John Yates Beall

[W.W. Baker]

The Confederate raider, John Yates Beall, operated out of Canada and planned an attack on Lake Erie's Johnson's Island prison camp, among other actions. He was ultimately captured and executed after a failed raid on a train carrying Confederate generals near Buffalo, N.Y. in late 1864. Before he was executed in February 1865, Beall had support from a number of key Washington VIPs, including 91 members of Congress, who appealed to Lincoln to commute Beall's death sentence. Lincoln basically washed his hands of the matter and deferred to Major General Dix in NY who had authority over the execution and insisted that it be carried out.
My question: How was it that Beall, a Virginia aristocrat with deep attachment to the Confederacy and its goals and few known contacts in the North, was able to gain such support in DC and elsewhere for a commutation of his death sentence?

 

[Gary Morgan]

There was a game of blinksmanship around the death sentences of Beall and his crew the first time he was arrested and tried for piracy for burning Union ships along the Rappahannock River. The Union argued that he was a pirate; the Confederacy maintained that he was acting on behalf of the Confederate government (even though he was no longer technically in the Confederate military. The Union tried Beall, his officers and crew, found them guilty and sentenced them to be hanged. In retaliation, the Confederacy designated a like number of Union Naval officers and sailors held prisoner at Libby as hostages, and announced that if Beall and his men were hanged; so would the Union "hostages."

It's the Union hostages I feel the most sorry for. - their lives were in the balance for men they had never met over an issue they had nothing to do with. The two union officers, Lt Commander Edward Williams and Ensign Benjamin Porter (no relation to David Dixon Porter, although the both knew him) were immediately placed in irons and chained together at LIbby. Fifteen sailors were selected (possibly by drawing lots) and were sent to Salisbury, which was a political prison at the time. All had been captured o the night of Sept 8/9, 1863, during the failed attack on Fort Sumter. There they awaited their fate.

The Union blinked first, did not hang the condemned Southerners and eventually let them go. Beall went on to continue harrassing the Union, eventually resulting in the incident that led to his hanging referenced above. The sailors languished in captivity. I've only ever been able to identify nine of them:

Victor Bartlett of the Housatonic, died March 25, 1864 at Salisbury prison of measles and pneumonia. He was 22 years old
Joseph Conneton, who had been on board the Cumberland when it was destroyed at Hampton Roads
Richard Tinker, the nurse on the Housatonic, whose young wife had died just months prior to his enlistment
Frederic A James, a carpenter from East Boston who had a wife and a 4 year old daughter back home; his other daughter died, probably of meningitis, while he was held at Salisbury, just days after her 7th birthday. James himself kept a diary at Salisbury and later at Andersonville, where he would die on September 15, 1864 of chronic diarrhea. His diary is the only one known to have been kept by a sailor at Andersonville. All four of the men listed above were sailors from the Housatonic.
William O'Connor, of the Wissahickon,who led a small prayer service when Bartlett was buried outside the walls of Salisbury prison.
Daniel Quigley, of the Powhatan
John Friedline, also from the Powhatan
Thomas Reynolds of the TA Ward, who was captured at Murrell's Inlet on Oct, 20, 1863, and
William Ritson, who I have good reason to believe assumed the name Charles Curtis sometime between his capture and his time in Salisbury Prison. He was eventually hanged as one of the six notorious "raiders" at Andersonville.

Once Beall and his crew were freed, the fifteen sailors were sent from Salibury to Andersonville, arriveinI would love to be able to discover the identities of the other six hostages, but so far, no luck.

 

[MarylandLine]

There is an interesting story in the Confederate Veteran that claims John Wilkes Booth was a friend of Beall's and they went to college together. It claims Booth traveled with Beall's mom to Washington DC to beg for Beall's life. Lincoln decided not to execute Beall's at Booth's and the mothers pleading. Seward it states elected to move forward with the execution. Booth was bitter and swore revenge which according to the article led to Booth's killing of Lincoln.

 

[W.W. Baker]

There was a game of blinksmanship around the death sentences of Beall and his crew the first time he was arrested and tried for piracy for burning Union ships along the Rappahannock River. The Union argued that he was a pirate; the Confederacy maintained that he was acting on behalf of the Confederate government (even though he was no longer technically in the Confederate military. The Union tried Beall, his officers and crew, found them guilty and sentenced them to be hanged. In retaliation, the Confederacy designated a like number of Union Naval officers and sailors held prisoner at Libby as hostages, and announced that if Beall and his men were hanged; so would the Union "hostages."

It's the Union hostages I feel the most sorry for. - their lives were in the balance for men they had never met over an issue they had nothing to do with. The two union officers, Lt Commander Edward Williams and Ensign Benjamin Porter (no relation to David Dixon Porter, although the both knew him) were immediately placed in irons and chained together at LIbby. Fifteen sailors were selected (possibly by drawing lots) and were sent to Salisbury, which was a political prison at the time. All had been captured o the night of Sept 8/9, 1863, during the failed attack on Fort Sumter. There they awaited their fate.

The Union blinked first, did not hang the condemned Southerners and eventually let them go. Beall went on to continue harrassing the Union, eventually resulting in the incident that led to his hanging referenced above. The sailors languished in captivity. I've only ever been able to identify nine of them:

Victor Bartlett of the Housatonic, died March 25, 1864 at Salisbury prison of measles and pneumonia. He was 22 years old
Joseph Conneton, who had been on board the Cumberland when it was destroyed at Hampton Roads
Richard Tinker, the nurse on the Housatonic, whose young wife had died just months prior to his enlistment
Frederic A James, a carpenter from East Boston who had a wife and a 4 year old daughter back home; his other daughter died, probably of meningitis, while he was held at Salisbury, just days after her 7th birthday. James himself kept a diary at Salisbury and later at Andersonville, where he would die on September 15, 1864 of chronic diarrhea. His diary is the only one known to have been kept by a sailor at Andersonville. All four of the men listed above were sailors from the Housatonic.
William O'Connor, of the Wissahickon,who led a small prayer service when Bartlett was buried outside the walls of Salisbury prison.
Daniel Quigley, of the Powhatan
John Friedline, also from the Powhatan
Thomas Reynolds of the TA Ward, who was captured at Murrell's Inlet on Oct, 20, 1863, and
William Ritson, who I have good reason to believe assumed the name Charles Curtis sometime between his capture and his time in Salisbury Prison. He was eventually hanged as one of the six notorious "raiders" at Andersonville.

Once Beall and his crew were freed, the fifteen sailors were sent from Salibury to Andersonville, arriveinI would love to be able to discover the identities of the other six hostages, but so far, no luck.

Thanks. I haven't seen any report showing that Beall was actually tried and convicted for his actions around the Chesapeake. Headley's account in "Confederate Operations in Canada and New York," as well as Lucas's "memoir" of Beall, don't mention it. Do you know where such information is available?

 

[W.W. Baker]

There is an interesting story in the Confederate Veteran that claims John Wilkes Booth was a friend of Beall's and they went to college together. It claims Booth traveled with Beall's mom to Washington DC to beg for Beall's life. Lincoln decided not to execute Beall's at Booth's and the mothers pleading. Seward it states elected to move forward with the execution. Booth was bitter and swore revenge which according to the article led to Booth's killing of Lincoln.

The Confederate Veteran account has been pretty much debunked by modern day historians, beginning with Isaac Markens's "President Lincoln and the Case of John Y. Beall" in 1911 and continuing up through Terry Alford's biography of Booth, "Fortune's Fool." Among other inaccuracies, the CV article states that Beall and Booth were roommates at the U. of Virginia, which Booth never attended. Daniel Lucas, Beall's longtime friend and biographer, denied they knew each other. At the same time, there are some tantalizing suggestions in Louise Littleton Davis's "More Tales of Tennessee" that, after the assassination, any link with Booth was just too dangerous, so the Beall family took extraordinary steps to erase any evidence that existed.

 

[Kentucky Derby Cavalier.]

I wish I knew, that's a very good question.

Beall was certainly a character, prior to the Canada excursion he was smuggling on the Eastern shore of VA.

 

[Gary Morgan]

Thanks. I haven't seen any report showing that Beall was actually tried and convicted for his actions around the Chesapeake. Headley's account in "Confederate Operations in Canada and New York," as well as Lucas's "memoir" of Beall, don't mention it. Do you know where such information is available?

Okay, they were "awaiting trial" rather than having actually been tried, but somehow managed to get off. I'd been told by the editor of Fred James's diary that they'd been convicted.

Fred James's diary begins with "The property of Frederic A. James, of East Boston, Massachusetts, and at this date, February 20th, a "Prisoner of War" (& also held as a "Hostage" for sundry persons who are held as prisoners by the U.S. Government for the alleged offence of burning Shipping on the Rappahannoch river, Va.) held in the C.S. Military Prison at Salisbury, N.C......"

The accompanying footnote from the OR, Series II, Vol VI, page 705, contains the following letter:

CSA - War Dept.
Richmond, Dec 15, 1863

Brig-Ge S. A. Meredith, Agent of Exchange

Sir:
The Confederate Government has received authentic information that Acting Master John Y. Beall and Edward McGuire, of the Confederate Navy, and 15 regularly enlisted seamen of the same service are now closely confined in irons at Fort McHenry awaiting trial as pirates. They were recently captured in Virginia. They were engaged in open warfare and are entitled to every request to treatment as prisoners of war. With whatever regret retaliatory measures may be adopted, the course of your authorities leaves no other alternative. In the hope, therefore, of inducing your Government to accord these parties the treatment due to prisoners of war, I inform you that Lt. Commander Edward P. Williams adn Ensign Benjamin H. Porter and fifteen seamen, all of the U.S. Navy, and prisoners in our hands, have been placed in close confinement in irons and held as hostages for their proper treatment.

Respectfully Your Obedient Servant,

Robert Ould
Agent of Exchange

If memory serves, one of the hostages, writes in his pension application of the threat of being hanged for something that had nothing to do with him, but I haven't read through them in a while. I think that the fellow who edited Fred James's diary may have believed that the trial had already taken place, but cause he put "[sic]" after the word alleged in the published diary.

Attached is the page in question from Fred James's diary. There are no other references to Beall and his crew in it. As far as I can tell, the two officers were chained together in Libby, but the 15 sailors were not held in irons.

 

[W.W. Baker]

Okay, they were "awaiting trial" rather than having actually been tried, but somehow managed to get off. I'd been told by the editor of Fred James's diary that they'd been convicted.

Fred James's diary begins with "The property of Frederic A. James, of East Boston, Massachusetts, and at this date, February 20th, a "Prisoner of War" (& also held as a "Hostage" for sundry persons who are held as prisoners by the U.S. Government for the alleged offence of burning Shipping on the Rappahannoch river, Va.) held in the C.S. Military Prison at Salisbury, N.C......"

The accompanying footnote from the OR, Series II, Vol VI, page 705, contains the following letter:

CSA - War Dept.
Richmond, Dec 15, 1863

Brig-Ge S. A. Meredith, Agent of Exchange

Sir:
The Confederate Government has received authentic information that Acting Master John Y. Beall and Edward McGuire, of the Confederate Navy, and 15 regularly enlisted seamen of the same service are now closely confined in irons at Fort McHenry awaiting trial as pirates. They were recently captured in Virginia. They were engaged in open warfare and are entitled to every request to treatment as prisoners of war. With whatever regret retaliatory measures may be adopted, the course of your authorities leaves no other alternative. In the hope, therefore, of inducing your Government to accord these parties the treatment due to prisoners of war, I inform you that Lt. Commander Edward P. Williams adn Ensign Benjamin H. Porter and fifteen seamen, all of the U.S. Navy, and prisoners in our hands, have been placed in close confinement in irons and held as hostages for their proper treatment.

Respectfully Your Obedient Servant,

Robert Ould
Agent of Exchange

If memory serves, one of the hostages, writes in his pension application of the threat of being hanged for something that had nothing to do with him, but I haven't read through them in a while. I think that the fellow who edited Fred James's diary may have believed that the trial had already taken place, but cause he put "[sic]" after the word alleged in the published diary.

Attached is the page in question from Fred James's diary. There are no other references to Beall and his crew in it. As far as I can tell, the two officers were chained together in Libby, but the 15 sailors were not held in irons.

View attachment 416794

Interesting. Thanks.