Jacob Thompson
Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer (Sorrel)
Chapter III—Reminiscences And Horses.
Visit to Mr. Francis Sorrel's country-seat—Interment of Captain Tillinghast, U.S. A.—Sir William Howard Russell, Times correspondent—McDowell and July 21st—Seward and the French princes—Army begins to march to Peninsula.
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Not long after the battle I set out on a visit to my father's country place, Ireland, fifteen miles from our camp. Hitching up two good mules to a light army ambulance, what we needed was put in, our intention being to bring back some delicacies for the messes. Captain Thompson, of Mississippi, one of the aids, accompanied me. He was an extraordinary looking person. Nature had been unkind. The son of Jacob Thompson, Buchanan's Secretary of the Interior, he had much to hope for, but for his affliction. His teeth and jaws were firmly set and locked, and no surgical ingenuity had yet succeeded in opening them. Liquids could be conveniently taken, but mechanical arrangements had to be made for solid food by the removal of some teeth.
This young officer showing a great desire to go along with me, was taken, although I could not help picturing some surprise on the part of my father and young sisters. We were made very welcome, as fresh from the glorious battlefield, and the day was a happy one. The girls had made a captain's coat for me out of homespun cloth; but such a fit! big enough for two captains of my thickness, it hung at all angles and flapped furiously in high winds. But love had prompted its making and I would never suffer any ugly remarks about it.
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Captain Thompson was not subject to military duty and soon returned to his home.
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Southern Historical Society Papers
Vol. VII. Richmond, Virginia, March, 1879. No. 3.
Official Correspondence Of Confederate State Department.
Letters from Hon. Jacob Thompson.
Wilmington, N. C., May 2, 1864.
Hon. J.P. Benjamin, Secretary of State:
Sir -- Mr. Clay did not arrive until after dark last evening; and he delivered to me your letter with its inclosures. Herewith you will find my receipt for the bills forwarded by you. We shall sail today at one o'clock in the "Thistle," which is considered by shippers as a safe boat, for Halifax; touches at Bermuda on the 13th instant, and the voyage thence to Halifax usually occupies four days. With no untoward event we will reach Canada by the 20th instant.
I am, &c., J. Thompson.
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Saint George's, Bermuda, May 10th, 1864.
To Hon. J.P. Benjamin:
Sir -- We reached this port safely this morning. While we were chased by a blockade vessel for five hours on our way out, yet we escaped with no further interruption than being forced to leave our true course for that length of time. I am informed today the steamer for Halifax is not expected to leave Saint George's before Monday the 16th instant.
I am, &c.,
J. Thompson.
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Telegrams.
Wilmington, N.C., April 29, 1864.
To Hon. J.P. Benjamin:
Arrived this morning. Six thousand bales of cotton burnt last night, which will delay all boats until Monday or Tuesday.
J. Thompson. care E. Salomon.
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Winston, N.C., May 2, 1864.
To Hon J.P. Benjamin:
Mr. Clay delivered me your letter with inclosures last night
J. Thompson.
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Wilmington. May 3, 1864.
Hon. J.P. Benjamin:
We think copies of President's message would serve our purpose. If you agree, send them. We can't go till Thursday
J. Thompson,
C.C. Clay, Jr.
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Southern Historical Society Papers
Vol. IX. Richmond, Va., July And August, 1881. Nos. 7 And 8.
The Attempt To Fasten The Assassination Of President Lincoln On
President Davis And Other Innocent Parties.
By Judge W.W. Cleary.
(The following paper was read before the Louisville Branch of the Southern Historical Society and well deserves a place in our records that the future historian may see what methods were employed to blacken the name and fame of Confederate leaders.)
On the 2d day of May, 1865, his Excellency, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, published to the world the following proclamation -- viz:
"By the President of the United States:
"Whereas, it appears from evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice that the atrocious murder of the late President, and the attempted murder of the Hon. W.H. Seward, Secretary of State, was incited, concocted and procured by and between Jeff. Davis, late of Richmond, Virginia; and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, Beverley Tucker, George N. Sanders, W.W. Cleary, and other rebels and traitors against the government of the United States, harbored in Canada. Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do offer for the arrest of said persons or either of them within the limits of the United States, so that they can be brought to trial, the following rewards:
"One hundred thousand dollars for the arrest of Jefferson Davis; twenty five thousand dollars for the arrest of Clement C. Clay; twenty five thousand dollars for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of Mississippi; twenty five thousand dollars for the arrest of George N. Sanders; twenty five thousand dollars for the arrest of Beverley Tucker; ten thousand dollars for the arrest of W.W. Cleary, late clerk of C.C. Clay.
"The Provost Marshall General of the United States is directed to cause a description of said persons, with notice of the above rewards, to be published.
"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, the 2d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1865, and of the independence of the United States of America, the eighty ninth.
Andrew Johnson.
"By the President: W. Hunter, Acting Secretary of State.
The evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice, upon which this accusation was brought against persons, some of whom had occupied high positions under the Federal Government, and all of whom through life had enjoyed the confidence of their fellow Citizens, and unblemished reputations as private gentlemen, was carefully withheld from the public by the Bureau of Military Justice, thereby depriving the accused of the opportunity of at once exposing the equally extraordinary and improbable perjuries by which the President was deceived into the issuance of the Proclamation; while, meantime, the exalted source from which this indictment issued, and the morbid excitement of the public mind, gave color enough to the accusation to subject the accused to an ignominy scarcely less than should have ensued upon full proof of guilt.
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Sandford Conover, examined by Judge Advocate Bingham, swore (see page 5), repeating four different times, in a variety of forms of expression, that late in January and early in February, 1865, and every day in the month of February, he held conversations with Hon. Jacob Thompson at the St. Lawrence hotel, in Montreal, touching the assassination.
Let me quote in full his statement of the alleged conversation:
Q. -- "State, if you please, what was said at that time by Mr. Thompson on that subject, in your presence?" A. -- "I had called on Mr. Thompson to make some inquiry about a raid which had been contemplated on Ogdensburg, N.Y., which had failed because the United States Government had received some intimation of the rebels there, and were prepared for it, and I called to hear what was to be done next, and being supposed by Mr. Thompson to be a good rebel, he said: "We would have to drop it for a time, but we will catch them asleep yet," and then he observed: "There is a better opportunity, a better chance to immortalize yourself and save your country." I told him that I was ready to do anything to save the country, and asked him what was to be done. He said: "Some of our boys are going to play a grand joke on Abe and Andy." That was his expression. This led to explanations, when he informed me it was to kill them, or rather remove them from office. To use his own expression, he said: "It was only removing them from office; that the killing of a tyrant was no murder."
Q. -- "State whether anything was said at that time on the subject of commissions from the rebel authorities in his hand, in blank?" A. -- "He had commissions, and conferred one on Booth. I am not so positive whether he had conferred it on Booth then or not; but he told me, either then or subsequently, that Booth had been commissioned, and that everybody engaged in the enterprise would be commissioned; and if it succeeded or failed, and they escaped to Canada, they could not be successfully claimed under the Extradition Treaty."
The fact is fully shown in the testimony herewith: First, that Mr. Thompson was not in Montreal at any time from the 1st of January to the 14th of February, being in the city of Toronto, nearly 350 miles distant; and second, by referring to page 27, it will be seen from the letter of this man Conover, certified to be genuine by United States counsel, General John F. Potter, that up to the 20th of March after, he did not even know Mr. Thompson, and was then seeking his acquaintance, as himself the originator of a proposition to destroy the Croton Water works, etc. This letter was sent by Mr. John Cameron, of Montreal, who testifies that, after Mr. Thompson had read the letter, he exclaimed: "Is the man mad? Is he a fool?" and declined any communication with him.
Again. See page 4, speaking of John H. Surratt.
Q. -- "You say you saw him in Montreal in April, last?"
A. -- "Yes, sir."
Q. -- "About what time in April was it?"
A. -- "It was within a week before the President's assassination. I think about the 6th and 7th of April -- somewhere in that vicinity."
Q. -- "You say you saw him in Thompson's room?"
A. -- "I saw him in Mr. Thompson's room."
Q. -- "State whether he gave any communication to Thompson in your presence in his room, and what that communication was."
A. -- "There was a conversation there at that time, from which it appeared that Mr. Surratt had brought dispatches from Richmond to Mr. Thompson. These dispatches were the subject of the consultation."
Q. -- "From whom in Richmond were the dispatches brought?"
A. -- "From Mr. Benjamin, and I think there was also a letter in cipher from Mr. Davis. I am not so positive as to the cipher, but there was a letter from him, whether in cipher or not."
Q. -- 'Do you mean Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of State of the so called Confederacy?"
A. -- "Yes, sir."
Q. -- "You say the dispatches were the subject of conversation. What did they say was the substance of the dispatches, or what did they purport to be?" A. -- "I had some conversation with Mr. Thompson previously on the subject of a plot to assassinate Mr. Lincoln, and I had been invited to participate in that enterprise."
(This is the alleged conversation fully described above and disproved.)
Q. -- "By whom had you been so invited to participate in that enterprise?" A. -- "By Mr. Thompson, and on this occasion he laid his hand on the papers or dispatches there, and said this makes this thing all right, referring to the assent of the rebel authorities."
Q. -- "Did they speak of the persons that the rebel authorities had consented might be the victims of this plot?"
A. -- "Yes, sir; Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Johnson, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, and Judge Chase."
Q. -- "Did they say anything about any of the Generals?"
A. -- "And Grant."
Q. -- "I am not sure whether you have stated precisely. If you have not done it, I wish you would now, who were present at this conversation which you had with Jacob Thompson early in April, when he laid his hand on the dispatches."
A. -- "Mr. Surratt, General Carroll and myself"
Q. -- "Can you state whether any of these persons participated in the conversation?"
A. -- "General Carroll, of Tennessee, did. He was more anxious that Mr. Johnson should be killed than anybody else."
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continued
Bringing the