FW: GDG- "Loose Bolts Sink....."

Sun Dec 17 16:49:22 CST 2006

A far more plausible explanation of Benjamin's fears could come from fear of retribution by the US Government of the treatment of Union loyalists in East Tennessee including this item from the OR.

>><ar114_848> 
WAR DEPARTMENT, C. S. A.
Richmond, November 25, 1861.
 Col. W. B. WOOD,  Knoxville, Tenn.
SIR: Your report of the 20th instant is received and I proceed to give you the desired instructions in relation to the prisoners taken by you amongst the traitors in East Tennessee:
First. All such as can be identified as having been engaged in bridge-burning are to be tried summarily by drum-head court-martial and if found guilty executed on the spot by hanging. It would be well to leave their bodies hanging in the vicinity of the burned bridges.
Second. All such as have not been so engaged are to be treated as prisoners of war and sent with an armed guard to Tuscaloosa, Ala., there to be kept imprisoned at the depot selected by the Government for prisoners of war. Wherever you can discover that arms are concealed by these traitors you will send out detachments, search for and seize the arms. In no case is one of the men known to have been up in arms against the Government to be released on any pledge or oath of allegiance. The time for such measures is past. They are all to be held as prisoners of war and held in jail till the end of the war. Such as come in voluntarily, take the oath of allegiance and surrender their arms are alone to be treated with leniency.
Your vigilant execution of these orders is earnestly urged by the Government.
Your obedient servant,
 J.P. BENJAMIN, 
 Secretary of War.
P. S.--Judge [David T.] Patterson, Col. [Samuel] Pickens and other ringleaders of the same class must be sent at once to Tuscaloosa to jail as prisoners of war.
 J.P. B. 
[NOTE.--The same letter with a slight verbal alteration of the opening paragraph and the omission of the postscript was sent at the same time to Brig. Gen. F. K. Zollicoffer, Jacksborough, Tenn.; Brig. Gen. W. H. Carroll, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Colonel Leadbetter, Jonesborough, Tenn.]
-----
<ar114_854> 
RICHMOND, December 10, 1861.
 General W. H. CARROLL,  Knoxville:
Execute the sentence of your court-martial on the bridge burners. The law does not require any approval by the President, but he entirely approves my order to hang every bridge-burner you can catch and convict.
 J. P. BENJAMIN, 
Secretary of War.<<

Regards,

Margaret

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Dennis Lawrence <denlaw at kc.rr.com>
> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
>    Here we would disagree on what we can surmise based on what we  know.
> 
> There are many possibilities for his becoming an expatriate. Confederates 
> of lesser rank became expatriates in Mexico as well.
> 
> I don't see how we lay the assumption of assassination as the cause at his 
> feet without evidence of such.
> 
> Dennis
> 
> 
> At 04:12 PM 12/17/2006, you wrote:
> >Esteemed GDG Member Contributes:
> >
> >
> >An afterthought to this situation is that the man directly responsible for a
> >good deal of the Confederate secret service activity, including managing
> >foreign agents, was Secretery of State Judah P. Benjamin.  When Richmond
> >fell, Benjamin destroyed all of his records, then fled along with President
> >Davis but separated from the presidential party and headed for the west
> >coast of Florida.  Benjamin then left the country by boat as quickly as
> >possible, and never returned after the war.  He was one of the few, if not
> >the only, high-ranking Confederate official to do that.  One could surmise
> >that his refusal to return to the United States could well have had a
> >relationship to his responsibility for covert activity, and his fear of
> >being directly linked to the assassination of Lincoln.
> >
> >Tom Ryan
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Tom Ryan [mailto:pennmardel at mchsi.com]
> >Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 5:00 PM
> >To: GDG
> >Subject: RE: GDG- "Loose Bolts Sink....."
> >
> >
> ><<The Booth attempt was not a part of the Confederate government, and I
> >would caution against putting too much stock into it.  The plot was
> >supported by Southern sympathizers, but not  an attempt by the CSA.  As
> >Booth wandered South after the assassination he found it difficult to find
> >shelter as he was shunned by those Southerners - turned in by them.>>
> >
> >While there is no conclusive evidence that the Confederate government was
> >plotting to assassinate President Lincoln, there is at least enough
> >circumstantial evidence to not rule out the possibility.  The best case for
> >Booth working directly for the Confederate government is made in "Come
> >Retribution:  The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of
> >Lincoln."  At the very least, Booth's objective was to kidnap the president.
> >Ed Steers' books on the subject provide additional evidence of Booth being
> >guided by Confedrate agents and a network of sympathizers.
> >
> >While proof of direct Confederate involvement has not as yet turned up, I do
> >not think we can dismiss this possibility altogether -- unless there is
> >evidence to that effect that I am not aware of.
> >
> >Tom Ryan
> >
> > 
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