The Montreal Link

[SSlater]

Would you believe that the North knew all about the various plots proposed by the South, long before they were attempted?
I base that question on events that occurred long before the act, and could have been prevented.
As early as "The Trial of the Conspirators", a man named Richard Reynolds Montgomery, came forward to brag that he had been a Spy for the North and the South.
Richard had been born in New York City about 1830, to a wealthy Stock Broker, so he enjoyed a plush life. When the war broke out, Papa Montgomery tried to get his son a Commission, but it seems to have failed. Richard volunteered as an enlisted man and was accepted. However, after about 3 months , he was allowed to resign to accept an assignment a position that was described only by a "letter and a number", such as "DD407". (That is a fictitious symbol, used only as an example). This is where I believe he became a Spy.
He arrived in Washington for assignment and his name appears in the "City Directory" for the next few years, but there is no mention of his job.
Skip forward to 1865 and the "Trial of the Conspirators", and "Major Richard Reynolds Montgomery" is called to be the North's prime witness. He continued his bragging by revealing that he "stopped in Washington on every trip to Montreal, to allow the North to read all the secret matter he was carrying".
This being so, the North knew all about any attempt that was to be perpetrated against Lincoln. I am going to quit here. There is more. This belongs in the "Montreal File".