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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 t. A I^E^F FROM "^IISTORY. r^ H 1= O I^ T OP » J . THOMPSON SECRET AGENT OF THE LATE CONFEDEK/VTE GOVERXMENT, STATIONED IN CANADA, FOK L HE PURPOSE OF ORGAN- IZING INSURRECTION IN TilE NORTHERN STATES AND BiniNING THEIK PRINCIPAL CITIES. PLANS FOR THE AEVOLT A3Sr?J RELEASE OP REBEL PRISON. ERS— WHOSE ASSISTANCE WAS EXPECTED— TREASON OP THE DEMOCRATIC LE ;VDERS, AND OTHER INTER- ESTING AND IMi ORTANT PACTS WHICH THE PEOPLE OUGHT TO KNOW^ (Published by the U an Republican Congressional Commhtee.^ The following; is an exact copy of the origl- iDil paper row In the hands of ttie Govern- ment, and It vill be read with h\teuse Interest by every loynl citizen : THE REPORT. Toronto, C. W., Deo. 8, iSM. flon. J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of ! I ite: Sik: Several times no n,ttemptcrt to send you comraunicatinp , I have no aa- i^uranco that atiyonoot -l.^iu has been re- ceivtHl. I have "re! cccrt no effort to carry out tlio objects tha Clovornment had in view in seudiug ui« lure. I had hoped at differ- ent times to have accomplished more, li)ut still I do no^ tliiukiny mlHslon has btjen alto- Hethtr frnlllnss. \t all events wo have af- ford d the North wesliern States the amplest oppoitunity to throw off the Railiuf? dynasty at WiisliinKton, and openly to take grounrl iii fivvcr of State llighta ami Civil Liberty. This fact iiuiat satisfy tlui large class of discon- tent . lit homo of tlio readiness and willinir- iKMs of tint Administration tu avail itself of (Vf ry protfored uHslslance In onr (j;reat strug- )j;le fur imlcpendenoe. On my arrival hero I lieard that there was •sncli in or>iiu)ization as the order of thu "Snn-i of Liberty" in the Northern State-«, anit my first effort was to h^arn its strength, lt;i pilnclples, and its objects, and if possible to put myself In eommuideation with Its hv.uiiut; spirits. Tlds wiis cllVcted without i;ii.t;ti difllcidty or delay. I was rtcelvKl iuriHiii; tlieni witii eonliiilily, timl Mm mcal- o-tt Cdiilidenco at onco extended tu me. /'I'luuiumber of Its niendicrs was larMc, l»iu. ; * •*.. fi.it. i..l.l^,.rtl...i..l.. .... ' not HO KTcai as Ml', iitm, m iiiri I'lnumi i<'|i«ni, lepresetded It to be. Its ol)|ects were i>eliti- cal, Its prinelplpH wi^re that the (}overiiine-'> was based on the consent of the parties to it; that the States were the parties, and were .sovereign: that there was no authority in the General Government to coerce a seceding State. The resolutions of 1798 and 179'.) were set forth as presenting the true theory of the Government. Its or^'unixiition was essen- tially militarv; ii had it I Ci)mmanders ci! di- visions, of m-iis; .loti, of ri^jjiments, of compa- nies. In the mont'i of June lat^t the universal feeling amonj; its members, leaders, and pri- vates was tb it it was useless to bold a prosi- dential elect! m; rilii"itln had the power and wouhl certainly veeUot himself, and tliere was no hoi II but in force. The belief was entertalmd i',!!(l freely e,Kpre98ed that by a bold, vigiiroii :, 'Uid c'oneertod movementthe three great Nui'tliW'.' ■'■ern States of Illinois, Indiami, and Olii.) could bo v.ei/.ed and held. This IteiUL; d'lie, the JStiUei of Kentucky iinJ Missouri conk:", "nsily bo lifted from their prostrate eotuiition und placed on tbeir feet, and this in sixty days would end the war. While everything wa * moving on smoothly to a .supposed successful coudummatlon, tho first interruption In the calculation was the postponement oftlio meeting of the Demo- cratic convention from tlio Fourth of .July to tho'2»liiof August, but preparations still went on, and in one of the Stales the '20th i»f July was lixed as the day for a nujvennmt. lint befe "o the day arrived a general coun- cil of the Older from dilTeiont States was called, and it was liiought the movetnent on the 'JOUi et duly would be prenuUnvo und tho IClh of Auuust was ll\ed upon tur a general uprising. rbi< pustpnuement wa< Insisted upon tlio ground ibat It was necessary to liivv*-. ii seriv'.s of jsiibiic nseetings to prepare Itiu public ndnd, and appointmonts for pub- )vy»-Mi« lueetlngs w"''* mmle—omuil; Peoria, 2 bno at Springfield, and y)ne at Chicago oh the Ifill). Tho first one was at Peoria, and to niiike it a success I agreed that so much lurtuey as was necessary would be furnished by me. It was held and was a decided suc- cess. The vast multitudes who attended steincd to be swayed but by one leading idea — Peace. The friends were encouraged and strcngtbened and seemed anxious for the day when they would do something to hasten them to the great goal of peace. About this time that correspondence between our friends and Horace Greeley made its ap- pearance. Lincoln's manifesto shocked the country. The belief in some way prevailed over the North that the South would agree to a reconstruction, and the politicians, especially the leading ones, conceived the idea that on such an issue Lin- coln could bo beaten at the ballot-box. At all events they argued that the trial of the ballot-box should be made before a resort to force— always a dernier resort. The Spring- field meeting came off, but it was apparent that the fire exhibited al Peoria had already diminished— the whole tone of the speakers was that the people must rely on the ballot- box for redress of grievances. The nerves of the leaders of the order began to relax. About this time a large lot of arms were pur- chased and sent to Indianapolis, which was ,000 to watch V Ki people at home. In this view of the subject the same amount of money has effected i*o much in no other quarter since the commencement of the war. In July laat Captain Charles H. Cole, of General Forrest's command, made his es- cape from prison. He represented to me that he had been appointed a lieuteaant in our navy; I sent him around the lakes, with instructions to go as a lower-deek passen- ger, to I'araillarize himself with all the chan- nels and different approaches to the several harbors, the strength of each place, the de- positaries of coal, and especially to learn all that he could about tho war steamer Mich- igan, and dovise some plan for her capture or destruction. This duty he performed very satisfactorily. He was then instructed to re- turn and put himself in communication with the officers of the Michigan, and feeling his way, to endeavor to purchase the boat from its officers. For a time he thought he would succeed in this, if he could give the guarantees of pay- ment of the sums .stipulated, but by degrees the question was dropped, and he asked per- Lnission to organize a force, board, and take her. This was given, and Acting Master John Y. Beall was sent him to aid in the organization and in carrying out the enter- prise. Their plan was well conceived, and held out the promise of ouccess. It had been pre- viously ascertained from escaped prisoners from Johnson's Island that an organization existed among the prisoners on the Island for the purnosa of surprising the guard and cap- turing the island; the presence of tbe steamer Michigan, which carriwd fourteen guns, was the only obstacle. Secret comraunioations were had by which they wore advised that on the night of the 19th of September an attempt to seize the Michigan would be made. On that night, Captalu Cole, who had pre- viously established the friendliest relations with the officers of the steamer, was to have a wine drinking with thein on board, and at a given hour Acting Master Beall was to ap- pear on a boat, to h9 obtained for that pur- pose, with a sufficient body of Confederate soldiers to boaid and . take the steamer. Should they capture the steamer, a cannon shot sent through tho officers' quarters on Johnson's Island was to signify to the pris- oners that tho hour for their reJease had coma. Should they take the island boats were to be improvised and, Sant?nsln, as far as it was pratica- blo, soon aftor my arrival here I urged the itooph^ in the North to convert their paper moni'V inio gold and withdraw it from the market. 1 am satisfied this policy was adopted and carried into eff« ot to some ex- tent, but liovv extensively I am unable to state. What effect it hadon the gold market it Is impossible to estimate, but certain it is that gold continued to appreciate wntil it went to 2!)0. The high price may have templed many to change their policy, because nfterwiird gold fell in the market to 150, when it was about 180, and exportation of gold was so sn)all that there appeared to be but 111 lie or no demand for it. Mr. John Poterlield, formerly a banker in Nashville, but now a n>si(leiit of Montreal, was fur- nished with $100,000 and instructed to pro- ceed to New York to carry out a financial policy of his own conception, which consisted in the purchase of gold and exporting the saiiie, selling It for sterling bills of exchange, ftnd then again converting his exchange into gold. This process involved a certain loss, the cost of transhipment. He was Instructeil by Mr. Clay and myself to go on with his policy until he had expended S'JH.OOO, •with which he supposed he would slili* dirertiy f ."",<""», (lOO, Mirii iiiiim-e nthers to silip niucli more, mid ti.en If ' lip efF<>ct upon tlit\ ^;i)l 1 iiiaiLil was not vcr.N .leucplible he \\!H i*> til si>u and return to Canada, and nv ■luie the money unexpended. By bis iui ipmetit df more ; an expense of rs, but it seems been a former rrested by Gen- thf' was export- Lyons had no Id in this trans- ent to return to ,he unexpended irry out his in- rs.OOO. I must b had a marked inclined to t he orb great da m- ',ral finances if ' no untoward i with the ope- a a Mr. Minor jt-.....o.^ted himself as an accredited agent from the Confederate States to destroy steamboats on the Missis- sippi river, and that bis operations were sus- pended for want of means. I advanced to . him $2,000 iu Federal currency, and soon af> terward several boats were burned at St Louis, involvingan immense loss of property to the enemy. He became suspected, as he represented' to me, of being the author of this burning, and from that time both he and his men have been'/hiding, and conse- quently have done nothing. Money has been advanced to Mr. Churchill, of Cincinnati, to organize a corps for the purpose of incendi- arism In that city. I consider him a true man, and although as yet he has efifected but little, I am in constant expectation of hear- ing of effective work in that quarter. Previous to the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Martin and Lieutenant Ileadly, bringing an unsigned note from you, all tho different places where our prisoners are con- fined—Camp Douglas, Rock linland. Camp Morton, Camp Chase, Elmira— had been thoroughly examined, and the conclusion was forceel upon us that all efforts to release them without an outside coopei'ation would bring disaster upon the prisoners and result iu no good. All projects of that sort were abandoned, except that at Camp Douglas, where Captain liines still believed he could effect their release. We yielded to his firm- ness, zeal, and persistence, and his plans were plauaible, but treachery defeated him before his well-laid schemes were deve'otvd. Having nothing else on hand Colonel V^>rriii expressed a wish to organize a corps f( ;► .m New York city. Ho was allowed t.i i» so, and a most daring attempt has been made to fire that city, but thtiir reliance on tho Greek fire has proved a misfortune. It can not bo depended on as an agent in such work. I httve no faith whatever in it, and no at- tempt shall hereafter bo made, under my feneral (lirectlona, with any such materials, knew nothing whatever of the raid on St. Alban's until after it transpired. Pesiring to have a boat on whose captain and crew reli- ance could Iw placed, and on board of whioli arms* could U' sent to convenient points for ai 'ling Hucu vessels as could bn seized for cq^orationa od the Laken, I aided Dr. .raruea> if* :m bnf» at Hprinpfield, and 'one at U5lli. Tho first one was at luiik'e it a success I agreed luouey as was necessary won by inc. It was held arid wai Cess. The vast multitudes M'liinid to be swayed but by or IVace. The friends were 6 Mtrcnstheued and seemed anx when they would do somet Llieni to the great goal of pej time that correspondence friends and Horace Greele; pearance. Lincoln's mat the country. The belief prevailed over the No S steamer Michigan, which carri«d fourteen guns, was the only obstacle. Secret communications were had by which they were advised that on the night of the 19th of September an attempt to seize the Michigan would be mad<'. On that night, Captain Cole, who had pre- viously established the friendliest relations with the oSQcors of the steamer, was to havo a wine-drinking with them om board, and at a given hour Acting Master Beall was to ap- pear on a boat, to 1)8 obtained for that pur- pose, with a sufficient body of Confederate soldiers to boaid and . take the steamer. Should they capture the steamer, a cannon shot sent through the officers' quarters on Johnson's Island was to signify to the pris- oners that tho hour for their reJease had come. Should they tak^ tlu^ island boats were to be Improvised and, Sandusky was to bo attacked. If taken, tho prisoners were to be mounted and make /'or Cleveland, tho boats cooperating, and from Cleveland the prisoners were to make Wheeling, and thence to Virginia. The key to the whale movement was tho capture of the Michigan. On the evening of the l!)th by some treachery Cole v/as arrested, and the messenger who was to meet Acting Ma.^- ter Beall at Kelly's Island did not rcich liim. Disappointed, but notliln'j; dmnifiMi, Actinff Master r.eall, having po-^.-iiHsjon (»f the IMiilo Parsons, passiMi<4or sreamer from i )eifr.it in .S'.indusky. wiiit on bin wuy towiin ' .lohuson's Isiand. Having Uindcil at Middle) Bas Island to secure a 8upj)iy uf •m i -r wood, the steamer Island Queen, with a larjie number of passengers and thirty-two soldiers, came up alongside and lashed' her- self to the Parsons. An attack was at once resolved upon. The passengers and soldiers were soon made prisoners, and the boat delivered up to our men. The soldiers wore regularly paroled; the passengers were left on the island, having given their prom- ise not to leave for twenty-four hours, and tlie boat was towed out into the lake and sunk. • The Parsons was tlien steered directly for the Bay of Sandusky; hero the men, from certain reasons not altogether satisfactory, butposeibly fortunately, refused to make the attack on iwn Michigan. IJeall returned, landed at Sandwich, C. W., and the men scattered through the country. Most of tliem have retsmed to the Confederate States, but a few days since Acting Master I Bennct G. Birley was arrested, and the trial ;;•. is now going on lor his delivery under the ■%;, • extradition treaty. If wn had Cole's, Beall's, ,.'vv or his own commission I sliould not fear the '^'•!' „ result. As it is, they will have to prove that ""i- they acted under my order, and that will, in all probability, secure his release, but it may lead to my expulsion from the provinces; at least, I , have it from a reliable source that this last proposition has been pressed upon the Canadian authorities, and they have con- sidered it. Should the course of events take this direction, unadvised by you, I shall con- sider it tnjr duty to remain where I am, and abide the issue. I should prefer, if it be possible, to have your views on the subject. Captain Cole is still a prisoner on Johnson's island. In obedience to your suggestion, as far as it was pratica- ble, soon aftor my arrival here 1 urged the people In th(^ North to convert their paper mouf'y into gold and withdraw it from the market. I am satisfied this policy was adopted and carried into effect to some ex- tent, but bow extensively I am unable to state. VVIiat effect it haJ on the gold market it is impossible to estimate, but certain it is that gold continued to appreciate wntil it went to 290. The high j)rice may have templed many to change their policy, because alterwiird gold fell in the market to 150, wlien it was about 180, and exportation of gold was so small that tbere appeared to be but little or no demand for it. Mr. John Poterlield, formerly a banker in Nashville, but now a resident of Montreal, was fur- nished with $100,000 and instructed to pro- ceed to New York to carry out a financial policy of Jiis own conception, which consisted in the purchase of gold and exporting the saiiie, selling it for sterling bills of exchange, and then again converting his exchange into gold. This process Involved a certain loss, the cost of transhipment. He was instructed by Mr. (Jlay and myself to go on with his policy until he Jiad expended ^'25,000, with whicli lie supposed ho would ship directly fri,noo,(i(iO, mid induce others to ship ni'iicli nioif, mid ti.cn if the effect upiui the gold iiiMtkci vviis not very perceptible he wn-i K' di ;ii,-,'6 and return to Canada, and re- iioie the money unexpended. By bis last report he had caused the shipment of mote than two millions of gold at an expense of less than ten thousand dollars, but it seems that a Mr. Lyons, who had been a former partner of Porterneld, was arrested by (ien- crai Butler, on the ground that Im was export- ing gold; and although Mr. Lyons had no connection with Mr. Porterfield in this trans- action, jet he thought it prudent to return to Canada, and, while he retains the unexpended balance of the $25,000 to carry out his in- structions, he has restored $75,000. I must confess that the first shipment had a marked effect on the market. lam inclined to the opinion that his theory will work great dam- age and distrust in the Federal finances if vigorously followed up, and if no untoward circumstances should interfere with the ope- ration. Soon after I reached Canada a Mr. Minor Maior visited me and represented himself as an accredited agent from the Confederate States to destroy steamboats on the Missis- sippi river, and that his operations wisjre sus- pended for want of means. I aavauced to him $2,000 in Federal currency, and soon af- terward several boats were burned at St. Louis, involvingan immense loss of property to the enemy. He became suspected, as he represented" to me, of being the author of this burning, and from that time both he and his men have been'/hiding, and conse- quently have done nothing. Money has been advanced to Mr. Churchill, of Cincinnati, to organize a corps for the purpose of incendi- arism in that city. I consider him a true man, and although as yet he has effected but little, I am in constant expectation of hear- ing of effective work in that quarter. Previous to the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Martin and Lieutenant Ileadly, bringing an unsigned note from you, all tho different places whe our prisoners liio con- fined— Camp Doug. 5 Rock Island, Camp Morton, Camp Chasi , Elmira— had been thoroughly examined, and the couc'usion was forced upon us that all efforts to release them without an outside co6pei'atio;i would bring disaster upon the prisoners and result in no good. All projects of that sort were abandoned, except that at Camp Douglas, where Captain llines still believed he could effect their release. We yielded to his firm- ness, zeal, and persistence, and his plans were plausible, but treachery defeated him before his well-laid schemes were deveiop"d. Having nothing else on hand Colonel V nria expressed a wish to organize a corps t< o'.ni New York city. He was allowed tu •,.) so, and a most daring attempt has been made to fire that city, but their reliance on the Creek fire has proved a misfortune. It can not bo depended on as an agent in such work. I have no faith whatever in it, and no at- tempt shall hereafter be made, under my fenera) directions, with any such materials, knew nothing whatever of the raid on St. Alban's until after it transpired. Desiring to iiave a boat on whose captain and crew reli- ance could be placed, and on board of whioli arms could be sent to convenient points for arming such vessels as could be seized for ) operauooa on the Lakes, I aided Ur. .lamea T. Bates, of Kt'.ntucky, au oil steamboat cap- tain, in the purchase of the sttvu;u'r (Georgian. Siie liad scarcely been tranefemd when the story wentabroad that she had been purchased and armed for the purpose of slnkine the Michigan, releasing theprisonert on John- son's Island, and destroying the ^t.inping on the lakes, and the cities on their nin r jrin. The wildest consternation prevailed in all the border cities; at Buffalo two tugs had cannon placed oil board, four regiments of soldiers wore SRiit there— two of them represented to have been drawn from the army.of Virginia. Bells were rung at Detroit and churches broken up on Sunday. The whole lake shore was a scene of wild excitement. Boats "were sent out, which boarded the Geor- gian. and found nothing contraband on oard, but still the people were incredulous. The bane and curse of carrying out any- thing in this corutry is the surveillance ►under which we act. Detectives or those ready to give infcjmation btana at every street corner. Two or three can not inter- change ideas without a reporter. The Presidential election has so demoral- ized the leaders of the order of the "Sons of Liberty" that a new organization under new leaders has become ao absolute necessity. This is now going forward with great vigor and success. The new order is styled the •'Order of the Star." There is a general ex- pectation that there will soon be a new draft, and the members swear resistance to another draft; It is purely military, wholly inde- pendent of politics and politicians. It is given out among the members that Stonewall Jackson is the founder of the order, and the name has its significance from the stars on the collars of Sauthern officers. There is no ground to do'ibt that the masses, to a large extent, of the North are brave and true, and oelieve Lincoln c tyrant and usurper. During my stay in Canada a great amoun- of propLirtyhas been destroyed by burning. Theintormationbrought raeas to the per- petrators Is so coiillicting and contradict tory, that 1 am satisfied tliat nothing can be certainly known. Should claims be pre- sented at the war otfice for payment for tliid kind of work, not one dollar should be ad- vanced on any proof adduced until all the parties concerned may have an opportunity for iiiaking out and presenting proof. Sev- eral parties claim to have done the work at St. Louis, New Orleans, Louisville, Brook- lyn, Philadelphia, and at Cairo. Within the last few days Dr. K. I. Stewart, of Virginia, has reached this place, and very mysteriously informs mo that he has a plan for the execu- tion of something which has received the sanction of the President, lie is in want of money, and states to me that you gave him "a draft on me for $20,000 in gold, which has hcen lost on tiie way. lie hiis sent back to Richmond for a renewal. lie has rented a large house and moved his fam- ily into it. 1 can not doubt his word, but, of course, I do not fe(^l autliorizcid to ad- vance hitii money witiioiit your authority or that of the I'rcsident. 1 have, however, buen constrained to advance him luOO ill gold on his written statement that, unless the money was in hand the lives and liberties of high Confederate ofllcers would be im- periled. Owing to the health of Mr. Clay we sepa- rated at Halifax, and since then we have not lived together, though we have beea ia con- sulting distance. As the money was all in my name, which I supposed to be controlled by us Jointly, and as he desired to have a sum placed in his hands at all times subject to his pesonal control, I transferred to hira $93,614, for : which I hold his receipts, and for whi«h he ; promises to account to the proper authcaties j at home. Including the money turned over \ to Mr. Clay, all of which lie has not yet ex- ' pended, the entire expenditures as yet on all \ accounts is about $300,000. I still hold three : drafts for $100,000 each, which have not been ! collected. Should you think it best for mo to return I would be glad to know in what way you think I had best return with the funds remaining on hand. I infer from your "personal" in the New York News that it is your wish I should re- main here for the present, and I shall obey your orders. Indeed 1 have so many papers in my possession, which in the hands of the enemy would utterly ruin and destroy very many of the prominent men in the North, that a due sense of my obligation to them will force on mo the extremest caution in my movements. For the future, discarding all dependence on the organizations in the Northern States, our efforts, in my judgment, shonld be di- rected to inducing ttiose who are conscripted in the North, and who utterly refuse to join the army to fight against the Confederate States, to make their way South to join our service. It is believed by many that at least a number sulBcion;. to make up a division may be secured in this way for our service before spring, especially if our army opens up a road to the Ohio. Some are now on their way to Corinth, which at present is the point of rendezvous. Also to operate on their railroads and force tbe enemy to keep up a guard on all their roads, whicli will require a large standing army at home, and to burn whenever it is practicable, and thus make the 0ien of property feel their insecurity, and lire them out witli the war. The attempt on New York has produced a great panic, which will not subside at their bidding. This letter, though long, does not, I ami aware, report many things of minor import-l anco which have occurred during my sojourn] in Canada, but I shall omit them at present. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. THOMPSON. Note.— The original copy bears the foilowj ing endorsement in the hand- writing of J. P.' Benjamin, Confederate Secretary of War " Rec'd 18 Feb'y, '66. J. P. B." /('i