Will the real Thomas F. Harney, PLEASE STAND UP!

[SSlater]

I'm off AGAIN, on a search for more info on Harney. I will post as often as I can, and I ask you to PLEASE participate. Feel free to comment on - add to - deduct from - improve on , etc. the findings that I post and whatever. Let's nail this rascal - "for certain".

To begin. Harney spent most of his known life in one army or another. I expect we will find very little, in the Census Records, or in the City Directories. Unfortunately, the Census is not always a reliable source for good information. Here is an example of what I mean. The 1860 Census for New Orleans, LA (NOLA) was taken on 13 June 1860 (by a Provost Marshal named SLATER- How 'bout dat!)
Then we learn that Harney is said to have deserted from the Army Nov. 11, 1860. Our Harney could not have lived in NOLA, and been in the Army too. I think the Census is wrong to give one of the Harneys credit for the work done by Harney in the Confederate Engineering Bureau (5 years later.) Yet this is proof that one of the NOLA

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(something happened to my Post. All of a sudden it was gone. Is there a time limit to posting?
Harneys is OUT.
As a starting point for our "look see", my next post will be Harney's Army career - subject to your approval.

Here's an example of new news. I found a letter, on the computer, that Thomas F. Harney wrote in 1862, complete with his signature. (My printer isn't working or I would copy it.) He was writing to the Provost Marshal in St. Louis, MO in answer to an accusation of being "suspected of disloyal activities".
BACKGROUND: The State of Missouri was in the Union before the War. At that time Harney
joined the (Union ) Army - the 6th MO Inf. As time passes, The State of Missouri left the Union
- but the Army remained loyal to the Union. The Soldiers then formed two "6th MO Inf. Units."
One "Union" and one "Rebel". Harney chose the "Rebels". So- his deserting is shown in the "Union" Records, but not in the "Rebel" Records.
Harney tried to argue his way out of the predicament with this reply to the Provost Marshal.

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Whatever is happening - it did it again.
Lots of questions pop into my mind with this situation, For example. Why was Harney in St. Louis at this time? It had to be in the summer of 1862, because he gets wounded in late '62, and captured at Christmas time.

This letter raises many questions. How did the Provost Marshal know what Harney looked like - to hand him this accusation? How did the Marshal know he was in town? (He had to prepare the letter before giving it to him. ) The Provost Marshal must have known the Harney would come to St, Louis - because it was his HOME TOWN. Harney confirms this last statement - he tells us he lived on Carondolet, MO. (This later becomes part of St. Louis proper)

From this letter I am beginning to think that he never was in Cass County, and a school teacher. He does not show in any Cass County records - but he lived on Cass Street in St. Louis.

There is a Thomas Harney living in St, Lewis, but he is an Attorney. I still don't know if the Attorney is "our" Tommy, but it wouldn't surprise me. I cannot find the Attorney in any other year, or any other place, other this one site. If he isn't Tommy, then he is his Father or some other relative. If it is his father, then Tommy had his good education foisted upon him at the diner table.

I doubt -very seriously- that Our Tommy could not have been one of those 16/18/ 20 year old immigrants that arrived in the US, and became a School Teacher. We neeed to find an older immigrant or erase the reference.

That's enough for now. I want to work on Harney's trip through the various jails in 1865. See ya later JFS

[RJNorton]

(03-08-2016 09:40 PM)SSlater Wrote:  (something happened to my Post. All of a sudden it was gone. Is there a time limit to posting?

Hi John. I am not sure what was happening while you were posting - possibly an erratic internet connection (?) - but, as far as I know, there is nothing in the forum software that puts a time limit on posts.

[L Verge]

John - Be careful with your statement that Missouri left the Union... It remained a border state, so would that affect your research there at all?

[SSlater]

(03-09-2016 11:17 AM)L Verge Wrote:  John - Be careful with your statement that Missouri left the Union... It remained a border state, so would that affect your research there at all?

Laurie. Thanks for the comment. I will keep that in mind. On that day - back then - The 6th Mo. Inf. aligned themselves with the Union, and Harney couldn't buy it, so someone in authority created the "Rebel"6th MO. Inf. This was obviously a bigger problem to them, than it is to us. But, it resulted in Harney "Deserting". To those
men, they were not sitting on the fence - they went South.

[SSlater]

Some Harney news right from the Horses mouth. That means this is from the Official reports, and not scrambled by some looney's opinion.
reported BY Charles Albright, Col. 202nd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Command of post. "... list of prisoners and property captured (Skirmish April 10, 1865 at Fairfax Station, Va) Edward Hefflebower, Tomas F. Harney, Engineering Bureau, Lt. Co. F. 6th MO. Brought ordnance to Col. Mosby and joined his command. First Sgt. David G. Moher, Co. H Samuel Rogers. 6 Horses captured, 6 or 8 killed. 7 complete sets of horse equipment....

Notice that Harney's guide (Summers) got away (or got shot.) Notice that Harney upped his grade - for better treatment in the Guard House. His official rank was SGT.

Remember that Mosby had sent this new Company on a "Training Mission " and they captured a bunch of Loudon Rangers. I saw this
" On the sixth, forty Federal Prisoners passed trough Upperville, having been taken by Mosby's men. These prisoners were reported to belong to the Loudon Rangers"

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(03-09-2016 05:14 PM)SSlater Wrote:  

(03-09-2016 11:17 AM)L Verge Wrote:  John - Be careful with your statement that Missouri left the Union... It remained a border state, so would that affect your research there at all?

Laurie. Thanks for the comment. I will keep that in mind. On that day - back then - The 6th Mo. Inf. aligned themselves with the Union, and Harney couldn't buy it, so someone in authority created the "Rebel"6th MO. Inf. This was obviously a bigger problem to them, than it is to us. But, it resulted in Harney "Deserting". To those
men, they were not sitting on the fence - they went South.

Laurie. I'm not a "History Major" so I don't know Missouri's exactmove - but when they did it- the Army went NORTH" and Harney went SOUTH and deserted. (I don't believe they knew either.)

[L Verge]

Wild Bill or Rick, help me here. Politically, Missouri did not secede from the Union. However, didn't they have serious numbers of renegades, partisan rangers, guerrilla fighters, whatever you want to call the military-minded who wanted to do things their way -- on both sides?

[richard petersen]

When you mention Guerrilla Fighters I think of Bloody Bill Anderson, Quantrill Raiders, The James Brothers etc. Bloody Bill's atrocities are detailed in Winik's book; 1865 , the Month that saved America. Anderson led the Lawerenceville Kansas massacre.

[SSlater]

Just who was Thomas Harney? Was he born in Ireland - as the Harney in New Orleans was? Or was he born in Pennsylvania -as he stated? If he was born in Ireland - how did he hide his accent, when he "tawlked" to the Provost Marshal? (was the P.M. stupid?) Bill Tidwell tells us in "C.R." that "Harney came to the Confederacy - well educated and had a logical mind.
Harney must have been in Blair, PA at some time or another early in his career. Blair was a thriving Community, long before it became a Township, or a County. I did find a Thomas Harney , laborer, in Harrisburg, PA in 1850, not far away. He may have moved on to Blair where there was lots of work. They were building a Canal and a Railroad. (Even educated guys have to eat.)
Since Harney became a Spy, of sorts, he always gave "reliable" info, when pinned down, info that could stand up to checking - yeah, there is a "Blair". He Talked like a School Teacher. There is a Cass Co, in Missouri. Every thing described was far away from when he actually lived or worked.
I have more stuff on Harney, that I will get to. I hope someone is picking up on this info and questioning it. I need help.

[Wild Bill]

T.J. Stiles in Jesse James the Last Rebel, makes the assertion that Missouri in 1861 was a quarter Rebel and three quarters Yankee. Hence it did not secede. The James and Youngers and their friends came from around Independence.

To the North was a place known as the Platte Region Addition, a section added to Missouri in 1838 that extended the settle western boundary to the Missouri River north of Kansas City. It was a slave region that produced mostly Hemp, for rope and bagging use for making up cotton bales.

From here, back down the Missouri river to the Mississippi and north to the Iowa line was section known as Little Dixie that had many plantations and slaves.This region produced many of the guerrilla fighters. They were generally the older sons of slaveowners cut off from the South by the Ozark Mountains, which were Union.

Again according to Stiles, by 1875, Missouri had become three quarters pro-rebel and one quarter Yankee. Stiles says this occurred from Reconstruction, and the propaganda of Jesse and Editor Edwards of the Kansas City newspapers which made the James-Younger gang into Southern heroes, still fighting the Yankee evils of high taxes, railroads, banks, and Radical Republican government.

As Missouri became more and more pro-rebel, the Democrats began to take over the government and the governors often were relations to the gang members. Hence, in the end, Frank James was able to dodge any responsibility of their robberies and murders. A good movie on this is Clint Eastwood, the Outlaw Josey Wales. Also of interest are Ride with the Devil and the Long Riders. A good book on the Northfield Raid that broke up the gang with Youngers going to Prison in Minnesota is Mark Lee Gardner, Shot all to Hell. But nothing comes a s close to understanding Jesse as Will Henry's novel, The Raiders.

[SSlater]

I was very excited about a Thomas Harney I found in Saint Louis, at the same time, I believe, "Our" Tommy was there in 1862. He is shown in the City Directory as an Attorney. This might be a relative - might be his father. I was particularly excited when he was accused of "disloyal activities" by the Provost Marshal. He argued with the Provost Marshal, etc. Then he disappeared completely. I wondered if he was ensconced at Elmira, N.Y.
No Luck. This Harney was a native of Camden , N. C. Graduated from Columbia College, now known as George Washington Univ. in Washington, D.C. He practiced in Miss. then moved to St. Louis in the Mid '40's . He participated in anti-Lincoln politics and wrote articles supportive of the South. He finally moved to Litchfield , CT. He died sometime after 1870. He earned his own squabble with the P.M. I lost another "gain" with this continued research - Harney's home was not in Carondelet, MO. (That hurts!)
Even a failure can be a gain - I don't have to look at this Thomas Harney anymore.
I'm working on a new lead. I found a Thomas Harney, as a student in Saint Louis Univ. in 1850 at 25. (The students range from 11 and up.) I'll keep you posted.

[L Verge]

Wild Bill catalogued Gen. Tidwell's Papers at Surratt House. Here's what his summary says:

Harney, Thomas F. One and a half linear inches of material concerning the torpedoman who was supposed to blow up the White House in 1865, but was captured instead. Includes letters of the time and between Tidwell and his researcher, Alycon Trubey Pierce, C.G., chronologies, documents and complied service records, and attempts to trace the elusive SGT Harney through the whereabouts of known associates.

Have you utilized these papers?

[SSlater]

I am still trying to research Thomas F. so that I can better understand him and what he tried to accomplish. This is just short of impossible. Right now I am working to determine what is the true story of his attempt to "blow up the White House."
To begin with, I doubt much of what has come down to us, so I will "correct" what I can prove. For example, just what explosive was he working with? It wasn't dynamite. Dynamite was not invented until 1867. It wasn't TNT (Trinitrotoluene), that came after dynamite. That leaves "Black Powder". Now I can estimate the size of the explosive package.
"Black Powder" is a combustible material, that will burn if ignited in the open air, but will explode when confined in a closed wrapper, (as stick of dynamite does). When wrapped with an open end, it becomes a rocket. (The force of small explosions propels the package through space.) Enough of this stuff, back to Harney.
"Black Powder" did not have the explosive force of the later explosives, therefore, a larger supply of powder was required, to accomplish an explosion equal to dynamite. If Harney expected to demolish a portion of the White House, he was going to need a GOOD SUPPLY of Powder - which would be voluminous and heavy.
I am not going to guess at how well the White House was built, but he knew he would need many men to carry the needed powder and not spill any - as it would explode right then - and/or attract undue attention by their strange antics. After it was installed, he had to hide this stinking mess until the "Special Event".
So, I am going to assume that they did not intend to "blow up the White House" as we have been to believe. That exact terminology was provided to us by George Atzerodt. Unfortunately, Atzerodt was not noted for his brain power. (Did you ever read his "Confession"? If you did, I bet you read it more than once - to try to understand what he was talking about. He was in a state of pure panic.
It follows then - what did he say? Quote: They are going to mine the end of the pres. house. Unquote. Keep the terminology in mind as we proceed.
At this point Harney is called upon to use his expertise, to do the job. What was Harney's "expertise"? He was "GOOD AT" placing mines in the rivers and bays of the South - to destroy Union shipping, but he was EXPERT at was planting land mines along the various pathways of traveling armies, that would explode on contact. This was a new weapon, that was extremely unique, that only he had experience with. Beyond that, the invented new and different mechanical ways of detonating the devices. He didn't need an electrical charge.
All Harney had to do was plant a few of these "thing-a-ma-bobs" and show the locals how to set them off, on command. They in turn would attend the proposed Serenade and pull the wires, or whatever they were trained to do, when Lincoln and others were in a vulnerable position and completely defenseless.

If this scenario is acceptable, then we are in a position to work on the details of how they organized the mission. We should be able to determine who and when, various people would act.
That's enough for now, I'll continue in a day or two, with "the rest of the story". (unless directed otherwise.)

[RJNorton]

John, this short video does not answer all your questions, but it does address your topic. Included are interviews with Jane Singer and the late David Gaddy. Possibly you have seen the video already.

http://www.history.com/topics/american-c...-bomb-plot

[SSlater]

John W. Booth, John Surratt, and Sarah Slater, were all together in Washington, D.C. on 25 March 1865. Surratt and Slater left together for Richmond on that date, and they never saw Booth again - NEVER.

It appears that Booth had been excluded from any plans that approved the "Harney Mission". So, he was still floundering around , trying to reorganize his "action team" again and he was failing.

April 2, 1865. Richmond is in shambles. The confederate Government is on the run. Booth needed guidance, so he headed north out of Washington and was seen in Boston about April 5th and 6th. It has never been confirmed that this was a meeting with the Confederate Commissioners from Canada. Whatever was said we don't know, but I have no doubt that he learned about the "Harney Mission", and found that he had no part in it. He returned to D.C. and he was affected by this development - he was furious.

He returned to Washington and "leaked" the secret plan to George Atzerodt on April 8th. Booth could only watch for Harney, so when he didn't show by April 11th, he went back to New York, to report this new failure and maybe offer a new plan, to his superiors.

If he was given approval, or not, we don't know. He returned to Washington about April 8th, and you know the rest of the story.

Every name , date and activity, mentioned here has been provided to us through official reports, and other legal papers. If any were distorted when recorded, I don't know. But based on the given facts available, this is a true report of the events of early April 1865.

Based on this, Mary Surratt, John Surratt, Sarah Slater, and others did not have an active part of the final plans that resulted in the death of President Lincoln

[L Verge]

Do you negate Mrs. Surratt's involvement in the transport of the field glasses and the messages on both April 11 and 14 regarding the "shooting irons?"