.

  “Almost time.” He whispered.

  They began walking more rapidly toward Wall Street as dawn broke over the city.

  Meantime, Joseph instructed Marguerite and Michel to stay in the basement while he would retrieve their daughter. He would also bring back some food and water. Joseph slipped back out the coal chute door and ran down the alley to the street.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  July 14, 1863, the fateful following day.

  It was to be another scorching and humid day in New York City. Jimmy was awakened early by pounding on his front door. He came back late the previous night with his clothes covered in dirt and ash and a queasy feeling in his stomach. He had seen a black man hanging on a lamppost after being lynched by anti-draft rioters. He could still hear them laughing as the man cried out for mercy while they placed the noose around his neck. He stood helpless on the street prevented by several men from stepping in to stop the atrocity.

  Later, when he escaped from the clutches of the mob and arrived home, Bridget was trembling, sick with worry about him. She was terrified thinking that he had been killed in the first day's orgy of violence. He reassured her that he did not take part in the violence and would stay away from the bars and the docks until the riots were over. But at 6:00 am came the pounding on his door. It was Shamus Reilly, and he was with several other ruffians.

  “We need you, O’Brien!” He said. “Today is the day we finally break them!” He said.

  Jimmy strongly protested, but they grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him into the street where a crowd had already gathered in front of his home.

  Meanwhile, Allan Pinkerton and his men stepped off the train from Washington City after traveling all night. They entered New York City to begin seeking the whereabouts of Robert Lincoln. Pinkerton sent one of his men to visit the various hotels to inquire about the president’s son. He dispatched the others to visit bars, hospitals and anywhere he thought that the young man could be found. But, Allan Pinkerton himself went to see Mayor Opdyke to secure police support in the search for Robert Lincoln.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Bridget O’Brien was even more frightened after she saw Jimmy dragged off by Shamus Reilly and his friends. As the anti-draft mob began marching, she overheard them chanting.

  “No draft, to fight for Coloreds!”

  She rummaged through Jimmy’s bedroom bureau until she found an old revolver. She put it in the pocket of her skirt. She next asked a neighbor to mind her baby and her younger children while she set out to rescue Jimmy.

  Bridget had merely run down a few streets when she caught up with the anti-draft mob. They were clustered in a semicircle around an old lamp post. She heard shouting, and screaming and ran up to get a better look at what was happening. She saw a black woman gripping a knife and pointing it at Shamus Reilly. Several other men were holding a black man as Shamus was fastening a noose from a piece of rope.

  Bridget O’Brien instantly recognized Marguerite. She and Marguerite would both do part-time cleaning jobs for the Astor’s, Vanderbilt’s and other millionaires.

  “Stop, right now!” Marguerite shouted over the din of the mob. She had left the safe house to find Joseph after he had not returned from rescuing their daughter.

  Shamus Reilly paused and turned around after placing the noose around Joseph’s neck. He laughed when he saw Marguerite holding a knife and pointing it at him. He turned back to Joseph and began to tighten the noose. With the help of several other men, he began pulling Joseph off of the ground and toward the top of the lamp post. Joseph began choking and grabbing at the noose around his neck to free himself.

  Bridget pulled out Jimmy’s revolver and pointed it at Shamus.

  “You heard her, Shamus!” Bridget said. “She told you to stop!”

  She leveled the revolver directly at his chest and cocked the trigger with both of her hands.

  The hot-headed Irishman looked surprised at Bridget and stopped pulling on the rope.

  “Now, what does a wee Irish lass care about a Colored man anyway?” He said with a sneer baring his yellow teeth.

  Another man jumped out of the crowd and tried to wrestle the gun out of Bridget's hands when a shot rang out. Shamus looked down at his chest where the blood was beginning to drip out on the ground.

  The men dropped the rope, and Joseph fell to the ground coughing and trying to breathe. Shamus fell face-first dead in a pool of water in the gutter. The anti-draft mob was stunned into silence.

  Jimmy jerked himself free from the two men holding him. He came up behind Bridget and grabbed the revolver out of her hand. He then pulled Bridget away from the crowd of onlookers. They walked swiftly down the street away from the anti-draft mob before the police arrived.

  As they walked away, they saw Marguerite kneeling on the ground next to Joseph loosening the noose around his neck. A welt was beginning to show where the noose had been. The rest of the anti-draft mob began to break up and go in different directions down the street. A slight rain began falling from the sky as Shamus’s dead body lay in the street and his blood slowly flowed down the sewer drain. Marguerite assisted Joseph on his feet as he unfastened the rope around his neck and flung it on the ground. Marguerite and Joseph caught up with Bridget and Jimmy and they walked home together in silence.

  Marguerite’s and Joseph’s son Michel and daughter Ada greeted them in the street outside their home. Ada had run out to the street after hearing the gunshot and Michel followed her. Ada recognized Joseph and burst into tears and hugged him with all her might. Joseph soothed her and caressed her. Marguerite thanked Bridget for saving Joseph’s life and then followed him and her children into their apartment.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Earlier that morning, Georg and the Confederate spies, pulling a handcart, infiltrated the perimeter surrounding the Treasury Building. Lying in the handcart was an unconscious Robert Lincoln underneath piles of burlap bags. Georg informed the soldiers on guard duty that they were sent from Police Superintendent Kennedy’s office with food and supplies. After unsuccessful attempts to contact City Hall, the guards allowed them to pass without question. Proceeding through the perimeter, the Confederate spies entered through the side door of the building. It was still guarded by only one sentry.

  “Orders, please!” The soldier on duty demanded.

  Georg fumbled through the pockets of his uniform while the Confederate lieutenant slipped behind the sentry. He knocked him unconscious with the butt of his revolver and tied him up. The spies went into the building and Georg discovered a hand-crank elevator leading to the basement vault.

  As they descended onto the basement floor, another startled sentry shouted: “Who goes there?” He raised his rifle and pointed it at them.

  “We are pol
icemen sent by Superintendent Kennedy to guard the vault,” Georg lied as he opened the door of the elevator. The sentry relaxed and placed his rifle on the ground.

  Georg suddenly produced his pistol and ordered him to raise his hands. But the guard refused and reached for his rifle. Georg shot him dead. He snatched the keys to the vault from the guard’s belt. Georg and his men entered the vault and were dumbfounded when they saw the number of gold bars stacked on the shelves. Georg quickly identified the gold bullion belonging to the British government.

  “Hurry, only load the handcart with as many bags of gold bars you can carry from this shelf!” Georg ordered his men. He pointed at the gold bars imprinted with the Great Seal of Queen Victoria. Several of the men grumbled as they looked around at the rest of the gold bullion.

  Georg whispered harshly, “I will stand guard! Now hurry.” They dumped an unconscious Robert Lincoln into a corner of the vault and began filling the burlap bags with British gold bars and coins.

  Meantime, Johannes reached the Treasury Building on Wall Street at about noon. Earlier, General Wool ordered all able-bodied men to help in securing the Treasury Building against the mobs rampaging through the city. Johannes recently returned with Joseph from helping black slaves escape down south volunteered to patrol inside the building. As he was completing his rounds, he stumbled into Richard Cordwell.

  Richard Cordwell was resting in a small alcove off the main foyer smoking a cigarette. Johannes requested his papers and Richard displayed his Scotland Yard badge. He told him he was assigned to accompany Queen Victoria’s gold delivery from Liverpool.

  Richard Cordwell wondered aloud to Johannes “Why are there men working downstairs in the vault today? I heard some strange sounds, possibly even a muffled gunshot. It seems odd with everything happening in the city.”